For my group we changed the secondary effect of the spell to be related to the element, but I think we decided as a house rule that only air would continue to inflict a persistent damage effect, like a buffeting whirlwind. For Earth and Water we decided the cone area would count as difficult terrain until the caster's next turn.
Plus I am hoping my PC's won't have figured out that this section of the Adarium is not protected by forbiddance. That's why I like to throw a lot at them at any one time, so they miss stuff like that.
I believe the Knights are not mounted (it's mentioned in either the tactics section of the stat block or the flavor text below them), and are equipped with axes. It's not their kind of fight, that's for sure. Still, several unmounted cavaliers could put together a decent defense, depending on the Order.
I haven't yet had a chance to run that encounter, but I can give some ideas as to my plans:
Spoiler:
My PC's actually researched this time, so they are prepped with cold spells and resistances as you point out. Judging by an average damage capability, Brigit could strip off protection from energy in two to three hits with her lava blast. I'm planning on using wall of stone and stone shape to create a maze, which she can use to break up the party. Other options include having her use the lava in the room as cover/a hiding place between blasts while her summons harass. Not the greatest strategy, but a lucky shot might happen. Also, since my group lacks rogue ability, spike stones is going to be awesome. Those are my thoughts, but I will also admit to not being the greatest tactical genius either.
In addition, game update:
Spoiler:
After spending the previous session shopping (again, they never think about just robbing these places *sigh*) and crafting items, we decided to have the characters spend time reorganizing their organization. Once done, they investigated the Asmodean temple, met Hate, and learned that they could free him by completing the ritual from the Book of Iron and Hellfire on Devil's Night. During this same evening they would use their minions to attempt to assassinate the High Cardinal and rob the mint. Both of these things failed (only by 2, so not too bad, but still failure). Not sure how much more failure Irfan's ego can take. To complete the ritual, they had to perform a knowledge (religion) check to pull it off properly. They rolled mostly nat 20's and 19's, so it went off quite well, with a visual spectacle, it was not a subtle thing. In preparation for the aftermath of their ritual, their minions had gone beyond the borders of the spell beforehand and bought up as much food and beverage as they could, and came back in to Matharyn the next morning and reaped very good profits. All in all, much fun was had and they are finally ready for the Adarium.
Somewhat aside musing: Izevel slept with Hate. The PC's would like to see her become pregnant. I shudder to think of that abomination. Thoughts?
Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. He's kind of located in area that the PC's are likely to bypass. Luckily, I have some time to figure out, as my PC's have picked up on some side quest stuff, namely:
Spoiler:
The Asmodean temple in the sewers, raiding the mint, Devil's night and getting the Book of Iron and Hellfire. I have some plans regarding the mint, which will likely be a solo adventure for Anton Brueder, the only thing the PC's have that is rogue-like. Should be fun, I enjoy making that character miserable. For the Asmodean temple, I'm thinking it is recent construction, within the last eighty years, and I am trying to decide if the devil was bound there by the last Asmodean priest with orders it cannot fulfill or was bound there by a Mitran (or possibly another faith) priest. For simplicity's sake and moving my game along a little more quickly, I was thinking that the Book of Iron and Hellfire would already be there, brought there by Asmodean cultists who had stolen it from the old palace, running from inquisitors, only to be killed by the devil within (I'm thinking it was only 20 years later, the devil would still be pretty angry with mortals. I imagine that devils hold a grudge really, really well).
I'm planning on having this all occur on Devil's Night, and the PC's are planning on having their cohort wizard whistle up a Shira Div (she's got it's true name) and turning it loose in the city during the night. They are hoping it brings friends to the party.
So questions I'm thinking about:
1. What spells might be in the Book of Iron and Hellfire? (The magus is already drooling at what might be in there)
2. What might be binding the devil?
3. What the heck does a mint look like (I have some ideas and research to do on this)and how much could they actually make in a single night, one man heist (with, probably, a bag of holding type IV)?
That's what I did with mine as well. However, if you want real fun and have the time, make yourself a second map and think of all the fun a dragon with a sense of humor might have with permanent illusion spells. Bridges that exist but are hidden, bridges that exist but aren't real, hidden passages, etc.
Those are very good suggestions. As for Thatch and the Forbiddance spell
Spoiler:
I believe there is a seperate pass phrase that allows those within to teleport, they just need to speak it before they do so. The phrase is on page 68, last paragraph. Plus, it effects those who are not LG for alignment. For my part, I am keeping this information from my PC's for the most part, since of the people they gotten information about the Adarium from, none were spellcasters who would have any need for knowing that password. Now if they were to capture or trick Thatch somehow and get the info, that would work, although Thatch really doesn't need to use the password, only Brigit might.
Sakura and her forces attacked from the south immediately, as the villains were recovering from slaying the dragon. The half-orc fighter held the pass her forces were marching up single-handedly (The regular player of the half-orc was not there, so his statistical anomaly dice-rolling wasn't present to make his character terrible). With most of the spellcasters unaware and stuck on the other side of the stone wall Eriamanthus created previously, Sakura hit the other characters with waves of exhaustion while the caretaker gargoyle went after the spellcasters. Eventually, however, the PC's were able to whittle her down and slay her. The it was off to find the dragon's hoard!
In a stroke of amazing luck, one of my PC's actually managed to figure out almost the entire riddle in only 15 minutes, then got stuck on the last letter, as did the entire party. After an hour, I had pity upon them because they were so close. They were even more excited for the dragon's library (it only nearly killed the witch before they realized it was a trap that reset itself). The witch currently has visions of canon golems dancing in his head (or Artephius Mark III). At this point, no one is sure what to do with The Nameless Tyrant. They are unwilling to bargain with it and completely terrified of it.
On a side note, meeting with Dessiter, my PC's were surprised that Thorn was afraid of them, plus they have been showing uncharacteristically good loyalty to Thorn, so they were kind of like "But why!?" in a hurt puppy sort of way. They are currently more distrustful of Dessiter than Thorn. I had to add in an extra bit about the painting of Bronwyn, which the PC's had taken with them from Balentyne as "recreational viewing material" (my PC's are like playing with live action Saint's Row IV characters. I'm just trying to make it sound less crude. *sigh*).
My PC's are now in Matharyn, trying to figure out how to get into the Adarium. They have the countess from Daveryn as their liason. At the moment I'm trying to think of what security protocols might be in place during this time: weapon search or peace-knotting of carried weapons? magical searches? Also, might there be any other dignitaries besides the Iraen? With the place so empty it might almost seem odd for the countess to just show up with her entourage (the PC's) to visit... who? Just curious what other people think about this.
Ouch, I feel for that sorc player! The rescue mission for my group has gone a little better:
Spoiler:
Eiramathus, for his part, had not been idle. He had interrogated the prisoners, and had special plans for four of them. The magus would be delivered to Heaven, to face judgement for slaying Ara Mathra. The duergar monk would be sent to Elysium to hunted down as prey. The oracle would be sent to Hell as a failure. Izevel was being woo'd by the dragon. Everyone was happy to be freed before those sentences came to pass. In addition to his interrogations, the dragon modified his island by way of stone shape and permanent illusion. One such illusion was a of a humming crystal with the duergar monk encased in it. However, what was actually within the illusion was a trapped Izevel, so that when the illusion was pierced, her gaze attack would go off. It was quite fun to see the witch fall victim to it.
Eventually, having recovered all their party members, the PC's confronted Shakti, who was not alone, having a patrol consisting of: 2 fighters, a cleric, a sorc, and a scout, as well as another Caretaker, with her. It was 14 (6 PC's, 6 cohorts, 2 bone devils) against 7. However, Goruza was next to useless due to not having spells, the magus was significantly downpowered for the same reason, and the gnome oracle was without armor (and complaining). It was an interesting fight on the top floor of her tower. Several Flame Strikes went off, on both sides, as well as a Firestorm spell by the flame oracle. The wooden staircase caught fire, preventing a portion of the group from ascending up to the top floor for a while, plus it was a bit rickety afterwards. Also due to all the Flame Strikes, a section of floor gave way, spilling some of the combatants into the room below. In the end, Shakti was slain, but not before dispatching both bone devils.
Of course, all this combat alerted Eiramanthus that something was up, mostly because it was still daylight and there was a good deal of smoke billowing out of Shakti's tower. So, he prepared, and then teleported to meet the group as they left Shakti's tower, with a command given to Sakura to move up from the south to assist. Sakura moved at the slowest speed of her patrol, so the PC's had time to take on the dragon and his patrol (plus the guard captain and Caretaker). The PC's were able to take the patrol down somewhat swiftly, but the captain proved to be a considerable match for them, particularly for low AC characters. The dragon used his breath weapon often and stayed in the air for the most part, and managed to sneak in a Wall of Stone to separate most of the casters (still by Shakti's tower) from the melee fighters in the next clearing. In the end, although they defeated the guard captain, things were not looking good for the PC's. One character had fled in dragonfear, several others were on the ground laughing, and a few more were blinded, again. The witch used limited wish to remove the blindness from his party members, and the duergar, desperate to inflict damage on the dragon, used his dimension door ability to move himself several hundred feet into the air and drop like a rock. He hit terminal velocity and struck the dragon (It was late and the dragon was still pretty healthy, plus the player of the duergar was likely going to switch over to playing Shaggorath Night-Mane. I felt it was a fair trade.). It was a fitting end for the duergar, and just enough to take the dragon down.
No rest for the wicked, though. Footsteps approach from the south, and Sakura will be very angry with the wicked deeds wrought upon her lover.
So, after resting up, the PC's teleported back to the island. After wandering for a bit, they came upon a patrol (1 scout, 1 cleric, 1 sorcerer, 2 fighters and 1 Caretaker gargoyle). They got a lucky surprise round in (not that lucky, the bone devils helped a lot in this instance), grappled the sorc, cast silence on a pebble in a handful of rocks and then chucked the rocks in the cleric's vicinity and overall stomped most of the patrol except the Caretaker, which managed to blind three party members (well, two plus the witch's imp familiar), as well as spread some possible disease, we'll see how that plays out. They moved further inland, trying to get to Shakti's tower, their goal being to kill all the consorts first. Along the way they discovered their cohort wizard (sans spellbook and equipment) stone shaped into a wall. Freed her and that's where we ended, roughly.
A few things this has made me think of: I've been allowing the PC that made the deal with the bone devils to run them, but I'm thinking of taking over control. They are too helpful; they are devils, afterall, and the deal was release from the mirror for 9 years service. Technically, they don't have to do much if they are not ordered to do so, and if the PC dies, they get released earlier. I could see this as quite tempting to them.
Another thing, and probably the more pressing, is what to do with the PCs' characters that were captured (currently, those players are running NPCs in the rescue team and have no idea what is going on with their character). I'm all for them being discovered one by one and released by the rescue team. However, from what I overheard last session, they blew their only 3 Heal spells on the blinded characters. I suspect that they might make it to Shakti, kill her, then teleport away again to rest. I feel this would be a bad idea, and I think that if they did do that then the remaining captives would be lost to them, not dead exactly, but lost. I gave the dragon plane shift and thought about things from his angle. He could easily kill the captives and hunt down the rescue party, but that seems a bit cold-blooded. I'm thinking he plane shifts four of them elsewhere: the magus to Heaven, to face judgement for slaying Ara Mathra, the oracle to Hell minus hands for failure, the duergar to Elysium, and Izevel would be hidden below ground for a time while the dragon tried to convert her to good and restore her appearance. Just not sure if it's too harsh.
My group just finished the encounter with "The Messengers"
Wow - Maul & Clarion were a difficult encounter; together they were a CR16 encounter (with the Average PC level at 13).
One PC death and I had to "hold-back" to avoid TPK.
But it was nice to "reverse" the PCs tactics back on them: scry, buff and teleport to target!
Yeah, Maul and Clarion are brutal together. I had only two PC's squaring off against them, plus Artephius. The witch got real lucky with dismissing Maul in the second round. Then it took them a while to take down Clarion. I suspect those two will be making a return visit at some point.
So, after spending a couple of hours making a rescue plan and arguing over that plan, the PC's set forth. They chose to teleport in this time around. They actually had to spend a villainous action point to keep from a teleportation mishap. Going along on the mission: Ivo (14th level witch, PC), Lowgrut (14th level armor master fighter, PC), Hekkarth Head-Taker (bugbear NPC, level 12 barbarian), Shaggorath Night-Mane (bugbear NPC, level 12 fighter), Trik (level 12 cleric, with the service of 2 bone devils), and Anton Breuder (less-than-excited to be rescuing his new employers).
It was a brutal combat for the PC's. No one died, but they came very close. They had cloistered on the beach and were hit with cone of cold and a couple of lighting bolts (as well as Setia's shockwave attack as a last ditch effort), in addition to being pounded on by the elder water elemental. They got lucky, however, because I rolled poorly on two of the concentration checks for Setia, preventing her from healing herself and unleashing more carnage. After killing her, the group teleported away again, taking Setia's body with them. The witch plans to use it to help create Artephius Mark II. I have to think about the repercussions of that as a component of a magical item. Definitely looking forward to next session. I'm still amazed that they have not bothered to attempt to scry on their companions.
With relative impunity, the PC's completed all the quests in Daveryn. Recruited the thieves guild, recruited the baronness (who now helps coordinate their organization), caught the duke, etc. Then it was off to rescue Jaratheon (which they were going to do without prompting, they thought having a dragon owe them a favor would be good anyway). Using the iron circlets and posing as Polydorus with attendants, they bluffed their way past the Stormborn King and took Jaratheon into custody. Of course, once the eagles had left (they had helped carry the dragon down the mountain), the PC's removed Jaratheon's shackles and he immediately bolted and got away. Eventually they went to see Chargammon, after three out of the four who went nearly died fighting the viper vines. They were eager to take on Eiramanthus. They barely researched the dragon himself and ignored researching his consorts. They arrived at the isle by way of a boat, eager to fill its hold with dragon treasure (boy, will they be a little disappointed with there not being heaps of gold for them to take). Using their longboat, they cruised in and technically wrecked on the reef, but then I noticed that Setia might be beyond the reef, so I gave them a do-over. They were very clever, particularly the oracle, proclaiming to be under a mission for the Mitran king to seek the dragon's aid against the villains. It worked and they managed to bluff their way through the island and avoid all the other consorts. They arrived before Eiramanthus fully rested, ready to rumble, except that in all the excitment, no one remembered to cast any defensive spells ahead of time.
Meeting with Eiramanthus, the PC's stated they were there for his head at the request of Chargammon and it was on. The dragon lead with his joke, disabling the half-orc fighter, Irfan, and Goruza. They discovered rather quickly that hitting Eiramanthus was difficult, particularly when all the melee fighters could not pass the Will save to negate the dragon's slow aura. Things got worse when all the consorts appeared. In the end, the PC's lost. Grumblejack was cut down by the dragon's breath weapon, as was the magus (who spent his last two villainous action points to be left for dead) and Rodrigo (whom the magus had recruited as a follower. First mission too.), and Artephius was destroyed. The oracle surrendered after being reduced to an Int of 5 and Wis of 4 by Sakura, the monk had landed a single blow for no damage against Setia and surrendered when the oracle did. Izevel had been getting punched in the face, repeatedly, by Shakti (partly because, for some reason, Death Funnel had decided that firing her bow at an adjacent target and drawing the AoO was better than drawing a melee weapon), saw the other two surrender and tried to bolt, only to be caught outside by Eiramanthus a couple of rounds later. Ivo saw the writing on the wall just before the oracle surrendered (right after the dragon had killed three party members), ran over to the half-orc (whom he has a deal with. They are helping each other reach Lichdom and Graveknighthood, respecitvely) and teleported away.
So now I am cobbling together an interesting side quest. Prior to these events, the PC's had discharged Trik to start creating a church of Asmodeus in Balentyne. I believe the plan is for the witch and fighter to travel to there and then mount a rescue mission. I thought that Eiramanthus might be willing to take those that surrendered prisoner. The set-up for their incarceration will be Eiramanthus using stone shape and wall of stone to keep them shackled pretty well. All of the PC's possessions were taken, even their clothes. I think he might have questions for the PC's, plus I thought it would be interesting for him to take an interest in Izevel. He has been around long enough to know of her and her situation, and it seems as though it would be in character for him to attempt to sway her.
It's been a somewhat eventful last couple of weeks.
My players wish to use their minions for explorying the various areas of Daveryn. Has anyone else had their PC's wish to do this, and how did you handle it? I'm thinking that the minions won't ever stumble across any of the encounters (although it would be fun to have a number of their minions slaughtered because the PC's are being lazy/greedy. Serve them right.), but maybe have them do a higher DC Espionage roll? I don't have the evil organization info right in front of me, but I think that would be the stat they would use for looting. Thoughts on modifying the results?
After the sudden attack by Maul and Clarion, the villains are terrified, believing Heaven has hired assassins to slay them. So on day two they only split into three teams instead of four. This was an opportunity for us to sideline one player and their cohort since he was not there. The two simply went and looked at the Sable Tower.
Group A, consisting of Raiju, Izevel, the fire oracle and the monk returned to Tythers to look again for the cardinal. They still did not find him, although they did find the bottle from the region for Grumblejack's bet. And they were able to get in touch with Anton and the Daveryn thieve's guild, to whom they offered protection from the bugbear horde in exchange for joining their organization. It was a deal swiftly agreed to.
Group B (Trik, Artephius, the magus and the witch) traveled to Brandelthyn to examine Polydorus' tower. It took them several rounds to figure out they were being attacked by invisible stalkers, then the witch's familiar was taken down by Polydorus casting lightning arc from atop his tower. The group barely survived the encounter, but thanks to the magus, who flew up and skewered the mage, they made it. They later reanimated Polydorus' corpse out of spite. After reading the note from the Lord of Eagles and Polydorus' book on dragons, the villains are already planning to spring Jaratheon so that they have a dragon that owes them a favor.
The following day, the group went en masse (sans Artephius and the witch) to Cliffward to examine the prison. Izevel took point and began turning her gaze upon all who defended the wall. It was an effective tactic, one which inevitably left just the warden and Izevel squaring off on top of the wall before he eventually succumbed to her gaze, although not before the monk had strolled up to the gate, ripped the helmeted head off a corpse and threw (and hit) the warden with it. They have acquired the services of the assassin and of Goruza, the Nightmare Queen. It will be interesting to see them in action next week.
And I'm back. Been a long hiatus from running Way of the Wicked, but we finally have completed part 2 of Jade Regent. On to to villainy!
The first part of the session was everyone re-familiarizing themselves with their characters, making sure they were properly leveled up and doing some bookkeeping on the organization. We picked up exactly where we left off...
Spoiler:
With trumpets blaring, the Grand Army of the South had arrived at the Vale. Surveying the view from atop flying fiendish hippogryphs, the villains knew they could not hold. Unwilling to leave so useful a tool as a small bugbear army behind, they sought a way to escape those that pursued them. It was Lowgrut, recently returned from the dead, who noticed the winding goat trail that might just lead their army to safety. With a day before the assault would begin, the villains made last minute preparations. Trik, also returned from the dead, now a tiefling, worked with the acolytes of organization to raise what corpses they could to fill the Vale with the dead, buying time for their army to escape. The minions who had served under Vladimir the anti-paladin chose to remain behind to man the wall, eager to join their master in death. The next morning, they were the only living beings remaining in the Vale. At head of a great column of evil, Lowgrut lead the army through treacherous mountain passes and bitter cold to freedom, all the way to Daveryn, with only minimal losses (4 rolls made out of 5).
In Daveryn, they met with the Fire-Axe, learned of his tale and were charged with finding the Duke. Perhaps it was all their time together in the Vale, but they split into four groups to scour the city for the Duke (and for the bottles to complete Grumblejack's bet). They did not find him, but something did find Ivo the witch and Lowgrut as they searched. In the blink of an eye, Maul and Clarion arrived. Clearly, the villains were outmatched, even with the might of Artephius on their side. Only by luck was Ivo able to use Dismal on Maul, giving Lowgrut (with Taint of the Pit on) an opportunity to finish off Clarion. Maul, for his part, plane shifted back to join up with Clarion, but found himself quite a distance away (347 miles off-course, to be exact). And that is where we ended the evening.
Assorted musings:
- I had Trik become a Tiefling by making a deal with Dessiter while he was in the afterlife. It allowed me to set-up a conversation with the gnome oracle of Asmodeus to convince him not to become a vampire. Even the player admitted he would be fairly broken as a full-powered vampire. The player thought it was a convincing argument. Now they want Raiju to become a vampire instead.
- My PC's have complained that they don't have enough magical firepower (which is not true, they have access to most of the damaging spells, they just aren't realizing that their foes are resistant or immune and none of the spellcasters take metamagic feats for some reason), so I am inserting a wizard into the prison. She is a half-orc wizard of the Phantasm school. I think it's a good choice and fitting. The majority of her spells are illusion, so I hope to see some creativity.
- Although I was busy working with other players, I overheard snippets of conversation between Ivo and Lowgrut about getting certain enchantments placed upon Lowgrut's armor, enabling him to become a Graveknight when the time was right.
Thanks, and you are absolutely correct, it does make it very difficult for an individual PC to die. For me, I'm okay with that on AP's like this because it makes the story flow better when I don't have to shoehorn in a new PC character. My players like the bonds they forge between characters, and I like to see it. Plus, in a CE game such as this, I know that certain players would target certain other players relentlessly, mostly because they could and they have wanted to mess with the other person for ages (My game group is six people I've gamed with for at least 5 years, if not more than a decade).
In my homebrew game, the PC's are effectively immortal as well, although their immortality comes with a price. In that one (where they are the heroes), if they die, they come back to life a round later, but within the next 24 hrs a location near them will have a wave of death followed by an undead uprising based on how powerful the PC (or PC's) were that died. At one point, Death sat them down for a little chat about this; Death was not pleased.
I also have no intention of telling them what the curse is doing, either. I plan to keep track of their hit points myself, in addition to them keeping track of them. They won't be aware of the hit point loss (unless using a spell to track hit points), just that they are beginning to fatigue and not feel so great, and it keeps intensifying. I just hope at some point something large and aquatic swallows one of them so the others have to go chasing after it to keep themselves from dying. Or an enemy captures one of them and tries to kill that one, and inadvertently starts killing the others over the course of time.
Just read a bit of the book, haven't even really touched the adventure itself yet, but already the wheels are spinning. I think my game group will likely go with drow for this one. One thing that has already popped into my head:
Spoilery:
I think that I will try to make the curse have a real, mechanical effect for the game. I'm thinking of going with only 6 drow siblings (the 6th daughter of a 6th daughter; also I have six players), all males, so in drow society the lowest of the low. I think the curse will work thusly: if, by their action or inaction, another of their siblings falls, they all feel it. Mechanically I picture it working as the character that would die (due to blood loss or massive damage), stays at just one hit point away from death while the others still live. However, any further damage that would kill the PC is spread out amongst the others as a whole. So while at one point a character bleeding out at 1 hp per round means one other PC in the group takes that point of damage instead; if the dying character takes a massive hit, the damage gets spread around as evenly as possible among the others. They either stand together or die as one (possibly quite slowly). I have no plan to reveal this information to them for quite some time, I'd rather they figure it out. The demon lord made them for a purpose, it will not see it's wishes failed by pathetic mortals.
Granted, I won't get to run this for a while. Have to finish WoW (1/2 way there!) and they want me to run my homebrew game for a bit as well. But I'm hoping that by the time other things are wrapped up that all the books for this path will be out.
And another thing popped into my head: tying WoW and a villain victory into the Explorer storyline could work really well.
@doc In this module, it does not. Those things I believe are coming with the next few modules.
@callous jack From what I've seen on the KS forum, it looks like the emails have been sent out in waves, I think I got mine Friday or Saturday evening, and some folks had some issues where the link didn't work correctly, but that was on the store's end.
Just read a bit of the book, haven't even really touched the adventure itself yet, but already the wheels are spinning. I think my game group will likely go with drow for this one. One thing that has already popped into my head:
Spoilery:
I think that I will try to make the curse have a real, mechanical effect for the game. I'm thinking of going with only 6 drow siblings (the 6th daughter of a 6th daughter; also I have six players), all males, so in drow society the lowest of the low. I think the curse will work thusly: if, by their action or inaction, another of their siblings falls, they all feel it. Mechanically I picture it working as the character that would die (due to blood loss or massive damage), stays at just one hit point away from death while the others still live. However, that damage is spread out amongst the others as a whole. So while at one point a character bleeding out at 1 hp per round means one other PC takes that point of damage instead, if the dying character takes a massive hit, the damage gets spread around as evenly as possible among the others. They either stand together or die as one (possibly quite slowly). I have no plan to reveal this information to them for quite some time, I'd rather they figure it out. The demon lord made them for a purpose, it will not see it's wishes failed by pathetic mortals.
Granted, I won't get to run this for a while. Have to finish WoW (1/2 way there!) and they want me to run my homebrew game for a bit as well. But I'm hoping that by the time other things are wrapped up that all the books for this path will be out.
And another thing popped into my head: tying WoW and a villain victory into the Explorer storyline could work really well.
Hmm, speaking of other products, it occurs to me that maybe some of the delay is updating ToN to include ideas related to the recent releases of Ultimate Campaign and/or Mythic Adventures.
Nowhere is described the beginning of the stairs to level 1 & 2. By looking at the front picture i decided it was a DC25 perception check to notice the stairs going up lvl 1 (since it's entangled with vines).
How about the stairs to level 2? Is it the same stairs or others ? coming from base floor ?
It seems weird to have 2 different sets of stairs, one going only to lvl 1 and one going only to level 2.
Also:
In the capture cell (room 1-23) it says it's a 50ft fall nevertheless between level 1 (which is 100ft high) and level 2 (almost 200 ft high). So that would be an almost 100ft high fall no?
Nevertheless when I look at the map for the height of each lvl I see there is a 50ft difference between each lvl.
So Lvl 1: 50 ft, Lvl 2 100 ft and lvl 3 150 ft....
mmmh I'm confused then.
When I ran the Horn, it was a staircase on either side of The Maw, one curving up to each of the entrances for the respective levels. Defensively, it's not a bad set-up, as long as you know the real way up. Plus it keeps pesky minions seeking greater power from messing with your valuables higher up.
Regarding the distance between floors, I played it that each floor was 50 ft. high unless specified otherwise. There is a reason why the anti-paladin (with no mount) and the fighter (also with no mount) gained either Run or Endurance as a bonus feat (especially for getting up to the Sanctum).
Gustavo: I have not, but I think a friend of mine might be able to track it down, thanks for the suggestion.
Now, some extra flavor text. The group's half-orc fighter (armor master)/anti-paladin of Asmodeus got taken out during the battle with Ara Mathra. Since there's vampires and liches available, and somebody mentioned graveknight, I thought it might fit and explain how the information is found. So here's a little story on the offer made to the character (hidden for the sake of space and those not interested):
The Choice:
In the burning light of a descending column of heavenly fire, called forth by Ara Mathra, you catch a fleeting glimpse of the paradise promised to the Mitrans. In an instant, it is gone, leaving you in warm darkness. Not just warm, but growing steadily hotter. As the heat intensifies even more, you realize you have drifting down, that the darkness is shifting to a reddish glow from beneath you, getting brighter with each passing moment. The heat becomes insufferable, causing a pain unlike any you had physically experienced. It is at once piercing and shrill, yet still constantly throbbing. The wailing of millions of voices tears through your mind, the only part of your existence which remains. As the already excruciating pain increases even more, it slowly, or perhaps in the blink of an eye, begins shredding your memories a piece at a time, flaying away identity and meaning. Continuing your descent, beyond sanity with suffering, you are only dimly aware that you have closed the gap with an undulating, flesh-like mass beneath you. In that dim awareness you see a terrifying skeletal boat; great boney wings without flesh outstretched as if sails atop a boat made of bone. At the back of the boat, so like the whaling boats of the Mitrans, stands a robed figure, red eyes burning out from within a darkened hood. At the fore of the boat stands a massive creature with large bat-like wings and two curved horns atop his humanoid face. It is a shame you do not recognize Grumblejack, as he dips a mighty long-poled meat-hook into the fleshy mas to pull out a new lemure.
Identity and meaning almost completely gone, the flicker of soul that was you drifts closer still to the mass of flesh, there to begin an infernal time of nothing but suffering…
A cold darkness envelops you. It is watching you. With a start, you realize you are aware of yourself again, memories and meaning back again.
“You have a choice, Lowgrut.” Spoke the Darkness in a thousand terrible voices.
“Who are you, where am I?” you ask.
“We represent other parties with an interest in Talingarde. The Father will topple the Friend, that is without refute. What happens after remains a question. We offer a choice.” Spoke the Darkness.
“I serve the Father.” you reply.
“And no one has asked you not to. But know this: what you have glimpsed is what will await nearly all of your companions. In exchange for a way out of eternal suffrage, we ask that the Asmodean way be not the only way followed in the wake of the Mitrans’ destruction.” Stated the Darkness.
“How do I escape?” you ask.
“We will grant to you the knowledge to bind yourself to your armor. As long as it remains, you shall always rise again. When the day comes and the armor destroyed, you will simply cease to be. Your soul will already be gone. But for this knowledge you must represent us in whatever new land you create. And Asmodeus must not know until you have dispatched with your soul, lest he call in your contract. The choice is yours.”
Ha! Did I also mention she is at full hitpoints and abilities? Izevel caught her with the gaze in the first round. Oh, what hoops should I have them jump through for access to an 8th level spell? Of course, it should not take them more than a minute to subdue her while tagging her with a Dimensional Anchor. Whether or not they will think of it, I have no idea. I believe at last dicussion they wanted a way to physically and magically restrain her so the vamp could take his time.
Hmm, so the start up of Book IV is getting closer. My PC's acquired the chalice for the vampire, although they are indecisive about who will become the vampire. I do think I'll steer the oracle away from becoming a vamipre, as I can already tell he won't be happy not having full vamp powers and bonuses right out of the gate. Plus he will become one of the most overpowered PC's in the group. I think I can swing his opinion to becoming a vampire, though. His character is exceedingly letigous as part of his Oracle's curse. I figured if it's explained to him that becoming any kind of undead prevents your soul from moving on the next realm (already used it up becoming a vampire), it violates contract agreement.
Regardless, that is not what I'm wondering about. The PC's managed to petrify (with Izavel's help)The Fire That Sings. This is the "angel" they have chosen to give to the vampire lord as payment for becoming a vampire. My question: How do you hold a flaming, angry, native celestial being still long enough for a vampire to feed? Thoughts, ideas?
“Damn humans,” Adrobanderiel muttered darkly as he buckled on the sword belt of the dead guard. Said dead guard’s uniform now hung loosely on the elf’s slim frame, although with his ears tucked into the helmet, at a distance, he would pass for human. On the other side of the room, Shaldwin did much the same, this time the outfit barely concealing his bulging muscles. With a quiet thud, an ogre lumbered around the corner, accompanied by the blue-haired oracle.
“We have an ogre.” He said with glee.
“Grumblejack help.” replied the ogre. It was clear to the villains that time was not their ally, so their quest to escape must be quick. Lowering Shaldwin, headfirst, down the chimney shaft, the knife master spied two servants busily preparing food in the kitchen. Hauling the rogue back up, the oracle cackled with joy and insisted the others lower him down by his feet.
Once lowered, he eyed his targets. Looking at a servant, the oracle held out his newly acquired symbol of Asmodeus and barked a command. Immediately, the woman who had been chopping onions decided to chop at her cohort instead. Swiftly aiming at other servant, another harsh word of command was spoken. The other servant immediately stabbed at his now-confused attacker, to little effect. With horror growing in both their eyes, both began screaming, bringing a guard from the main hall to check on the ruckus. As the confused guard listened to the two wildly jabbering cooks in the kitchen, Ivo used his magic to beguile the other remaining guard in the main hall to head for Blackerly’s office. While the guards were gone, the villains made haste through the main hall and out into the courtyard.
As the first light of freedom hit their faces, the villains were thrilled – the inner door to the courtyard had been left open! However, because fortune is ruthlessly fickle, the two sentries atop the entryway noticed the ogre and assorted smaller humanoids rather quickly. With all due haste, the villains charged the entryway, Shaldwin and Adrobanderiel waiting back a few moments in their guard uniforms.
With a heave of his mighty hand, Grumblejack sent the door bar flying from the outer entryway door, before barreling it open with his shoulder. Before the villains stretched the downward sloping, zigzagging run to the mainland. With a cry of exultation, the villains ran onwards towards the final guardhouse and freedom. Unfortunately, as the ogre had opened the door, the horns of the sentries above sounded. It was at this time that Shaldwin and Adrobanderiel ran out of the main hall shouting “The prisoners are escaping!” and running to the gatehouse.
Arrows sliced through the air, some missing, others finding their mark in flesh. Wounded and winded, the villains came upon the final gate, a large portcullis. Ivo, silken veil in hand, pulled the window from the enchanted cloth and flung it to the gate, creating an instant opening. Swiftly Ivo and Lowgrut dove through the opening, only to contend with guards and their dogs on the other side. Barely breaking stride, Grumblejack hurled Feldon (who had been under his arm the entire sprint from the gatehouse) through the opening before hurling himself up and over the guardhouse. Closing on the portcullis were Shaldwin and Adrobanderiel, firing arrows at the guards ahead of them. With combined effort, the villains were able to slay the guards and their dogs before any pursuit could close with the guardhouse. Weary but free, Lowgrut led the group on a course into the moors. Despite the best attempts of the native denizens of the swamplands, the group managed to stagger, muddy and bloody, to the manor house on Old Moor Road, the one with a single lantern lit in the second story.
“No prison can hold the Nightblade!” Shaldwin hissed through his teeth, straining against his shackles. After a few moments struggle, he slumped again against the wall, still shackled.
“Save your strength, fool, I doubt you will break those chains. Even if you do, how will you get past the door?” mumbled Feldon around the mouthguard which blocked his use of spells. Approaching footsteps silenced the group as Sergeant Blackerly approached with Gorde in tow, looking rather confused. Swiftly the dwarf was shackled again and the group of villains left to the quiet of their cell. Hushed arguing again broke out as the group devised scheme after scheme of escape with little hope of success. With no weapons or tools, their fate appeared sealed.
It was at that point that Ivo noticed the white cloth clutched in the hand of Gorde, who was staring longingly at the item. Snarling, Ivo said “You idiot, how long have you had that?”
“The pretty white-haired woman gave it to me; she wasn’t very nice.” replied Gorde.
“What… who… nevermind, hold it up so I can see it.” Ivo sputtered. As Gorde held the white veil up and stutteringly told his story of meeting the white-haired woman, Shaldwin noticed a particular item on the cloth.
“Those look like lockpicks.” He said.
“Idiot dwarf, peel those off the cloth.” commanded Ivo. Reluctantly, Gorde followed the command. In his scarred hands he now held a set of exquisite lockpicks. Tossing the picks to Shaldwin, the rogue began attempting to pick the worn locks of the shackles. Gorde began removing a few of the other items: a satchel of spell components, a wooden symbol of the dark god Asmodeus, a couple of daggers. However, freedom yet eluded the villains as they were still shackled. While Gorde was peeling items from the cloth, Shaldwin Nightblade, self-proclaimed greatest thief in Talingarde, found himself continuing his string of bad luck. Three times he dropped the picks, failing to open the shackles, each time managing to muffle the clatter of the picks upon the ground. Finally, with great effort, the Nightblade managed to undo the shackle point for the villains’ feet, freeing the chain which bound them together. It was, of course, this effort which finally alerted the nearby guards, prompting one to walk over and investigate.
For once, things went the way of the wicked, as the hung-over and exhausted guard simply snarled at the prisoners to keep quiet and then, noticing nothing out of the ordinary, began slowly strolling away from the cell. Within moments, the remaining prisoners were freed and crept out of their cell. Gorde, using the chain from the leg shackles, snuck up behind the hung-over guard as the guard approached the corner to the guard room and attempted to loop the chain about the guard’s neck. Whether it was the clink of the chain or the soft patter of so many feet, the guard startled and Gorde’s attack missed.
With a cry, the guard attempted to pull his longsword, but before he could do so he was tackled to the ground by Adrobanderiel and Lowgrut. As the first guard toppled to the ground, Ivo stepped around the corner to confront the other guard who had a signal horn half-way to his lips.
“Nothing to see here, the other guard is just giving us our daily beating.” Ivo stated charmingly. With a glassy-eyed smile, the remaining guard lowered his horn and sat back at his table, his back to the scuffle occurring just around the corner from him. He died much more quietly than his friend.
A couple of alternate, story type ideas for explaining why Mitran citizens are not immediately resurrected, even upper class ones. My first idea is that it could be worked in that Thorn has perhaps been given a particular ritual which could be taught to the PC's which ties the victim to Asmodeus, possibly blocking resurrection. Granted, if the ritual is not performed, nothing would stop the NPC from being brought back.
Another idea is that pre-Book III, resurrection is possible by Mitran priests, but with the villains success in Book III, the ability to raise the dead is barred from them unless the Vale is restored. Imagine a side adventure to keep the Vale suppressed.
Also of note is that Mitran priests are only 20% of the Mitran clergy population, and high level spellcasting clerics are viewed with some suspiscion by other clergy, particularly with the possibility of mental control.
Other ideas could include the expense of material components (and availability of such; it's how I kept my PC's from warding every 5 foot square of the Horn) or a possible religious sanction by Mitrans against resurrection (imagine if Christian clerics were capable of bringing people back from the dead, it might be somewhat forbidden given the prominent role resurrection plays in relation to its central figure).
At the behest of some folks on this forum, I've compiled my game reports through Book 3 and am working on giving them a rewrite polish. So far I've only gotten introducing the characters done, but hopefully I'll get more done in the following days. It's posted over on the Campaign Journals sub-forum under Way of the Wicked Lords of the Nine.
Mostly this post is to introduce the PC's. I took the time to actually write it with some thought. More posts up to Book 4 are to come as I am able to complete them. Hope you enjoy.
Book 1
Rain thundered against the outside of the wagon, the occasional peal of thunder drowning out the creak and groan of the axles. It did nothing for the stink within the rough burlap sacks worn over the heads of the worst criminals of Talingarde. They were six, strangers to each other, strangers to this land of lawful, good hearted citizens. Chained together on their way to death or worse, they sat in silence. The stuffy wagon stopped once before lurching on, only to stop a few moments later. Muffled voices from outside heralded the approach of guards outside, ready to take the criminals to their cell. Swiftly they were led inside, the pounding rain only enhancing the stench of the hoods.
Dragged inside by the chain linking them together, the six men found the chill of the thundering storm outside replaced with a stifling heat. In a blink, the hoods were removed and their vision gradually accustomed to the reddish light of the room. A dark-haired man with a smug smirk, clad in the uniform of a Talingarde guardsman stands before them, a red-hot poker in his hand.
“I am Sergeant Blackerly, and welcome to Branderscar. Your stay here will be short. You were the worst scum of this kingdom. With this brand, you are forever Forsaken, from the kingdom and the shining light of Mitra.” he tells them. With a gesture to another guardsman, the first of the prisoners’ arms is lifted.
“Shaldwin Nightblade,” Blackerly begins, speaking to a muscular half-elf, “you are found guilty of the crime of high theft from the Cathedral of the Shining Lord. The sentence is life doing hard labor in the salt mines.” With a simple motion, Blackerly brands the half-elf rogue with a runic “F”, then proceeds to the next. (Half-elven Knife Master Rogue, NE)
“Gorde Hammersnout,” raising the arm of a twitching, bald-headed dwarf with a nose clearly the victim of several fractures, “you are found guilty of multiple counts of murder. The sentence is death by beheading.” (Dwarf monk, LE)
“Lowgrut Shattertooth,” raising the arm of a massive half-orc, “you are found guilty of willful desertion of your post, leading to the death of your commanding officer in the King’s army. You will be hung from your neck until dead.” (Half-orc Fighter, LE)
“Ivo Shandor,” raising the arm of a thin, black haired and bearded man, “you are found guilty of consorting with the powers of darkness, may Mitra have mercy upon you. May the burning light of your pyre release you from the evil life you have led.” (Human Witch, NE)
“Feldon of Tarrington Fields, you are a found guilty of arson, causing the willful destruction of several fields, dozens of livestock, a temple of Mitra and the deaths of the priests and orphans therein. The sentence is to be burned alive at the stake.” The blue-haired gnome with red eyes merely stared at Blackerly as he received his brand. (Gnome pyromaniac Oracle of Flame, LE)
“And finally, Adrobanderiel Barca, of House Barca. You are found guilty of dueling to the death with a member of House Darius. The sentence is death by beheading.” The tall elf merely rolled his eyes at Blackerly. (Elven Blackblade Magus, LE)
“In three days’ time, your sentences will be executed. Take them away!” commanded Blackerly.
For several weeks, Ara Mathra has watched the invading bugbears, attempting to see the snake hidden in the weeds. He did not have to watch for long. The non-goblinoids stood out amongst the rank and file, and played pivotal roles in every major action. It was to them that the fiercest bugbear warriors bended knee and took orders from. It was they who ascended the Mountain of the Phoenix and drove out Suchandra. And it was these particular villians, with their hand-picked minions, who dared to trespass into sacred lands. There they paid a bloody price, but slowly, the villians battered their way into the Cathedral of Mitra Made Manifest. Ara Mathra asked for a miracle and received one, a holy wall of flame barring entrance to the last sacred flame.
The villians, however, would remain tenacious. Like the murderous cudgel of Asmodeus himself, the villians bludgeoned their way through the Cathedral, slaying all who dwelled within and halting the Lord Abbott's ritual that might have saved the Vale. The Asmodean followers had puzzled out the key to wall of holy fire, and had even unlocked the Vault of St. Angelo and the evil held within. Then they rested and restored their strength. Ara Mathra prepared. He had watched the villians for some time. He knew their strategies, who the leaders were. He watched while they prepared themselves for battle with him, and knew what to expect. Although he would die in this battle, he would take some of villians with him. The first would be the oracle of Asmodeus, in many ways the most potent of threats. He had the most to face justice for.
The oracle fled multiple times from the angered angel, somehow keeping his feet despite the angel's stunning blows. Even a devil's luck, however, cannot last forever, and the oracle was stopped, then pounded into near oblivion by Ara Mathra. Although he had been wounded in pursuit of the oracle, Ara Mathra still had much fight left in him. His next choice of target was the witch and the terrible golem it commanded, but before Ara Mathra could move to pursue, the half-orc anti-paladin charged for the last sacred flame, a flask in his hand. Ara Mathra pursued the half-orc, only realizing at the end that the villian held not a vial of unholy water, but a vial of potion instead. The half-orc, who had been calling Ara Mathra a coward and challenging the angel to a duel, stopped.
"You have your duel, Champion of Asmodeus." the angel stated. Despite his hardy nature and the mystical, life-bestowing enchantments on his armor, the anti-paladin did not survive the duel, nor did he last long enough for his companions to reach him before he was crushed Ara Mathra.
The villians were in disarray: the duergar monk blinded by Ara Mathra's holy aura; Raiju, blinded and deafened, invisibly wandered away from the fight; the witch, Izevel, and the magus (a son of House Barca)all only now regaining their senses after hearing the word of Mitra (holy word). The blackblade of the magus hungered for the blood of the angel, compeling its host to attack the angel. Beneath the combined assault of the villians remaining, Ara Mathra made his last stand. Upon the blade of the magus did he die, but not before pulling himself further along the blade, to clasp the magus' shoulder, look him in the eye and tell him "It will be the son who brings your doom."
In the aftermath of the battle, the presence of Asmodeus became clear. The blinded monk regained his sight, and felt a dark voice whisper to him to soak his chains, the ones he had kept from Branderscar and which he regularly wrapped about his fists and body, in the blood of the angel. They absorbed the blood, becoming as a living thing, then slithered to and into the monk, there at his call for a price. The Mitran wands of curing that had ceased working during their time in this place shivered and warped, converting to Asmodean wands of curing.
Tiadora arrived with the villians reward, minus the cost of three scrolls of raise dead. Who they choose to raise and who agrees to come back will be a matter for the next book, for as they stared at their good fortune, a series of resounding trumpet blasts shook the Vale. The Grand Army of the South had arrived.
Technical stuff: The monk's chains (or kyton chains, I like to call them) allow him to strike as evil-aligned, count as spiked armor in a grapple and grant a +4 armor bonus to the monk. However, they come with a price. The cause the monk to bleed while they are manifest, just a point a round. What do other people think, is that fair?
Battered and rapidly running out of resources, the PC's soldiered on. The battle with the holy warriors and clerics resolved itself quickly, with Izevel petrifying 2/3rds of the forces in the surprise round. The remaining holy warriors joined their brethren the following round, leaving the two clerics standing. Several rounds later, they were deceased. The PC's continued to expore the rest of the floor, poorly. The monk decided to fail the first trial of the worthy (I don't think my PC's were even aware that there were trials, despite clues left)by immediately grabbing the holy symbol after being healed up full. They decided to not search the room and instead backtracked to room of mist, where they battled with Silence. The oracle PC was pleased when his curse of magic negation spell worked, giving the PC's a one round opening to finish off the angel. Working with nothing more than a +1 warhammer, the PC's battered down the iron door to the treasury, leaving no doubt as to where the PC's were.
They were disappointed to not find a giant pile of cure potions in the treasury. Leaving the loot there for the moment (except the platnium), they went back to search previous rooms again, eventually finding the secret door to the remaining areas. They managed to fail the second trial of the worthy by specifically searching the wrong location, which caught most of the party. Pressing on, they set off the third trial of the worthy by not pronouncing Asmodeus' name in Infernal. That's when the Lord Abbott began his assault. Blade Barriers was placed, a Wall of Fire and Black Tentacles also managed to squeeze into the room. No one really wanted to enter in. The fight appeared to not be going particularly well for the PC's, between Frightening Aspect and Holy Aura, until the Magus landed a lucky critical with Vampiric Touch.
Pushing on from this encounter, they found the bones and the nasty side effect. Their plan is to haul the coffin up to the hall, then remove a bone and charge through the wall. Using the holy symbol from the Lord Abbott, the oracle moved past the iron golems. The fighter was happy to receive Hellbrand, they stuffed the stygian mirror in the bag of holding, and were very pleased to find the Chalice.
All that is left is for the PC's to take down Ara Mathra. Should be an interesting final battle.
-Unless the PC's announce "We are disciples of Asmodeus", to all effective purposes it looks like an attack by bugbears, particularly if the PC's use their iron circlets to look like bugbears.
-Still takes time to get an army to the Vale, and it can theoretically be sacked in a day or two.
-My viewpoint is that it is not normally Mitra's way of doing things to simply charge in, angels and priests blazing. Keep in mind as well, actual spellcaster priests are rare among the clergy (less than 20%, if I remember right, and spread out over the entire island, plus divine casters are not real popular with non-caster clergy, particularly the higher ups). In lieu of a mystic storm, it could be simply that if Mitra calls in heavy hitters for team Heaven, Asmodeus gets to respond with devil support for the PC's. Additionally, for both dieties, mortal choice and doing it on your own are kind of big things, and might stay them from taking a more direct hand in events.
I will agree that mechanically what you propose works and makes perfect sense. However, far too often, I see that irrationality and arrogance, and to some extent hope, make one blind to the true nature of events for a long time. That's my two cents, anyway. :)
although this time it was not due to Death Funnel, although it was pointed out that it occurred four squares from him, so it may yet be his fault.
Not a lot of headway was made due to one PC having to leave midway through game and another PC unable to attend. Both had good reasons. We did get in one combat, however. It took place immediately after the previous fight, as Grumblejack and Raiju finally muscled through a wall of an ossuary, a la the Kool-Aid Man mascot. They were surprised the following round when the remaining ghost martyrs attacked them from behind, with both NPC's declared targets of smite evil. After the way the group crushed the ghost martyrs last session, I expected this to be a light fight. Instead, Grumblejack died, Raiju barely escaped with his life and the witch would have been killed if not for spending a villianous action point to make me reroll a critical hit, changing it to a miss. My PC's are battered, bloodied and kind of terrified. Raiju scouted ahead slightly after regenerating, and has found both the fog filled room and the campsite of the holy warriors and three priests. I've revamped the priests and holy warriors, who spotted Raiju's scouting but chose to wait and see. The plan of PC's is to try to sneak past the holy warriors. I doubt that will work, but they are hoping. All in all, I think it will be a dramatic conclusion in a few weeks when we finish (I make no illusions to myself about our pace of finishing the game). I do plan on giving them the opportunity to rest after defeating the Lord Abbott, as I doubt they will have much left after the holy warriors, priests, Lord Abbot, two iron golems, and an angel, plus three traps/riddles.
@ gustavo,
Mitran worship had existed for a long time in Talingarde, and I believe Macarius and the Cathedral existed long before house Darius came to power, and they were converted. I think some of that info was in book I, somewhere.
Game update:
Spoiler:
So after a week off due to illness, we jumped back in to game. The player of our oracle was back, and immediately wanted to stop and camp within the Cathedral, in the main hall. I looked at him and just asked if he thought that was a good idea. He grudingly accepted that it might not be the best plan, so the PC's moved on, sans Artephius, whom they have left in the ghaele's room until it can be repaired. They immediately figured out they needed a saint's bone, so for once they actually guessed something correctly.
The first room they happend across was the records room. The melee characters decided to just start tossing the place, mostly to irritate the oracle and witch. Their pilfering brought some ghost martyrs, which cornered the PC's in the records room. Except for the witch, who was angry with the other PC's for "being stupid" as he put it and stormed his character out of the room through a ghost and refused to participate in the fight. He was a little sore about not having Artephius. Ghost martyrs were dealt with, the PC's pulled out their cure light wounds wands they had picked up from Mitran priests. They were not all that surprised when I said it stopped working. Cursing my name, they fell back on the gallons of potions the witch had brewed while they were at the Horn. They were happy to find the ossuaries, and the oracle instructed everyone to be careful not to disturb anything. Of course, when they found three ghost martyrs in one of the ossuaries, he was the first to launch a fireball into the room.
With where the PC's are at (within the Cathedral itself), they are pretty much stuck with whoever they are stuck with. If any other PC's die, they will have to wait until book four to be worked back in. Death Funnel was already hard at work on several back-ups after his first character died, so he has a stack of characters mostly ready to go. I figure Night Mane would be a good NPC for the group to add if they choose to.
Spoiler:
Plus I figure Dessiter might offer a deal to bring Robert and/or Trik back. But at what cost? Hmm. I also figure it is likely to be trickier to bring Trik back, given that he kind of already has given his soul to Asmodeus, so Dessiter is probably a better route to go.
Another villian falls and a player earns a new nickname.
Spoiler:
After resting at the site of the Flame Beneficial, the villians wound their way up the Thousand Stairs, at the top of which they battled the Three Swords. It was a long fight, with one angel shrouded in its anti-magic field harassing spellcasters at close range while the other two engaged melee combatants.Grumblejack proved once again to be an engine of destruction, taking out one angel in a single flurry of attacks. Granted, the assault left the ogre blinded, but he finished the job. It took the PC's some time to finish off the remaining angels, particularly the anti-magic sheilded one. Before setting foot in the Cathedral, the PC's went back down the stairs to rest and get Grumblejack his sight back (they are very protective of him). Setting out the next day (and next session), they reascended the stairs. Down a player due to illness, the remaining players soldiered on, with the PC of the missing player played by one person and his cohort Trik played by another.
Upon entering, a short and brutal fight ensued between the legion archons and the PC's. So fast was it that the azata did not even get a chance to join in before the archons fell. So she waited, cloaked in greater invisibility. For whatever reason, the villians decided to search the rooms nearest the fire wall first (I think they were eager to get Ara Mathra), with Grumblejack and the fighter taking the bunkroom and the magus, Izevel and Raiju looking in opposite room. While they were investigating, the monk came out of the Lord Abbott's room with the journal to show to Trik, the witch, and the oracle. The azata laid it's trap. Sealing the hallway trapped the PC's exploring the rooms within those rooms, leaving the azata alone with the remaining characters. It began with a prismatic spray, which did not have too much effect, except for Artephius (also along for the ride). I put it to my PC's whether an insanity effect would work on Artephius, given that he is already a.) somewhat insane and b.) able to act on its own at times. The PC's agreed with my logic, so now when Artephius is given a command, we roll on the confusion table. Not that it mattered much anyway, as the following round the azata used Holy Word on the PC's, and Artephius was blinded and deafened (similiar logic to the above insanity spell). The monk tried to take on the azata by himself, but being blinded, didn't do so well. What followed was several rounds of the azata beating the crap out of the PC's, killing Trik with damage from the prismatic spray, damage from chain lightning, and damage from flame strike. The following round the oracle managed to get his vision back and got the azata with Harm, which is a save which the azata failed. She escaped.
The player controlling Trik? The same one who lost his rogue and Tasker Twelve-knives, the same player who had his anti-paladin skewered by a lance from a charging griffon-riding paladin, the same player who just had Robert the Rapier die just a few weeks ago. His new nickname is "Death Funnel" and he is where you send your characters to die.
Thanks all, those pretty much sum up my thoughts as well. I like to dangle the hope of being rested, then add the trepidation of having said rest interrupted and/or giving your opponents time to prepare for you.
Continuing their trek through the Labrynth, the villains were again stumped by the riddles of the wisps. They would spend two more of their villainous action points to get the answers. Along the way they slaughtered the kirin, most of them rather quickly by a combination of black tentacles (the witch rolled very well for initiative)and acid-modified fireballs. The witch was delighted to procure more things with which to create magic items. Finally, it was time to extinguish the flame. About half the party went after the Master of Serenity (redesigned as a flowing water monk with Crane style feats), while the other half went after the Oracle of Mitra. The duergar monk spent most of the fight on the ground, after being tripped repeatedly by the Master, who also managed to have Artephius pummel the downed duergar monk as well. The half-orc fighter was also growing frustrated, as the Master kept moving, forcing the fighter to charge and attack him, which the Master swatted away. Sadly, however, despite deploying blade barrier twice and using three heal spells, the Oracle eventually succumbed to a massive assault by the PC's (eventually killed by a crossbow bolt from Trik). The Master, talented though he was, was outnumbered. The thousand stairs await them.
At this point I'm thinking this might be a good point for the PC's to rest, given some of the upcoming fights. What have other people done or plan to do? Part of me really wants to push them to their limits and beyond, but part holds back, mostly the part that hates hearing whining from spellcasters with no more spells to cast for the day. :)
After the battle on the dock, the PC's took the opportunity to heal up after the fight, giving Lea the Leonal time to prepare for the villains. Cautiously the villians entered. Once they were within the room, she pounced. Her roar special attack incapacitated nearly the entire party. Grumblejack, Raiju and Artephius all succumbed to the full brunt of being deafened and blinded, rendering Artiphius nearly useless in the battle for a few rounds (I ruled that since golems require verbal commands, they must be able to be deafened, and it has an alignment. The witch that commands him was not pleased about this.)Out of the entire group, only the fighter, witch and Robert the Rapier were unaffected. In the following round, Lea unleashed the Wall of Force, isolating the PC's, which the fighter found out rather quickly when he ran into the wall. Then she swiftly moved in for the literal kill. In the span of two rounds, the oracle was dead. In another two rounds she would have slain Trik and Robert with the rate she was dishing out damage. The half-orc was slowly making his way around the wall, and the magus began attacking the leonal with electric attacks. For some reason, none of the PC's attempted to identify either the leanol or the wall of force for what they were. It was becoming a very tense fight, although the PC's did attempt to guide Grumblejack towards the fight (he was blinded, and his deafness had worn off) by telling him to turn around and move forward five steps. Unfortunately, he happened to have the wall of force behind him, and it narrowed towards the entrance of the room, so he took a step, hit the wall, slid to his left, took a step, hit the wall, slid to left... repeat. This path lead him through the extinguished fire pit and cooking pots. He had quite the collection by the time he stopped. In the end, it was Trik who saved the party from several more party deaths by banishing Lea. That should prove to be interesting later in the path.
Moving on the Labrynth, it took my group three tries to get the first riddle. I was cruel in that I limited the pathways to being 5ft. wide, and if the PC's went higher than the 20 ft. tall walls, they would be subject to the same effect of someone trying to fly closer from outside the Labrynth. This made the battle with the blink dogs interesting. It was a good way to make the PC's burn resources against a lower threat foe (aside from Sirus, who did some good damage to Artephius and Grumblejack). Fingers crossed for the upcoming conclusion to the Labrynth.
At least, that's what the legion archons told the party the first time they attempted to scout the Garden of Serenity. This time, the villians did not care. After debating the best way to approach the Cathedral, some argued to approach from the air and avoid the dock and labrynth, others suggested a land approach and creating a hole in the side of the Hall of Hunters. In the end, the villians chose to come in by way of a larger fishing boat, to better carry the Nessian War Hounds.
Once approximately 400ft from the dock, the fire oracle sent a fireball at the archons (at this point the PC's believed the archons to be nothing more than constructs thanks to a blown knowledge check). To keep things more interesting, I decided that the dock and Hall were part of the demiplane containing the Garden and Cathedral, and that casting a spell through the side of dimensional barrier probably wouldn't work well for the spell. Alerted to the presence of hostiles, the archons took wing, as did several villians. The half-orc fighter mounted his fiendish hippogriff, Grumblejack took wing with the monk in tow, Izevel carried the magus, and the witch carried Trik with his prehensile beard.
After deploying their mirror images, and having several of the PC's reach the dock, the archons teleported back to the dock, except for the one engaged in hand-to-hand midair combat with the half-orc. The dock became a brutal kill zone, with the archons dealing out significant damage with their whirlwind greatsword attacks. In the long run, however, the PC's were victorious, although Robert the Rapier was killed and then brought back by Trik.
Highlight of the evening was the archon taking out the fiendish hippogriff mount of the fighter, who fell 55 feet, dropped his tower shield and then swam 300 feet to the dock.
Next week we should get further into the garden. I have some thoughts and questions about this. First, I am thinking of having the demiplane be strongly Lawful and Good aligned, with impeded magic. My question is how high is the wall of the labrinth? I'm thinking 20 feet, and that if they move higher than the wall off the floor of the maze, they have the same issue with trying to fly to the Cathedral direct, that it breaks the planar boundary.
I made my meet and greet with the Duergar much more of a roleplay intensive situation. First, they had to find out about them, then they researched what might impress them. They set their minions about capturing dwarven sacrifices. The duergar wanted to know the actual plan the PC's had for taking the Vale, where was their army, etc. Then they had to symbolically become part of the clan, which meant dining on dwarf flesh. For the dwarf monk in the party, it was a somewhat squicky kind of moment, but given his exceedingly low Cha, he pulled it off. And then inadvertently went through a ritual to awaken his duergar heritage.
Love the idea about the Graveknight. I'm thinking of having one of PC's simply become this if and when he falls in battle (it happened once, in the Horn, and even then he pulled through). It's too fitting for the character. And I'm not telling the player about it, because I think that will make it more fun.
After the defeat of Suchandra, the PC's returned to Sanctum to rest up before striking out to investigate the Cathedral. Having claimed most of the Vale, they did not spend much time healing while returning to the town, so they were quite displeased when Anteus swept down from above. It was a brief fight. One of the rocs was caught by Izevel's gaze midflight (and nearly landed on the dwarf monk), the other failed a Fly check while trying to sharply ascend (with the fight in talon), leaving open to attack from Grumblejack and the magus. Anteus started off well, one-shotting Raiju. A combined magical assault from Trik, the oracle, and Artephius made pretty short work of him, however. And Raiju got to finish him off, after being broght back by Trik. The oracle and Trik heard the whisper of Asmodeus, to which Trik replied, "Father." and sacrificed the giant by carving out his still beating heart and setting it aflame in the name of Asmodeus. They were very pleased with their reward. The half-orc armor fighter is now going to take levels in cavalier with a fiendish hippogriff as his mount. The PC's then took the next couple of weeks to craft a magic bow for Izevel, as well as to melt down and make some mithral armor for both Izevel and the fire oracle (a gnome) out of Anteus' helmet.
The deal that for the blood of a living angel to feast on, he will make them a true vampire. To get his help, you have to promise to get the chalice. If you bring him an angel to feed on, he'll make you a vampire.
