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I ran the Sandpoint raid yesterday. My observations:
1. At first, I wasn't sure how the raid is supposed to play out in 25 rounds. After some work I made a timeline indicating what happens where at which point (I will post a link to it once I'm back from work). Surprisingly, it all went smoothly and i had little trouble figuring out what's going on a given round.
2. We used the RotRL folio Sandpoint map and placed figures/counters on it, tracking the tactical situation and current position of PCs and attackers. Worked like a charm, the Sandpoint map is one of best accessories ever.
3. And as for the raid itself... the PCs botched it major time. Three of them ran out of Northgate and after the initial giants, meaning it took them a while before they managed to return - the distraction was a 100% success.
One PC (a Binder) stayed behind near the cathedral and witnessed the dragon torching buildings and eating local populace. He decided to bind a spirit that would be particularly useful against Longtooth, but he needed a material component which he left at the Rusty Dragon.
So, the binder ordered one town guard to run to the inn and fetch his components. Sadly, the brave guardsman ran straight into Teraktinus and Barl (Barl survived the Hook Mountain and was back with a vengeance) and got "stuffed" (literally).
When the remaining PCs returned, a halfling beguiler cast haste on himself and ran like heck to retrieve the components. Unfortunately for him, he ran right under the dragon, who had detect magic on and immediately sensed the "Christmas tree of magic items" that the beguiler was. So, when the halfling ran into the Rusty Dragon Inn and began frantically searching for binder's stuff, Longtooth made a theatrical entry by smashing thru the roof and belched fire on the halfling. The poor tyke went from 54hp to 14hp, and decided to leg it - I called for an Acrobatics roll as the halfling attempted to tumble out of the dragon's reach. He promptly botched the roll, and got hit by an AOO brining him down to 2hp.
Then came "the" moment, as the beguiler pulled out a scroll of Dimension Door and attempted his DC 29 Use Magic Device Check. He rolled a total of 30 and ported out, much to the dragon's frustration.
However, at that point the horn was blown and raiding party began pulling out. The PCs managed to mess up one group of giants using a well-placed Confusion, but the rest of the raid was fully succesful. 34 townsfolk dead, 10 noname NPCs captured, 3 named NPCS (Brodent Quink, that other Vinder girl and the shipyard master) captured, property damage high (cathedral was saved, but the Hagfish and the Theater are gone).
What next ? Of course the PCs will chase after the giants, but how should the populace of Sandpoint respond to the PCs being not quite stellar about the defense ? How should I run Teraktinus, Barl and the dragon at Jorgenfist ? Ideas ? Suggestions ? Comments ?
What next ? Of course the PCs will chase after the giants, but how should the populace of Sandpoint respond to the PCs being not quite stellar about the defense ? How should I run Teraktinus, Barl and the dragon at Jorgenfist ? Ideas ? Suggestions ? Comments ?
I wouldn't have the townsfolk react too badly: They still need the heroes to rescue their kidnapped friends and family members. Some might make cynical comments, but others would elbow the cynics to pipe down, arguing that "They did all they could!"
I'd but Barl out with a raiding party or stirring trouble in the countryside, placed in charge of some "hard cases" as punishment for his "failure" at Hook Mountain. That way, he could lead an impressive group, but their disobedient backstabbing and lack of coordination provide a "hook" the PCs could use to turn them against each other.
I had a similar situation.
For my group, they also spent too much time fighting the initial group of giants. Then we almost had a TPK against the giants with the dire bears (very bad rolls). As a result, the dragon went unoppossed, 21 citizens died, and 12 were captured. Much of the town was burned down, including the cathedral, and the theatre.
I didn't have the townsfolk hold it against the PCs too much. Afterall, the townsfolk couldn't do much, and the PCs did take out quite a few giants once they regrouped near the end of the battle.
However, the PCs were confronted with a town on the verge of collapse. 1/3 of the town's homes were destroyed, and people were deciding on whether to leave or pitch tents to rebuild. I also had the town leaders mention that they did not know how they would come up with the money to rebuild. My PCs eventually donated enough to rebuild most of the homes.
This also set up a situation for the local scarni to make a power play to gain more influence in town. However, I brought this up after Jorgenfist as I didn't want to distract the group too much.
As for the giants at Jorgenfist, I'd play them as presented in the module. They surely wouldn't have the impression that a big threat may be coming from Sandpoint.
Sounds like the raid went as planned. It is written in the book that people are captured. There is no way the PCs can be everywhere. The only way they could have stopped everything was by criting almost every time.
Some of the townsfolk being angry at the PCs is to be expected, but those who are grateful outnumber those who aren't 30-1. Having the PCs rescue those who were kidnapped could raise it to 50-1.
Enjoy!!
Thanks for the input folks. And now something from me: a handy table which I used to track the Sandpoint raid.
I did something similar for my own use...
<http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?u=1213031> this is a word document
Did it too fast --- here's the link.