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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Peni Griffin" data-source="post: 3406259" data-attributes="member: 50322">My group is constituted so differently from yours (paladin, fighter, rogue, bard, cleric) and I'm modifying so wildly that my experience is not likely to translate well.  They took 5 or 6 sessions plus some bluebooking to get through chapter one, but that's partly because we have a dilatory playstyle and were doing heavy roleplaying.  The two NPCs who have gotten the most use so far have been Jorr, the ranger in the woods, and Avarthel the druid minding the sacred grove outside Drellin's Ferry, because between them they know the woods like the backs of their hands.  I made them friends based on their shared involvement in the forest and fondness for animals.  Under my altered backstory, Jorr was the sole survivor of the Massacre at Vraath's Keep.  He was the dog boy and had hidden in the kennel with the puppies instead of participating; thus, he was afraid that the ghost haunting the keep would have it in for him and knew all the stealthy ways around it, but hadn't checked it out himself.  Avarthel's wild shape, animal companions, and ability to talk to animals and plants make him ideally suited for supplying intelligence about enemy movements, and since he speaks druidic and can't evacuate with the rest of Drellin's Ferry, he's also been available to communicate secretly with the Ghost Lord as my players go straight to Chapter 3.My "skill monkey," Gerik the World's Bravest Rogue, was indeed vital to the assault on Vraath Keep, as he insisted on scouting it solo, invisibly, and between his current intel and Jorr's specalist knowledge of the interior they were able to devise a fantastically effective plan with known objectives (Koth's filing system).  You also want someone who can find that vault, which contains the largest treasure in the entire module and which also has a number of potential uses - prisoner holding cell, hiding place, supply cache - for later game play.  However, your players are accustomed to running rogueless and have techniques to compensate.  The module assumes a party strolling blindly into the Keep, and the objectives can be met on that basis - although I think people fulfilling this expectation is one reason so many people find this module so lethal.  Also, remember that NPCs don't have to be passive.  If, for example, past experience causes you to fear a TPK if  your PCs enter the keep blind, your Jorr can be better-informed than mine was, maybe have been spying on it for days figuring out how best to deal with the inhabitants.  After my Avarthel flew back to town to report to Wiston, he sent work parties out to the keep to retrieve Koth's supplies and deny the use of them to the invaders.  Had Gerik not located the vault, Kellin Shadowbanks could have, though this would have changed how treasure distribution went, and the captured Koth wouldn't have been safely hidden away underground when Ozyrrandion came by.I would stat up the NPCs who fill gaps in your party's arsenal - in your case, Kellin Shadowbanks and Delorra - and anyone who strikes you as the type that they usually hook up with.  If there's a participation problem, collect everybody's sheets at the end of each session and tell them to either designate another player to run them or give you a couple of simple guidelines for running them as NPCs.  They'll get through this module on teamwork or not at all, and there won't be any in-game good reasons or good places for individuals to sit out most sessions.</blockquote>

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