***SPOILERS BELOW***
So my players began the Lightless Depths yesterday afternoon. Everything was going smooth until they encountered the Elder Black Pudding in the burning pools chamber.
The pudding is brutal, so if anyone is coming up to this part, consider this your warning. This encounter has the potential to seriously affect your group's wealth and capabilities for the rest of the module.
The Elder Black Pudding, if it gets the drop on your players (which it most likely will because they have to run past it while holding their breath in the burning pools chamber), is probably going to destroy a fair amount of your PC's equipment. This can happen in two ways: 1) it grapples a PC with its +35 grapple modifier, holds on to the PC for a full round and then deals 21 points of acid damage to their equipment unless they make DC 21 reflex saves. 2) one of your fighters / melee combatants may try to attack it, causing them to make a DC 29 reflex save to avoid the weapon being destroyed outright.
In my game, the pudding grappled the monk and held him for a few rounds, resulting in alot of DC 21 reflex saves which, even though the monk could add the magic item bonus to the saves (2 + 1/2 caster level of item), caused many of his magic items to be destroyed. Further, all his mundane items dissolved, clothes, etc. The barbarian, trying to help the monk, struck the pudding with his newly purchased +1 flaming wounding greataxe, failed the DC 29 reflex save (including the magic item bonus) and lost his axe in the same round.
Now please do not take this post as a complaint, because I actually enjoyed this encouter (the poison air + the pudding made for a really memorable encounter). However, I think DM's should consider this encounter before they run it because once the PCs are in that room, it is a major hassle to return to Farshore to procure new weapons, armor and items should they be destroyed by the pudding (and Farshore has a low gp limit) and without fully prepared PCs, the rest of the module is going to be that much more difficult.
It is my suggestion that some thought be given towards what may happen if your PCs lose alot of their equipment here. Perhaps have them find some along the way to Golismorga, maybe the aboleth in the flooded temple can point the way to some lost magic items to sweeten the deal in requesting them to destroy Tlaloc's Tear, etc.
I also fully realize that, based on previous posts from the editor and contributors, that STAP is designed to limit wealth and the ability to procure new wealth. Moreover, this encounter may have been designed specifically as a wealth control encounter. However, I think DMs running this module can benefit from some forethought on what to do about their naked and defenseless PCs should the pudding ruin their day.
Just some thoughts. This module is a blast.