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One of my characters is a Shackleborn too. I plan on using him to generate a great deal of hate for a few very important villian who otherwise are all but forgotten by the party.

Why go through all this?

To build a real hatred for Orbius, Jil and the Last Laugh. The missing hand will be particularly upsetting (he will have it regrown when the party trek off the outer plane of Ysgard for another side trek).

Other than during the first adventure, the party never see or hear from the beholder so when they find out he is one of the main villians I can't see it having the same impact.

If the party, and the Shackleborn character in particular, has a real loathing for Orbius and Jil then ultimately it will make the encounters, and subsequent deaths, far more satisfying.

The kidnapping may also reveal the importance of the Cancerian sign, the veiled lady (another nameless villan otherwise)and the Last Laughs intent on the characters organisation.

The encounter

Sometime soon after they return from 'rescueing' Zenith I plan on having Jil send the character a personal letter from his 'mentor' asking to meet with him at the Lakeside Pavillion. If the character takes the bait, Jil and a troop of Last Laugh will ambush the character and smuggle him into a Safehouse.

When the character comes too Jil and another vile thief will be standing infront of him before Orbius teleports into the room with a visable veiled woman.

Jil will show Orbius the sign on the character and Orbius will be very pleased. Orbius will say that even though they now have enough Shackleborn he will keep the character as an emergency and asks the thieves to stand back. Just at the last minute though Orbius tells the 'vile thief' (not sure about exact description, abilities etc as yet - any ideas?)to remove the characters left hand because he is feeling hungry.

With great pleasure the thief saws off the characters hand before throwing it to Orbius who chomps it down while the characer watches on. Orbius then instructs Jil to return to Velior and instruct him to destroy the characters guild and commands the vile thief to gaurd the petrified character until the veiled lady returns to teleport the statue back to his lair. He then uses his eyestalk to turn the charater to stone before teleporting away.

The party will be notified by their Last Laugh informer that the character has been taken to the safehouse which should get the party into rescue mode. They will likely storm the house, defeat a few last laugh harlequins before facing off against the vile thief.

What potential problems can you forsee?

Is this a good way of using the Shackleborn trait?

Delvesdeep

We have been playing Shackled City AP since the Hard COver was released (anyone remember when that was?) approximately once a month and are currently up to the 4th installment - Zeniths Tajectory. To be fair I have thrown in a lot of side teks and reduced the XP to allow for more character development but all the same I can't see us finishing the path for another 5 years (if we are lucky:))

Delvesdeep

OK, so this is what I've come up with.

The PCs will start their long journey home through the desert. At some point Nidrama takes control of Alek and delivers her message at which point Kaurophon puts his plan in to action. He'll explain everthing to the PCs so that they feel that they had better go with him before returning to Cauldron. So, the party along with Alek are transported to Occipitus. At some point on their way to the Cathedral of Feathers the party is ambushed by a squadron of Vrocks set by some other demon lord to kidnap Alek. One of Alek's phophecies is "Seven blackbirds have ye, yet death is not decieved." This is a prophecy of his own kidnapping. I'm thinking that the demon lord behind the kidnapping wants Alek as a proxy for the test of the smoking eye. Of course in the few weeks that folllow Alek's alignment will shift to Evil and he will becom a blackguard.

How's that sound.

Sorry Stickboy,

I missed your post a month a go. Sounds good to me. Have you played since you made the decision? How did it go?

Jwallace,

Your reasoning sounds logically to me. Tereson problem woundn't be detered by Aleks revelation. It would be determined (as everything in D&D) by you and your players I guess. You could reason that Tereson was basing his attack on Aleks challenge and was attempting to prove that he was no coward to the rest of Cauldron. When Alek did not show up for the duel Tereson shifts his focus to the next available target - the Chisel. When Alek appears and reveals his bewitchment Tereson is appeased as lond as the rest of Cauldron hear the circumstances and he gains further respect rather than loosing it.

Another line of thinking could be that Tereson is charmed himself (Vhalantru) and so he would attack the Chisel nomatter what revelations come to light about Alek.

It all depends if you want the party involved in the seige or not and whether they are (or whether you want them to be) around for the battle at Redgorge.

Personally I plan on writing it up and using the seige as a side trek. I'm even leaning towards having Nabthatoran leaving 'early' during the final conflict of the Demonskar Legacy so I can st up the seige and another battle between the party and the demon general.

In terms of running the seige the easiest method would be the 'mirror version'. What this entails is simple to run the conflict in stages and have it broken into missions. The players may be gaurding the town gatehouse and depending on how they progress against the forces thrown at them and a group of defenders mimis how the rest of the town defences fair.

Missions/Challenges leading up to the final seige could be:

* retrieving blessed weapons, barrels of holy water etc to aid the defenders from sympathetic merchants in cauldron

*sneaking into the enemies camp to copy their battle plans

* defending the town from an overzealous and eager group of demons intent on raiding the town of important resources

*contacting Skylar amongst the forces of Cauldron to tell him the truth (ie Alek was charmed, Tereson is being duped into this attack by his second in charge (Blue Duke disguised as a halforc))Successful convincing Skylar causes him to lead the human gaurds from the conflict leaving only yhr half-orc forces behind.

All of these challenges will have an impact on the final conflict (attacker numbers, defender preparation, town resources etc)

* Final confrontation with Nabthatoran on the battlements as the coordinated forces of the demonic army and Tersons gaurds lay an all out attack on the town. Alek may be there to assist if he still lives.

Chef's Slaad wrote up and great thread on this on this board some time a go and I encourage you to read it if you are considering running the siege with your players.

Good Luck

Delvesdeep

I've only guided my party through Zeniths Tajectory so far but Demonskar Legacy really appeals and is what attracted me to the AP initially. I may change my mind as the group progresses but Nabtharon is a great villian and final encounter.

I also loved the Flood Festival for the same reasons Chef mentioned earlier - the games, events and encounter with the Sormblades during the Festival, the intoduction of Skies Treasury and of course the Demonskar Ball. Actually I have used a lot of the initial ideas from James Jaccobs from this adventure to build upon for my campaign. Similiarly to Chef though the Kopru ruins wasn't my favourite set up particularly with all the nameless and endless 'mooks' within it but the main villians were great.

So up to this point the Flood Festival has provided the most enjoyment for my players and myself and I am looking forward to playing the Demonskar Legacy.

Delvesdeep

What is your favourite adventure in the path and why?

Delvesdeep

when I ran the Ball and the party had to pair up with NPCs during one of the dances some of them actually became quite shy! I thought the whole thing was extremely amusing considering they are all married.

Ophellha danced with one of the party members and they were getting alone quite nicely until one too many bad dance checks and a collison/tumble later she ran off extremely embarrassed.

During the 'Clash of Armies' dance the same character was reluctantly paired with Cora. They were very evenly matched but at the last series of step the character decided to, instead of tripping etc Cora, give her a big kiss on the lips! A couple of good rolls later he succeeded, surprizing everyone.
At the end of the dance, while everyone else exchanged snarls and insults with their Stormblade opponents/partners, Cora retreated with a curious expression and continued to stare over at the character with a quisical but pleasant look on her face.

I plan on turning these enemies into 'allies' as the campaign continues.

I also changed Celeste into a halfling to better match her up to my halfling rogue. This has helped foreshadow Chapter 4.

Ironically another of my players paired up with Vhalantru (who they all believe is a drunked but still helpful politian)which will provide me with plenty of mirth later in the campaign when I remind the player after they lear the truth.

Anyway thanks for all your replies. I too am interested in how all your romances progress. I'v never run a romance in all the years I've played and DMed so finded out how all of yours work out will help me also.

Delvesdeep

By the way James, if you read this, the Flood Season Chapter has provided me with the most inspiration compared to any other chapter.

In particular your ideas on Skies Treasury and the Demonskar Ball sparked my interest and I built upon them for my campaign and the RPGenius site).

I know that your organisation called the Ebony Triad which also first featured in the chapter, was borrowed and built upon in the Age of Worms AP also.

So just wishing you to know that the Flood Season is an excellent adventure.

Thankyou

Delvesdeep

Great to hear! I wrote up the Cauldron Coinage and Skies Treasury documents too!

I like your idea about Vhalantru attempting to reduce the local adventurers powers by limiting their access to magical items. This could also explain why he was determined to despose of Maavu (Skie's main seller) in Chapter 4 and 5. Assassinating a merchant just for avoiding their taxes never really sat well with me, Chisel connections or not.

When did you begin the 'buy up' in your campaign?

Delvesdeep

As a follow-up for those who are interested:

The party encountered an Anonymous Merchant who claimed to be delivering stuff for House Maavu; he was accompanied by his Anonymous Guard, a certain red-haired woman with tattoos and spiky plate. He said the Lucky Monkey was attacked by brigands just as they were getting ready to leave, and they barely got out alive. The party said thankee and were on their way without an undue amount of suspicion.

They also saw the occasional pack of baboons by the side of the road, just staring at them rather than flinging stuff. Once the party got to the Monkey and found the babboons in the center courtyard, the guy playing the druid, who had been trying to find non-confrontational, diplomatic solutions to every fight was very annoyed that it didn't occur to him to talk to the non-flinging baboons...

The cleric almost died in the first fight, the druid almost died fighting Tongueeater, and they managed not to kill Shensen in the process of rescuing her.

Once they got the description of the woman leading the fight from Shensen, they were rather annoyed at themselves for not being more suspicious; they have all leveld up to 5th and are heading back to Cauldron to track Triel down. When they get there, if they ask the gate guard he'll remember the merchant coming in, but he won't remember seeing Triel, a hint that she got off the wagon before she got to town.

I'm glad it all worked out.

Are your party more keen to find her now that she slipped through their grasp? In other words was the risk worth taking?

Delvesdeep

Btw, I decided before the game that the Aslaxins wouldn't want any of their guests to be apprehensive, so they had a spell cast on the Coy Nixie which prevented detection spells to be cast and all auras were hidden.
-Lisa

Deryl - there is an easy solution to your problem right there.

Once again I'm glad to hear you and your party enjoyed the Ball. It is particularly nice to recieve positive feedback.

Just out of curiousity Lisa - have you read and/or used many other items from the RPGenius site?

Delvesdeep

Oh....well I feel like a bit of a ignoramous then don't I! Sorry I didn't know who you were Lisa but in any event I am honoured that you would use the document in your home game :).

Delvesdeep
(The Embarrassed)

Hey y'all:

My group finished the Demonskar Ball this past week and we had a heck of a great time! Thanks to delvesdeep for making such an amazingly fun roleplaying sidetrek. I used it to bring in a bunch of new NPCs, foreshadow a bit, and give the characters a chance to shine in front of Cauldron's nobility. By the end of the night, their little table had the Nabthataron character, the Song of Heaven winner, the mayors of Liduton, and the riddle winner. Even the Bradly-Dipinshires were impressed with the amount of accolades the table had collected. Thanks again for helping us to have a great evening!

-Lisa

Thankyou Lisa for your praise. I'm glad to hear you and your party had such a good time at the Ball. Can I ask how they faired in the Test of Strength and with the drinks? What about the dancing?

I just noticed you have (CEO) next to your name. Do you work for Paizo?

Deryl,

I'm sorry I haven't got back to you sooner. More than likely you have already played and come up with your own solution by now but hear is my advice none the less.

With the exception of Vhalantru I would allow your Paladin to use his ability unrestricted. Vhalantru would have numerous anti detection items on his person - after all his disguise is a well oiled and rehearsed persona by this stage.

A simple spell/ability like detect evil would never have any chance of unvieling his true identity. A nice twist would to have Vhalantru own an item that makes his alignment appear good rather than evil - this would throw off any suspicion for a party casting know alignment or the like. Just an idea.

If you don't want to give Embril's motivations away too early then perhaps you could reason that, as a high level cleric, Embril may always cast non detection spells before social gatherings. On the other hand allowing the paladin to detect that she is evil despite her facade would allow him his moment to 'shine' and reveal nothing more than what a sense motive check does in any event. The party will know she is up to no good and is someone to watch out for in the future.

I'm trying to think - who else is evil at the Ball? Perhaps Taskerhill? Todd?

In any event just make sure Vhalantru is not revealed in any way. Other than that I would allow the paladin free reign.

Good Luck and I hope the Ball goes well for you

Delvesdeep

The Eberron setting is a wealth of information and ideas but I will never use it.

Elements I really like -

- Nature specialists: the druid and ranger sub classes and organisations are excellent. The Child of Winter is a fanatstic path to follow.

- The Monster Empires: Goblins, hags, demons...it is a breath of fresh air to have a countries run by something other than humans.

- The Planes and Manifest zones: great concept. Having the planes move closer and further away directly effecting the material plane is a great concept. Similiarly manifest zones allow a DM to create magical planar feel in small areas without the players even having to move from the material plane.

- Feats: the feats are tremendous and add plenty of colour.

- Alignment: always a problem, taking alignment contraits away can do nothing but enhance the game and enabling traditionally good monsters to be evil and visa versa effectively nearly doubles the amount of monster DMs can use.

Conversely - these are why I will avoid playing Eberron

- Modern feel/conversions Planes, trains, steam ships, sky scrappers, newspapers, identification papers etc. This is modern civilisation converted in D&D and I can not stand it. I use D&D as an escape mechanism and love the medievel feel of the game. Firearms are too much for me let alone a D&D version of New York! I might as well put out a street directory and tell my players they are playing in their home city but monsters are running around. There is not much difference.

- Low level magic/high level magic: Well which one is it! Everyone has seems to have some magic -craftmen use it daily but there is very few high level NPCs!? How does this work? There are plenty of high level monsters and villians but no one to help the players as they march up the ranks.

- Secret Agents, spies etc: The 'detective feel' IMHO belongs to another game not D&D. I like investigation and mystery but Eberron brings in a dark alley, private eye flavour that doesn't appeal to me in any way or form.

Anyway just my opinion in a dying discussion ;)

Delvesdeep

Are they heroic? Have they made allies/formed relationships in the city? If so then this will motivate the party to save the city.

Get the compound involved in the action and have the members -

* Be awarded the status of offical protectors/guard/etc of the city

* Asked to protect the Town Meeting from possible attacks during the election of the new Lord Mayor.

* Tricked into rushing to rescue the party in the city (Disguised Cagewright rushes in appearing like one of the group or the whole party urging them all into action.

*etc

This will make the compound members become directly involved in rescuing Cauldrons citizens and have them assist in evacuating the town. Perhaps some of them need rescuing themselves...

Having larva slowly pour down towards the compound may be an excepted encounter but it would still be an exciting one none the less. If the party were away defending the city only to be contacted (sending, animal messenger etc) warning them of the danger the party will be torn between the city and their own interests. More than likely they will split the group -
* Group One attempting to stop the flow, lead their followers, defend themselves from demodand or salamander attacks (falling from the sky, clambering over the city walls, swimming in the larva etc while Group Two attempting to evacuate the city.

Perhaps Hookface chooses to attack the party compound first instead of the city. The party may witness Hookface circling the city before landing and attack their compound (defended or otherwise) forcing them to rush down their to face him rather than in the city itself.

Perhaps the Cagewrights are tired of the parties meddling and, using the eruption as a diversion, send a team demodands/villains lead by a Cagewright to find the party and despose of them. Their first stop is the parties compound...

Another possibility is to have the city citizens rush down the mountain after the evacuation and camp in your compound rather than at Redgorge? This would cause plenty of headaches.

In summary feel free to use some or all theses ideas to ring the compound into the action -

* get the company involved in the city itself as gaurds to the election/city proper

* have them involved in the evacuation but then have them warned of the danger to their compound by - a larva flow
- demodands
- Hookface
- Cagewright agents

Have fun

Delvesdeep

I can't see a problem with the class. Mounts are used regularly in the campaign so this may hinder your paladin if they go down that line.

I would steer you player away from the Half-orc race if possible because they are painted as villians from Chapter 4 onwards. But conversely, if you players is good at roleplaying and would cope with the challenge - having Cauldrons citizens spitting at his feet, and glaring at him as he passes muttering obsenities could pose a excellent additional challenge for him as he attempts to prove not all half-orcs are bad.

A demon slayers specialist would definiately prove a boon for your party from Chapter 4 onwards but the SCAP has not been designed for traditional chivalry. While there is plenty of opportunities for heroics a knight charging into the fray on the back of his barded mount doesn't fit well.

perhaps if you steered the players towards choosing St Cuthbert or Pelor as their faith rather than Heironous(sp?), the time honoured choice for most paladins, it would provide more links/foreshadowing/roleplayong opportunities during the path.

Alek would prove a memorable metor from the Church of St Cuthbert and set up his fall in Chapter 5.

Being a follower of Pelor would steer the party towards the mystery behind the head clerics deaths. This may lead him towards Jil and the Last Laugh, the Church of Wee Jas and/or later in the campaign - Valantru himself.

Overall though I think this sort of character would fit nicely.

Have fun and let me know hoe you go

Delvesdeep

You could make it so that the Drunked Morkoth it perched dangerously on the edge of a chasm. Part of the building has already fallen into the pit below and the remainder of the building groans continues to slowly lean further. It is only a matter of time before the Inn disappears into the chasm.

When they return the players can determine they have only a few rounds to -
(1) Determine the length of time before the Inn topples (easy)
(2) Save the trapped Inn Keeper/Tyro from
a Cagewright assasin (possible one of the Cagewrights themslves)or Mhad (the vampire) or a poweful demodand still reaking havic
(3)A Jester leading another group of LL to
steal the parties treasure(difficult/time
consuming)
(4) Attempt to save the building completely
(very risky & time consuming)
(5)Hookface or the Morkoth returns...

The party may be able to succeed in all the above senerios or prioritize just one or two of them. Time will be a huge factor and if they spend too long attempting to save the building then Tyro will surely be killed and their treasure taken etc

The Last Laugh would be very angry at the world at this stage and would most likely direct their hatred towards the partyy and their allies. Factions of the guild would be intent on leaving the city why others would choose to 'weather the erruption aftermath'.

You could easily skim over the event with - 'You get back and find the Inn destroyed but you treasure was saved' or you could make it a bit more memorable.Depends on how much time you are willing to invest I guess.

As to Jenya - as already mentioned she worships the god of retribution so Cauldron being nearly destoyed would be a huge incentive to find out why, how and most importantly - who.
She would be determined to destroy/or have destroyed, any one who she feels has wronged her, her friends or her town. Divination would just be the start. Tongueeater and Triel had no chance...

Good Luck and have fun with whatever you decide

Delvesdeep

Yes, please write up more inventory lists for Skie. My group will be coming back from occipitus soon and those little backstories makes the store come alive and has even paid off with the PCs getting a whispered clue that the mayor has lost control of things and that the quill that a PC bought belonged to the mapmaker that another PC visited.

Warrior needs food, badly. ;)

Glad to hear the stories are useful :)

Did the party act on the news of the Lord Mayor or be rewarded by Bolar (mapmaker)

What do you mean by - 'Warrior needs food, badly.' Do you mean they would like more warrior specific items?

Should I MOVE Skie to Sasserine after chapter 7 or just create a new location in the city for items

Delvesdeep

James,

Even though my group is no where near playing Age of Worms let alone the Savage Tide (we're only up to Chapter 4 in the SCAP!) I really like the links in the Savage Tide to Cauldron. The noble family connections give Sasserine more a familiar feel considering we have all met and used the noble family names regularly during the SCAP.

I'm a long way off using the next two AP but that hasn't (and won't) stop me collecting the adventures and materials linked to each.

Do you think it is worth my time to write up more chapters for Skies (beyond 5th level)?

Should I create a new location to purchase magical items in Sasserine for my party?

Where does your party purchase magical items in the later chapters of the path?

Delvesdeep

Is it worth writing up a new collection of items for Skies Treasury for the beginning of Chapter 7?

Should I just create a new shop/location to purchase items in Sasserine?

Delvesdeep

Thank you all for your answers--as they haven't started this, I still have a week or two to think about how I'm going to handle this. I'm still trying to figure out which parts of the Flood Festival I'm going to use; I have to go read the threads on the Demonskar ball for ideas.

Delvesdeep, you made a bunch of great points, and I just wanted to clarify one thing about Triel--the rogue is the only local, so she has maxed out her Local Area Knowledge (since she's the only one, she felt she really needs to be the local expert). There is information about Triel available in the charts at the beginning of the book based off of how well people make LA checks, and the Rogue can make those rolls. A little disguise can go a long way, but I learned a long time ago to never underestimate the ability of my players to roll well, and to not punish them for doing do by just saying "Well, yeah, that's a good roll, but your character just doesn't know the answer."

I understand where you are coming from. There is a definite risk here no matter how much you reduce the chances of it.

Earlier in the thread James made a very valid point that if your players were to recognise Triel it would change the adventure and he was right.

I guess I can only say that by having Triel 'foreshadowed' in this way it would give the players even further motivation and a personal agenda that is otherwise missing or diminished. Knowing that they had the main villian within their grasp but letting her get away will really annoy the party.

DMTood made a valid point in his last post. Local Knowledge may recall a story about a gaurd who murdered her patrol 10 years past but will not automatically give the rogue a clear description of Triel. If you are still worried just ommit the information about the gaurd having red hair.

But once again what makes you concerned that your Rogue will look for information about Triel before the meeting. Before this point the party only knows that Sarcem has been waylaid at the Lucky Monkey but a Monkeyman and has the eight wands. They have no idea who really lead the attack - this information is learned after they explore the Inn.

Even if they do smell a rat during the encounter (and I truly believe they won't) then use a bit of creative Dming and have Triel take off on her horse with the wand using her newly purchased (Skies Treasury)horseshoes of speed, while the other gaurds cover her retreat. Alternatively she could take a potion of gaseous form, invisibility, fly etc and get away. Her escape would further further drive the party to seek her down.

IF by some miracle, the party smell a rat AND go so far as to attack Triel AND actually kill her before she can retreat then just ensure that the wands somehow get to the remaining Ebony Triad leaders (Shaven & Tarkilar) either via a fleeing gaurd or stolen from the party or the wands Triel was carring were only half the required amount and the rest were smuggled into the Kopru ruins by another route.

BUT the liklihood of your party even suspecting anything in the firstplace are IMHO very remote and actually killing Triel extremely remote so I believe the encounter is worth the risk.

But once again not matter how much a try a sugar coat it for you make no mistake

IT IS A RISK.... but one worth taking :)

Delvesdeep

My party is just starting Chapter 4 and I have only written up my version of Skies Treasury to Chapter 5.

I always assumed that the players would be too busy in Occupitus during Chapter 6 to warrant new items for the chapter but I thought I would include Chapter 7 at a later stage.

Cauldron only has a realtively small maximum gold piece amount so is it realistic to make an exception with Skies Treasury?

SO my question is...

What happened to Skie after Chapter 7 when Cauldron is evacuated?

Where will the players buy magical items from beyond this point - Sasserine?

Is a magical shop needed at all beyond chapter 5?

Delvesdeep

For my campaign, Triel was one of the PCs' sister, so they couldn't really meet her.

If you don't have that problem, then I like the idea of meeting her on the road. There's no clue in the adventure that gets them to Triel - that theif just tells them where she is. If they meet her on the road, then they have a clue to follow-up on. Maybe the wagon has the name of the inn she is staying at, they can ask the guards, etc.

You do have to worry about James' point though - if your players are kill-happy thugs, probably avoid it.

I reread your post DMTodd and I like your idea about future clues. They could have the wagon bearing the symbol of the Tavern/Inn (sorry I don't have my SCHC nearby) that the alleybashers guildhall lies beneath and have the party meet the Rogue would tells them Triels location in there etc

Any other ideas?

Delvesdeep

Here's the way a chance meeting with Triel would likely play out, given my players:

The scout is a ways ahead of the party, skulking through the jungle. She sees the caravan ahead of time and moves in for a closer look, before Triel realizes there's a party coming. She might see something untoward, such as an unhooded Triel, which might be enough to give the Cauldron native a good enough description to ID her.

At this stage they would not know anything about Triel. The party only learn about Triel after following leads they get from the Lucky Monkey. So a female gaurd with red hair, while slightly unusual, is unlikely to cause open conflict if they know nothing about the Ebony Triad leader to begin with.

The druid sends his companion (a leopard) to also skulk around. The leopard probably smells something really weird for a wagon (were-baboon spoor).

Why would there be were-baboon spoor in the wagon? I would suggest that Tongueeater would have been nowhere near the wagon. The wagon would have been either procured from a merchant guest of the Lucky Monkey or left outside to transport gaurds etc. I'm sure you could explain this part away.

The cleric of Pelor casts Augury. Pelor alone knows what she would ask, but the answer would probably be v. revealing.

If they have never heard of Triel then the party's initial level of suspicion would be low so a spell such as this would unlikely to be cast.

The fire genasi wizard just wants to burn things but would settle for a Detect Magic. "Hmm... eight objects, all with the same aura, bundled together..."

Same point as above. It is unlikely that this spell is cast. If it is then I would suggest that the wands are kept with other minor magical items (potions, scrolls etc)or just on Triel herself. If asked about it Triel could always respond that she is gaurding the valuable items for the 'merchant'who is going to sell them to Skye.

If the items are kept in the wagon the same explaination could be used - shipping items for Maavu to be sold to Skie etc.

But this senerio is unlikely to happen if the party have no reason to be suspicious (ie have no knowledge of Triel)

The rogue is indifferent, but might recognize Triel from her description.

I'm getting the suspicion that you have told your party of Triel before the adventure has begun. Is this correct?

Interrogation ensues. "So, were you at the Lucky Monkey? Was there an attack of some kind? Cleric named Sarcem, didja see him? Hey, what's in the wagon? Got any magic items for sale?"

These questions could be handled this way -

Merchant - 'Yes I do in fact and some of the finest items you will every see, but unfortunately they belong to a merchant by the name of Maavu who sells such items to a well known magical item dealer known as Skie. Have you heard of her?'

'Perhaps if a group of heroes such as yourself would be so kind as to escort us to Cauldron you would be the first to see the wondrous items and perhaps even recieve a discount....'

Merchant when asked about the Lucky Monkey - 'We were just approaching the Inn when we witnessed a horde of bandit attack the establishment lead by a Monkeyman. We quickly raced past but not before a group of wild looking, shaggy haired men attempted to stop us. Luckily most of the bandits were busy inside and my gaurds (gesturing towards a female gaurd with red haired) are well trained or I and my goods would never have made it here'

Merchant - 'Sacrem...Hmmm I think I have heard of him. He is a High cleric of some sort in Cauldron but see him - no. As I said we never made it into the Inn luckily, but he could be inside. I don't know for certain but for his sake I hope he isn't...'

In the unlikily event that the merchant is asked abot Triel he asks her over

Merchant -'Ebony, these kind fellows wish to speak to you'

Triel -'Yes, it is as Granum said, but I noticed that the Monkeyman lead a group of fierce looking baboons. I was angry that we had to leave the Inn undefended. If your intent is to travel to the Lucky Monkey then perhaps if I sent one of my gaurds who has stayed in the Inn before perhaps he could help show you where they attacked and the safest way into the building.'

If you are still worried about discovery Triel & the merchant could have drunk a potion of glibness to buff up there Bluff checks if your party is prone to Sense Motive Checks. Triel and the merchant would have drunk such potions in the event of such a meeting.

Another suggestion for avoiding/diverting suspicion in general is the use of humour -

Have the merchant speak in a humourous voice voice, be a drunked (depending upon how your group sees such behavour), be disgusting, a fawning noble, a blubbering fool etc

Villians rarely appear in such a manner so your party will be far less suspicious when you make a NPC seem anything but threatening.

Anyhow, it sounds as though you have already made your decision based on your party - so good luck.

Flood Season is a great adventure and festival is equally good (plenty of opportunities for foreshadowing future events and important NPCs) so either way I'm sure you will have fun.

Good Luck

Delvesdeep

It's like Roger Ebert's "Law of Economy of Characters" for mystery movies that states if a character appears in an early scene and interacts with the movie's plot in a way that seems minor, he invariably ends up beeing the one who did the deed in the end.

I use this principle to guess the twist, murderer, secret etc in almost every movie I watch. It drives my wife to distraction ;)

Delvesdeep

James is correct, it is a risk. If the players smell at rat then it will interfere with the rest of the adventure and considering James wrote the adventure he would have a better insight than the rest of us I'm certain.

But if the idea still appeals to you then when the encounter occurs ensure that the players (particularly if they are metagamers) believe that the reason for the encounters inclusion is to prepare/warn them of the attack on the Laughing Monkey.

If the merchant mentions about seeing the attack lead by a Baboonman (or whatever else you come up with really) the players will feel that the encounter was built for this purpose alone.

I would have Triel more as the silent gaurd. Again if you are concerned that this stereotype may set alarm bells ringing then have her act friendly and even helpful (when she sends the gaurd back with them).

Weigh up the potential benefits of the encounter (foreshadowing, additional motivation)verus the potential negatives (main villian/adventure hook lost) and the likelihood of party discovery before you make any decisions.

If you are still uncertain then my advice is to listen to the author of the adventure and Editor of the Dungeon magazine over any amateur writer/message board replier any day of the week :).

Delvesdeep

I would use the opportunity to foreshadow the rest of the adventure. Why not have the party see or even meet Triel? They have no reason at that point to suspect or accuse her of anything.

The party could see Triel and her 'merchant wagon' approaching them from up the road. Triel could pretend to be the merchant or act as one of the head gaurds while the convey relays a terrible story of escaping an attack on the Lucky Monkey.

When it is revealed that a red haired woman wearing black armour lead the assult on the Lucky Monkey the players will be even more determined to find her.

You could even send one of the merchants gaurds to 'assist' the party but in reality have them attempt to sneak off when they arrive to warn Tongueeater and the other attackers.

I'm guessing the party would meet them just over halfway (5 hours?) depending upon the parties mode of travel and Triels (wagon then horse?)

Have fun

Delvesdeep

When Terseon commits suicide later on, I'm going to have Alek step in to control the town guard once things get wonky and Vhalantru is on the way out.

He commits suicide? I don't have my HC handy but I can't remember this part. Is this just a house rule?

Yet another option is to have Alek return to Redgorge (as already suggested above) to stop the siege. If the party decide to assist or when they return after their trip to Occupitus, they could help the Redgorge defenders face the half-orc forces led by Tereson and the demonic forces lead by Nabthatoron. A final conflict on the battlements between the party, Alek and Nabthatoron (where Nabthatoron can have another crack at Alek ) alone or assisted by other demons (if they are higher levels) would make for a heroic end to the siege.

I wouldn't take Alek to Occupitus. It would change the dynamics of the adventure too greatly. If you don't like the above suggestion have him return to Cauldron (Jenya, Meerthon, Maavu etc?) and seek the mercy of Tereson for his dishorourable challenge.

Tereson would forgive him as long as Alek can find out what happened to the Mayor who disappeared recently. Alek will then attempt to follow the Mayors trial which will lead him to Sasserine where the mayor had been attempting to find out about Vhalantrus past. This will also lead Alek to the same place it lead the mayor, into the beholder cache Valantru once lead and give the players a side trek to find out what happened to not only the Lord Mayor but Alek too.

If this occured between chapters 7& 8 this would make Vhalantru's real identity even more shocking.

Another idea could be to have Alek consumed by the madness of the Smoking Eye and, after being healed, attack the party before fleeing. His dreams may lead him to Fetor where he becomes an blackgaurd determined to spread the release the 'will' of the Smoking Eye. This senerio makes for an interesting villian (ally turned enemy, good corrupted by evil).

Anyway, whatever your final decision make sure you have Nabthatoron visit the party later...

Delvesdeep

Nurgan, Orcwart & Sean,

Thankyou for your comments and ideas. I like your 'dream' Orcwart particularly the imagery you used for the fall of Occupitus.

My ideas initially, were to create a sequencial story retold in portions gradually throughout the path.

But I'm now thinking that I will mix the order up and cloud the dreams more with sudden appearances of Anthax, demons etc and other insane random thoughts when the story/dream reaches a troubling/turmatic stage that was particular upseting to relive for Adimarchus.

Any other ideas for future dreams?

delvesdeep

I, like many it seems, have the idea to use the Haunted Dreams trait to foreshadow future events particularly pertaining to Adimarchus.

Some excellent sample dreams have been included on the RPGenius sight but I would like to brainstorm some dreams (with anyone who cares) which helps build up the trait and the Adimarchus story.

What ideas do you have for dreams?

Here are some of my own ideas at the moment-

Dream One - personal reoccuring dream of the players childhood (Mother going mad, killing the family while the character hides under the bed, burning house rescued by wizard)

- yes I realize this is not pleasant but I reason that if the player is screaming and waking every night from nightmares the nightmare needs to be fairly horrific...especially when it is based on the characters real background.

Dream Two - same dream except the character is rescued by an angel who changes into a demon...

Dream ThreeThis is where the insane dreams of Adimarchus begins to overwealm the characters own nightmares.
- Adimarchus/The PC is an angel sitting in the Cathedral of Heaven where he is cast out because of his/the pcs actions (any ideas?)

Dream Four A demonic army battles with an army of angels while the pc/Adimarchus directs the invasion. A colossal demon (smoking skull in Occuptus) leads the charge. The angels are overwealmed but a golden angel descends from the clouds and sacrafices herself to destroy the colossal demon and tear the battlefield away from heaven and cast it into the Abyss.

What next? Are the above dreams logical or do they give away too much? What is your opinion?

Delvesdeep

I just played the Umberhulk battle last night and the party had no problems at all! I was really surprized.

They all made their save and then proceeded to take the monster apart in two round not even leaving any time for the critter to escape.

The party was helped out by the rogue rolling a crit on his sneak attack and then the ranger also rolling a crit on her initial attack but the fight was far less telling than I had predicted. Perhaps this will be the case with your party too?

It all depends upon luck in most instances I have found. The party just returned from the Plane of Shadow (side trek) and had a battle with a shadow troll. I had anticipated that the party would have little difficulty with the creature but through a series of good rolls on my behalf and bad rolls on theirs the party was almost completely wiped out.

I'm looking forward to see how they handle the cryohydra and Ashanna (sp?).

The swamp sounds great. Have fun

Delvesdeep

Sorry to bother but I couldn't find the answer to this in the hardcover.

This is a quick question and the fastest to answer can win my smiley: What experience level should the party have by the beginning of Zenith trajectory? I suppose it is 6...

Yes you guessed correctly - Lvl 6 is the recommended level though Lvl 7 may be more appropriate given the difficulty of the adventure ie Hydra, Ashanna etc.

It really depends on how large your party is, how well equiped, how well prepared and how experienced they are as a group.

I'm just about to send my party on the same adventure but I have made sure they have a few extra pieces of helpful equipment because of their small numbers (4) and the high possibility of a TPK

Good Luck, to both of us!

Delvesdeep

Still waiting myself. I keep asking for it, because I'm interested in reading it, too. I'll get it from Samael soon and post it in the campaign forum I started for my group.

I'll forward your request to my players and use it to motivate them to finish faster. :)

Regards,
Koramado

No hurry mate, just interested in how it went :)

Thankyou once again for the T-Shirt. I was very honoured to recieve it (or anything at all for that matter) as a prize.

Keep up the great work on the site

Delvesdeep

Thanks for you quick reply Chef.

I'm going to use your concept and expand it a little if you don't mind. I'm thinking of writing it up a in more detail and breaking it down into events and investigations (a bit like what I did with the Demonskar Ball). I hope this is alright with you?

If everything goes well I may post it here and/or on the RPGenius site.

I still don't play this adventure/side quest for a while (we are in between Chapter 3 & 4 currently) so it might be a way off yet but if I could use your base idea and maybe even use you to sound a few ideas off from time to time that would be tremendous.

I want to include events such as (what yourself and others have included above) -

* Destruction of Seige Weapons
* Defending a key location
* Getting Allies
* Facing Nabthatoran on the Battlements
* Smuggling in weapons/armour/etc
* Sneaking into the enemy camp to convince Skylar to return with the rest of the human gaurds to Cauldron &/or stealing the enemy battleplans
* Defending against a raid

Any other ideas

I did think about the players attempting to find the Earth Oracle or a way to have it return but I'm worried the adventure may blow out. My idea was to have the characters travel to the jungles outside of Sasserine to an ancient Earth Temple to return the Oracle but this is just another idea of course...

Anyway if you have any other ideas I could add please let me know and I'll post up what I've done so you can comment when I get around to writing it up.

In my opinion I see The seige of Redgorge similiar to the Demonskar Ball - another great way to add colour, background and foresadowing to the SCAP.

Thankyou once again

Delvesdeep

As one of Koramado's vic.., er, players, I just had to give a players point of view:

WHAT A FREAKIN' BLAST!!

It was the most fun - I think - we'd had at a session yet. Kudos and a round of Smithwick's to the designer(s) - oh, and DMs smart enough to use it, of course.

Now, back to avoiding SCAP threads....

Samuel & Koramado,

Did your group end up writing up their journal/experiences of the Ball. I would love to hear how it went for them! :)

Delvesdeep

Chef (& anyone else who has run this senerio),

I have a few questions because I find the concept interesting and am thinking of using something similiar (after being inspired by your great ideas) myself-

(1)Have you written this up in more detail? If so can you post it up on the RPGenius website.

(2) Do the above events just transpire or are dice involved? What I mean by this do the players roll for the defenders and you roll for the attackers (demons &/or gaurds) in a sort of Battlesystem type style (ie each troop has hit points, an attack & damage, AC etc)?

(3) Have you the stats for the different events and individuals involved who are not written up in the SCAP?

(4) Do you need to kill Tereson so obviously?

I'm concerned about killing off Tereson in such a dramatic way and having Zarn assume the leadership of the town gaurd without any pretense.

Having Tereson go down during the fighting and the players find him with an axe(?) wound in his back would still arise their suspicions but not make the murder so blantantly obvious that they begin to assult the half-orcs openly and the government in general.

Perhaps having Zarn the well known second in command (foreshadowing is important here) would be more seemless and less openly suspicious to me.

IMHO I get the sense that at this stage the players should be beginning to become suspicious of the government/gaurd/Vhalantru but do not have enough proof to act directly.

Similiarly your idea of having Vhalantru assume the Lord Mayor position already may cause the players to attack him too early.

My players have just finished the Flood Festival, have done a few side treks and are just about to become involved in Zeniths Tajectory - so I'm still at early stages but I'm trying to engineer a trust for Vhalantru in the players. I have made him out to be a funny drunked (He is the ultimate champion of drinking during the Flood Festival afterall :)).

I have foreshadowed the tax increases and half-orc recruitment during the Demonskar Ball by having Vhalantru ask the characters advice in how they would correct the damage to the city during the recent floods and how to allivate the citizens feelings of worry and vulnerability after the goblin raids and spate of kidnappings. He mentioned that Celeste (who was sitting with him at the time)had suggested tax increases for the time being and that Tereson had been demanding more gaurds from the Lord Mayor. This will, hopefully, make the players less suspicious of both events and Vhalantru overall.

When the Lord Mayor disappears I want to do a similiar thing with Vhalantru telling the players that Lord Taskerhill and Tereson (who they both should be very suspicious of and may even outright hate, by this stage) have been nominated to take over the Lord Mayor position. I'm hoping the players try to urge Vhalantru to run for the position thus making future events, including the discovery that he is the ultimate evil mastermind, even more dramatic later on. If they don't (perhaps sensing manipulation or suspicious circumstances) when he does assume the leadership it will only escalate these suspicions for them, so either way its a win/win ;).

(5)What effect will the party have on the siege in terms of attack power - ie
- what damage do the seige weapons do to the walls so if the party destroy these they will avoid this attack?
-what effect (again in game terms) will stealing a copy of the enemies battleplans?
-what damage does the demon raiders have on the defenders defences once again so if the party defeat the creatures before a certain time frame then they will stop x from occuring?
-how will the defense of the gatetowers play out? This will be a much smaller force so what would be the players objective ie defeat 10 demon soldiers, 2 vrocks and Nabtharons or another leader before they destroy/open the gate...???

(6)Why does Redgorge have to be defeated and flee?

(7)Is Skylar part of the sieging force? This could make for an interesting conflict of loyalties for the party if they have made a previous relationship with him especially given his conflict of morality vs duty in this circumstance.

Anyway thankyou for you patience and well done on an excellent idea. By the sounds of it a lot of people have already used it and played it out themselves.

Keep up the great work

Delvesdeep

What encounter do you believe is the most difficult in the whole Adventure Path?

Delvesdeep

I agree with these guys. You do an amazing job. Fantatsically detailed. Where do you get the time?

Its amazing how much you can do when you don't actually do your job at work ;)

I only play with my group once a month (if we're lucky)or every 3 months (if we're not) so that leaves me plenty of time to create or detail up and coming portions of the AP. I read that a lot of people have already finished the campaign or even run it through multiple times with a few groups. I envy them.

Thanks for all your comments and praise

Delvesdeep

Just a quick word of advice - Don't create too many recurring villians.

If you have a multitude of recurring main villians they tend to detract from each other. One or two main recurring villians is IMHO more than enough.

Multiple minor recurring villians are fine because by there nature they have a much smaller life expectancy than the Major Recurring villian by still better than the average one adventure villian.

Using the SCAP as an example people might be most familiar with-

Minor Recurring Villian Example

Triel - he players hear of her a few times (Murderous city guard & meeting with alleybashers etc) and witness her villiany (Laughing Monkey) well before they finally encounter her.

Nabthatoran - Hear the legend of his battle with the Cauldrons heroic founder hunderds of years ago, witness his manipulations via the hags before finally facing him.

Major Recurring Villian Example

Vhalantru - Meet him in the first adventure and witness his power, meet him numerous times in a different guise, observe his evil manipulations and then finally reveal his evil nature and then after 14 levels of play face him in his lair.

If you have too many identifable main villians then the party lose focus. Hidden main villian are another story...these villians only become obvious after many adventures when the party have had plenty of time to witness there work before finally revealing them. At this point these hidden villians often become Main Recurring Villians in there own right.

I once ran a party that had a Main Recurring Villian who first encountered them when he came to honour them with a place in his Knightly Order. When they refused and insulted him he demanded a joust (two of them were knight-types. They were defeated and beheaded.

From this point on they loathed the villian yet respected him him than any other NPC they encountered.

The most important part of this villian was that he suited the party - he was an anti-paladin once very similiar to themselves but who slayed his monarch when the king failed to protect his wife and family while he lead his army against his enemies.

The party could relate to the villian and loved to hate him.

Most of all with any good recurring villian they need to have a reason to hate them.

The escape plan - be it a fast mount, illusion, saved by allies, hostage, surrender only to escape or the old magical means really comes secondary to the players motivation in defeating them in the first place.

Delvesdeep

Delvesdeep, your approach seems good, but be careful that you also have to halve the treasure, or your characters will end up with twice the anticipated treasure for their level as they deal with twice the expected number of encounters to reach each next level.

Good Advice. I've tried to get around this one by introducing new skill, feat and ability training and an esculating fee attached to each. So far this has kept the parties treasure down to an appropriate level.

Magical items are another matters though. I am going to watch this carefully and if I feel the additional magical items that the characters have obtained on their side quests is unblancing the game I'll switch them in future advetures. I'm taking a wait and see approach with this at the moment.

This is the first time I've attempted something like this so I'm interested in how it will pan out.

Thanks again for the advice

Delvesdeep

Has anyone run through the adventure (partially or fully) without much difficulty with one of the core classes missing - Fighter-type, cleric, wizard or thief?

Which core class is the least important?

Do you think the druid and ranger classes are poor choices considering the amount of dungeons and lack of wilderness encounters?

What spell (besides a healing/raise type) should all wizards seek to learn? What cleric spell?

Who is the worst NPC is upset earlier in the game?

Delvesdeep

While I don't plan on limiting my players to 10th level I also share your opinion that the current edition of the game does advance players incredibly fast. In my experience players don't have the same opportunities to grow into their character, familiarize themselves with their new abilities, power etc and gain allies/enemies before they are already gaining new abilities/powers/problems etc

So what I have done is to half the XP gained.

My hope with this is to slow down level advancement so the players had more time playing their characters at each level and so they can make those much needed allies/contacts at lower levels.

This will (fingers crossed) also give me a chance to slot side quests inbetween each offical adventure in the Path. These mini-adventures have been and will be a chance to expand each players background and allow me to provide addition foreshadowing opportunities for the campaign.

I write up the Demonskar Ball and Sasserine (both on the www.RPGenius.com site) for this exact reason.

Anyhow I for one would be very interested to see what you come up with with your 'Scaling the Adventure' sidebars.

Delvesdeep

I dowloaded your Sasserine PDF. Really professional stuff, really nice. I also noticed your award issued on the RPGenius site, and I would like to say you definitely have earned it. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of your contributions.

When are the folks at Paizo going to get around to making you a paid employee? Or are have they already?

Thanks Ikor! I haven't seen the award yet - I better have a look at the RPGenius site.

Which contributions have you used?

As to paizo...I've never even published an adventure. I've tried a couple of times but became a bit frustrated at the process and response time. I've never actually had an adventure rejected outright but became disillusioned with the waiting - the last adventure query I sent through was never responded to at all. I probably should email them to see what happened but then I would most likely have to wait around for another few months - so my impatience is probably as much to blame as anything or anyone else :)

Thanks for your post. It's always good to hear your work is appreciated by other DMs.

Delvesdeep

It really depends how the party is placed. Are they near death, badly damaged, slightly damaged or fresh as daisy's? If the first one is the case I would leave them be and have MM either hide or flee. If the second is true send MM in on his own as a hit and run. If the third is the case then send MM, the mummy and the half dragon after them and if they are barely damaged I would add a few helpers to the troop as well.

Whatever you decide - good luck and keep us posted

Delvesdeep

Sean is correct on all accounts. The connections are far from clear. In fact Adimarchus really plays no obvious role in the plot until the last adventure.

Adimarchus is mentioned predominatly during Chapter 6 and briefly during Chapter 7 (Fetor)and Chapter 11 but other than this the players certainly would not see him as the main villian.

Even the Cagewrights are so secretive that when the players finally face them during Chapters 10 & 11 they are mostly a series of meaningly encounters.

Vhalantru remains the most memorable villian and provides the highest climax of the campaign when finally defeated. The reason for this is obvious - the players know of him from the first Chapter and hear of him regularly for the first 8 chapters.

My advice to you is to try and do the same with all the villians. Use the Cagewrights earlier - if one or two get killed teir is still plenty left including apprentices to replace them. Thread them through adventures, have them meet the players somehow before the players know they are the bad guys etc.

The same is true for Adimarchus. Include more signs of him - use his followers (those corrupted by his insane dreams) during adventures or even change some of the minor villians of the adventures (ie Drakthar, Shaven etc) be missing an eye that they have either tatooed or painted around with smoke - Symbol of the Smoking Eye.

Have more of the Cagewrights corrupted by his dreams and fallen under his sway later. Perhaps through his dreams and his follower Fetor (discover of the ritual of planar junction) he has manipulated the Cagewrights tp choose Cauldron because they will then open the gate directly above where he is imprisioned and therefore inadvently release him.

In my opinion if the players never are aware of a villian or even their work, then when they met them the encounter becomes extremely hollow. You might as well throw any random powerful monster at them in the final chapter unless you foreshadow Adimarchus - it will have the same impact.

Hope any of this helps

Delvesdeep

I saw the same problem with the original write up presented in the HC. If you plan to use a melee type as Alakast predominate user then the above write up is sensational! Well done again Walter.

Unfortunately I plan on giving this item to the wizard of the group - following the Sundabar (mage) tradition.

(Just a thought but does anyone else find this strange - Sundabar the great wizard used an item which was very combat focused!?)

So I thought I would give Alakast the following benefits -

Glow when within 60ft of an Infernal creature (I like the white glowing eyes description from Walter above so I may steal this as well;))

1d6 addition damage to damaging spells cast on Infernal Creatures (ie a 10d6 Fireball would do an additional 1d6 bane damage)

Can cast any Cantrip at will

One type of Metamagic Feat (undesided - Extend, Empower?)

Anyhow these are just my initial thoughts. I'll write this up in much more detail, with more description and a information later.

Anyone else have any addition ideas about additional powers Alakast could have that haven't already been mentioned?

Delvesdeep

Personalising the side trek to match the character is the best piece of advice I can give you. Have they made any allies or enemies you could use to spark their interest? Do they have any agendas or passions (ie loaths giants, loves unicorns etc). You menioned they were a Ranger but are they an atypical Ranger who loves the wilderness or more an urban type?

Try and include plenty of clues and plot hooks to future events and important NPCs. Be careful not to give anything too important away but foreshadowing villians is easy to do with Side Treks like you are planning. Having the main villian a follower of one of the Cagewrights or insane from the whispering voice of the Smoking Eye is fun to do.

If you are looking for a few easy ideas to use geared around a typical ranger then here are a few -

1)Vortimax Weer owns the local potion shop is needs a certain component is has run out of. He will reward the adventurer who can retrieve for him the heart of a troll from the nearby jungle with a 50% discount on all his goods for the term of a year. He knows the general location of cave where one such deformed troll is reputed to live.

2)Bolar Westkey is famous for his masterful maps. Unfortunately Bolar has recently had a family heirloom stolen from him - a quill which allows him to create maps that can teleport the user anywhere on the parchment. Bolar has asked the Stormblades to locate the quill which he believes is somewhere still in the city but theie search has proven fruitless up to this point. Bolar has a few clues to the thief's identity including a broken look pick, a piece of half eaten cheese and an small silver hair pin...

3)Skylar Krewis has been given the task of leading a small contingient of gaurds into the Kopru Ruins in the wake of their discovery beneath the town to see if they pose a further threat to the city. Skylar has been instructed by Tereson to seek out your PC to assist in guided them through the ruins. Unbeknowst to Skylar the Ebony Triad have sent a few of their agents from Sasserine with some of their lackies to find out what happened to Triel and her allies.

Anyway just a few ideas off the top of my head. I'm not sure about having your players run the monsters I would just run a seperate session with the player in question.

Delvesdeep

Thankyou Koramado for uploading the document on to RPGenius and for your kind words. I hope people enjoy using my version of Sasserine.

Delvesdeep

I wrote up my own version of Sasserine which I gave to Koramado to place on the RPGenius site. He hasn't had a great deal of time of late to work on D&D but he assures me it will be on the website soon. Be warned it is very large.

Unfortunately if you need it immediately this won't be of much help....

Delvesdeep

Sean and VeriCold I'm really glad to hear your party had a good time playing through the Ball. How did you play out the conflict with the Stormblades? How did the dances and competitions play out? Was there too many things going on and too many NPCs to think about all at once? Were the party happy with there rewards/medals and have they used there benefits yet?

Koramado - your invitation you put up on the RPG website is fantastic! Well done. Could you tell me what each of the symbols represent - I guess the crator is the demons but is the mountain the founders?

Thanks for your comments once again

Delvesdeep

P.S. Koramado - what ever happened to my Sasserine document you were going to place on the wesite. I was really proud of that one but it was too big with too many pictures to place up on there. Could you give it another try?