|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 Recent Posts
Rend my friend, Rend. Dire Tiger. 120 Hit Points. 3 Attacks (even when charging thanks to pounce), two of them with a +20 to hit. Add Rend to the equation and what do you get? CR 8?! Thanks for including these kitties as a resident at Velikar's Keep GregV; my character will thank you for it after his stay at the Istivin Intensive Care Unit!
I finished reading Richard Pett's excellent adventure, "The Styes" last night and was suitably impressed. One aspect I liked about the adventure was its overall tone and feel. I couldn't agree more. This is one of those adventures that reads amazingly well. The attention to the tiny details is amazing. Frankly, its one of those adventures that reads ALMOST TOO WELL. I'm afraid to run an adventure like this because I am afraid I might not be able to capture the mood that Richard does so well. And by the way, its all that much more impressive since I have little appreciation for the type of villains that appear in it. Additionaly, I would like to compliment you on the fantastic artwork that went along with this adventure. The portraits were top-notch. Kudos - this one is a keeper.
Immediately following the ambush by the Trolls and Ogre Mages, a Titanic War-Forged and a dozen Death Guards stormed from the keep, hell-bent on sending the heroes to an early grave. PCs were flung like rag dolls as the War-Forged trampled friend and foe alike. While the Death Guards were handled over time by Baron Kaz, Aria and the Dragon Slayer, Granite, Krellor and Rellic held off the War-Forged as long as they could until the party could muster its forces to put it dfown for good. Pulling back into the mountainous foothills of the Jotens, the party used arcane magic to hide from Velikar and tend to their wounds. Velikar, a ressurected Gleodites, and Asiroxes tracked down the heroes and prepared an ambush for the PCs when they return from their magical dimension. Fortunately for the heroes, they knew that BBEGs would be waiting, and prepared for battle. Droping out of the magical portal, the PCs and BBEG exchanged verbal jabs before getting up close and personal. Rellic "We have not come to kill you, Velikar, but to save you. Give up your misguided faith in a hateful god and atone - that is all we ask for."
And thus began the fight; Asiroxus swiftly swooped down and delived a fatal blow to her would be Dragon Slayer (I guess 40 dragons is where she will top out at). The heroes quickly took momentum of the fight; Gleodites and Asiroxus slain, Velikar made a last ditch effort to escape and Plane Shifted to safety. In the aftermath, the heroes discovered that the Death Guards were in fact powered by animated dwarf bodies. While inspecting the Keep, the heroes found two important areas of interest. 1) A dwarf expert named Fixit, who had been forced to toil over a forge for Velikar. Fixit explains that he and his dwarven companions had lived in this mountain range for years until Velikar found and enslaved them. 2) A secret circular room - one that is apparently from a Rellic of the past. A message read that Rellic created the room to protect him from Wardenkaan's evil scrying abilites, and that Wardenkaan has the Amulet of the Ancient - a powerful artifact capable of time travel. Rellic tasked himself to seek out Argothas the Seer for information on how to use the Chapel of Time to go back in time and attain the Amulet before Velikar does. Also, the note claims that Granite, Rellics brother, is in fact an imposter of the real Granite; the real Granite is a prisoner of Velikar, and Rellic is directed to destroy him before the imposter can turn on him. Is the note real? Is Granite truly and imposter and does Wardenkaan really have the Amulet of the Ancient? Or is this all an elaborate plan by Wardenkaan and Lloth to destroy the party from within and claim the Amulet for his own deviant purposes? Only time will tell...
The adventure picks up with a week of festivities and down-time for the party, culminating with an elaborate awards ceremony. The Marchioness bestowed various magical gifts upon these adventurers, and minor titles of nobility: Lady Aria, the Magnificent Sir Krellor, Sir Granite, and Baron Kazeem. She then charged the adventurers with the task of driving Velikar and Asiroxus from the Keep so that the PCs (specifically Baron Kazeem) may claim it for their own. Meanwhile, Rellic was busy managing the reconstruction of the House of Radiance, making new friends in a city where friends were few and far in-between. On the sixth night of the stay in Istivin, a stranger from afar found the adventurers at their abode, seeking Rellic. The strange elven ranger inquired on the location of the dragon Asiroxus, hearing the PCs had faced the mighty dragon. She claimed to be a powerful dragon slayer (Critical Threat Dungeon #118), to the tune of about 40 kills thus far – and Asiroxus would be next. Krellor and Kazeem recommended that they join forces in this common goal, and she agreed. However, it would be a temporary alliance as she is not as soft as the PCs, who are “Soft like the padded beds they sleep on.” As the party grew closer to gearing up for their trip to the Jotens for their rematch, Velikar was busy taking the time and effort to scry the party, gathering what information he could to protect his lair. In response to the not-so-subtle spying Velikar employed, the party sent a reply MESSAGE “We’re coming for you.” That morning, Rellic and Aria combined magics to transport the party to Velikar’s Keep, where they were ambushed at the gates by Velikar’s first wave of lackeys – two Dire Tigers, two Ogre Mages (with levels) and four Trolls (with Ranger levels). The fight was fierce indeed, nearly sending Rellic and the Dragon Slayer to the grave were it not for the quick assistance from their companions. Aria, Kaz, and Granite fought like lions; suffering little more than minor cuts and bruises. As might be imagined, there were plenty of Rend attacks to go around for everyone. Rellic can attest to that. Meanwhile, Lloth and Wardenkaan continue to monitor the progress of their scheme, which is coming together exactly as they planned.
My players hate me. They were able to penetrate Velikar's fortress using the spell Invisibility Sphere, well, up until they set off the rubble trap. In the mouth of the fortress, they handled Velikars giant troops and the tigers with greater ease than I thought. This tactic by the PCs meant that the giants that would have fired their large crossbows from the 2nd level of the fort, now would stage an ambush from that respective room. The heroes killed them pretty easily also. So I had a decision to make; does Velikar stand around and wait to fight a group of adventurers who was able to slay his entire force - alone? Or is their strength in numbers? Velikar is not only powerful, but intelligent as well. It made sense to me that he would make sure that he and Asiroxus would face the PCs together and have a better chance of survival. When the PCs decended into Asiroxus' cave to face both enemies, the fight was on. Two round later, the PCs decided to bargain for their life; Velikar and Asiroxus made quick work of the adventurers (5 PCs levels 12-14). The PCs had to sacrifice 25% of all coinage carried and one magic item per player of Asiroxus' choice. ***You can't kill eveyone all the time - sometimes you have to negotiate.*** Gleodites on the other hand - this guy had a death wish! :) The PCs have recently dealt with the Malgoth, and now turn their attention to Velikar and Asiroxus (a potential more powerful foe): hopefully for the last time.
Aria traces the start of her adventuring career from her humble beginnings in Beregost, due south some distance from Baldur's Gate. A strangely blue-tinted female elf complete with equally strange arcane sigils upon her body, Aria’s natural abilities easily surpassed those of her human peers; she was stronger and faster, and learned complex material at an astounding rate. It was this thirst for knowledge that led her into adventuring. Years later, on a different world, and many companions apart, Aria has taken to the service of Correllon Lorathian, god of elves, and honed her own arcane might into terrible destructive power. During the campaign, Aria and her various companions have faced a miniature Kryton, the drow and their god Lloth, and their greatest foe, Wardenkaan. Aria and her associates now wage a war against evil in Sterich. With the defeat of the Malgoth at hand, they are heralded as heroes as they continue to ramp-up for another show-down with Velikar and Asiroxus yet again: this time for good. The make-up of the “Good” aligned party is as follows:
In the campaign Wardenkaan’s Wrath, the heroes are currently putting the finishing touches on the “Wrath of the Abyss” campaign arc. Not all went as planned: the heroes bargained with Velikar and Asiroxus after realizing their enemies superiority, and elected not to fight the vile drow cleric Derkoshan in the underdark electing to save him for later. The initial battle with Malgoth was a disaster; the heroes Plane Shifted to safety before their very lives were stolen from them via 9th Level Energy Drain rays. With a new lease on life and enough coinage to make Ebenezer Scrooge jealous, the party is finalizing plans for a confrontation with Velikar and Asiroxus.
Wow, if Dungeons & Dragons had an All-Star Team, this would be it. I can't tell you how jealous I am (and likely the rest of the D&D gaming world) to see a line-up like that and wish I were playing a PC in that game world. Has Wil Wheaten or Vin Diesel called you guys up yet to find out if there is room in the group? :)
I also tend to agree with Dungeon in the case of "Evil" adventures. This being said, I remember a really good (no pun intended) adventure printed in a Dungeon magazine years ago where the PCs played hapless evil monsters who where outcasts of their clan. You could be a Kobold, Goblin, Troll and Ogre to name a few I think, and I think they were pre-generated. They were charged with delivering an important sack to a neighboring civilized nations King that contained a "message". As I recall, the trek took them through a dangerous swamp, and the hapless evil monsters had a surprise in store for them when the King opens the sack with the PCs watching! It was a light adventure built with a comedic tone, and although the monsters were "evil", there truly was little opportunity to act despicably. Although I enjoyed reading the adventure, I never ran it, and I assume that the subscribers of Dungeon are too hardcore to appreciate a break from the norm.
I hope revisiting issue 119 doesn't bother you all, but I wanted to post how the climax vs. the Malgoth ended. The party of 4 PCs (2 x Lvl 12, 1 x Lvl 13, 1 x Lvl 14) made quick work of the advanced Mohrg (fight lasted 2 rounds; not enough time for the cold fog to materialize, nor the stautes to animate), and then I gave the PCs two rounds to prepare for Malgoth's formation. After initiative was dropped, it didn't take long for the PCs to realize that they were severly outclassed. I even took it easy on them with the Spell-Like abilities I could have used (Energy Drain three times per day? Thats a Ninth Level spell! Domination?!? I didn't even go there!) Fortunately, the cleric Plane Shifted the party to safety before anyone was outright killed. As I read the Malgoth, CR 16, I remember first thinking he would be easy to deal with. But as I took a closer look at him (Incorporeal AND DR 15/Good), I realized that he could give higher CR Tanarri a good fight. Are my PC's under-powered? Have any of you had a near TPK on your hands during this adventure designed for 4 12th level characters? As you can see from my earlier post, I had a different ending in mind. The PCs are going to return for a rematch with Malgoth and to deal with Derkashan, but what has happened to Istivin during the three days that the PCs have been gone? Any thoughts?
"The local scroll dealer has begun to add useless text and illustrations to his scrolls. This additional text does not decreased the potency of the scrolls, yet often leaves his longtime patrons suffering from 'Confusion' as per the spell. However when questioned about the addition, the dealer refuses to give any reason for the additional text." OUCH!!!
First Post! I still have an estimated two sessions of play before my adventuring party is victorious over the Malgoth (hopefully!) I have been very excited in the number of alternative directions the side stories may hold for the adventurers and have even added a few of my own to the wrinkle, so when I am done running and the next DM picks up the campaign and runs with it, the sky is the limit. I have one question to pose to you all as I would like to reward the players richly for their success. What type of rewards should I give each individual player as a gift from Istivin? I have considered the following:
My party consists of:
What thoughts and ideas might you have? P.S. - I find that in the right situations, Sulissa and Belgos might be the most challenging (and murderous) encounters in the third installment, given their abilities and intelligence. I think I will have to scale back reality a little and (Sulissa and Belgos would prefer subterfuge) turn the encounter into a straight fight that might help the PCs chance of survival.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
