WARNING: Potential Spoilers ahead.
The strength of this module is really in its NPCs. My players enjoyed talking with Sylas and Wallace, they spent a really long time gathering information and going around the town. If you are running the other modules leading up to Parnast under Siege, you should let them! This is one of the few modules where the party can explore the town and get a feel for Parnast in its default state. Once they are invested in the people and their plight, the hooks for the subsequent modules are a lot easier, gold or not.
I strongly suggest not letting the party split up to explore the forest, which is what mine did. This resulted in one group finding the stag and triggering everything while the other party was camping away, so half the group was a little bored while the bard talked things over with the fey prince. What worked well was playing up the danger and mysteriousness of the fey - I had the stag not leave tracks, the trees move omniously, critters staring at the party. Really helps establish the mood when they talk to Thornacius.
The final fight can be really fun but also confusing - I suggest a clean battle map and clearly marked obstacles as its really easy to lose track of where everyone is. I did not bother placing townsfolk on the map and just designated the entire region around the table as difficult terrain for 3-4 rounds (this also completely messed up the wizard and bard's sleep spells). Thankfully, my players went full "big damn heroes" and saved everyone, but a more selfish party might need a reminder by Ragnar or Wallace to protect the townsfolk. Foreshadowing this by discussing how Parnast has been losing people and how any further loss would be devastating helps as well. Other than the complications, the rest of the fight was pretty vanilla. Cinematic storytelling might help to keep players engaged.
Combat: 6/10
Puzzles: 5/10
Social: 9/10
Explore: 8/10
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