Hi all.

Has anyone already played the adventure 'The House of Dust and Ash' from DotDG? I wonder how to handle Master Nonsuch (ie. the Slaugth Overseer) at the end of the adventure. It is mentioned he will smile and applaud after the Gilded Widow makes its speech and that he will take great delight in observing the trapped humans turn on each other (and that he eventually starts feeding). But how will Greel and the Mourners (and the Gilded Widow) or the Children of the Kingdom react on the Slaugth Overseer and vice versa? Its not like the Slaught is bad-ass enough he could ignore them and its als not that these two factions somehow like or tolerate each other.

Any experiences or any ideas in this regard?

First, I haven´t played the scenario (only read through) but talking about "Nonsuch"

my "take" on him would be the "arrogant bastards thinks he can handle it" approach. He wandered around amongst mere men and thinks that what ever the human are about, it will not be enough to kill him, a Slaught. (well..Slaught ARE "kinda tuff").

Making him eat some brains (specialy that of dead Mourners!) in order to find a clue to a way out. Perhabs he finds one.. or starts to realize in what kind of trouble he REALLY is!

What so-ever, the time he faces something bad enough, make him flee. Perhaps panic. He thought himself beyound harm...and then make him SQUEEL AND RUN. This will at least please any pc who wittnessed him as arrogantly brushin anything aside.

The Mourners might simply try to get him..and get whiped. Perhabs giving this up if they recognize that he is not attacking them but defending and feeding on the corpses later.

Talking about the "Childern": to them, he possibly is something else they want to kill...

When portraying Master Nonesuch, I kept to the idea that he wanted to stay hidden. He was eating brains the whole time, but the players were so distracted by the other auction goers--no to mention the items on auction themselves--that they overlooked any possible leads in his direction.

Once the Gilded Widow revealed Haarlock's plot, Nonesuch spends some time observing and even a little while eating. But this guy is a Slaugth Overseer from the Amaranthine Syndicate--or he is in my story. He's not about to show his hand unless he absolutely has to since his master plan involves moving unseen. So once the chaos began I decided that Nonesuch would only really reveal himself if one of two things happen: 1- The players confront him. 2-It looks like there's really no way out, and he throws caution to the wind in a terrifying orgy of carnage.

As it turned out, our Tech-Priest noticed Greel's medallion/key right away and connected it to earlier observations of Haarlock's Tomb. Once they secured the key, my players went straight for the tomb with Vymer, Quill, Lanus Cisten, his scribe Whent (my heir of Haarlock), Octavia Nile and her one surviving bodyguard in tow. After a deadly battle with a half dozen berzerk servitors they enter the tomb and find Nonesuch waiting for them. He tells them that he knows they have the key to this room ( he ate the brain of a mourner who observed them killing Greel) and that he would like to join them.

There's some posturing, a lot of suspicion --suspicious trepanned mourner bodies nearby-- but eventually they crack open the tomb and find the void shield controls.

To make a long story shorter, there's a quick run and gun and my players escape in just over 3 and a half hours. They are now leaving the island on the airship they came in on, and they'll spend the next 30 hours or so in the presence of an undercover Slaugth Overseer. We'll see what happens with that next weekend.

When the Mourners start going berserk, I imagine that a number of guests will flee in panic and be hunted down by crazed bands of Mourners, beserk servitors, etcetera. Nonesuch and his bodyguards are certainly powerful enough to slay any hunting party or guests he encounters and from the brains of his victims and his own high intelligence, discover at least one of the ways out. He'll want it for himself, of course, and will kill/trick his way through every obstacle in his path. He'll certainly be very hard to kill, with his Unnatural Toughness, armour, huge number of Wounds, and super Regeneration.

I expect my players to crack the vault door with either power weapons or melta gel (they carry both) if they for some reason can't figure out the puzzle/can't get the amulet.

Ferau said:

Cynical Cat said:

The problem I see is that it is mentioned Master Nonsuch has to 'slip his stolen skin in order to feed'. So it would be hard for him to keep a low profile or remain undercover when starting to consume human brains. Feeding would reveal his true nature and hinder a safe retreat.

It does indeed say that.

It also says that Locutor Mayweather (the PC's contact), after some coaxing, reveals, "Yesterday, a trooper was dead in the atrium, his head ripped open and his brain gone...gone!" That sounds like Master Nonesuch's MO, and it would also suggest that he can put his disguise back on.

Not to mention the fact that even if he does remove his disguise, Slaugth are extremely stealthy creatures and could silently stalk prey instead of just standing up and waving his maggot-monster arms like an idiot.

There's nothing in the adventure that suggests that Master Nonesuch would even consider a straight fight with the PCs or anyone for that matter.

The House of Dust and Ash is a big place with a lot of places to hide so even if it took a couple of hours for Nonesuch to slip his skin, feed, and put the skin back on there's no reason anyone would witness the process.

My point here is that Nonesuch can be used as a plot hook, recurring villain and subtle threat just like the other NPCs and doesn't have to be portrayed like the monster of the week.

Personally, I played Nonesuch as being very helpful and pleasant. Have you ever seen one of those anime villians (like the main one in Bleach) who smile all the time and are extremely jovial/always laughing? Kind of like that. Basically, make the players think there's something seriously wrong with this guy, yet not give them enough evidence to place a finger on what's wrong with him.

As for slipping on/off his disguise... I made it in the RP I did that he could and would randomly go trolling for brains at night, causing most of the NPCs to be forced to hide behind close doors at night and the Acolytes have "accidents" (like things falling down on them from the level above, doors mysteriously locking behind them, etc.) when they went out to travel in the nocturne hours.

As for how Greel and he interacted in my game... they didn't. At least not until the final hours until destruction. My Acolytes had killed off Greel immediately, so I just had Nonesuch shed his disguise in private (guarded by his retainers) and begin to kill everyone and everything in his path, harvesting their brains. Was one of those "What the hell is going on here?" moments for the Acs when they found a bunch of corpses missing the top of their heads and brains, though they ended up blaming it on the Children of Kingdom.

As for the Children and Nonesuch... I figured that a brain is a brain and Nonesuch would be eating them as well.

Ultimately I had Nonesuch meet up with my Acolytes as they made their way out with Scribe and Bounty Hunters in tow (a succsesful Logic test gave them a hint to look at the shape of Greel's necklace, causing them to realize how to escape) and escape the confines of the House. I figured if later scenarios ever called for a Slaught Overlord to make an appearance, this way I had one ready for use who could mock the Acolytes all the while.

So do you all think that the House of Dust and Ash is a neccessary prequel for the Haarlock Legacy coming up?

Karl R said:

I don't think it will be necessary, but the House of Dust and Ash will give the players an edge as they'll have an idea of how powerful and dangerous the Haarlocks are.

If it doesn't kill them.

Cynical Cat said:

I'd say it's a necessary prequel. It explains to them why exactly they're hunting the Haarlocks and what have you.

The Baron said:

That doesn't require the adventure at all. Powerful and dangerous Rogue Traders with access to technology and secrets from outside the human realm does it fine in one sentence.

To be absolutely clear, I think running the House of Dust and Ash is a great idea. I think it makes a great prequel to the Haarlock's Legacy.

But that wasn't the question.

The question is is it necessary.

And it isn't. It's a very good prequel, but not necessary.

Considering that the Haarlock trilogy isn't even published, I doubt anyone can predict whether HoDaA is necessary or extremely useful for running it.

Cifer said:

It's unlikely to be necessary, from the spoilers they've given about Tattered Fates. On the other hand, House of Dust and Ash is a great introduction to the Haarlocks. Erasmus Haarlock has issues and the power to make his issues your nightmares.