Chris Salvato's page

I'm running Champions Belt In about 48 hours, and unfortunately, work and personal life have left me very little prep time.

So, I need to cram, and I need your help!

The group has already signed on with Ekaym Smallcask, so I imagine that our 6-hour gaming session will encompass the pre-games party, some gladiator team interplay, and the first battle.

I've already fleshed out the remaining gladiator teams, so the party should be a fairly easy RP session. Should I worry about the PCs exploring under the Cenoeby yet? What sould I be wary of for the near-term future, foreshadowing, etc?

Any advice, shortcuts, references, tips, or cheat sheets would be appreciated.

I have been mentioning the Champion's Games to my party for the entire campaign through a few subtle mentionings - flyers, overheard conversations, etc.

My question is this: With my party already interested in participating, and they've already figured out that they need to do some digging to find a license, is Celeste's involvement really necessary for the remainder of the campaign?

Would it be okay, as far as the future campaign is concerned, if they (with the right Gather Info checks) discover Ekaym on their own?

I just hate to have another adventure handed to them by DM fiat - Them finding Ekaym is a bit more organic.

I too had an infiltrator, and it All worked out pretty well.

My advice would be to cover your bases - make sure you have several logical scenarios under which the switch can be made. My party decided to turn themselves over the the authorities after the "assault" on the inkeeper, sidestepping the scenario I had in mind. I opted then for an interrogation session in which the relevant party member was swapped.

In addition, make sure that EVERY character is alone at some point or another, and make sure to bring up this point at the relevant time if the party doesn't bring it up.

I also invented a magical pair of amulets which allowed the doppelganger to access all the knowledge and abilities of the duplicated creature. It made things much easier, as the replaced PC's player could still make use of feats, class abilites, etc. This may also remove the ability of the party to detect the doppel early, but I found it easier to do things this way (the doppel player was less experienced than the rest of the players)

In addition, I had these amulets work both ways - the PC was privvy to the thoughts and unguarded knowlege of the doppelganger. This way, when the real character was rescued, she was able to pass on info about the doppelganger gang in a more natural way than me just telling them what's happening. Fianlly, they were destroyed when one of the two parties was killed.

To cover why the doppelganger would willingly attack and kill its compatriots, I had overwhelming thoughts of cold-blooded ambition about Ixaxian working its way up the gang's heirarchy via attrition. I had vague visions of a tentacled monster strike cold fear into the otherwise fearless and arrogant doppelganger's mind, hinting at the true mastermind of the gang.

My final piece of advice: Try to END a session with the party entering the room with their duplicates. You'll probably get a lot of valuable info in the post-game chit chat, as they talk about their discovey, their theories about who might be an imposter, and how to determine who is who. You and your stooge can also work out some exact battle plans. I managed to do this, and it worked well - the players had all that time between sessions to stew on it, theorize, and draw wild conclusions, and I had time to come up with why the druid's animal companion did not detect any scent differences (magic amulets to the rescue!).

Good luck - I think the switch is definately worth it!

OMG! This thing looks so cool! You are quite the artist!

I would love to have such a thing for my campaign, and I am trying it the way you did.
Is it possible to apply color to the model, if yes, what kind of color!

Looks great, can't wait to see "your Kyuss!" ;)

Thanks for the praise!

As for painting, the sculpey box says it will take acrylic (water-based) paints. I'll probably have it painted by someone more skilled than myself, but I do intend to give it a nice high-gloss finish as well for the full "slime" effect.

I wanted the climax of The champion's belt to be something memorable, and I definately wanted a Gargantuan-sized mini to be used for the ol' Ulgurstasta. But, seeing as there was nothing available to buy, I decided to get a little craqzy, and build my own:

http://homepage.mac.com/shidara1/PhotoAlbum1.html

It's a little skinnier than I wanted it, but I'm overall pleased with how it came out. It took me a little over an hour from start to finish.

It's sculpted on a wire-hanger wire bent into a rough S-shape. I bulked it out with crumpled aluminum foil, and then added layers of Sculpey on top to sculpt.

The claws are from Epic-scale GW Lictor models.

Commetns and suggestions are welcome!

Chris

Need some clarification around this ability...

Pierce Illusion (Su): You have the ability to penetrate illusions and disguises at will. When ever you see an illusion or disguise spell of any sort, you immediately make a Will save to see through it.

Sounds to me like the INTENT of this ability is to see the true nature of something or someone that others may be trying to prevent you from seeing - i.e., the character is so adept at noticing the slightest flaw in any illusion that he is a master at exposing such tactics.

In that respect, all illusions and spells that add to a disguise check would obviously be affected, but I'd go further to say that any illusion that makes something appear as if it were something else would also be affected.

However, since Blur, Displacement and other concealment-granting effects aren't making the target appear to be something else - they merely make them harder to focus on/accurately target - I'd say the ability does NOT apply. In addition, I believe Blur and Displacement do not grant Will saves to avoid the effects, so where would you base the DC which the CI would have to make?

IMHO, unless the spell allows a spot check and/or Will disbelief save, the CI does not get to use this ability.

Chris

Assuming the party fails to destroy the Ulgurstasa before the final battle with Auric's warband, and the party perseveres with Auric & Co.'s help and they defeat the beast, who gets the belt?

Has anybody had to dea with this occurance? How did you do so?

So, how exactly are the PCs (and for that matter, the Doppelgangers) expected to access to area D5 on the map?

The door in D2 is false.

The ladder in D4 is rickety and will collapse at the slightest touch.

As far as I can see, there is no direct access, save climbing a rope or piling up crates, to the catwalk and in turn the secret door leading to the rest of the lair. Am I missing something here?

Chris

I'm not sure what the big deal is...why can't the players take time and improve the town? If they've gotten attatched to an imaginary place as if it is a real one, you should feel proud as a DM, not force them to let the big kids take care of the problem.

I would love to be able to allow this, but my problem is twofold - First, we play once a month at best, and we are looking at years before AoW is complete going by-the-book. Adding a side project as complicated as retooling an entire town's political and social structure just adds more time into things, as well as a staggering amount of work for the DM.

Second, I wouldn't have any idea where to begin! I have no degrees in political science or sociology, and so have no ideas *how* to turn a town around like they want to. Even if I let them come up with the ideas, how can I possibly judge and simulate the effectiveness of their plans with any degree of realism?

In the end, I think the solution I came up with is the best for this situation. The party *has* already started the process of revitalizing Diamond Lake, and the changes can take place in the background, where I can simply get to the end result without having to explain the exact methods by which the town got there.

What did Allustan and Valkus Dun have to say (or do) about all this? They're not chumps. Allustan, in particular, has powerful connections (i.e., Manzorian). Despite their falling out ten years ago, Manzorian is not likely to ignore Allustan's request for help against a rampaging black dragon. Then there are the rangers of the nearby Bronzewood Lodge, who, with the combined aid of the clerics and warriors of Heironeous, could mount a stiff resistance against the dragon.

If this isn't enough, the directors of Greyhawk have far too much invested in the mines of Diamond Lake to tolerate such a situation for long. The PCs certainly aren't the only ones capable of handling a dragon menace such as Ilthane's. If they were, all of the Flanaess would have been overrun with far worse evil long ago. In other words, in the long run the party doesn't really need to react to this threat at all, unless, of course, they are the every-individual-life-is-worth-dying-for kind of heroes.

Whoops - I failed to mention that the scenario I outlined above was just an additional layer I was going to add on to the scenario presented in A Gathering of Winds. All of what you mention can be said about AGoW even without the addition of the dragon egg.

From what I'm reading in the plot synopsis for AGoW, Allustan is not present for the dragon attack. Without him, Valkus Dun and the other higher-level NPCs would be hard pressed to defeat Ilthane, especially if she were to employ hit-and-run tactics against the town and its defenders, staying alert for any messengers fleeing the town, seeking reinforcements.

My party wanted nothing to do with Ilthane's egg when they encountered it in the Twiasted Branch Lair, after convincing the Lizardfolk to relocate the tribe.

So Ilthane discovers her egg, alone and unprotected in the egg chamber. Furious, she vents her rage on Diamond Lake, rounding up the townspeople and herding them into the Feral Dog. She then deposits her egg in the Dog as well, intending to let the worms do their work on the townsfolk instead of the Lizardfolk. Depending upon how cruel I feel, the party will either find an abandoned town inhabited by Spawn of Kyuss when they return, or they'll find an abandoned town with townsfolk who need to be saved from a terrible fate.

Thoughts?

Wow - thanks for all the great ideas, but the solution came to me this morning, and it's essentially already in place!

First, background:
When the party emerged from the Dourstone Mine, they confronted Smenk, whose home was in ruins. An attempt had been made on his life by a group of Kenku, sent by the Faceless One after he surmised that Smenk was attempting a double-cross.

The party then turned Smenk over to the Heironeans at the Garrison before heading to Blackwall Keep to rescue the Rogue's family, who had been kidnapped by Smenk to get them to go into Dourstone in the first place.

Now, for the solution:

While the party was at Blackwall, the Heironean used Smenk and the irrefutable evidence of evil cult activity to sway officials in Greyhawk to send an investigator to Diamond Lake to oversee (a) smooth transition of the Smenk mines to new ownership and (b) investigate the corruption and abuse seemingly inherent in the system. In addition, a high-ranking Heironean priest is also dispathced to Diamond Lake to investigate the evil temples hidden below Dourstone mine, and determine the fate of that mine, as well as to conduct the church's own inquiry into the abuses in the town.

Thus, the characters have *already* saved Diamond Lake - they got the officials involved, as well as a moral authority (the Heironeans), and they can now focus on the quest at hand. In addition, their vested interest in the town means that when Ilthane does come a knocking, they will have a definite reaction.

Thoughts on this solution?

For the (out-of session) return trip from Blackwall Keep, I asked my players what they intended to do in Diamond Lake when they returned, in the hopes that we could dispense with tedious downtime issues like visiting NPCs and buying/selling over email.

The druid immediately asked about the Feral Dog, and has a semi-real plan to burn the place to the ground and liberate the animals there. The Rogue has taken things one step further.

As a resident of the town, her family has been used and abused by Balabar Smenk and the town in general. Seemingly heady with power from their adventuring victories, she has said the following:

"We can do this!!!! We can save a town!!!! I agree with Servious ... WE'RE HEROES! It's our duty to protect. However, I disagree with the fact that a road trip will help set an example for Diamond Lake. We must save this town from sure destruction and demoralization!!! We must act now!!!!"

(Severious is the party Sorcerer, who was trying to get them back on track to the Free City [bless his heart].)

What the HELL do I do now??? On one hand, it would be nice if they had a vested interest in Diamond Lake for when Ilthane comes to town. But, I fear that this crusade to clean up Diamond Lake may bog down and ultimately short-circuit the campaign.

HELP!!!!

My party is about to parley with the Twisted Branch shaman, and I'm gearing up for the negotiations/discussions. After reading and re-reading the adventure, I'm left puzzled by a few things - please, don't mind me while I talk some stuff out. Please feel free to add you input as necessary.

1) Hishka (the shaman) is said to not like the aggressive stance of the new king. It will seek to enlist the party's assistance in removing the King and his Lieutenant. Who, if anybody, will step in to fill the power void? The Shaman? A promising your Lizardfolk warrior loyal to the Shaman?

2) There is no mention of how the remainder of the tribe will react to the death of their king - I imagine Hishka would have a coterie of like-minded lizardfolk who would fight against those firmly entrenched in Shukak's corner. A nice scene that would make, a small-scale civil war in the Twisted Branch Lair, Shaman-loyal lizardfolk taking up arms against Shukak's anti-human warriors, while the party battles to defeat the "assassins" brought in by the shaman . . . Hmm . . .

2) How exactly do I get the party to the egg chamber? Supposing they make a deal with Hishka, depose the King and his followers, and instate a new ruler willing to make peace with the humans, what reason does the tribe have for wanting the egg chamber inspected by outsiders? Hishka is not written as having any probelm with the alliance with Ilthane, and so (as written) has no reason to doubt the dragon's intentions.

I suppose it would be easy enough to just say that Hishka is beginning to suspect the dragon is up to no good, and ask that the party eliminate the guardian kobolds Ilthane left behind while the "civil war" is fought. Would Hishka mention the dragon egg, and what would it want done about it?

But Hishka is mentioned as valuing the survival of the tribe above all else. Is risking Ilthane's wrath for betrayal and/or destruction of her precious egg in the best interest of the tribe? Ilthane could easily wipe the Twisted Branch off the face of the mistmarsh - why anger her?

Please, help me out here. Suggestions, anecdotes, solutions are all welcome!

Bear with me for the long post, I've got a unique and interesting dilemma here . . .

So my players have trudged through the mistmarsh and arrive at the Twisted Branch Lair. The Druid (whose player is famous for unorthodox thinking) decides to cast Speak with Plants and Speak with Animals to gather information about the lizardfolk tribe living nearby. With some good rolls, he found out that (a) there have been no young lizardfolk for many seasons; (b) some of the lizardfolk are different than the others, and (c) a large evil thing was here recently (Ilthane).

Hearing all of this, they have pieced to gether that something is not right within the tribe, and the plan is to enter the lair and attempt to parley with the lizardfolk - a real "take me to your leader" situation.

The party is two halflings (Drd and Ftr), a goblin (Sor/Rog)(reincarnated human), and a teenage human (Rog), and not one of them speaks Draconic.

So the quiestion is how do I handle them attempting to get across "we come in peace" to a non-common-speaking lizardfolk who encounters then inside their lair?

My first thought is a Diplomacy check to move the Lizardfolk from Hostile to Unfriendly. However, that DC is 20, but since this would be a hurried attempt, it would be another +10 on the DC, and to top it off, there should be some penalty (-5, perhaps) for not speaking the same langauge, making a whopping DC 35 Diplomacy check - a pretty tough call for 5th-level characters.

So what about an opposed wisdom check just to establish that the party isn't a threat at first sight, allowing them to take the full minute to try a regular diplomacy check at the much more reasonable DC of 25?

I'd like to reward this unorthodox and decidedly non-hack-n-slash attempt to resolve things, but I don't want to make it a cake walk. I dunno, maybe I should just allow it to work regardless of the rolls involved, just because of the ingenuity?

Anopther problem is that if they *are* taken directly to Shukak, they miss the opportunity to meet Hishka and possibly forge an alliance - unless I can come up with some reason they would be brought before Hishka first?

Once they are brought before Shukak, it would most likely be a death sentance for the party, which they would resist, thus bringing all the lizardfolk into the fight . . .

But if they can be brought before Hishka first, she can get them in cahoots to kill the king.

But if the king is killed, won't the Lizardfolk go crazy and try and kill the intruders? How can Hishka calm the remaining tribe before they swarm the party and get slaughtered? what good is it to Hishka if she is the only surviving Twisted Branch member?

Ugh! My brain hurts! Stupid players and their outside-the-box thinking!!!

Chris

So my poarty experienced their first actual death - 3FoE, the Grimlock Chieftan charged and full-power-attacked the Sor/Rog (who was already down 10 hp from a longspear crit), hitting for 26 damage, putting the pour soul to -16 in a heartbeat.

The party Druid, feeling solely responsible for the death (he had failed to notice that the Sor/Rog was wounded), immediately set down and began petitioning Elhonna for a reincarnate spell - a spell the 5th-level druid was still several levels away from qualifying for. The Player announced that the Druid would be willing do do anything to gain this favor from his deity, and that began the wheels turning in my head.

The party also had no really good exit strategy from the mines, so a quick trip back to Diamond Lake and the meager healing resources to be found there was out of the question. In addition, as a once-a-month campaign, I was hesitant to spend the remainder of the session dealing with this rather than getting to the good stuff - the Ebono Aspect.

So I gave it to him. I told him that he was in communication with Elhonna, and that she would grant his request, and that we would sort out the details later. Soon enough, the human Sor/Rog was reborn as a Goblin Sor/Rog, and both Grallak Kur and the Ebon Aspect went down in very easy anticlimactic battles (web + trip = nasty)

So here is the Golden Opportunity I am presented with: The Druid is now beholden to a God (not necessarily Elhonna, either - all that is set in stone is that the Sor/Rog was reincarnated.) in a campaign that has epic potential.

The problem is that I have no idea how to tie his "payment" for this gift into the remainder of the campaign.

My first thought is that this druid is a distant relative of those druids of the Order of the Storm, and that his involvement has drawn the attention of those storied druids. Perhaps it was not Elhonna who answered his prayers, but the collective and coalesced consciousness of his distant relatives. They seek to ensure his mission does not fail, and to obligate him to see it through to its conclusion.

Perhaps it was some other, more nefarious god (Vecna?) intervening - perhaps in disguise - to further his own ends by gaining a hold on one of those who would topple the Ebon Triad?

Perhaps Obad-Hai answered in Elhonna's stead, to attempt to convert the worship of her idealogical opponent?

Any thoughts? This truly is a golden opportunity to tie several threads together in the campaign, and I don't want to squander it.

Chris

<let it be noted that I do not have my copy of the pertinent adventure handy at the moment, so I cannot verify that there is no real description of the size of the free city arena>

Just how big would said arena be. The reason I ask is that I am considering - [i]considering[\i] - purchasing the Arenaworks set from Worldworks Games (http://worldworksgames.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPat h=2_4&products_id=19) and building an actual arena to set off the spectacle of the whole event.

The question is, would this be practical in a real-world sense? Would the entire gaming table be taken over by this wonder?

Figures gleaned from www.the-colosseum.net/idx-en.htm indicate that the actual roman arena measured 249' x 144', or in D&D minis scale, about 50" x 30", or roughly 4' x 2'. Too big for a gaming table?

Or am I just insane and is this a ridiculous idea?

Shidara

My party is about to enter the Grimlock caverns in TFoE, and the Krenshar's scare ability has me a bit bewildered.

From the SRD, Krenshar:
"Scare (Ex or Su): As a standard action, a krenshar can pull the skin back from its head, revealing the musculature and bony structures of its skull. This alone is usually sufficient to scare away foes (treat as a Bluff check with a +3 bonus).
Combining this scare ability with a loud screech produces an unsettling effect that works like a scare spell from a 3rd-level caster (Will DC 13 partial). A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same krenshar’s scare ability for 24 hours. The shriek does not affect other krenshars. This is a supernatural, sonic mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based."

What's confusing me is the Bluff check to scare away intruders, without the screech. What's with the Bluff check? What's the DC, or what is it opposed by? Assuming a character fails this mythical Bluff check, what happens? Do I tell them "you are scared?" Are there game rules somewhere to cover this? Am I reading too much into this, and should just calm down and have the damn thing screech and not worry about it?

How have other DMs handled this in their own campaigns?

Shidara
Very confused recovering rules-lawyer

I'd like to inject some foreshadowing and cryptic predictions into my AoW campaign, to instill a little suspense and mystery as well as to pre-warn the PCs about some of the tougher battles to come. So, I invite all of us to come here and provide visions, portents, dreams, and omens that can be given to the players to foreshadow future AoW events.

Here are the rules:
-- Keep it relatively brief - a paragraoh will do nicely.
-- Make sure to mention exactly what aspect/event of the AoW you are foreshadowing.

Here's a few examples of my own:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You are standing on th eedge of a massive gorge - a huge wound in the earth. Above you, the sky is filled with dragons of all colors, wheeling and circling. Below you, on the walls of the gorge, stand hundreds of giants waving weapons of war. In each hand, you carry a cold iron key. Despite the miles-deep drop infront of you, you step forward into nothingness. Instead of falling to your doom, you find yourself standing before a great stone double door, decorated with intricate bas-releifs and a keyhole in the center of each. To each side of the door stands a massive stone statue of a humanoid. You insert the two keys into the door, and they swing open, bathing you in a deep red light. In unison, the statues drop to one knee in deference to you. The red light then overwhelms your vision.

--Referring to Kings of the Rift, the fact that two keys are needed to open the chamber of the Phylactery and that the Raams who guard the doors can be valuable allies if the doors are opened properly.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A blue-eyed woman stands before you, in front of a massive wooden door. She seems to emit a faint glow of bluish light. She salutes you, then turns and opens the door. Beyond lies an impossibly large arena, with stands that reach to the heavens. You walk past the woman and enter the arena. As you pass her, she whispers to you "The Apostle must not convert a Champion." The Roar of the crowd then becomes deafening, and the vision fades.

-- From The Champion's Belt, referring first to Celeste, then to Raknian's plans to get the Ulgurstasa to eat Auric.
=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-

Ooh, spooky stuff! C'mon, get those creative juices flowing! Let's have portents upon portents!

So does that mean the characters will get 100 gp per suit or 50 gp per suit if they try to sell it in town to the local armor? Or with the statuettes, do the characters get 200 gp or 100 gp per statuette? Thanks!

I believe that these items will net 100 and 200 gp each, respectively. I think only equipment and magic items are sold for half (or quarter) value.

Essentially, if a gp value is listed in teh adventure, that is what the characters can get for it. If you have to look up its selling price, they'll get one half or one quarter of its selling price.

I usually call for an appraise check to determine what value they THINK they'll get for the items, but that tends to just add a lot of bookkeeping.

One thing I'm having problems with is how to handle characters leveling up throughout the various adventures in AoW. Right now I have it setup that the characters have to spend a few days doing various research and such to level up.

What I've been doing and what I do in general) is allow levelling up overnight. The idea is that throughout the past level, each character has been training and refining their skills during downtime. After these days of adventuring, they've perfected that new feat, or increased their skill level, or finally mastered that new spell in their spellbook, or finally made sense of the new magical gibberish in their heads.

I find it keeps things moving along relatively smoothly. If you feel you MUST have some in-game training/study time, require the players to track a how many hours of training or studying they take every time they rest, and say that they cannot gain a new level until they have accumulated X hours, where X is your predetermined amount of training time.

Heh - my party (halfling Drd3 on war dog, halfling Ftr3, human Rog1/Sor2, Human Rog3) had quite an interesting experience in the Hextorian temple - The Dire Boar was an ally three times that day.

They managed to kill off the Tieflings as the skeletons filed out to assist (I misread the adventure). The skeletons presented a pretty tough fight, actually, since there are zero bludgeoning weapons in the party. But they persevered, and headed into the temple. They managed to take down the cultists and even the tieflings very quickly, before they could even unlock the Dire Boar's door.

Then they found the Dire Boar. The Druid was ecstatic, and immediately went about trying to win over the boar. I had decided that the Boar would be "Unfriendly" to start - no order to attack had been given - and wouldn;t you know it but the Druid got him all the way to Friendly. So the party had a quite powerful ally on their side.

Now, so far the remainder of the temple is completely unaware of the incursion. They are convinced tha the statue of Hextor will animate and attack if they set foot in the arena, and so loop around.

Through the 5' corridor.

That the Dire Boar has to squeeze to get through.

So picture the halfling Druid, on his riding dog, pushing with all his might and cajoling with all his charm, to get this smelly, slobbering beast to squeeze itself through the tiny corridor. That's what he did, at the back of the party. Once they enetered the corridor to teh side of teh arena, it was one long, continual combat.

Highlights: The Fighter takes Kendra down well past -10 in one swipe with a critical from his greataxe. The Boar munches on a fully buffed Garras, before falling to Theldrick. Finally, it comes down to Theldrick and the bruised and battered party, when the Sorcerer remembers a particularly interesting item found in Filge's lab - A Scroll of Raise Dead.

A quick caster level check, and up comes the Boar as a zombie. Theldrick whales on the thing, and actually KILLS it again (yes, with double HD and d12s), but not before the party is able to regroup, and finally take Theldrick down.

In the aftermath, a firepit is built and the party feasts on roast pig!! Quite an exhilirating adventure. I can't imagine what these guys are gonna do in the Vecna maze . . .

Chris

I'm co-dming with another DM/player (we take turns, swapping chairs adventure-by-adventure) and we've been using a home-grown downtime system.

I would LOVE to see these rules. Are they posted online anywhere? If not, I think this thread would do nicely (hint hint). . .

:-)

Chris

My party is already suspiscious of the Dourstone Mine. They first suspected that the land family bodies were being used as cheap labor in Smenk's mines, but after some phenomenal GI checks amongst the miners, they discovered that some strange things were rumored to be happening in Dourstone. Now they're convinvced that, even though the Land family is in Filge's possession, they need to check out the mines.

I guess my question is, would the storyline be ruined if the party investigated Dourstone on their own, without Smenk's prodding?

Chris

Here's what I came up with:

Baby Owlbear, Diminutive Magical Beast

I like this, except for the part where it's Diminutive.

That's smaller than an imp. That means that he baby owlbear is the size of a toad and grows to be roughly 9-10' tall - a hell of a growth spurt.

My 9-mo-old daugher is around 25" long, and assuming adult human height to be 6', that's about 33% of her adult size. If we project that onto the 10'-tall owlbear, we get more along the lines of small to medium height.

Thanks!

Chris

You can find an owlbear cub (action chart) at this link

It has a nice d20 chart on the random action of the owlbear cub. I think you may enjoy it :)

Now THAT is awesome! Exactly what I was looking for. God I love running a campaign with hundreds of other DMs. The rresources that are made available . . .

Thanks!

Chris

Well, my druid has decided to give it a try and raise the owlbear. The player knows full well that this *will*not*work*, but the character would try. So, I'm going to make the chick as comically annoying as possible. It will get into trouble at just the wrong moment until the Druid decides enough is enough. We're going to have fun with it - I'm considering having an "owlbear chick random action table" that we'll consult every time there is a stimulus. Having a 9-month-old baby at home will certainly help with this endeavor . . .

So, here is my challenge to you fellow DMs: Stat up the owlbear chick. What stats would you give it, following the guidelines set up below:

- CR should be no greater than 1.
- Should incluide suggestions for random behavior that the birdy would take.
- Considering that both Bears and Owls care for their young for at least some time after birth, this thing should be relatively dumb.

Have at it. My submission will be up shortly.

Chris

this is one case where I'm tended to offer the advice to "Ignore the rules for the sake of flavor."

In other words, Land's giggles and whispers can be heard in the Material Plane while he's unseen (be he ethereal or simply incoporeal; remember that being ethereal and being incoporeal are NOT the same thing).

Yup, that's just what I'm gonna do. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some obscure rule or fact about ghosts I was missing.

Thanks for the help.

My guess would be that he manifested onto the Prime Material plane before talking - In that state, he's no longer etheral but still incorporeal...

Unfortunately, the adventure states that that Land comments on their fighting skills from the ethereal plane, and that "his childish giggles . . . seem to come from the walls."

I'm guessing it's just an oversight by the author for effect. I'll probably keep it as is, simply because it makes for great atmosphere. I'll call it a special abiloity of ghosts to "haunt" an area if I'm ever challenged by my players on it.

Chris

My party is about to encounter Alastor Land, and I need a little guidance on handling etherealness.

According to the adventure, Alastor observes the PCs from the etheral plane. However, it then states that he speaks, and the PCs can hear his words.

Looking in the DMG, p. 293, a creature who is etheral is considered "inaudiable . . . to creatures on the Material plane." This seemes to imply that Alastor's words could not be heard by the players.

It's a minor aspect o fthe encounter, and perhaps not worth bickering about for the atmosphere it provides, or not so vital that it couldn't be emliminated altogether.

I just wasn't sure if three was something in the Ghost description that allows them to be heard on the material plane? I don't have my MM with me at the moment . . .

Shidara

I don't think you are a killer DM. From what you have described, I think you havd a massive confluence of poor player choices, lucky dice for you, and perhaps a bit of overplaying the Wind Warriors' Intelligence of 8.

According to the description, the Wind Warriors are "shock troops" who "begin combat with a sonic blast before charging into melee." To me, that says fire one blast and then charge, staying in melee until killed or no more targets present themselves. Intelligence 8 backs this up for me, telling me that these things don't use a lot of adaptive tactics, nor a lot of fancy maneuvers. As Shock Troops, they are designed/trained to take orders and follow them, rather than improvise.

However, I'd say most of the blame lies on the players' heads:

I cannot fathom a player not leveling up when given the opportunity. In my group, they would have beaten him into submission while somebody else leveled his character up for him.

In such a desperate situation, I agree that the Dwarf should have experimented with the potions; such timid/cautious behavior seems out-of-character for a rough-and-tumble barbarian.

Where were the spellcasters? I saw only one sorcerer, who couldn't have been more than 2nd level, and the NPC healer. This party severely lacked firepower, and should have been aware of this and adjusted their tactics appropriately. I can now understand how your party had such trouble with the earlier encounters - the swarms alone are nearly impossible to beat without a wiz/sor with an area effect spell.

In addition, I don't care what the barbarian's "in-character" reasons are for retiring, his decision damned the entire campaign. Instead of an entertaining interlude in which he appeals to the various divine powers to restore his freinds to life, quite possibly making deals to account for the funds he doesn't have for their raising, he simply closed up shop and made the decision for the other players. Did he even ask the others if they wanted to be raised?

I agree that you should follow the character's goals, but to just retire and end the campaign before it even begins is just silly and a little spiteful.

Anyway, I'd say you did an excellent job. I might have coached the characters a bit, perhaps forcing the ranger to level up, or allowing the dwarf a heal check to see that his companions would not survive while he took a trip to town, but ingeneral, I think you can hold your head up pretty high.

Shidara

I advise patience. Mine arrived 20 minutes ago. They're pretty cool. If only I had the skill to paint them.

Just to satisfay my insane paranoia, could you tell us what date your email said yours were shipped?

I really need help . . .

Shidara

I don't mean to be paranoid, but I received an email that said that my order was sent via USPS Priority Mail on October 27th. Priority Mail, AFAIK, takes 2-4 days. It is now day 4, and I have not yet received them. How long before I scream "the sky is falling" and can tell Customer Service that my shipment is lost in the mail?

Normally, I wouldn't worry this soon, but with a limited edition size, I want to make sure I get my set.

Any thoughts from the Paizo in-the-know?

Shidara

Quote:

Well, since you're the DM, you technically have free reign no matter what anyone else says. For my part, though, I ruled that they were indeed invisible effects, simply because if they werent, the first use of one would give the critter away, and then he'd be pasted. I wasn't about to fork over the 600 XPs for a CR2 critter without making it a challenging encounter. Just my take on things.

I agree - plus, since the two spells (Sleep and Cause Fear) are both listed as "Mind-Affecting," I think the argument is very compelling to have them be invisible.

Plus, I just love the idea of one lone scout squeezing his way through the opening at the top of the arch, creeping down the hall, and then suddenly crumpling to the ground in a heap as her friends watch, stunned, unaware of what happened. Then this thing swoops out from a n alcove and begins strangling the poor scout, as the rest of the party tries desperately to squeeze through the opening . . .

Shidara

I just checked the PHB, and therein it says nothing about whether rays are visible to the naked eye. The reason I ask is that I'm leaning toward makeing the Lurking Strangler's eye rays *IN*visible, to add suspense as a lone character suddenly collapses for no apparent reason.

every "Ray" spell in the PHB specifically describes the ray that is created, and for the most part, are explicitly visible. Neither spell effect from the LS's eye rays are normally ray spells, and thus the quandry.

Am I missing any rules references that claim that rays are visible? Or do I have free reign here?

Shidara

Caleb - Halfling Ftr2 - real strong, real dumb. Left the shire to go adventuring, ran out of cash, found himslef in Diamond Lake and signed on to work in Smenk's mines. Anecdote: When the party was fleeing the acid beetle swarm, he saw the Mad Slasher emerge and decided it'd make a good trophy and attacked it. He went down quickly requiring a rescue by . . .

Grainger - Halfling Drd2 - Cousin of Caleb, he and his Riding Dog companion "Tiny" came to Diamond Lake to investigate unnatural creatures in the cairn hills and to visit his cousin. When Caleb decided to attack the Mad Slasher, Grainger chased after him on dog-back. After unsuccessfully grappling the conscious fighter, he was able finally to drag his unconscious cousin away from the swarm and the slasher. The slasher was dispatched by . . .

Peregrine - Human Rog2 - A resident of Diamond Lake, her father was injured several years ago in a mining accident in one of Smenk's mines. His injuries leave him unable to work. Therefore, she seeks treasure to help her family escape destitution in Diamond Lake. Friend to Caleb and Severious (see below). She provided arrow support for Caleb in his ill-advised attack on the slasher. The party's escape was also covered by. . .

Severious - Human Rog1/Sor1 - Severious had always been haunted by visions and strange happenings. An urchin left on the steps of teh Garrison, he was raised as the captain's eyes-and-ears in Diamond Lake, keeping tabs on the mine managers and making sure the ore keeps flowing. At the tiem theyu were fleeing the swarm, he was only Rog1.

So far, so good. This is as close to an iconinc party (Ftr/Rog/Wiz/Clr) as I have run a game for in a long time. so far the group is having fun, but is a little taken aback at the danger level of the Cairn. I warned them . . .

Chris

Reading through the Whispering cairn, I noticed that the Wind Warriors are listed as specifically wearing Ceramic Plate Mail armor.

Realizing that the party is handed a wand of Shatter, which specifically mentions ceramics in its spell description, it got me wondering how the Shatter spell would affect the Wind Warriors. I came up with this (add to monster description):

Shatter Vulnerability (Ex): Targetting A Wind Warrior with a Shatter spell erodes the ceramic armor that protects the elemental force inside. On a failed save, the wind warrior's Natural armor bonus is reduced by one point, unitl the natural bonus is entirely negated, leaving it only with its dex bonus to AC.

Should this reduce its CR at all? Thoughts? Better suggestions?

Shidara

I'm looking at the rules for wind - page 95, 3.5 DMG - and the numbers I'm seeing there do not seem to match the numbers presented in area e of teh Whispering Cairn.

According to the adventure, the wind trap starts with a strong wind, racheting up each round to severe, windstorm, and finally hurricane. The adventure goes on to say that Small creatures are potentially blown away as early as round 2 (severe winds), and Medium creatures on round 3 (windstorm winds). Finally, it states that the DC to avoid the wind effects, regardless of severity of wind, is 18.

According to the DMG, Small creatures are not potentially blown away until windstorm-strength winds, or round 3 of the trap. Medium creatures would not face a blown away result until round 4. Additionally, the DC for being knocked over and blown away rachets up with the wind strength, according to the DMG.

The adventure fails to mention the knocked-over result, which does start for small creatures ono round 2, and medium creatures on round 3. However, the DC for knocked over starts at 15 in a severe wind.

I imagine this is simply an oversight in the adventure.

Shidara

I fear that he Brown Mold encounter in the Lair of the Architect could be devastating to my party. I want to allow a Knowledge roll to identify the mold, but I'm unsure as to wether to make it Dungeoneering or Nature. Thoughts?

Shidara

The below follows the rules for drugs and addiction in the Book of Vile Darkness. Thoughts and comments would be appreciated:

Kalamanthis
A rare psychotropic drug derived from a plant grown on the slopes of GriffonÕs Roost. Kalamanthis is cultivated and traded by the monks of the Twilight Monastery. It is the dried root of the kalamanthis plant, pressed into sheets and then crumbled and smoked in a pipe.

Type: Inhaled DC 12
Cost: 5sp per dose
Alchemy DC: 15
Addiction: Medium (Fort DC 10)
Satiation: 5 days
Damage: 1d4 Wis, 1d4 Int

Initial Effect: 1 hour of euphoric hallucinations; user must make a DC 12 Will save every 10 minutes for one hour or be fascinated for 1d4 minutes. Most users voluntarily fail this save.
Secondary Effect: 5 more hours of sporadic hallucinations; user must make saves as above once per hour for the next 5 hours; a failed save means that the hallucinations come on at some time during that hour.
Side Effects: -4 on Will saving throws; the drug reduces the userÕs ability to tell reality from the hallucinations. This side effect lasts for the 6 hours of the initial and secondary damage.

Shidara

It's true. Sorcerers and bards (and assassins, and favored souls, and so on) aren't allowed to use spells in the challenges.

I just had another thought - is Bardic Music also included in the banned list?

Shidara

I'm about to runChallenge of Champions V (dng 108, p.49) for my party, and in reading through the rules or the challenge, I found something I needed clarification on.

On page 51, the rules of the challenge are outlined. In particular, it asys :

"Spellcasters cannot cast any prepared spells; this includes spell-like abilities."

The use of the word "prepared" is what bothers me. This statement implies that Wizards and Clerics, who "prepare" spells, cannot use their spells, but Sorcerers and Bards, who are spontaneous casters and do not "prepare" their spells *can* use their spells.

However, it goes on to say that "All spells used in the contest must be cast using rings of spell storing provided as part of a scenario."

This implies that all PC spellcasting, prepared *or* spontaneous, is forbidden.

I imagine the rules are intended to prohibit ALL PC spellcasting, but I wanted to verify this first.

Shidara

Well, thank you! That was exactly what I was looking for - an external way to judge the CR of a monster. I'll be sure to do that from now on for any monsters I feel might be too tough for their CR or EL.

BTW, is this comparison done for all monsters in Dungeon that are Templated or Advanced, and those with class levels added in?

Shidara

And by the way, nobody gets the food reference in "battered green dragon"?

Really?

Shidara

Done and done. And maybe I'll give the Draconomicon a second look on that endorsement :)

On a side note, you said earlier that you calculated Snapper's CR independently from any templates; could you shed some light on that procedure? I often fret about the CR of templated or advanced creatures I make because I can;t get a feel for how tough they really are. I'd love some insight on how you determine CR outside of the guidelines handed forth in the MM and DMG.

Shidara

Well that explains quite a bit. Thanks for the assistance. I'm surprised there wasn't a bigger reference to the Draconomicon; usually, if a template is used, don;t you guys reprint the template in its entirety? I can only imagine space was the limiting factor.

I'll be running the adventure for a 5th-level party, so is there any chance of getting Snapper's full-power stats? I'd at the very least need the Tail attacks, full attack routine, and "normal" damage dice for all attacks.

I may just go with a fully-healed and ready-to-go Juvenile Green Dragon Skeleton instead, or perhaps a "battered" Young Adult skeleton. CR 6 should make for an entertaining climax, and no need to buy another book!

Thanks again!
Shidara

I was looking through Unfamiliar Ground on Dungeon 119, and started doing the numbers on Snapper, the Battered Skeletal Green Young Dragon. Despite the fact that the stats are adjusted to account fo rthe dragon's battered status, I think the template was applied incorrectly. Can somebody out thre check my numbers on this for me? Either I'm missing something (is a SKELETAL dragon different from a dragon SKELETON? the text mentions the Draconomicon, a book I do not have), or this skeletal dragon is way overpowered.

- Text says CR for a normal Young Adult Green Dragon skeleton (17 HD) is 5. 3.5MM says a 17-HD skeleton is CR 7. Assuming we take the same reductions as in the text, that makes the battered version CR 6, seemingly a bit high for 3rd-lvl party, especially considering the following:

- Text says BAB for Snapper is +17. 3.5MM Says Undead have a BAB of 1/2 HD, and should therefore be +8. This, when added to the Str23 modifier of +6, makes for an attack bonus of +14, not +17 as listed in the text, and Grapple of +18 (+8 BAB, +6 Str, +4 Large) as opposed to +27.

- Init modifier is listed at +4. Improved Initiative (+4) and the Dragon skeleton's augmented Dex (12) should give an Init modifier of +5

- Saves: Text lists Fort +10, ref +10, Will +10. I get Fort +5 (1/3 HD, no Con), ref +6 (1/3 HD, +1 Dex), Will +7 (1/2 HD +2 no Wis Score)

- Frightful Presence Will Save DC is listed as 20. Iformula is 10 + 1/2 HD + Cha mod. I get 13, thanks mostly to the Skeleton's Cha of 1. (10 + 8 - 5 = 13)

- "Battered Skeletal Young Adult Green Dragon" - am I the only one who thinks of food when I hear that title?

Shidara
Beginning to think this is a Draconomicon thing . . .

According to the TSR Font FAQ

http://www.geocities.com/rgfdfaq/tsrfonts.html

Those icons were custom created for TSR for Dragonlance 5th Age. However, as you cannot copyright the characters in a font, only the name, they have been recreated (cloned) in a font called "Adventure"

You can downlaod the Adventure font here:

http://www.rpghoard.com/cgi-bin/arcdb.cgi?cat=2&sec=16

(I am in no way affiliated with either of the above web sites. Use at your own risk.)

Shidara

Long-time lurker here, thought I'd pop in with my two cents on Wil Save.

I work in magazine publication, and i can tell you for sure that pages like Wil Save are practically the industry standard. Why?

In a journalism class (way) back in college, I learned about a study to determine where a potential reader looks *first* in a magazine that they pick up off the newsstand. The result: The vast majority of readers flip to the last page of the magazine first - before even the table of contents.

Thus, the trend became "make the last page as interesting as possible so as to incite a purchase." Check any magazine. 9 out of 10 times, the last page of a magazine will be an entertaining and quickly-digested 1-page article or item that is slightly different from the magazine's normal content, usually funny or thought-provoking.

The idea is that the last page of a magazine be an epilogue or "closer" to the issue, thus drawing the reader in to see what else of interest is inside..

I think Wil Save serves this purpose wonderfully. It's "one gamer's thoughts," and wether you agree with what Wil says or not, it tends to resonate one way or another.

Personally, I like the idea of having Wil Save back there, as a non-rules article, more about the gamer than the game. I think it makes the book a bit more human, helps one appreciate the hobby for what it is - a pleasant way to spend a few hours with friends.

But again, just my two coppers.

Shidara