If you want to streamline the campaign, you can do this without much problem. One of the uses of the Ebon Triad is to help answer in game the question "If Kyuss is such a threat capable of bringing a new age, why are we only hearing about him now?"
But if you are planning on playing the campaign in the Forgotten Realms, I suggest looking up the conversion notes, since it adds a new depth to the Ebon Triad, specially if you have the time to read some of the older editions sources about Jergal.
My suggestion would be to have Darl being voluntarily possessed by an Arcanaloth (using the stats available in Dungeon Magazine #149), using the rules for possession from Hordes of the Abyss or adapting the Demon-Possessed/Devil-Bound templates from Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary.
In Dungeon#124, in the "Diamond lake" article it is said : (Temples to Wee Jas and Obad-Hai just outside the town proper will be covered in Dungeon #125).
I've been searching through edition number #125 but i didn't find any article related to these two temples.
Age of Worms Overload, a 29-page compendium of information that will help you run the new Age of Worms Adventure Path, has been uploaded to paizo.com. You can download the absolutely free PDF document using the links below.
Age of Worms overload contains a complete campaign outline spotlighting the core plot of all twelve adventures in the series, dozens of stat blocks for the denizens of Diamond Lake, the corrupt mining town in which the campaign begins, and information on the hinterlands surrounding Diamond Lake. The file also includes extensive notes for adapting the Age of Worms to Eberron (by setting creator Keith Baker) and the Forgotten Realms (by noted Realms scholar and author Eric L. Boyd). I couldn’t resist adding a short appendix for DMs using the Age of Worms in the World of Greyhawk, too. Several concept sketches by John Gallagher round out the package.
We’d originally hoped to include all of this stuff in the magazine, but there just wasn’t enough room. Instead, we decided to do the next best thing: Give it out for free on the internet.
I hope you enjoy reading Age of Worms Overload as much as we enjoyed putting it together. If you have any questions or comments, please join our messageboard discussions.
That's assuming that the waking player succeeds on his grapple check against the strangler, right? It seems like any other player who tries to shoot the strangler or attack it could hurt the player.
No grapple check is needed. A Lurking Strangler would be suicidal to try to suffocate someone that has backup. It probably can still use its Eye Rays while suffocating someone, but any time the numbers are against it, it would probably hide to wait for a better time for an ambush.
If you assume that the Suffocate ability works like a grapple (there is no mention of that in the ability description, since it only works on helpless foes), the Lurking Strangler has a grapple modifier of -10, so he is not that hard to pull out from someone unconscious.
Anyway, the random chance to hit someone in a grapple only applies to ranged attacks. Melee attacks don't have that problem (and the target still loses its Dex modifier to AC, so the Lurking Strangler would be a sitting duck within melee range of the party).
Sleep spell description wrote:
Slapping or wounding awakens an affected creature, but normal noise does not. Awakening a creature is a standard action (an application of the aid another action).
As written, it seems highly overpowered. If it hits a helpless foe with its lash attack (a touch attack), the victim falls unconscoius the next round? And she's dead in the third round? What have other people done with this?
Also, if a monster approaches some creatures that are sleeping, and the night watchman alerts them, how many rounds before the party is up and at full strength?
Against a lone creature, the Sleep effect is basically a Save or Die. One player in my game was ambushed by the Lurking Strangler while scouting. He only survived because he failed his save against the Cause Fear effect twice and ran away frightened. Otherwise he was going to keep fighting it alone, without being aware of how close he was of dying.
Fighting the Lurking Strangler with two or more players is relatively simple. As long as someone uses his next action to wake up anyone that falls asleep, the Lurking Strangler doesn't have many options of dealing damage to the party. The Lurking Strangler should be floating beyond the reach of melee combat at all times, so the party might have some problems if they don't have any ranged attacks.
By the rules, assuming that waking up is a free action, getting up is a move action, and drawing a weapon is usually a move action also, the party can be ready for combat pretty quick, unless someone decides to get dressed before combat. Remember that sleeping characters may make Listen checks at a -10 penalty to wake up, so that may have some influence in the way the night watchman might alert them of some danger, if he doesn't fall before that.
Viconus wrote:
Finally, can it cast unlimited sleep and cause fear spells?
That's it. I'm sick of all this "Masterwork Bastard Sword" bullshit that's going on in the d20 system right now. Katanas deserve much better than that. Much, much better than that.
I should know what I'm talking about. I myself commissioned a genuine katana in Japan for 2,400,000 Yen (that's about $20,000) and have been practicing with it for almost 2 years now. I can even cut slabs of solid steel with my katana.
Japanese smiths spend years working on a single katana and fold it up to a million times to produce the finest blades known to mankind.
Katanas are thrice as sharp as European swords and thrice as hard for that matter too. Anything a longsword can cut through, a katana can cut through better. I'm pretty sure a katana could easily bisect a knight wearing full plate with a simple vertical slash.
Ever wonder why medieval Europe never bothered conquering Japan? That's right, they were too scared to fight the disciplined Samurai and their katanas of destruction. Even in World War II, American soldiers targeted the men with the katanas first because their killing power was feared and respected.
So what am I saying? Katanas are simply the best sword that the world has ever seen, and thus, require better stats in the d20 system. Here is the stat block I propose for Katanas:
(One-Handed Exotic Weapon)
1d12 Damage
19-20 x4 Crit
+2 to hit and damage
Counts as Masterwork
(Two-Handed Exotic Weapon)
2d10 Damage
17-20 x4 Crit
+5 to hit and damage
Counts as Masterwork
Now that seems a lot more representative of the cutting power of Katanas in real life, don't you think?
tl;dr = Katanas need to do more damage in d20, see my new stat block.
Spoiler:
I'm sorry, Paizo. I couldn't resist. And according to the Ultimate Combat playtest, it is a Bastard Sword.
Ultimate Combat Playtest wrote:
Ninja and Samurai Weapons
There are a number of weapons available to ninja and samurai that are not found in the Core Rulebook. For the purposes of this playtest, you can use the following statistics to represent these weapons.
For the katana, use the statistics and rules for a bastard sword.
For the naginata, use the statistics and rules for a glaive.
For the wakizashi, use the statistics and rules for a short sword.
I loathe "positive energy undead". That's not how positive energy works!
In my campaign, the equivalent of "positive energy undead" are just Animated Objects made of flesh, so they have the Construct type instead of the nonsensical Deathless type.
Lashonna may already have some connections with Mephistopheles, thanks to the Artifact that controls the Blessed Angels.
Instead of souls, the Devil/Demon might be interested in discovering details about the ritual Kyuss used to become a god, or even be interested in what happens with the Monolith after Kyuss is freed. Maybe it might be used to imprison another Demigod or powerful Devil/Demon. Mephistopheles might want the vacant Monolith to trap Asmodeus and try to take over Baator, for example.
In my campaign, I'll have the Unlife Vortex being powered by an Evolved Horrific Vasuthant(Monster Manual III, p. 182-183) that is also working as an undead uterus for an Advanced Atropal Scion(Libris Mortis, p. 84-85), probably gestalted with some levels of Psion and Chronorebel for more action economy shenanigans, since it will face the party alone after the Unlife Vortex is destroyed.
Projecting possible abilities of my PCs that currently run AoW to 15th level, the artificer PC will whip out an item with a chained SoD, having little means to know how weak they are beforehand, and the battle will be over right then. Other PCs will probably be able to kill only one per round (fly/pounce; fly/charge with challeling spells through the weapon; fly/Clerzilla smash), but this will be quite enough.
So your party is probably an Artificer, a Duskblade, a Cleric, and someone who took at least one level in pouncing Barbarian. How do you expect them not to automaticly crush any opposition they face in a pre-made adventure without the DM changing the adventure to handle this kind of power level?
Did the arcanaloth, ever get an updated 3.5 writeup with a correct CR relative to its strength (unlike the one in the 3.0 MMII)? I'm looking for the base statistics, not a unique specimen like the unique one from Dungeon 144.
The updated base stats are in Dungeon 149, page 46.
I am familiar with the evolved undead template - wound up using it on a bunch of the advanced wights I created to fill in the gaps when the PC's had a real mess to deal with (or to escape) at the end of the Champion's Belt adventure...
I think Tito Leati would be suprised with how many DMs had the Champion's Belt end with a "bad end". The "Wight Apocalipse" scenario was one of the most fun events in the game.
Moreto doesn't have a way to summon undead as he is stated in the adventure, unless you change his spells known or give him a Wand of Summon Undead. So I guess that's a mistake that escaped editing.
I think "A Gathering of Winds" was the adventure I changed the most encounters so far. In the case of Moreto, I used the chance to pair him with some unique undead creatures to surprise my players. I changed his levels to a Beguiler/Prestige Bard/Dirgesinger, and paired him with a Vitreous Drinker(from Monster Manual IV) and two Advanced Evolved Nether Hound Dread Mohrg Chokers(the Evolved template is from Libris Mortis, the Nether Hound template is from Dragon Magazine #322, and the Dread Morgh template is from Advanced Bestiary).
They knew about the presence of the PCs, as the Vitreous Drinker kept scouting the tomb with his Spectral Ravens, trying to find a way to escape without having to deal with Flycatcher(IMC, a Smoke Element Kraken bound to the tomb that believes that the Seal of Law is the key to its freedom, inspired by the smoke monster from Lost). The undead Chokers were like the Lickers from Resident Evil on steroids, and I added the remains of a couple of them through the tomb, that were destroyed in combat, to give the PCs an idea of what was coming.
Are true ghouls maybe in the Monster Manual or some other source and I just somehow forgot or never noticed them? No sourcebook is mentioned in his description. If these creatures have been printed in a 3.5 source, reading their entry might explain some of this stuff that's not clearly explained here - I'm assuming the spectral transformation ability that is named in his stat block but never detailed refers to his becoming a spectre upon being killed (described in the Tactics entry without referring to that ability), but perhaps there's more I should know about that before the encounter as well...
The True Ghoul entry is at the end of the adventure, before the new magic items.
In the case of a Vampiric Dragon, its hoard works like the coffin of a regular Vampire. If Lashoona is destroyed by the PCs, she would have 2 hours to reach room A11 before being permanently destroyed only if her hoard is still there. (She would probably have a Contigent Teleport to that room in case she is destroyed, but it woud not work because of Manzorian's Dimensional Lock.)
Of course, you could upgrade her to a Vampire Lord, so she could have several resting places prepared.
Draconomicon wrote:
If reduced to 0 hit points or lower, a Vampiric Dragon automatically assumes Gaseous Form (fly speed 40 feet, otherwise as the spell) and attempts to escape. It must reach its hoard within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can travel up to 18 miles in 2 hours.) Once at rest upon its hoard, it rises to 1 hit point after 1 hour, then resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round. For obvious reasons, a Vampiric Dragon prefers to keep its hoard well concealed from adventurers and would-be thieves.
Obviously not as many people kept the Age of Worms files as Shackled City.
Searching through my files, I found the Age of Worms Intro Handout and the Statblocks for The Whispering Cairn, The Three Faces of Evil, and Encounter at Blackwall Keep from the old RPGenius site. (Also an audio file with Demogorgon's final speech from Savage Tide.) If any of these interests someone, I could try to upload them somewhere.
I have a lot of crazy ideas myself but I would very like to get your input on that. Please share your ideas about "Fun things to do to a PC carrying a Mindflayer tadpole in a bottle and thinking it's a cute and exotic replacement for a goldfish".
:) Thanks!
You know that an unimplanted Mind Flayer tadpole eventually grows to become a Neothelid, right? ;) Have you ever seen the movie "Little Shop of Horrors"?
The Wand of Gravestrike trick won't work. Casting it from a wand increases the casting time to a standard action. Imbue With Spell Ability would let the rogue cast it however.
This was fixed in the Rules Compendium, and I think that in the Errata also:
Rules Compendium, Page 85 wrote:
Activating a spell trigger item takes the same amount of time as the casting time of the spell that the item stores, but activating the item doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
My players just finished(should I say survived?) The Spire of Long Shadows and haven't reached Alhaster yet. I didn't really add any extra module to the Adventure Path, just tweaked and added a few extra encounters to expand the background of the campaign. I fell in love at first sight with the Gestalt rules from Unearthed Arcana(I guess because they reminded me of the multiclass rules from 2nd Edition), so I already end up converting all encounters and NPCs from the Age of Worms to fit them. Because of this, I just expanded what was there and didn't occur to me to add something new.
Crust, how long have you been DMing your campaign? With all that your players already managed to achieve, I feel that my players and me should be a little more competent at what we do. ;) But I must admit that our combats always take much more time than expected. How do you deal with all the extra XP from these extra modules? I guess this is the only problem I would face with the addition of extra modules between adventures.
And looks like our campaigns have more in common than just the prospect of players becoming the rulers. My group also "adopted" one of the NPCs from the Age of Worms. In our case it was Filge, from The Whispering Cairn(a Dread Necromancer/Warlock in my campaign).
Westgate, eh? Now that's an awesome idea. I was eager to game in Waterdeep, but thinking back, I wonder why I didn't consider another coastal city. I guess Eric L. Boyd had some influence there. ;-)
I'm running the Age of Worms in Forgotten Realms, but changed several locations from the suggested in the Overload(Eric L. Boyd conversion is so awesome that made me want to DM this Adventure Path over any other).
I placed Diamond Lake on the southern shore of the Redwater Lake(between Westgate and the Lake of the Long Arm), near the part of the Trader's Road that connects Reddansyr and Starmantle. Diamond Lake is a great setting and I already used Daggerford in a previous campaign, so I placed the whole city in there.
In my opinion, Alhaster and Redhand fitted better in the Border Kingdoms, because I plan to continue the campaign after the conclusion of the Age of Worms and I really want to put Powers of Faerûn in good use. I want to give the chance to the players rule and forge a stable kingdom that would become part of the setting in future campaigns.
Crust wrote:
The most powerful spellcaster that I know of in Westgate is the vampire Manshoon clone.
I must admit that one of the great advantages of using Westgate as the Free City in case of a "bad ending" is to see all the jaws dropping around the table when the sun sets and ALL the vampires of the Night Masks decide to retake the city while been led by the vampire Manshoon clone.
Maybe I should create a topic with all the changes that I made in my version of the Age of Worms instead of hijacking this thread. ^^
I'm using Westgate in place of the Free City because I didn't want to risk destroying Waterdeep, so there is a lot less heavy hitters to deal with the initial outbreak and no unified group to deal with the undead. Each noble and merchant house will think on its safety first before joining forces.
Also, there are several features that make the situation a lot different(and worse) than an average zombie apocalipse. Just take a look at the Wight mental stats. They are intelligent, capable of forming strategies and retreat from losing battles. This can be really dangerous if you play them with the mentality of "Let's turn the maximum number of people into Wights to give power to our master, Kyuss" than just "Let's feed". It's very possible that they retain the memories they had in life, so they know the city layout as much as any resistance they might face(and know were their family and loved ones live, so they can join them in the glorious service of Kyuss).
The Energy Drain ability of the Wights is deadly to anyone not prepared. There is no save to resist the negative levels, only to see if they become permanent 24 hours later(if you survive that much). And very few people would survive a Wight mob, trying to escape its grapple while automatically losing a level each round. Death Ward's duration is only 1 min./level and Hallow's casting time is 24 hours, so even if you have several Clerics capable of casting these spells, it might not make a difference with a threat this size.
In my campaign, I made the Wight infestation even more dangerous making it work like Vampire Spawn/Vampire mechanic. Humanoids with 4 or less HD turned into average Wights when slain, while humanoids with 5 or more HD gained the Wight template and retained their class abilities. You can imagine how any strategy begins to fall down when the Wights start "recruiting" spellcasters to their side(and yes, my players hate my guts with the intensity of a thousand suns).
