| eastuart |
Our group's epic journey against the Age of Worms came to a successful conclusion earlier this month. For posterity, and for anyone else's possible interest, I thought I'd frame some of the "stats" of the campaign.
Warning - a few spoilers, here and there, below:
- Length: 22 months (2/28/07 - 12/13/08), about 75-80 total sessions
- PC level at finish (that is, start of the final battle): 22
- PC deaths: ~20
- TPK's: 1, at the hands of Telakin (!)
Group name: Reckless Endangerment (party #2, started at level 7, hired by Eligos to investigate the fate of the first party)
Belvis, human (now outsider) favored soul. Timid but charming, and the defensive lynchpin of the party - his magic made the PCs very difficult to kill.
Brutus Cassius, human scout/fighter. Socially direct, tactically savvy. The party's best melee damage-dealer, and their leader in battle.
Geordi, human archer. Careful outside combat, but a veritable hailstorm of piercing-damage doom when threatened. Wearer of the Circlet of Zosiel.
Glint, dwarven defender. A bulwark of defense and the (lawful) conscience of the party. Ended the campaign as the ruler of Alhaster and the bearer of the last two fragments of the Rod of Law.
Irklur Delmar, human transmuter. A brilliant, though prone-to-inebriation, mage, and a walking cornucopia of interesting spells, curious items, and odd bits of knowledge.
(The first party consisted of Luke, a human cleric of Pelor; Gustavus, a human paladin of St. Cuthbert; Illiana Cloudgazer, a human bard; Mandingo (I didn't choose the name), an elven duskblade; and Fife, a half-orc barbarian. They met their doom when they saved tremendously poorly against Telakin's Confusion spell...)
The final battle against Kyuss was about as dramatic as could be expected, given that they had successfully fought despair and destroyed the Unlife Vortex, and that I didn't bump any of the Wormgod's stats. I did alter his spell list (in particular, some of the players weren't thrilled about a couple of Disjunctions) to give him a fighting chance, given how weak he is physically. They did destroy Lashonna and Dragotha as well.
Darl Quethos & co. probably ranked as the last strong threat to the party, largely since they were able to prep heavily to face them (and since Darl, as a cleric, could prepare non-core spells). The PC's were on the ropes for a few rounds, but several key rolls got them back in the fight, and eventually Darl fled the scene (with most of his allies) after being hit with a Power Word: Blind.
Before Darl, the Swords of Kyuss presented a real TPK possibility, but the PCs made several key saves and teleported away, returning later (properly warded). Earlier in the campaign, the Alkilith demon and the Temple of Hextor were particularly memorable, on-the-edge-of-the-seat fights.
My favorite single session was probably the Gala. The scenario was fantastic, and the players performed admirably (even managing to save the cake from collapsing, courtesy of a Servant Horde!).
If I ever run the campaign again, there are probably two major ways I'll consider doing things differently:
- Evening the balance between players and NPCs/monsters with regard to non-core material (whether this means restricting the PC's access or increasing the bad guys', I'm not sure). We used Spell Compendium, Complete Warrior/Arcane/Divine/Adventurer, and PHB II, and the resultant power discrepancy was pretty marked; I had to work _very hard_ to figure out how to give the PCs a challenge, even on the major encounters (Brazzemaal, Dragotha, etc.)
- Generally, "loosening up" and being more open to take things in random directions. We played AoW pretty much "by the book", with only a very few exceptions (a 1-session intro, some adjustments to EaBK). Partly, I tried to keep the party on the "main track" because I didn't want it to become a 3-year campaign, and partly I wanted to do it in as "official" a way as possible. Next time, though, I'll be happy to add stuff and subtract other things if it feels like the right thing at the time.
Anyway, happy holidays, all, and have a great, wormy New Year!