I'm reposting this on these forums from the GitP forums to help get feedback on the project, this is my first non introduction post here;
Updates: posted encounters E1, E2, E3, and E6(1, 2, 3, and 4)
Revised Encounters for part 1
Encounter E1; Zombie street ambushNotes; this encounter seems to be a fairly good introduction to the adventure, though I am planning to replace the carcass eaters and probably change what type of undead the deathlock is, as there aren’t many of them in the adventure, it seems like an odd introduction to include one.
Infected Zombies(4)replace slam with; bite +6(1d6+4 & disease), in order to make their diseased attacks make more sense fluff-wise
Carcass Eaters(2)[adapted from pathfinder vulture]
replace with pf vultures(same cr, but with better survivability)
Advanced Vulture {adapted from pathfinder vulture}
Small Animal
HD 2d8+5 (13HP)
Speed 10ft. (2 squares); Fly 50ft.(average)
Init: +1
AC 13; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+1 dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
BAB +0; Grp -3
Attack Bite +2 (1d4+1, 20/x2)
Full-Attack Bite +2 (1d4+1, 20/x2)
Space 5ft.; Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks none
Special Qualities lowlight vision, scent
Saves Fort +5(+7 vs. disease) Ref +3 Will +1
Abilities Str 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 7
Skills Spot +3, Survival +1
Feats Flyby Attack
Organization solitary, pair, or flock (3-24)
Challenge Rating 1/2
Treasure none
Alignment neutral
replace with an awakened skeleton adept
(to help with both fluff and to make it a more interesting enemy)
Skeletal Adept(lvl 4 adept)
Medium Undead
HD 4d12+3 (26HP)
Speed 30ft. (6 squares)
Init: +6
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +2; Grp +3
Attack Claw +4 (1d4+1, 20/x2 & disease)
Full-Attack Claw +4(1d4+1, 20/x2 & disease), and Claw +4(1d4+1, 20/x2 & disease)
Space 5ft.; Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks disease(necromantic infection)
Special Qualities DR 5/bludgeoning, immunity to cold
Saves Fort +1 Ref +2 Will +6
Abilities Str 13, Dex 14, Con –(8 originally), Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 10
Skills Concentration +7(+11 vs. attacks), Knowledge(religion) +5,
Listen +7, Spot +7
Feats Improved Initiative(b), Combat Casting, Weapon Finesse
(if anyone has ideas for better feats please free to mention it, combat casting seems fairly good, but I’m not sure if weapon finesse is a good choice)
Organization any
Challenge Rating 3
Treasure 1/2 standard?(not sure what I should assign to it in this case)
Alignment neutral evil
Spells;
lvl 0: touch of fatigue x2(dc 12), detect magic x1, ghost sound x1
1st lvl: burning hands x2(3d4 damage, dc 13), cause fear(dc 13) x1
2nd lvl: invisibility x1
; the skeleton adept is less worried about entering melee then the deathlock in the original encounter, due to having both dr and a decent melee attack, and the vultures may flee if badly injured
Revised loot; instead of being empty the cart contains 2d6+13(20 average) gp and 1d3+1(average 2) simple weapons with costs of 2gp or lower, these are mostly for decoration and it makes more sense for a cart to contain something then to be empty, but also give a sense of success to PCs, the search DC to find the gold pieces in DC 14, while the weapons are DC 10
Description if PCs examine cart and find anything;
“
after sifting through broken barrels and rotten cloth you find a few golden coins and a handful of simple weapons”
Description if PCs examine cart and fail find anything, or if you just want to describe the cart as part of the introduction to scene;
“
this cart contains shattered barrels and small heaps of rotten cloth”
Encounter E2; Zombie street encounterNotes; this encounter seems decently balanced as well, except for the vargouilles, which will either do nothing or kill a pc, I would suggest changing them to beheaded from pathfinder(as it retains the same flavor, but is less likely to either die before it can act, or potentially kill a pc[if the pcs don’t have remove disease, if they do, then the varguoille is pretty much useless])
Infected Zombies(4)same as the previous encounter, replace their slam with; bite +6(1d6+4 & disease)
vargouilles(2)replace with two beheadeds
(to make it a more interesting enemy, and to make it so it can contribute to the encounter better, however, if your willing to use pathfinder stats for something that can also be found in dnd 3.5, the pathfinder vargouille is actually a fairly decent enemy)
Beheaded
Advanced Belching Beheaded {adapted from pathfinder}
Tiny Undead
HD 5d12 (32HP)
Speed Fly 40ft.(perfect)
Init: +3
AC 15; touch 15; flat-footed 12 (+3 dex, +2 size)
BAB +0; Grp -3
Attack Slam +2 (1d2, 20/x2), or Belch +5 ranged touch(1d6 acid, cold electricity, or fire damage, 30ft. range)
Full-Attack Slam +2 (1d2, 20/x2), or Belch +5 ranged touch(1d6 acid, cold electricity, or fire damage, 30ft. range)
Space 2.5ft.; Reach 0ft.
Special Attacks belch
Special Qualities darkvision 60ft.
Saves Fort +1 Ref +4 Will +4
Abilities Str 11, Dex 16, Con -, Int -, Wis 11, Cha 10
Skills none
Feats none
Organization solitary, pair, or patrol (3-6)
Challenge Rating 2?
Treasure none
Alignment neutral
Special;
either choose, acid, cold, electricity, or fire for the damage dealt by the beheaded’s belch, or roll 1d4 on the following chart
table=head]1d4 result|damage type
1|acid|
2|cold|
3|electricity|
4|fire |
the dire maggots are a fairly balanced enemy, and can probably be kept, though changing them to a scavenger of some kind(such as wolves, or the vultures used in encounter E1) could be an interesting change for if you end up reusing this encounter as a random encounter while the PCs travel through Barovia
Revised tactics; the beheaded should probably try to stay at range, in order to maximize the effect of their belches
Revised loot; in addition to the amulet, PCs can also find a small belt pouch containing
2d4 gp on the slain villager with a DC 10 search check.
Encounter E3; Zombies in the town squareNotes; only real problem here is that it’s hard to run 10 enemies and an allied npc at once, and it tends to bog down play, so I’ve halved the number of zombies in this revision and added an extra CR 5 enemy
Infected Zombies(4)same as the previous encounters, replace their slam with; bite +6(1d6+4 & disease)
Infected Entomber(1 or 2)Entombers are fairly well balanced enemies and are good as being a resilient striker, only change is either to add an extra entomber, to keep the EL the same despite removing 5 zombies, or to add another CR 5 monster if you want a different feel
For brook no rival, Strahd’s dynasty, or undead legions going with a second entomber could be a good choice to reinforce the goal’s flavor
For untamed allies a fiendish dire wolf would fit the goal’s lycanthrope theme well
For descent into madness a fogwarden could fit well, as it’s essentially a living cloud of fog, and could be fluffed as a hostile sentient form of the mists surrounding Barovia
Dire WolfAdvanced Fiendish Dire Wolf
Large Magical Beast
HD 9d10+36 (85HP)
Speed 50ft.(10 squares)
Init: +6
AC 14; touch 11; flat-footed 12 (-1 size, +2 dex, +3 natural)
BAB +9, Grp +22
Attack Bite +18 (1d8+10, 20/x2 & trip[+11])
Full-Attack Bite +18 (1d8+10, 20/x2 & trip[+11])
Space 10ft.; Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks Trip, Smite Good(+9 damage to a good enemy for one attack 1/day), Powerful charge +2d6(+2d6 damage on charges)
Special Qualities darkvision 60ft., lowlight vision, scent, DR 5/magic,
resist fire 10, resist cold 10, SR 14
Saves Fort +9 Ref +8 Will +4
Abilities Str 25, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills Hide +4, Move Silently +4, Survival +5(+9 when tracking by scent)
Feats Track(b), Improved Toughness, Stealthy,
Powerful charge(+2d6 damage on charges), Improved Initiative
Organization solitary, or pack (5-8)
Challenge Rating 5
Treasure none
Alignment neutral evil
Special;
Trip (Ex); A dire wolf that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip its opponent (+11 check modifier) as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the dire wolf.
Skills: A dire wolf has a +2 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks.
*It also has a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.
Fogwarden {adapted from pathfinder}
Medium Aberration
HD 4d8 (22HP)
Speed Fly 40ft.(good)
Init: +7
AC 15; touch 15; flat-footed 12 (+2 deflection, +3 dex)
BAB +3; Grp +3
Attack none, the fogwarden uses it’s lightning surge instead
Full-Attack none, the fogwarden uses it’s lightning surge instead
Space 5ft.; Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks lightning surge(30 ft. line, DC 16 reflex, 3d6 electricity,
useable every other round)
Special Qualities darkvision 60ft., fear aura(30ft. diameter, Dc 14 will),
gaseous form, electrical discharge
Saves Fort +2 Ref +4 Will +4
Abilities Str 11, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 14
Skills Hide +10, Listen +7, Spot +7
Feats Ability Focus(lightning surge), Improved Initiative
Organization solitary
Challenge Rating 5
Treasure none
Alignment neutral evil
Special;
Fear Aura (Su): The aura functions as the fear spell that triggers once per round against all creatures within it’s radius.
Gaseous Form (SU): a fogwarden always moves silently and possesses dr 10/magic, and immunity to critical hits and poison
Electrical Discharge (SU): any creature that hits a fogwarden with melee attack other made with a non reach weapon takes 3d6 electricity damage if it fails a DC 13 reflex save
Sunlight Vulnerability: a fog warden if staggered if in direct sunlight
; the entombers retain their normal tactics, however if using a dire wolf or fogwarden the tactics differ; the dire wolf charge charge into melee and use it's smite good on the nearest PC, after that switching to charging when possible to gain it's powerful charge bonus, while the fogwarden should stay back and use it’s lightning surge when possible.
Revised loot; should one of the PCs end up in the bottom of the well and search through the water, 4d4+6 silver coins can be found.
Encounter E6; Ghoul ForayNotes; this encounter is a pretty well made one, though if you have a lot of elves in your PC’s party you may want to sue the variant ghasts described below.
Infected Zombies(4)replace slam with; bite +6(1d6+4 & disease), in order to make their diseased attacks make more sense fluff-wise
Carcass Eaters(2)[adapted from pathfinder vulture]
replace with vultures, as with encounter E1
Vulture {adapted from pathfinder vulture}
Small Animal
HD 2d8+4 (13HP)
Speed 10ft. (2 squares); Fly 50ft.(average)
Init: +1
AC 13; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+1 dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
BAB +0; Grp -3
Attack Bite +1 (1d4+1, 20/x2)
Full-Attack Bite +1(1d4+1, 20/x2)
Space 5ft.; Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks none
Special Qualities lowlight vision, scent
Saves Fort +4 Ref +3 Will +0
Abilities Str 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 7
Skills Spot +3, Survival +3
Feats flyby attack
Organization solitary, pair, or flock (3-24)
Challenge Rating 1/2
Treasure none
Alignment neutral
ghasts are pretty decent enemies for CR 3, though if your party is made up mostly of elves or other races immune to paralysis(50% or more of the group being them) you can replace them with the following variant(a homebrewed ghoul that lacks paralysis, but is hopefully about the same power level)
Variant Ghast {homebrewed}
Medium Undead
HD 4d12+4 (30HP)
Speed 30ft. (6 squares); burrow 10ft., climb 10ft.
Init: +6
AC 16; touch 12; flat-footed 14 (+2 dex, +4 natural)
BAB +2 Grp +10*
Attack Bite +6 (1d6+3, 19/x3), or Claw +6(1d4+2, 19/x3)
Full-Attack Bite +6(1d6+3, 19/x3), and 2 Claws +4(1d4+1, 19/x3)
Space 5ft. Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks Augmented Critical,
Rake(+4 to hit/2d4+2 damage, 19/x3 crit), Disease(ghoul fever & necromantic infection)
Special Qualities lowlight vision, scent, unholy toughness(add cha mod to hp), DR 5/silver
Saves Fort +1 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 18, Dex 14, Con -, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 12
Skills Hide +3, Move silently +3, Survival +1(+5 when tracking by scent)
Feats Track(b), Multiattack, Improved Initiative
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3-6)
Challenge Rating 3
Treasure standard
Alignment neutral evil
*ghasts receive a +4 racial bonus to grapple attempts
