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AaWBlog Adventures: Maddening May, Macabre Manses, Wonders of NaeraCull

cover-naeracull2The craziness of the AaWBlog could not be contained within the month of May, and thus insanity abounds throughout Maddening May! Fight off strange slugs, explore a sunken insane asylum, and traverse the Dar’spelun Slugmarsh—if you’re brave enough for it.

Read up on Maddening May here and here!

 

In case you somehow missed it, we collected all of the amazing content from the Hungering Jungle of NaeraCull in FOUR FREE PDFs you can get right here on AdventureAWeek.com!

 

Of course, regular readers already know what happened in October: we got spooky with Macabre Manses. There are several haunted houses to explore, written by Rory Toma, Justin Andrew Mason, and RPG Superstar Steve Helt!

Explore the Macabre Manses here and here!

 

Stay tuned! More is coming down the line for Remember in December, and if you check in next week, details on the AaWBlog Adventure Path!

 

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Macabre Manses (part 2) and Extra Web Content!

Two weeks ago we properly introduced you to the Macabre Manses with Justin Andrew Mason’s deviant carrionette fleshdolls and Rory Toma’s pumpkin-themed tribute to Joshua Gullion.

Final-Hallway-CFinishing up the month, Jeremy Kleve took us into the weird places of the cosmos with Fomalhaut the Nebulous, his deranged acolyte Gruxm Goretooth, a strange magic item made of the elder entity, dangerously vexing omnidirectional doorways of confusion, the star spawn creature template, the story of how this mad cult began, and a quest for PCs so unfortunate as to fall afoul of the warped goblin sorcerer’s ambitions.

Timothy Snow filled in a few days with some Halloween-themed content: the chilling ipalolo devil, the cowl of insubstantial form, and the gourd-happy pumpkin slinger trap. RPG Superstar Steven T. Helt hit us with another great haunt (overzealous, that one), and yesterday I shared my tips for sowing terror in your tabletop game.

 

Before you get out there to scare someone, check out the free extra web content below! Adventurers that dug in and played through For Rent, Lease, or Conquest have a treat prepared by the module’s author, Colin Stricklin!

 

 

For Rent, Lease, or Conquest EXTRA CONTENT!

Concluding the Adventure
If the party and the formians survive, the PCs are left with something of a problem: they still don’t have a house! A diplomatic mission on behalf of the formians will solve this problem nicely.

If the adventurers agree to help Sirjan gain Hordenheim citizenship, she rewards the party with a fully renovated carriage house. They’ve proven useful after all, and Sirjan wants such powerful allies close. The young queen even bestows the title “Defender of the Colony” upon each of the PCs.

A formian colony makes for an unusual neighbor though, and the Office of Immigration will take some convincing.

 

Navigating the Bureaucracy
Sirjan’s path to citizenship hinges entirely on the party’s diplomatic skills. Anyone possessing even a passing familiarity with Hordenheim knows of the Office of Immigration, the bureaucratic body responsible for transitioning the traditionally evil races to their new lives as productive members of society. However, the clerks at Immigration are used to orcs and harpies and the like. There is a great deal of hemming and hawing over allowing a “society of giant ants” to take up residence.

“This is most unprecedented,” the junior clerks say. “The paperwork is quite complex.”

5 star review on Paizo!
5 star review on Paizo!

Any number of role playing challenges could be appropriate in this case. Examples include:

  • A DC 17 Will save to keep any barbarian or otherwise short-tempered party members from pitching a paperwork induced tantrum.
  • A DC 20 Diplomacy/Gather Information check to determine the proper bribes for each petty official. Perhaps an underling wants his boss’s position?
  • Multiple DC 15 Fortitude saves as the PCs run Form A-19 to the girl downstairs, making sure to pass along the yellow copy to Mr. Withers in accounts receivable before he takes his tea at 2:15 precisely, but not before climbing the stairs to the bursar’s office on the top story for a Letter of Receipt, which must in turn be stamped by the notary in sub-basement 3C…
  • A DC 22 Linguistics/Forgery check to cut through the mass of paperwork.
  • A DC 15 Intimidate check to scare the other applicants out of line.

 

Home Sweet Home
After you’ve made your party suffer long enough with this silliness, the rewards should be great. Allow them to design their new home as they see fit (within reason of course), and have the formian neighbors drop off a housewarming present or two in the form of magic items. Axiomatic weapons, armor made from formian carapaces, or even a giant slug egg are all appropriate.

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Meta Thursday (Macabre Manses): Tabletop Terror

tabletop terror 4Horror can be a tricky thing—anybody can be gorey, but to really have an impact there are a number of factors to consider. Who are you trying to scare? Why are you trying to scare them, and most importantly, how?

Who You’re Scaring

  • What kind of group do you have before you?
  • Do they work well as a team?
  • Have they experienced a PC death before and if so, how recently?
  • Powergamers? Spotlighters? Meticulous planners?

This needs to be your initial concern because it colors everything that comes next. If you’re playing against power gamers, do not give them mechanical foreshadowing (see “How” below); conversely, if the group isn’t very team oriented (less the “X-Men” and more the “Defenders”), splitting them up won’t do you a huge amount of good. Carefully weigh out your options and do your best to anticipate what the PCs are likely to do when things get dark—no matter how you do it, surprise is going to be a part of the equation.

 

Why You’re Scaring

  • Building to a crescendo?
  • An essential element to a creature or particular encounter?
  • To increase the general suspense of the game?

tabletop terror 3If you’re running a game in Ravenloft, the word of the day is always going to be horror! The things to keep in mind in this case is that ultimately you do want the players to win, only that their struggle be a true test against an ever present darkness. I’ve found that warm reprieves can get the trick done, but there’s a lot to be said for a long, arduous trial with truly shining moments of glory.

Maybe this is just a brief foray into horror—in this case, definitely avoid pulling punches and keep extra material around in the event the PCs are on a lucky streak with the dice! On the whole, most games are encouraging the party’s victory (Paranoia being my favorite exception) so a good way to inflict terror is to really give them the feeling that the odds have definitely gone up. You don’t have to necessarily change the numbers to do it, either (more on that below under “How”).

Of course you might just want to increase the general level of suspense in the game because you’re starting to introduce some darker themes and elements in your world and story. This is where you’re looking for a sense of balance between what was and what is; don’t go and start throwing Cthulhu nightmare at the PCs right away, build up to it! An unsettling dream every other game session probably doesn’t register as too strange (stress, right?) but if you let it grow into a greater concern over time, the average player is going to concoct something far more terrifying than what you’re cooking up!

 

tabletop terror 1How You’re Scaring

  • Via the gaming atmosphere?
  • Using mechanics to get it done?
  • The old fashioned way: with a right proper scary story!

Making a gaming atmosphere that encourages fear is simple enough: get some soft lighting (but not too soft—everyone needs to be able to read!), be (more) secretive with your notes, throw in plenty of rolls that serve no real purpose other than to throw players off kilter, and play some music in the background. Not the epic stuff either, but something dark and foreboding (I recommend Midnight Syndicate; D&D music is their thing and there are lots of spooky tracks!)

As mentioned above, the second option is not for groups with power gamers unless you are a very experienced GM. If you can handle it (and aren’t afraid of a TPK), a surefire way to give your players the willies is to start giving them really good, very specific magic items. Nobody will be suspicious about the first one or two powerful weapons or protectives, but once they get the third or fourth, concerns begin to arise. This is a tough road to hoe though—you’re literally raising the stakes. By giving PCs specialized equipment of considerable potency, you’re able to throw something extremely dangerous at the party. If things go as you’ve planned, they should be of two minds when the final battle comes: oh-my-god-we’re-going-to-die and holy-crap-we-might-win.
If you can hack it, I’ve found this to be the most rewarding.

tabletop terror 2Finally, there’s just a well-told horror story. There’s a Kickstarter going on from Louis Porter Jr. Design for the Cross of Fire saga, and all the talent wrapped up in that is in good standing to deliver a terrifying tale, but I wouldn’t count out the logically consistent river of blood in The Mysterious Peaks of Baranthar. 😀

If this is your bag, tips for telling a scary story abound on the internet, but remember: people fear the unknown more than anything else, so make use of that suspense and stretch it out to good effect!

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Trap Tuesday (Macabre Manses): Pumpkin Slinger

pumpkin slingerPumpkin Slinger CR 5

Type mechanical; Perception DC 23; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger location; Reset manual
Effect atk +12 ranged (4d6+8; grease spell effect, DC 12 Reflex save); 20-ft.-radius circle (Fort DC 12); multiple targets (all targets in a 20-ft. radius of the target)

The pumpkin slinger fires a Medium-size pumpkin into a 5 ft. square. If hit, the guts of the pumpkin affect the target as though they were subject to a grease spell (CL 3rd). If the pumpkin slinger’s attack misses,  treat the pumpkin as if it was a splash weapon that affects a 10-ft. square as grease (CL 3rd).

Anyone struck by a pumpkin slinger trap or inside of 20 feet where the gourd lands must make a DC 12 Fortitude save or become nauseated for 1d4 minutes.

 

[Submitted by Tim Snow]

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Magic Item Monday (Macabre Manses): Cowl of Insubstantial Form

cloak-rich-h1Cowl of Insubstantial Form
Aura strong transmutation; CL 14th
Slot head; Price  85,800 gp; Weight  4 lbs.

DESCRIPTION
This membranous green cowl dangles lifelessly.

The color of the membrane changes depending on the type of light reflects upon its glossy hide. It is transparent to the wearer, while opaque to the onlooker. When the cowl of insubstantial form is activated it allows the creature wearing it to gain an insubstantial form for up to 120 minutes per day. These minutes do not need to be used consecutively, but must be spent in increments of 10 minutes. This ability can be stopped as a free action (though any remaining time for the 10 minutes increment is wasted). The wearer of the cowl of insubstantial form always benefits from the +3 dodge bonus to AC that it continually provides.

HISTORY
DC 20     Some say that to make a cowl of insubstantial form, one requires the essence of an insubstantial creature, bottled to prevent its escape.
DC 25     The only way to gather these esoteric materials is to locate one of the rare living specimens that lack corporeality, requiring a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check.
DC 30     It is rumored that the first cowl of insubstantial form was given to an elf from an elder wind elemental. So secretive are its origins, just the mere mention of the location of the first of these legendary magic items is hidden deep within a void composed of nothingness.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Items, 3 vials of essence from a creature with an insubstantial form, 8 lbs. of paper-thin leather or hide; Cost  42,900 gp

[Submitted by Tim Snow]

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Statblock Sunday (Macabre Manses): Ipalolo Devil

ilpalalo devilA smooth bone covers the front of this creature’s head, a pair of slender wings folded neatly behind its back. The void of facial features gives off a chilling presence as you gaze upon it.

Silent Devil (Ipalolo) CR 11
XP 12,800
LE Medium outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; see in darkness; Perception +12
Aura unholy (20 ft., DC 26)

DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 12, flat-footed 26 (+2 Dex, +16 natural)
hp 154 (14d10+70) fast healing 3
Fort +14; Ref +6; Will +14
DR 5/good; Immune silence, cold; SR 19

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee 2 claws +19 (2d6+6, Crit 17-20/x2), tail slap +14 (1d6+6)
Special Attacks silencing touch (Will 22 DC)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +17)
At will—deeper darkness
5/day—improved invisibility, suggestion
2/day—summon (level 4, 2d4 hello hounds 90%)

TACTICS
Before Combat Ipalolo devils usually hide in wait, offering what the victim wants most, hoping for the creature to turn against it own before summoning a lesser creature to attack enemies first.
During Combat If no prey take its bait, the ipalolo devil strikes shortly after its summoned creatures attack, targeting good-aligned casters to silence them, methodically wiping out spellcasters first. With each death the ipalolo devil tries again to bargain with the remaining creatures for what they most desire.
Morale Ipalolo devils fight until below 30 health before fleeing.

STATISTICS
Str 23, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 20, Wis 18, Cha 15
Base Atk +13; CMB +19; CMD 26
Feats  Critical Focus, Critical Bleeding, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Vital Strike, Skill Focus (stealth), Vital Strike
Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +19, Diplomacy +19,  Fly +19, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (arcana) +21, Knowledge (planes) +21, Perception +20, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +25, Survival +20
Languages Celestial, Infernal, Undercommon;  telepathy 100 ft.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Silencing Touch (Su) The ability functions as the spell silence except that is targets a single target instead of an area. The silenced creature is not immuned from sonic- or language-based attacks, spells, and effects. This ability is included in all melee attacks the Ipalolo devil makes, and directly bypasses spell resistance.
Wicked Claws (Ex) An ipalolo devil’s claws are abominably sharp and deadly, dealing 2d6 slashing damage on a successful hit and possessing a natural critical threat range of 19-20/x2.

Ipalolo devils serve directly under dukes or counts of hell, largely so that they may sow distrust among the lesser creatures of the planes. These creatures love the feeling that washes over them when they’ve successfully convinced comrades to fight each other to win what they want most from life, regardless of what that might be. Ipalolo devils are solitary creature enjoying silence most in life (aside from initiated squabbles). It is not known if the smooth bone over the ipalolo devil’s face is its own, or a mask the creatures like to wear.