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Beefing Up Mbala (TOA Spoilers)
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7368250" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>Assuming you already know - based on your group - that a violent conflict with Nanny Pu'pu is imminent, I would think about the green hag's strategy. With flying monkeys at her command, desperate folks coming to see her, and the Invisible Passage power, it's very possibly she knows the PCs are coming for her and knows they're a big party with more than enough firepower to kill her.</p><p></p><p>I would have another adventuring party looking to have a fallen member raised from death (albeit as a zombie); I would have these adventurers be somewhat sympathetic in the eyes of players, but not clearly good guys. After all, they have a sacrificial goblin (or whatever) en tow. Treasure hunters whose path the PCs crossed before and traded maps/notes, that kind of thing. Have them be equal in # to the PCs' party size minus one (the dead cleric). Have them be returning to Nanny Pu'pu with payment (e.g. one of Saja N'baza's scales or a lock of Commander Breakbones' hair), a bit beat up from their journey through the jungles. The NPC party leader is secretly in love with the fallen cleric, and she won't let PCs stop them from bringing her back. Other members of NPC party may be more reasonable, though probably wouldn't betray their party. </p><p></p><p>This makes the challenge much more layered & interesting. For example, Nanny Pu'pu could or capture one of the NPCs and assume their place using Illusory Appearance. Depending on PCs' actions, they could come to blows with NPC party, convince the rogue NPC to sell out his companions by giving them the payment for Nanny Pu'pu (thus ruining the deal), or even make a tense alliance ("we kill the hag after you get your cleric back"). I could even see a scenario where Nanny Pu'pu fights alongside the NPC adventurers (albeit in a support capacity).</p><p></p><p>If it comes to just the PCs' party (including the allied NPCs) against Nanny Pu'pu and her flesh golem, there would be no contest, and not much point to rolling dice. The PCs would win by a landslide. However, I'd imagine Nanny Pu'pu has lots of zombies hidden around her hut that she can call on; after all, her schtick is that she's a follower of Myrkul who can animate zombies retaining their sentience. I would consider giving her a virtually unlimited number of zombies, perhaps arranged into 3 waves. For a party of that composition, it would be reasonable to have 40-60 zombies in each wave (erring higher if the Sorcerer/Wizard is present or much higher if a PC can Turn Undead).</p><p></p><p>Maybe the zombies get their animating power from 3 skull fetishes scattered among the ruins of Mbala... for example one hanging from wooden entry gate, hanging from the collapsed shrine to Ubtao that used to be at the heart of the village, and hanging in Nanny's garden. Destroying a fetish either reduces size of zombie waves OR eliminates one or more waves altogether. Destroying these fetishes encourages one PC to separate from rest of party – which is Nanny's preferred hunting opportunity. Maybe her flesh golem emerges from the earth to grapple that PC, or maybe she pretends to be a "sole survivor" (Illusory Appearance and/or Mimicry and/or <em>minor illusion</em>) and begs PC to rescue her from a precipitously collapsed home.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 7368250, member: 20323"] Assuming you already know - based on your group - that a violent conflict with Nanny Pu'pu is imminent, I would think about the green hag's strategy. With flying monkeys at her command, desperate folks coming to see her, and the Invisible Passage power, it's very possibly she knows the PCs are coming for her and knows they're a big party with more than enough firepower to kill her. I would have another adventuring party looking to have a fallen member raised from death (albeit as a zombie); I would have these adventurers be somewhat sympathetic in the eyes of players, but not clearly good guys. After all, they have a sacrificial goblin (or whatever) en tow. Treasure hunters whose path the PCs crossed before and traded maps/notes, that kind of thing. Have them be equal in # to the PCs' party size minus one (the dead cleric). Have them be returning to Nanny Pu'pu with payment (e.g. one of Saja N'baza's scales or a lock of Commander Breakbones' hair), a bit beat up from their journey through the jungles. The NPC party leader is secretly in love with the fallen cleric, and she won't let PCs stop them from bringing her back. Other members of NPC party may be more reasonable, though probably wouldn't betray their party. This makes the challenge much more layered & interesting. For example, Nanny Pu'pu could or capture one of the NPCs and assume their place using Illusory Appearance. Depending on PCs' actions, they could come to blows with NPC party, convince the rogue NPC to sell out his companions by giving them the payment for Nanny Pu'pu (thus ruining the deal), or even make a tense alliance ("we kill the hag after you get your cleric back"). I could even see a scenario where Nanny Pu'pu fights alongside the NPC adventurers (albeit in a support capacity). If it comes to just the PCs' party (including the allied NPCs) against Nanny Pu'pu and her flesh golem, there would be no contest, and not much point to rolling dice. The PCs would win by a landslide. However, I'd imagine Nanny Pu'pu has lots of zombies hidden around her hut that she can call on; after all, her schtick is that she's a follower of Myrkul who can animate zombies retaining their sentience. I would consider giving her a virtually unlimited number of zombies, perhaps arranged into 3 waves. For a party of that composition, it would be reasonable to have 40-60 zombies in each wave (erring higher if the Sorcerer/Wizard is present or much higher if a PC can Turn Undead). Maybe the zombies get their animating power from 3 skull fetishes scattered among the ruins of Mbala... for example one hanging from wooden entry gate, hanging from the collapsed shrine to Ubtao that used to be at the heart of the village, and hanging in Nanny's garden. Destroying a fetish either reduces size of zombie waves OR eliminates one or more waves altogether. Destroying these fetishes encourages one PC to separate from rest of party – which is Nanny's preferred hunting opportunity. Maybe her flesh golem emerges from the earth to grapple that PC, or maybe she pretends to be a "sole survivor" (Illusory Appearance and/or Mimicry and/or [I]minor illusion[/I]) and begs PC to rescue her from a precipitously collapsed home. [/QUOTE]
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