PeteZero |
Alright, I am going to run this scenario for my group. They want to play when they reach level 7. I have played it, and it was tough, so, shall I delay them, or as they want a 'challenge' play, and see how it goes?
The group: dwarf cleric 7
halfling monk 1 / lion shaman 6
bard 7
rogue 7 (sap adept)
ninja 7
Auke Teeninga Regional Venture-Coordinator, Baltic |
Alizor |
I would not let them play this when they are all only level 7. Or at least, warn them that it'll be a very very bad idea. When I GMed this there were two situations that were tough moments:
Secondly we never were able to finish the last part because of a time limitation... but they sounded the alarm at the final area. I knew that they were completely and woefully unprepared for fighting the Wizard... and then fighting the complex all at once. I frankly told them that they could take their 2/3 module credit now, or we could play this out the next game day and there is a good chance of a TPK... giving them 2/3 credit.
That last Act is quite rough.
PeteZero |
Not only an experienced group, highly minmaxed. I learned a lot from your druid. I till remember Ursus, grappling the one in the first combat, which ended up a cakewalk. I gave them a warning, so wait and see, now it's their choice, if they want to die. They are experienced, the thief is highly minmaxed - sap master, the druid - soso, halfling lion shaman, the rest well built. I gave them the option, so, if they want to play at lvl7....
PeteZero wrote:shall I delay themYeah, remember we all played 8th level characters, and there were 6 of us, and some very expirienced players.
So I'd wait until most of them are level 8 or even (some of them) level 9!
Aaron Hale |
Played this one a few months back under the old module rules. Having built a party of 4 optimized 8th level characters we found the module very difficult. Only a few parts were TRULY dangerous, but the stats in the module were so perfectly balanced against our party that some of the combats
Don't go there with 4, 7th level characters. Just don't do it, or they will be sorry. LOL
Eric Clingenpeel Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant |
Don't go there with 4, 7th level characters. Just don't do it, or they will be sorry. LOL
And this is why Flickembicus' last chronicle is wrong! Learn to count Aaron... ;) (5 7th lvls in the OP)
Yeah, even with 5, I still wouldn't play in it with a 7th lvl char...
Rubia |
My ears are burning.
But in all seriousness, a group of optimized characters should be able to get through the mod with minimal casualties at level 7. We struggled a bit when he played at 8 but we were average-under par.
I'm not sure which mod you guys are playing, but when I ran Cult for a group of 6 optimized 8th level characters, I killed two PCs outright, and I would have TPK'd the party 4 times over, even if their characters came back from the dead at full health immediately after dying.
The module will kill multiple PCs if run with the brutal efficiency that it should be, given the stats of the enemies involved.
Be warned.
Rubia
Dan Luckett |
Ursus the Breaker wrote:My ears are burning.
But in all seriousness, a group of optimized characters should be able to get through the mod with minimal casualties at level 7. We struggled a bit when he played at 8 but we were average-under par.
I'm not sure which mod you guys are playing, but when I ran Cult for a group of 6 optimized 8th level characters, I killed two PCs outright, and I would have TPK'd the party 4 times over, even if their characters came back from the dead at full health immediately after dying.
The module will kill multiple PCs if run with the brutal efficiency that it should be, given the stats of the enemies involved.
Be warned.
Rubia
That sounds more familiar...
Ursus the Breaker |
Eric Clingenpeel Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant |
Ursus the Breaker |
I don't know. I'd call lumping all the encounters in the silk mill and the final two encounters together pretty anti-softballing. Care to give an example?
We didnt have any of the traditional showstoppers. No unhittably high ACs, no real healers, and no 'you die now' full attackers. Our wizard was pretty optimized for save-or-lose but other than that we were pretty average.
Branding Opportunity |
Ursus, I didn't read the entire thing... but from what I did, it does look like he went a little easy on you guys :)
Also from what I could tell, you guys weren't that unoptimized...
The group I ran this with (the one mentioned above) was a group of 6 PCs, a few somewhat optimized, and some not. There was one near death, and a couple of close calls.
I don't think I softballed the PCs (although this is a very subjective term, and can mean different things to different people), but neither did I gang up on them all that much.
There are quite a few encounters where you have the entire party against a single target. These combats are the hardest to balance, because you have no wiggle room. They tend to either be near-TPKs or nearly walk-throughs. The more targets you give the PCs, the more you can fine-tune the encounters.
heretic Venture-Captain, Ireland—Belfast |
Hmm
It is tough in places. Doable with the right 7th level party, murder with the wrong 8th level one. We coped OK when the guy playing the cleric was there but struggled in the session (finale) he could not make it. If I were to play it again I would vote for caution and a balance party of 8th level.
W