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For me, we are on our 21st 4-5 hour session and we are about 2/3 of the way through Champion's Belt. Admittedly, we have experienced more than our fair share of character deaths in those sessions, but we have been eating up about 5 sessions per module. Also, at the level the characters are at now, I expect deaths to reduce in number per adventure, so I figure our session per adventure to go down as well.
My party was in a similar situation this week with Ilserv (FR conversion). 60% of the party is now dead. The other 2 ran away. They were only able to retrieve one body. It was a bad night for them. We stopped at that point, so it will depend on their next actions. One of the remaining characters wants to leave "that octopus-guy" alone. The other doesn't. So, I am preparing an ambush of these guys if they don't head back down there. Some doppelgangers (already in political positions of some power) will be able to lend resources to harrassing and annoying these PCs until they are all taken care of. I think we will start by having them arrested for killing their friend by corrupt City Watch. This will force them to have to either flee the city completely, go underground, or kill Ilserv to prove their innocence. (The evidence collected from the doppelganger's lair will, of course, be "misplaced" if they are taken into custody.) But, maybe they'll just rest, buff, and head back down. You never know what those wacky kids will do...
Name: Silas, Duskblade 6
Description: After opening the trapped doors and dropping two characters, including the duckblade into the pit, two other party members began the process of extracting them. The rogue decided to begin checking the other doors in the hallway. The doppelgangers in those rooms open their doors and begin fighting the party. The others had successfully secured a rope so the two in the pit could begin climbing out. The fight was going very well for the PCs with no one taking damage from the STR 12 doppelgangers. Finally the other two members successfully climb out of the pit. After clearing some room (since the PCs were fighting at the edge of the pit), the duckblade is able to step in front of the Beguiler and quickly dispatches the doppelganger facing him. The remaining uninjured doppelganger now has a running start, straight-line to the duskblade who is directly in front of the beguiler who is on the edge of the pit. The situation just screamed to do this, even though I doubted I would be very successful, I decided to take the AOO and try to bullrush the two characters into the pit (with my 12 STR). The doppelganger took two AOOs just getting there, but was able to start the bullrush attempt. He rolled a 20 on his Strength check, while the duskblade rolled horribly. He was moved 10' (enough to get him into the pit). So, I made the Beguiler make a roll to oppose the same bullrush. He also failed but not as much, he was only moved 5'. Both those distances were enough to get them both in the pit. The beguiler survived; alas, poor Silas could not withstand a 2nd trip into the pit. Incidentally, the doppelganger died as the result of a 3rd AOO with was provoked by moving the 10' during the bullrush. AOW has been deadly for my Players...15 sessions, 13 deaths...
My party ran through the LIzard Lair a couple of weeks ago. They decided to deliberately avoid the egg chamber. Once they heard "black dragon mother" and "egg chamber", they said they weren't going to raise the ire of such a creature and left. (I know, I couldn't believe it either.) On the way back out of the swamp, they had the random encounter with the black dragon. They almost managed to kill it, but it escaped before they could finish it off. The party assumed that Ilthane herself had attacked them and they had soundly defeated her. So, if she were going to attack them anyway, they might as well go back and take care of those eggs. They went back and dealt with the egg chamber. (The kobolds were laughable.) The egg was not destroyed, so the cleric decided to take it and raise it as a pet. He brought it back to his temple in Daggerford (FR campaign), and put it in a room in his basement. He hired a guy to tend it and hatch it, then went off to Waterdeep... I wonder how all that is going to work out for him...?
My group finished SCAP after around 400 hours of playing time. We had several deaths (some permanent), including the dwarven paladin who got controlled in Vaprak's Voice. (Due to a clever literal translation of my instructions, he decided that the only way to comply with the instructions and help the party was to commit suicide...) On the upside, the party was able to defeat Adimarchus by themselves, albeit just barely. It was a very close thing, but they did it.
Well, my group is only a couple of sessions into The Whispering Cairn, but we (well, maybe only I) have had some good laughs. After the party had discovered the dangers of the tunnel, caving in the broken elevator (playing with the "spinning sarcophagus"), and finding two working elevators "that were obviously traps", they decide to split the party. They convinced the dumb monk to go into the good elevator, to be followed by two others. Meanwhile, the other half of the party climbed down the hole in the floor. I spent the whole night running two simultaneous campaigns because they had convinced themselves that they would find each other if they "just kept going". One dead member, two unconscious members, 4 CLW potions, and no meeting with each other, they decided maybe they should go find the others. And don't even get me started on the thief who tried not once...not twice...but three times to disable the face trap before dying... I look forward to much more entertainment next Tuesday...
I just finished running this encounter. The meeting went OK, although the discussion ended up wandering in circles. Although, the party "leader" nominated himself as an interim government until the "will of the people" could be heard. The derro was a disappointing battle for me. The barbarians did their job and did damage, but the sorcerer got grappled. Once that happened, it was all over. I suppose it was justified since I nearly wiped them out with Vhalantru the session before...heh.
Greetings all, Just a quick question: I like Ilmater as a substitute (in this instance, anyway) for St. Cuthbert. Is there a reason, in the future installments of the AP, that this might not work as well as Lathander or Helm?
I have always envisioned Celeste as a "Big Bad". I thought polymorphed Dragon, but thought that was too cliche. Given what I know of AP2, I am guessing she is a demi-god-ish consort(?) of Kyuss. But that's just a guess...
I had the same issue...A half-elf rogue who found every secret door there was (DC 25 or not)...<sigh> But me, I let 'em go. It didn't take them long to decide that maybe they wanted to clean out Jzadirune first...
I just finished Zenith Trajectory a few weeks ago. The cryohydra was nearly a TPK, but they retreated, regrouped, and went in with better tactics. The tough part about that encounter was the fact they didn't know what they were going to be up against. Incidentally, the three (3) EL 9's in a row with virtually no break in the action was a bit tough as well. Although, in fairness, my party has very little in the way of ranged weapons, so Aushanna pretty much just flew around and shot at them. But, even then, they figured it out. The AP is challenging, but I have not had nearly as many deaths as I originally thought I would have. Keep the faith.
Well, I am here to report that all of my original five (5) party members are still around as they just finished dealing with the cryo-hydra. In Flood Season, due to Triel's nasty critting of our (admittedly Dominated) dwarven fighter, we had one (1) official death, but he was raised. And before you go thinking I'm letting this be a cake-walk, the party is poor (from the healing they have to continually purchase) and hurting almost all the time. But from the weirdest things... The animated chain in The Malachite Fortress was almost a TPK, as was the second (mean) mimic, but Kazmojen, the Howler, and all the rest were taken out by Crits-R-Us. (I have a fighter with a scythe which is just silly when she crits with it...X4.) Tongueater and his baboons were a piece of cake (due to the Crits again), but the nutty kopru on the far side of the lake never was killed. The Umber Hulk was a fun encounter, and the party dealt with the Umber Hulk OK, but when the dwarven fighter/paladin (see above) gets Confused and attacks (and nearly kills) Beppo in front of the approaching town guard, well, that nearly ended the adventure right there... In Zenith Trajectory, we almost lost a character (the Scythe-$%$*(*^, as I now affectionately call her) to a random wyvern on the way to Crazy Jared's, then Gottrod almost took them out because he wouldn't land, and they don't do ranged weapons so well. And the cryo-hydra was almost a TPK, but that's what you get when you enter "The Pit of the Seven Jaws" and decide to group yourselves all together on each landing before proceeding...<sigh>. Anywho, totals... 1 kill (complete with Raising)
I think this trip to the Underdark might be a little more than they can handle (without someone dying anyway). I will keep you posted...
With all due respect to the other classics out there (which I am sure will be mentioned by others), I will vote for one of the more obscure adventures that I enjoyed...Egg of the Phoenix. I had a lot of fun running that.
I will offer my services to the noble cause that is playtesting. Just let me know what you need from me.
First, let me congratulate everyone on a great adventure so far. I have liked it very much, and while we are still in Life's Bazaar, the players seemed to have liked it so far as well. I would also like to say how pleased I am that the editorial staff not only read these message boards, but actually take the time to respond. This is a very good thing. Now, on to business...I don't mind the Fiend Folio monsters at all. They were a nice change of pace for both the players and me. I think mixing these more exotic creatures with the common ones helps accentuate the "differentness" of the Fiend Folio creatures. I also vote for more tightly-woven plotlines (which seems to have been addressed already). There are a few dangling plot threads out there, and if I know my players, THOSE are the ones they're going to want to follow. (I fully expect Celeste to be hounded to the ends of time by this group of players.) I, like many others, would like to see more detailed environment, character, and historical information for APII. Not that I mind thinking this stuff up on my own, but I had my players asking what the educational system was in Cauldron. (They ARE a bit odd, I know.) I would also like a Player's Map of the area the Path will occur in, whether it be city, area, whatever. I had the map of Cauldron lamenated and hung on the wall with a legend key that grew as the players found (find) new stuff. The players like this very much. And while, it has been said that the Aura section at the beginning of each room has been eliminated due to space considerations, I would strongly petition that it be brought back in some standardized form. I liked that very much, as it made some of the standard character actions easier to DM. Once again, thanks for a great Adventure Path. I have enjoyed it so far and I am looking forward to APII.
I would very much like to be able to show my players what the city of "Cracked Cauldron" looks like (well...OK, I am very interested too). If, of course, the players are going to be...otherwise occupied...after the last installment, then maybe it's not so important (but I'd still like to see it).
I put Cauldron in the Snowflake Mountains (a little farther South down the chain) and altered the forest/jungle a little to fit better. Striders = Harpers I wondered about the Ebon Triad, but Cyric, Velsharoon, and Talona are good choices. |
