Rogue Elf

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We play at the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, which is just east of downtown Pittsburgh.

Players are spread around the area. I live in Ingram (though my parents live in Robinson). One player lives up Rt. 28, another lives in Greenfield, one in Baldwin, and another in Pennsbury Village (where I spent my teenage years). Four of us met at Pitt Greensburg in 1998, and we eventually transferred to Oakland campus. We started playing at the Cathedral in 2000. We also tend to meet at the Primanti's on Forbes Ave around 11 am, then we head to the Cathedral around noon.


I've been running a 3.5 Underdark campaign since July of 2012, and I'm looking for more players. We use miniatures, and the core module is City of the Spider Queen. Underdark races are allowed as PCs.

We play on Sunday afternoons, typically from 12-4 or 5, and we usually play at the Cathedral of Learning on Pitt's Oakland campus. Current party level is around 10. We have a drow ranger, a drider cleric, a kuo-toa monk, and a goliath fighter in the party. I could use a couple more players.

We're in our 30s, some with families. Four of us met in college in 1998, and we've been playing together since then. I've been DMing since 1996, and I enjoy it tremendously. I prefer to run years-long campaigns involving equal parts story and combat. I keep and share a journal recapping events of the previous game (it's currently at 109k words after game 50). I also take pictures of the game as it progresses on the mat or tiles, and I post them for players to see. Players have access to a detailed record of our games.

If you're interested in playing or if you have any questions, please let me know. Please reply, private message, or e-mail: jmichaelames@hotmail.com

Thanks.

-Mike


I enjoy running the Dragonlance Classics campaign modules. For a longer campaign that ends in epic levels, I prefer Forgotten Realms.


Sounds like you have a great group. Enjoy the experience. My group recently destroyed Kyuss last month, a campaign that started in April of 2006.

It's been a fantastic experience molding the campaign with the many resources Dungeon makes available. The Vampires of Waterdeep trilogy (starting with Dungeon 126) fit in beautifully after "The Champion's Belt" and beyond. "Menagerie," also from Dungeon 126, came in handy in the city. "Taboo Island" from Dungeon 145 fit nicely with "The Spire of Long Shadows." The "Kings of the Rift" module led to "The Storm Lord's Keep" (somewhat nerfed) from Dungeon 93. I also slipped in Sons of Gruumsh after "Encounter at Blackwall Keep," and I combined "Prince of Redhand" with Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. Age of Worms is a fantastic canvas to work with given the resources in Dungeon alone.


Don't forget the abjuration spell Forceward from page 98 of the Spell Compendium. Check it out.


I've been DMing 3.0/3.5 FR with my group since 2000 (we've been together since '98). We're currently moving toward the Age of Worms module "Dawn of a New Age," a campaign that started in April of 2006.


I just read through the "Nondetection Question" thread, and I might have to agree with Cthulhu_Waits and TheWhiteKnife. Arcane sight affects the caster. My apologies for muddying up this thread with my comments.


Crust wrote:

Remember that see invisibility and arcane sight affect the caster only, not the subject (or subjects) warded by nondetection or mind blank.

True seeing has a range of "touch" and a target of "creature touched." It bears an effect that enhances one's eyesight. Looking at things while under the effect of true seeing is not attempting a divination upon an object or creature warded by nondetection or mind blank.

Whoops... Arcane sight's detect magic effect would require a caster level check to penetrate nondetection as I understand it. My bad.


Remember that see invisibility and arcane sight affect the caster only, not the subject (or subjects) warded by nondetection or mind blank.

True seeing has a range of "touch" and a target of "creature touched." It bears an effect that enhances one's eyesight. Looking at things while under the effect of true seeing is not attempting a divination upon an object or creature warded by nondetection or mind blank.


Perhaps Allustan has nondection cast upon himself to ward against meddlesome spellcasters looking for him through scrying. Either you or the casting PC will have to succeed on a caster level check to beat Allustan's nondetection, but that might be a standard spell for Allustan to cast before beginning an adventure.


Just use your updated stat block as another lich or undead spellcaster later in the campaign. ;-)


Dennis Harry wrote:
It is based essentially on a spell described by Ed Greenwood in Elminster in Myth Drannor.

Now this I can't argue with. Ed Greenwood's writing has inspired my games in ways I can't even begin to explain, especially his use of "hanging spells" and other variant spellcasting possibilities. RAW or no RAW, emulating Greenwood cannot be argued against. ;-)


Keep in mind that the spell brought into effect by the contingency (including any contingent spell) must be one that affects the caster's person. Consider the PHB, page 213:

Quote:
The spell to be brought into effect by the contingency must be one that affects your person (feather fall, levitate, fly, teleport, and so forth)

Note also Complete Arcane, page 139:

Quote:
Once triggered, a contingent spell takes immediate effect upon the bearer (or is centered in the bearer’s square if the spell affects an area).

Contingency and contingent spells cannot be used to fire spells automatically at targets or opponents at range by the RAW.


I often pronounce it "A-aw-KAY," the first syllable being a long "A" sound.

I also catch myself pronuncing it "aw-KAY." That's how some of my players pronounce it.


Wow, this is fantastic stuff. Thanks for the link, Callum.


Spacelard wrote:
However the Faceless One is going to take up the flag for recurring villin. After all he is a simulacrum.

Good God, I wish I had thought of that.


I'd post them if I had them in digital form already. I use pencil and paper for most of my stat blocks, and transcribing them to text would be a bit of a headache. Sorry! ;) You'll probably be able to come up with something that fits better with your campaign anyway.


I made Ilthane's lair bigger and populated it with draconic lizardfolk, draconic kobolds, and more dragons. I had the following to say a while back. Maybe it'll help:

I wanted to beef up Ilthane’s presence in the campaign, so I thought I’d give her a different lair. The appearance of Ilthane made me think of Onyx/Khisanth from the 2E Dragonlance module Dragons of Despair (based on part of the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight). I’ve always loved the module, and it’s been ten years since I ran it last, so I thought Ilthane was a great excuse to dust it off (which I love doing). I wanted to put Xak Tsaroth on the western edge of the Lizardmarsh, right along the Sword Coast, and make it Ilthane’s lair. The image below says it all. Imagine Raistlin (the red-robed wizard under Onyx’s claw) replaced with Allustan, and you have my inspiration:

Onyx and Raistlin/Ilthane and Allustan

Here’s what I’m working with:

-The ruined city is an ancient temple of Akadi, built and inhabited by Wind Dukes centuries ago (thus the discovery of Ilthane’s Rod piece). The architecture is very similar to that of the Whispering Cairn.

-Ilthane’s draconic brood call themselves the Blackclaw Tribe, and each member has some black dragon blood (draconic template from Draconomicon) in his/her veins thanks to breeding and magic. It was one of their finest, Shukak, who cowed the Twisted Branch into submission… and was later slain by the PCs, earning the tribe’s everlasting hatred.

-Ilthane is a mature adult black dragon who has recently been blessed by Kyuss. She is able to use her corrupt water ability to turn 10 cubic feet of water into 10 cubic feet of Kyuss worms 1/day. This allows her to turn newly-laid eggs into “Kyuss bombs,” hurling perhaps one or two of the precious eggs as grenade-like weapons, splattering Kyuss worms in a 20’ radius.

-Several meters from the crumbling entrance is a bog 50’ wide and 5’ deep that is completely filled with Kyuss worms. Slaves (often regular lizardfolk, currently survivors of the Twisted Branch) are scooped up by one of three tendriculos and dunked into the bog to drown in Kyuss worms, rising as spawn soon after. Dozens of spawn flounder in the muck and wade across the shoreline. The tendriculos tend the spawn, hemming them in and often destroying any who stray too far.

-Regular lizardfolk slaves are penned above ground and shuffled below to work the ruined sections of the ancient city. They wind up either as spawn of Kyuss (to be used to take over the Lizardmarsh and them move on Blackwall Keep, Diamond Lake, Daggerford, etc.), or as food for Ilthane and her brood (after a good pickling, of course).

-Scores of Blackclaw lizardfolk (black draconic lizardfolk) lair with Ilthane, serving and protecting her with their lives. There are also dozens of Blackclaw warriors (black draconic lizardfolk warrior 6) who act as the shock troops of the tribe. In all, enough to throw one, maybe two mobs at the PCs (mobs are detailed in the DMGII, like swarms but with humanoids).

-The Blackclaw lizardfolk are served in turn by their lesser cousins, the Blackclaw kobolds (black draconic kobold). Blackclaw sneaks (black draconic kobold rogue 6) act as skirmishers for the Blackclaw warriors, often flanking whatever intruders the warriors engage and spotting intruders early.

-Women and children are housed below, including a harem of prize females that only the lizard kings can touch, and it will be interesting to see whether the PCs slay them or let them live (as some of them will be neutral, though not most).

-Six lizard kings (male half-black dragon/half-lizardfolk barbarian 10) vie for power amongst Ilthane’s brood. They are Ilthane’s finest, one of which was Shukak (mentioned above). Three often remain aboveground overseeing slave arrivals, while the other three remain below with Ilthane, serving her needs personally.

-Over a dozen shamans (male and female draconic lizardfolk adept 6) act as seers, advisors, and healers to the tribe. They also tend to the egg chambers.

-The shamans are led by the Black Shaman (hermaphrodite half-black dragon/half-lizardfolk warlock 9), who is thought to be a prophet of Semuanya and the sole reason the merging of dragon and lizardfolk is possible. The hermaphrodite is in fact the one who knows the dark process of planting a Blackclaw lizard king's seed in Ilthane (yielding Blackclaw lizard kings) and a male dragon's seed in a Blackclaw female (creating Blackclaw warriors and lizardfolk). The shamans tend to the egg chambers as well.

-The Black Queen (female half-black dragon/half-lizardfolk sorceress 9) works with Ilthane, using brew potion to help create Kyuss slow worms, spawn of Kyuss, and Kyuss eggs. She is sister to the Black Shaman, though both scheme against one another.

-Three male suitors (adult black dragons, each with their wings bitten or torn off) scrape and grovel before Ilthane. They defend their mistress to the death.

-Thirteen black wyrmlings lair with Ilthane in her treasure room. Should any one of them die, Ilthane forgoes spells and devotes her full physical attention to the slayer (if prudence allows).

-Ilthane’s hoard is in a strange state of order for a chaotic black dragon. Coins are neatly stacked, magical items arranged on pedestals, chests and trunks lined up, etc. etc. This is due to the Rod piece that Ilthane vainly clutches (I went with piece #5). Ilthane's treasure represents the combined hoards of one mature adult and three adult black dragons, as she basically beat each male into submission and claimed each hoard as her own.


We enter the Wormcrawl Fissure tomorrow, so Kyuss is right around the corner. We play in the Forgotten Realms along the Sword Coast near Waterdeep.

I'm thinking of having three Kyuss "avatars" manifest in three different locations, one near the PCs' homeland in the Savage Frontier (which is my "Alhaster"), another near an ancient Vaati ruin (the late Illthane's lair), and a third in Chult (Kuluth Mar). These are the areas where Kyuss' influence has been strongest in my campaign (Wormcrawl Fissure bears Dragotha's influence), and it connects rather loosely to the "Three Faces of Evil" angle, which connects loosely to Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul in the FR setting. I continued that by introducing three powerful hags (from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft) as villains who worshipped Kyuss (and were eventually killed one way or another). The group will also ultimately face three apostles of Kyuss (those ulgurstastas), which is another "three is the magic number" element, so I thought having three Kyuss avatars might finish that pattern nicely. Each one will be occupied by powerful NPCs while those heroes wait for the PCs and the sphere. An advanced coautl and its minions will occupy Kyuss in Chult, and several wizards including Khelben Arunsun and Elminster will corral and contain Kyuss near Waterdeep. It'll be a Realms-shaking event, for sure. ;-)

I'm also thinking of simplifying Kyuss. My group would annihilate Kyuss with only 600+ hp, so I'm thinking of given him no real hit point total, rendering him virtually immune to mortal attacks and magic. Only the sphere can harm him, so PCs will have to use their talents to dodge Kyuss while the wizard uses the sphere. Considering the various minions I can use (Brazzemal, Dragotha, Maralee, etc.), I could have Kyuss destroying the countryside like some force of nature, where he's more of an environmental threat, so he wouldn't be out to immediately TPK the party.

I'm leaving out the spire. It's not necessary in my case. Kyuss will be born from out of the very earth itself, and each site will be a site where his presence once manifested thousands of years ago. The spire seems to house additional bosses and monsters, but those can be brought to the field by Kyuss himself. Imagine him dumping a deluge of worms on the ground (or a PC), and when the cascade ends, there is Maralee and her Kyuss knights. ;-)

Concerning time stop, Kyuss will definitely have the epic feat spell stowaway (time stop). No time stop/dimensional lock/forcecage on this one. To everyone else, any wizard using time stop will appear to dissolve into a green mass of Kyuss worms, as he would have been engulfed during those few rounds. ;-)

Should the party attack Kyuss, he'll use his engulf and his vorpal executioner's mace, but I really don't plan on using any of his other abilities. Even if he uses wail of the banshee, that's still a spell available to the PCs, and I don't want any connection between Kyuss and mortality, if that makes sense. I want Kyuss to be totally alien, invincible, and unstoppable.

I don't plan on a TPK. We have so many PCs, cohorts, NPCs, and other characters on-hand that the endgame with Kyuss will be like the entire Justice League mobilizing against Darkseid. There will definitely be deaths, but our campaign will continue onward after Kyuss. It must! ;-)


What about an anti-magic field? Would the worms just collapse to the floor?


I had this to say back in August of 2008:

My PCs are power-house slayers. They've dominated most of the modules so far, but the Spire was a different story. The entire module was difficult, but the Harbinger was the most difficult boss of the campaign yet. Let me say more...

When the Harbinger noted the PCs ransacking its Spire, it was prepared. Once the group accessed the lower levels, it began buffing itself. When the overworm was attacked, the Harbinger floated out of its sanctum, invisible, with stoneskin, mirror image, displacement, cold shield, and repulsion cast.

Only the sorceress could see the Harbinger, and the spellweaver immediately noticed this. It communicated with the sorceress in a calm, collected tone, to come down and explain the actions of the PCs, and surprisingly enough, she did, swooping down to the tunnel leading to the Harbinger's sanctum to parlay. In an attempt to hit the Harbinger in the back, the sorceress did as she was told, and laid down in submission while the Harbinger assessed the situation (5 PCs tangling with the overworm).

Once the spellweaver turned its back on her, she fired an empowered disintegrate, missing horribly. The Harbinger whirled around and used a greater dispelling on her, which stripped her of all her magical protections. She was warned to stay down, and promised that she will be given "accession" should she comply, as will her comrades if they do the same (accession is transformation into a spawn of Kyuss, by the way, though the Harbinger wasn't clear about that). The Harbinger, now fully visible, turned to examine the destruction of its overworm, and the sorceress fired her own greater dispelling, which only stripped the Harbinger's cold shield. In the next round, the spellweaver unleashed an empowered magic missile using all six arms, dealing over 200 points of damage to the sorceress, turning her into a blackened pile of bones.

The remainder of the encounter went down as follows:

The elf scout was swallowed and digested by the overworm.

The lizardfolk druid (the only PC to breach the Harbinger's repulsion) was readied-action mazed and was rolling INT checks for the duration of the encounter.

*By now, the spellcasters had been neutralized, leaving the brawlers to pound away at the Harbinger's mirror images at range, since none of them could breach the spellweaver's repulsion.*

The half-orc fighter was slain after suffering from a prismatic spray and a chain lightning.

That left the awakened dire ape ranger and the half-orc werewolf ranger/warshaper (who was immune to stunning--warshaper benefit--and had listen lorecall active). A power word stun was strangely ineffective (warshaper), as was a power word blind (listen lorecall). Wielding a ghost strike hammer, the ranger threw it three times, ultimately destroying the spellweaver on a critical (ghost strike weapons can critical undead), whose spells were dwindling by that point.

The awakened dire ape ranger (Zorgus from Dungeon #131) was airborne firing arrows with the legendary, enlarged Nimbus Bow, though he was doing paltry damage even when he hit.

Really, I allowed the half-orc ranger to succeed. I could have obliterated the party with the spellweaver lich, but I didn't want the campaign to end. ;-) The players were genuinely scared (and so was I) that the game was going to end with that awful encounter, but I hadn't put all this effort into a campaign just to run a TPK. Oh no...

The Harbinger is a thousands-year-old lich, and simply should not be hosed without #1 being totally buffed with spells and #2 slaying at least one party member in the process.


Very interesting ideas here.

Lashonna is an advanced paeliryon devil in my campaign (the Fiend Folio version), and I don't plan on redeeming her. She'll continue as the primary antagonist after Kyuss is destroyed and the PCs chase after her through Hell during their epic levels.


This was April of 2006, before Whispering Cairn:

-Celendil Graycloak: male moon elf scout 2
-Ike Bigguns: male human rogue1/fighter1
-Kal-drac: male lizardfolk druid 1 of Silvanus
-Kragg: male half-orc ranger 2 of Silvanus

This was January of 2007, just after Blackwall Keep/Sons of Gruumsh:

-Celendil Graycloak: CG male moon elf scout 7
-Ike Bigguns (truename Illance Raknian, though unaware): CG male human rogue 5/invisible blade 2
-Kal-drac: NG male lizardfolk druid of Silvanus 6
-Kiara Mooncaster: LG female human cleric of Selune 6
-Kragg: NG male half-orc afflicted werewolf ranger 3/stalker of Kharash 2
-Liam Raknian: LN male human fighter 6
-Marzena: NG female human sorcerer 6
-Titus Blacksmith: LG male half-orc fighter 6

This is September of 2009, just about to level up and start the Wormcrawl Fissure:

-Celendil Graycloak: CG male moon elf scout 14/deepwood sniper 3
-Druzan: CG male gloura sublime chord 4/sacred exorcist 1
-Illance Raknian: LN male human shade rogue 9/invisible blade 5
-Kal-drac: NG male draconic lizardfolk druid 16
-Kragg: NG male half-orc afflicted werewolf ranger 6/stalker of Kharash 6/warshaper 2/kensai 2
-Marzena: CG female human sorceress 6/incantatrix 10/blood magus 1
-Murat: CG male sun elf wizard 7/initiate of the sevenfold veil 4/fatespinner 2/master specialist (conjuration) 2/archwizard 1
-Sir Urik Bloodthorn LG male human paladin 6/knight of the raven 10/anointed knight 2
-Thak: LG male human monk 12/ninja 4/red avenger 1
-Titus Blacksmith: LG male half-orc fighter 10/weapon master 7


I thought the DG replacement idea was cool when I first read it, but I had already done that twice in past campaigns (once with a malaugrym and again with a drow). I didn't want to do it again, so I left it out entirely.

I did, however, replace Allustan with a powerful doppleganger for a time (had its throat ripped out by Illthane, ultimately). Let me recommend, perhaps, the half-illithid greater doppleganger with levels in illithid savant from Savage Species. Those savants can absorb class abilities when they devour a brain. Couple that with the doppleganger mimicry and mind blast, and you have a devious, dangerous replacement that is capable of copying any PC ability.


I recall being a bit confused reading the tower encounters in "Dawn of a New Age." I can't give concrete answers, but I can suggest something that I'm sure you're already considered: fix it yourself as you see fit. I've had to do that with all kinds of modules from 2E to 3.5 Dungeon. I can't get upset because I make more typos than the worst writer, and my math is so bad that my players wonder if my die roll results are ever accurate. ;-)


What an incredible feat, Riptide. Just by glancing, spotting the songs I know, I can see you've put some serious thought and time into this. I'm amazed at what you've done, really. It's clear you have an intimate knowledge of music, and it's also clear that you're putting some incredible thought into your campaign. Very well done.

Me personally, I'd just pop in the soundtrack for Conan the Barbarian and call it a day. ;-)


I took inspiration from the module, of course. I doubt I would have thought of Brazzemal toppling the Citadel if it wasn't for the tactical situation given in the module. ;-) And honestly, I'm not entirely certain how many applications of rock to mud it would take to bring the entire spire down. Maybe 20. Maybe 100. You're going to have to decide how to present the environment and what your players will accept.

Others have suggested magical items, and I agree. Deck the dragon out. Give him a staff that serves as a wand for the great beast and have him use a possible retributive strike if necessary. Give him a glittering crown of ioun stones. Maybe some cool dragon-specific magical items from Draconomicon. However, I might suggest that you exercise caution in the items you choose. Make sure you're ready for the PCs to claim those items should they defeat Brazzemal, especially if any PCs can identify those items being worn/used.

I also added a second dragon to Brazzemal's assault: Xyzanth the fang dragon. You might also have an entire flight of reinforcements show up, another half-dozen or so dragons waiting for the signal to begin the second phase of the assault. Have as many dragons as you want diving down out of the sky.

If you're playing in Faerun, you might have one or a dozen Cult of the Dragon wizards/clerics/etc. accompany Brazzemal, as they too would want to retrieve the phylactery for Dragotha.

I also recommend making greater use of the marilith. If Vercinabex is slain, considering the marilith taking an interest in one or perhaps all of the PCs. She could become a greater villain than a mini-boss who is hurled at the PCs like a spear only to be broken.


If you really want to make your party sweat, wait until they're all in the Citadel of Weeping Dragons, and at some point, whether they're in the Vault or not (you decide when), have Brazzemal use rock to mud further down the base of the Citadel, where it's natural rock, and within perhaps 1, 2, 3 (you decide how many) careful applications of the spell, cause the entire Citadel to come crashing down into the gorge. Maybe some PCs spring free, maybe some go down with the castle, requiring some heroic skill checks and perhaps a teleport.

I tried that. The Citadel still stood in the aftermath, and Brazzemal escaped to be hunted down later, but it was really fun with portions of the castle collapsing while the group leapt, dove, and flew for their lives. ;-)


Now that is awesome. Well done to you and your group!

The party wizard in my Age of Worms group recently called a tulani eladrin from Exalted Deeds as his planar ally. Very, very effective in so many ways.


My PCs have their act together in such a way that I have to basically redo every encounter. After the destruction of the phylactery and the obliteration of the dragon strike at Kongen-Thulnir, Dragotha is NOT about to sit around at the Tabernacle and wait for the heroes to wade through his minions, using hide from dragons and dimensional lock... it'll be curtains in seconds. He will remain in strict seclusion until Kyuss rises to power, at which point the world will already be doomed, Dragotha the first general to a god... or, at least that's the idea. ;-)

There's plenty to keep the group occupied at the Tabernacle without giving them the free kill with a cornered dracolich. I'm still not sure what I'll do with the treasure hoard. If given one week's time, could the occupants of the Tabernacle move the entire hoard to another safe locale with the resources available? I'm very skeptical about that. It might be interesting to make finding the hoard a necessary side quest (one of the items is vital, perhaps containing a piece of Balakarde). Maybe I'll just leave the hoard as-is, with the assumption that once Kyuss returns, the heroes will be obliterated and Dragotha can reclaim his treasure. Perhaps...


I started my group around level 2. I had no choice, as one of the players runs a lizardfolk with a level adjustment of +1, so to keep everyone level, I started the lizardfolk at level 1 and everyone else at level 2.

I also ran another module before introducing Whispering Cairn, so the group was around level 3 when they entered the cairn.

Start them at level 10 if you want. Starting them at the Whispering Cairn will require big adjustments, of course, but you might also consider starting the campaign anywhere in the midst of the Age of Worms. Start them at the Champion's Belt games and let them take up the path at that point. Surely any gladiator team could stumble upon Bozal and find evidence of the Age of Worms for the first time. That could take place at any level with any of the modules, really. I actually think it's much more realistic for a group to sort of "inherit" the Age of Worms quest from another group of adventurers who perished in their pursuits. I think that might add an additional level of drama to the campaign, knowing that another group met their end in their search for answers.

Start them at whatever level you're comfortable with, and make those adjustments as needed.


Of course traps would work, but be careful how you use them. Remember that creatures move about those halls on a regular basis, so supremely lethal traps all over the place wouldn't make sense unless there's an easy bypass that the inhabitants know about. Any invisible or stealthed PC following one of those inhabitants might be able to easily spot those ways around the traps.


Thanks, Kang. We were in the midst of another campaign when I first decided to use Age of Worms, and by the time I got my hands on issue #126, I knew I wanted a lizardfolk in the party so I could work the "exiled prince" angle. I coerced one of my gamers to run a lizardfolk (he chose druid), and it's been great. He (Kal-drac is his name) is still with the party, though his lizardfolk subjects migrated with him to the PCs' new kingdom (the Savage Frontier in Faerun, their castle/village was taken from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft as I mentioned in my OP). The Twisted Branch now lair in the Ivlis Marsh, which is on the western edge of the Lonely Moor. Hishka is Kal-drac's cohort, along with a number of other rangers and druids in the tribe (most are basic lizardfolk).

In fact, at their new home (a facsimile of the Twisted Branch lair), Kal-drac and his lizardfolk have made contact with a native race of poisondusk lizardfolk lairing in the Lonely Moor. They appeared hostile at first (I made them somewhat more barbaric than the Twisted Branch), but a couple spells and a wildshape later (only to intimidate), they were sufficiently cowed and now serve Kal-drac. ;-)

I did a lot more with Illthane too, having the dragon send her own black draconic lizardfolk to assault the Twisted Branch. They poisoned the Twisted Branch's water with slow worms, and those who fled the nightmare were rounded up and captured. I had the PCs assault Illthane's lair (the Dragons of Despair module I mentioned in my OP), rescue the surviving Twisted Branch prisoners, and now Kal-drac is in charge of those black draconic lizardfolk too. He tree-strides there when he can to make sure everyone is behaving. ;-) He's got quite a kingdom now, having saved his own people and swelled the ranks of his tribe by bringing two other tribes into the fold. Plenty of drama there.


Mr. Vergee, what an interesting post. It really seems like your campaign gives a bit more respect to the bard. Very interesting, especially in terms of how you used those extra modules. Nicely done. I wonder how you'll incorporate Zulshyn in later modules.

The way you incorporated Smenk into your campaign is masterful. He's connected to the PCs in a very intimate way, and that makes him potentially an even more dangerous adversary.

I like that Bozal shows up early. It's always a classic moment when the imposing evil boss makes an appearance, throws his/her weight around, and creates that aura of menace. It makes that next (and perhaps final) encounter all the more rewarding.

I like that one of the PCs becomes a doppleganger. I thought about doing this in my AoW campaign, but I decided against it. I had already done this, replace a PC with a monster, twice in previous campaigns. The first time was with a malaugrym (FR shape-shifter) back in 2E. The second time was with a drow assassin in the early 3E days. I thought a third time would be a bit too repetitive.

It's also interesting how you give your group bigger and more frightening hints at Kyuss' return. I often wish that I had created a number of lesser aspects of Kyuss to give the group the impression that he's coming, and all these lesser ones are just the screw ups or mistakes as he tries to force his way into the Prime.

Lastly, I think it's fascinating how you handled so many PC deaths. A romp in the outer planes after a TPK is just a great idea. Such a surprise takes that unforgettable dread we feel during a TPK and turns it into hope. Nicely done.


Thanks for contributing, Kang. Your post made me go back and take a look at some of those modules you used. Two of them seem to work well as campaign-starters.

I also appreciate your need to create character background. In fact, I take full responsibility of that as DM. Certainly I want my players to take charge of their PC's past, and a couple of them do, but in an effort to bring the party together (combined with the full knowledge of the campaign, future characters, etc.) I feel it's up to me to lay the foundation. For example (to make some long stories very short), I made the party rogue the illegitimate son of Loris Raknian. The party elf scout is the youngest son of the mine merchant Ellival (whose last name I renamed Graycloak), whose six other sons patrol Diamond Lake and its surrounding region as the Brothers Graycloak. The party half-orc ranger is the foster son of Ragnolin Dourstone. Lastly, the party lizardfolk druid was at one time the exiled heir to the throne of the Twisted Branch tribe... he is now their king. ;-)

It's also interesting to see how you've taken other characters from the modules and made them your own, gave them the spotlight where they might have been ignored in another campaign, etc. Some of the Age of Worms characters that I've used beyond the scope of the modules include Babalar Smenk, Ellival Moonmedow, Loris Raknian, Vulkas Dun, Marzena, Zeech, Lashonna, Allustan, Illthane, and Darl Quethos and his accompanying goons.


Mewzero_hgc wrote:
Crust, how long have you been DMing your campaign?

Thanks for asking! We started Age of Worms with the old-school Dymrak Dread module in April of '06. We only play Sunday afternoons from 12-5 PM, and sometimes we go two or three weeks without playing. We also have days when it's five hours of book-keeping, role-playing, and updating gear, character sheets, etc. without rolling initiative once. I suspect they'll have Kyuss destroyed before 2010, but I can't be sure.

Quote:
But I must admit that our combats always take much more time than expected.

My battles last a long time. I can't give you any figures other than this: in the summer of '07, it took us about four hours to get through two gladiator battles during the Champion's Belt games.

Quote:
How do you deal with all the extra XP from these extra modules? I guess this is the only problem I would face with the addition of extra modules between adventures.

One thing I did was remove "A Gathering of Winds" by having Allustan explore and clear it out himself. Granted, as written, the module is too much for Allustan, but the gamers don't know that. I also just sort of let them have their XP. They're all about one level or so higher than expected, so I beef up encounters, add bosses, give all creatures more HP, etc.

Quote:
And looks like our campaigns have more in common than just the prospect of players becoming the rulers. My group also "adopted" one of the NPCs from the Age of Worms. In our case it was Filge, from The Whispering Cairn(a Dread Necromancer/Warlock in my campaign).

Filge! HA! He was shot in the face by the party scout in my campaign. He appeared later as a zombie when the group faced off against Theldrick. I forget his fate. Probably chopped in half by the half-orc ranger's double-axe.

Marzena wasn't the only AoW NPC to join the Diamond Hawks. I gave Loris Raknian a son, Liam, and added him to the list of Blackwall Keep soldiers captured by lizardfolk. Liam was taken to Xul Jarak, so he wasn't added to the roster until after Sons of Gruumsh. Liam was eventually forced to fight against the Diamond Hawks as a member of Auric's Warband in the final match of the Champion's Belt. Liam survived, and in the aftermath, had a falling-out with the group that hasn't been resolved. ;-)


Mewzero_hgc wrote:
Maybe I should create a topic with all the changes that I made in my version of the Age of Worms instead of hijacking this thread. ^^

I actually already created one. It's the "Other Modules in Age of Worms" thread. And please post, because I'm DMing a similar scenario in my own campaign, where the PCs recently cleaned out a spawn of Kyuss infestation and are now rebuilding the land and taking lordship (modified Expedition to Castle Ravenloft). The group now resides in Castle Bloodthorn (formerly Castle Ravenloft), and they're ruling over the nearby village of New Dawn (formerly Barovia). I was amazed to see how you were doing the same thing, but I suppose it is hinted at in the modules, the PCs ruling Alhaster in the aftermath of Zeech's fall.

The Age of Worms is a better canvas than vanilla ice cream. ;-)


Westgate, eh? Now that's an awesome idea. I was eager to game in Waterdeep, but thinking back, I wonder why I didn't consider another coastal city. I guess Eric L. Boyd had some influence there. ;-)

With that in mind, I can see how the saving/retaking of Westgate would be difficult. One might imagine the Blackstaff and/or Larael taking direct action, possibly calling upon the other Chosen, some never-before-scene ancient undead ultra-lich who was once a former lover, or Mystra herself in the aiding of Waterdeep. I'm not sure if Westgate enjoys the same perks. The most powerful spellcaster that I know of in Westgate is the vampire Manshoon clone.

I always likened the infestation to 28 Days Later, where the "zombies" are highly mobile, alert, and have a sense of direction and memory. They're certainly not ambling around mindlessly like in the Romero films, and they certainly are sprinting and dodging to get to their meals.

Their intelligence is also huge. Think of the lurking boss types who would rally those troops. Any necromancer or evil cleric could whelm a sizeable horde to threaten this or that. Think of a mob of wights rampaging through the arena, turning minotaurs, orges, and other monsters and animals into undead. I agree that some of those wights would stand apart as boss types.


Sounds great, Lich-Loved. You know, when faced with such a horrible disaster, I think the middle ground you found is about as good as it gets. Very detailed, and I especially liked your attention to the sewer details, the magical walls, the fire (which makes perfect sense), and your use of Heroes of Battle. Ultimately, I would have gone your route or a similar route. I wouldn't have wanted to throw away Waterdeep.


Very interesting, Lich-Loved. I was unable to run the wight catastrophe, but I was sold on the idea that 15,000+ wights swarming out of the arena would spell doom for Waterdeep/Free City/whatever. I was planning on using mob rules from DMG II when running that scenario, and a wight mob's DC to shrug off the level drain is in the upper 20s I believe. Not only would ordinary citizens be completely doomed, but even seasoned guardsmen and adventurers would be hard-pressed to pass that save. The wights would multiply exponentially within a matter of roughly 30 minutes, and within 12 hours, all of Waterdeep would be overrun, and those who survived would be running out of Waterdeep on foot, possible being chased by hundreds of wights. Powerful spellcasters like Maskar Wands and even the Blackstaff would have to flee, as there would simply be too many wights to deal with.

Given the mob rules, I'm actually glad that my group thwarted Bozal. I really didn't want to have to ruin Waterdeep in my campaign, but it would have been fun trying to fix the problem. Retaking Waterdeep after that catastrophe would be an epic undertaking spanning weeks of in-game (and months of out-of-game) time in my campaign.


Hey, Dennis. I definitely plan on throwing Mishka at the PCs at some point. One way or another, they'll get their hands on all seven Rod pieces. I can't say much about that, as some of my gamers check these boards. ;-)


The most fun I have DMing Age of Worms is adding other modules to the already-fantastic canvas. I was wondering who uses other modules in their Age of Worms campaign. I posted this on another thread, but I thought I'd re-post this as as its own thread, since my post was largely off-topic. Perhaps it will inspire someone. Perhaps it will stimulate conversation.

I've added the following modules to my Age of Worms campaign:

-Dymrak Dread: I ran this first, even before "The Whispering Cairn." It was the Diamond Hawks' first official "adventure" as a group. Had nothing to do with the Age of Worms, Kyuss, or anything like that. Goblins were making raids on farms near Diamond Lake, so the PCs answered the call. It established them in a variety of ways.

-Sons of Gruumsh: I ran this after "Encounter at Blackwall Keep." Some Blackwall Keep prisoners were spirited north and handed off to orcs in exchange for food, weapons, poisons, etc. PCs tracked this, met up with soldiers from Daggerford, organized a raid on the stronghold, and attacked. In the victorious aftermath, the heroes were attacked by Illthane the black. She made one pass with her breath, blackened the courtyard, dropped a Kyuss worm egg splattering most with Kyuss worms, and flew off in frustration. It was later discovered that the stronghold held casks of ale and water contaminated with Kyuss slow worms, most-likely slipped in by doppelgangers under the direction of Loris Raknian and the mind-flayer Zyrxog. Somehow, Illthane was involved.

-"The Menagerie" from Dungeon #126: On the very day that the Diamond Hawks first entered Waterdeep, I threw this module at them. A buddy of ours from past games was in town, he rolled up a PC, and I tossed this short module into the mix. It worked out great showing how their first day in Waterdeep would only foreshadow more excitement to come.

-"Blood of Malar" from Dungeon #126: Prior to their participation in the Champion's Belt games, the PCs were asked by their mentor in Waterdeep (a retired epic swashbuckler who is a former PC) to watch over the corrupt Lord Orlpar, who had repented his evil ways and feared assassination. When Dhusarra's Wolf Pack struck, the party werewolf Kragg struck, revealing himself to dozens of Grinning Lion patrons (he would later reveal himself to thousands of arena spectators) and one vampire cleric of Malar. Dhusarra selected Kragg as her new object of fixation, deeming him to be the next favored of Malar. I ran the module as it was written. Dhusarra escaped.

-Dragons of Despair (DL1): I dusted off this classic Dragonlance module to act as Illthane's lair. We ran through this after "Champion's Belt," replacing "Gathering of Winds." I turned the draconians into black draconic lizardfolk, and I turned the gully dwarves into black draconic kobolds. I added shamans, three adult male cohorts, an entire brood of black draconic servants for Illthane. Illthane could use her corrupt water ability to make Kyuss worms, so she was an important piece to be removed as she was attempting to raise an army of Kyuss spawn through her manipulations and direct action. Originally, I just saw Onyx and Raistlin and thought of Illthane and Allustan, and the inspiration took hold. Take a look:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q69/jmichaelames/Onyx.jpg

-"City of Broken Idols" from Dungeon #145: I thought "Spire of Long Shadows" could use something extra, so I put Kuluth-Mar in the middle of Taboo Island, which was found on Lake Luo in Faerun's Chult jungle. The group had to start in Mezro and make it to Lake Luo, so the druid used tree stride to "hike" there. He was scried, and the rest of the group teleported to the druid's position. They had to boat across Lake Luo (and were attacked by the massive croc pictured on #145's cover--couldn't resist that), fight through Taboo Temple and the skinwalkers (created by the Harbinger himself), and once they made it into the center of the island, they could ascend and explore Kuluth-Mar.

-"Dungeon of the Crypt" from Dungeon #127: After returning from Chult, the famous Diamond Hawks started attracting a bit of attention. A fledgling adventuring group, the Dawn Blades, tracked a vampire into Deepwinter Vault and discovered a passage leading down into what they believed to be Undermountain. Wanting no part of it, and knowing that the famous Diamond Hawks had already explored parts of Undermountain with none-other than Durnan himself (see below), they asked the PCs to investigate. Thinking this might lead them to Dhusarra, they delved into Deepwinter Vault. I ran the module as it was written.

-"The Fireplace Level" from Dungeon #128: The PCs immediately followed "Artor" up the chimney and into the Fireplace Level. With no rogue with them, they quickly fell victim to a teleportation trap, which took them to Undermountain's 3rd level, the chamber housing the blue dragon Aragauthos and her throne of skulls. That led to a lengthy stay in Undermountain (see below). Once the group made it back out of Undermountain, they called in Mac Stump, former PC who had reached 21st level and was an exemplar in disable device. The module was run as written. Dhusarra, Artor, and the vampire medusa all escaped to strike again, apparently having fled Waterdeep.

*I couldn't pass on Vampires of Waterdeep. Awesome modules.

-Ruins of Undermountain: Since their arrival in Waterdeep, I took the PCs into Undermountain on a number of occasions. They toured parts of level 1 with Durnan before the "Champion's Belt" where he asked them to join his Red Sashes (they respectfully declined). They wound up in level 3 after tripping a trap in the Fireplace Level, floated down the Sargauth, saw Skullport, the slave market... they actually freed the dragon Aragauthos (see above) and stealthed their way past Skullport while the dragon raged and flew out of the Southern Sea Caves, startling half of Waterdeep.

*Though famous now, with their mayhem and meddling, the Diamond Hawks were becoming a problem to the authority figures of Waterdeep. Freeing a blue dragon from Undermountain was the last straw.

-Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: The Diamond Hawks were sent (though some might say banished) to the Savage Frontier to see an elven sorceress named Lashonna about a missing wizard named Balakarde who had already been looking into the Age of Worms. For this I combined Expedition with "Prince of Redhand." The zombie infestation from Expedition was changed to a Kyuss spawn infestation. The banquet was sort of an insane Masque of the Red Death-style scenario where everyone is hiding from the infestation outside and no one realizing (or admitting they suspect) that Lashonna is behind it all. Strahd was (and still is) a ghost haunting the castle. Long story short: the PCs showed up, we had the banquet, PCs ultimately kicked butt, old enemies like Dhusarra resurfaced, and Prospero and Lashonna escaped. The PCs now run the village and live in the haunted castle. ;-)

*And yes, one of the PCs has been tainted by the castle. The sorceress Marzena (from “Encounter at Blackwall Keep”) unfortunately resembles Strahd’s lost Tatyanna, and so Strahd has taken a serious interest in her. This influence has led to Marzena taking her first level in blood magus. ;-)

-Vanrakdoom (Champions of Ruin Web Enhancement): I took the group to Undermountain a third time when Halaster, angry about what the PCs did with his dragon and curious about the PCs' power level, sent his apprentices to seek out the PCs one by one, sucking each of them into a portal that dumped them into Vanrakdoom. Halaster himself (an illusion of him, but still him ultimately) tasked them with clearing out Vanrakdoom, which they did. I used this module to help push along a PC's story (the human shade rogue/invisible blade, specifically). Great download.

Future modules I plan on adding:

-“The Storm Lord’s Keep” from Dungeon #93: The Storm Lord is angry about the Diamond Hawks’ unprovoked attack upon The Citadel of Weeping Dragons. The connection between this mysterious being and the giants of Kongen-Thulnir is anyone’s guess.

-“The Dragon Peak of Palanthus” from World of Krynn: This will serve as Brazzemal’s lair, found amongst the Dragon Aeries at Wormcrawl Fissure. *I thought about using “Dargaard Keep” from World of Krynn as Thessalar’s stronghold, but I ultimately deemed that to be too much extra. ;-)

I've also used some of the other resources in Dungeon. For example, I used the "Sewer Stronghold Map" at the back of #128 as my Shadow Thieves hideout beneath the streets of Waterdeep. I used Girddrez, the "Critical Threat" article also from #128, as a unique foe/NPC, a higher-up in the ranks of the Blue Elk Tribe in Waterdeep's Dock Ward. For one last example, I used the "To the Games" article at the back of issue #132 to spice up the "Champion's Belt" experience.


My group will have no chance at all against Kyuss unless they have the sphere of annihilation. Only by using that will they have any hope of stopping Kyuss.


Thanks for asking. It's worked out wonderfully. What I love about DMing, especially DMing Age of Worms, is that I have this magnificent canvas upon which I can add anything. "Storm Lord's Keep" is just one example. I'm JUST about to unleash the storm of vengeance upon the PCs. They're already being attacked by an army of hobgoblins, trolls, ogres, orge magi, and hill giants... PLUS a flight of about 15 dragons is descending upon their home, angry survivors of the Kongen-Thulnir catastrophe. The Storm Lord is expected to be the final boot that stomps out the PCs. ;-) In all honesty, I'm dumbing down the module. It's set for level 21, and my group is between levels 15-18. For example, each cloud giant does NOT have devastating critical. ;-)

I've also added the following modules to my Age of Worms campaign:

-Dymrak Dread: I ran this first, even before "The Whispering Cairn." It was the Diamond Hawks' first official "adventure" as a group. Had nothing to do with the Age of Worms, Kyuss, or anything like that. Goblins were making raids on farms near Diamond Lake, so the PCs answered the call. It established them in a variety of ways.

-Sons of Gruumsh: I ran this after "Encounter at Blackwall Keep." Some Blackwall Keep prisoners were spirited north and handed off to orcs in exchange for food, weapons, poisons, etc. PCs tracked this, met up with soldiers from Daggerford, organized a raid on the stronghold, and attacked. In the victorious aftermath, the heroes were attacked by Illthane the black. She made one pass with her breath, blackened the courtyard, dropped a Kyuss worm egg splattering most with Kyuss worms, and flew off in frustration. It was later discovered that the stronghold held casks of ale and water contaminated with Kyuss slow worms, most-likely slipped in by doppelgangers under the direction of Loris Raknian and the mind-flayer Zyrxog. Somehow, Illthane was involved.

-"The Menagerie" from Dungeon #126: On the very day that the Diamond Hawks first entered Waterdeep, I threw this module at them. A buddy of ours from past games was in town, he rolled up a PC, and I tossed this short module into the mix. It worked out great showing how their first day in Waterdeep would only foreshadow more excitement to come.

-"Blood of Malar" from Dungeon #126: Prior to their participation in the Champion's Belt games, the PCs were asked by their mentor in Waterdeep (a retired epic swashbuckler who is a former PC) to watch over the corrupt Lord Orlpar, who had repented his evil ways and feared assassination. When Dhusarra's Wolf Pack struck, the party werewolf Kragg struck, revealing himself to dozens of Grinning Lion patrons (he would later reveal himself to thousands of arena spectators) and one vampire cleric of Malar. Dhusarra selected Kragg as her new object of fixation, deeming him to be the next favored of Malar. I ran the module as it was written. Dhusarra escaped.

-Dragons of Despair (DL1): I dusted off this classic Dragonlance module to act as Illthane's lair. We ran through this after "Champion's Belt," replacing "Gathering of Winds." I turned the draconians into black draconic lizardfolk, and I turned the gully dwarves into black draconic kobolds. I added shamans, three adult male cohorts, an entire brood of black draconic servants for Illthane. Illthane could use her corrupt water ability to make Kyuss worms, so she was an important piece to be removed as she was attempting to raise an army of Kyuss spawn through her manipulations and direct action. Originally, I just saw Onyx and Raistlin and thought of Illthane and Allustan, and the inspiration took hold. Take a look:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q69/jmichaelames/Onyx.jpg

-"City of Broken Idols" from Dungeon #145: I thought "Spire of Long Shadows" could use something extra, so I put Kuluth-Mar in the middle of Taboo Island, which was found on Lake Luo in Faerun's Chult jungle. The group had to start in Mezro and make it to Lake Luo, so the druid used tree stride to "hike" there. He was scried, and the rest of the group teleported to the druid's position. They had to boat across Lake Luo (and were attacked by the massive croc pictured on #145's cover--couldn't resist that), fight through Taboo Temple and the skinwalkers (created by the Harbinger himself), and once they made it into the center of the island, they could ascend and explore Kuluth-Mar.

-"Dungeon of the Crypt" from Dungeon #127: After returning from Chult, the famous Diamond Hawks started attracting a bit of attention. A fledgling adventuring group, the Dawn Blades, tracked a vampire into Deepwinter Vault and discovered a passage leading down into what they believed to be Undermountain. Wanting no part of it, and knowing that the famous Diamond Hawks had already explored parts of Undermountain with none-other than Durnan himself (see below), they asked the PCs to investigate. Thinking this might lead them to Dhusarra, they delved into Deepwinter Vault. I ran the module as it was written.

-"The Fireplace Level" from Dungeon #128: The PCs immediately followed "Artor" up the chimney and into the Fireplace Level. With no rogue with them, they quickly fell victim to a teleportation trap, which took them to Undermountain's 3rd level, the chamber housing the blue dragon Aragauthos and her throne of skulls. That led to a lengthy stay in Undermountain (see below). Once the group made it back out of Undermountain, they called in Mac Stump, former PC who had reached 21st level and was an exemplar in disable device. The module was run as written. Dhusarra, Artor, and the vampire medusa all escaped to strike again, apparently having fled Waterdeep.

*I couldn't pass on Vampires of Waterdeep. Awesome modules.

-Ruins of Undermountain: Since their arrival in Waterdeep, I took the PCs into Undermountain on a number of occasions. They toured parts of level 1 with Durnan before the "Champion's Belt" where he asked them to join his Red Sashes (they respectfully declined). They wound up in level 3 after tripping a trap in the Fireplace Level, floated down the Sargauth, saw Skullport, the slave market... they actually freed the dragon Aragauthos (see above) and stealthed their way past Skullport while the dragon raged and flew out of the Southern Sea Caves, startling half of Waterdeep.

*Though famous now, with their mayhem and meddling, the Diamond Hawks were becoming a problem to the authority figures of Waterdeep. Freeing a blue dragon from Undermountain was the last straw.

-Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: The Diamond Hawks were sent (though some might say banished) to the Savage Frontier to see an elven sorceress named Lashonna about a missing wizard named Balakarde who had already been looking into the Age of Worms. For this I combined Expedition with "Prince of Redhand." The zombie infestation from Expedition was changed to a Kyuss spawn infestation. The banquet was sort of an insane Masque of the Red Death-style scenario where everyone is hiding from the infestation outside and no one realizing (or admitting they suspect) that Lashonna is behind it all. Strahd was (and still is) a ghost haunting the castle. Long story short: the PCs showed up, we had the banquet, PCs ultimately kicked butt, old enemies like Dhusarra resurfaced, and Prospero and Lashonna escaped. The PCs now run the village and live in the haunted castle. ;-)

*And yes, one of the PCs has been tainted by the castle. The sorceress Marzena (from “Encounter at Blackwall Keep”) unfortunately resembles Strahd’s lost Tatyanna, and so Strahd has taken a serious interest in her. This influence has led to Marzena taking her first level in blood magus. ;-)

-Vanrakdoom (Champions of Ruin Web Enhancement): I took the group to Undermountain a third time when Halaster, angry about what the PCs did with his dragon and curious about the PCs' power level, sent his apprentices to seek out the PCs one by one, sucking each of them into a portal that dumped them into Vanrakdoom. Halaster himself (an illusion of him, but still him ultimately) tasked them with clearing out Vanrakdoom, which they did. I used this module to help push along a PC's story (the human shade rogue/invisible blade, specifically). Great download.

Future modules I plan on adding:

-“The Storm Lord’s Keep” from Dungeon #93: The Storm Lord is angry about the Diamond Hawks’ unprovoked attack upon The Citadel of Weeping Dragons. The connection between this mysterious being and the giants of Kongen-Thulnir is anyone’s guess.

-“The Dragon Peak of Palanthus” from World of Krynn: This will serve as Brazzemal’s lair, found amongst the Dragon Aeries at Wormcrawl Fissure. *I thought about using “Dargaard Keep” from World of Krynn as Thessalar’s stronghold, but I ultimately deemed that to be too much extra. ;-)

I've also used some of the other resources in Dungeon. For example, I used the "Sewer Stronghold Map" at the back of #128 as my Shadow Thieves hideout beneath the streets of Waterdeep. I used Girddrez, the "Critical Threat" article also from #128, as a unique foe/NPC, a higher-up in the ranks of the Blue Elk Tribe in Waterdeep's Dock Ward. For one last example, I used the "To the Games" article at the back of issue #132 to spice up the "Champion's Belt" experience.


I actually had Allustan run through "Gathering of Winds" by himself off-camera. Granted, he might not technically be able to handle the module by himself, but my gamers don't know that. He uncovered Icosiol's tomb and found the Rod piece while the PCs were just finishing up "Champion's Belt." I honestly didn't want to bother with the module, so I had Allustan clear it out. Not that it's a bad module. I just didn't think it would fit well into my modified campaign.

In fact, once Allustan exited the Whispering Cairn, he was ambushed by a half-illithid doppleganger (an illithid savant to boot), killed, and replaced in an effort to lure the PCs to their deaths (retaliation for what the PCs did to Zyrxog). However, when the fake Allustan discovered the Rod, it was immediately compelled to seek out the next piece... which was located in the treasure hoard of Ilthane the Black. The fake Allustan went there and was overwhelmed and tortured, though not before it used a sending to the PCs calling for aid, hoping to save itself and bring about the PCs' end in one move. The PCs came, slew Ilthane, cowed her brood, and discovered Allustan's mangled corpse... with the face of a mikly-white mind flayer, it's throat ripped out. Thus, Rod pieces #4 and #5 were claimed (another modification).

"Gathering of Winds" had a presence in my campaign, but we didn't run through it.


Kurukami wrote:
How many PCs were in your adventuring party?

There were 6 of them between levels 10 and 11, most of them heavily power-gamed. One was killed and replaced. Another bowed out and was replaced. It's a long story. ;-)


Selgard is right about nausea. Look up the angels of decay in Libris Mortis. They have an aura that nauseates, and that aura RUINED my front line brawlers. They moved, did their big damage, and then slinked away retching and puking. They were made into babies with the nausea.

Daze is also big. There's very little that protects against daze effects. I think there's a paladin spell somewhere that renders one immune to daze, but that's it. The war troll from MMIII dazes with every hit (provided the save fails).

Go for ability damage. Assuming death ward hasn't been cast, try waves of exhaustion followed by a ray of enfeeblement (possibly a quickened ray in the same round). That'll knock out any spellcaster and nerf most fighters.

Also, consider altering the terrain, altering the circumstances, altering the atmosphere to make things difficult. Poison the PCs' food (they have to eat) and force a penalty on them (linking that to your story, of course). Find a way to switch out their weapons for mundane varieties (which could lead to a quest to recover those weapons before they are sold). Nerf listen lorecall and blindsense by swarming the PCs with a mob of incorporeal undead (shadows preferably) that can easily flow through objects and dog them even through tight dungeons. Use silence spells a lot and make sure your spellcasters have the silent spell feat. Give all of your large monsters the large and in charge feat. Give your power-attacking monsters a weapon with a wide threat range (like a falchion, preferably keen/imp. crit.), so all they have to do is threaten for the hit.

You might also try to make it more about saving the lives of others rather than the PCs. Give the group people to protect (the spectators of the arena, for example), and take the focus away from their PC's hit points. With my high-level group, I always have to remind them that it's not about them dying, it's about the people they protect dying, which is the real "nightmare scenario" now. PCs can fail miserably and suffer greatly without suffering a single point of damage.


Awesome. I should also recommend completely rebuilding every team your group fights in the games. Those pre-made teams, though interesting and well-made, were doomed to die at the hands of my group. Pitting two dwarven barbarians against my group was laughable. This is the brief on what I came up with:

1. Sentinel Guard: Six fighter types who used shield other and aid another in conjunction with their signature weapons. Their shield phalanx was shattered, and the Guard was defeated.

2. The Order of the Dragon: Six oriental types consisting of three samurai, a sohei, a monk, and a wu jen. One by one, they were all brought down.

3. Pitch Blade: Six level 10 dwarven barbarians. No flying potions. I banned potions and scrolls altogether. Horribly bloody. PC deaths. All six dwarves were killed.

4. Madtooth was madtooth. Two PCs swallowed. Madtooth was eventually overwhelmed.

5. Auric's Warband: Auric, Khelleck, Liam Raknian (a fighter 10 with a mount and lance), and three stone golems. I didn't count the horse as an opponent. This was a long battle, but the PCs eventually won.


I might also recommend throwing some mobs at them. They're like swarms with larger specimens. Mob rules are detailed in the DMG II. It's automatic damage, expert grappler, no pesky attack rolls. Mobs could be your God-send should your PCs screw up the Champion's Belt and the Free City is overrun with wights.

Also, don't worry about the AC. Just keep doing what you're doing, and try to embrace the fact that your PCs are, in fact, rare anomalies of heroic prowess. It's ok to just accept that fact and set up the bowling pins for them to knock over. The boss battles will come. There will come a day when your goliath spiked chain master will not be able to trip very often anymore. Let your PCs mow down foes, but make sure you hit them where it hurts at those boss battles.

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