Anson Caralya's page

Aye, I hadn't seen an epic adventure till that one, and you managed to not only represent magical power in such a grand and world-threatening scope, but you even embraced such game-stoppers as Wish. The XP for each villain was a nice touch, and I enjoyed ferreting out where certain NPCs had used wishes to increase their stats. One question, in playtest, did you find the undead villains (particularly the vampire duelist) to drop in a heartbeat to turnings (esp of the Greater variety)?

Magagumo, thanks for the kind words. Wow, you really combed through the NPC's stats? That effort wasn't wasted time ater all?!? I did every one by-the-book starting with the base ability array -- here's Baucojin:

Str 14 (8 + 6 (vampire))
Dex 29 (14 + 4 (vampire) + 5 (manual) + 6 (gloves))
Con –
Int 14 (10 + 2 (vampire) + 2 (tome))
Wis 20 (12 + 2 (vampire) +6 (periapt))
Cha 37 (15 + 4 (vampire) + 7 (level advancement) + 5 (tome) + 6 (cloak))

and here's Voursuol:

as Great Wyrm Black Dragon: Str 37, Dex 10, Con 27, Int 20, Wis 21, Cha 20; Half-fiend adjustments: Str +4, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +4, Cha +2; 2 epic dragon age categories adjustments: Str +4, Con +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +2; manuals Str +5, Con +3, Dex +2, tome Cha +4; final Str 50, Dex 16, Con 36, Int 26, Wis 23, Cha 28

Regarding the playtesting, the party included a straight cleric without Greater Turning, but, yes, that's one mean ability if you're facing undead with class levels (as opposed to massive HD undead monsters). Baucojin's been around a while, so he knows to focus his efforts on any priestly-looking opponents before they do it to him, and energy drain is a nice way to impair turning ability. As for Ivirere, yeah, that's a weak spot of hers. Then again, the party is better off redeeming her than wasting her.

Also, if I may, how do the blackguard devils use greater teleport in the timevoid? I really haven't had the chance to run this adventure, but Eravatius alone (well, monk worshippers of him, along w/ a barbed devil ;)) has become a major player in my upcoming campaign.

Kudos!

The blackguard devils' use of greater teleport is an error -- no form of teleportation works in the Hourglass demiplane. Sorry.

So, Erivatius will have a life outside of the Hourglass, hmmm... I like that.

Anson, I REALLY enjoyed your epic level adventure. Months and months after reading it certain aspects of the architecture and environs you created still come to mind during daydreams. It was a socks-knocker-offer. More, please.

The Jade has made my day. I'm now in author Nirvana.

More? Yes, I'm trying to meet that request, still waiting to hear back on a submission I have high hopes for.

Does anyone out there know if any Dungeon adventure features an Inevitable they could direct me to for a little creative inspiration?

Why, yes, I do! My own adventure, "The Quicksilver Hourglass" (issue 123) features a group of maruts tasked with ensuring that a certain deity of death does not cheat death. The maruts in question are slightly advanced...

It's issue 92. For clarity, that's the May/June '02 issue; Sept/Oct '02 was also labeled 92 on the spine, but is actually 94.

Anson Caralya wrote:

... still waiting...

Hey everyone. I think you all deserve an update on this. I got about halfway through the stack when I was interrupted by a forthcoming deadline. As soon as that is reached, I will resume the reply train.

Sorry again for the slow responses.

Jeremy, thanks for the explanation. Now I can dismiss some of my more paranoid fears (and return to the everyday paranoid fears).

... still waiting...

Is this the "Quicksilver Hourglass" Anson?

Chris, yes, that's me, and many thanks for the praise. Those stat blocks were quite a slog, but the tedium was relieved every once in a while with some sick tidbit like the gigant's +97 grapple bonus...

My proposal in the current batch is my third since "Hourglass." One rejection and one slip-away-into-Limbo to show for my efforts so far...

I'm patiently waiting as well. At least now I know that my Yahoo account can be accessed every 23 seconds for two weeks without crashing.

Ron,

Thanks again for the positive feedback. While I have a few proposals in the Dungeon slushpile right now, none of them are of epic level. I might try my hand at epic levels again some day, but for now I'm focusing on things which don't involve 500-word stat blocks!

MORE QUICKSILVER HOURGLASS SPOILERS!

Ron,

Very glad to hear that you enjoyed Quicksilver Hourglass, as you were its earliest supporter! To answer your question about epic-level magic items: in addition to James' note about Baucojin's ring of chaotic fury, I also originally equipped Shoolian with Boots of Swiftness and Ivirere with a Mantle of Epic Spell Resistance. Why not more epic magic items? Well, the list in the ELH is short and armor/weapons with a +6 enhancement/+11 total bonus are just beyond hoard size for EL's in the 30 range. If you'd like to add in a bit more magic for the characters to haul off, feel free to give additional powers to the many artifacts found within the pentatope. For example, the Mechanus scroll could grant tongues at will and freedom and imprisonment each once per day, but only for a lawful user. I don't want to think of what a character might do should they somehow gain control of the Sphere of Ruined Bodies... I wouldn't overdo it though; Morwel's permanent +2 sacred bonus to an ability of the character's choice should certainly counter any perceived shortfall in magic items.

Dethand -- Certainly agree that Drelzna from the old caverns of Tsojcanth could fit here. One of my all-time favorites. Iggwilv could easily replace Baucojin as the leader of the Union -- I can imagine her having similar motives -- but she probably wouldn't take the risk of personally entering the timevoid.

Magagumo -- Thanks for the positive feedback. I agree completely with James' comments regarding clerics and turning. Play-testing did include a straight cleric, but she did not have the Sun domain or anything else granting greater turning. Should such a character be involved, I wouldn't penalize them for having this ability: they're focused on wasting undead, let them waste undead. There are plenty of other threats in the Hourglass.