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(Spoilers) My experience with Reavers of Harkenwold - Updated
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<blockquote data-quote="Nemesis Destiny" data-source="post: 5737349" data-attributes="member: 98255"><p><strong>Encounters E4 and E2</strong></p><p></p><p>When I ran this, the group's next destination after clearing out the Toadwallow area was to head to Easthill to liberate it, and secure the help of Adalbar. One of the PCs had a story tie to him, and I'd hinted that he had some rangers that would make good allies in the struggle to free the valley. </p><p></p><p>So, that's when I decided to spring Encounter E4 - though I just set it up as the garrison guarding/oppressing the town. The reason I did this, rather than use the suggested set up, is because no enemies survived the other battles to even be able to tell Nazin what was going on. I mean, sure, I'm the DM - I could have just said someone they didn't see witnessed one of their Iron Circle massacres, but they were proud of their "no one gets away" strategy, and I wanted to reward them for that.</p><p></p><p>They made my life easy, because they just marched into town and attacked without saying a word, even to each other. We all knew the encounter would be easy for them (they were becoming pretty familiar with the opposition), and I liked where this was going. I spent more of my time on descriptive text than strategy this fight - I emphasized the weather (rain and drizzle), the atmosphere, the reactions of their enemies, and so on. I tried to describe everything with as close to a "bullet time" flair as I could.</p><p></p><p>I only made a few changes to the fight; I added an enforcer to make up for the large party size as usual, and I refluffed the rage drake as a corrupt wolf (I didn't bother using different stats this time).</p><p></p><p>I managed to divide the group up tactically, and actually managed to bloody the hunter. I think her player may have been getting cocky, because after that he played much more strategically once again.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, this encounter gave me a good idea for something: the "story kill."</p><p></p><p>In a case where everyone knows what the outcome is going to be, but where it doesn't make sense to avoid the fights, nor does it necessarily make sense to throw something unexpectedly challenging at the group, I raised the idea of Story Kill Mode with them. In this mode of play, I would relinquish much of my narrative control and let them decide how things play out, no rolling required. XP is granted as normal, provided the descriptions keep everyone entertained.</p><p></p><p>They seemed to like the idea, provided that, as mentioned, the narrative was good enough to forgo the fighting and didn't just consist of, "yeah, we kill them; slit their throats and stuff."</p><p></p><p>For the storykill encounter, I wanted to use the only E-series encounter I hadn't yet used. I, or they, rather collaborated with me on setting this one up. We decided that the local Iron Circle commander was out on a sortie with some of his men to try to round up Adalbar and his rangers from the surrounding hillside. They set a trap for him, having the group send word to the enemy commander that Adalbar had been located in town and that if they hurried back, they could catch him.</p><p></p><p>The plan was that when the Iron Circle forces returned and "captured" Adalbar, they would have a celebration for "putting down the insurgency" - meanwhile, the party druid would concoct some herbs for the food and drink they served the enemy to incapacitate them. Basically, the combination of food and drink would cause stomach upset - forcing the soldiers to use the outhouse, at which point the PCs would take them out, one by one.</p><p></p><p>For this trap, they enlisted the villagers' help to dig a fresh outhouse (since that would otherwise be quite gross). They then hid the polearm-wielding Warden in the hole. When the victim came to relieve themselves, *stab*</p><p></p><p>That part of the session was zany, amusing, disgusting, and full of role playing. I would consider it a success.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nemesis Destiny, post: 5737349, member: 98255"] [b]Encounters E4 and E2[/b] When I ran this, the group's next destination after clearing out the Toadwallow area was to head to Easthill to liberate it, and secure the help of Adalbar. One of the PCs had a story tie to him, and I'd hinted that he had some rangers that would make good allies in the struggle to free the valley. So, that's when I decided to spring Encounter E4 - though I just set it up as the garrison guarding/oppressing the town. The reason I did this, rather than use the suggested set up, is because no enemies survived the other battles to even be able to tell Nazin what was going on. I mean, sure, I'm the DM - I could have just said someone they didn't see witnessed one of their Iron Circle massacres, but they were proud of their "no one gets away" strategy, and I wanted to reward them for that. They made my life easy, because they just marched into town and attacked without saying a word, even to each other. We all knew the encounter would be easy for them (they were becoming pretty familiar with the opposition), and I liked where this was going. I spent more of my time on descriptive text than strategy this fight - I emphasized the weather (rain and drizzle), the atmosphere, the reactions of their enemies, and so on. I tried to describe everything with as close to a "bullet time" flair as I could. I only made a few changes to the fight; I added an enforcer to make up for the large party size as usual, and I refluffed the rage drake as a corrupt wolf (I didn't bother using different stats this time). I managed to divide the group up tactically, and actually managed to bloody the hunter. I think her player may have been getting cocky, because after that he played much more strategically once again. Anyway, this encounter gave me a good idea for something: the "story kill." In a case where everyone knows what the outcome is going to be, but where it doesn't make sense to avoid the fights, nor does it necessarily make sense to throw something unexpectedly challenging at the group, I raised the idea of Story Kill Mode with them. In this mode of play, I would relinquish much of my narrative control and let them decide how things play out, no rolling required. XP is granted as normal, provided the descriptions keep everyone entertained. They seemed to like the idea, provided that, as mentioned, the narrative was good enough to forgo the fighting and didn't just consist of, "yeah, we kill them; slit their throats and stuff." For the storykill encounter, I wanted to use the only E-series encounter I hadn't yet used. I, or they, rather collaborated with me on setting this one up. We decided that the local Iron Circle commander was out on a sortie with some of his men to try to round up Adalbar and his rangers from the surrounding hillside. They set a trap for him, having the group send word to the enemy commander that Adalbar had been located in town and that if they hurried back, they could catch him. The plan was that when the Iron Circle forces returned and "captured" Adalbar, they would have a celebration for "putting down the insurgency" - meanwhile, the party druid would concoct some herbs for the food and drink they served the enemy to incapacitate them. Basically, the combination of food and drink would cause stomach upset - forcing the soldiers to use the outhouse, at which point the PCs would take them out, one by one. For this trap, they enlisted the villagers' help to dig a fresh outhouse (since that would otherwise be quite gross). They then hid the polearm-wielding Warden in the hole. When the victim came to relieve themselves, *stab* That part of the session was zany, amusing, disgusting, and full of role playing. I would consider it a success. [/QUOTE]
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