Respectable Hobbit's page

Just wondering if there's a significance to the name "Axel Herewall" which appears in Chapter 5, p. 157. Is this perhaps a reference to an old Greyhawk module or one of the author's own PCs?

Ah, I didn't realize the authors/editors would be reading this. Obviously this must have been a lot of work to do, so please don't think I'm criticizing. I'm just pointing out errors where I've found them.

Yes, now that I look at it, bards are proficient with whips, but that's part of the class's weapon proficiencies, not a feat. Bards are proficient with lots of other weapons, too, and you don't need to list a feat for each one. It was just confusing to see it, that's all.

Other things I noticed: Shensen doesn't have bard spells picked out. As she only has 2 0-level bard spells, this isn't a big deal. Also, Jenya's skill advancements are not described. Trivial issues, I'm sure, but annoying nonetheless. Haven't looked at Zach and Todd yet.

Chef: The new format presented in DMG2 takes up a lot more space. It might be easier to read, but in a book this size it would be pretty inconvenient.

Looking over the 8 leveling NPCs in the back of the book, there appear to be a lot of mistakes and things that don't make sense. Annah Taskerhill has a bonus feat, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (whip), which I can't identify where it comes from. She doesn't even use a whip, so why does she have this feat? For Cora, they forgot to give her an ability increase at 4th level, which means that her ability increase progression doesn't make sense. The skills are just a mess. Skills in general are a b+&@~ to figure out in reverse, but I worked out that some important synergy bonuses are missing in a few cases.

Actually, I just finished Zenith Trajectory. I'm about to start the Demonskar Legacy.

I'm starting chapter 5 this weekend, and I'm wondering when we're going to be seeing the important NPCs (Stormblades, Striders, Jenya) again? I've been afraid to use them too much in the campaign because I don't know if they're going to show up later or not. Then I read at the end of chapter 5 that the PCs are supposed to get stuck in a desert, and one thing it mentions is that they might already be members of the Striders of Fharlanghn, so they can just send a message to Meerthan for help. I didn't know I was supposed to be building up that relationship already! The PCs never encountered Fario and Fellian, and Shensen disappeared at the end of chapter 3. The PCs never fought the Stormblades either, resisting their taunts and just staying inside the tavern when the Stormblades tried to get them to duel.

So I guess my question is... can I get some sort of guide as to how I should be managing the PCs' relationships with these people, chapter by chapter?

I think the name 'pit of 7 jaws' is a dead giveaway. Just make sure crazy Jared uses that name when giving directions. It worked for my pc's.

Crazy Jared did drop the name, but unfortunately it didn't work for my PCs. They didn't guess what it meant, and even if they had, none of them were familiar with how hydras work... and none of them passed Knowledge checks to see if their characters knew. Giving the PCs a chance to research in Cauldron, where there might be books on the topic to aid their Knowledge checks, would have been a big help.

The encounter with the cryohydra in the Pit of Seven Jaws was really hard for my players and not much fun for me to run. The hydra is a really difficult monster if you're not prepared for it, and with SEVEN breath weapons every 1d4 rounds, it would've killed the party quickly if I hadn't pulled punches. Here's a couple ways for DMs to deal with it:

1) Just bypass the encounter. It's hard, there's no treasure, and it doesn't advance the plot, so there's no reason to run it.

2) Give the PCs clues about the Pit of Seven Jaws before they leave Cauldron. Make sure they have a chance to do some research so that they are prepared to take on a seven-headed cryohydra.

3) Adjust the cryohydra itself. I feel this monster is really too hard for its CR. Perhaps, like the beholder, the cryohydra is only able to use a fraction of its heads in any one 90-degree arc. Perhaps it can't use its breath weapon from all heads at once, or perhaps each breath weapon only does 1d6 damage (making the total damage equal to a fireball from a 7th-level wizard, not TOO bad for a 5th/6th level party).

I don't think they'll wait for Shensen to get to Druid 7. The player of the dead character is rather mercenary. I had Jenya pull strings with the Cathedral of Wee Jas to get them to lower the price of a 'raise dead' spell so that they could afford it with the treasure they just found. He still thinks that's too expensive and would rather just roll up a new character.

Sorry, I meant 'reincarnate.' The PCs want 'reincarnate' from a druid because it is cheaper than 'raise dead' from a cleric.

I don't know if the book gives this information, but what's the highest level wizard, cleric, and druid in Cauldron? The PCs want to raise one of their fallen comrades and they're looking for a druid that can cast 'resurrection,' but I have no idea if such a druid exists in Cauldron.

What adjustments should I make to run this campaign with a 6-man party? Should I simply add one monster to every encounter?