Na'cheya's page

So, some days it's extremely useful to have several in my group that have been through many of the original published adventures. I told them of the volcanic activity to the North (I put them 20 miles south of the mountain). Once they sorted through that a solitary volcano wouldn't put them in the Hellfire Furnaces, they put a name to it (Hooray for player knowledge that can be backed up by PC knowledge skills!) and went into spasms--blubbering about the wizard and Dragotha. After these two explained it to the less experienced members, they quickly decided they didn't want to be there and chose another plan.

Thank you for your help and suggestions!

There is a minor notation of where Icosiol's tomb is geographically located. AGoW gives this information, "Icosiol's tomb is in fact deep under the ancient Fields of Pesh, in a region about 500 miles northeast of Diamond Lake. If the PC's somehow manage to travel up from the tomb through 1000' of bedrock, they emerge in a barren stretch of plains. To the north a single volcano looms, a plume of steam drifting from its peak." (White Plume Mountain)

Near as I can figure it is about 450 miles to White Plume Mountain from Diamond Lake (Greyhawk poster map). As the intent was to have them south of the mountain, did anyone work out how far north of Alhaster this "barren stretch of plains" would be? Secondly, are there any recommendations on whether I treat it as Shield Lands area, or do I involve some of the more nefarious elements of the Rift Canyon? (this is where I'm leaning towards...)

My group also ran with the treaty idea. We added the following points to flesh it out:

--When Hiska negotiated for PC help to defeat Shukak, he offered Shukak's amulet of natural armor (as an item that belonged to the tribe, not a "gift" from the dragon) as retribution for those slaughtered at BWK. (Does it make me evil to giggle at the look on my players' faces when they have to give treasure to someone else?)

--The treaty basically involved a committment from the lizard folk to cease hostile activity towards BWK and surrounding areas and for the peace offering to head off any formal retribution. Additionally, the PC's set up parlay signals for the lizardmen to use with BWK to pass information. The signals allowed for lizardmen and soldiers to do the yelling-over-the-wall thing, or to leave an item (message, etc.) to be collected by the other. The general consensus being that the soldiers would be none too happy to have to closely deal with lizardmen anytime in the near future.

--The treaty and peace offering were originally taken to Commander Trask in DL as he officially oversees the BWK garrison. Trask took care of the rest of the chain of command.

--PC's were employed by the Greyhawk Council to return the response to the Twisted Branch Tribe.

I used this as an opportunity to roll the PC's into a modified Ruins in the Mistmarsh encounter. Undead in an abandoned dwarven citadel just called for a Kyuss redux.

I assume your players ate it up. I can see my current group hating this kind of thing.

Half of them had fun with it in the beginning (the other half weren't really who I wrote them for in the first place). But I do have to admit that about mid-way through the maze, the entire group was so thrown off by the guerrilla tactics of the kenku and the party’s innate inability to pick a strategy and follow it through—that I cut down drastically on the whispers. Either that or I was going to be the next one attacked in a dark corner while separated from my friends. By that time it helped create the creepy and overwhelming feel I was going for.

I do like the idea of using the mimicry ability in a similar vein--much less expensive than magic mouths! I'm betting that even the Lord of Secrets hasn't figured out how to get money to grow on trees.

While pondering the running of the Labyrinth of Vecna, I was stuck on how to create the atmosphere of disorientation for my players. In addition to many of the fine suggestions here (a plasticized DM map and dry erase markers worked well to track the Kenkus coming and going), I had my players roll and record 30 rounds of Spot, Listen and Search (only those players with auto-find secret door capabilities). With all the players' checks recorded on one gridded paper, I could easily track who noticed what and when. This took care of any granted checks, I didn’t have to take time to roll them, and the players didn’t know how well or poorly they did that particular round. Players could still take an action to roll an active check. This was such a time-saver, I will likely use it again.

As an added disorientation I put in whispered taunts. These gave the players an extra thing to focus on and raised the stress level of my group nicely. The maze echoed with players’ retorts to the whispers.

For my rules lawyers, the explanation came to be that there were permanent magic mouths about the maze that reacted to non-believers. This was similar to the set up of the eyes in the outer sanctum. I did throw in a couple PC-oriented taunts—so that strains the credulity a bit, but it was fun ;^) I had such a great time coming up with and using these, I had to share.

As the PC's entered the maze, they got this gem:

“A drawn out whisper reaches into your ears and coalesces into fragments of phrases, as if someone were barely speaking just over your shoulder.”

When proceeding through, as an individual reached a specific spot I gave him a note, detailing the whispers heard.

• “Thief….bandit…may…may be …welcome here”
  
• “What do… you seek … in darkness…”
  
• “What lies…have you told… yourself…these actions…do no honor…transparent is your …false pride”
  
• “You do the work of Erythnul…wading through… blood…destruction…killing”
  
• “By your relentlessness … you overpower the weak… Hextor is pleased”
  
• “Your companions… do they…know what you hide…behind masks…the Maimed Lord laughs…”
  
• “Beware of what you ask…Seeker…you may yet…receive exactly…that.”
  
• “Pawn…played to an unknown purpose? Perhaps…yet, perhaps you… went willingly…”
  
• “Still…you think to thwart …the will of Gods…truly… of Gods?”
  
• “little mortal…know now …that each step…was planned…you are watched…”
  
• “ ‘I destroyed evil!’ You protest…the ends…justify the means…corruption spreads.”
  
• “You honor the Scourge of Battle…your strength…their deaths…there is order…in this world”
  
• “The Many…accept your …offering…the countless …corpses behind…you”
  
• “You walk…beside the Lord of Secrets…bringing gifts… sacrifice…the One knows… the inky pool that…swallows your souls…”
  
• “There is blood…on your hands…murderer”
  
• “Man of the mountain…will they claim…you now…or will you…be clanless…a forgotten one…”
  
• “Little traveler…can you feel…the weight…the failures …crushing you…glory never found…fading to nothingness”
  
• “Hunter…you lost…direction …the maid, the matron, the venerable ancient …do they know… of the murdering men …with whom you cavort…”
  
• “Valor…and courage…when did you trade…for murder? …coupe de grace first…ask questions later…”
  
• “Tin man…given a task…yet given no heart…tell us…how does this help…the family…”
  
• “Seeker of wisdom…follow your guides…to murder…to loss…under the guise…of law …as insight leaches from the world…passing through the dark recesses…of your heart”

Thanks for the idea Armnaxis. I borrowed it--it went over well. My group has a core bunch of min-maxers, so I created character specific bonuses. I gave them control over how to make things happen and they loved it. They may not be loving it so much when the power comes back to bite them on the rear. It will make for some good leading and hints through nightmares. I haven’t got the negative mechanics worked out yet, but I’m thinking negatives when facing triad members, the next aspect, etc. (maybe saves, attacks, caster level checks, or some combination—perhaps even aligning with the deity focus of benefit they acquired.)

I used the concept that the blessings are a derivation of the powers of Vecna, Hextor or Erythnul. The character-specific blessings are for my group that consists of a rogue dagger-specialist, barbarian, wizard, bard, monk, and a paladin (really, I’m not sure how long they plan on avoiding the dreaded TPK). I also wrote three generic blessings (see option A).

Mechanics:
Monster disintegrates in a burst of energy, PC’s can do one of three things:

A. Hold onto and form the energy by strength of will (Will DC 18). Success earns the player a choice of 3 Blessings (the one I created for his character and 2 generic based from each of the other deities involved). Failure earns the player the blessing I created.
B. Deliberately mix the aspect’s blood with the character’s blood, trapping the power. The player earns the blessing I created.
C. Force the power out, and not be affected at all.
After the destruction of the EA, I gave each player a slip of paper detailing their character’s options and then handed them additional slips of description as needed. This added a nice bit of subterfuge that ended with the paladin casting detect evil on all party members.

Initial Description:
The creature finally wavers and holds still. It begins to topple and suddenly disintegrates in a burst of divine energy. As the wave of dark magics roll over you, you see yourself mid-battle with the sects of the ebon triad—tiefling, human, grimlock, kenku; warriors and casters all fall before you. Each enemy that perishes builds your energy, your power. Indeed you actually feel strengthened and rejuvenated from your battle with the Aspect. Suddenly you know that you can keep this wild magic, if you act fast. Underneath this instant awareness, a portion of yourself struggles against the power pouring though you, seeking to cleanse you of its insidious presence.

Awareness of mind, body and soul brings you three options.

A. You may attempt to hold on to it and form it by strength of will.
B. You may deliberately push the aspect’s blood into your veins—trapping the power within you.
C. You may focus yourself against the flow of magic, forcing the power to slide beyond you and be gone.

Character Specific Blessings:
Ebon Blessing (Death’s Blade): There are few greater sounds than the gurgle of a man with a punctured lung…well perhaps the gurgle of a man with two punctured lungs. Each time you drop an opponent with your dagger (yours was the killing blow), elation fills you with confidence. Add +4 damage to your next successful dagger attack during the same encounter.

Ebon Blessing (Bloody Rage): In the frenzy of battle, Death surrounds you—you are its chosen reaper. For each opponent that you drop (yours was the killing blow) while raging, add one round to the duration of your current rage.

Ebon Blessing (6th Sense): Knowledge is power, more knowledge is…magnificent. You find that as you continue to educate yourself, you make more connections. Add +1 for every five ranks in a knowledge skill. For each knowledge skill in which you have this bonus add +1 to your Bardic Knowledge Check.

Ebon Blessing (Divining Tendencies): Mystery perpetually shrouds all casters. You find that as you continue to gather information through magic means, you have the occasional burst of prescience. If you have cast a divination spell in the past day, you may add an insight bonus equal to the greater of your intelligence or charisma modifier to any attack roll, saving throw, skill check or level check. You must declare that you are using this bonus before you roll. This ability functions once a day. You may add a second use if you cast a divination spell during the existing encounter in which you take the second bonus.

Ebon Blessing (Focused Attack): When searching for an enemy, it is best to go where you know he is. If your first melee attack in a round is successful, add +1 to each subsequent attack on the same opponent during the same round.

Ebon Blessing (Know Your Place): On the battlefield, the righteous warrior knows his role is judge, jury and executioner. Your force of belief increases your effectiveness. Add +1 to attack and damage when smiting.

Generic Blessings:
Ebon Blessing (Grave Refusal): You have sent many towards a long dirt nap, as a result you occasionally find that Death would rather keep you on this side of the door. If you fall below 0 hp during an encounter in which you have dropped your enemies (yours was the killing blow), you have the benefit of the die-hard feat for a number of consecutive rounds equal to your constitution modifier. This benefit functions once per day.

Ebon Blessing (Find the Weak Spot): There are many ways to disable an opponent to kill him or cause him to yield the field. With quick consideration, you aim for a foe’s already dented or destroyed armor. If you are successful on a strike against an opponent you have already hit, add +2 to the damage. Melee weapon or ranged weapon within 30’—non-lethal attacks, splash weapons and damaging spells do not earn this extra damage. This ability functions once per opponent.

Ebon Blessing (Caster’s Boon): Sometimes the truth of magic that looks easy, is that it is easy. Choose a 0 level or 1st level wizard spell from the PHB that has no costly components or XP cost. You may use this once per day as a spell-like ability with Caster level 1.

Culmination of Option C
You concentrate on the pillars that have supported you in times of need…you call on all your strength and skill—those things that you know are solely you, and not this false promise ringing in your head. You see family and friends surround you, their love and pride evident in their expressions. The unbending strength of righteousness infuses each of your thoughts and the wild magic wilts and backs away from your heart-sure identity.

Maybe it's just me, but when I post the URLs into IE I just get to the general AoW message board page, and not to the specific thread.

Many of the linked threads have been archived (moved from their original linked location). The easiest way around it is to copy the link/thread name and put it into the search box. It is suggested that you put it into the search box for this message board first (currently only located at the top of the message board index page--the search option on the top left will search all of piazo).

Have fun!

PS: if you're running AoW in Greyhawk, check out the stuff that Hagen's posted and recommends--he is an outstanding resource to have here!

The slightly disappointing, did-we-really-need-a-poster-of-this? first floor map is posted at therpgenius.com.

2.) Creature striking a spawn with natural weapons/unarmed strike, gets infested by 1d4 worms. Can one extrapolate this to also apply if one is grappling a spawn? Or, say... if the spawn grapples one of THEM?

I made the assumption that the line in the Spawn of Kyuss entry in the EBK adventure was incorrect. It's not in the MMII, the 3.5 update or the errata. Additionally, that ability is listed as a special attack for a Favored Spawn with 10HD or more (Dragon 336).

Now the grappling idea brings in a different thought. When the spawn hits with a slam or touch attack it can transfer a worm as a free action once per round. I can see this extending to a grapple attack--either by the spawn's attempt to grapple or it's attack during a grapple.

hmmm...a PC's Touch AC during a grapple is down to 10+deflection...

I, too, recently began an Ages of Worms adventure with 7 players using a 32-point buy. My group is mostly very experienced players. We are finishing a scaled-up version of WC this week. So far the bad guys have managed to knock one player unconcious, once. I believe we still have one PC who has yet to take damage.

With the downloadable supplement’s section on scaling for an upper level party for reference, I did the following: