I'm about to run the chapter 'When Night Falls' from The Gathering Storm, and wondered if anyone had any good tips for running this bit.
My main concern is that the PCs are just going to wait until daytime and set the barn on fire, killing most of the goblins, and thus making the whole thing a bit of a quick anticlimax ...
The goblins in the tower, at the gate, on patrol (even in the day) and in the house could easily over run a party ... to say nothing of letting the troll loose.
If you plan ahead how these groups will react to a huge bonfire then your group will still have quite a fight I think ...
Plus I told my players the barn doors where very similar to those on amish barns and have a door in them that swings open but the larger doors also slide open in opposite directions ... they would not be easy to block (I grew up on a farm)
Also, in the Intrudaz! section, the book says the goblins will be bleary-eyed and reluctant to venture out. After this there doesn't seem to be any guidance on how goblins act during the day when the alarm is raised. Makes it kind of easy for the PCs if they attack during the day doesn't it?
I don't have my book with me but I believe it also says that Night Goblins would normally get two misfortune in the daylight, but since its storming out they don't get any negatives ... I took this to mean that they are bleary-eyed but it has next to no mechanical effect. Basicly make them extra grumpy
Obviously its a GM's call but I really stressed the crappy weather continuely during the game, so I had no problem keeping the goblins effect but unhappy during the day.
I also still alludes to the fact that there are patrols during the day, just less of them.
You have to remember the goblins, if attacked straight on, will tear any party up. It's a lot of gobboes! A shaman and a troll.
So players are meant to be clever, and try'n fight the goblins on their terms.
If they set the barn on fire, have some goblins escape (including shaman), and have the troll break loose (from smelling all them nicely cooked goblins...), and then you have a nice chaotic scene where the players face: 1 hungry troll (which will attack at random), 1 angry shaman, and several slightly chared sleepy goblins.
Spivo said:
If they set the barn on fire, have some goblins escape (including shaman), and have the troll break loose (from smelling all them nicely cooked goblins...), and then you have a nice chaotic scene where the players face: 1 hungry troll (which will attack at random), 1 angry shaman, and several slightly chared sleepy goblins.
.... And don't forget to throw in Flea running around getting into trouble
Hey Head ... Let us know how it goes.
Just writing up the first session now and will post a link to our campaign diary when it's done. The chase from the Ackerland farm to the Baumer farm was an absolutely perfect down-to-the-wire scene, and the most impressive working example of the whole 'progress tracker' system I've yet seen.
Next session will be the attack on the farm!
Here's the latest write-up: