Hi all,
I am nearing the end of my first full module run via PbP, and I'd like to run another when that one concludes. Specifically the Midnight Mirror, a 32 page intrigue/horror adventure for 4th level PCs. If you think you'd be interested in playing in such a game, please stop reading.
The reason I'm posting is to ask for help adjusting the dungeon/demi plane portion of the adventure so that it's better integrated with the investigative portion of the module. The first half of the game features investigation, where the PCs have to discover that their noble patron Stepan Boroi is in fact not so noble and is in fact the source of the woes he hires the PCs to put an end to. This culminates in a confrontation with Stepan, and I like this portion of the module.
After this, the PCs enter a demi plane/dungeon and it feels like most of the initial portion of the module stops mattering. To explain why, here's a list of every NPC in the dungeon:
Every NPC in the dungeon
Two fetchlings that attack on sight
Iozif and Henric, Stepan's brothers, both deceased. Henric is still around as an Allip who attacks on sight
Atamin and Manar, Niascor's brother/niece who ask the PCs to surrender their weapons and attack if they don't
Corys, Niascor's uncle, who attacks you on sight
Niascor, who the party entered the dungeon to murder on sight
Three fetchlings that are helpful by giving you lore about ancient history
Six fetchlings that are helpful by giving you lore about the bbeg and his family
Manar
Sorin, Stepan's 8 year old nephew who has a good claim to Stepan's Barony
As you can see, every NPC encountered is likely to trigger combat immediately or to give you boring lore that doesn't affect the outside world in any meaningful way. The main exception to this is Sorin, who is very interesting because he's highly relevant to the world outside (the PCs could return with him and try to install him as Baron in Stepan's place, which has interesting complexities). Aside from Sorin, I believe the most likely way the PCs will behave is to enter a room, kill things, and then move on to the next room. I feel like that is a waste given the intrigue established in the first half of the adventure
Some potential fixes:
1) Make Henric still alive, but driven partially mad. This further complicates what the PCs choose to do with Sorin in some interesting ways. Also, the PCs relationship with Henric could vary from "kill him" to "he's an ally" depending on their relationship with Stepan, and other information they discovered during the investigative portion of the module
2) Make more of the NPCs possible to fight AND possible to avoid conflict with. Atamin and Manar are the obvious choices
3) Give some NPCs different motivations that could result in a three way conflict. Unclear how but I find that confrontations involving multiple NPCs who are not all on the same side can be fun
If Atamin/Manar and the Allip are removed as combat encounters, it's probably also possible to add one or two additional encounters. For example, to create a three way conflict scenario
Other monsters already in the module
The Heart, a CR 8 beater
Necrophidiuses, melee constructs
Shadow Mastiff, evil outsider/dog
Cold elementals, name says it all
Unsure what else would fit well on a plane of shadows, devoid of light, color, and heat
What say you, good people of the internet? Is the module already perfect as is? If not, how best to fix the issue outlined above?