Berkal's page

As always, I think it's a little of everything. You as a DM want 'role'players (or at least players who will RP sometimes) and your players want to 'roll'play. I like the point about having fun - could very well be that the players just want to hack things, it's how the enjoy things - you can either ask them if they'd like to try a more balanced style, adjust your expectations, or find a new bunch.

However, if the examples weren't exaggerated, then I think a new 'by-the-book' campaign is in order too. No rolling until they have all 18's - use point-buy, and then in the game stick to the DMG wealth levels. That should solve the majority of the god-like PC's. As for killing the King, if the no longer have Thor's Hammer to help them escape, getting cut to ribbons by the royal guard + royal wizard might (might!) bring about a change in tactics.
Good luck

Way back when, I ran the original game in the NW of Realms. Fireshear is a mining town North of Luskan, and I had the giant problem escalate as they went further east along the mountains. Back then we weren't so concerned with backstory, so replacing Istivin with Fireshear wasn't a big deal.

In order to keep things going, Fireshear is again the city I'm using for the three Dungeon adventures. Because Fireshear is barely mentioned in most FR material is allows you to do whatever you want without running into "reality" problems in other areas. If I was starting from scratch, I'd probably use the Silver Marches area, though I don't know what city would be the focus.

I ran the GDQ 1-7 in FR 'back-in-the-day' and it's going to be great having some old names resurface when we play the entire trilogy. One of the PC's who survived the trip into the Abyss is actually going to provide the hook for the current group.

Running into Algorthas should be fun. I think I'm going to replace Verbane with Lashton, so a whole new group of PC's can hate this guy. Basically he's still stuck as a bureaucrat in a backwater, being close to power, but not holding it directly.

Another bit I think will add some color will be having the name 'Johann' engraved in Surfrira's axe...that she obviously recovered at some point. Be an in-game way of showing the connection. I think I'll have the PC's pass through a mashed town, the one where Johann died, and later Surfrira razed in a rage.

Firstly: the combination of great adventures and downloadable maps and NPC pics is awesome - great time savers and they help to (literally) add color to the game.

Now the request: any chance of having two sets of the maps and pics? Versions with no text allow them to be used as player maps with no extra work - and depending on how the maps are built, maybe just removing the text layer would do the trick.

Examples are the map of Istivin. We're running in FR, so the city name is going to channge, but additionally, the numbers that are right on the map mean it can't be used as a player map unless the numbers are all removed - bit of a giveaway when "the super secret entrance to the dungeon of incredible badness" happens to be #12 on a map...a bit of a giveaway for the players.
Maybe this would add too much work (or maybe it's been asked before) but I thought I'd ask.
Thanks, and keep the great adventures coming.

More kudos on the Big Johann connection - definitely one of the most memorable encounters in memory :)

The "Abyss" trio are very, very cool. Keep 'em coming.