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 Recent Posts
This has come up in the past. I believe the fix was to extend the stairs down into the submerged section, as the underwater portion of the encounter is what makes it both a challenge and an interesting fight. <b>EDIT: </b>Here's a link to the original question. Enjoy! http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/ageOfWorms/dMQuestionsAboutThe WhisperingCairn
Not to sure of the ins and outs of this yet but seeing as they worship the prince of deception and lies i may go with the cultists duping the pcs into recovering parts of the demon lords staff, not realising what it is they are really doing. Yeah, the "Demonomicon of Iggwilv" articles are some of my all-time favorites in Dragon. This idea works great, especially if the PCs think they're gettint the Rod of Seven Parts. I'd go from that angle. Have Allustan regale the PCs early on with tales of the Wind Dukes (if the PCs don't have the Knowledge skills to know themselves), then introduce a mysterious bald figure, dressed in blue robes of ancient design whose clothing always seem to be caught in a mild wind. This character convinces them that with the Age of Worms fast approaching, the time is ripe for new heroes to again take up the Rod of Seven Parts to do battle with this new evil. As things go on and the PCs (surely) notice that things aren't exactly what they seem (probably when they notice that the "Rod" seems to look funny, and that pieces of it are held in defended sanctuaries of good), have the cultist make up convincing stories otherwise ("a little known fact of the tale of the Rod's destruction was that during this battle the Rod absorbed some of Miska the Wolf Spider's chaotic essence, infusing it partially with the power of the abyss. If we construct it fully, I should be able to remove this taint with your blessed assistance."). As for AoW and BoVD together at last, I'm planning to use a feww ideas from it (including drugs and maybe a few Vile spells and such). If you play it up as a gritty mining town and make the villains who are part of this apocalyptic cult truly evil, it helps the PCs fee like real heroes. I say go for it.
I'm also going to have to figure out a way to introduce the Faceless One early on. Something about the Faceless One makes me see him as a silent watcher of the PC's actions. Say they're shopping in the marketplace. While the rest of the PCs haggle over the price of the wierd red pedestal, have a more disinterested PC make a Spot check to notice the eerie hooded figure wearing a mask watching them from across the market. When he turns to tell his companions, the figure is now gone. Play some eerie music whenever it happens, if possible- strange bells, or chanting would work (Buddhist chants are amazingly creepy to Western ears). Play if off as a wierd trick of the eye- until it happens again, maybe as the PCs go through Smenk's lab, the same PCs eyes will wander to a window where a lone, robed figure stands hundreds of feet away in the observarory's surrounding fields, looking through that exact window. Don't forget, the Faceless One's got ways of knowing something's up. He sent the googly-eyed lurking stranglers into the cairns- when the Whispering Cairn's strangler doesn't come back, and a bunch of locals start throwing all that loot around, him and his 21 Intelligence will put two and two together. His kenku allies would make excellent spies- why shold the Hextor cultists be the only ones seeing the outside world? You could even mix it up with the occasional kenku sighting- as the PCs are bedding down in the mine office, they hear noise outside. They gather a few weapons and a torch and head out, only to catch glimpses of figures darting into the shadows of the surrounding environs. Perhaps while out in town, a PC should hear someone surprisingly close to him speak to him and use his name- in his own voice, and turn to see nothing. I don't know about you, but after I felt like I was being watched, I'd like to find out what the heck was up. And when I found notes form the Faceless One warning the other cultists that me and my friends (mentioned by name) were coming, I'd pee myself. Paranoia is a good thing. Or maybe all those Dark*Matter books got to me.
Being a current resident of the official State O' Potatoes, and a fan of comedy in all its forms regardless of starch content, this was hilarious. It sounds like many of your powers are based off the "Potato, Russet" breed. Perhaps a different set of powers for each of the Chromatic Tubers? Maybe Yukon golds can breathe fire and weakening gas, while their greedy covetous red cousins have only the former. Are purple potatoes psionic then? Do some of the "other" root vegetables have unique abilities, like say, taro root completely sucks? Sounds like fodder for MM 4 (you know it's in the works).
Good point about overcoming DR, but the problem with making it a touch attack is it then ignores plate mail and even the thickest natural armor. That's a bit silly to me. Hmm... yeah, natural armor makes sense. I just don't want to water down such an interesting device by making it almost ineffectual: "Well, I could craft a potion containing ghoul touch, place it into a syringe, and repeatedly attack someone with it until I slip it past a chink in their armor, or just cast ghoul touch and, I dunno, touch him." If I needed to set a simple hard-and-fast rule, I guess I'd say the syringe can only be used in a grapple or on a helpless foe. If I could get a little more complex, I'd also allow it to work normally as a touch attack against foes wearing up to light armor, as there's still a bit of skin exposure there. Any amount of natural armor would negate it as well, unless it was a adamantine syringe (which gives us a reason to make the "unbreakable needle"). Thanks for the input though- seriously, somehow my mind forgot about natural armor. And after all those trips to povery-ridden lizardfolk villages, administering vaccinations via 1/8"-thick needles...
I wouldn't allow the syringe to overcome DR unless it possessed the proper material/enchantment/alignment combo, and I'd make it a melee touch attack that provokes an attack of opportunity. One could also use it in a grapple, making for some pretty intense moments. The whole thing would look pretty cinematic.
After reaching a saturation point on how many new rules, feats, skill uses, classes, etc. I could play with, I've begun tinkering with character pesonalities. Lately, the focus has been on evil, plus a little chaotic neutral ("evil lite" as some people say). I think that there's nothing wrong with a player playing an evil character with a group of neutral or good characters- the question is what they're looking into the evil alignments for. Unlike in the Saturday morning cartoon shows where moral absolutes exist, D&D gives the option for a range of gray parallel to that seen in the real world. Nothing excludes evil characters from caring about friendships, lovers, children, faith, or any number of things. One of my current projects is a devoted and loving family man and carpenter with a sick wife who also happens to be an evil fighter. The bonds of comraderie he found during his stint in the army appeal to him, and he desperately wishes to raise his station in life to help his family survive. He'll also kill a paladin for a quarter. This is just one example of literally hundreds available for personalities and motivations. The question then becomes: "why is Player X interested in playing an evil character?" If the answer is because of complex character motivation and good roleplaying experience, great! If its so that he can "be evil", maybe it is time to run the evil campaign, or just a good ol' black-and-white, orcs-are-evil-and-live-in-this-dungeon hack and slash, which satisfies the need to kick butt with no reprecussions quite nicely. It sounds like you've come up with a good solution already, though. i'm just adding to the pile. :)
I actually wrote a full backstory for a warlock I made in an Eberron version of the Age of Worms. But she's a wierd character. Warlocks are a varied bunch. Some sought the power of demons and devils, while others were "blessed" with these powers without asking for it at all. Was the warlock in question part of a cult? Maybe he/she was exposed to evil power while still in the womb. A Warlock could draw from fey power, and live in the outskirts of town. This may be easier to accept in the case of non-evil warlocks, though the "fight fire with fire" rationale to the warlock's abilities works as well. As a side idea, if the character has ranks in Craft or Profession, that's a reason to be in Diamond Lake. Maybe the character's power manifested due to a latent heritage tie with something more than human, and the otherwise "normal" character is just trying to deal with it. It could become a major incentive to get out of town or learn to tame these strange powers. Just some ideas.
Um..... Ditto, except that my question is more in regards to converting it to Ebberon's version... Here's what I'm using, personally. Description: The creature is a bizarre amalgamation of the three deities it embodies. It is a ten-foot tall, powerfully built monster with six arms. Its smooth, dull gray skin has been partally flensed off in long strips, revealing the bulging muscles beneath. Around its shoulders and back, the creatures coloration darkens to that of deep shadows. Three of its arms, two on the left and one on the right, are missing their hands. It has a gaunt skeletal face and massive fangs. It growls like a beast in battle, and fights like a savage animal. Bloodthirst of the Shadow: While the Shadow is a diety of arcane power, he is also worshipped by savage monsters from Droaam as well, who see him as their creator. This ability represents that savage aspect of his nature, as do his grimlock followers. Instrument of the Mockery: The Mockery seems less martial in my eyes, and I could see his followers calling their wepons tools or instruments. Replace the flail with a kama doing the same damage (spiritual weapon's damage is unchanged regardless of weapon size and type). Blessing of the Keeper: The Keeper hoards power of all types, and protects his followers from death. What better way to use other's power than to turn it on themselves? Theoretically, this fits better with the Shadow ("play with fire and you'll get burned"), but I think its a stretch to make the Keeper's ability something akin to a one-round super rage. I suppose it could be a powerful infusion of necromantic energy instead. Your choice.
Well, I doubt the PCs will get to ask the ebon Aspect what its special powers are called- he hardly seems all that talkative. I think the Bloodlust of Bhaal (Erythnul) sounds pretty good, myself. The better to murder you with, my little pretties. I'd change the Standard of Bane (Hextor) so that it manifests as a black metal gauntlet with rays of green light emitting from it- have it do the same damage, but make the physical appearance different. The Blessung of Myrkul (Vecna) sounds somewhat appropriate, as well- my memory's a little hazy, but wasn't he the most magic-oriented of the three? As for physical description, that's up to you. The Ebon Aspect has three claw attacks, so I wouldn't use less arms than that- other than that, any visual appearance is merely cosmetic. Maybe it has six arms (representing two per deity), but three end in withered, rotten stumps. Side note- since I'm most likely playing AoW in Eberron, I had originally skipped the conversion notes for the Forgotten Realms. I think the idea of using the old team-up of Myrkul, Bane, and Moander is genius. I ran Shackled City in Forgotten Realms, and I just grabbed three vaguely-relevant dieties... why didn't I think of that?
You have the Faceless One "fighting to the death," but I suspect that he might make a truly superb recurring villain. What if the players might "defeat" him, but they turn their backs for a moment and then he's simply gone. Then returns at inopportune times to harry their progress and such. Or would that perhaps muck with the overall plot too much in later modules? In the module, it mentions that the Ebon Aspect arises upon the death of all three cult leaders. If for some reason the PCs decide to let them live, they die as the Ebon Aspect feeds upon their life force to create itself. They also seem to indicate that of the cultists, the Faceless One at least seems aware of this fact. Though I, too, like the idea of bringing back the Faceless One as a recurring villain, as written it's out of the question. Though the DM does have final say... maybe the death of the other two cultists is sufficient, and the PCs come into the main chamber just as the Faceless One finishes the ritual binding their departed souls to the Ebon Aspect's now-living body and departs via magic? Just my two circular copper-coated zinc monetary units.
I just got <i>Dungeon 125</i> today (technically yesterday but I didn't check the mail- I think it's a new record for speedy delivery) and of course have been eagerly devouring the latest AoW adventure. I've got a question regarding one of the rooms, however. PCs not wishing to spoil the adventure for themselves should cease reading right... ... ... ... NOW. Ok. In the Chamber of the Faithful (Room #3, pages 24-25 if you need it), the creatures entry states that the room "serves as quarters for a large group of fanatical Hextorites". But neither the room description nor the stat block give us an exact number to work with. I assume it was lost somewhere in editing. What is the exact number of cultists in the room? By the way, cool use of a bunch of commoners. The PCs might think they're in trouble at first when faced with so many armed and dangerous-looking foes in such a small room. :) Thanks in advance! PS- I purposely left the header vague so's that others (or myself later, after finishing the adventure) can comre back and ask more questions if they should crop up. That way we won't flood the board with one-time threads on a single problem.
I think they should now. Unfortunately, all the Diamond Lakes I've found (Oregon, Ontario, and now Michigan) seem to be camping/fishing/outdoorsy locations, and not actual towns. Guess if you're gonna have an evil cult, remote is a good thing. Besides, people go "missing" at campsites all the time. You know, that's not a bad D20 Modern campaign idea. I'll have to ponder if it would be worth it to make a D20 Modern conversion... or inspiring someone else to do it for me.
Just about to go to sleep, when suddenly I was hit with a question. Will the second Adventure Path deal with the ancient mysteries of this hinted-at-but-never-explained old baboon empire? Does it have to do with Demogorgon? Is it the focus of AP3? Will one of the monkeys wear a tuxedo and dance for our amusement before killing us with vile magicks? Answer whenever- I'll probably forget I even wrote it when I get up six hours from now. Thanks in advance.
Indeed, the continuity ensures its longevity. Twenty years from now, at the release of D&D 5th edition, we'll all be clamoring for updated Adventure Paths in Dungeon 364. Erik Mona, still editor-in-chief of both mags (only because Paizo paid to put his preserved brain into a jar hooked up to a computer) will work twenty-seven hours a day (after the comet alters our planetary rotation, of course) to create "Return to the Shackled City of Abyssal Evil" and "Age of Worms 2: Kyuss' Revenge". The D&D newbies will decry them as lacking originality, clamoring instead for large killer dungeons (complete with oversized poster maps) full of inescapable traps, unkillable foes, and DM fiat. The gaming scizm will distract us all from noticing that our earth governments had been overrun by Green Worm-Men from Beyond Time(TM) and their zombie slaves. Then we'll realize that was Kyuss's plan all along. Sneaky bastard.
My Shackled City game consisted of a half-minotaur/half-dwarf (everyone shudders at that one) paladin, a half-nymph(or half-doppleganger... I don't really recall)/half-human cleric, and a kobold bard with the Winged template. Each was ECL +1 or +2. Later, the PC playing the minotaur left, the kobold died (from a falling wall trap... it was HY-larious), and the people who joined up later played mostly humans. Eventually, we got our last oddity in the group, a half-copper dragon/half-elf. Looking back, all those crossbreeds seem to indicate that given time and desperation, people will try anything once. The only problem we experienced was that creatures with high ECLs (the half-dragon in particular) or creature levels seem to be high on the special powers and low on everything else. Even three less Hit Dice means missing 7-19 hit points on average (not including Constitution modifiers), -1 to -3 on attacks, reduced saves, skills, less feats... while it can be fun, for less experienced players it can be a buzzkill. To say nothing of having to learn how to use all those powers effectively- while a basic "nonmagical" monster (say your minotaur) only needs to know where to swing his axe, the astral deva has a battery of special abilities and qualities that can be daunting. Be wary as a DM, as well- at 16th level she'll be able to polymorph self, at will, into anything with ten or less Hit Dice. That is one versatile spell. I'm not saying don't do it, just tread carefully, and happy gaming.
Then they can't drown. They may not be able to fight effectively (there's a lot of penalties to underwater combat), or move very fast, but at least they won't die from drowning. It's a small boon to make up for that EL +1 thing.
If you need the rules info on the Rod itself, it's in the Arms & Equipment Guide. As for the rest, well- I'd maybe have a Side-Trek every few AP adventures to find the parts of the Rod, if the PCs are so inclined. Maybe even give a Rod piece to an important NPC or two- maybe one to a powerful villain, and one a soon-to-be-killed ally who's been using it as a doorstop. Just remember- unless your group is really big or you reduce the XP parceled out, all that Side-Trekking will lead to so me pretty buffed out PCs. You know, now I kinda want to use the Rod in my AoW game too.
You know, the room beyond the brown mold isn't essential to completing the adventure anyway- if the PCs give up, they're just out one encounter and about six hundred bucks (a lot of money at 1st-2nd level, but survivable- 4 PCs would only get 150 gold). If the PCs are having a tough time with it, they should just avoid it. I don't know about you guys, but my group shows a reasonable amount of pragmatism when it comes to things like that. If it looks like too much danger to be worth the effort, they'll just leave (perhaps to come back later with the right equipment and knowledge for the job). Besides, after reading the min/maxing thread earlier today, I thought everyone played half-white dragon/half-fire giants (immune to cold and fire!) with 46 Strength. What are they worried about? :)
I'd just choose what's best for you if I were you- they are just recommendations, after all. I've already got an Eberron game based in Sharn, so if I run the Age of Worms in Eberron, I'll probably choose to place the campaign in a different nation entirely- I'm thinking Aundair, personally. Set it up in Waterdeep if you plan to buy City of Splendors, or whichever you're most comfortable with if not. You could set up Diamond Lake as close to Calimshan as possible- the empire did spread out pretty far in its heyday.The graves could be anywhere, really- the forces of chaos could have invaded anywhere, and I'd likely put the graves near the spot the tragedy occured. I've found on occasion- not every time, mind- the "official" conversion doesn't fit my view of the campaign. It's yours to work with, after all- If you want Diamond Lake to be set equidistant to both Waterdeep and Calimshan, official maps be damned- Volo was drunk when he explored the Sword Coast, and cartography has suffered ever since. Just my two coppers.
He's been editor of both magazines for a long run now- I'm too lazy to get up and check, but I think it might be about a year. The fact that some of my favorite issues of both magazines occured under his watch is the part that amazes me the most. I'm pretty sure he'd have to clone himself to do as good a job as he does- or maybe his cultists do it all for him. I heard that "Age of Worms" was autobiographical. In any case, keep up the good work Erik- or Kyuss, or whatever you want to be called.
There are worse things you can do with $7.50 than to buy a handful of kenku minis. And if you were to do such a thing... let's just say that you'll get a lot of use out of them in "Three Faces of Evil." Sweet. Kenkus are t3h b_0mb. Better stock up- unless five of them will cut it. By the way, my guess about the kenku included not just the oily black feathers, but that whole "wierd voices" thing, too. They are aural mimics, after all.
Quick DMs-only question, as it may contain spoilers: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED:
Talk amongst yourselves.
Way back in AP1, which I ran in the Forgotten Realms, I converted the deities as follows: St. Cuthbert = Helm
As for Eberron, before hearing that Keith Baker reccomended the Lords of Dust, I thought of using either: Hextor = The Mockery
...or making a cult of the Blood of Vol seeking to usurp the power of those three deities in order to raise Vol to full divine status. But I love the Lords of Dust, too. (Rubs backwards-facing hands together evilly)
i have to ask one thing only= NO YAUN-TI PLEASE !!!!!!! What, you didn't hear? In the new Adventure Path, it is explained that yuan-ti aren't related to snakes- they're related to worms. Big, green worms. And the next Age is theirs- the Age of Worms. The only way to stop the rising tide is to ally with a race of sentient fish to eat the worms, all of whom worship a Groucho-Marx -glasses wearing, mustachioed demon prince named Badimarchus. The whole campaign took three minutes to write on a stained bar napkin. I have the original I dug up from Erik's trash. :)
My AP2 group looks like it'll include a half-orc barbarian/bard modeled off of Tom Waits- I'm curious to see how that turns out. Hmm... I try to encourage my PCs to pick up a few non-combat skills- so far, the Knowledge skills are really popular. I've had a few encounters where people would encounter some wierd fey and panic until the ranger said, "dudes, it's just a shadar-kai". Then they would hit it 'til it stopped moving.
I've had a few NPC allies go down in history as more of a pain in the ass than as useful contributors to the group- I once had a wizard who was accident-prone with his crossbow and often hit his own allies (I used a homebrew rule for missed shots fired into melee). The group almost dismembered him once. As for adjustments to group sizes- some info about how to adjust for larger or smaller groups would be great, but it really depends on the group. The group I started with in AP1 was three people at 2nd level (or equivalent- I think some had templates or played level adjusted races) and they kicked butt. Then I went online and heard of 8-person party TPK's with Kazmojen. That's just not right. (Shrugs) I guess play it by ear- the PCs don't need to know that the normally CR Whatever fight gave them more or less experience if it proved more or less of a challenge. Even Erik's playtest group of eight had difficulties with the second encounter- the kind of difficulties that require a shovel and a priest, if you get my meaning.
I have to agree on the awesomness of this adventure- it rates up there with "The Styes" as one of my "favorite adventures EVAR". I don't want to give away details (someone mentioned they'll be playing as a PC in the adventure), but every scene seems like a good fit, and the attention to detail is great. It's got a great amount of creepy stuff in it, too, which I enjoy. My group finished the first AP just about 3 weeks ago (you ever try to talk down a pissed off insane demon prince? You better roll a twenty! ...and they did), and though everyone's schedules are hell right now, we'll be starting Age of Worms soon, I hope. Kudos to Erik Mona for showing us all how to kick off a campaign!
Is the online supplement going to include the conversion notes for Eberron? or is that a separate thing? It will be in the Online Supplement, along with the Forgotten Realms conversion notes and many other exciting tidbits. And my apologies, Mr. Mona, for insinuating that the lack of an Online Supplement was a sign of laziness on your team's part. I'd much rather have a kick-butt issue 125 on time than an optional supplement. You guys are doing a fantastic job.
I just got my copy of Dungeon 124 a few days ago, and when I went online to check out the online supplement, I found it wasn't there. I also noticed, to my dismay, that issue 123's supplement came out a mere ten days ago. Do they always take that much longer after subscribers get the issue? Is this to prevent non-subscribers from, I dunno, seeing the pretty pictures before buying the issue? Any help you can provide would be great.
It's pretty much the same as any other Craft skill, so it'll all be in the PHB on page 71. I'd consider a wizard's spellbook a high-quality item, so the Craft DC is 15. A 1st-level wizard with a 15 Int and maximum ranks in Craft (bookbinding) will have a skill modifier of +6. I can't seem to find a basic spellbook's cost in the PHB, but both Tome & Blood and Complete Arcane have cost info for spellbooks, including ones made of rare materials. I'll use a basic leather-bound spellbook with parchment pages- total cost 15 gp. If a spellcaster were to fashion it themselves, it would cost 50 silver pieces and assuming average work (taking 10) take 1 1/2 days, or 2 days if you round up. Of course, a DM could consider it was finished before the game started, so time would be moot. Hope this helps!
I was wondering if we might see Hookface's lair in the AP2. I would love to send my party exploring into the lair. It's easy to deal with Hookface's involvement in AP1 with a campaign seed sidebar. AP2, to my recollection, will occur in a different part of Greyhawk, though an adventure or two will take the players to the Cauldron area. So, I suppose that they could go there to kill Hookface/Hookface's mate, but it's a long way to travel just to put down some other town's resident red.
I'm the DM in this campaign, and we're just about to start Thirteen Cages. The group consists of: Uujvala, LG half-doppleganger human cleric 5/spellfire channeler 1/faithblade scion 8 with the Smoking Eye- the lawful good ones always get the Sign, don't they? This character is my fiancee's, and is the only one to survive from 1st level. Her blade, a holy lawful longsword, killed the morkoth in one round. Avilda, N female human enchanter 5/barbarian 5/fighter 1/acolyte of the skin 2/spellsword 2/loremaster 5- run by me to augment the group during the loss of a player, I was going to retire her and the group vehemently refused. She's sold her soul twice to save the group, and since then, the group won't let her touch anything that would let her do it a third time. As you may have noticed, I have an addiction to multiclassing. Rach Valarion- CG female half-copper dragon elf ranger 6/rogue 2/fighter 1/Order of the Bow initiate 3- she maintains a collection of every major villain's cool weapon and currently likes hitting things with frostburn instead of using her bow, which gets her almost killed a lot. Shatner Nimoy- NG male dwarf sorcerer 9/arcane devotee 5- as revenge for Kaurophon killing his necromancer, this player decided to give his new character a dumb name. The dumb name seems to have kept him alive, thus mocking the work other characters put into their character's names. His seven free Empowered spells per day have turned many a foe into crispy deliciousness. He also uses teleport as a solution for everything that can't be killed.
I'm thinking of using the WOTC gnoll skeleton to stand for the gnoll huecuva, and the WOTC halfling wizard for the halfling that worships Vecna, but I don't know what to use for Triel. The Cleric of Bane matches pretty well, though she's got a mace instead of a flail. I think that's going to be your closest match. I'd love it if WOTC would come out with some Shackled City minis- just one or two of them, really. A set of Adimarchus minis would totally rock.
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