*removes hat*
At the risk of being a fan-boy, allow me to be the first to congratulate James Jacobs on an earthshaking penultimate adventure in the AoW series!
Several weeks of foot-tapping came to an end today when I got home from work and found #134 in my mailbox. (Proximity to the Paizo printing subcontractors seems to be one of the few advantages to midwestern living!)
One of the greatest things about this AP is the way it consistently blends role-playing opportunities with throw down the gloves no-holds barred combat, and this adventure once again succeeds. Bards can shine in almost all of the adventures, yet there's enough hack and slash to keep the fighters and clerics happy. I completely dig the goth lillend and her "amorous" lich admirer--this is a dyad for the ages. A quarter century from now, when our kids are editors and designers, they'll be figuring out cool ways to work references to these two legends (along with Lashonna and Prince Zeech) into AP XXVII.
I haven't finished reading yet, but if I may ask a couple of minor technical questions:
1. The description of Zulshyn's tower places the apocalypse golems in "room 4." From the map, though, it would seem that they are supposed to be in room 2, which has the five west facing windows cited in the text and appears to be facing west (there's no compass rose, so I assume left is west). This would also be the more logical place for them--in her gallery rather than the storeroom. Is my understanding correct?
2. The description of how Bucknard's spirit fragments work once they are in Dragotha's presence and bond with the PCs (p. 70) confused me a bit, perhaps because I'm still not that familiar with "immediate actions" and how they work. Do I understand correctly that if Dragotha flamesprays the PCs, PC #1, bonded with the "artist" fragment, can make his save using the luck bonus, then pass it to PC #2, who makes his save and passes it on around the party? If so, this seems quite a powerful effect, and also, it might be simpler just to say that a bit of each fragment infuses each character in the party--since the mechanical effect on the game will be the same and less time will be spent discussing who's passing which fragment to whom. Where are the rules for "immediate actions" detailed?
Anyhow, you've pushed the bar up another notch, James, and I can hardly wait to see the grand finale! Keep up the outstanding work!
Peruhain
P.S. I assume that's a preview of the cover art for #135 on p. 14? I guess that means that Kyuss is back, and the Age of Worms is truly upon us. Bwahahahaha!
Creative Director
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First of all... thanks for the kind words; it was a little intimidating to take on an installment of the adventure path after so many other excellent authors had already set a really high mark to follow.
As for your questions:
1: Yeah, the apocalypse golems should be in area 2.
2: Immediate actions have been detailed in many of the more recent WotC books. The most basic example of an immediate action is in the PHB: it's the feather fall spell. Casting feather fall can be done at any point as a free action even when it's not your turn. Likewise, passing the spirits from PC to PC is something that you can do when it's not even your turn. It IS a powerful effect, but it's not a game breaker. You can only pass the spirit once per round, so it's quite possible in a scenario like you mention that after everyone passes the spirit in a round to all gain its benifits that the one who ends up with the spirit is the wrong person; it'd suck if the fighter traded away his bonus to hit to the wizard before his turn.
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An out and out brutal addition to the AoW, James, I must also extend my kudos. Followed, of course, with the prerequisite questions re: things that may have slipped by the editings (or are the figments of my own coursework-tortured mind) ;)
1. Following the polymorph errata, it seemed that all such related spells, excluding baleful polymorph were recommended to be removed from the game. Personal experiences with Poly any Object supported this move, and so I wanted to ask if PaO was still considered a viable spell in such an environment (seeing as Zulshyn & Thessalar each have it memorized)? Is there a suitable alternative you would suggest?
(Personal thoughts on that errata would also be welcome, if you desired)
2. Venk, the brutal derro guardian of the Tabernacle (note: love the Con 24, I was astonished and impressed to see a focus on sheer hitpoints), wears +3 scale armor, which I noted does not allow her full use of Dexterity, and worse, would grant her Arcane Spell Failure with her invocations (seeing as she lacks the Battle Caster feat). I love the NPC, and admit I am confused as to why she doesn't wear mithril breastplate, which would boost her AC by 3 points w/ the additional Dex bonus, (making it 10 above her CR, not 7) and help her avoid the issue of ASF (which is not noted in her stat block).
Any reason she isn't wearing such armor and/or is lacking the Battle Caster feat?
3. In the Scaling section, you mention raising the thessalahydras' HD by 3, though as aberrations, shouldn't they gain 4 HD per CR?
Conclusion: I have been anxiously waiting for this arc (despite the fact that the Hardcover is likely to be out before I get a chance to run AoW) and disappointment was the furthest thing from my mind as I read this adventure. You have set the bar for any near-epic adventure I craft, and I can only thank you for showing me how truly dangerous an environment such a party can enter, and potentially emerge.
I'll be curious to hear if anyone has even landed a blow on Dragotha's hide w/o help from the Slayer... I haven't seen ACs that high since an old 26th level Epic campaign, and even that character would need 15s ;)
Lord Vile looks in his mailbox for the 8th straight day hoping his issue of Dungeon 134 has finally arrived, only to be disappointed once again.
Curse you all!!! he screams his chanllenge at the powers residing in heaven and hell or more specifficaly the USPS.
Thanks for the reminder Mortepierre--I kind of think if you're a player surfing the AOW part of the boards you're cheating, but perhaps the editorial staff would be so kind as to add "Spoilers" to the thread title, since I can't modify it at this point?
I read the "tabernacle" section of the adventure this morning while I ought to have been writing my afternoon lecture. Whew! You certainly didn't make it easy for the PCs, James, and I think any party that doesn't make optimal use of divination spells (screen) aside and protective magic is going to end up in worm-hell rather quickly. Dragotha looks extremely, extremely tough--but James has been leading us to expect that--for several months we've been hearing "bwahahahahaha! CR 27! Bwahahahaha!" I'm glad to see, though, that there are a few chinks in his armor--though with the number of HP he has and his self-healing capabilities (gifts from Kyuss, I assume?) he won't go down without an extended fight (or two, or three).
It might be a very smart idea for the PCs to have themselves cloned before they start this one--in case of a TPK.
Well, this is going to be one hell of an epic adventure! I just hope we get to it sometime! I'm finally going to get to finish 3FOE in a couple of weeks and hopefully start EBK. Gosh, what a great campaign!
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Creative Director
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1. Following the polymorph errata, it seemed that all such related spells, excluding baleful polymorph were recommended to be removed from the game. Personal experiences with Poly any Object supported this move, and so I wanted to ask if PaO was still considered a viable spell in such an environment (seeing as Zulshyn & Thessalar each have it memorized)? Is there a suitable alternative you would suggest?
Personally, I'd keep polymorph any object in the game, not only because it's a classic D&D spell, but also, in the case of Thessalar, it's a fairly important spell to his tactics and history. A more in-depth change would be to replace polymorph any object[i] with specific spells, like a spell that transforms objects into thessalhydras.
Actually, you can probably exchange Zulshyn's [i]polymorph any object with prismatic wall since that meshes well with her golems thematically.
2. Venk, the brutal derro guardian of the Tabernacle (note: love the Con 24, I was astonished and impressed to see a focus on sheer hitpoints), wears +3 scale armor, which I noted does not allow her full use of Dexterity, and worse, would grant her Arcane Spell Failure with her invocations (seeing as she lacks the Battle Caster feat). I love the NPC, and admit I am confused as to why she doesn't wear mithril breastplate, which would boost her AC by 3 points w/ the additional Dex bonus, (making it 10 above her CR, not 7) and help her avoid the issue of ASF (which is not noted in her stat block).
Any reason she isn't wearing such armor and/or is lacking the Battle Caster feat?
Venk wears scale mail because that's what she ended up wearing in the illustration. I should probably have made it mithril scale mail, in hindsight. She doesn't have the Battle Caster feat for the same reason she no longer has the crazy minor artifact gloves she had in one draft of the adventure—space issues. We just didn't have the room to reprint the details for any more non-core feats.
3. In the Scaling section, you mention raising the thessalahydras' HD by 3, though as aberrations, shouldn't they gain 4 HD per CR?
Yup. Although when you're talking about the difference between 21 and 22 Hit Dice... there's not much difference.
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Personally, I'd keep polymorph any object in the game, not only because it's a classic D&D spell, but also, in the case of Thessalar, it's a fairly important spell to his tactics and history. A more in-depth change would be to replace polymorph any object[i] with specific spells, like a spell that transforms objects into thessalhydras.Actually, you can probably exchange Zulshyn's [i]polymorph any object with prismatic wall since that meshes well with her golems thematically.
Hmm, good ideas, thank you. I do admit PaO has style, but when a Trickery cleric and a sorceror used it to transform aasimars and Mechanus-touched allies into Leonals, Trumpet Archons, and Planetars.... well, let's just say my ability to challenge them vanished and the campaign became more of a "set them up, knock-em down" game for the last three months- very frustrating. I do like the "rock into thessalahydra" usage, as I'm just am not sure how to deal with the spell's capacity to obliterate undead and overpower party members... (Any advice is always appreciated, of course :))
Venk wears scale mail because that's what she ended up wearing in the illustration. I should probably have made it mithril scale mail, in hindsight. She doesn't have the Battle Caster feat for the same reason she no longer has the crazy minor artifact gloves she had in one draft of the adventure—space issues. We just didn't have the room to reprint...
Ha! I never imagined stats would be controlled by art :). Very amusing. Thanks for the thought on the mithril- any chance a synopsis (or full description) or those "crazy gloves" could be posted on the board... or perhaps turn up in future publications? No space issues here, after all ;)
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Creative Director
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Ha! I never imagined stats would be controlled by art :). Very amusing. Thanks for the thought on the mithril- any chance a synopsis (or full description) or those "crazy gloves" could be posted on the board... or perhaps turn up in future publications? No space issues here, after all ;)
Perhaps. There's some other stuff that got cut from the adventure too... not sure what we're gonna do with it yet. It might end up in the online supplement...
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Woots.
Mine arrived today, as well, in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.
Now, the bad news: I'm the designated driver for a cross-state trip to see a concert in Lansing tonight. DRAT! Thankfully, the office'll be pretty empty tomorrow, what with spring break beginning this weekend, and I'm caught up on my work, so it's time to pull the old "comic book/magazine hidden behind the legit-looking book/magazine" trick.
Just doing some readin'!
Just wanted to chime in with kudos. Zulshyn is absolutely awesome, I am imagining she will end up being the slightly cracked girlfriend of many adventurers for ages to come.
Also nice nod to Maure Castle and the eight pointed star relief I have been wanting to drop those in my game for some time. :)
And even with Bucknard doing the tween thing I will be looking forward to Dragotha picking adventurer toe-jam from his claws very soon! :D
Haven't checked my mailbox in several days but I did today and was thrilled to see the new mag. Wormcrawl is great. I especially appreciated the "covering all our bases" free-flow layout with plenty of DM tips for dealing with possibly wandering PCs. The NPCs are well-written and exciting. I love the whole tripartite ghost thing. And what can one say about Dragotha - SCARY - COOL - FUN!
Can I just add - the art is AWESOME! Having the bonus page of the cover without the text on it was great - that image of Dragotha is definitely one I'll want to be able to show the players when we get to that scene. And in particular, I love the picture of the chimera!
Error Report:
One glaring issue is found on pages 68-69 under the statistics and tactics of Thessalar:
Quoting from the magazine - "If he hears the thessalhydras in area 2 attack intruders the lich casts project image to manifest an image of himself in the courtard to observe the battle.
PROBLEMS:
1. Project image is an Illusion Spell. Thessalar is a specialist wizard (transmuter) and chose Enchantment and Illusion as his forbidden domains. Ergo, he couldn't cast project image under any circumstances, even if he wanted to.
2. Thessalar doesn't even have project image listed in his memorized spells (it should be within his list of memorized 7th level spells).
And, as a brutal suggestion, I'd swap out Maximise Spell for Chain Spell and enjoy the groups look of shocked horror when Thessalar blasts them with a Chained disintegrate spell.
Nummy!
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Creative Director
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Chain Spell's certainly an awesome choice for Thessalar. And you can still utilize his project image trick by having him use a wish to duplicate the effects; it's a 7th level spell so he can do so even though it's a prohibted school.
And if you REALLY wanna get mean... in an early draft of the adventure, Dragotha had Arcane Strike. For a dragon, Arcane Strike's a nifty choice.
Granted that wandering monsters may not be all that necessary in such a high level adventure, I think I'll want to throw a few "flavor encounters" in during the initial phases of exploring the Wormcrawl Fissure, even if they're pushovers. I suppose if the Fissure is barren and lifeless, that flavors things a certain way--but I want it to be ominous and dangerous--I want there to be a good reason all the ogres and bugbears and hobgoblins from other parts of the rift give the region a wide berth! Besides advanced versions of the Wormcrawl denizens detailed in James' article in Dragon #276, and a sneak preview or two of the new Kyuss creatures in the appendix of this adventure, anyone have any good suggestions for what might go in the random encounter tables for the Heights and the Depths?
If the party flies down, I'm thinking a run-in with a Razorwind Derro patrol on wyvern mounts would be good, as well as a nasty encounter with sharp pinnacles sticking up through the fog. On the canyon floor, just about any undead would do, but some nasty fungi might be equally interesting, or some fiendish plant creatures--maybe a grove of ironmaws or something. A walking graveyard or a corpse collector? Any other ideas?
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Creative Director
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Actually... there are several of these that got got cut from the adventure for space. I'm fairly certain they'll show up in the online web supplement for the issue, but they include some pretty crazy additional monsters and encounters you can have in the Wormcrawl Fissure, including mosters from that old article from Dragon #276; for example, there are a few "ciruja trees" down there...
Weren't the cirjua originally bushes? The idea of huge trees reaching down to drain years from my PCs just fills me with cold-hearted DM glee.
Lord Vile looks in his mailbox for the 8th straight day hoping his issue of Dungeon 134 has finally arrived, only to be disappointed once again.
Curse you all!!! he screams his chanllenge at the powers residing in heaven and hell or more specifficaly the USPS.
9 Straight days!!!
Thought space might have been an issue! (This is the first installment that took me two days to read!)
I'll be eagerly awaiting the online supplement, then! Even if it takes several months, I'm sure I'll see it before my PCs make it to the Wormcrawl.
Granted that wandering monsters may not be all that necessary in such a high level adventure, I think I'll want to throw a few "flavor encounters" in during the initial phases of exploring the Wormcrawl Fissure, even if they're pushovers. I suppose if the Fissure is barren and lifeless, that flavors things a certain way--but I want it to be ominous and dangerous--I want there to be a good reason all the ogres and bugbears and hobgoblins from other parts of the rift give the region a wide berth! Besides advanced versions of the Wormcrawl denizens detailed in James' article in Dragon #276, and a sneak preview or two of the new Kyuss creatures in the appendix of this adventure, anyone have any good suggestions for what might go in the random encounter tables for the Heights and the Depths?
If the party flies down, I'm thinking a run-in with a Razorwind Derro patrol on wyvern mounts would be good, as well as a nasty encounter with sharp pinnacles sticking up through the fog. On the canyon floor, just about any undead would do, but some nasty fungi might be equally interesting, or some fiendish plant creatures--maybe a grove of ironmaws or something. A walking graveyard or a corpse collector? Any other ideas?
I noticed that Arcane Strike was a part of the original plan for Dragotha: If you look on pate 83 under Atk Options: you see Arcane Strike is still listed.
Personal Note: One thing I would have liked to see more of from Dragotha are the various spells listed in the Draconomicon. Some of them are beyond cool and just scream "Dragon magic!"
Additional Error Report
Dragotha's Statistics (Page 84): Dratoliches do not have Unholy Toughness.*
*(I personally LOVE unholy toughness and have added it to nearly all free-willed undead within my game. Likewise, I expanded Unholy Toughness to allow an undead creature to use its Charisma bonus as a bonus to Fortitude Saves - this really helps keem them from easily being disintegrated).
9 Straight days!!!Lord Vile looks in his mailbox for the 8th straight day hoping his issue of Dungeon 134 has finally arrived, only to be disappointed once again.
Curse you all!!! he screams his chanllenge at the powers residing in heaven and hell or more specifficaly the USPS.
Dragotha, Dragotha today, today. . . please, please be in the mail today. . .
I got spoiled by #133's timliness. . . it's been almost seven weeks since I've gotten a new issue. Add in Dragotha's presence, and I'm geeking.
Granted I only looked at it for 10 minutes but the thing that made my eyes pop in that ten minutes was the treasure, Now that is something, there is at least one minor artifact in there.
Granted I only looked at it for 10 minutes but the thing that made my eyes pop in that ten minutes was the treasure, Now that is something, there is at least one minor artifact in there.
Curse you Yukydave!!!
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Creative Director
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I noticed that Arcane Strike was a part of the original plan for Dragotha: If you look on pate 83 under Atk Options: you see Arcane Strike is still listed.
Additional Error Report
Dragotha's Statistics (Page 84): Dratoliches do not have Unholy Toughness.*
Yeah... Arcane Strike got cut at the last minute mostly because we just didn't have the room to reprint the feat's details. Plus, it's kind of like strapping a flamethrower to a nuclear bomb. This is also why he doesn't have any Draconomicon spells. I certainly support any decisions made by individual DMs who decide to use Draconomicon spells in place of Dragotha's listed spells!
As for Dragotha having Unholy Toughness... that's actually not an error. It was a conscious decision. Dracoliches/red dragons also don't have a death wind breath weapon. Dragotha's more than a dracolich; he's a unique undead creature. I was actually strongly considering not labeling him as a "dracolich" at all, to tell the truth, but ended up including the word anyway because it's iconic and cool.
9 Straight days!!!Lord Vile looks in his mailbox for the 8th straight day hoping his issue of Dungeon 134 has finally arrived, only to be disappointed once again.
Curse you all!!! he screams his chanllenge at the powers residing in heaven and hell or more specifficaly the USPS.
10 then 11 straight days have now passed for Lord Vile. His sense of anticpation has passed only to be replaced by a profound disapointment and within his heart a growing sense of anger.
"This time they will pay, this time I will make them pay!!!"
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Whew, sure did take awhile to read through the adventure! 'Course, I looked up the effects of all the magic items in Dragotha's horde (seems to me that there are a few different unique artifacts included...!) and spent awhile cross-referencing the high-level spells available to the NPC foes.
Wowza... just absolutely brutal. Sure had a Mordor-like feel about the place. Oh, and anyone who's read the Lone Wolf adventure books might reflect back on Book 12's trip to the Darklands to the seat of the Darklords' power.
Speaking of the Draconomicon, this might be a place where having a Hoard Stealer (think I might have the wrong name there) in the group would be a huge boon. Sneak in, grab some of the fabulous loot, and use it against its owner.
Of course, getting to that point with Dragotha unalerted to their presence could be even more challenging than taking on the beastie itself.
I also love the fact that there's another opportunity for heroes with ridiculoulsly high Bluff and Diplomacy abilities to (temporarily) turn a foe into an erstwhile ally. Hopefully, they were prudent and saw the phylactery as a potent bargaining chip.
For those of us who haven't gotten our issues in the mail yet, would anyone be able to type up any of these artifacts in the horde? I love how epic this AP is getting, and the more artifacts being given out the better, in my opinion. :-P
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I am wondering when the Sphere of Annihilation will rear it's ugly head. The Wizard in my group, ever since getting the Talisman in WC, has followed a path to allow him to best utilize the sphere..I hope there is an opportunity in Dawn for him to really shine.
As an aside, they just battled the Mother Worm, and the only thing that saved them was that the WarPriest had to use 3 castings of "Death's Door" from the Spell Compendium, then used her Mass Heal ability..I can't believe that was a cr20..If I wanted to be mean, I would have focused all its attacks on a single character in a given round, and we would have had a TPK..as it was, it took down the best fighter in the first round, then started splitting its attacks...I did not want the campaign to end so close to the end...
just got 134 in the mail. WOW. i'm still reeling from just how nasty the tabernacle is going to be.
... and wow. I hope my players are ready for dragotha. between the environment they'll be fighting him in and the sheer massive ammounts ofdeath he's going to deal out...
I smell a TPK-a-brewing.
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Creative Director
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First James, let me say awesome adventure. The various types of encounters and the sheer deadlyness of big D has pushed this adventure to the top of the heap as my favorite. I can't wait to see the finale!
I hate it though when I see you write the words 'we did have the room to reprint..." UGH! Cut some of the short features at the end of the magazine! Don't get me wrong, I like those little features, but this is AoW we are talking about here-the Coup De Grace to many poor adventuring parties! I can wait a few months on the filler stuff at the end of the Dungeon.Also, any chance of Brazzels horde being detailed? Assuming my PC's defeat him, they will want to seek out his 'unguard' horde, and probably several of the other dragons they kill. Has any other DM thought about what they are going to do when the PC's start on a massive dragon lair hunt?
We can't cut the short features; they're just as important as the big stuff. And keep in mind that a lot of the time, stuff that's cut deserves to be cut.
Brazzemal's horde was never detailed, so it was never cut. Expanding and adapting an adventure to your campaign is one of the best parts about being a DM; I try to include bits like this in every adventure I write (and tend to introduce them as often as I can to adventures I develop and edit).
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Creative Director
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I am wondering when the Sphere of Annihilation will rear it's ugly head. The Wizard in my group, ever since getting the Talisman in WC, has followed a path to allow him to best utilize the sphere..I hope there is an opportunity in Dawn for him to really shine.
Check out "Dawn of a New Age" in the upcoming issue #135.
Great adventure, Dragotha did not disapppoint even after all the hype! Congratulations on wonderful addition to the AP.
Now then.... One of those items in Dragotha's hoard (Oh yes you know the one I mean) seems to BEG an adventure in an upcoming Dungeon... A certain little triangular piece of metal... Oh I do hope for such an installment. Maure Castle is one of my favorite Mega-dungeons.
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Lord Vile looks in his mailbox for the 8th straight day hoping his issue of Dungeon 134 has finally arrived, only to be disappointed once again.
Curse you all!!! he screams his chanllenge at the powers residing in heaven and hell or more specifficaly the USPS. ]
9 Straight days!!!
10 then 11 straight days have now passed for Lord Vile. His sense of anticpation has passed only to be replaced by a profound disapointment and within his heart a growing sense of anger.
"This time they will pay, this time I will make them pay!!!"
I wonder the level of depravity that the absence of this great adventure is going to push Lord Vile to... hmmm
I wonder how long Lord Vile will wait for this most excellent adventure before spontaneously combusting into a nuclear bomb with a flame-thrower attached... hmmm
I wonder at the ecstasy he'll be in when it finally arrives or he buys a copy from the shelves and kills a USPS man by looking at him angrily... hmmm
So many questions, so few answers...
Lord Vile looks in his mailbox for the 8th straight day hoping his issue of Dungeon 134 has finally arrived, only to be disappointed once again.
Curse you all!!! he screams his chanllenge at the powers residing in heaven and hell or more specifficaly the USPS. ]
9 Straight days!!!
10 then 11 straight days have now passed for Lord Vile. His sense of anticpation has passed only to be replaced by a profound disapointment and within his heart a growing sense of anger.
"This time they will pay, this time I will make them pay!!!"
I wonder the level of depravity that the absence of this great adventure is going to push Lord Vile to... hmmm
I wonder how long Lord Vile will wait for this most excellent adventure before spontaneously combusting into a nuclear bomb with a flame-thrower attached... hmmm
I wonder at the ecstasy he'll be in when it finally arrives or he buys a copy from the shelves and kills a USPS man by looking at him angrily... hmmm
So many questions, so few answers...
LOL
"Dragotha!!! see this (Lord Vile holds up Dungeon 134) I now posses that what you most fear. You will do my bidding or taste my wrath".
I am a little pissed at USPS. My issue was sitting on my door mat when I got home from work yesterday. Which means it got delivered to one of my neighbors who was kind enough to get it to me instead of throwing it away.
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Also, any chance of Brazzels horde being detailed? Assuming my PC's defeat him, they will want to seek out his 'unguard' horde, and probably several of the other dragons they kill. Has any other DM thought about what they are going to do when the PC's start on a massive dragon lair hunt?
I'll be using one of the sample hoards from the "Draconomicon".
I have just about every non-Realms d20 product released by WotC, excepting the Map Folios and some of the earlier adventures. And I have to say, "Draconomicon" is easily in the top three of the sizeable D&D hardcover collection. If you haven't already, give it a look the next time you find it in a store. It's well worth the cover price.
I totally agree on the Draconomicon. I have a good number of the books, and am getting more as budget permits. The Draconomicon is a book that I personally keep handy every time there's any kind of a dragon encounter coming up, and I use it in designing every dragon encounter.
I was mulling over the PaO sub thread earlier in this, and I'd hate to see the spells get set aside, but it does look like the thread has a serious potential for use beyond the level spell it was written as.....perhaps a more advanced version as a higher level spell or some limits on its power are called for, but that seems a DM by DM decision at this point.
An excellent adventure, and I keep thinking of all the PCs who are gonna fall to Dragotha....talk about a fight! *chuckles as DM's are oft wont to do* When even the DOORS have a chance to kill incautious players, you know you've got a tough dungeon.
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As for Dragotha having Unholy Toughness... that's actually not an error. It was a conscious decision. Dracoliches/red dragons also don't have a death wind breath weapon. Dragotha's more than a dracolich; he's a unique undead creature. I was actually strongly considering not labeling him as a "dracolich" at all, to tell the truth, but ended up including the word anyway because it's iconic and cool.
Just read Erik's editorial in the most recent issue of "Dragon" over breakfast this morning.
Might Dragotha's retaining the dracolich moniker also be tied to the "Ecology of the Dracolich" article by the impeccable Richard Pett that is to be included in the 30th Anniversary issue #344? Already eagerly anticipating that one!
Oh, and a Keith Baker article on DREADHOLD?! The many Eberron DMs who have designs on the "mystery prisoner" in their campaigns will certainly love that; count me among 'em.
Seems to me that the move to share staff between the two mags was astute. The complementary content has greatly increased the utility of both publications.
Dragotha looks extremely, extremely tough--but James has been leading us to expect that--for several months we've been hearing "bwahahahahaha! CR 27! Bwahahahaha!"
This made me chuckle. A lot.
Truly an inspired adventure; I think anyone that doesn't take a good, long session (or two) to plan their approach to this place will end up in the PC graveyard.