Ares0415's page

Okay, let me see if I can help. I started the adventure path and slowly but surely my group is getting through it. They are about to head into Flood Season so I know exactly what you mean.

1. Keeping them happy is difficult, but play with them. I beat them up pretty badly throughout the whole dungeon. Jzadirune was a cakewalk for my player too, and in hindsight it should be. However, enjoy the Forge, the two Automan guards, and the fight with Kazmojen.
I wouldn't sell the children, because it is really hard for low level adventurers to keep up the pressure. Have them about to be sold or even better, have them be just sold and carried off while they fight. Then, the party has a chance to stop them, but must forget about being full powered.
Also, if you want to pick at them for retreating and coming back, a few random encounters with the skulks might be okay. Eventually the fighter will fail to hit.
And feel free to add a whole ton of hobgoblins to the fight with Kazmojen. This would in theory make the fighter face Kazmojen, while the rest of the party fights the hobgoblins and the howler and retrieve the kids.

2. This one is a bit trickier. There is no one way to force roleplay out of your players. Try to throw some people at them as rp encounters (as in barkeeps, call girls, smiths) who are insulted when the party doesn't remember them....or just forget it. I mean I found that when I wanted something out of the party it didn't happen until I accepted it might not. Its an evil thing parties do.

3. Why not kill them? I know they want their characters to be all cool and awesome and they are heartbroken when those characters die, but death happens. I hate killing my PC's and I try to fudge the dice on occassion. But my PCs have been in the negatives plenty of times now. I suspect some major deaths too. The key is to have a way for them to come back if they do. They are friends with the (soon to be) high priestess of the church. She knows people, if she can't do it herself. I would rule she could do it herself regardless of the AP.

4. Change it. Until I altered my stuff a little, it seemed forced. Make it unique to your world. Change the story, monsters, anything. The beginning is horribly awkward, but any story is at the beginning. Try to foreshadow as much as possible, look up info for ahead, and get them to tell you OOC what their goals and for the character. Find out PrC's, magic items, feats...anything. Any of those can give you a better person to give them direction and they will like it more that way. Also...let them do what they want.....just poke them in the right direction from time to time.

In closing. Have fun with the AP. I look at Tongueater and I feel like all the pain the party dealt me will be over soon. The first two adventures are cakewalks in some aspect for the party. Then it becomes hell. And if you think your party is bad at taking the direction....my party led old women across the streets dressed as the Last Laugh to being their reputation down because the party thought the Last Laugh was going to be the BBEG. And they confused Locks with......a tree grove, a barber, the lake. I sat there with a shocked look on my face for most of the first session.

After a couple of months away from the game due to me (The DM) going away to college, our group is getting together for a few more sessions of the SCAP before I leave.

I've been rereading the adventures (Life's Bazaar and Drakthar's Way) and have a few questions for all of you.

Now I started the party at 2nd level for various reasons including that I lower the gold they have and I thought the first adventure was killer.

The party looks like this:
Orc Fighter (Melee) 2
Half-Elf Fighter (Archer) 2
Dwarven Cleric of Luck 2
Dwarven Illusionist 2
Wild Elf Monk 2
Human Rogue 2

1. They are currently in Jzadirune. They are getting their butts kicked by the traps (bad rolls) and I fear that the endurance needed for Life's Bazaar isn't there. Did anyone else feel like the adventure seems really long and hard for the levels they are supposed to be.

Another note of worth, I do not allow the characters to level during the adventure. I run the training optional rules, so they need downtime.

2. Drakthar's Way also seems like it might be a little tough. Reading over the rest of the AP, I'm thinking of just having the PC's be one level above the suggested level. I say this becuase I tend to run my monsters, especially some of the ones presented in the AP, more intelligently then they are typically run, so they are more challenging. Would this be overbalancing? I was estimating the PC's to be level 21 before the final fight anyway.

Any help or advice would be apreciated.