John Murphy's page

I wrote up a page and a half handout for my players detailing the Dream from Harliss Javell at the beginning of Serpents of Scuttlecove.

If anyone has any interest in this for their own group, I can email a link to the file in rtf format.

Just reading ahead and was wondering how various party's reacted to the requirements for gaining an audience with Malcanthet.

Also curious as to any reactions to her revelation during the encounter.

I wanted to play up the Olman souls in the Cerulean Curtain and, as written, there are only a couple of phrases that the party can hear when they pass through the barrier. So I cobbled together a few more as clues, fluff or red herrings and handed them out randomly as my players passed through.

They seemed to go over pretty well with the group so I thought I would post them here in case someone else wanted to do a similar thing. They are probably pretty cliche and somewhat tuned to fit into my campaign, so feel free to modify them to fit your particular details.

I also included the ones from the Lightless Depths.

I can't believe it took me this long to make this connection.

Is it 'Tear' as in liquid from a crying eye?

Or is it 'Tear' as in Rip in the fabric of the universe?

Until now, I have been thinking "teer" rather than "tare", but now I see that it could go either way.

Even better, as a liquid Tear meaning, the whole blue 'bubble' can be the Tear.

So, how did/do you interpret this?

I've read thru this set of encounters and I am contemplating replacing the Archer Ghasts with Advanced Arrow Demons (MM III). They can fill the same CR and role as the Ghasts and I think they are a better "fit"; the undead are Demogorgon's enemy Orcus' purview and the dual bow use of Arrow Demons to my mind follows Demogorgon's dual nature.

So, I am wondering if there is a particular reason for the Archer Ghasts, what do they bring to the party that make the encounter more interesting? Are they required for Nulonga's possession feature? Is there something about Ghasts that poses a better challenge to a level 19+ party?

Just curious if anyone has created any new character traits appropriate to the Sasserine/IoD region? I am going to be giving it some thought and would like to have a place to chuck them up against the wall to see what sticks. Feel free to toss yours here if you like.

**** Potential spoilers ****

At the end of ToD, VV's AC is listed as 27, but I am unable to make the math work.

Here is the breakdown of the AC as I understand it.

Base + Dex + Natural + (+3 mithril shirt) + Tempest + Ring

10 + 5 + 1 + 7 + 1 + 2 = 26

Can someone show me what I am missing?

Cheers!

... and I would like to ask for some Bard build advice. First, some background.

********** POTENTIAL SPOILERS IN THREAD ***********

One of our former members played a Bard and since his departure I have been considering making this PC a villain (or in this case, villain's assistant), because, well, it seems the right thing to do. Having never played a Bard myself and having never DM'ed one before, I would like to call on the collective experiences out there to help me make what is essentially a Cohort for the end scenario of ToD. Maybe even bring him back at Gaping Maw.

So, what am I looking for? A 9-10th level NPC, primarily Bard, but if there are any PrCs or good ways to make use of Multi-classing, I am game. The build should include Feats, skills, and some ideas for appropriate magic items that define the direction of the NPC.

His goal? To Support Vanthus and his allies at the end of ToD. To be an effective support character.

My plan so far? Straight Bard classes but looking at Arcane Archer to round out combat skills, looking at specific buff spells to make VV a more formidable foe. Haste is probably on the spell list and Spell Compendium is in play. Will likely use Archery as primary attack style to keep from getting slaughtered too early by the party's main line fighter types.

I know this sounds like I am asking every one else to do the work but all I am looking for are some ideas on how to make this build interesting. Things you may have done or DM'ed in the past.

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers!

... or better yet, what day, month and year would be a good time to start the Savage Tide in Oerth time?

Larissa's Journal has dates in the year 593, so obviously it is some time after that, accounting for return travel time etc.

Also, knowing what we know about Earth's oceans and trying to reason with hurricane season I think that puts the start date some time around Reaping or Goodmonth (or later) after High Summer and Richfest.

So does 595 sound reasonable for the year?

Anyone steeped in Oerdian lore have better info?

What about the creators of this fine work, when did you plan to set this adventure on its path?

Cheers!

Found this on the Map a Day page, and thought it would make a great map for the clearing on Parrot Island.

Cheers!

I have a player that wants to join the Seekers, who gain affiliation ranks based on the dead languages they know. So what constitutes a 'Dead Language' in Greyhawk? I looked at the languages in the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer and there are some ancient languages like Baklunish and Suloise. Do those languages qualify. What other languages do?

Any info from those in the know would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Ok, I am forced to admit I am a 'lubber, having nenver lived near an appreciable body of water in my life. So if any of you out there have some expertise with sailing, please enlighten us on some of these topics.

Some of the crew titles and responsibilites are obvious, others not so, so give us some typical Age-of-Sail positions on a ship and the duties required. I'll start it with these, so fill in the blanks please.

Captain
Mate
Bosun
Cook

How about some other seafaring terms that a DM might find useful in roleplaying aboard a ship.

If you know of any online reference material that could help, that would be cool too.

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate day, Here is some more nautical info, with a piratey bent.
Pirate Talk

Cheers!

Not what you may think.

Has anyone decided to use the Darkmaiden's Dance maps (Dungeon #139) instead of the Sea Wyvern maps?

It looks to me that DD is better designed than the SW, a bit wider in the beam but less one deck in the hold. I guess that could be designed around as well by adding the SW lowest deck to the DD.

Cheers!

With regard to Ms. Kellani.

Cheers!

Any one playing or DMing Druids in the Savage Tide. It seems to me that the first half of the adventure lends itself well to a Druid pc.

Cheers!