So I decided to do a complete reboot of Carowyn Manor to give my 8th level party more of a challenge. I love the danse macabre vibe of the original, but the map is just too darned small for my liking, particularly since I'll be adding more monsters. I've decided to use the excellent High Edgmoor Hall map from Heroic Maps, which, like the original, has lots of passageways and doors for Jolistina to flee down and circle around the Party, but also has more room for monsters to swarm them.
Speaking of which, solitary zombies just aren't going to cut it, and adding tons of individual zombies is just a pain for rolling dice and resolving combat. Unfortunately, the zombie horde is simply way too large to be useful, so I'm supplementing them with several "zombie swarms" (yes, I know swarm is usually reserved for fine, tiny, and diminutive creatures) each comprised of 8 zombies represented by a large pawn. They'll have similar, but substantially nerfed, attacks as the zombie horde. Plus all of the individual zombies have been turned into plague zombies for plot reasons, which is a good segue to my next idea.
The whole Ruan plot seems awfully thin to me. Instead, the very strategic sorcerer in my Party took Scrying as his 4th level spell in order to collect info on the NPCs they've been meeting. He's requested a sketch of Rolth from Vencarlo, who is hunting it down for him. (He has a very bad headache from the one time he tried to scry the Queen - he won't be trying that again!) Once he has it (probably from the Guard's investigation file on the Key Lock Killer), he will scry Rolth as he meets with Jolistina outside Carowyn Manor.
Rolth is using the manor as a test group for a new strain of the plague that has some success turning the deceased into plague zombies. Jolistina barred and terrorized the guests in the manor and infected some of them with the new strain of blood veil, then sat back and watched and made sure none of the guests escaped. Via the scrying, they will hear her reporting to Rolth on the spread and deadliness of the strain, and those guests that prove to be immune will eventually be taken to the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden for further study. If the Party acts quickly, they can save the remaining guests and perhaps encounter Rolth, although I want him to survive for the chapter finale at the Hospice. The encounter with Jolistina should play out much as anticipated in the module, although I've given her some additional sorcerer levels and spells, such as Create Pit and Web, to provide more of a challenge.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Really excited to see hows this all turns out!
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Excellent idea.
I too am going with plague zombies (my party is 6-7 players currently at level 3 - slow progression and I have to balance the encounters accordingly)
Plague zombies really connect with the plot; and your idea of Rolf experimenting on the Manor's guests is great - and helps direct the party to the Hospice if they have not done already.
I'm going to try and play it so it his hard to tell at the start if they are zombies or guests. maybe throw in some survivors in some rooms.
As for Ruan - I agree no need - plenty of stuff to keep your party busy in the temple of Urgathoa then searching for him. ie ROLF!