• From: Germany
  • Registered: 2016-10-20
  • Posts: 132

Topic: How to replace PC in Scenic Dunnsmouth?

Hi everybody,

yesterday evening my friends gave me a hint that they miss the fact that I haven´t been a GM for them anymore. As we will for sure not be able to set up and go through a whole campaign (being 30+ means that life gets in the way of such activities) I thought about playing "Scenic Dunnsmouth" with them. They are unfamiliar with LotFP but as the rules are easy they will get it quickly and sending them onto a tour through "old England" will work as well.

The only thing that worries me currently is how to provide "replacement PC" in the mids of Dunnsmouth? How have others done this? Did you gave them control over some of the villagers?

My set-up:
I will send them in "by boat" as a group of "freelancers". The plot hook is that a band of highwayman (robbers) were squashed recently (by the military), but some managed to escaped. Those in charge consider the job done (two out of three have been hanged) and just put a bounty onto the heads of those that remain.  The players will be a bunch a friends that made a living as soldiers (whose tour of duty now ended and have not enlisted themselves to another tour yet), pouchers (sssht! Don´t tell!), hunters, ex-militia men and the like. In short, I will restrict them to fighters and specialists at first.

With kind regards
Gregorius21778
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  • From: Finland
  • Registered: 2015-06-06
  • Posts: 68

Re: How to replace PC in Scenic Dunnsmouth?

I think it helps to see what in Dunnsmouth draws the PC's interest. If they begin rooting out the infection, the uninfected villagers can provide a good source of replacement PC's. If they have a bad encounter with Uncle Ivanovich, a new PC's could be some unlucky villager (or even passer by), who had been captured by Uncle and barely managed to escape.
Magda and Father Ivanopoulos are good replacements, if you want to allow a caster for someone. Or thanks to Time cube's shenanigans, replacements could be from a searching party that heard a group of mercenaries went missing in Dunnsmouth.
If you are devious, you could even give an infected villager to play for some inter-party conflict.

Specialists and Fighter's shouldn't be hard to come by, the named villagers can and should have an infinite number of "forest cousins" that they want to get rid of.

In my campaign I let a new player play Magda (who was infected) to give the party new plot hooks. Others rolled completely new characters and shortly told everyone why their new PC had come to Dunnsmouth.

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2016-10-20
  • Posts: 132

Re: How to replace PC in Scenic Dunnsmouth?

Ah yeah, the time cube! Thanks for reminding and for the other good advise.

With kind regards
Gregorius21778
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  • Registered: 2013-08-08
  • Posts: 285

Re: How to replace PC in Scenic Dunnsmouth?

You could also provide a few henchmen, laborers, a link boy, etc., and as the PCs die, one of these nobodies steps up to be a "hero."

(Although, in my campaign, this has become overused so much that now every hireling is hooded, is of unknown gender, and goes by a nickname instead of their given name...it's amazing how many Magic-Users spend months cleaning up donkey shit before offering themselves and their power up to the adventuring party! wink

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  • CK!
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  • Registered: 2013-11-10
  • Posts: 22

Re: How to replace PC in Scenic Dunnsmouth?

You've probably solved this problem by now, but for me, in any situation where new PCs need to show up, I am brusque and abrupt about the whole things, adding the PCs as quickly as possible and moving along with as little ceremony as possible.

When three PCs managed to get caught in a trap and removed from play in The God That Crawls I had the players created new characters. Then, back in play...

The remaining PCs heard the gong ringing from the room in the Church above. They raced back... and saw three men dropped by the Priest through the hole in the floor above. Boom. That was the PCs, and we were off. No shenanigans about maneuvering the PCs into the dungeon.

For Scenic Dunnsmouth, I would simply have new PCs be adventurers looking for mysteries. My players know that a) there is strength in numbers; b) their job is to haul treasure out of dangerous places. So, anyone who is Level 1 or better is more than welcome to join in.

Again, I've been firm about cutting the "roleplaying" portion introducing new PCs out of play. There's a perfunctory introduction of look of character and quality of equipment... and then we're back to the adventuring part.

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2016-10-20
  • Posts: 132

Re: How to replace PC in Scenic Dunnsmouth?

Hi CK!

Thanks for the advice. I usually have a little more "pomp and circumstances", but than again I usually do not run games with a high mortality rate. In this case, I will be a bit quicker (more like your approach) as I want to run Scenic Dunnsmouth as a one-shot to entertain a group of friends over the course of an afternoon and one evening (or perhaps two).

The idea with "just another group of adventurers" is a good one. And strange as it sounds: it is so simple it would not have come to my mind sad. As I will send in my troupe as bounty hunters, bringing in some more who come in over the mountain might not be a bad idea.

With kind regards
Gregorius21778
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  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2016-10-20
  • Posts: 132

Re: How to replace PC in Scenic Dunnsmouth?

Hi again,

I brewed up three replacements characters that I will keep ready for my players, and I want to share them with you.

Here is the link to the PDF in my dropbox.

With kind regards
Gregorius21778
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