DM_Zlorf's page

Im suprised everyone avoided petrification, unless they were prepared. :)
I will give my players some insite on Vitris Bale via Fetors notes.

Good stuff.
Cheers
Z

Hi,

The players are about to go to the 2nd level of Karran Kural, im a bit concerned that they will have problems with the DragonLich Vitris Bale.

The party is quite powerful but i think gaze and petrification attacks could get them.

*12 Lvl thief with Ring of Blinking and 30+ AC
*11 Lvl Sorceror/dracolexi who has access to powerwords, who given
the chance could take Vitris out in one round, but he wont know how many hitpoints Vitris has. (touch, no save)
*12 Lvl Kensi/Fighter/Monk with a 2 handed sword (+4 , good aligned each end), plus a the Blindfold of Darkness which gives you Blindsight 30ft, bypassing mirror image, deflection, invis etc, plus protection from gaze attacks. AC 33
*12 Lvl Cleric which if time permits can get his AC to 53ish and using Assay Resistance almost bypass SR. Also all his save get +6 from Superior resistance
*12 Lvl Hexblade - low save, nice damage if he can backup crits (16-20) with Falchion. AC 26ish
Most character have access to Dimension Door for escaping.

I do have the option that Virtis doesnt attack them, and they may just get petrified, that might be warning enough..who knows. I can also warn the parties of Vitris power via Fetors notes, it may let them plan a bit before entering.

Suggestions?
Cheers
Z

Hi,

I would be interested on how they faired against Vettris Bale (sp?)
in Karran Kural (sp?).

Cheers
Zlorf

My group have just finished "Secret of the Soul Pillars". The next chapter, "Lords of Oblivion", states characters should be 13th level. However, my group currently looks like this:

4 characters at level 12, 2 characters at level 11:

Al, male Chaos Gnome Sorcerer 6, Wild Mage 3, Fatespinner 3 (with Smoking Eye template)
Evander, male Human Paladin 6, Grey Guard 5
Jared, male Human Abjurer 3, Master Specialist 6, Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 3
Lardor, male Human Swashbuckler 3, Figher 2, Rogue 7
Santos, male Half-Orc Druid 12
Tayanna, female Human Factotum 11

So, they are behind the expected level for the adventure, and it is recommended to let characters advance to level 14 during the adventure. I know the adventures are intended for six characters, so it's possible my party could be underpowerd for "Lords of Oblivion". However, the characters are optimized by experienced players, some more, some less.

I'm thinking of giving them a small side trek before launching into "Lords of Oblivion", but I'm not really sure if that's really neccessary, so I'm looking for advice here.

Also, is anyone able to recommend an adventure that would fit at this point in the adventure path?

Thanks for your help.

Hi,

Would magical fire (ie fireball)/ normal fire, do double damage to the Ice Lattice's?

Cheers
Zlorf

The assassins killed 1 player instantly and took the other past -10, but he has a feat that takes him back to -9 one per day. The rest of the part dimensioned door away. I dont think any of the assassins actually got hit. If i attacked again, i think the PC's would struggle, esp if buffed by Ike. I played it as a one off attempt. Maybe down the track the cagewright leaders might send them out again... :)

Cheers
Z

I would definitely have the assassins take another crack at the PCs, at the least. At the least, they'll be looking to cash in and to get back at the characters for whatever wounds they received. Maybe they've even picked up some backup if your PCs had too easy of a time the first go around.

The main concern is that one of the players is a thief and relys heavily on sneak damage. With all the undead helping Ike, its going to be difficult for him...though he can be the one to concentrate attacks on ike. :)

I would not do anything. I guess you have more than 4 pc's in your party ?
If it's the case well I think it's OK if they are 1 or 2 level lower than it's recommanded in the AP.

Yes, theirs is 5 in the party, they will probably get some help from Jenna in buffing them up.

Cheers
Zlorf

I would not do anything. I guess you have more than 4 pc's in your party ?
If it's the case well I think it's OK if they are 1 or 2 level lower than it's recommanded in the AP.

Hi,

My players are planning to spend approx 25 days out of site, since the attempted assassination by the assassins, so they two of character can make magic items for the themselves and the party. THe party is probably 1 and 1/2 lvls below what they are supposed to be for this stage of the adventure.

Does anyone have any suggestions on combat situations i could throw at the player while they wait? I can use the 1/2 dragon dude as one. Would the assassins strike again? Does Wee Jas cause issues within the town so the PC's have to react? Maybe the Last Laugh could get involved and start steal from the shop owners? More trouble below the city? Other suggestions?

Cheers
Zlorf

I would like to share my shackled city website.

I would like to state that the Campaign Précis is from another site. I havn't gained permission from the person but will look to do in the near future..otherwise i will remove it. Otherwise rest of it is original content and im happy for anyone to use. (apart from scans from some books)

Some interesting reading in the Party Notes section, especially halfway down (one of the player started taking notes) - SPOILER WARNING

http://member.newsguy.com/~findar/Shackled_City/index.htm

Cheers
Zlorf

Hi,
I was wondering what NPC's other party's are using to help them through SCAP HC and why?

There's only 5 players in my game (3 are lvl 11 and 2 are 10, so below the recommended lvl 12 they should be). Kauro was very helpful until he turned on them. The PC's had little chance against the 3 buffed assassins, with 1 dying in the first round, the other survived death due to feat which stabilized him at -9, if he goes to -10.
The others dimensioned door out of there.

I feel they may need help, if they plan to raid the Catherdral of Wee Jas. Jenya said she can buff some up, but i dont think the party are going to plan a raid through the front doors.
They really need a cleric with big spells to help them, ie Jenya. But i dont want to make the NPC the standout.

Any suggestions?
Cheers
Zlorf

Hi,
Yes i agree, unfortunately the character with smoking eye was killed during the assassin attack at the inn. He got a free raise, loosing a level of course. He has the lesser amulet of planeshift , so he had a good chance of getting back without delay.

Thanks for your input :)
Zlorf

DM_Zlorf wrote:

Hi,

But their's no mention that the character is alive when teleported back to Occipitus!

I have ruled that the Character is raised automatically and still looses XP as if raised. I dont think the character should become totally immortal.

I misread the scap book here. A character with the smoking eye template reforms and lies in state back in occipitus. they are not raised, though.

still, I think you should probably do anything you can to keep pc's with the smoking eye template in your game. after all, they play an important role in the final chapter of the AP. So it's not that unbalancing to allow them a free raise dead / resurrection.

Hi, Thanks for the reply.
As it worked out, Kauro never got to use the nexus, only for the +4 Caster level. Because the SCAP HC sorted said he get the benefit from the Nexus, I didnt even think about the negitives (ie 4d8 damage) until you guys mentioned it.
In the end the good guys won and no one got killed. :)

Cheers
Zlorf

DM_Zlorf wrote:

Also the players are still not sure if they need to sacrifice someone (ie ally) or self-sacrifice. I think they plan to sacrifice someone else in the party who is willing to be sacrificed. Which begs the question, should the person sacrificing get the smoking eye or the person who thinks they are being sacrificed by someone else, but happy to be sacrificed get the smoking eye?...confused :)

As far as this goes, I would say that if player A "sacrifices" player B, and player B is willing, then effectively player B is sacrificing himself, and I would treat it as such.

Hi,
But their's no mention that the character is alive when teleported back to Occipitus!

I have ruled that the Character is raised automatically and still looses XP as if raised. I dont think the character should become totally immortal.
The thing is the character needs then to planeshift, which he can do, but still have the error of being a longway from Cauldron. I guess he could use a teleport scroll if he has use magic device or is a spell caster. Otherwise the rest of the characters will assume hes dead and end up with the situation where they may just continue adventuring without him.

Zlorf

DM_Zlorf wrote:

Hi,

When the character dies and appears back at the skull on Occipitus, how does one come back alive without intervention from someone else?

Can the smoke from the eye be hidden? The thief in the party has already bought a patch to stop the light.

Cheers
Z

The character recovers normally, regaining hp's per day as if taking complete bedrest. (I think that's 3 hps per level per day)

My PC's also decided to get an eyepatch. I ruled that, although it doesn't mask the smoke completely, it's enough to get by on a bussy street or in a crouded bar. In one-on-one social interactions, it usually does raise an eyebrow or two.

Hi,

When the character dies and appears back at the skull on Occipitus, how does one come back alive without intervention from someone else?

Can the smoke from the eye be hidden? The thief in the party has already bought a patch to stop the light.

Cheers
Z

Hi,
My players are currently battling Kaurophon in the skull on Occipitus, and things arn't going to well for them.

Kaurophon pretty much turned on them after hearing whats needs to be done at the last test. Even though he was understrength before the battle, because he used alot of his spells to help the party to get here, he still did plenty of damage with cones of cold, fireballs while using greater invis and flying.

The party has retreated, 3 runing down the stairs and 2 dimension dooring to the Nexus room.

I have some questions regarding this part of the adventure:

The SCAP HC says that Kaurophon get a +4 Caster level bonus because of the Nexus, im guessing he has to touch the Nexus at some stage to get the benefit, especially since the main fight is in the eye socket, anyone know how long this lasts for?

Also the players are still not sure if they need to sacrifice someone (ie ally) or self-sacrifice. I think they plan to sacrifice someone else in the party who is willing to be sacrificed. Which begs the question, should the person sacrificing get the smoking eye or the person who thinks they are being sacrificed by someone else, but happy to be sacrificed get the smoking eye?...confused :)

Also Kaurophon from memory has a errata - DC for his Fireball states 18, but it should be 19 , Spell focus evocation hasn't been calculated, ie 10+SP(3)+Chr(+5)+SF(evo)=19.

Kauro's plan, now that the party is retreating is to Dimension door into the black flames of the Nexus and fight from their, getting the 4d8 healing benefits etc and attack with the few spells he has left. If could be a total player kill if the party arn't careful!

The party is also fairly injured before fighting Kauro, the main fighter lost 27Hp's before the battle due to the Clay Golem, and no-one in the party can heal him. The party monk, has 3 neg levels because he tried to punch the Lich through the Nexus.

Issues with the whole Smoking Eye thing and just a warning to other DM's, their isnt enough reason for the players to trust someone like Kauro, the dying words of Alex "to trust the smoking eye" dont really mean much. DM's really need to drop more clues on what the smoking eye is and how it may help the PC defeat someone who they know nothing about at this stage of the adventure. I constantly got this question from my players "Why are we here again?". I take some of the blame because, i tend to only read a few chapter at a time and havent read the whole SCAP HC..i blame the kids :).

Cheers
Zlorf