My PCs are slowly making their way toward Daggerford to complete Oren Yogilvy quests and deliver a letter to Lily at the Happy Cow Tavern. There is a lot of info contained in the "Daggerford" section. A couple questions for folks who’ve run this adventure:
How should I give my PC's hints about the succubus Pencheska posing as Lady Morwen and/or the imprisonment of the Duchess at Cromm's Hold?
I'm going to assume my PC's will want to investigate and save Lady Morwen...Any advice/resources for running this encounter/quest?
The adventure makes clear that Pencheska is doing little to arouse suspicion, but there are a couple potential clues in the text.
First, the alliance with the Zhentarim. Daggerford is under the protection of the Lords' Alliance. Why would its duchess employ the Black Network at all?
The meeting with Snail. His insistence the party doesn't interfere with the Black Network or accept quests from the duchess smells of a cover-up.
The duchess distancing herself and refusing an audience. The real duchess is stern but fair. Why wouldn't she want to speak with helpful adventurers?
Beyond the text, here's a few other hints you could drop to lead the PCs in the right direction.
There might be evidence from Morwen's disappearance. It's not clear how Pencheska managed to remove the real duchess and imprison her in Cromm's Hold. There might be a trail to follow here.
Pencheska, as a succubus, has several unique abilities (Charm, Draining Kiss, Etherealness). Any of these could provide a potential clue. Ex: a charmed NPC, the corpse of a drained humanoid, reports of a ghostly figure.
Provide a witness. Maybe someone in town has seen through Pencheska's disguise or knows she isn't the real duchess but is too terrified to come forward until the adventurers arrive.
Use Koggin or Lily. As longtime residents of the town, they might have noticed something odd about the "duchess" that others haven't.
Baronness Cromm is still holding Morwen and growing impatient. Perhaps her impatience causes her to make a mistake that threatens to expose their plans?
As to running the adventure, I'd run it as SKT suggests. Have the PCs approached by Snail. Have them start digging as they realize something doesn't add up. It seems likely Pencheska wouldn't interfere directly unless the PCs have figured things out, but perhaps she tries to subtly steer them away from the truth (or perhaps other members of the Black Network do instead).
Once the PCs do realize what's going on, they'll still need to trek to Lizard Marsh to rescue Morwen. Baronness Cromm isn't going to let go without a fight, and she has considerable forces at her command (eighteen veteran soldiers is a considerable challenge for low-level PCs). If Pencheska realizes where the PCs have gone, she would probably also send the Black Network after the PCs to stop them.
The other open question in the adventure is: what is Pencheska's actual goal? She wants to infiltrate the Lords' Alliance, but to what end exactly? Perhaps this can provide some more fodder for the adventure.
My PCs are slowly making their way toward Daggerford to complete Oren Yogilvy quests and deliver a letter to Lily at the Happy Cow Tavern. There is a lot of info contained in the "Daggerford" section. A couple questions for folks who’ve run this adventure:
How should I give my PC's hints about the succubus Pencheska posing as Lady Morwen and/or the imprisonment of the Duchess at Cromm's Hold?
I'm going to assume my PC's will want to investigate and save Lady Morwen...Any advice/resources for running this encounter/quest?
The adventure makes clear that Pencheska is doing little to arouse suspicion, but there are a couple potential clues in the text.
Beyond the text, here's a few other hints you could drop to lead the PCs in the right direction.
As to running the adventure, I'd run it as SKT suggests. Have the PCs approached by Snail. Have them start digging as they realize something doesn't add up. It seems likely Pencheska wouldn't interfere directly unless the PCs have figured things out, but perhaps she tries to subtly steer them away from the truth (or perhaps other members of the Black Network do instead).
Once the PCs do realize what's going on, they'll still need to trek to Lizard Marsh to rescue Morwen. Baronness Cromm isn't going to let go without a fight, and she has considerable forces at her command (eighteen veteran soldiers is a considerable challenge for low-level PCs). If Pencheska realizes where the PCs have gone, she would probably also send the Black Network after the PCs to stop them.
The other open question in the adventure is: what is Pencheska's actual goal? She wants to infiltrate the Lords' Alliance, but to what end exactly? Perhaps this can provide some more fodder for the adventure.
Great info jreggers, thank you!
Also found this daggerford supplement for SKT
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/243540/Darkness-Over-Daggerford-A-Storm-Kings-Thunder-Supplement