Big Jake's page

I'm always willing to share my experiences, and equally as eager to read others' experiences.

As for organization of the discussions, I think we can create new threads, instead of one mega-topic (I don't like going through hundreds of posts to find an answer) when someone wants specific information... like the current timeline thread.

Perhaps when someone feels the need (or has the time) they can start a Life's Bazaar thread for all things in that adventure. Or maybe someone would like a more specific topic, like how to handle the final battle.

I will shortly start an NPC thread for some of my thoughts...

Wait... let... me... stop... laughing...

Hwoo! Okay.

That was entertaining... I was so involved in the story behind the game, I was surprised by the "she doesn't realize she's in a D&D game" answer.

Cool.

Strange double post...

Laughing too much...

I've been going over Thirteen Cages here and there (I haven't had time to sit and read and re-read all the details) and I'm leaning towards including the Stormblades into the adventure.

Honestly, I was hoping that the adventure path would include a chance to bring the two groups together. My group started off as bitter rivals (nobles vs. commoners), emphasized by the encounter provided in the web enhancement.

But later, when a party member was killed by Skaven (in Flood Season), the Stormblades attended the wake at the Tipped Tankard. Annah performed, the fighters dueled in the dead character's memory, and ties were being made.

Even later, when the party was invited to become members of the Cusp of Sunrise, the party spent time socializing with the Stormblades (when they were all in town), and lastly, the party members rescued Todd from the Cathedral of Wee Jas.

I'm now trying to find a good in-game story to bring them together, and I'm contemplating my alternatives to including the Stormblades in the adventure.

I think I am going to write up a character sheet for each of the Stormblades, and hand one to each of my players. I think they understand the Stormblades enough to role-play them well, and it would be interesting to see their tactics with more numbers.

One thing I think I'm going to change: Cora. Why would Cora take levels in Duelist? She doesn't have a high enough Int-modifier to take advantage of the benefits!

I was hanging around the weekly gamer gathering, and one of the guys that runs D&D miniature events showed up with newly laminated battle maps.

He laminated several maps from the starter set, but also the Dragon's Hoard map, and one that I don't remember off hand.

It made me remember that I had planned on doing the same to my maps: the dragon's hoard map, the gladiator arena, the four-part map of Forgotten Realms, and some others.

But it also made me wonder...

What do any of you do with your inserts for Dragon and/or Dungeon?

This is really a fill-in-the-blank poll, but I imagine some options are:

Keep them in the magazine... keep the magazine "mint" condition!
Take them out, throw them away... don't want/need/use 'em!
Take them out, save them, but don't use them... can't stand throwing things away!
Take them out, use and abuse them... these inserts were made for using!
Take them out, prepare them for optimal re-use... there have been big steps in color copying and lamination techniques!

So the Cauldron adventure path is two issues from finishing its wild ride. My players and I have absolutely loved it, how about yours? How do you think that the path will end? Which installment of the path has been your favorite advneture?

Rauol! Nice to see you over here (from EnWorld).

How am I feeling? After I read the synopsis of the final installment, I have lost the excitement for waiting for the next one... I felt the same way after seeing Return of the King. But I am still excited about running the story through its end.

My favorite adventure? I liked The Demonskar Legacy for its brilliant mix of city encounters, dungeon-delving, and hero-saving (almost). I also liked Secrets of the Soul Pillars for finally bringing to light a lot of information.

As for my players' reactions:

I ran one group up through Test of the Smoking Eye, and they were totally in love with the story, but the party broke up when everyone moved within five weeks of each other. My current group is in Lords of Oblivion, and they have really taken to the setting and the story.

In our last session, they completed the encounter at House Rhiavadi. My group decided to role-play their way through the encounter, and they did exceptionally well.

(Feng: when you say "they got slaughtered" do you mean that you had a TPK? That would stink for a group of PCs to have gone to 13th and 14th level.)

Each party member made up a new name for his character, and everyone had to use them during the encounter. I made sure everyone talked to most of the people there, making disguise checks and what not.

The funniest part of the encounter: the Fighter/Warmage went disguised as a bard, and one of the other players suggested that he perform. He was just joking, but I made the player make a roll (with no ranks in perform, but a +8 to Cha) and he ended up with a 23! But everyone stopped breathing for a few seconds when the suggestion was taken seriously, and I made everyone roll an additional Bluff check to compensate.

Through their role playing, they discovered that they were responsible for bringing Zenith to the Cagewrights (jaws dropped, Bluff checks required...) and that Vhalantru was preparing himself for the ritual already.

They did a great job.

The other funny thing about last session: as a DM, I often roll a single initiative roll and single saving throws when the party is against similar bad guys (to speed up combat). So, when the party (with three 13th-level casters) went blazing into the safe house, the rogues made their saves against fireballs, chain lightning and others, and took NO DAMAGE. Not bad for a group of CR 3s!