It's too creative for me to pass up. Any ideas why Grallak might graft beholder eyes? Do they grant him any new abilities? Are they significant in a spiritual sense? or do they just freak out the temple cronies like they do me? As a new DM, it's too interesting a detail to gloss over. Has anyone done any backfill here in their campaigns?
Wouldn't you want the priests on the balcony where they can volley spells? As far as the time it would take, I'd personally balance the amount of rest time the party gets with the level of difficulty you want them to have once the doors in the temple are locked. If they want to rest up, great. That just gives the temple defenders time to prepare. Without knowing the particulars of your party, I don't know if scaling's in order.
I think that blackmail is the key. I envision Smenk either threatening to unload the "dirt" on his accusers, the jurists, or the local constabulary -- anyone with as much to lose as himself. Alternatively, Smenk's probably clever enough to know that if Dourstone can possibly get off because he was magically compelled, well then maybe Smenk was compelled as well. Even better, I envision a scene reminiscent of the Salem witchcraft trials where Smenk claims that his accusers are currently magically compelled to ruin Smenk's name. That argument might even work if he can make it after Dourstone makes his case. Then Smenk can cast his lot with Dourstone (and hopefully at least one more upstanding member of the community). Heck, the town might even hire the PC's to find the true killer a la OJ. All the while, Smenk's using his influence to destroy evidence and make problems disappear...
Considering how much value the Overload will have in my campaign, I'm fine with waiting. There's plenty of other campaign-world integration I can do while I wait. Besides, my group (we meet twice a month for about 4 hours a session) will happily take forever in the Whispering Cairn after their first experience with the Face trap. As it should be, they now have a healthy respect for the engineering skills of the Wind Dukes. :) Great job, editors! You have me and my players hooked like junkies!
The Dungeon Master's Guide II has a full section explaining that the changes were made to facilitate at-a-glance review during gameplay. If I recall correctly, the blocks are organized according to mob description, defenses (against PC attacks), attacks (in response to any attacks), and lastly tactics/abilities, or some such. I might be off on the last one, but it's all in there. All the best, Izumneth Al'Ghazul
I'm a brand new RPGA DM in the Living Greyhawk campaign (Bandit Kingdoms region). Is anyone else doing anything with Age of Worms in the RPGA. I'm a tad unclear on any character creation limits and sanctioning guidelines, so if anyone else is trying to sanction their homeplay session, I'd be very grateful for the advice. I'm particularly having challenges integrating AoW in the dark backdrop of an Iuz-governed regions. Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice. It's very much appreciated.
Since I'm still waiting for my copy, and since it will take me a while to collect most of my mini's, does anyone have a link or list of what mini's we'll need (the paizo store link, I suppose) but *how many* of them we'll need? That information might be helpful for upcoming issues as well. I've got a lot of browsing/cajoling/E-bay™-ing to do. :) |