Obnoxiad's page

This is a great post that will prove to be very useful to alot of DMs. After several readings of the first series of encounters in Whispering I felt very nervous for my 4 person party. If I had seen this I would have happily used it.

We got together last night and finished up character creation, got the group together, and began the first adventure before throwing them into WHISPERING. I used the BURNING PLAGUE from WIZARDS.COM to give them a little xp under there belt, and thow a hint at them on how to deal with the swarms. The Burning Plauge was the very first FREE online adventure, I believe, and it fits in very well with Whispering. Only a few tweaks had to be made.

The PC's roll into town on a mundane coach only to see a sign made of hastily lashed together planks and runny red paint that said PLAGUE. The coach stops at the ABLE CARTER INN, and the PC's poke their heads out and see RED GLASS SHEATHS over the lanterns in front of all the stores, businesses, and houses. All but the FERAL DOG (a few of their patrons have built up a resistance to most diesease and ailments by this time). Seeing some people moving around inside they get out and head over there to find out what's up, and as soon as they are off the coach it takes off. While inside the Feral Dog they learn about the new plague, and that the only mine that has not been heard from is SMENKS new #3. Each mine manager sent a messenger to each mine warning them of the plague and all the mines were shut down as the miners left, but the messenger from SMENKS #3 said he didn't see anyone, and that he heard strange noises coming from within the mine.

So, the PC's went to check it out. If that does not pan out they plan to try and approach the Garrison (who has walled themselves in from the plague) for food and aid for the town.

I think it serves the same purpose as cleaning out the mine office, but gets the PC's a bit more known in town. This will hopefully set up a nice feeling of competition with THE TRIO from the BIG CITY.

Be groovy

The initial planning phase.

This is another thread dedicated to an AOW campaign. The campaign will take place in EBERRON, and the "FREE CITY" will be replaced with SHARN, unless someone has a better idea that they are willing to share. The theme of our campaign is OLD SCHOOL or a return to earlier times. I love the way EBERRON feels and the mood it invokes, but over the last couple of years with all the amazing material (and some not so amazing materials) that have been published I have not seen an OLD SCHOOL party of adventurers. So, with this campaign the initial 5 characters will be:
A fighter
A wizard/sorcerer
A cleric
A Rogue
and the fifth character after much discussion will be
A Bard.

Ranger, Druid, and Bard were all discussed at some length. Ranger was pulling way ahead of the pack until one of the players mentioned wanting to play a Gnome bard who worked at an outlet for the Gnomish newspaper in the Eberron setting. He didn't want to focus on the SONG & DANCE MAN style bard but wanted to take on the STORY TELLER aspect, and wanted to try and merge that with the newspaper concept. After just a bit of thought placing a newspaper outlet in the small DIAMOND LAKE area seemed perfect. Nothing every happens for the most part, the character wants to feel the thrill of chasing down an amazing story, dealing with shady informants, and some day getting out of this dusty and dirty little town and exploring and reporting on the world at large.

The first character concept starts to take form, and I am now at the point of filling in the rest of the roles. Four of the five players have extensive play time both in front and behind the DM screen, and the group has taken on one complete noob. We have decided to allow the new person to join our ranks, but we have not conveyed the title of MASTER unto them yet (sorry, couldn't help myself).

I am hoping to use correct miniatures extensively for this campaign. The groups I have run with and for have always used minis, but we have always grabbed a handful of WHATEVER to represent our opponents or npcs. This time I am looking to be a bit more "true" in terms of figures. Between the huge line of minis now available to be painted, and pre-painted D&D minis we should be able to accomplish our goals. Any suggestions for minis that can be found in the adventure will be greatly appreciated. If you know of a mini that is perfect let me know! I also plan on using the 3D card stock dungeons that world works makes to produce the major sections of the dungeons.

I have about three works of initial prep, and then we will go to a bi-weekly gaming schedule. Here's to hoping that's enough time to pull this all off.

Any and all of your advice would be appreciated.

Now, where do I find several small colored lanterns to use a props..e-bay here I come.

Be groovy all

I just got done reading room 7 & 8, and thought WOW, that seems very TOUGH for a first level party. I went back just to make sure I wans't suppose to get them to 2nd level before taking a party through, and was almost shocked that this would probably be a NEW GROUPS 2nd maybe 3rd encounter. I plan to run it with only 4 people (and one is completely NOOB).

I like the idea mentioned about having a handful at a time for round one, two, and three coming out before they ERUPT outward. Have some intelligence checks for the Pc's so they can "figure out" that normal melee weapons will probably fail to get the job done.

Other than this first very difficult section the adventure seems great. Nice atmosphere, good feel, enough puzzle to engage the Pc's, but not so much that they just juse the chains holding the lamps to hang themselves in frustration. I really dug the pics and the online supplement is very SWEET!

Time to get back and read the next few rooms. I just wanted to check in on this particular enounter.

Be groovy