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Author
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Axelay
Pie
(11/11/02 7:52:15 am)
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Need tactics for Hommlet Cultists
Hi all!
I just read the other cultist thread and thought to start another one with my "problem". The situation:
The pc's are back from the moathouse, having explored everything but the bottom of the obelisk chamber (they left very quickly after seeing those veins in the obelisk move). On their way out they encountered Gren who could flee with the artifacts. Fleeing with the characters horses she had some kind of head start. Of course the party tracked her to Hommlet, but couldn't find her their. They DID find tracks of their horses leading out of town, so they assume she fled (I ruled one of the cultist led the horses into the woods, so they are not found in front of the mill). Talking with some people in town they decided to talk to Sugnoir and Elmo the following day - here we stopped. According to my campaign calendar this is the day the wagon arrives at the moathouse, so I thought the cultist will leave early in the morning and will try to meet the wagon on the road. This seems quite logical for me as they have everything they want, but I fear my players could loose some important clues. Any ideas to get them back on track fast without railroading them too much?
Axelay
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smetzger
Pie
(11/11/02 8:22:17 am)
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Re: Need tactics for Hommlet Cultists
First off, although I think they could meet the Wagon on the road, I think they will still stop by the Moathouse and shore things up and deposit the Grick.
Gettin back on track.
Ooh, let me add this. How about in the morning there is no fresh bread with their breakfast. If they ask why; they are told that the inn didn't get its normal delivery of flour from the mill yesterday. If the PCs immediatly leave for the mill they can catch the cultists as they are exiting the mill.
Master Dunrat could accidentally leave the message behind, maybe its buried in a pile of mill receipts. The mill workers could then report the missing owners and Elmo could ask for the parties help, thus eventually finding the bodies and the note about Rastor.
The party could probably catch up to the wagon and the cultists on the way to Rastor. Horses move alot faster than a wagon.
Edited by: smetzger at: 11/11/02 9:01:07 am
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Axelay
Pie
(11/11/02 10:20:59 am)
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Re: Need tactics for Hommlet Cultists
thanks for the idea with the missing bread - I'll probably use that as an emergency clue. I already envision the party battling the cultists on the road *eg*
Axelay
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Paelban
Pie
(11/11/02 11:22:56 am)
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Re: Need tactics for Hommlet Cultists
As far as tectics themselves go, remember: Dunrat has a bead of force, and he will *not* hesitate to use it. Any character that a) survives the damage (5d6 is nothing to sneeze at) and/or b) makes the save will have the undivided attention of Dunrat, Grune, Torridan, Vacra, and Gren for a good 3d6 minutes.
Also, has your group dealt with Jaroo and Chatrillon yet? They just might tag along with Dunrat and co., you know. So could Maridosen. Now *that's* a scary encounter right there.
Happy slaying.
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Siobharek 
Orc
(11/12/02 12:11:57 am)
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Re: Need tactics for Hommlet Cultists
I beg to differ on the bead of force thing. Gren is guarding a bead in the moat house. She is presumably guarding it because it's a relic from the olden days. This also ties in nicely with Tharizdun's force domain. If Dunrat has one, it has been given him as a great honour, and he would treat it accordingly. I'm not saying he wouldn't use - but it might indeed be with some hesitation.
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. |
Nyarlathotep
Pie
(11/12/02 2:25:00 am)
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Bead of Force
I agree with Siobharek.. the Bead of Force should be used as a last resort item.
IMC, Dunrat was escaping on the road with the rest of the cultists when the PCs caught up with them and he didn't use it until the very end, as a last ditch measure to escape. (Unfortunately for Dunrat, the monk had a readied action and threw a dagger at the bead, shattering it... Dunrat failed his save, but a poor damage roll left him reasonably healthy with several minutes to prepare for renewed combat)
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Andorax
Orc
(11/12/02 7:10:52 am)
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No Bread
One thing I strongly recommend...present the lack of fresh bread as a total non-entity, an irrelevant bit of background campaign fluff. If they didn't catch the clue about the millhouse from Geynor Ton's journal (they DID recover his journal from the Moathouse, didn't they?), then they're due a dose of kicking themselves.
BTW, does the Inn of the Welcome Wench bake their own bread, or do they buy it from Papa's Bakery? If it's the latter, it's a chance to introdude another NPC and make Hommlet "come to life" more, as well as giving more of a mystery/detective feel if the PCs do try to find out where their bread is.
Lastly, if they do completely miss the boat (artifacts stuffed in cart, returned to CRM, badguys fled), there's always my Best of Boards suggestion...that Dunrat had a second set of orders on the note to travel on alone to Nulb and question Lareth...the PCs can catch up with him and Lareth together there, and recover Dunrat's orders off of his corpse in the process. Nulb is a logical "next place to investegate" for the PCs.
"Whadda ya mean, Orcs get levels too?!?" |
Roland Delacroix
Pie
(11/12/02 9:42:24 am)
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One way
When they ask at breakfast, as PC's always do, 'do I notice anything unusual?' just shrug and say 'not really....the bread is a little stale i guess.....' real nonchalant. If they pursue it you can go into more detail.
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Axelay
Pie
(11/14/02 2:24:53 am)
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Thanks
I just want to say thank you for all the feedback. I agree that the party has got enough clues (like the journal) to get back on track by themselves. Chenashi will stay at the mill like it's written in the book, so no problem getting some hints there. I think I'll go for the showdown on the road, after all the party can travel much faster than the cultists with their wagon. And if they discover this rather late the urgency to follow them will give some good tension to the story (well I hope so). If I get to it I'll give you a write-up when we play again (which will be in 2 weeks).
greetings
Axelay
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