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 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

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

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?

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!

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

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

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 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

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

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

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 . . .