Stumblewyk
Adventurer
First off- I know I have a few players who peruse these forums. If you're one of them, kindly retreat and back out now, and I won't be forced to destroy you Friday night.
I'm going to be concluding my group's Halloween Ravenloft excursion this Friday (due to some excellent RP, things got pushed back and we have to wrap things up this weekend). I'm running the group through my own 4e conversion of Night of the Walking Dead, and I'm having second thoughts about one of the encounters I have planned.
For those unfamiliar with the old module, towards the end of adventure, the killer, Jean Tarascon, decides that (either rightly, or through his paranoia) the PCs must be stopped. The old 2e module states that he attacks a magic-user while the party is moving throughout the village sometime on their 4th day in Marais d'Tarascon.
I've decided to heighten the terror a bit by trying to pull the unlucky PC into a (temporarily) solo encounter. Here's what I have planned.
As the PCs are moving throughout the village on Day 4, I'm going to have them describe in detail how they're walking - are they walking through town Reservoir Dogs-style, 6 abreast? Are they splitting up and walking in smaller groups? Are they in single-file? That kind of thing. It'll probably tip them off that something is up, but that's fine. I want them anticipating Something Bad is About to Happen. I'm going to ignore the old module recommendation that Jean attacks a magic-user and simple try to pick off whoever is in the back of the group.
I'll have that person give me either an Insight or Perception roll, against a Hard DC (17 in my 5th-level party's case). If they fail by more than 5, I'm going to have Jean pull them into a side alley and they'll be in Big Trouble for 3 rounds before the rest of the party realizes they've gone missing and can track them down.
If they fail by less than 5, I'm going to give them 1 round of Big Trouble at Jean's hands before the party can help them, by saying that they get pulled in, but are able to get off a squeek or brush the nearest ally's arm as they're pulled away. It's bad news for them, but they know help is on the way at least.
If they succeed on the Skill Check, they fully alert the party that they're being abducted, and I'll simply give Jean a surprise round.
I've statted Jean up as a 5th-level Elite Lurker, and I'm putting him in the encounter with a handful of ghouls (he's been turning his former servants into them for a few weeks now, I figure he'd use a couple to guard the mouth of the alley while he does his grisly work on the unfortunate PC he grabbed. This way the party has to fight past ghouls that can immobilize them where they stand in an attempt to help their ally if things go bad on the skill roll.
Here's where I get a little wishy-washy on this encounter...it kind of feels unfair, given 4e's encounter balance structure, to single a solitary PC and effectively cut them off from the rest of the party for what could be 3 rounds of combat. But I want the unfortunate PC to really feel like they're about to be cut ear-to-ear, and there's very little they can do about it, other than to make noise and pray help arrives in time.
Thoughts?
I'm going to be concluding my group's Halloween Ravenloft excursion this Friday (due to some excellent RP, things got pushed back and we have to wrap things up this weekend). I'm running the group through my own 4e conversion of Night of the Walking Dead, and I'm having second thoughts about one of the encounters I have planned.
For those unfamiliar with the old module, towards the end of adventure, the killer, Jean Tarascon, decides that (either rightly, or through his paranoia) the PCs must be stopped. The old 2e module states that he attacks a magic-user while the party is moving throughout the village sometime on their 4th day in Marais d'Tarascon.
I've decided to heighten the terror a bit by trying to pull the unlucky PC into a (temporarily) solo encounter. Here's what I have planned.
As the PCs are moving throughout the village on Day 4, I'm going to have them describe in detail how they're walking - are they walking through town Reservoir Dogs-style, 6 abreast? Are they splitting up and walking in smaller groups? Are they in single-file? That kind of thing. It'll probably tip them off that something is up, but that's fine. I want them anticipating Something Bad is About to Happen. I'm going to ignore the old module recommendation that Jean attacks a magic-user and simple try to pick off whoever is in the back of the group.
I'll have that person give me either an Insight or Perception roll, against a Hard DC (17 in my 5th-level party's case). If they fail by more than 5, I'm going to have Jean pull them into a side alley and they'll be in Big Trouble for 3 rounds before the rest of the party realizes they've gone missing and can track them down.
If they fail by less than 5, I'm going to give them 1 round of Big Trouble at Jean's hands before the party can help them, by saying that they get pulled in, but are able to get off a squeek or brush the nearest ally's arm as they're pulled away. It's bad news for them, but they know help is on the way at least.
If they succeed on the Skill Check, they fully alert the party that they're being abducted, and I'll simply give Jean a surprise round.
I've statted Jean up as a 5th-level Elite Lurker, and I'm putting him in the encounter with a handful of ghouls (he's been turning his former servants into them for a few weeks now, I figure he'd use a couple to guard the mouth of the alley while he does his grisly work on the unfortunate PC he grabbed. This way the party has to fight past ghouls that can immobilize them where they stand in an attempt to help their ally if things go bad on the skill roll.
Here's where I get a little wishy-washy on this encounter...it kind of feels unfair, given 4e's encounter balance structure, to single a solitary PC and effectively cut them off from the rest of the party for what could be 3 rounds of combat. But I want the unfortunate PC to really feel like they're about to be cut ear-to-ear, and there's very little they can do about it, other than to make noise and pray help arrives in time.
Thoughts?
