Café de Nuit

So it is with great surprise that they managed to kill Azenwrath!

For a party averaging 5th level, a 133 hp golem behemot, with amazing spell resistance! But they cleverly managed to keep his attention on the statuettes, having him on the move most of the time. One of the PC was killed, and another went very close.

I really didn’t expect this, but they REALLY wanted Az to be destroyed and threw all they could at it.

But not all that is dead in RL remains this way.

I sent them by email a cut scene info, a dream. Soon they will learn anyway of the full backstory of this golem.

---

This very night, in a lonely village way north of Canondale, a small wooden house stands outside the field limits. This house is inhabited by an old woman, who is not seeing much since a few years. Her sharp eyes went darker and darker with the passing years.

When she hears noise in her kitchen, she assumed it was that mouse again. But somehow, the noise was different. It was like an object was slowly vacillating, like a beating heart or a trembling hand. “The poor mouse is stuck somewhere”, she thought, “and is shaking from fear.”

She then found the origin of the noise to be her kitchen tools drawer. “The poor little thing”, she thought, “got stuck in the drawer while foraging for food.”

She was to open the drawer when a loud electric storm bang was heard in the distance. She waited in anticipation. Another bang was heard seconds later, but nearby. The old woman went quickly outside to get inside the linens she had displayed for drying, before the incoming storm.

This night, during the storm, no one heard her screams of pain.

---

Suggestions welcomed

It's probably for a long term thing, the return of the mighty Az.

Joël

Sessions 31-34 are now up in the Veranda!

Thank you Ron.

I invite you all to read these and provide comments.

In the end, you'll see an "Ezra heretic text" adventure hook. Suggestions welcomed as I'm planning my next session!

Joël

Yes, I've been secretly sitting on this file for 2 months, and no, I haven't actually had time to read it until now.

Very fun stuff.

I always like the way you weave a lot of canon and fan-canon stuff together in interesting ways. Like putting Martha the changeling in Canondale, running Arcanis and Azenwrath at the same time, etc.

I really liked how you used the Arcanus/Gundar plot to fill them in remotely on events "back home."

If I recall, the god that canondale worshipped wasn't specified in the original adventure. I really like using Ezra, especially since you set it in Mordent. Good Idea!

Can't believe they beat Azenwrath, even with a PC fatality. Nice tactics! Out of curiosity, how did you convert him to 3.x?

This Ezra Heresy plot is very intriguing, Nice use of Jackie M, I'll have to remember that trick. Not sure if you've given thought to this yet, but since I've got a "Heresies of Belenus" plot in the works, it's been on my mind quite a bit: How do you prove/disprove a Heresy's validity? Especially without modern forensics to prove ancient texts aren't faked.

Thanks for the comments!

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote: I always like the way you weave a lot of canon and fan-canon stuff together in interesting ways. Like putting Martha the changeling in Canondale, running Arcanus and Azenwrath at the same time, etc.

I really like to open many story paths, and eventually close them by weaving some of them together later. Some of these paths might never see the end of it in the campaign, but when they were used, they made for excellent atmosphere stuff. And I hate linear adventures, does it show?

But I compile a list of these possible adventure hooks and look at this list frequently when planning a game, to see which thing can be added for continuity, when it feels good in teh story (i.e. not Deus ex machina).

I really liked how you used the Arcanus/Gundar plot to fill them in remotely on events "back home."

That was the goal. Also, I liked the Siege of Hunadora idea (by Malloccio forces) that Wiccy did, and perhaps will go that way one day.

If I recall, the god that canondale worshipped wasn't specified in the original adventure. I really like using Ezra, especially since you set it in Mordent. Good Idea!

Indeed, and to have them “overworship” Ezra (compared to the normal people they met until now in the campaign) worked very well. It explained well why local people wouldn’t get rid easily of the idols, which is somewhat foolish when facing this Azenwrath threat.

It was also fun to roleplay, as a DM: taking a very solemn mood and claiming Ezra books quotes all the time.

These zealot ways in Canondale also subtly paved the way to the religious war I planned. While it was peaceful in Canondale, same zealotism won’t be in the near future

I plan to have fun with the schisms, and of having Death taking side in this

Can't believe they beat Azenwrath, even with a PC fatality. Nice tactics! Out of curiosity, how did you convert him to 3.x?

Quickly, I took a MM treant, doubled the hit dice, added Construct traits, then tweaking it to add some powers and vulnerabilities described in CotN.

It was done in about 5 minutes; so many corners were smoothed arbitrarily. I do not really like statting monsters, but I’m very good at balancing, so I did a rough that worked well in my game.

This Ezra Heresy plot is very intriguing, Nice use of Jackie M, I'll have to remember that trick.

Classic movie-like trick, but it worked well. I was wondering if they would talk to fellow Barovians, but my players are so untrusty …

Not sure if you've given thought to this yet, but since I've got a "Heresies of Belenus" plot in the works, it's been on my mind quite a bit: How do you prove/disprove a Heresy's validity? Especially without modern forensics to prove ancient texts aren't faked.

I’m not going into that. These texts contain heresies and are ancient, so they are dangerous. Period. I gave them credibility in game by having these top Ezra people fearing their release into bad hands. That was enough to have the PCs hooked.

What is in the text? I haven’t gave it a thought yet

In the plan for the next games, starting next Sunday:

- more trouble around Canondale. Some farmers about 3-4 miles were attacked by ghouls. PCs investigate the ghoul infested farms, to find a link to Fordstone Manor, a place of ill repute. The house is haunted and there they’ll find a man changed to an “illness ghoul lord” by the power of an ancestor’s foul magic. This is from Pathfinder’s “Rise of the Runelords: The Skinsaw Murders”, which I once wrote about, here on the boards. Very cool haunted manor, and nice RLish background story.

- meanwhile, before investigating the farms, they’ll go to Canondale to talk to the farmers who fled their farms when the ghouls attacked. They get more information on the ghouls and their leader from them.

Plus the farmers say two set of horse riders were seen recently in the area:

1) yesterday, one group of men, led by a woman (described as what they saw of Montarri) – PCs are backed to their chase of the heretic texts.

2) last night, a group of sinister cavaliers, traveling by night and not on main roads, carrying an odor of death with them (these are another group of “people” looking after the texts for themselves. Death’s people. Remember JWM’s Horsemens? … This should put pressure on the PCs!)

- meanwhile, again in Canondale, they’ll meet Faith, the little sister of Martha the Changeling. The PCs will probably inquire about fey signs in the area, which they could investigate later.

But this is complicated when Charles, Martha’s protector and possibly lover too, hears this and will go on and try to talk to the fey and bargain for Martha’s soul, but he will find another fey instead, a teg. He will be killed by it, as per the VRGttF hunt description.

Possible teg hunt later, while investigating for the fey who own the soul of Martha (and a trip to the Midnight Market).

- At the end of Fordstone manor adventure, they might find the heretic texts. I’m not sure at this point if they will chase it more, or if I give it to them (idea to develop and justify why they would be found there).

But having the texts won’t be the end of this quest. Who to give it to? (Martigan was summoned to Levkarest for explanations) And why are these Death’s things following us? They might have to go to Levkarest again with the texts, while being hunted by Death’s brutes. And they could be saved by vistani on the way (Rozaleen’s taroka, and Petrak is a giogoto).

- long term idea: with Death involved, and the PCs having access to the Insubstancial Halo, a fun trek would be to enter the Shroud of Necropolis to retrieve something... (idea to develop)

Plenty of fun ideas, I think!

Joël

Joël of the FoS wrote:I really like to open many story paths, and eventually close them by weaving some of them together later. Some of these paths might never see the end of it in the campaign, but when they were used, they made for excellent atmosphere stuff. And I hate linear adventures, does it show?

Yeah, I like doing that too, but I always worry about creating a sense of urgency. For example, it seemed like you had to remind your players several times that there was trouble in Canondale. If they put off going there for another week, would the town still be there? or would Azenwrath have come and left already? Do you often have trouble giving the players the sense that the world is "real" and that things don't just wait to happen until they show up? These are the problems that scare me away from doing a completely freeform game.

I plan to have fun with the schisms, and of having Death taking side in this

I'm quite curious how you're working Death in. He seems to be operating quite far from home. And what's his interest in the Ezran Heresies? Is a trip to Darkon in the party's future?

Not sure if you've given thought to this yet, but since I've got a "Heresies of Belenus" plot in the works, it's been on my mind quite a bit: How do you prove/disprove a Heresy's validity? Especially without modern forensics to prove ancient texts aren't faked.

I’m not going into that. These texts contain heresies and are ancient, so they are dangerous. Period. I gave them credibility in game by having these top Ezra people fearing their release into bad hands. That was enough to have the PCs hooked.

What is in the text? I haven’t gave it a thought yet

I see... the old MacGuffin. So have you decided who hired the RVT? Or did I miss it?

- At the end of Fordstone manor adventure, they might find the heretic texts. I’m not sure at this point if they will chase it more, or if I give it to them (idea to develop and justify why they would be found there).

Well once you figure out where Jackie and friends are headed, this might work itself out.

- long term idea: with Death involved, and the PCs having access to the Insubstancial Halo, a fun trek would be to enter the Shroud of Necropolis to retrieve something... (idea to develop)

VERY cool idea. I like it, even better than amaranth.

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote: Yeah, I like doing that too, but I always worry about creating a sense of urgency. For example, it seemed like you had to remind your players several times that there was trouble in Canondale. If they put off going there for another week, would the town still be there? or would Azenwrath have come and left already? Do you often have trouble giving the players the sense that the world is "real" and that things don't just wait to happen until they show up? These are the problems that scare me away from doing a completely freeform game.

You are right, that is a fine line between complete freeform and railroading. Sometimes, the players are pursuing their own interests first, so you have to insist on some urgency, or indeed have the NPCs do!

I guess that if they had ignored Canondale a few days more, the village would have been destroyed. Since they did not know anything about Canondale before going there, they could have met Azenwrath later in the campaign, in a similar fashion (similar village in need of help).

I'm quite curious how you're working Death in. He seems to be operating quite far from home. And what's his interest in the Ezran Heresies? Is a trip to Darkon in the party's future?

Death is involved simply because I’d like them to visit Necropolis someday, since they found the Insubstancial Halo

How and why is still to be developed. He might have some interest in sharing this heretic info with the Darkon Ezra sect, in order to start a religious war with the south where his interest would benefit (or to have Falkovnia attack Darkon again). Ideas welcomed.

One fun thought I had is the PCs begging Godefroy to close the borders, in order to neutralize Death’s Horsemen I don’t know if they will think about this, when they learn more about the Horsemen’s nature.

So have you decided who hired the RVT? Or did I miss it?

No you didn’t miss it, it wasn’t clear for the PCs. It’s this guy at Fordstone Manor, who read about the texts in his ancestor’s notes. He wishes to increase his bargaining power with Ezra people, so they help him lift his undead curse. But they can’t do a thing, of course.

At least, this is the idea for now. I have a month or two to think more about it. I’ll see later if it will be changed. This Fordstone could also be an agent of a greater power, too. Could be Strahd wishing to weaken Ezra

Joël

It's been a while since I posted in this thread, but my campaign is still active and the journals are now up to date.

Here's a big chunk, that is sessions 45 to 54.

It is all dealing in Martira Bay, Darkon. In it, there is:

- a prequel to Haunt of Harrowstone (pathfinder). I needed my player to know well Petros Lorrimor before he died, so that was the main use of that (fun) prequel, DM-machina wise.

- the destruction of an afflicted PC, who gets tricked into turning into a werewolf. This player wasn't having fun with this PC, so I made him on his way out, but the other players threw him out faster then I thought. Extremely fun role playing here.

- a cool (I think) "Bloody Mary" side treck, so Petros has time to exit the place back to the village where Harrowstone prison is. I needed him him to resume his investigations, where he gets killed so HoF can start.

- Crooked Kin/University theft of a statue/Vorkstag and Grine sidetrecks, from the second Carrion Crown adventure, which I do not plan to DM. Again, I needed time before HoH can realistically start.

- then HoH starts. You'll see it was changed in many ways, and beefed up a bit (the PCs are 7th level). At the end of this session, they have explored the second floor and the main floor. They also have about half of the deadly underground level still to explore...

Next game Dec 2nd!

Joël

Been a while since I've caught up. I had to start from S34.

34:
- hilarious confrontation with the Bog Imps. Especially, "The Dragon isn't here today"
- Gabrielle is Blonde? I always thought she had dark hair. cute fun with Jacqueline at the inn
35:
- creepy to find the child tied up as a scarecrow. I haven't read the Skinsaw murders so I don't know if that's from the module or your creation.
36:
- tough battle with the ghouls! bad luck, or bad tactics?
37:
- I don't get the bit with the owl yet. Will it be explained later? (why it attacked, and why keeping it as a pet made you sweat?)
- I like the haunted piano. very unexpected. I youtube'd the music cue you used. Clever use of an obscure source. I love finding little tidbits like that.
38:
- LOL - Romance from Beyond the Grave. I will never not laugh at those books when they pop up.
- Lots of disease in this adventure. I hope Petrak preps some "remove disease" spells.
39:
- hundreds of grave scarab beetles! yikes! I was scared too, until you said they weren't all the burrowing kind.
40:
- This adventure sounds fun, and very Ravenloft-fitting. Not sure how much you added/changed or what was there. I'll have to check it out.

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Been a while since I've caught up. I had to start from S34.

OMG, that is eons ago But thanks for taking the time!

> 34: - hilarious confrontation with the Bog Imps. Especially, "The Dragon isn't here today"

As you saw, I just started a fey arc in my campaign, and I wanted them to meet an alien thinking fey. This encounter was somewhat funny, but they also learned fey, even minor ones, can be deadly. Lesson taken!

So when they later explored the woods looking after Samuel (the bloody tree, with Samuel’s bones, in session 37 – it is of course very inspired by a scene in VRGttF), thinking feys were at work in this, they were extremely extremely cautious!

This fey arc, recovering the soul of Martha and bringing it back, will be crossed later with the Montarri arc.

I’m thinking I might even cross it with the Carrion Crown arc, with the Whispering Way needing the soul of a changeling to do their end necromantic ritual.

> - Gabrielle is Blonde? I always thought she had dark hair. cute fun with Jacqueline at the inn

Ahem, yes, indeed… Checked my notes, and while there is an obvious canon error, I never told them the color of her hair, so from now on, blonde she is in my campaign !

Yes, Miss Montarri has a dark sense of humor (and she is witty )

> 35: - creepy to find the child tied up as a scarecrow. I haven't read the Skinsaw murders so I don't know if that's from the module or your creation.

It was in the adventure. Well recommended!

> 36: - tough battle with the ghouls! bad luck, or bad tactics?

No idea of what they were going to fight, so fighting without being prepared? And they were ghouls with better hps and strategy. Fighting things in their lair can be very dangerous because of their terrain knowledge.

> 37: - I don't get the bit with the owl yet. Will it be explained later? (why it attacked, and why keeping it as a pet made you sweat?)

It’s an encounter I had planned, an owl attacking the ghouls, but it made a mistake and took the players for undead, because they had the ghoul fever. Just that.

Yes, it made me sweat that they could train it and ride it

> - I like the haunted piano. very unexpected. I youtube'd the music cue you used. Clever use of an obscure source. I love finding little tidbits like that.

The haunt is straight from Pathfinder’s.

Glad you liked the sound And I knew it well, being a long time fan of Siouxsie and the Banshees

> 38: - LOL - Romance from Beyond the Grave. I will never not laugh at those books when they pop up.

Can’t stop mentionning these, can't we? We really need an undead Fabio

> - Lots of disease in this adventure. I hope Petrak preps some "remove disease" spells.

Yep, that was the « theme » of the place, magical disease and decay. Yep, they were ready for this part, but still a save is a save and he can’t cure everybody if everybody is infected. Still can be a source of worry, even when prepared!

> 39: - hundreds of grave scarab beetles! yikes! I was scared too, until you said they weren't all the burrowing kind.

The players are long time players, and knew the deadly magical beetle scarab from 1st edition. I just played on this fear, knowing they would remember the scarab

> 40: - This adventure sounds fun, and very Ravenloft-fitting. Not sure how much you added/changed or what was there. I'll have to check it out.

The beetles were added to the adventure, with the swarms and carrion bats (session 40). The PCs were somewhat higher than the suggested adventure level, so I added a few things here and there on this underground level.

You’ll see when you read the Skinsaw Murder adventure

It was an good adventure at the start, with an extremely cool manor to explore. The Manor was easy to insert it in my campaign, for the stolen Ezra texts arc. I gave them a purpoise to go there, and there you go, the manor’s cool story unfolds itself. And in the end, you’ll see, back to the story arc.

I changed the name from Foxglove Manor to Fordstone Manor because my players had wrong suspicions that the Foxgrove had a dirty evil secret, and didn't want this mistake to interfere.

Enjoy!

Joël

41:
- with Aldern's journal, everything becomes clear. Now the connection to the Ezran heresies and the RVT make sense. Very nice weaving together of these plots! I also really get the feeling that this adventure fits perfectly in Mordent now. Abandoned manors, reclaimed by the last scion of a nearly-extinct noble family. Yeah, that's Mordent, all right. I'm still not sure what the title "Skinsaw Murders" has to do with the plot, but maybe once I finally read the adventure, it will make sense.
- Chilling description of War. I'm not sure if that's from Mangrum's Death Undaunted text or if you made it up, but it was very evocative. Reminded me a lot of the Ringwraiths from the LOTR movie, and that very visceral, solid evil feel they have. And wow, was he deadly. "Lucky" that Godefroy intervened. I guess not soon enough for Petrak.
42:
- quite a brutal execution... ew!
- nice trap at the cathedral. Can't believe they fell for it.
43:
- Interesting test for the shield of Ezra. Do your PCs and NPCs really talk so frankly of "levels"? I usually see people try to avoid that much "game-speak". I know back in 1st edition, there were named ranks for each level and some used those, but having a PC say in character something like "I was 5th level and now I'm 4th" is quite rare. I'm interested in how you handle this.
- Is that Neve Campbell as Nostalia? (I don't recognize Clothilda at that low resolution)
- cute touch on the servants/tasters
- the PCs haven't heard of the Great Upheaval even though it was within their lifetime? Sheltered lads....
- Petrak lies a lot more than your average priest, it seems. first to War, now to Nostalia...
- “so you ask me to remove the emotions from Martha’s little sister too?” - Perfect fey response!
- Why hello there, Captain Howe and Viktor. Do your players have any clue about your alter ego?
44:
- Good thing Iesha is mummefied. No smell to reveal that these guys have been carting around a body for what, 2 weeks?
- Laurie and Bluebeard, eh? A match made in .... well, Ravenloft, I guess.
- You are kind to warn them about Darkon's memory effect.
- I do love the Midnight Market. NeoTiamat came up with a great one there. That upside-down gargoyle(?) picture on the invite is unnerving. what is that?!??!?!
- Wonderful Midnight Market scene. Did the players enjoy it?

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote: I'm still not sure what the title "Skinsaw Murders" has to do with the plot, but maybe once I finally read the adventure, it will make sense.

Ogre hillbillies use a saw to cut the skin off their victims to upholster furniture - really, that's what they are doing, and hence the module title. Although, to me, upholstery seems to be a bit too technical a craft for an ogre, but who am I to say...

> 41: - with Aldern's journal, everything becomes clear. Now the connection to the Ezran heresies and the RVT make sense. Very nice weaving together of these plots! I also really get the feeling that this adventure fits perfectly in Mordent now. Abandoned manors, reclaimed by the last scion of a nearly-extinct noble family. Yeah, that's Mordent, all right. I'm still not sure what the title "Skinsaw Murders" has to do with the plot, but maybe once I finally read the adventure, it will make sense.

This is an extremely Ravenloftish dungeon (manor) crawl. I really suggest all DMs should incorporate it into their campaign. It fits in really well, and has its own cool background story.

Yes, I’m good at opening story parenthesis, now I had the chance to close a few ones

> - Chilling description of War. I'm not sure if that's from Mangrum's Death Undaunted text or if you made it up, but it was very evocative. Reminded me a lot of the Ringwraiths from the LOTR movie, and that very visceral, solid evil feel they have. And wow, was he deadly. "Lucky" that Godefroy intervened. I guess not soon enough for Petrak.

Yes, the description is more or less’s Mangrum’s. I can’t wait to add the other ones in the story when they get higher levels.
When later in HoH, there were rumors of cavaliers riding in the night, they were extremely worrying!

> 42: - quite a brutal execution... ew!

Idea straight from the Gaz

> - nice trap at the cathedral. Can't believe they fell for it.

It’s the kind of trap where you have to go even if you know something is probably very wrong. They were expecting trouble (and they got it!)


> 43: - Interesting test for the shield of Ezra. Do your PCs and NPCs really talk so frankly of "levels"? I usually see people try to avoid that much "game-speak". I know back in 1st edition, there were named ranks for each level and some used those, but having a PC say in character something like "I was 5th level and now I'm 4th" is quite rare. I'm interested in how you handle this.

Like you, usually I don’t, but during this inside meeting, when they were all anchorites, I thought it was working. Didn’t really think about it until I read your comment.

Well, should have used something like « when you’ll be able to cast the third rank of holy divine spells », or something like that.

> - Is that Neve Campbell as Nostalia? (I don't recognize Clothilda at that low resolution)

Yes! It is a pic I’m reusing from an older session, where I identified the actresses.
Clothilda is Clare Danes.

Needless to say, when they got the invitation to diner (which was kind of neat I thought ), they were extremely worrying! They really fear the « white people » (ermordenungs).

As I wrote in the journal, the fact I also had a map where I asked them to point where they were seated was also a cause of stress (even if nothing was going to happen, battlewise)…

Having Nostalia flirt a little with Varadan also made them very uneasy…

> - cute touch on the servants/tasters

Nostalia wanted the PCs to feel safe and be comfortable. She’s a great host, you know!

> - the PCs haven't heard of the Great Upheaval even though it was within their lifetime? Sheltered lads....

This is what I love with playing Ravenloft natives, with PCs who have no previosu knowledge of RL. It’s great to impart them info that way, in a conversation.

And yes, the players in their background know something happened eight years ago : the earth shook, the mist void north of Barovia. But it’s the first time they hear of the GU.

And, the entrance of Ivana in the room surprised them a lot. Cute like a cat, dangerous like a tiger. In game, she was in another private room.

Then of her cousin. Couldn’t resist! There was two goals to this sudden appearance :
1) to end the conversation, after Ivana’s request/threat.
2) introduce this caracter and the coldness between the cousins. Now that Ivan knows about them, I’m sure Ivan would like to invite them to his own manor, next time they are around

It was great session.

> - Petrak lies a lot more than your average priest, it seems. first to War, now to Nostalia...

I think he knows when to keep his card close to him.

> - “so you ask me to remove the emotions from Martha’s little sister too?” - Perfect fey response!

Kind of like the Wishing Imp, be careful what you say and ask around feys

> - Why hello there, Captain Howe and Viktor. Do your players have any clue about your alter ego?

No, of course not. Otherwise, they would not have trusted him

> 44: - Good thing Iesha is mummefied. No smell to reveal that these guys have been carting around a body for what, 2 weeks?

Yes, indeed!

> - Laurie and Bluebeard, eh? A match made in .... well, Ravenloft, I guess.

Yes, an idea I had when writing Blaustein, obviously. Who knows, Laurie might want to inquire, go to Blaustein, and get into trouble.

À la Supernatural, if there was an anger to come between the twins, they’ll split for a moment and then I might have Laurie do this on her own.

> - You are kind to warn them about Darkon's memory effect.

Indeed. I’m not a fan of it and likely it won’t happen. But anything to add stress

> - I do love the Midnight Market. NeoTiamat came up with a great one there. That upside-down gargoyle(?) picture on the invite is unnerving. what is that?!??!?!

I don’t know, from the net, somekind of fey. This invitation was quite neat too, I think. I wanted it to look strange and formal.


> - Wonderful Midnight Market scene. Did the players enjoy it?

They loved it! They really got into it, and had fun.

They knew it was dangerous too, since i twas again those alien thinking feys!

So Martha’s soul is kept by a Red Cap (that will be nice to deal with this guy!) and another problem, this Red Cap is in a Cage in Montarri’s manor!

I will add this to CC’s sequence of adventure. The Whispering Way will need the soul of a changeling for their evil end ritual. If the PC fail, Martha’s soul will be consumed…

Read sessions 1-8, I must say definately liking how it's going thus far.

Thank you very much!

Do not hesitate to ask if you have a question

You'll see the campaign is very free flow, where the players have the impression they really choose their path (well, most of the time!). I tried to create a campaign similar to the real world, where you meet a lot of persons, and not all of them a relevant to the current adventure. Like real life

Joël