Gnome spy

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Has anyone done some additional things with the gnome spy held as a prisoner by the ogre at the moathouse? I am thinking of making him a mountebank/fighter or mountebank/illusionist NPC that would aid his PC rescuers to take vengeance upon his captors. I like the thought of trying out Trent's mountebank character per his AD&D companion book as an NPC.

[foster1941]

I recommend it! And, of course, if you do go with that, please report back how he works out in play

[Scott]

I've just used him as a MacGuffin to get the party to Greenway Valley where they can get additional info, henchmen, and sell the small cloak found in the ogre's lair.

[GRWelsh]

I consider the gnome just a hapless normal gnome captive, but I'm always a fan of developing the party organically through NPCs they rescue, help, or meet in the course of adventuring. So I think making this guy an adventurer who might possibly join the party and/or provide them with further hooks is a good idea.

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Nov 20, 2017 20:27:49 GMT -5 Scott said:

I've just used him as a MacGuffin to get the party to Greenway Valley where they can get additional info, henchmen, and sell the small cloak found in the ogre's lair.

Would the small elven cloak found mixed into Lubash's nest have originally been in the possession of and used by the captured gnome spy?

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

What have you decided about how/where/when the gnome spy was captured by the gnolls, badly beaten, and thrown into Lubash's pantry? What were the gnome spy's mission objectives, and were they accomplished {other than he was captured}? Was he sent by a Kron hills clan in greenway valley?

What details does the gnome spy know about the moathouse layout, denizens, motivations, traps, etc.? Had the gnome spy penetrated the moathouse and was captured by the gnolls within the moathouse interior? Or was the gnome spy instead captured by the gnolls in the wilderness outside of the moathouse?

Who badly beat the gnome spy - the gnolls? Lareth or his minions?

I want to decide how much he knows/suspects to determine what information he can pass on to the PCs if freed?

Also, the same for the merchant captives - who lightly tortured them and why? Would they have any worthwhile intelligence to pass on to a liberating party? Did the merchants divulge to the moathouse inhabitants any important intelligence - if so, what?

I am curious how you all have DM'ed or experienced in play regarding these captives?

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Nov 20, 2017 16:57:34 GMT -5 davegibsongreyhawkdm said:

Has anyone done some additional things with the gnome spy held as a prisoner by the ogre at the moathouse? I am thinking of making him a mountebank/fighter or mountebank/illusionist NPC that would aid his PC rescuers to take vengeance upon his captors. I like the thought of trying out Trent's mountebank character per his AD&D companion book as an NPC.

Trent, would you consider a multi-class gnome mountebank/cleric be a possibility for this spy captive? I wasn't sure if this would be an incongruous multi-class combination or not?

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Jan 18, 2018 14:40:12 GMT -5 davegibsongreyhawkdm said:

What have you decided about how/where/when the gnome spy was captured by the gnolls, badly beaten, and thrown into Lubash's pantry? What were the gnome spy's mission objectives, and were they accomplished {other than he was captured}? Was he sent by a Kron hills clan in greenway valley?

What details does the gnome spy know about the moathouse layout, denizens, motivations, traps, etc.? Had the gnome spy penetrated the moathouse and was captured by the gnolls within the moathouse interior? Or was the gnome spy instead captured by the gnolls in the wilderness outside of the moathouse?

Who badly beat the gnome spy - the gnolls? Lareth or his minions?

I want to decide how much he knows/suspects to determine what information he can pass on to the PCs if freed?

Also, the same for the merchant captives - who lightly tortured them and why? Would they have any worthwhile intelligence to pass on to a liberating party? Did the merchants divulge to the moathouse inhabitants any important intelligence - if so, what?

I am curious how you all have DM'ed or experienced in play regarding these captives?

Any thoughts on the above?

What might cause Lareth, with his minions, to
change tactics from the status quo {lying low at the moat house, with occasional far-flung raids several leagues away to the south and east}?

1) Would Lareth continue to remain hidden, laying low, if Lubash is slain and the captives are released from his pantry?

2) What if the bandits in the black chamber are all slain?

3) What if Zert's betrayal leaves behind surviving party members? 

4) What if Lareth's animated zombies are defeated?

What do you view as the most likely responses to any of the above?

Would the traders and their men instead take action on Lareth's behalf, while Lareth continues to remain hidden in the secret part of the moathouse dungeon? If so, what would the traders do next?

Would the temple take action instead, if so, how? 

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Jan 25, 2018 13:26:00 GMT -5 davegibsongreyhawkdm said:

Jan 18, 2018 14:40:12 GMT -5 davegibsongreyhawkdm said:

What have you decided about how/where/when the gnome spy was captured by the gnolls, badly beaten, and thrown into Lubash's pantry? What were the gnome spy's mission objectives, and were they accomplished {other than he was captured}? Was he sent by a Kron hills clan in greenway valley?

What details does the gnome spy know about the moathouse layout, denizens, motivations, traps, etc.? Had the gnome spy penetrated the moathouse and was captured by the gnolls within the moathouse interior? Or was the gnome spy instead captured by the gnolls in the wilderness outside of the moathouse?

Who badly beat the gnome spy - the gnolls? Lareth or his minions?

I want to decide how much he knows/suspects to determine what information he can pass on to the PCs if freed?

Also, the same for the merchant captives - who lightly tortured them and why? Would they have any worthwhile intelligence to pass on to a liberating party? Did the merchants divulge to the moathouse inhabitants any important intelligence - if so, what?

I am curious how you all have DM'ed or experienced in play regarding these captives?

Any thoughts on the above?

What might cause Lareth, with his minions, to
change tactics from the status quo {lying low at the moat house, with occasional far-flung raids several leagues away to the south and east}?

1) Would Lareth continue to remain hidden, laying low, if Lubash is slain and the captives are released from his pantry?

2) What if the bandits in the black chamber are all slain?

3) What if Zert's betrayal leaves behind surviving party members? 

4) What if Lareth's animated zombies are defeated?

What do you view as the most likely responses to any of the above?

Would the traders and their men instead take action on Lareth's behalf, while Lareth continues to remain hidden in the secret part of the moathouse dungeon? If so, what would the traders do next?

Would the temple take action instead, if so, how? 

What alternatives do you envision regarding responses from Lareth and his minions, the traders, and/or the temple upon discovering evidence (portcullis trap sprung, slain & looted bodies of bugbears/gnolls/ghouls, giant crayfish slain, etc.) left behind by the departed adventuring party that the secret area of the moathouse dungeon level has been penetrated? Would Lareth and his minions continue to lay low in the moathouse, overconfident of their capabilities to handle any interlopers as needed, or else depart? Would the traders and/or temple forces prepare traps and an ambush for the party when they return? Intimidation tactics on party while in the village? Attempt assassination/robbery of a significant VOH NPC {Nira Melubb's bank of Hommlet?}, staged so that it implicates the PCs, and perhaps drives a divisive wedge between VOH old faith {stoked fears of curse brought about by the PCs interloping on former TOEE lands - run the outsiders/adventurers out of town!} and the Church of St. Cuthbert {demands for punitive justice meted out on PCs}? Brigands and/or humanoids overrun the elder's compound, taking captives for ransom? Other chaos-sowing ideas or machinations you have DM'ed or experienced in play?

[GRWelsh]

Since many of the denizens of the moathouse dungeon are intelligent foes, they're not going to just sit there and wait for the party to pick them off, room by room. I'd say Lareth, being a 5th level cleric, would cast animate dead on slain brigands or humanoids -- or reanimate slain zombies -- and set up some ambushes and traps. One idea is to cast continual darkness in a space to confound or slow down the party, with an ambush set up on the other side... A glyph of warding is another possibility. Flanking or cutting off retreat might also be in order. They'll use some tactics. The only way to answer all of these questions is to play it out, and play foes and monsters up to their intellect and cunning and making use of the resources they have. Player characters boasting in Hommlet of clearing out the moathouse would tip off the traders, and that information could make its way back to Lareth... which could be deadly! I would not have help from the Temple sent to Lareth, he is "on his own," so to speak -- perhaps to prove himself (also as a novice adventure, it's hard enough as is!).

I've always thought of the gnome spy as someone from the Greenway Valley, since the gnomes of the Kron Hills would naturally have an interest in keeping tabs on the Temple ruins and its former outposts, since they suffered from its depradations when it first arose...

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Feb 4, 2018 10:37:08 GMT -5 GRWelsh said:

Since many of the denizens of the moathouse dungeon are intelligent foes, they're not going to just sit there and wait for the party to pick them off, room by room. I'd say Lareth, being a 5th level cleric, would cast animate dead on slain brigands or humanoids -- or reanimate slain zombies -- and set up some ambushes and traps. One idea is to cast continual darkness in a space to confound or slow down the party, with an ambush set up on the other side... A glyph of warding is another possibility. Flanking or cutting off retreat might also be in order. They'll use some tactics. The only way to answer all of these questions is to play it out, and play foes and monsters up to their intellect and cunning and making use of the resources they have. Player characters boasting in Hommlet of clearing out the moathouse would tip off the traders, and that information could make its way back to Lareth... which could be deadly! I would not have help from the Temple sent to Lareth, he is "on his own," so to speak -- perhaps to prove himself (also as a novice adventure, it's hard enough as is!).

I've always thought of the gnome spy as someone from the Greenway Valley, since the gnomes of the Kron Hills would naturally have an interest in keeping tabs on the Temple ruins and its former outposts, since they suffered from its depradations when it first arose...

Thank you - these are some useful adversary tactics options!