Jean-Sébastien Dubé's page

Hi,

I'm running a campaign based on retrieving the octychs and finding the secrets of power magic. This thread has given me lots of interesting bits of info and ideas.

It made me desperately want to get my hands onf Return to the Ghost Tower of Inverness, bit it seems impossible nowadays, sadly.

I have to original GToI module though. Can I just go with that and plant the octych somewhere? Where was it found in the Living Greyhawk version? I also read that in this version the PCs could free the soul of a disciple of Slerotin from the Soul Gem. Who is he?

And finally, does anyone know if the names of Slerotin's disciple were given at some point in the existing Greyhawk lore?

One of the PCs in my group (I'm the DM) carries an everburning torch (candle) (from the Whispering Cairn). Do you guys think that it should be targeted by the grimlocks ? If so, can it be destroyed by simple weapons ?

Thank you all for you help! I had some ideas on how to deal with the situation I've asked your advice on, but they were nowhere near as developped as what you suggested. Your suggestions will greatly help me focus on what to do when the situation calls for the major NPCs to interact with the PCs.

As it's been said by others, great stuff Rexx with your take on the Faceless One's scheme! I think I'll use part of it, as it is in the same line of thought as how I intended to portray him.

I'll keep you posted on how the game unravels during the next session (this coming Friday).

They get out to the elevator find that it is in the up position. They cannot seem to get it to come down. This should force them to think about what that means to their wellfare and how they'll want to deal with Theldrick who will be rallying the remaining forces.

That would be a good way of preventing them from going up but...three of them are already in the elevator and are waiting for the fourth PC to come back from the front lines with the zombies under his control who are carrying Kendra and Garras. Theldrick, the trog zombies, the tieflings and a summoned dire ape are hot on their trail though. But there is still a possibility that they indeed go back up. At least, that is what they seem bent on doing.

Moreover, it was not Allustan who suggested the PCs go down there, it was Smenk. One of the PCs (a late player addition to the group) has been hired by Smenk to back up the original PCs (plus Smenk has some plans for him). Allustan knows there down in Dourstone Mine though because the PCs have gone to him after Smenk "hired" them. So they might go to Allustan with the cultists, but they might go to Smenk also. Either way, I think that both will suggest the PCs continue with their infiltration mission, each for his own reasons.

The main problem I have is what do I do if the PCs try to get Lanod Neff or the garrison involved ? I do not want the PCs to hand down their responsibilities (as heroes) to anyone else. Neff might be bribed by Smenk not to intervene, but the garrison would react strongly to the presence of Hextorites in Diamond Lake. But under what suspicion ? The Ebon Triad has not done anything illegal so far and the PCs still do not have proof that they have.

I do not want to stop TFoE if the PCs go back up instead of continuing their exploration of the cult's hideout. That would have been the shortest adventure I'd have ever run. I do not think the cultist would flee and let the Ebon Aspect in its pool. I think that they should mount some defenses and try accelerating the process of summoning the Aspect. I think I will have the passage to the Underdark left open (instead of collapsed) since it does not make any sense for the people (however mad they are) to put themselves at the mercy of some kind of jury-rigged elevator. This way if things go really bad for them they can escape, while leaving the Ebon Aspect as a nasty surprise for infidels who might come back down.

What do you guys think ?

by the way, thanks for your suggestions. Keep 'em coming!

I'll go straight to the point. I'm running TFoE for a group of three players (3PCs and 1 NPC). They are in the middle of the fight with the Hextorites and, being clever players, they managed to kill/incapacitate Kendra and Garras, animate the cultists they killed using Filge's scroll of animate dead, use the zombie to cover their escape with the captured couple (i.e. Kendra and Garras). Since the fight is not over yet, Theldrick may still prevent this from happening though. But assuming the PCs manage to bring the two hextorite priests back to the surface and bring them to some form of authority figure (i.e. governor-mayor, garrison, Allustan or Smenk), I do not yet know how to handle this situation. I am therefore humbly asking for any advice you guys might have.

Thank you!

I only have two players due to problems of having four of my friends at the same time around the gaming table because of everyday-life constraints (work, family, etc). I've let them use a 36-point buy system. Even with that, as soon as they were separated, one of them died at the "hands" of the lurking strangler. I've thrown in an NPC. We'll see how it turns out.