MattyB_'s page

In the Appendix of Here There Be Monsters (Dragon Magazine 142 pg 60) it list that a Lemorian Golem has hp 96 (12 HD). However in the adventure he is listed on pg 57 as only having 51 hp with no indication as to why. Is this a misprint or is there a reason for this that either I missed or I did not think of.

While yes he could have taken damage over the years and can't fix as a construct I'm not sure he will be the worth the value of a CR 10 creature if at nearly half his normal hp total.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance. :-)

his might have already been discussed on here but in searching I couldn't find anything on this topic, and so if I missed it and it's already been discussed I apologize and would be pleased if someone could point me in the right direction. I have read some stuff that states it's uncertain if there will be any more beyond the already existing Shacked City. I think that you could easily find the demand for a product if it was marketed correctly. If the staff of Dungeon Magazine and the Circle of Living Greyhawk worked together they could allow for these Adventure Paths to be sanctioned for play within the campaign. In doing so there would be lots of perks for both Pazio and the RPGA Living Greyhawk listed below

Perks for Pazio:

1) Sell More Dungeon Magazine: If the hardcovers are exactly the same as the 12 installments in prior in the magazine you would probably get alot of LG DMs that aren't currently subscribed to the magazine that would become such.

2) Target Audience for the Hardcover: It's probably a risky move to publish that big monster hardback book without knowing it probably will sell fairly well. Incorporating it into the biggest longest running 3rd Ed campaign would ensure that alot of them sell.

Perks for RPGA:

1) A module that takes character from level 1-20 with a linked storyline. Only work for the RPGA would be to modify it to work for various party levels which are a lot easier than writing up the whole module and also modifying it. Alternately they could just say a character playing that series can’t play anything else and must play the adventure path in complete chronological order. This works into less work for modifying APLs. There is no need to play anything else since it’s designed to take you close to 20th level. The fact that you would have several parts in the storyline of an adventure path to still play once you hit 16th level (normally in RPGA your character is retired and can only play in a few special modules), so it would work for some players that want to get the chance at higher level play

2) The adventure paths are already set in Greyhawk and they aren’t in regions that really interfere with any other established regions or plotlines that I’m aware, but I’m just getting back involved with the RPGA and I gotta say they have gotten really organized and the restrictions on items from books beyond the 3.5 core is fairly vast and balanced.

I think that the fact that players can play the adventures in Dungeon Magazine and get player reward points is a great starting point. However the fact that it’s for a limited time makes it really hard to do, for example I started DMing the Savage Tide Campaign when it first came out and we play every Friday and we fell behind the latest module so getting player reward points for them won’t be possible unless we have a Weekend Marathon to catch up. Player reward points for playing the module shouldn’t be time sensitive.

Nothing in my post was meant to bash on Pazio, The RPGA, or Wizards I like all three of them. I’m sure the business aspects of doing my suggestions are a lot tougher than I made it sound. I’m just wondering if maybe the idea had been talked about and perhaps in the future something along those lines might be possible. If it’s not a feasible venture that I’m curious if someone could explain why not, I really enjoy the storylines of all the Adventure Paths and think they would be fun to run RPGA character through as well as DM. While I understand that Pazio can't print a HC of either of these without Wizards permission, I was curious with the above mentioned potential benefits why that wouldn't want to give Pazio the rights and make the attempt when if executed properly a business model for the market is already there just waiting to be tapped.

Thanks & Always Good Gaming,
Matt Butler

In reading over my post I realized I did not ever really ask for opinions and thoughts on this, which is really what I was looking for.

Opinions? Thoughts?

Please feel free to start a discussion on this topic I'm interested in what people have to say and think about the above ideas.

Thanks,
~MB

This might have already been discussed on here but in searching I couldn't find anything on this topic, and so if I missed it and it's already been discussed I apologize and would be pleased if someone could point me in the right direction. I have read some stuff that states it's uncertain if there will be any more beyond the already existing Shacked City. I think that you could easily find the demand for a product if it was marketed correctly. If the staff of Dungeon Magazine and the Circle of Living Greyhawk worked together they could allow for these Adventure Paths to be sanctioned for play within the campaign. In doing so there would be lots of perks for both Pazio and the RPGA Living Greyhawk listed below

Perks for Pazio:

1) Sell More Dungeon Magazine: If the hardcovers are exactly the same as the 12 installments in prior in the magazine you would probably get alot of LG DMs that aren't currently subscribed to the magazine that would become such.

2) Target Audience for the Hardcover: It's probably a risky move to publish that big monster hardback book without knowing it probably will sell fairly well. Incorporating it into the biggest longest running 3rd Ed campaign would ensure that alot of them sell.

Perks for RPGA:

1) A module that takes character from level 1-20 with a linked storyline. Only work for the RPGA would be to modify it to work for various party levels which are a lot easier than writing up the whole module and also modifying it. Alternately they could just say a character playing that series can’t play anything else and must play the adventure path in complete chronological order. This works into less work for modifying APLs. There is no need to play anything else since it’s designed to take you close to 20th level. The fact that you would have several parts in the storyline of an adventure path to still play once you hit 16th level (normally in RPGA your character is retired and can only play in a few special modules), so it would work for some players that want to get the chance at higher level play

2) The adventure paths are already set in Greyhawk and they aren’t in regions that really interfere with any other established regions or plotlines that I’m aware, but I’m just getting back involved with the RPGA and I gotta say they have gotten really organized and the restrictions on items from books beyond the 3.5 core is fairly vast and balanced.

I think that the fact that players can play the adventures in Dungeon Magazine and get player reward points is a great starting point. However the fact that it’s for a limited time makes it really hard to do, for example I started DMing the Savage Tide Campaign when it first came out and we play every Friday and we fell behind the latest module so getting player reward points for them won’t be possible unless we have a Weekend Marathon to catch up. Player reward points for playing the module shouldn’t be time sensitive.

Nothing in my post was meant to bash on Pazio, The RPGA, or Wizards I like all three of them. I’m sure the business aspects of doing my suggestions are a lot tougher than I made it sound. I’m just wondering if maybe the idea had been talked about and perhaps in the future something along those lines might be possible. If it’s not a feasible venture that I’m curious if someone could explain why not, I really enjoy the storylines of all the Adventure Paths and think they would be fun to run RPGA character through as well as DM.

Thanks & Always Good Gaming,
Matt Butler

On page 48 it makes some recemmendations about scaling up the adventure. Under the 4-5 level characters section it mentions 'give Jajirlok' one or two levels of barbarian. Who is this in that part of the adventure path? Did I miss someone with that name and I'm insane, or is it just merely a error. I'm thinking maybe they are meaning Drevoraz or Chief Lorpth. Can anyone shed some light on this issue?

Thanks in advance,
~MB

Moreto looks pretty human like if I remember, so anyone targeting him quickly with a spell that does extra damage against undead would be silly if they don't suspect him of being undead. Might want to watch player knowledge vs. character knowledge if that's a problem for your group it sounds like it might be.

It's been awhile since I ran that encounter so I might be wrong about him looking human. I'd consider house-ruling that only 1 sudden metamagic feat can be applied to a spell. Remember that the Age of Worms (and all adventure paths so far) are only designed for really using the PHB, DMG, and MM so all the extra options make some situations not nearly as challenging as they should be.

I changed the scene and had Morteo cast invisibility as he heard the party approaching and then an Illusion of himself. I had him stand in the square right next to the illusion as he and the party talked from about 10 feet away before they decided they did not trust him and they moved to kill him. Maybe it's a little cheesy but since they never really interacted with the illusion just his real voice talking back and forth I did not give them a save to disbelieve the illusion until after the first attack on the square the illusion was in. He still died pretty easy but at least got a few good attacks in and it told a better story in my opinion than a dude that spoke and then died in 1.5 rounds of combat.

Good players won't mind a DM not allowing certain things from new books when they are playing Adventure Paths if they want to be challenged and ensure that it tells a good story.

~MB

I'm running AoW been using Action Points since the start and worked out well PCs just hit 15th level in the Adventure Path. Also a Savage Tide Campaign 4th level and action points saved the group from a TPK at least once.

I had to house rule a few things:

Spell Recall: cost action points equal to the spell level.

Justification: When a wizard can Orb of Force a enemy 10-12 times in a single enocunter with action points system recall that's a little to powerful. After that happend with the big nasty worm at the end of the Champion's Belt, I changed the system

Additional Class Ability: I increased the cost to action points equal to the times already spent. So if a Barbarian Can rage 2/day by his level, and wants to rage again that day after he's normally out he can spend 3 action points (2 +1) to get another daily use. Works the same for stuff like Smite, Wild Shape, Turn Undead etc.

Those are the only two things that have become a problem. I've seem some DMs lower the amount of skill points gained each level to keep things balanced, I just make the things that are really powerful cost more skills points but keep the amout the same.

Opps, nice catch. The bad news is I already ran him at large, the good news is that nobody died. The wizard used the wand of ray of enfeblement from earlier in the adventure path to really weaken him several times, and some close wounds by the cleric keep people alive. I'm using the variant Action Point system from UA so some spells were recalled and good used of magic weapon spells got through the DR. I did not have him do follow up attacks on anyone that fell into negative HP, since his INT is 1 he would assume they are dead and move to the next closest moving target. It worked out pretty good overall it set the stage for the players fearing the horrors caused by the Shadow Pearl real nice in setting the epic storyline flavor I wanted early on in the campaign

If you feel you need to upscale the Cove at all, just add a few more pirates, or give one or two of THEM an extra level. Dinoboy doesn't need your stinkin' charity. :)

Well I was just looking at what the author suggested for running the campaign for 4-5 level parties of 4. I've got 5 PCs that are 4th level. It's a pretty big change for him to be increased by 2 HD though, he gets large and his STR gets really gross and so does his damage and some increased CON. The real kicker as to why I probably won't increase him more than a single HD (keeping him small) is that nobody in the party has a magical weapon yet. I don't think they could stand up long enough with his DR to avoid the massive damage he would dish out as a large creature. If the group was all 5th level or I had 6 PCs in the party I would increase him.

He hits like a ton of bricks, I tell you what. Not saying you shouldn't advance him, but make sure you do it carefully.

All that said, I was about to suggest Multiattack, but I think that might be even deadlier than Improved Natural Attack given his bite damage.

I'll check over at d20srd as to any errata changes, but he's a large creature in the 3.5 Monster Manual. Also in the Savage Tide AP: The Bullywug Gambit the writer gave him improved initiative and multiattack instead of run and track.

I'm gearing up for my Savage Tide campaign that runs every other Friday and plays this coming Friday 03/02/07. The party just killed some Savage Pirates and is going to enter the caves and meet Ripclaw very soon. The group is all at least 4th level.

I noticed that Ripclaw is only a medium sized creature, yet from the stats in the monster manual he should be a large creature. Is there some reason he is not, other than perhaps an accidental error? In the Scaling the Adventure for 4th-5th level PCs in says advance Ripclaw by 2-4 hit dice. I plan to increase him by 2 since the group is all 4th level and the adventure is really designed for 3rd level PCs.

Since he is going to have 6 HD with and advance he gets another feat, and improved natural attack just seems way too nasty for him. Can anyone shed some light on the reason why he appeared in the module as a medium creature with weaker stats but at the same CR? Also any idea on feats is cool too.

Thanks in advance. :-)

I was just wondering how other fellow DMs out there handle this situation. The guidelines in the DMG call for a player that either loses a character from death or decides to retire his existing one should start one level lower than his prior character and if he wants to take any amount of his old gear that’s subtracted off his starting wealth for his new PC. I was just wondering if others pretty much run things this way or are more lenient on these rules. I’m trying to decide how I want to handle this aspect of the game for my current and future campaigns.

His telepathy has additional powers

Shield Mind (Ex)
Well his Telepathy causes for a DC 22 Will save or be confused for 1d6 days. He can supress this power if he wants to when communicating with someone

Thoughts?

Since he can't talk do you think he should be able to try to do this each round as a free action? Or is that to powerful?

Thanks,
~MB

yeah, just move some or all of the kyuss knights and you should be fine.

Do you think all 3 of those Kyuss Knights and Mak'ar would be to much for a group of 6 characters that are all 13th level though?

In my AoE campaign I have 6 players. They will all be 13th level by the time they reach Mak'ar. I'd like to make that fight a little more challenging for them, but giving Mak'ar another person in the room to help protect him.

I was thinking about moving 1 of the Knights of Kyuss from room 12 to be there with him. What I've noticed about these adventure paths is that if you run with more that 4 players, single caster opponents seem to get smoked way to easy. I think this is because there are 2 more people targeting just that one creature it's more than the casters can handle to put up a good fight.

Any ideas or suggestions, I don't want to increase Mak'ar he's pretty powerful with spells and his current spell level.

Thanks,
~MB

What is the estimate for the date the pre-orders of the Ravaged Pride will ship? I'm planning on ordering it just wondering if it's shipping in a week, or if due to production it will be a month or more.

Thanks,
~MB

Thanks for all the feedback. I decided to run my campaign with 36 point buy. My group is 50% experienced players and 50% still fairly new and learning the fundamentals, so I wanted to give the players a slight edge. Also this gives players that are thinking Monk or Paladin options the ability to play them.

36 is straight 14s which is dull and boring but overly decent stats. However everyone went with some good stats and some low that fit there concept. I might switch to 32 thew next campaign when everyone is a little more experienced.

When will this product for those that pre-order be available? Will it sell for a higher price when the pre-order ends? If so when is the end for that pre-order so I can try and get in on it?

Thanks in advance :-)

I was just curious as to what point buy amount other DMs out there used for running Dungeon adventures. I just started the Savage Tide and opted for the player to use 36 since they complained abit that they felt 32 was too weak.

Looking the first STAP "There is no honor" I see that alot of the named or boss style encounters are built with about 25 point buy give or take a few points.

The players were wanting 40 points to make character, I was just wondering if other DMs had used that amount of point buy and how things went for them.

Thanks in Advance :-)

Any chance of these conversion notes getting posted to the website today or tomororw? Sure would be nice to have them by Friday so Savage Time Campaigns that start this weekend can run in either FR or EB. I'm starting my Savage Tide on this coming Friday night and would love to be able to ruin it in the Realms since I have most the source material of 3rd/3.5 and 2nd Ed to flush out the details of the region it will be set in.

Thanks,
~MB

Does Nezzarin know what lurks in room 4. Hall of Corruption? If so maybe he would retreat back there if hurt pretty bad to get next t o a wormswarm and heal up. This might be real interesting as the PCs pursue him thinking he's hurt badly and going to retreat or warn others, and they will liekly pursue. This would lead them right into another nasty fight with the corrupted.

I know he is the guardian of the exterior, but does he know what's inside you think or does he just sit there and watch waiting for Kyuss to return with a one-track mind? Would having him flee be to mean as a DM, what do you guys think I'm just looking for idea here as to how I might let things unfold.

~Thanks,
MB

I have a question about how this ability should work involving multipe sources. For example if there are two beetle's withing 120 ft of a character should he have to make 2 seperate saving throws and each one with a +2 DC since there is another beetle in range? I've always wondered about stuff like fear aura effects from multipe monsters(usually undead types)if a character is in range of more than 1 of these creatures fear effects does he have to make multipe saves for each one? Or since they are all the same effect type should he only be subject to 1 such save a round? Often when a save is made on some effects a character can't be effected by that effect for 24 hrs, how does that work though with several monsters with the same effect would the character have to make a save the next round against another monster with that same effect? Maybe this is spelled out somwhere in a core book or a errata but I haven't seen it and was wondering officially how such should work as well as how others run such similar effects.

Here is the Maddening Chitter effects write up, if I shouldn't have posted it I apologize and will delete that portion if informed or if a messageboard moderator needs to take care of that I understand.

Thanks,
~MB
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Maddening Chitter (Su): The clicking chatter of the eviserator beetle’s mandibles is hypnotic, and living creatures enthralled by the sound do nothing but clutch at their skulls, trying to vain to rid their mind of the terrible sounds. At the beginning of the beetle’s action, all living creatures within 120 feet that can hear the beetle’s chittering must make a DC 21 Will save or be unable to take any action that round. For every additional beetle within range of the target creature, the DC to resist the maddening chitter increased by 2. This is a sonic, mind affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
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I accidently deleted the email with the attached encounters, could you please send that again to me?

Thanks,
~MB

reznor00@yahoo.com

I'm curious to some opinions of the writing staff about adding firearms into the STAP. What are you thoughts on doing something like this Mr. James Jacobs?

How involved would you make them like just the DMG stuff or the stuff from Dragon #321 (which I think might be overkill)? Also would you increase the action type time to reload such as a full round instead of a standard action?

Thanks,
Matt B.

I have heard that the path that ran in Dungeon was for 4 players and the one in hardcover is for 6. Can anyone confirm that as it influences my purchase decisions.

Thanks,
~MB

What do you guys think of using firearms for NPCs as well as PCs in this adventure path? The DMG has some rules for fireams, but I was wondering it Forgottem Realms or Ebberon had rules or source references for using such in there worlds I've not found any at this point.

Thanks,
~MB

With no deadlines for Dragon/Dungeon for a week (if my information is correct) would it be possible that we can get these conversation notes uploaded to the website? We all have been waiting patiently and the date for my start of Savage Tide AP is only two weeks from now. I need to make the players aware of the changes as I intend to run the game in Forgotten Realms.

From what I understand in other posts/topics the notes have been submitted it's merely a editing and posting to the website for download that's keeping such from happening.

Thanks in advance,
~MB

I'd really like to get These stat blocks for both adventures when you are able to.

Thanks in advance,
~MB
reznor00@yahoo.com

I'm currently running the Age of Worms with a party of 6 players. They’re getting ready to start the “The Spire of Long Shadows” portion and they all are just a little bit over 12th level. There a little behind on xp since I ran the first 2 portions of the adventure path without increasing the CR like I have been on the past 4 adventure path sections, making it the CR adjustments as if they were one level higher.

My question is since there is 12th level, and this next part is balanced for 4 people of 13th level do you think I need to make any adjustments, I feel they should be able to overcome the challenges. However, if I did increase some things when they hit 13th level as they will half way through or so to make it more challenging there is not a side-bar a the end with advice for good adjustments. I was hoping that Jesse Decker might comment on this with some advice or anyone else ideas are welcomes too.

Half of the party is very well equipped two character betting large amounts on the arena games and coming victorious on all there matches, and the other character has the sword and ring found in Isicoiol’s Tomb as well as some decent armor. A 12th level character should have 88,000 gp on average according to the DMG pg. 135 on character wealth. With the betting two members are over 150,000 worth of gear and the character with the two sword and ring from Icisiol’s Tomb is at least over 125,000. The other 3 characters are around the 88,000 gp mark and more balanced in that regard.

I’m not a fan of changing monsters to sunder break equipment but I’m open to other ideas to ensure this part of the adventure path is challenging to the players.

Thanks,
~MB