As far as reviving dead PCs I haven't seen many options for that, but thankfully do to the large NPC pool you've got with the refuges, the Chernasardo Rangers, and the city of Longshadow, if any of the PCs died they have a very quick way to rejoin the party as another character.
Alternatively, you could swap out one of the treasure drops in books 1 or 2 for a scroll of raise dead. Having one in the Charnasardo armory seems like a good place for it.
Nice to play iron man mode for a change. You could have a scroll on an enemy cleric. They are LE so would likely try to raise an important comrade. Even if it's just to humiliate and punish their failings
Are you running it with the militia system? I am about to start doing the militia in my session tomorrow, one of the possibilities for actions is to use Spellcasters to raise a dead party member. You need a level 3 Spellcaster "unit" in your militia to use it, though, and I am not 100% sure how early you can get that. There are some cool options there, I recommend checking it out!
Pretty early actually. Just need the funds and take the action to train. Militia level 3 or 4 is the soonest you can do it.
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My GM allowed the Merchant from the Underdark, carry some Raise Dead scrolls while we were in Mistholm- or whatever that cave was called.
My Ranger was killed fighting Red Caps, and we sold enough scavenged gear to raise him and get rid of one negative level. I was hoping to get the second scroll after scouting the third Ranger fortress- but he didn't survive the Tick Swarm the GM rolled as a "random" encounter. I don't want to burden the party with a character dragged down by three negative levels.
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I'm wondering how people are dealing with dead PCs in this AP.
In most other APs I have read/played/run, there is at least one raise dead scroll drop early on (typically late 1st book or mid 2nd book). In this series, I have seen nothing in Book1-3. Add in the fact that the PCs have no access to high level spellcasting at all (the blurb on Longshadow on page 83 of Book 3 says 5th level spellcasting, but I have no idea who this awesome cleric is, or where she is hiding during the battle).
Any thoughts on how to handle this? My party has a druid- so they have the capability to cast reincarnate at level 7 (assuming it's not the druid that dies). By Book3, the odds of a death are high, there are many opportunities for saves to go wrong or high DPR enemies to focus fire on a squishy.
In my case, I think the bugbear assassins (when they attack at night) are highly likely to kill someone if they win initiative. They'll focus fire on someone, with the intent to kill at least one PCs before they're killed in turn. They get 4 sneak attacks each against a prone, unarmored opponent (someone who just woke up).
Any thoughts?
On Longshadow: there's enough going on that a 9th level cleric could be healing or helping in the background without actually becoming the focal point of the combat. Also, they can be very poorly optimized for combat. Consider a venerable NPC with poor constitution. You'd want to keep someone that fragile out of the fight so they can be used to heal people and save lives without taking a stray arrow and dying.
Or the cleric could be actively participating, but just playing a key role in defending parts of the city the PCs aren't.
Alternatively: have the 9th or 10th level casters be Neutral travelers who don't stick around for the battle itself, fleeing Longshadow before the fight and not returning until it is safe again after. Lots of options.
As for the Bugbear Assassins: I agree with you they SHOULD be able to kill a PC or two, but not if you run their tactics as written. IIRC they are one of those clear examples of bad enemy tactics in an AP so players are less likely to be murdered. For some reason, after sneaking into the PCs room undetected, they merely steal a few strands of hair rather than Coup De Grace anyone in their sleep. And when they do physically throw down, they are described as attacking while the party is outdoors and awake.
It is up to you if want the sisters to be more competent and lethal. But I will say your PCs probably won't enjoy being killed in their sleep.
The bugbears are terribly written for tactics. Cant exactly remember how the fight went but I don't recall it being very special!
Maybe there's some happy middle ground that doesn't leave them looking incompetent but won't guarantee a near TPK. BRAINSTORM PEOPLE
I killed a PC last weekend in book 3, before Longshadow. I had them do a bunch of skill checks, some role-playing, and some general strategizing to "uncover" scrolls of raise dead, restoration, and neutralize poison. It took an hour or so of discussion to resolve it all. I think they appreciated the effort I made them undertake (instead of GM hand-waving).
According to the city stats throughout the area, the only city with a high enough level cleric to cast raise dead is Crowstump. My PCs recently had to deal with a dead party member. They opted to make the long trip to Crowstump to meet Sister Gorma Narrin to have the spell cast.
I gave them the option of asking the druids of Crystalhurst for help or going to Kraggodan to buy a scroll of raise dead. They opted to head north.
In my campaign, I long ago added Star Run Falls as a half way point in Nirmathas that represents the remains of an ancient elven civilization in the Fangwood Forest. The PCs were able to get some help from the guardian of Star Run Falls to make their trip smoother.
By the book, those are really the only options. Go to Crowstump for the cleric. Get a scroll from Kraggodan. Or ask the druids for a reincarnation.