Feast of Goblyns Fixes

[thekristhomas]

Does it strike anyone else that having the players interact with Harkon Lucas in the for of his daughter is beyond effed up?

That's not my problem with it, my issue is that part of Lukas's DL curse is to be stuck with limited human forms (unlike normal wolfweres who can tailor their human form to be most pleasing), and he get's around this with a "hat of disguise"? seems too easy an out IMO

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

That's not my problem with it, my issue is that part of Lukas's DL curse is to be stuck with limited human forms (unlike normal wolfweres who can tailor their human form to be most pleasing), and he get's around this with a "hat of disguise"? seems too easy an out IMO

Agreed. Whoever wrote that in didn't get the concept of darklord curses. One could retcon it by saying Akriel is the spitting image of her father when he's in female form (perhaps if met outside of the dimly-lit bar, the fine lines and few gray hairs would give away "her" age and show her to be different than her daughter. Or we could come up with some even stronger curse the dark powers levied for trying to loophole them. (something to do with pain when using the hat, or uncontrolled shapechanges at inopportune times, or something like that..)

[Quinntonia]

I actually totally dig the "spitting image" explanation. I think that is what I will go for.

[jamesfirecat]

That's not my problem with it, my issue is that part of Lukas's DL curse is to be stuck with limited human forms (unlike normal wolfweres who can tailor their human form to be most pleasing), and he get's around this with a "hat of disguise"? seems too easy an out IMO

Honestly this doesn't bother me too much, because I assume wolfwere shapeshfiting abilities are on a similar level to jackalweres where they can roughly tailor what they look like/if they find a shape they like they can go back to it, but they can't shapeshift themselves to look like somebody else, you have to be a doppleganger (or use additional magic) to do that.

I think it's like...

Sex
Height
How Muscular
Hair Color
Defining Facial Features
How Attractive
Dominant Hand


(or some list along those lines)


Then Pick three the others will be completely random and beyond the wolfwere's control.

So Darklord curse or no, any wolfwere would need a hat of disguise or similar to impersonate another person in anything but bad lighting.

Granted getting around a darklord curse with a minor magical item is stupid, its just that minor magical item is necessary for his plot/plan in this adventure one way or another.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I actually totally dig the "spitting image" explanation. I think that is what I will go for.

Wait, wait... I have an even better explanation... It's not the standard reincarnation/family-resemblance/identical-cousins coincidence.

Akriel suffers under no such curse. The face she uses in her human female form is one she chose! So, perhaps she deliberately tailored it to match her father's only female human face. This way she marks herself as his kin and gets the treatment she's entitled to by other werewolves and humans alike (any wolfwere who tried this stunt without being Harkon's daughter would be ... chastised at best by the Alpha of the pack.) I assume werewolves probably recognize each other by scent anyway, regardless of form, but she wears the visual reminder as a badge. As an added bonus, her version is naturally slightly younger and more vibrant... a subtle dig at the father she wants to replace.


ETA: by the way, I just checked: It's a ring of impersonation, not a hat of disguise, and only works on people he knows well, if that helps at all. (IMHO, it doesn't really). I can't find anything that says whether wolfweres can imitate specific people or not, but according to DoDread, their ability works like polymorph, which works like alter self, which grants a +10 to disguise checks, which is enough to offset the maximum penalty for impersonating someone, so it should work most of the time. (doppelgangers get the same +10 to disguise, so it should be roughly the same ability) however, note that it does say that wolfweres are always extremely attractive. It's not clear if this is a limitation or a preference. One might argue that a wolfwere can't impersonate someone if they are too ugly.

[Quinntonia]

Wait, wait... I have an even better explanation... It's not the standard reincarnation/family-resemblance/identical-cousins coincidence.

Akriel suffers under no such curse. The face she uses in her human female form is one she chose! So, perhaps she deliberately tailored it to match her father's only female human face. This way she marks herself as his kin and gets the treatment she's entitled to by other werewolves and humans alike (any wolfwere who tried this stunt without being Harkon's daughter would be ... chastised at best by the Alpha of the pack.) I assume werewolves probably recognize each other by scent anyway, regardless of form, but she wears the visual reminder as a badge. As an added bonus, her version is naturally slightly younger and more vibrant... a subtle dig at the father she wants to replace.

I actually kind of love this. I don't know if this will come up at all for the players, but it helps me to have consistent motivation around my NPCs.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I actually kind of love this. I don't know if this will come up at all for the players, but it helps me to have consistent motivation around my NPCs.

Glad you like it! I do too. Further bonus: Harkon's female form in Gaz I and Akriel's female form in FoG are both described as having "long, dark wavy hair" (and of course being "beautiful"). It's not exactly conclusive, since that's still kind of common, but it doesn't disprove the theory.

[Quinntonia]

You know, this is why DMing is a sickness. There is basically no way that my players will ever uncover this stupid little detail, but I am so much happier with the interaction as a whole now that I know it. They don't have any idea the detail I put into these things, lol.

[Cromstar]

You know, this is why DMing is a sickness. There is basically no way that my players will ever uncover this stupid little detail, but I am so much happier with the interaction as a whole now that I know it. They don't have any idea the detail I put into these things, lol.

But that's the whole reason we DM, right? To have answers to every conceivable question or thought, despite the fact that nobody will ever actually ask them? Well, nobody but us DMs...

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

You know, this is why DMing is a sickness. There is basically no way that my players will ever uncover this stupid little detail, but I am so much happier with the interaction as a whole now that I know it. They don't have any idea the detail I put into these things, lol.

Oh gods yes. I have spent hours and hours obsessing over details that no one would notice. If I didn't put them in the DM commentary of my journals, they'd be just in my head forever.

[thekristhomas]

That's one of the things I'm using these forums for, a repository for the unseen detail and backstory.

It's also something that I'm trying to cut out of my games, and am becoming more irritated by in published adventures (my irritation is my issue not a criticism of anyone's work) More and more I find myself thinking "Is there any way for the PCs to find this out?". In FoG though most, if not all, extraneous information falls under the mast of "gazeteer style" adventure, but still I never really got chance to make use of the maps of the Old Kartakaan Inn which take up a surprisingly large amount of the book (and that's after running the module 4 times).

As an aside, and hoping that it falls under the remit of the original thread, any advice out there on how to get more play from the Old Kartakaan Inn?

[jamesfirecat]

That's one of the things I'm using these forums for, a repository for the unseen detail and backstory.

It's also something that I'm trying to cut out of my games, and am becoming more irritated by in published adventures (my irritation is my issue not a criticism of anyone's work) More and more I find myself thinking "Is there any way for the PCs to find this out?". In FoG though most, if not all, extraneous information falls under the mast of "gazeteer style" adventure, but still I never really got chance to make use of the maps of the Old Kartakaan Inn which take up a surprisingly large amount of the book (and that's after running the module 4 times).

As an aside, and hoping that it falls under the remit of the original thread, any advice out there on how to get more play from the Old Kartakaan Inn?

See my suggestion about having Harkon there the first time the group goes there posing as a serving wench or in some other manner interacting with them.

Also one part that always stood out for me (may have mentioned this before elsewhere in the thread/a different one) when reading the Gazetteer entry on Kartakass was the bit about how they believe that the undead can't sing since they've been kicked out of the Eternal Choir or whatever it is called.

If one of the PCs acts strangely/looks strange they may find themselves faced with the choice of "Karaoke or death!" before a tavern full of hungry wolfweres who have an ear for music and want to hear something good out of the PCs....

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

As an aside, and hoping that it falls under the remit of the original thread, any advice out there on how to get more play from the Old Kartakaan Inn?

find a way to force the PCs to stay the night? (weather... bridge retracted for the night ("for the safety of our guests, of course")... ) It's always been a highlight of the adventure when I've run it. What's keeping your PCs from the place? Did you describe too forbodingly?

[Quinntonia]

I've had every meeting with Akriel there, but during the day so it is a little safer, and at least once a couple of them decided to go and see a show there as they kept hearing that all the best bards perform there, "but it gets a little rough at night."

[thekristhomas]

As an aside, and hoping that it falls under the remit of the original thread, any advice out there on how to get more play from the Old Kartakaan Inn?

find a way to force the PCs to stay the night? (weather... bridge retracted for the night ("for the safety of our guests, of course")... ) It's always been a highlight of the adventure when I've run it. What's keeping your PCs from the place? Did you describe too forbodingly?

Bizarrely, I have had a group stay the night (with subsequent wolfwere attack), and another group fought some young werewolves who were there out of bravado, but in neither scenario did the PCs enter more than a few rooms, and the two other times they've just been in the bar and back room, maybe my players are just not very explory?!