WotBS DMing WOTBS: Can Torrent Die/Be Left Behind?

[ratzofftoya]

Title says it all, I reckon. My group of 6 PCs is breezing through all combat (using the adjustment rules in the campaign books, of course), and Torrent being there makes it easier, not to mention longer. It seems based on my scan of the first 3 adventures that she doesn't absolutely have to come with the group. Is my take right?

 

[Tormyr]

Yes, you can do whatever you want to make this campaign your own. Mechanically, she can be left behind. Story-wise, she is the default link to Seaquen and Lee Sidoneth, but that could be picked up by a PC background.

How far into the adventure are you?

 

[ratzofftoya]

Yes, you can do whatever you want to make this campaign your own. Mechanically, she can be left behind. Story-wise, she is the default link to Seaquen and Lee Sidoneth, but that could be picked up by a PC background.

How far into the adventure are you?

Not very! About to leave Gate Pass.

 

[Tormyr]

The last two encounters can be brutal. They will either make the heroes happy to have another healer, or she might die during the inquisitor attack if the Ragesians focus on her instead of her "inconsequential" bodyguards. Whether she becomes an NPC who regularly checks in with the heroes or someone they bury before continuing her mission, it will probably shape your campaign.

Oh, and the heroes can acquire a lot of NPCs on the trip to Seaquen. I would recommend only having 1 help at a time and have the rest hang back.

 

[ratzofftoya]

The last two encounters can be brutal. They will either make the heroes happy to have another healer, or she might die during the inquisitor attack if the Ragesians focus on her instead of her "inconsequential" bodyguards. Whether she becomes an NPC who regularly checks in with the heroes or someone they bury before continuing her mission, it will probably shape your campaign.

Oh, and the heroes can acquire a lot of NPCs on the trip to Seaquen. I would recommend only having 1 help at a time and have the rest hang back.

Awesome, thanks! By "last two encounters," do you mean the farmhouse and the gauntlet?

 

[Tormyr]

Yes

 

[Bill T.]

Ratzofftoya, also keep in mind that, for good or ill (but probably the latter), Torrent is perfectly designed to overcome the grand challenge at the end of the second chapter for 3.5e, at least if they do it Tiljann's way. If your party is a bunch of weaklings, it might be helpful to have her around.

That said, I was sort of glad to leave Torrent out the second time I ran this. Too many NPCs! With 6 PCs, I can't imagine they'd need the extra muscle.

 

[jeffh]

I killed her off 15 minutes into the first session, as the first known victim of the Ragesian bombing. Enough of my PCs had personal connections to the Resistance that her story role wasn't missed at all, and in any case that ends about halfway through the third adventure.