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Yeah, I think they actually mention that the encounter is really only there to boost XP if the PC's are behind the curve of the AP at that point, and you should feel free to leave it out.
Personally, I think it has potential, but I agree that it's pretty weird that this eight foot creature was allowed to enter Cauldron unmolested. If you decide to use it, you could have it speak to the deteriorated condition of Cauldron's town guard and government in general (either Zhor paid off the guards or simply walked by them without being questioned), or you could spin it out into a more detailed side quest. There, Zhor could have heard of the PC's by reputation and come to the conclusion that only great heroes such as them could have killed his father. He'd then concoct some scheme to get them to come outside the city, where he could attack them in the open.
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Another possibility is to have some minor players smuggle him into the town, in the hope that his encounter with the PCs results in more property damage that can be pinned on them. I'd favor the Last Laugh, but the Stormblades might be an option depending on how your group gets along with them. You might also decide to have him hide out in Liduton as Khyron Bonesworn's second in command, if you use him at all.
This is how I integrated it into my game. First off Dhorlot escaped (or actually the party escaped the wrath of Dhorlot) and the dragon fled from Bhal-Hamatugn with it's off-spring.
So later in the campaign, after the party returned from Occipitus, I told them that the city had been under seige from a number of different half-dragon creatures and that the Stormblades had been fighting them and that currently the Stormblades were somewhere under the city looking for the source of the half-dragon attacks. So when a half-minotaur showed up it didn't seem so out of place.
They later figured out that the halfling Skaven (who is a hated re-occuring villian in our game) was working with Dhorlot on creating these creatures and unleashing them on Cauldron. The Stormblades were successful in defeating Dhorlot but Skaven escaped and the Stormblades were so badly beat up (and Todd killed) that they disbanded.
Did anyone else think that this was just random and lacking no significance to anything?
Zarik certainly doesn't play a central role in the SCAP, but part of his appeal to me was that lack of dependency. With only a tenuous tie to the campaign, how you use him is wide open.
And How the hell is Zarik going to know who killed his father?
Zarik's got 1,900 gp in cash and a boatload of magic. With those kinds of resources, it's not unreasonable that he found out who killed his father (if that's what happened). It's easy enough to get a divination or two cast on his behalf. And let's face it, most adventurers don't keep their escapades to themselves. What warrior wouldn't want to brag about the black dragon he killed in a kuo-toan stronghold to a group of hero-worshiping commoners while slugging back a few ales at his favorite watering hole?
It's not like the town is going to let this bizarre and monstorous creature wander the town investigating his father's killers.
Heh, and are you the one to tell him no? His appearance and manner alone are probably enough to cow most people into submission. Almost of the higher-level statted people in Cauldron are Cagewrights. I imagine this conversation at the gate:
Guard: "I'm sorry, but you're not allowed in Cauldron."Zarik: "WHAT DID YOU JUST TELL ME I CANNOT DO?" (as spittle drips from his chin and a spiked chain is quickly drawn)
Guard: "I-I-I-I m-m-m-ean, you can't enter without paying the entrance fee. Which I just remembered is not collected on Mondays. Enjoy your stay in Cauldron!"
Guard (mentally): "Please don't kill me...please don't kill me..."
Other things to keep in mind: The half-orcs are pretty much the town guard at this point and they're probably more forgiving of monstrous types than the human guards. Also, realize that Zarik's a CR 14 creature. While you can't tell that from looking at him, you sure as heck can when he's laid a whupping on a patrol of guards.
And back to the money, Zarik could have hired someone to find the PCs and lead him to them. There's nothing saying that Zarik's hasn't only been in town long enough to be led to the PCs.
I don't know about this one...
Well, it certainly is something that requires some thought to integrate into your campaign.
What I was thinking of doing is playing up Dhorlot as kind of an eccentric pervert trying to "knock-up" everything. While the PC's are searching for Jared, they will find corpses of Half Red/Half Black wyrmlings. These will be the spawn of Gotrod's mate who was somehow pregnated by Dhorlot. Gotrod killed his mate, found the spawn, killed them, and now he's out for Dhorlot.
Then I'll expand Dhorlot's lair a little. (Not sure he how he got into that tiny room anyway) and include a chamber of some of his "less succesful" cross-breeds. Mutated, derilect, and basically left for dead.
I don't know, It's a side plot that's insignificant but I thought it might side a little more depth and perhaps some humor.
Those are some interesting ideas!
My group got Zarik to surrender after they got him down in hit points. He is now aiding the party in their attack in the temple of Wee Jas, but currently they have their hands full figting two stone giants, 2 half orc fighters, and that dang wizard assassin who escaped the fight when he and the other two assassins attacked the party in the tavern to start the adventure.
Thankfully we now have faerie fire on this pain ( wizard ) and we are aiming to take him out soon. The stone giants worry me. My wizard got them in a web spell, but only one missed his save. Fun, fun.
Dave
I played up Dhorlot as a sort of amusingly excentric pervert, with a bit of a Mengle-esque perspective regarding his "experiments".
To my surprise, my party not only negotiated with him, but spared him and gave him a place to live (an abandoned keep in the hills from a side adventure) and even volunteered to provide him with subjects (aka livestock) in an attempt at A: avoiding a fight with a dragon and B containing the chaos he was spreading.
So when Zarik showed up, they took him to meet dad! The meeting was rather interesting, as I played up Zarik's emotional minotaur side and Dhorlot's cold and calculating scientist side. The end result was Zarik leaving in peace to "reflect on where my life has led me, and how much of that I owe to my father, and how much to myself".
I may bring him in later as an ally, since the PCs were polite, friendly, and helpful to him, which is likely not standard fare for someone of his nature.
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What's up with the Half Dragon-Minotaur, Zarik Dhor?
How the hell is Zarik going to know who killed his father? It's not like the town is going to let this bizarre and monstorous creature wander the town investigating his father's killers.
I think standing there with Dhorlot's horns embedded in my hat was a giveaway.
I am actually just about to use Zarik tonight. I was also wondering how to use him, if at all. The group has just invaded the Cathedral of Wee Jas and defeated everyone there, and are now starting to do some research on all they have found. Interestingly enough, the party cleric is a member of the church of Wee Jas, so there's a bit of turmoil there...
Anyway, the party never defeated Dharlot back in the Kuo-toa stronghold...he drove them off and they never bothered to go back to see him. But they did pretty much decimate the rest of the temple.
I'm thinking that Dharlot, not thrilled that the Kuo-toa are gone, but not exactly enamored of them either, has mixed feelings about the adventurers who came and disrupted things. He now has taken over the Kuo-toa stronghold completely, so he has them to thank for upsetting the power balance in his favor...but still, these upstart adventurers invaded his territory!! He is a dragon, after all...and doesn't take these things lightly.
So, I'm using Zarik as a kind of emissary sent by his father to inform the PCs that there are no hard feelings and they need not worry about the DragonFather descending on them and erasing their small lives. He will announce himself at one of the gates of Cauldron and wait for runners to fetch the Defenders of the City after giving a few vague references that will cue the guards in to who he is talking about. After that, the path the discussion takes is really up to the PCs. Zarik will not be hostile, but he will be condescending enough to most likely irritate them a bit.
We'll see how it plays out.
I am using Zarik in a different manner.
In my homebrew there was a massive war that killed all the dragons over a thousand years ago. So, as far as everyone is concerned, they are extinct. However a few escaped to the isolated parts of the world and their small broods exist now.
So I removed Dhorlot and turned him into a bone devil. So now Dhorlot is creating a slew of half-devils that have not yet spawned. The party is finishing up Flood Season so they'll be into the starts of these story lines soon.
I decided to keep the Hookface subplot and have the party realize that she is a dragon and not some demonic fiend. They will learn that Hookface's father was a general in the dragon war and retreated to this, then isolated, part of the world. Hookface later spawned Gotrod but given the lack of dragons the family is dying out. Gotrod, to continue the legacy created a half-breed, Zarik.
The party has amassed a fair amount of fame and will only grow in notoriety. When Zarik shows up he will have no trouble pinpointing the party as the source of his troubles. With both Gotrod and Zarik dead Hookface is the last of the dragons as far as she knows. So she comes to the city later to exact her revenge...
I introduced Zarik in another way, by the end of flood season, during the Flood Festival ther was some tournaments and he came to town for the fun and searching his father.
He won the melee tournament, crushing (non lethal) the party fighter in 1/2 finale, they were very scared thinking that may be one day they will really fight him.
It was a way of telling the characters that there was a black Dragon somewhere in the area....last session Dhorlot breathed on them, very fun but I don't really know if they thought of the link.
As for Zarik just walking around town unchallenged:
A) Who wants to be the one to try and stop him?
B) By this point most of the legitimate authorities are running to the PCs to handle everything anyway.
C) How much weirder is this guy than some party builds I've read about on these boards?
C) How much weirder is this guy than some party builds I've read about on these boards?
So very, very true.
After following through on Delvesdeep's foreshadowing of Gau Kleeoch upon the death of the Blue Duke, I got thinking about Zarik. What if Zarik and Gau were both from the same minotaur village in the Underdark near the Amedio jungle? Divinations on Zarik could lead the characters to get more info on Gau. They could even attempt to journey there through the previously known Underdark entrances.
Possible information to be found would be about Dyr'ryd (as he is not really foreshadowed anywhere) and the fact that Gau's motives coincide with his and that she is his bodyguard. The specific motives would not be known until chapter 8. But it gives the party a lead on someone other than Orbius.
Creative Director
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Yeah, I think they actually mention that the encounter is really only there to boost XP if the PC's are behind the curve of the AP at that point, and you should feel free to leave it out.
This is correct. When I developed the hardcover, I tried to make him a bit more relevant to the story, but were I developing that adventure today I'd just cut him out of the entire thing altogether. And not just because he's a half-dragon. :)
I didn't knew he had a French accent....(I'm french) but I realize that his name Dhorlot looks like the french verb Dorloter which means To Pamper in english.