Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 pukunui Aug 04, 2008 3:19:59	Hi there, I've got two things relating to my KotS campaign with which I'd like some help. 1) The initial hobgoblin encounter. It's obvious that if the PCs don't give a pass phrase or give the wrong one (including the false one that can be obtained from Ninaran), then the hobgoblins attack. But what if the PCs give the correct one? The adventure has the hobgoblins ask the PCs what business they have with Kalarel and that's the end of it. Should the PCs be able to talk their way past the hobgoblin guards? Or does the adventure assume the hobgoblins will eventually attack the PCs no matter what pass phrase they use? I'm a little confused by this encounter as it seems to be missing something. Would the hobgoblins tell the PCs to wait while they fetch the Warchief? Would the hobgoblins actually let the PCs go past? One idea I have is that the Warchief will come along and pretend that he's going to take the PCs to see Kalarel but when they're not expecting it, he'll get the hobgoblins to ambush them in an attempt to capture them to sell them to the slavers. 2) One of the PCs died but I fudged things a bit and had the kobold wyrmpriest bring him back to life (again with the idea of selling captured PCs to the slavers). However, because I essentially gave the PC a "free" raise dead, I was thinking I'd play it that he wasn't raised properly and still has one foot in the grave, so from time to time the landscape will shift and he'll see what's in the Shadowfell instead of the natural world, and at other times he'll feel like someone's following him or touching his shoulder or he'll think ravens are watching him, etc etc. In this instance, I just want some help coming up with a good long list of things I can do to creep my player(s) out a bit. Thanks in advance! Cheers, Jonathan p.s. If I come up with any more questions/issues, I'll post them here as well rather than start a new thread.
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Aug 04, 2008 10:02:42	1. If the PCs give the right pass code, and are asked "what business do you have?" you have just entered the realm of roleplaying... make up what happens based on what the players do. I mean, if the players respond "we are here to stop kalarel" the hobgoblins are more than likely going to attack... but if they make something up, have them roll bluff or even start a small skill challenge using bluff/diplomacy/intimidate to get the hobgoblins to let them pass... It's all up to you and the players, just like a roleplaying game should be. 2. Don't do anything that actually hinders his character in any way, like assigning penalties to perception based on him looking at the "wrong world" at the time... because that is just unfair entirely. As far as what to do... ravens and crows seeming to follow the character and seem to stare at him, and in the shadows the character sees a brief flash of an image of his own decaying corpse looking back at him... a bit on the cheesy side, but.. I'm tired.
#3 pukunui Aug 04, 2008 15:23:30	1. If the PCs give the right pass code, and are asked "what business do you have?" you have just entered the realm of roleplaying... make up what happens based on what the players do. I mean, if the players respond "we are here to stop kalarel" the hobgoblins are more than likely going to attack... but if they make something up, have them roll bluff or even start a small skill challenge using bluff/diplomacy/intimidate to get the hobgoblins to let them pass... It's all up to you and the players, just like a roleplaying game should be. Well, obviously it's roleplaying, yes. But it would've been nice if the module gave some clues as to how to let things play out. The authors did a good job giving suggestions elsewhere in the module. It just seems like this particular encounter is missing some info -- like maybe something got cut out for space-spaving reasons or something. 2. Don't do anything that actually hinders his character in any way, like assigning penalties to perception based on him looking at the "wrong world" at the time... because that is just unfair entirely. No no no. I wasn't proposing doing anything like that! I just want to creep him out. If he sees the "wrong world", it'll be for a split second, and I wouldn't do it in combat. As far as what to do... ravens and crows seeming to follow the character and seem to stare at him, and in the shadows the character sees a brief flash of an image of his own decaying corpse looking back at him... a bit on the cheesy side, but.. I'm tired. I was thinking ravens and crows to play up the Raven Queen thing. Maybe if the character survives, I'll have some shadar-kai come looking for him because he "cheated" death. We'll see ... Anyone have any other ideas?
#4 theomnipotentsco Aug 04, 2008 17:01:49	You could have very odd things happen with the character. -The Character no longer casts a shadow. -Torches or fire seem to randomly blow out around him (By careful with this, have it happen for eerie effect, not to hinder the party) -The wind seems to whistle a death march tune that only the character can hear -Touching living plants seems to wither and wilt them. (See the warning for the fire going out) -Looking at anything written makes it look as if it was written in fresh, dripping blood. Glancing again will make it look normal (use sparingly or as a plot device) If you like the whole "Cheating Death" idea, here are some things to incorporate the Raven Queen into it. -Have the character wake to find a dead raven in his sleeping skin, that bursts into a cool blue flame when he notices it and leaves pitch black ash. (A warning from the Raven Queen) -After a few levels of not casting a shadow, have his shadow suddenly re-appear, but have it's actions delayed by a second or two. Eventually you can have it materialize into a Shadar-kai sent to claim the soul of him. (Insert Combat encounter here) -Have him awaken to find his equipment and his sleeping skin covered in a layer of frost Think of small things like that that are odd.
#5 theomnipotentsco Aug 04, 2008 19:39:48	Some More Ideas -As the player comes back, you can alter some physical appearances of them. (Say their hair has turned grey, or their eyes shift between colors now) -Inform the character that every once and awhile when they say something, that whomever they are talking to looks at them confused. Then explain that what they said came out in an ancient tongue that they did not understand. -Feels uneasy around symbols of death. (Like a sinking feeling in his stomach when he sees a raven, or gets chills looking at a scythe hanging on the wall of a farmer the party is gathering information from)
#6 pukunui Aug 04, 2008 20:50:40	The Omnipotent Sco, Those are all fantastic ideas! Thanks! As I said before, I don't want to do anything that will have an in-game mechanical effect. I just want to creep the player out and add to his character's story a bit. What I was actually envisioning was a list of small things that I could check off as I went through them (maybe repeating a few of the better ones) until his character either dies for good or decides to sort himself out once and for all. I would probably just throw in one or two a session. I also want to play up the mirror found at the burial site in KotS. I've already had it to a few creepy things, but now that this PC has come back from the dead, I thought maybe I could mess with the player's mind a bit more with it (especially considering that I've decided the mirror is a relic/artifact sacred to the Raven Queen that Kalarel was hoping to destroy in order to amplify his magic and open the portal more quickly). Maybe once or twice I might use the "one foot in the Shadowfell" thing to reveal a plot point or something but I mostly just want to add some fun opportunities for roleplaying and add to the overall creepy feeling that KotS is supposed to have.