Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:

Possible I suppose - I had assumed that the trap kept trying to squish its victim every round, but maybe it only squishes them once.

Scott is correct, I put it down as a minion trap because A) it only affects one PC, and B) because once it goes off and does damage, it is easily avoided by all other PC's. They added minion traps into the DMG2 by the way ;)

My group avoided it anyways, they used a weapon to snag all the loot out of the elevator and didn't even take a step inside. The crushed bones and junk on the floor kinda gives it away.

Now I admit that the A PC really ought not to walk into the little room with the crushed armour and bones but they will have seen an elevator before that does work so they may choose to investigate and if a PC goes in then the doors slam shut behind him meaning he can't be helped by the other party members. It then proceeds to do 3d8+6 plus immobilized (save ends) to a 1st or 2nd level character. The only real way for the rest of the party to save the trapped player is a DC 17 thievery check (The strength check option is beyond players of this level - they'll fail even if they roll a 20 and the strength check to get the Sarcophagus all the way around will take too long to save a player). Thats not an easy check. This thing outright kills a player in a couple of rounds with the player cut off from help (and healing)

A minion is something that dies from the fighters back hand after doing 10 damage - this is more like players blowing on dice hoping that they can make an untrained thievery check by rolling 16+ or Jim's dead. I understand that it only effects once PC...but it has a pretty good chance of killing that PC - on average this does 19 points of damage every round, if the DM rolls well the player is unconscious before he can do anything at all and dead (past negative bloodied value) on round two.

I'd probably replace this trap entirely now that the DMG2 is out.

Check out page 68 of that book for the crushing walls trap. I'd probably use those mechanics and level the trap way down.

This was kind of a first stab at the trap, and it never was triggered so I never bothered to update it again.

I'd probably replace this trap entirely now that the DMG2 is out.

Check out page 68 of that book for the crushing walls trap. I'd probably use those mechanics and level the trap way down.

This was kind of a first stab at the trap, and it never was triggered so I never bothered to update it again.

@ Pop 'N Fresh.

In area 11 you list a Doomspore as the opposition but give no stats. That's fine as I assume I have to look up anything that's not your own material - but what book is this from? I don't see Doomspore listed in the MM.

@ Pop 'N Fresh.

In area 11 you list a Doomspore as the opposition but give no stats. That's fine as I assume I have to look up anything that's not your own material - but what book is this from? I don't see Doomspore listed in the MM.

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:

@ Pop 'N Fresh.

In area 11 you list a Doomspore as the opposition but give no stats. That's fine as I assume I have to look up anything that's not your own material - but what book is this from? I don't see Doomspore listed in the MM.

It's a hazard in the DMG. You can replace it with a slime or ooze if you want, but I just kept it as a hazard in case the PC's fight the earth elemental. It's on page 88.

I should have the Three Faces of Evil conversion document finished and available in the next few weeks. The group has 3 caves left to complete in the caves of Erythnul (or Grummsh in 4e) before they hit the Vecna temple. So far they are slaughtering the poor Grimlocks, but my encounters are way more balanced than they used to be. Also if the group didn't have 2 Clerics and a Paladin, they would be having a lot more problems I suspect.

I should have the Three Faces of Evil conversion document finished and available in the next few weeks. The group has 3 caves left to complete in the caves of Erythnul (or Grummsh in 4e) before they hit the Vecna temple. So far they are slaughtering the poor Grimlocks, but my encounters are way more balanced than they used to be. Also if the group didn't have 2 Clerics and a Paladin, they would be having a lot more problems I suspect.

Anyway I'm definitely interested in seeing your conversion. I've been using your Whispering Cairn one heavily as a basis for my conversion.

Hard to say. My encounters are way better than they used to be now that I've seen the game run a lot more and have the monster builder installed.

The only benefit I have seen in having 2 clerics and a paladin is the PC's never seem to get knocked out anymore. As soon as someone is bloodied he has 1 of 3 healers healing him back up.

Their main issue now is they have only 1 striker, the avenger, and he hits almost every turn because of his oath of emnity, but his damage is a bit less compared to a rogue or barbarian.

The paladin ends up marking all the monsters and gets the crap beat out of him constantly, but he has tonnes of hit points and his AC is quite high now that he has Theldrick's +2 plate armor.

Hard to say. My encounters are way better than they used to be now that I've seen the game run a lot more and have the monster builder installed.

The only benefit I have seen in having 2 clerics and a paladin is the PC's never seem to get knocked out anymore. As soon as someone is bloodied he has 1 of 3 healers healing him back up.

Their main issue now is they have only 1 striker, the avenger, and he hits almost every turn because of his oath of emnity, but his damage is a bit less compared to a rogue or barbarian.

The paladin ends up marking all the monsters and gets the crap beat out of him constantly, but he has tonnes of hit points and his AC is quite high now that he has Theldrick's +2 plate armor.

Yeah, it seems to be serving them well now. But it was a bumpy road getting there.

Once they had virtually no ranged powers, I think they had 1 character, the wizard, who could hit things at range. The rest were all melee, and they paid for it in the end with 3 characters dying.

4E has the role concept down really well, and you have to stick with your role. There is not a lot of room for making mistakes when designing a character, but even the smallest tweaks can make a huge difference after a few levels.

Yeah, it seems to be serving them well now. But it was a bumpy road getting there.

Once they had virtually no ranged powers, I think they had 1 character, the wizard, who could hit things at range. The rest were all melee, and they paid for it in the end with 3 characters dying.

4E has the role concept down really well, and you have to stick with your role. There is not a lot of room for making mistakes when designing a character, but even the smallest tweaks can make a huge difference after a few levels.

How did your players do with the scene with Kullen and the Gang. I'm pretty sure I want to use your Skill Challenge here if only to take a break from the combat. However it seems probable that if negotiations break down fighting will break out. In theory I could turn the whole thing into a really elaborate encounter in the bar with random bystanders and viscous dogs in the dog pit.

That said I'm not sure I want to take things to a really elaborate level if chances are the players will pass the Skill Challenge - to much unused work.

Spicing up the encounter with the Owlbears inside Allistor Lands house.

• I suggest that the old farmstead be doubled in size. Also the place is clearly falling apart and I think that provides some fun to the encounter. The Owlbear's (if your using Pop'N'Fresh's conversion) have grab attacks - usually that is fun but here I'd replace grab with forced movement - in fact toss forced movement on all the Owlbear claw attacks. Slide three or four ought to do it.

• OK so here is the scene - all the walls don't get any effective hps. Anyone forced to slide into a wall goes through it and stops on the other side, prone. From now on there is a hole in the wall where the character exited the house (or moved through interior walls.

• PCs (or the owlbears for that matter) take 2d6+3 whenever they go through the walls.

• After the third new gap is made in the walls the whole place starts to come down around every ones ears.

• Gap #3 causes showers of debree, mostly the thatch with a significant amount of dirt and chalky dust to cascade down from the ceiling. Everyone in the building gets partial cover beyond 5' from the clouds of dust and debree floating about.

• Gap #4 There is now enough debree piling up on the floor to and the junk coming from the ceiling makes all squares in the house difficult terrain - here we've added mud and thicker debree from the parts of the room more exposed to the elements.

• Gap #5+ At this point the whole building is quacking and shuddering from the structural damage being done to it. When this gap is created, and again whenever any new gap after this one is created, everyone in the building must weather a +8 vs. reflex attack to avoid falling debree. Fail and your beamed by a beam or other heavy object coming off the roof - take 2d6+3 damage and become stunned (save ends).

• Remember that these effects apply to the Owlbears too.

• After five gaps are made in the house its just a matter of time before the whole place collapses - now dropping a house on your players is over kill so drop the whole place with some suitable flavour text shortly after they all exit.

How did your players do with the scene with Kullen and the Gang. I'm pretty sure I want to use your Skill Challenge here if only to take a break from the combat. However it seems probable that if negotiations break down fighting will break out. In theory I could turn the whole thing into a really elaborate encounter in the bar with random bystanders and viscous dogs in the dog pit.

That said I'm not sure I want to take things to a really elaborate level if chances are the players will pass the Skill Challenge - to much unused work.

Nobody was knocked into the dog pit but they knew it was there. The encounter ended with the group having 2 members knocked out, and knocking out Kullen's entire gang (no deaths).

They all got put in jail for the night and Kullen eventually gave up the info to the avenger who went toe to toe with him out of respect. The skill challenge was there "just in case" the group decided to talk.

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:

How did your players do with the scene with Kullen and the Gang. I'm pretty sure I want to use your Skill Challenge here if only to take a break from the combat. However it seems probable that if negotiations break down fighting will break out. In theory I could turn the whole thing into a really elaborate encounter in the bar with random bystanders and viscous dogs in the dog pit.

That said I'm not sure I want to take things to a really elaborate level if chances are the players will pass the Skill Challenge - to much unused work.

My group got into a fight with them in the bar, and it was probably one of the harder fights the group had, even outnumbering the bad guys 6 to 4. The avenger in the group was talking to Kullen, and accused his gang of grave robbing in front of everybody, Kullen took offense to this however, and in the end a fight broke out.

Nobody was knocked into the dog pit but they knew it was there. The encounter ended with the group having 2 members knocked out, and knocking out Kullen's entire gang (no deaths).

They all got put in jail for the night and Kullen eventually gave up the info to the avenger who went toe to toe with him out of respect. The skill challenge was there "just in case" the group decided to talk.

Anyone have some idea's on how to handle non-combatant patrons?

Maybe have some human rabble in there. PC's or NPC's could grab them or shove them around, etc. The feral dog is pretty cramped quarters though so I just had most of the people take off as soon as they saw Kullen stand up.

Maybe have some human rabble in there. PC's or NPC's could grab them or shove them around, etc. The feral dog is pretty cramped quarters though so I just had most of the people take off as soon as they saw Kullen stand up.

What I'll probably do is treat the NPCs as minions except that they don't attack anyone but run around randmly until they are six squares away from any combatant - after which they will presumably just run away. Kind of like squishy, mobile obstacles - scream a lot and die when hit. That'll pose an interesting dilemma for my plays regarding whether they just blow up the civilians along with the bad guys or not (I'm sure Kullen's crew does not care). I'll have to get some stats for the doggies as well.

Jeremy Mac Donald suggested that I get involved in this thread as I am also converting AoW to 4e. I've only just begun converting the 1st adventure. I'm not sure exactly what I can add to the conversation, other than what monsters I plan to use in certain situations and some traps I designed. Also note that I'm planning to use the AP in Eberron, so I'm making a few fundamental changes.

For an example of what I've done, here's the "wind tunnel" that appears in area 7 of the Whispering Cairn.

Face Trap Level 3 Blaster
Trap 150 XP
The trap blows one down the tunnel until he or she reaches the exit and falls.
Trap: The face at the end of a 10’ wide 70’ long tunnel.
Perception
DC 21: The character notices a 5' x 10' pressure plate 10’ from the face.
Initiative +3
Trigger
The creature stands on the pressure plate.
Attack
Standard Burst 15
Targets: All creatures in burst area
Attack: +6 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 + 3 force damage and the target is pushed 6 squares
Miss: The target is pushed 3 squares
Attack
Immediate Interrupt (when a creature moves within 3 squares of the face) Close Burst special
Targets: The triggering creature
Attack: +6 vs. Will
Hit: The target is immobilized (save ends)
Countermeasures
• A creature adjacent to the pressure plate can disable the trap with a DC 26 Thievery check.
• Leave the tunnel. A person forced out of the tunnel takes 4d10 falling damage unless he or she grabs the chain on which the lantern hangs (DC 16 Acrobatics check).
• Light all the lanterns in area 7. Face opens (like a door) to reveal area 23

I'm not sure exactly what I can add to the conversation, other than what monsters I plan to use in certain situations and some traps I designed.

I'm just updating this thread on my campaign's progress. The group has just taken out Grallak Kur and his minions quite easily. They had more issues with the inhabitants of room 19 in TFoE but ultimately prevailed.

They are taking out room 20 next week, then heading to Vecna's temple.

The group's paladin has been doing an excellent job playing the "tank". He marks multiple foes, get the crap beaten out of him, gets healed by one of the two clerics, or lays on hands himself, and keeps on trucking. The avenger is just insane to watch, he NEVER misses using his oath, and the 2 clerics are just great with their combined healing abilities.

We are having a blast. And as promised, I will post my conversion doc once the adventure is finished.

I'm just updating this thread on my campaign's progress. The group has just taken out Grallak Kur and his minions quite easily. They had more issues with the inhabitants of room 19 in TFoE but ultimately prevailed.

They are taking out room 20 next week, then heading to Vecna's temple.

The group's paladin has been doing an excellent job playing the "tank". He marks multiple foes, get the crap beaten out of him, gets healed by one of the two clerics, or lays on hands himself, and keeps on trucking. The avenger is just insane to watch, he NEVER misses using his oath, and the 2 clerics are just great with their combined healing abilities.

We are having a blast. And as promised, I will post my conversion doc once the adventure is finished.

Nope, we have a standard 5 PC's now, I just didn't mention the wizard.

Human Wizard
Elf Avenger of the Raven Queen
Human Cleric of the Raven Queen
Human Paladin of the Raven Queen
Elf Cleric of Erathis

The group has been having way more fun after the grumpy barbarian player left the party.

Well, one thing I changed that I was pretty happy with was the Wind Duke battle. I had four of them instead of 1, all of them Wind Duke ghosts that came out of the four pictures on the walls. I designed each one with different features and different names (Duke of Defense, Duke of War, Duke of Might, etc.) Many of them have push abilities. I made the pit more shallow, so that if a character fell they would only take 1d10 damage and have a chance to climb up with one successful Athletics check. The scene may be a little too hard - I won't know until I run it -, but I feel like the platforms and the four different dukes make it a really interesting combat.

Well, one thing I changed that I was pretty happy with was the Wind Duke battle. I had four of them instead of 1, all of them Wind Duke ghosts that came out of the four pictures on the walls. I designed each one with different features and different names (Duke of Defense, Duke of War, Duke of Might, etc.) Many of them have push abilities. I made the pit more shallow, so that if a character fell they would only take 1d10 damage and have a chance to climb up with one successful Athletics check. The scene may be a little too hard - I won't know until I run it -, but I feel like the platforms and the four different dukes make it a really interesting combat.

@Pop'N'Fresh

I'm deep into creating the Feral Dog encounter complete with a battle mat (which I just finished). I was planning on using your antagonists for this encounter and will probably post it for others to use when I'm done.

However I can't post something with your work embedded in it without your permission. So can I use your antagonists in this encounter write up if I credit you for your contributions?

@Pop'N'Fresh

I'm deep into creating the Feral Dog encounter complete with a battle mat (which I just finished). I was planning on using your antagonists for this encounter and will probably post it for others to use when I'm done.

However I can't post something with your work embedded in it without your permission. So can I use your antagonists in this encounter write up if I credit you for your contributions?

I created a more elaborate then normal encounter for the Feral Dog. Anyone interested in checking it out can download it from a Blog I opened to contain this sort of material.

Kobolds Ate Our Mules.

Just for fun I included a Paizo easter egg in this encounter. The Dog in the Dog Pit is a Goblin Dog from Scott Bett's conversion of Burnt Offerings.

I created a more elaborate then normal encounter for the Feral Dog. Anyone interested in checking it out can download it from a Blog I opened to contain this sort of material.

Kobolds Ate Our Mules.

Just for fun I included a Paizo easter egg in this encounter. The Dog in the Dog Pit is a Goblin Dog from Scott Bett's conversion of Burnt Offerings.

Jeremy, for your blog, consider using a Picasa account to host your image files. It's free, and is already supported by Blogger through Google. You'll be able to hotlink directly from the blog without having to go through 4shared's download page.

Also, and it's not a huge deal since it's pretty obvious, but monster powers with circles around the attack icons are the basic attacks. In your document, you have the monsters' basic attacks using the icons for non-basic attacks. It's only a formatting concern, and only holds true if you want to follow the format WotC is using. It's not like one way makes any more sense than the other.

Haha, awesome.

Jeremy, for your blog, consider using a Picasa account to host your image files. It's free, and is already supported by Blogger through Google. You'll be able to hotlink directly from the blog without having to go through 4shared's download page.

Also, and it's not a huge deal since it's pretty obvious, but monster powers with circles around the attack icons are the basic attacks. In your document, you have the monsters' basic attacks using the icons for non-basic attacks. It's only a formatting concern, and only holds true if you want to follow the format WotC is using. It's not like one way makes any more sense than the other.

I've gone and placed a link to a 3D perspective map of the Whispering Cairn on my blog for those curious as to what the tomb looks like when its all 'hooked' together.

Kobolds Ate Our Mules

The permissions are set so you should be able to download the map if you want to.

Just finished mapping out the Old Observatory (aka Filge's lair) as a 3D perspective map. This kind of map really works well as a perspective maps (buildings in general are particularly good). Anyone interested in checking it out can head of to Kobolds Ate Our Mules. Permissions are such that it should be downloadable and its, of course, actually larger then Picasa would indicate.

Finished off another encounter. This time I did Filge's Operating Theatre. The battle map and encounter write up can be found on my blog Kobolds Ate Our Mules.

With practice come some improvements to the layout - oh and I figured out how to get the spellchecker to work properly - of course I'm still speaking in 'Canadian' but at least its properly spelled 'Canadian' (well for the most part anyway).

I should have an update when I get back to work tomorrow, I've had to collect and save a bunch of conversions from Three Faces of Evil into one word document but I should have that entire adventure posted soon.

The group avoided a near TPK with some clever tactics by their wizard, and destroyed the Faceless One in a feverish fight.

Tomorrow they face one final kenku encounter and then the Ebon Aspect, then move on to Blackwall Keep.

I am planning on staring up a AoW campaign and was oping to see what others had done to convert it to 4e.

Looking forward to seeing your Three Faces of Evil conversion.