Well, as per my character I worried more than I needed to.
When the heroes were done with extinguishing the fire they noticed they had been surrounded by 5 more Redbrands, one of them a bit bulkier than the rest. With fire in his eyes the Bulky Redbrand ordered the others to attack, exclaiming "You've really done it now" to the party. I had the players roll initiative, then immediately cut the scene to the farm where the party Rogue was still staying.
She was having breakfast on the front porch when a dove landed on the railing carrying a note. "Trouble in Phandalin. Friends in need. Make haste" it said along with a mark not unfamiliar to her. She hooded up and quickly rode off on a horse.
Back to Phandalin the first blows were traded. "It did not have to come to this", said the Noble Fighter as he parried both the Bulky Leader's attack and countered with his axe. The Cleric was almost immediately downed by two other Redbrands, though this placed them in a perfect formation for one of the Wizard's Burning Hands (because that worked so well last time). He used Spell Sculpt to minimize damage to the Cleric who'd still lost a Death Saving Throw to the jets of fire.
The other Wizard used Mage Hand to throw some embers from the bar fire at the other Redbrands.
Then the Bulky Leader and the Noble Fighter locked into a grapple forcing the Fighter to go prone - yes I totally cheated on that roll.
Gasps at the table as the Bulky Leader was about to plunge his sword into the Fighter's chest.. when a galloping sound swelled followed by two arrows being shot in the back of a Redbrand, and a half-ling Rogue jumping off a speeding horse right onto the back of the Bulky Leader. With amazing accuracy she buried her short sword between his helmet and armor and killed him outright with a well-timed critical sneak attack.. (a meager 28 points of damage). And all she had to say was "I told you not to go to this town!"
The last standing Redbrand made a run for it as per the original encounter's description but was downed by another arrow in the leg. They captured her and demanded her to talk. The Noble Fighter wanted to put her to justice but the Rogue insisted him to take a little walk while she would "persuade" the Redbrand to talk.
Surprisingly enough the Rogue actually offered help - some money and a safe passage out of town - in return for information about the Redbrands. A false dilemma of course, the Redbrand would surely be killed if Glassstaff found out about how the hitsquad failed to stop the party. At least, that's what the Rogue convinced her to believe.
This worked and they now know more about Glassstaf, the mysterious orders from the Black Spider, and the location of the secret entrance.
After all this the party left town as soon as possible to rest and heal at the farm. Laying low for a bit seemed like a good idea given the consequences of their last visit. While there they grilled the Rogue about her connections with the town, why she knew the name Glassstaff, etc, but to not much avail. She was dodging questions left and right and basically told them that there's this dangerous Wizard leading the Redbrands and that she wants him gone, and that they should further mind their own business. "Oh and don't talk to my aunt about this, I don't want trouble to come find her here".
DM note: I was amazed how smooth and natural this particular roleplaying bout was at the table with little to no participation from myself. They usually struggle with the RP.. most likely due to the 4E adventures we used to play.
Intel from the town suggested that the initial fire and the unfortunate death of the barkeep only fueled the town's hate towards the Redbrands. The barkeep's family pleaded with Harbin to do something but naturally he swept it all under the rug. "She knew it was a rowdy bunch and shouldn't have gotten involved." They await the party's return.
Even though they were armed with all this info and obvious hooks, the group still decided to go the the Banshee first. After all they were trying to find Crimshaw Castle most and foremost.
The Banshee chapter was an interesting one, with the two Elven Wizards entering the lair and RPing the encounter. That one Persuasion roll they have to make and then fail (funny by the way how the module doesn't say what happens then). One Wizard tried to run out of the lair but the Banshee Agatha wouldn't let him: vines closed up the exit and grew thorns as big as your hands. The other Wizard immediately excused his fellow mage and tried to show his respect by doing the usual gestures. Getting on one knee, averting his eyes, a plead, the works. Seeing how much this fellow Elf was in need she decided to point him into the right direction. "Continue your quest as you would and the knowledge you seek will come to you". With a gust of wind she vanished and the vines went back to normal. "Apart from the vine parlor trick she didn't seem all that powerful" said the cowardly Wizard. When they got outside though, the rest of the party was overjoyed to see them. "Finally, you return!" they said. "We were only gone for a few minutes" the Wizards replied before seeing the burnt out campfire, the tents and the bedrolls. "You were gone three nights!" exclaimed their fellow adventurers. The realization of the Banshee's true power slowly sank into the party, ending the session on an eerie and uncomfortable note.
Next session they plan to clean out the Redbrands hideout ("Continue on your quest" as Agatha said) using the secret tunnel on their way back from Conyberry. I wonder if I should have the Redbrand-that-got-away there, hanged by the neck from a tree as some sort of message: "You can't undermine the Redbrands"..
When the heroes were done with extinguishing the fire they noticed they had been surrounded by 5 more Redbrands, one of them a bit bulkier than the rest. With fire in his eyes the Bulky Redbrand ordered the others to attack, exclaiming "You've really done it now" to the party. I had the players roll initiative, then immediately cut the scene to the farm where the party Rogue was still staying.
She was having breakfast on the front porch when a dove landed on the railing carrying a note. "Trouble in Phandalin. Friends in need. Make haste" it said along with a mark not unfamiliar to her. She hooded up and quickly rode off on a horse.
Back to Phandalin the first blows were traded. "It did not have to come to this", said the Noble Fighter as he parried both the Bulky Leader's attack and countered with his axe. The Cleric was almost immediately downed by two other Redbrands, though this placed them in a perfect formation for one of the Wizard's Burning Hands (because that worked so well last time). He used Spell Sculpt to minimize damage to the Cleric who'd still lost a Death Saving Throw to the jets of fire.
The other Wizard used Mage Hand to throw some embers from the bar fire at the other Redbrands.
Then the Bulky Leader and the Noble Fighter locked into a grapple forcing the Fighter to go prone - yes I totally cheated on that roll.
Gasps at the table as the Bulky Leader was about to plunge his sword into the Fighter's chest.. when a galloping sound swelled followed by two arrows being shot in the back of a Redbrand, and a half-ling Rogue jumping off a speeding horse right onto the back of the Bulky Leader. With amazing accuracy she buried her short sword between his helmet and armor and killed him outright with a well-timed critical sneak attack.. (a meager 28 points of damage). And all she had to say was "I told you not to go to this town!"
The last standing Redbrand made a run for it as per the original encounter's description but was downed by another arrow in the leg. They captured her and demanded her to talk. The Noble Fighter wanted to put her to justice but the Rogue insisted him to take a little walk while she would "persuade" the Redbrand to talk.
Surprisingly enough the Rogue actually offered help - some money and a safe passage out of town - in return for information about the Redbrands. A false dilemma of course, the Redbrand would surely be killed if Glassstaff found out about how the hitsquad failed to stop the party. At least, that's what the Rogue convinced her to believe.
This worked and they now know more about Glassstaf, the mysterious orders from the Black Spider, and the location of the secret entrance.
After all this the party left town as soon as possible to rest and heal at the farm. Laying low for a bit seemed like a good idea given the consequences of their last visit. While there they grilled the Rogue about her connections with the town, why she knew the name Glassstaff, etc, but to not much avail. She was dodging questions left and right and basically told them that there's this dangerous Wizard leading the Redbrands and that she wants him gone, and that they should further mind their own business. "Oh and don't talk to my aunt about this, I don't want trouble to come find her here".
DM note: I was amazed how smooth and natural this particular roleplaying bout was at the table with little to no participation from myself. They usually struggle with the RP.. most likely due to the 4E adventures we used to play.
Intel from the town suggested that the initial fire and the unfortunate death of the barkeep only fueled the town's hate towards the Redbrands. The barkeep's family pleaded with Harbin to do something but naturally he swept it all under the rug. "She knew it was a rowdy bunch and shouldn't have gotten involved." They await the party's return.
Even though they were armed with all this info and obvious hooks, the group still decided to go the the Banshee first. After all they were trying to find Crimshaw Castle most and foremost.
The Banshee chapter was an interesting one, with the two Elven Wizards entering the lair and RPing the encounter. That one Persuasion roll they have to make and then fail (funny by the way how the module doesn't say what happens then). One Wizard tried to run out of the lair but the Banshee Agatha wouldn't let him: vines closed up the exit and grew thorns as big as your hands. The other Wizard immediately excused his fellow mage and tried to show his respect by doing the usual gestures. Getting on one knee, averting his eyes, a plead, the works. Seeing how much this fellow Elf was in need she decided to point him into the right direction. "Continue your quest as you would and the knowledge you seek will come to you". With a gust of wind she vanished and the vines went back to normal. "Apart from the vine parlor trick she didn't seem all that powerful" said the cowardly Wizard. When they got outside though, the rest of the party was overjoyed to see them. "Finally, you return!" they said. "We were only gone for a few minutes" the Wizards replied before seeing the burnt out campfire, the tents and the bedrolls. "You were gone three nights!" exclaimed their fellow adventurers. The realization of the Banshee's true power slowly sank into the party, ending the session on an eerie and uncomfortable note.
Next session they plan to clean out the Redbrands hideout ("Continue on your quest" as Agatha said) using the secret tunnel on their way back from Conyberry. I wonder if I should have the Redbrand-that-got-away there, hanged by the neck from a tree as some sort of message: "You can't undermine the Redbrands"..
