William Sinclair's page

This is what I did with him. Understand that we played in the Realms, and we tried out the Mana system found in Unearth Arcana.

Fetor Abradius, Male Human, Wiz7/Loremaster8: CR15; Medium humanoid (human); HD 15d4+45; hp 84; Init +5; Spd 30 ft.; AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 19; BAB +7, Grap +6; Atk +6 melee (1d4-1/19-20, dagger); Full Atk +6/+1 melee (1d4-1/19-20, dagger); SA spells; SQ applicable knowledge, dodge trick, greater lore +13, lore of true stamina, more newfound arcana; AL NE; SV Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +15; Str 8, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 22, Wis 12, Cha 10.
Skills: Concentration +21, Decipher Script +24, Knowledge (arcana) +27, Knowledge (nature) +24, Knowledge (religion) +23, Knowledge (the planes) +23, Spellcraft +26 (+27 with scrolls), Use Magic Device +11 (+13 with scrolls).
Feats: Craft Wondrous Item, Death Frost Spell, Empower Spell, Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy), Improved Initiative, Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus (Knowledge [arcana]), Spell Focus (Necromancy), Extend Spell.
Languages: Common, Infernal, Abyssal, Demodand, Spell Weaver, Draconic
Spells Prepared (4/6/7/5/5/5/4/2/1, save DC 16 + spell level, Mana - 192); 0 – detect magic, light, mage hand; 1st – alarm*, comprehend languages, mage armor*, magic missile, shield, charm person; 2nd – melf’s acid arrow, blur, blindness/deafness, command undead, bear’s endurance, mirror image, see invisibility; 3rd – halt undead, haste, lightning bolt, vampiric touch, reverse arrows#; 4th – animate dead, confusion, dimension door, enervation, scrying; 5th – cone of cold, dominate person, teleport, wall of stone, wall of force; 6th – circle of death, create undead, disintegrate, greater dispel magic; 7th – force cage, greater teleport; 8th – power word stun
Possessions: Ring of counterspells (dispel magic), metamagic rod of lesser empower spell, ring of protection +2, headband of intellect +2, amulet of natural armor +2, cloak of resistance +3, potion of cure serious wounds, scroll of dominate person, scroll of dimension door, pale lavender ioun stone (20 spell levels absorbed), Pink ioun stone (+2 Con), bag of holding (type IV), dagger, spell component pouch, spell books, 300 gp.
# - Magic of Faerûn

Three more deaths to add to my group, and one to subtract. No death in the Church of Kelemvor (Wee Jas), but I just add three deaths in Strike on Shatterhorn. One died to the Medusa's, 3 stoned, one died to the trap on the altar, and one died as a sacrifice to the Thirteen when he got stunned and then plane shifted to Carceri.

That makes 33 deaths and 9 stonings.

I finally settled on adding more low level bad guys, not increasing CR's of existing ones. For instance, in Strike of Shatterhorn, I added two more wasp riders in the ruins, and planned on adding two more medusa's to that encounter, but the party size fluxuated due to real life. I added two Hill Giant Wereboars to the first encounter with the sorcerer.

Low level grunts adds some XP, and some treasure, without making big bad guys even badder.

Speaking of catches...

In Thirteen Cages, the bad guys have the ability to "gate" in a Glabrezu as back-up, even though the entire area is under lock down due to that dimensional lock... Did I miss something here?

After much arguing, and numerous people giving Skie different names (and more than a few being banished from EVER going into the shop again), they settled on:

The League of Extrodinary Adventurers

Or, as the halfing mage calls them...

Thomas's League of Extrodinary Adventurers

Either way, I'd have to say that they are at least have the extrodinary ability to die in the most amazing and extrodinary ways...

It's amazing how much more pleasent your game seems to be going than mine. As DM, the party has provided me with no end of frustration. They managed to gravely insult Ghelve, and chase him from his homse, and went on the idea that talk is cheap, unless it's at the end of a sword. There was no conversating with the mimic, and they never found the map room. They stumbled blindly through the entire area. It sounds like you will have a much easier time. Good Luck, and keep the journal entries coming.

Also, welcome to the game.

I highly recommend getting the back issues. DUNGEON did a great job weaving the story, and I really consider all of the adventures crucial to the story as a whole. Each story introduces characters that come up later in the game. I'd see if you can back order them from Paizo. Chef's Salad did a good job of summing them up, so I'd say as long as you can keep the above info in the game, you should be able to make up your own adventures as you go. It might help to download the Flood Season update off of the website, as it can help flesh out some of the information.

Let's see, can I remember all of the party members I killed?...

Life's Bazaar - One died to the Grell, getting dropped about 30'. That same guy died again, when he went solo, and chased the two hobgoblins guards down the elevator. He got to the bottom, where Kazmojen, Prickles, and a bunch more Hob's were waiting. He refused to surrender when Kazmo said to. Two died in the final fight with Kazomojen, and he told them to flee with their lives. I also got one guy to the Vanishing, and had another character contract it five times before he finally got rid of all of the magical items.

Flood Season - One died vs. Tongue Eater, One died to the lake demon, one died to Triel, one died to the party when he was dominated by the Kopru, one died to the dwarven undead dudes, one died to the undead gnoll cleric, one died to the ettercaps, and one died to the gnome sorcerer (Phantasmal Killer, the fighter was fully juiced when he went). The party also lost most of the treasure trying to get back across the lake, since the other dominated character (Kopru again), cut the rope while the elevator was out over the lake.

Zenith Trajectory - Surprisingly, no one died to the Umberhulk, and it played out just like a movie, and no one died to the dragon. The only death in this adventure was to the dwarven defender. He butchered one of the main fighters in one round with 2 criticals. The other fighter almost died jumping off of the top balcony in the temple to escape the Invisible Stalker.

Demonskar Legacy - One character died to the Fire Giant, one died to the hag's and their noxious drink, but no one died to the Glabrezu at the end.

Test of the Smoking Eye - One died trying to save a party member cut off from the party by the sucubus/salamander lord encounter. He ran through a wall of fire, got hit with a fireball, got hit twice by the huge fire elemental that got summoned, and then died when the party ordered Karaphon to drop the wall of fire with a cone of cold. He never got one swing in. Two party members got turned to stone by the Abyssal Baslisk. Two party members died in the final encounter to Karaphon, and at one point 2/3's of the party got banished from the plane by a Hezrou.

Secret of the Soul Pillars - One died in the assassin ambush, two died in the Church of Weejas (Kelemvor in my campaign, which is actually a church to Velsharoon), one died in an ambush involving the bone naga and the wizard (they made the mistake of letting the naga get away when they first fought it). Finally, two died in the draco-lich fight. Oh yeah, and a cohort got EATEN by the first encounter with the horned devil (I upgraded, as per the leveling guide).

Interlude - The party tried to track down Kazmojen again, and I killed two party members. He became one mean SOB with a prestige class from the Book of Vile Darkness added to him. He's become their arch nemesis.

Lords of Oblivion - No one died in the House Riavadi fight, but I did manage to kill one in House Vhalantru. The best was when the party tried to bring a dead Jil back through the streets. They couldn't understand why the "evil" town guard would stop them for carrying a beheaded, bloody corpse through town, in plain sight, no less.

City of Fire (the evacuation of Cauldron) - No deaths. Ran this one in one night, and I really gotta say that I was VERY happy to see it end. For those of you who have yet to run this one, it's a REAL challange, and in my opinion, a real headache.

The Thirteen - No loss of life here, but the party almost blew it. They were told not to rest, and almost did, twice. If they had, it would have been over. I was trying to figure out how to do an invasion of the Realms scenario.

Assault on Shatterhorn - WOW! What more can I say. They've only gotten through a short part so far... let's see...

Hill Giant Fight - One guy was dropped to just a few HP (6, I think), by the two wisps. The fight with the snake wizard was okay, but it was the medusa's that killed them. I turned four out of 6 members to stone at one point, plus a summoned fire elemental and a summoned earth elemental. One character failed the Fort save to come back to flesh, and then the party thief got hit by the trap on the altar because he didn't think to check for traps, and rolled a 2 on his Will save. The look on his face as I told him that he was melting and drowning, all at the same time, with no clue where he was... precious. Almost got the wizard with that same trap too, when he decided to disintigrate the altar. And they're not even close to through with that one yet.

I know that I've been very lethal to the party, but they're all very veteran players (at least 5 years of experience each, most with 10+), and after the first few adventures, I took no pity on stupidity. For instance, the party was given ample warning about the demon in the lake in Flood Season. Yet, when the barbarian was yanked off of the entry cliff by the harpoon spider (the party had left to recover, so the bad guys made some preps), and fell into the water, he had the option to climb back up the wall. Instead, he decided to swim for the far shore, and got killed for it. At one point, in this game, I had 10 players. It's shrunk down to 5 (and two cohorts, plus one planar ally), so I've been forced to use the leveling rules to increase the challange, and therefore, increase the experience. In this last adventure, I changed to adding more low level cannon-fodder instead. Also, we've been using the Mana Point system out of Unearthed Aracan, and we've found it makes spell casters EXTREMELY deadly. I advise caution with the system, and I recommend removing Time Stop as an allowable spell.

I'd be willing to share my notes/edit's with anybody who wants to take a look at them.

Grand Total - 31 deaths, and about 6 turned to stone.

I finally got to sit down and read Thirteen Cages cover to cover. I loved it. It's a mean fight, and will be a very intense test of my DMing skills. I did notice a few things I thought I'd bring up.

1. In room C17, where is the description/notes for the secret room? Is there anything in there, or is it all in the main bedroom?
2. Is it just me, or is the trap in C8 a little low on the CR? I was thinking an 11 or 12 since it's a continual trap.

There was another, but it escapes me right now.

Can't wait for the next adventure path!

My party is about to take on Kazmojen tomorrow night down in the malachite fortress. I kept him in the game after the first adventure, for reason I can't state here, but he's got some nasty surprises up his sleeve for the party. Once he's been dealt with, I'll post his updated stat's here and reveal what his extended use in my campaign had been.

It's great to see the editor-in-chief himself replying to these posts, especially so late at night. I, for one, appreciate your attentiveness and effort in this. It shows that you guys really to care what we think. Thanks.

Sucks about Celeste, though.... ah well.

I've been the DM for Paul Rees and my gaming group in the Cauldron campaign. For the most part, I've had absolutely no problem with the campaign. It's been a lot of fun for all, and I've really enjoyed running it. The umberhulk attack was my favorite, what with all of the drama of the other scenes. The rescue of the baby was outstanding, hanging out the window and grabbing the kid at the last moment.

I'd have to say that the two suggestions I have (and I think mught have already been made) is that a concise timeline of how many months/weeks between adventures there are. I had no clue how much time to put between the first and second adventure. Also, I'd like to see suggestions for where to set each adventure path. Most people apparently used the Savage Frontier for their Forgotten Realms setting, while my party used the western chain of mountains outside of Halruaa for theirs.

Outside of a timeline and a location, I had no complaints about the game. It was an outstanding effort on Dungeon's part, and I look forward to playing in the next adventure path.

I really hope ya'll tie up the Celeste string. I'm curious as to where it's going to go.

Man, I can't tell you how much editing I've had to do on this game. Not because it was lacking notes and such, but my players dragged the storyline everywhere but where it was suppose to go. They've declared war on the Last Laugh, and so I need to create stat's for the other heads of the guild. Kazmojen is still alive and well, and they want to delve back down into Jzadirune to kill him and finish looting. I've got a mage who decided to become a compeating store to Skie's Treasury and open his own. I've got another guy who's trying to build a new church in the city to his forgotten God. It goes on and on.

I'd have to say that each GM's game is their own. I never thought mine would wander off in the direction it has. I don't know how the players are going to react when they see the city destroyed right in front of their eyes. But, I'll offer any help you need once you get the campaign underway.

Does anyone have these and if yes can you tell me how good they are. I am in need of new Forgotten Realms maps.

Thank you

I have all four maps, and they are outstanding. If you are a Realms player, then I HIGHLY recommend getting your hands on them.