I have just run an adventure connecting AP3 and AP4.
The Kaer Maga Connection
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I have finished a comprehensive PRPG conversion of the monsters of the Hook Mountain Massacre.
Enjoy!
Thank you very much am getting ready to run this adventure path as PRPG and this saves me a lot of time sitting down and converting things. Quick question have you converted any of the previous two modules?
Thank you very much am getting ready to run this adventure path as PRPG and this saves me a lot of time sitting down and converting things. Quick question have you converted any of the previous two modules?
Not as extensively. I am working on AP4 conversion right now, but will most likely convert AP1 and AP2 as well when I get some more time.
The thing is that conversion of AP1 and to some extent AP2 is so easy that you can do it in your head mid game.
As a grisly add-in to the sickness of this adventure, I gifted Mama Graul with a ring of regeneration, so that his sons could feed on her flesh as well as on the milk from her breast.
Just felt like sharing :)
As a grisly add-in to the sickness of this adventure, I gifted Mama Graul with a ring of regeneration, so that his sons could feed on her flesh as well as on the milk from her breast.
Just felt like sharing :)
Bbarrf!
That's so sick...Cool!
As a grisly add-in to the sickness of this adventure, I gifted Mama Graul with a ring of regeneration, so that his sons could feed on her flesh as well as on the milk from her breast.
Just felt like sharing :)
Ugh... *barfs*
Cool addition. Although I would be reluctant to give a low-level party a single magic item worth 90.000 gp.
Poor little Maulgro Graul, waiting for his mammy to heal his legs while she had the means to do that all along :( I almost feel happy for them as my players slaughtered them all.
As a grisly add-in to the sickness of this adventure, I gifted Mama Graul with a ring of regeneration, so that his sons could feed on her flesh as well as on the milk from her breast.
Just felt like sharing :)
In my game, when the group fought Mammy, she took to the sky with her fly spell, but the PC ranger managed to grab on. So he kept hitting her in mid-flight until she dropped below zero. At that point they both plumetted to the ground causing huge falling damage. The ranger survived, but Mammy Graul burst open and gave birth to twins when she hit the ground.
How's THAT for a YUK moment!!
Ultradan
Some advice wanted;
After the flood at Turtleback Ferry and the attack of Black Magga. The players thought (correctly) that something was amiss at the Skull's Crossing.
They just visited the Skull's Crossing, explored it and just went back to Fort Rannic. They killed the fiend, and all the trolls.
I made sure to have their characters notice to high water and tunderstorms (their first guess was it would be a Control Weather spell!) on the other side of the dam. I also had the fiend tell the PCs that he was being used as an energy source for the operation of the dam. The PCs investigated the miniature model of the dam, didn't know what to do with it, killed the fiend. And then they left...
The population of Turtleback Ferry in the meantime has fled to Fort Rannic, which is now crowded with villagers (there are 430 people living in TF. I guess at least 300 of them moved to the fort).
What if the PCs just leave it like this? If the pixie comes to them to ask for help later, they are gone another 2 days at least to Whitewillow. (I'm tempted to just let the dam breach and kill them all..)
Any advice on this?
You could have a small breach happen first, to show that the water level was still rising. Are there scouts or guards posted? They could notice the unusually concentrated rainfall.
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Some advice wanted;
After the flood at Turtleback Ferry and the attack of Black Magga. The players thought (correctly) that something was amiss at the Skull's Crossing.
They just visited the Skull's Crossing, explored it and just went back to Fort Rannic. They killed the fiend, and all the trolls.
I made sure to have their characters notice to high water and tunderstorms (their first guess was it would be a Control Weather spell!) on the other side of the dam. I also had the fiend tell the PCs that he was being used as an energy source for the operation of the dam. The PCs investigated the miniature model of the dam, didn't know what to do with it, killed the fiend. And then they left...
The population of Turtleback Ferry in the meantime has fled to Fort Rannic, which is now crowded with villagers (there are 430 people living in TF. I guess at least 300 of them moved to the fort).
What if the PCs just leave it like this? If the pixie comes to them to ask for help later, they are gone another 2 days at least to Whitewillow. (I'm tempted to just let the dam breach and kill them all..)
Any advice on this?
Wipe them out, let the guilty conscious take its toll ... ^_^
Any advice on this?
Turin the Mad has a good point.
Alternative:
They already cleared the dam and got whatever clues where there.
Now you need to move them to Hook Mountain.
If it does not add anything but an inconvenience to the party then don't have them go back to Skull's Crossing. Let it hold and since it has already been cleared have the villagers start repairs on the dam.
Focus on getting the party to the Kreeg Clanhold.
Some advice wanted;
After the flood at Turtleback Ferry and the attack of Black Magga. The players thought (correctly) that something was amiss at the Skull's Crossing.
<snip>[/smaller]Any advice on this?
The characters may have failed rolls to realize potential consequences, but are the players aware of it. . . or vice versa?
If killing the village would be fun for everyone, and the players and/ or characters don't mind a lesson in ethics, then I'd say go with it.
Otherwise, I'd try maybe some knowledge rolls if any character seems clueless to get the party more in line. I'd also weigh how the party deals with multitasking during chaos. Not every party deals well with the mop up, or that the clues they find might just lead to bigger clues in a not-so-straightforward way. Even flat out saying, "Hey, if you did A (or not do A), your character might experience X consequence, so will your character proceed or try something else" without a roll.
Some advice wanted;
After the flood at Turtleback Ferry and the attack of Black Magga. The players thought (correctly) that something was amiss at the Skull's Crossing.
<snip>[/smaller]Any advice on this?
The characters may have failed rolls to realize potential consequences, but are the players aware of it. . . or vice versa?
If killing the village would be fun for everyone, and the players and/ or characters don't mind a lesson in ethics, then I'd say go with it.
Otherwise, I'd try maybe some knowledge rolls if any character seems clueless to get the party more in line. I'd also weigh how the party deals with multitasking during chaos. Not every party deals well with the mop up, or that the clues they find might just lead to bigger clues in a not-so-straightforward way. Even flat out saying, "Hey, if you did A (or not do A), your character might experience X consequence, so will your character proceed or try something else" without a roll.
This is why I find it useful that the party has picked up and NPC (2 actually).
Their comments (and the weekly posted journal) help fill in information the party may have missed.
If they still ignore it, then goodbye town...
In the end, I just ignored the possible breaching of the dam. We have slain the hags and Barl now and slowly the water will settle.
When they later discussed this very problem (in character) they proposed to use some villagers as the source of energy for the floodgates, which was very amusing considering the ethical dilemma's for our paladin (should he be o.k. to sacrifice 2 innocents (volunteers perhaps) to save the lives of many?).
Thank you for all your input.
Cool addition. Although I would be reluctant to give a low-level party a single magic item worth 90.000 gp.As a grisly add-in to the sickness of this adventure, I gifted Mama Graul with a ring of regeneration, so that his sons could feed on her flesh as well as on the milk from her breast.
Just felt like sharing :)
It's grafted to her flesh. It has been used so severely that it's attuned to her metabolism much like a ioun stone for the runelords. Once removed it stops working.
In the end, I just ignored the possible breaching of the dam. We have slain the hags and Barl now and slowly the water will settle.
When they later discussed this very problem (in character) they proposed to use some villagers as the source of energy for the floodgates, which was very amusing considering the ethical dilemma's for our paladin (should he be o.k. to sacrifice 2 innocents (volunteers perhaps) to save the lives of many?).
Thank you for all your input.
"Innocents" imo would mean they are duped, coerced, and/ or forced against their will as sacrifices. Fully informed volunteers would not be, but I think a more creative solution could be to invent a means to power the machine through an alternate source long enough for the town to relocate. It doesn't need to make sense, it just needs enough time, perhaps research materials used, and some good rolls.
When they later discussed this very problem (in character) they proposed to use some villagers as the source of energy for the floodgates, which was very amusing considering the ethical dilemma's for our paladin (should he be o.k. to sacrifice 2 innocents (volunteers perhaps) to save the lives of many?).
A paladin that would allow that is in deed on a slippery slope.
In my players' party the fighter stepped onto the infernal engine without hesitation.
A dwarf's gotta do what a dwarf's gotta do.
Thank you very much am getting ready to run this adventure path as PRPG and this saves me a lot of time sitting down and converting things. Quick question have you converted any of the previous two modules?
I am doing the AP2 Conversion at the moment. It will hopefully be done in two days.
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I am doing the AP2 Conversion at the moment. It will hopefully be done in two days.
Thank you very much am getting ready to run this adventure path as PRPG and this saves me a lot of time sitting down and converting things. Quick question have you converted any of the previous two modules?
Hurry! We start that one in 3 days, LoL!
Hurry! We start that one in 3 days, LoL!
OK. I did. They are here.
Its 2 AM now and I am going to bed. Any feedback will as always be very welcome. I'd like to think I have been more thorough than I was with AP4 :)
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OK. I did. They are here.
Its 2 AM now and I am going to bed. Any feedback will as always be very welcome. I'd like to think I have been more thorough than I was with AP4 :)
Just wanted to say 'you rock'. This treatment of Kaer Maga is so useful that I hijacked it directly into my campaign (the party is lagging behind level due to a few untimely deaths). I decided that Xanesha had paid the Good Doctor for the Scarecrow with a sample of Vorel's Phage, delivered via a very unlucky courier whose disease-ravaged corpse the PCs will find in one of the cells. I also opted to make Tirana a Lamia Matriarch since I loves me a theme.
The tie in with Viorian is perfect. No lure drives my PCs better than the chance to pursue 'the NPC who gets away' and, in general, this idea helps to provide some of the foreshadowing that I feel is a little lacking in ROTR in general.
Your conversions have also been a life-saver this week, so thanks!
OK. I did. They are here.
Its 2 AM now and I am going to bed. Any feedback will as always be very welcome. I'd like to think I have been more thorough than I was with AP4 :)
Just wanted to say 'you rock'. This treatment of Kaer Maga is so useful that I hijacked it directly into my campaign (the party is lagging behind level due to a few untimely deaths). I decided that Xanesha had paid the Good Doctor for the Scarecrow with a sample of Vorel's Phage, delivered via a very unlucky courier whose disease-ravaged corpse the PCs will find in one of the cells. I also opted to make Tirana a Lamia Matriarch since I loves me a theme.
The tie in with Viorian is perfect. No lure drives my PCs better than the chance to pursue 'the NPC who gets away' and, in general, this idea helps to provide some of the foreshadowing that I feel is a little lacking in ROTR in general.
Your conversions have also been a life-saver this week, so thanks!
Great that it was helpfull :)
I realy love that you threw Vorel's Phage into the mix it holps tie the adventures very well and might even create a sense of anxiaty in the PCs, knowing that that "thing" is out there!
Grandfather:
Remember in your conversion that creatures with class levels but no racial HD are treated as 1 lower CR, such as the cultists, Ironbriar, etc. I've been running the AP on the fast XP progression (which the older APs meant for 3.5 are usually run on) and the reduction in XP from that has not affected the expected levels of my players. In fact, I suspect that if I didn't reduce the CRs to PRPG levels that I would have to switch to a slower XP progression.
Question for all:
on page 19 of Hook Mountain Hucker Graul is listed as having CR 8 as a barbarian 1/rogue 5, but shouldn't the ogrekin template only add 1 to the base creature's CR, not 2? Perhaps the level adjustment was used by mistake?
Question for all:
on page 19 of Hook Mountain Hucker Graul is listed as having CR 8 as a barbarian 1/rogue 5, but shouldn't the ogrekin template only add 1 to the base creature's CR, not 2? Perhaps the level adjustment was used by mistake?
I think Hucker should be CR7 for PRPG.
What the hell is a donkey rat?
What the hell is a donkey rat?
It's a dire rat without disease — a very large wild rat native to Varisia.
What the hell is a donkey rat?It's a dire rat without disease — a very large wild rat native to Varisia.
Also advanced to 6HD and medium size.
Has nobody done a map of the exterior of Fort Rannick? Can´t believe, because this is one of the biggest battles in the adventure. So please say somebody have... or I must use a lousy selfpainted on white grid paper!
Has anyone run the "Uncut" version of HMM? Grandpa Kreeg (the Ogre Mage) comes to my mind. Was he planned in addition to Barl Breakbones? Or did Barl replace him later in the edited version?
Has anyone done stats for him (Pathfinder stats)?
I should start Hook Mountain in two-three weeks so I am re-reading it and taking some notes for faster reference.
Looking at the PFSRD website conversions, I noticed the barbarian ogres and ogrekins have no rage powers listed, did I miss something? Also now that we have the APG, shall we use some barbarian variants for the kreegs?
A bit OT: Jaagrath has a belt of giant strength. Magic items description says clothing shrink and grow to fit its wearer, so the barbarian in my group will be able to use it?
A bit OT: Jaagrath has a belt of giant strength. Magic items description says clothing shrink and grow to fit its wearer, so the barbarian in my group will be able to use it?
Yep, they should be able to use any magic items from various enemies. Also note that this works for smaller creatures too, such as Erylium's dagger of returning. I think that this is a change between 3.5 to Pathfinder and a good one at that. Nothing worse than getting a cool new magic item and you can't use it because it's over-sized.
Yep, they should be able to use any magic items from various enemies. Also note that this works for smaller creatures too, such as Erylium's dagger of returning. I think that this is a change between 3.5 to Pathfinder and a good one at that. Nothing worse than getting a cool new magic item and you can't use it because it's over-sized.
A bit OT: Jaagrath has a belt of giant strength. Magic items description says clothing shrink and grow to fit its wearer, so the barbarian in my group will be able to use it?
I read the magic items page over and over and read that only clothing shrink and grow. Erylium's dagger remains that size although it could be used following special rules for under and oversized weapons. Magic armors except full plate could be adjusted by paying the right price to a blacksmith/wizard but don't shrink automatically as well.
I should start Hook Mountain in two-three weeks so I am re-reading it and taking some notes for faster reference.
Looking at the PFSRD website conversions, I noticed the barbarian ogres and ogrekins have no rage powers listed, did I miss something? Also now that we have the APG, shall we use some barbarian variants for the kreegs?
A bit OT: Jaagrath has a belt of giant strength. Magic items description says clothing shrink and grow to fit its wearer, so the barbarian in my group will be able to use it?
I would suggest that you use the Hurler and Invulnerable archetypes for the Grauls and Kreegs with Barbarian levels.
I read the magic items page over and over and read that only clothing shrink and grow. Erylium's dagger remains that size although it could be used following special rules for under and oversized weapons. Magic armors except full plate could be adjusted by paying the right price to a blacksmith/wizard but don't shrink automatically as well.
Wow, you're right, we've been doing it wrong the whole time! Oh well, RotRL doesn't really give you enough loot anyway. I think I'll actually stick with the way I've been doing it.
New stat block.
TURTLEBACK FERRY
LN Village
Corruption -1; Crime -6; Economy -1; Law +3; Lore 0; Society +1
Qualities Insular, Superstitious
Danger 0
DEMOGRAPHICS
Government Autocracy
Population 430 (391 humans; 22 gnomes; 17 halfings)
Notable NPCs
Mayor Maelin Shreed (LG male human cleric of Erastil 5)
MARKETPLACE
Base Value 500 gp; Purchase Limit 2,500 gp; Spellcasting 1st
Minor Items 2d4; Medium Items 1d4; Major Items —
Just a quick note: Has anyone noticed that the privy at the Graul farm, which is described as a number of "stinking pits", is located directly above several basement rooms (areas A11, A14, and A15)?
How can this work? Did the grauls dig a deep basement?
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Awesome! Thank you very much!I have finished a comprehensive PRPG conversion of the monsters of the Hook Mountain Massacre.
Enjoy!
Very helpful, Thank you!
I used your earlier version but just got to the point where I needed to work on the rest of them so this is perfect timing!
Hello,
I just used the converted list yesterday, and my party made short work of the Graul family. Thanks for the help.
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I sketched a side-view of Fort Rannick, as seen from across the Valley where my PCs will be scouting.
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx155/greykloak/Rannick-side_look.jpg
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My party got to the Black Magga piece last night. It went very well.
R1: Magga rises out of the water, kills the lone hero she's depicted holding in the module art.
R2: Magga tears into the church in a frenzy.
R3: Magga uses her Breath of Madness ability on the crowd.
R4: Magga bellows out in draconic, "You puny mortals can't begin to dream of what I've lost because of your stupid dam!" And continues to smash/destroy the church. I decided, on the fly, that Magga had left a clutch of eggs in her lair in the Storval Deeps, and the combination of being (potentially permanently) separated from her lair, her home in the Storval Depths, her clutch, and being forced to splash around the low rivers of southern Varisia has seriously pissed her off.
R5: Magga uses her 3/day spell like ability and demands that party member 1 go to her lair in the Storval Deeps, find that which is most valuable to her, and return it to her.
R5: Magga uses her 3/day spell like ability and demands that party member 2 go to her lair in the Storval Deeps, find that which is most valuable to her, and return it to her.
R6: Magga uses her 3/day spell like ability and demands that party member 3 go to her lair in the Storval Deeps, find that which is most valuable to her, and return it to her.
R7: She casts desecrate on the ruined Church, curses Erastil, blesses Lamashtu, and swims downriver.
The desecrate bit was the last straw for the residents of Turtleback; taking a look at the destroyed town, their newly unhallowed church, and their dead mayor (yeah, Magga killed him first), they decided that the safest place for them was Fort Rannick and everyone went north.
One the party starts journeying north into Storval I figure I'll create a little side adventure for them whereby they are compelled to adventure into Magga's lair.
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Just a quick note: Has anyone noticed that the privy at the Graul farm, which is described as a number of "stinking pits", is located directly above several basement rooms (areas A11, A14, and A15)?
How can this work? Did the grauls dig a deep basement?
I realized this too when I was reading through HMM the other day. Any suggestions?
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Either carve a 5x10' closet out of the basement or revise the description to have it be a slightly raised squat toilet with a hole through the base wall that drains to a pit beside the house.
It's not so bad if there's good drainage. If there ain't, it's gross. I used the latter type of facility in Nepal on my honeymoon and it was certainly foul enough for Ogrekin.
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Ok, I know I'm doing something wrong converting Jaagrath Kreeg. Working him through Hero Lab, I have his strength at 32 (not raging): 15 attribute, +2 for levels (I bumped him to 8th), +11 Racial, +4 Belt of Giant Strength. What am I doing wrong, because the other conversions I have seen give him a 26 strength.
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Ok, I know I'm doing something wrong converting Jaagrath Kreeg. Working him through Hero Lab, I have his strength at 32 (not raging): 15 attribute, +2 for levels (I bumped him to 8th), +11 Racial, +4 Belt of Giant Strength. What am I doing wrong, because the other conversions I have seen give him a 26 strength.
That is what I have as well.
Male Ogre Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 8
CE Large Humanoid (Giant)
Init +0; Senses Darkvision (60 feet), Low-Light Vision; Perception +6
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DEFENSE
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AC 17, touch 9, flat-footed 17. . (+3 armor, -1 size, +5 natural)
hp 196 (8d12+4d8+60)
Fort +14, Ref +3, Will +6
DR 4/-, 8/lethal; Resist Extreme Endurance (-Choose-)
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OFFENSE
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Spd 50 ft.
Melee Gutripper +23/+18/+13 (2d8+17/19-20/x3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
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STATISTICS
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Str 28/32, Dex 11, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 5
Base Atk +11; CMB +23; CMD 33
Feats Cleave, Improved Critical: Ogre Hook, Iron Will, Power Attack -3/+6, Toughness +12, Weapon Focus: Ogre Hook
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +16, Fly -2, Handle Animal +5, Intimidate +6, Perception +6, Stealth -4
Languages Giant
SQ Fast Movement +10 (Ex), Hero Points (1), Rage (22 rounds/day) (Ex), Reckless Abandon (+/-3) (Ex), Regenerative Vigor (Fast Healing 1) (Ex), Renewed Vigor 2d8+4 HP (1/day) (Ex), Superstition +4 (Ex)
Combat Gear Gutripper; Other Gear Belt of Giant Strength, +4, Bracers of Armor, +3
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Cleave If you hit your first target, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus in exchange for -2 AC.
Damage Reduction (4/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Damage Reduction (8/lethal) You have Damage Reduction against non-lethal damage
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Extreme Endurance: -Choose- (Ex) At 3rd level, the invulnerable rager is inured to either hot or cold climate effects (choose one) as if using endure elements. In addition, the barbarian gains 1 point of fire or cold resistance for every three levels beyond 3rd. This ability replace
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage (22 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Reckless Abandon (+/-3) (Ex) Trade AC penalty for to hit bonus while raging.
Regenerative Vigor (Fast Healing 1) (Ex) After using renewed vigor rage power and until the current rage ends, gain fast healing 1.
Renewed Vigor 2d8+4 HP (1/day) (Ex) 1/day while raging, heal yourself for 2d8+4 HP
Superstition +4 (Ex) +4 save vs. magic while raging.
Male Ogre Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 8
CE Large Humanoid (Giant)
Init +0; Senses Darkvision (60 feet), Low-Light Vision; Perception +6
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DEFENSE
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AC 15, touch 7, flat-footed 15. . (+3 armor, -1 size, +5 natural)
hp 220 (8d12+4d8+84)
Fort +16, Ref +3, Will +8
DR 4/-, 8/lethal; Resist Extreme Endurance (-Choose-)
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OFFENSE
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Spd 50 ft.
Melee Gutripper +22/+17/+12 (2d8+29/19-20/x3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
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STATISTICS
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Str 28/36, Dex 11, Con 19/23, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 5
Base Atk +11; CMB +25; CMD 33
Feats Cleave, Improved Critical: Ogre Hook, Iron Will, Power Attack -3/+6, Toughness +12, Weapon Focus: Ogre Hook
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +18, Fly -2, Handle Animal +5, Intimidate +6, Perception +6, Stealth -4
Languages Giant
SQ Fast Movement +10 (Ex), Hero Points (1), Rage (22 rounds/day) (Ex), Reckless Abandon (+/-3) (Ex), Regenerative Vigor (Fast Healing 1) (Ex), Renewed Vigor 2d8+6 HP (1/day) (Ex), Superstition +4 (Ex)
Combat Gear Gutripper; Other Gear Belt of Giant Strength, +4, Bracers of Armor, +3
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Cleave If you hit your first target, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus in exchange for -2 AC.
Damage Reduction (4/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Damage Reduction (8/lethal) You have Damage Reduction against non-lethal damage
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Extreme Endurance: -Choose- (Ex) At 3rd level, the invulnerable rager is inured to either hot or cold climate effects (choose one) as if using endure elements. In addition, the barbarian gains 1 point of fire or cold resistance for every three levels beyond 3rd. This ability replace
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage (22 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Reckless Abandon (+/-3) (Ex) Trade AC penalty for to hit bonus while raging.
Regenerative Vigor (Fast Healing 1) (Ex) After using renewed vigor rage power and until the current rage ends, gain fast healing 1.
Renewed Vigor 2d8+6 HP (1/day) (Ex) 1/day while raging, heal yourself for 2d8+6 HP
Superstition +4 (Ex) +4 save vs. magic while raging.
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I'm prepping for my party to hit Hook Mountain next week and I have some concerns, and wanted to see how other folks ran this combat.
1) The little room where the hags and Lamatar are in... it is pretty small for 3 large creatures and 1 medium one, not to mention the little tiny choke point that leads into the room. I'm concerned that combat in this area is going to grind to a halt due to the little chokepoint and limited combat area in D7. Since the hags aren't going to leave the room (from the text: "The denizens of areas D7–D9 do not join battle here, preferring to face intruders in their lairs where they have stronger advantages."), the entire combat seems like it could lead to a boring tactical standoff.
Suggestion: Move the encounter to area D8, the Lamashtu shrine.
2) The 6 guards in area 5 and 6, and the 8 exhausted/enslaved ogres in area: that's 13 ogres all packed into a set of caves with feeder tunnels of 10" width. My party is kind of sick of fighting ogres after Fort Rannick, and now they have to fight 13 more in a choke-point rich environment. I smell a boring combat.
Suggestion: Change the 3 ogres in area 5 into one stone giant; change the two guard ogres in area 6 into two juju zombie ogres, brought back to life by the necromancer Barl; have the enslaved ogres turn on their zombie guards when the fight goes down in area 5, and give the party a chance to intimidate/diplomacy onto their side.
3) Not really a problem, but I'm curious if anyone has modified Barl's spellbook to include spells from Ultimate Magic/APG/Combat/other sources that are thematic for either this encounter, the AP, or stone giants in general.
Cheers
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Are you noticing that the squares are 10', not 5'? My experience was that there are lots of really roomy combats around the clanhold and a little narrowing of the rooms was a nice change.
With that, I ran it in the described room but with Mirage Arcana and Veil running. My three hags were made to look like Black Arrow prisoners chained to a central spire, the mooks (Lamatar in this case) were made to look like water elementals and the room was made to look like a pool of steamy water behind a door (that the hags could see through but the party couldn't until they interacted with the illusion). When the first two guys dropped to Baleful Polymorph, it sparked a memorable fighting retreat.
Re: zombies, my group cleared out everything but the Hags and Barl on their first sortie. Sadly, this left the necromancer and the hags who can cast Reincarnate and Animate Dead at will with no material components. Needless to say, there was a mess of ogre zombies (mostly free-roaming) when my PCs returned.
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I made Lamatar an 8th level ranger in addition to being a barrow wight, and gave a +1 frost longsword and spiked gauntlet so he could go full two-weapon and still level drain. I also made 2 of the 3 hags greenhags, so they were smaller, and gave all of them 5 levels in witch. I also made this chamber open air and made the throne room underground (so they couldn't just send the druid on a flyover and drop the whole party on the end fight). They used fog cloud, web, mind blank, the flight hex, invisibility (which when added to mind blank makes them 100% undetectable) and various debuffs to really put the hurt on the party. They nearly got a TPK because they successfully put the only cleric into a forcecage, so no channeling nor clerical healing. Fortunately, the druid with his healing spells and the bard with his wand kept the party alive long enough for the forcecage to expire, and even then two of the hags fled when their sister bit it.
As for the exhausted ogres, they shouldn't be more than a speedbump for the party at this level, and that's a good thing. It lets them flex their muscles a bit over foes that had them soiling their armor just a few levels ago.
I did give Barl some different feats and spells, and I added a zombie stone giant (the AP states he killed one of his bodyguards that gave him sass, so why not animate him to provide an example of expected behavior to the other?). The druid ravaged the living stone giant, so Barl animated him too midfight. Made things a lot more interesting!
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Are you noticing that the squares are 10', not 5'?
Ah, doh! That makes it more reasonable. Thank you.
I made Lamatar an 8th level ranger in addition to being a barrow wight, and gave a +1 frost longsword and spiked gauntlet so he could go full two-weapon and still level drain. I also made 2 of the 3 hags greenhags, so they were smaller, and gave all of them 5 levels in witch.
Sweet ideas.
I did give Barl some different feats and spells, and I added a zombie stone giant (the AP states he killed one of his bodyguards that gave him sass, so why not animate him to provide an example of expected behavior to the other?).
Also very cool. Thanks again.