So my party is near Downfall in Witchlight and I'm re-reading my chapter on Balvorna and I get a little confused about something. In the book it says :
If the characters were drawn to Prismeer by the “Warlock’s Quest” adventure hook, they can strike a different bargain with Bavlorna, but she won’t deal with anyone who claims to be searching for a way to help Zybilna and thereby weaken the Hourglass Coven. First and foremost, Bavlorna wants Skabatha’s portrait (with the same time restrictions as the “Lost Things” bargain above) and is willing to trade for it. Once she has the portrait, her greed might focus on something else in Skabatha’s possession, at your discretion.
That is the hook of the game, "Warlock's Quest", so I'm confused on how my party would approach Balvorna and strike a bargain. Actually that might be my main question...
The book keep referring to bargains made with the Hourglass Coven... but bargain for what? Unless I miss a line in my first reading of the whole book, or simply forgot because SQUIRREL!
Any of you have a clear understanding of what the interaction with the Hourglass Coven should entail?
You want to make deals with the hags because you can't really fight them at the levels you first meet them at in the adventure. When my party first met Balvorna, she was outside our kill range by a large margin, had plenty of minions that would also end us in a straight up fight, and she had Clapperclaw's real head, which he needed to get back to be willing to be our guide out of Hither. Thus, a deal had to be struck.
When we met Skabatha in Thither, she was, again, outside our kill range by a large margin, had minions that would end us in a head to head fight, and had more things we needed to move forward with the adventure. More deals had to be struck.
When we eventually meet Endelyn in Yon, she will....likely be a fairer fight, looking at her CR, but has enough minions that would likely overwhelm us in a fair fight. I expect more deals will need to be struck.
That is just the design of the adventure. Not all of the enemies can be dealt with using straight violence.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
er... well, I started my party off at third level, as the book said you could do. and they're a 3 person party of assassin rogues (don't ask). which means that bavlorna is pretty much dead if they find her first. they also used the warlock quest hook, and they're almost guaranteed to attack her on sight. any other suggestions as to running bavlorna? and what the characters are supposed to do, other than kill her? and what would happen in the likely event that they do?
er... well, I started my party off at third level, as the book said you could do. and they're a 3 person party of assassin rogues (don't ask). which means that bavlorna is pretty much dead if they find her first. they also used the warlock quest hook, and they're almost guaranteed to attack her on sight. any other suggestions as to running bavlorna? and what the characters are supposed to do, other than kill her? and what would happen in the likely event that they do?
Well, if she makes it to her first turn, she can cast the Plane Shift spell on herself once per day. That's effectively a get-out-of-battle free card. If she doesn't make it to her first turn... She's dead. Good job gank squad. I don't think the PCs strictly need her alive for anything; she knows a lot of things that could've helped with their quest, but nothing they can't get other places. Plus getting information out of her is pretty grueling anyway.
Your characters need a guide to get out of Hither, and the intended one is Clapperclaw. Bavlorna has his head, so if your players kill her you might want to subtly encourage them to search her belongings for it. Or they could just ask someone else to guide them; maybe a Bullywug Knight knows the way to another realm and is grateful to your PCs for dispatching Bavlorna. They have options.
So I guess what I'm saying is: if she dies, she dies.
ah, that works, thanks. will go with that plane shift idea. I just wonder if the regional effects go away if she dies... and I guess the party is one step closer to vanquishing the hourglass coven. hm. if they kill all 3 hags before they hit the palace, does the magic freezing time come undone...? there are a lot of loose ends in the module
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Hey Fellow DM's!
So my party is near Downfall in Witchlight and I'm re-reading my chapter on Balvorna and I get a little confused about something. In the book it says :
That is the hook of the game, "Warlock's Quest", so I'm confused on how my party would approach Balvorna and strike a bargain. Actually that might be my main question...
The book keep referring to bargains made with the Hourglass Coven... but bargain for what? Unless I miss a line in my first reading of the whole book, or simply forgot because SQUIRREL!
Any of you have a clear understanding of what the interaction with the Hourglass Coven should entail?
Anything? Because I don't see the purpose of her at all if the group has a guide. They would just fight her.
You want to make deals with the hags because you can't really fight them at the levels you first meet them at in the adventure. When my party first met Balvorna, she was outside our kill range by a large margin, had plenty of minions that would also end us in a straight up fight, and she had Clapperclaw's real head, which he needed to get back to be willing to be our guide out of Hither. Thus, a deal had to be struck.
When we met Skabatha in Thither, she was, again, outside our kill range by a large margin, had minions that would end us in a head to head fight, and had more things we needed to move forward with the adventure. More deals had to be struck.
When we eventually meet Endelyn in Yon, she will....likely be a fairer fight, looking at her CR, but has enough minions that would likely overwhelm us in a fair fight. I expect more deals will need to be struck.
That is just the design of the adventure. Not all of the enemies can be dealt with using straight violence.
I'm pass that in my game and I offered the PCs to get more information about how to free their prisoners. It worked.
er... well, I started my party off at third level, as the book said you could do. and they're a 3 person party of assassin rogues (don't ask). which means that bavlorna is pretty much dead if they find her first. they also used the warlock quest hook, and they're almost guaranteed to attack her on sight. any other suggestions as to running bavlorna? and what the characters are supposed to do, other than kill her? and what would happen in the likely event that they do?
Well, if she makes it to her first turn, she can cast the Plane Shift spell on herself once per day. That's effectively a get-out-of-battle free card. If she doesn't make it to her first turn... She's dead. Good job gank squad. I don't think the PCs strictly need her alive for anything; she knows a lot of things that could've helped with their quest, but nothing they can't get other places. Plus getting information out of her is pretty grueling anyway.
Your characters need a guide to get out of Hither, and the intended one is Clapperclaw. Bavlorna has his head, so if your players kill her you might want to subtly encourage them to search her belongings for it. Or they could just ask someone else to guide them; maybe a Bullywug Knight knows the way to another realm and is grateful to your PCs for dispatching Bavlorna. They have options.
So I guess what I'm saying is: if she dies, she dies.
ah, that works, thanks. will go with that plane shift idea. I just wonder if the regional effects go away if she dies... and I guess the party is one step closer to vanquishing the hourglass coven. hm. if they kill all 3 hags before they hit the palace, does the magic freezing time come undone...? there are a lot of loose ends in the module