Callum's page

I think the text of the adventure makes it clear that the liquids Filge is injecting aren't simply ordinary potions: "...a soapy liquid substance consisting of reanimated cells...effectively a potion of gentle repose,..." Although they duplicate the effects of some potions, they are actually a unique creation of Filge's, developed in the course of his necromantic research.

I love the idea of calling them syrixes - though I'm not sure how the players would ever hear that word.

Looking at the supplied picture of the blue lantern, er, indigo lantern, got me thinking. Indigo and blue are both pretty much the same color. When the PCs look the faded fresco in room 6, would they even notice such a subtle difference? How to describe it?

DM: "Clockwise, the colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet"

Well, I definitely wouldn't use the words "indigo" and "violet". In fact, I probably wouldn't say anything specific about the colours unless asked (Erik's boxed text nothwithstanding). My description would end something like: "...each chain bears a gleaming, different coloured lantern." If asked for the specific colours, I'd describe the last two as light purple and deep purple. This would have the added advantage of letting my players try to work in as many cheesy heavy rock references as possible (e.g. "Does it look like a demon's eye?")!

I'm still happy to be involved, particularly on the editing/checking side. And I agree with the Slaad's suggestion that we need some co-ordination to progress further - so what's my task?

Say, do all the rest of you make as many mistakes during combat, especially high level combat? It's frustrating sometimes.

Absolutely - it's one of the things I find most frustrating about DMing 3E D&D. Decent opponents for high-level parties all have a slew of feats, abilities, spells, etc., which I find impossible to keep track of during combat. The players have at least built their characters up over time, and so are accustomed to their talents. This is why I think it's essential to provide detailed tactical advice for high-level opponents in adventures.

As an aside, I'd have been happy to make some monster special abilities count against their feats, so as to reduce the number required for high-HD monsters - and the recurrence of Alertness!

To incorporate many of the ideas, I propose that the church is the one unifying organization present in both nations that keeps them from totally destroying each other. Up until now, the church has acted as a calming, peace-making influence on the two enemy Kings.

Step forward, Friar Laurence! One part of the arc should then involve the PCs being involved by the church in a scheme to end the families' feuding, which goes wrong with tragic consequences.

I'm in favour of option B - a bit more "meat" is definitely preferable to a dash through every setting.

The important thing is to stimulate the reader's imagination, making them think "yeah, that was cool" and "maybe I should give that a go." Then provide a little help in achieving this.

Finally, I'm one of those readers with whom Al Qadim is popular!

My group's never visited Skie's, but has been called The Mutt Bunch since the start - due to their extremely low average Charisma!

I'd be happy to join in, too. My particular skills are in editing, checking, and maintaining consistency. I'm also good at developing ideas from the seeds created by others.

I agree with the Slaad - the map and description don't match up, indicating that some changes have been made without cross-referencing.

The map shows that V4 is above V3; the only way to get to V4 from V3 is through the smaller cave mouth - which is directly above the large entrance - when the portcullis is down. When the portcullis is up, the smaller entrance is blocked, and the larger entrance at V3 leads straight through the passage to V6. I don't think the giant could throw stones through the smaller entrance, and the Reaction text seems to support this; it's used just for keeping watch on the outside.

If you're sticking with the map as is, you could consider that the west end of V4 has the balcony overlooking the passage from V3 to V6. Thus, when the giant in V7 hears the PCs breaking the portcullis, he gets stones ready to throw at them (from behind!) once they pass under V4 on their way to V6.

However, I believe that the original intent was for V4 not to be over the passage, but entirely to the north of it, and the map is slightly in error. In this arrangement, the giant would throw stones down on the PCs in the passage as soon as they got through the portcullis, protected by the wooden parapet. Whether this is 6-foot-tall (as V3 says) or 3-foot-tall (as V4 says) is up to you!

The main change I made was switching the temples of Pelor and St Cuthbert around, so the cleric of Pelor in my group could get more directly involved in the story. He was a half-orc, and the player had written some background which had him being found as a child by an older cleric of Pelor and being raised in an orphanage, and it was easy to tie all this in to Cauldron. It also offered some good role-playing opportunities when the group encountered Tongueater, and the half-orc spotted his "father's" severed head on the mantlepiece! The introductory scene with Ruphus wasn't needed, for obvious reasons.

My players found the continual dungeon-delving of the first two parts rather repetitive, so I'm going to skip Zenith Trajectory and use the Standing Stone module and Tammeraut's Fate (from Dungeon) as a change of pace. If I was running the AP again, I'd probably omit Flood Season instead.

im playing in the adventure path soon as a cleric of lathander who grew up in the lantern street orphnanage...anyone else played a cleric of pelor/lathander?

Yes, the only cleric in the party I ran through it was a half-orc cleric of Pelor (who also grew up in the orphanage). I changed the churches around so that the main church (to which Jenya belongs) was a church of Pelor, while the small shrine was dedicated to St Cuthbert. If your DM hasn't considered this, I'd recommend it - it makes things much easier!

is a cleric vital to the party in this campaign because we have heard it is very hard and many total party kills can happen to unsuspecting gamers??

I'd say you do need a cleric in the party. However, I don't think the campaign is as deadly as you're suggesting. My group was made up of inexperienced gamers, and hasn't suffered a single casualty. The main issue is that each part of the campaign (particularly the early ones) is quite long, so the party will need multiple opportunities to reatreat, rest and heal. So long as these are available (and used!), there shouldn't be a problem.