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Well, thanks to my overwhelming need to bleed all the adventure potential out of Sasserine before my players bid it farewell (with the exception of the new adventure in #149...thank you, Dungeon!) my players are going to be 6th-level, or maybe 7th by the time they start SWW.
So, I noticed that this article--great as it is--does not have the "how to scale the adventure", with respect to PCs of higher levels than 5th. I was wondering, did anyone have any recommendations as to what to do to "kick it up a notch", and make the adventure one of reasonable challenge for my PCs?
Ideas so far include advancing the flotsam ooze (though I wonder if the +1 CR per 4HD is accurate for this creature), giving Lars "No-Neck" Helvur another level of fighter or two (or even swapping fighter/rogue for swordsage, or some mix), adding a second gibbering mouther in area 2 of Tamoachan, advancing Sutolore, increasing the number of vine horrors, and giving the Mother of All the half-fiend template.
Can't wait to run this one, though. The plant and animal creature types get well-earned love!
Ideas so far include .... giving Lars "No-Neck" Helvur another level of fighter or two (or even swapping fighter/rogue for swordsage, or some mix)....
Agreed; I think that the most fun would be making Purity's Prow not such a bunch of patsies. This encounter could be a real battle royale in the great seafaring tradition, as most of the other fights are either on land or against monsters. If the Prow has a decent sorcerer or two on board, you can make the PCs wish they had bought a wand of Quench instead of CLW.
Tom
Ideas so far include .... giving Lars "No-Neck" Helvur another level of fighter or two (or even swapping fighter/rogue for swordsage, or some mix)....
Agreed; I think that the most fun would be making Purity's Prow not such a bunch of patsies. This encounter could be a real battle royale in the great seafaring tradition, as most of the other fights are either on land or against monsters. If the Prow has a decent sorcerer or two on board, you can make the PCs wish they had bought a wand of Quench instead of CLW.
Tom
Im also going to buff this encounter up. I really want to emphaise the swashbuckling and pirate aspect of the SWW.
I have 7 players and all but 2 are a level over where they should be for SWW. They just hit the sargasso. 3 players couldn't makle it last time, so I was running 4 6th level characters. I figured, No problem.
Man was I wrong. First encounter with 3 vine horrors had them seriously debilitated. The found a wreck to wait out the night in, as I told them, they hadn't encountered anything during the day. I had determined there were 2 vine horrors laired in the wreck and that there was a random chance of them attacking per 2 hours they were there. At first they decided not to sleep, and wait for day. but then they were drawing up a watch schedule.
Urol got eaten by an assassin vine and the changeling rogue woke up to find a vine horror standing over her, smashing down on her head with a double fist. That left 3.
They have been burning through a lot of spells and wand charges to get to the Thunder and are standing at the edge of the lair of the Mother of All, scared s+**less of going in. I had the other three characters show up, and we will be starting the session with all 6 characters and the 7th character will be joining them shortly after the fight begins. They are downright scared, moaning TPK.
Ans an aside, I had a queston of what would happen to a vine horror if Urol cast Entange on it?
Ans an aside, I had a queston of what would happen to a vine horror if Urol cast Entange on it?
My PC druid cast Entangle on the vine horrors that were attacking the Wyvren but standing on the sargasso. I didn't see any reason why the vine horrors wouldn't be entangled like any other beings.
That said, the spell wouldn't cause the vine horrors to entangle themselves, if they were standing on a vine-free surface, because they'er not normal plants.
As an aside, I had a question of what would happen to a vine horror if Urol cast Entangle on it?
One might argue that because the only notable plant life for entangle to make use out of would be that of the sargasso, the vine horrors may have a special case to animate the entangling vines for their own ends, making them assassin vines of their own, likely negating the beneficial effects of entangle for the caster.
Also, with their malleability trait, they might be very well able to escape the grapple courtesy of this ability alone. Mechanically, it doesn't give them this ability, but might--in the spirit of the encounter--show their power over the sargasso. Perhaps their malleability allows them to act as though under freedom of movement when entangled, or something.