Olodrin's page

Yeah, the one guy with the HP to deal with the elementals didn't have the Reflex save to keep from catching fire. And their Spring Attack is nasty. Plus the one wizard in the party was a necromancer who took evocation and illusion as his opposition schools because he wanted a "challenge".

He got himself very dead.

I think aligning the leveling of characters to points in the story is excellent, with two caveats:

1. If you have a character death, keep an eye on them once they are raised. Using the traditional XP rewards, they would catch up with their fellow party members eventually. If you are strictly using the aforementioned leveling everyone at the same time method, they will be permanently one level down.

2. If you have magic users with craft feats, be sure to devise some sort of alternative crafting system that doesn't require xp. Heck, you could even make it some kind of class feature, like wizards get their usual stuff, + 5 crafting points/level, whereas clerics would get their usual stuff + 4 crafting points/level. You get the idea.

Thanks,
Olodrin

Welcome to Maine! I'm in Lewiston and we play in Hartford. That's quite a drive from Augusta with gas prices what they are. It's about 30 minutes plus one way from Augusta to Hartford. Maybe we can figure something out, though, I'll ask my players if you're still interested.

Thanks for the invite. Rather than take up valuable board space, shoot me an email at olodrin@hotmail.com and we can talk specifics from there.

Thanks

Hi all,

I will be moving from Washington, DC to Augusta, Maine at the end of July. Any friendly Mainers with an empty slot in their game?

Thanks,
Olodrin

Hey all, I know I sent out a similar message some time ago, but I have more current information to share with any of the SCAPpers from Maine.

My wife and I will be moving to Manchester, right outside of Augusta, at the end of July. If any of you friendly Maine SCAPpers have room for one more, either in SCAP or another game, it would be totally and utterly awesome.

Anyhow, sorry for the non-SCAP-specific post.

Olodrin

Mainers UNITE!

I'm in Lewiston but running the game at a friend's house in Hartford. Where are you located?

At the moment, we're looking at Waterville, though it could be Augusta

Hi all,

Apologies for the non-sequiter post, but I feel like the Paizo SCAP boards are sort of like that musty old pub that we all pop into for a pint on Tuesday evenings to catch up on the news.

I'll cut to the chase. Any of you SCAP-ers in Maine have room for a fellow Paizo-ite in your game?

Thanks,
Olodrin

Hello fellow SCAPers,

My players have just completed their third session of TotSE, and have just completed the first and second enounters at the Cathedral of Feathers. At the moment, I have 3 10th lvl PCs, and 2 9th lvl NPCs.

While they made it through the Narthex in relatively good shape (mostly due to a fabulous set of saving throws) the encounter in the Cathedral proper was extremely difficult (due entirely to an abysmal chain of saving throws).

In the surprise round, the heavy and the scout surged out ahead of the party. Both fail their Spot checks, allowing the Succubus to dive down and charm the archer (a follower of Kord), convincing him that the mean ol' wizard was evil, and that she was a maiden in distress. Also during that round, the Salamander put up a Wall of Fire, separating the heavy and the scout from (importantly) the main healer.

In the 1st round, the wizard pops over the WoF to get away from the archer and got fireballed, along with the heavy. The wizard did, however, convince the scout that he to go back and help the archer out by killing the succubus. The heavy charged the Salamander and took an AoO from the Salamander's tail; he ended up grappled 10 ft out, leaving him deliciously in range of the Salamander's longspear. The heavy doesn’t carry any small magical weapons, so he was pretty much out of the fight until he broke the grapple, 4 rounds later.

So the scout went around the wall to help the archer, got charmed by the succubus (Charm Monster) and immediately begins guarding the rear of the party, ie stood out of the way of the combatants.

So a few rounds pass, the cleric takes out the succubus with a few rounds of Spiritual Hammer, when the Salamander decides to play the rest of his hand and pull out the Huge Fire Elemental.

Thankfully, Kaurophon managed to work his way around the Guardinal and rejoin the group (using Dimension Door) and weakened the elemental, salamander and Wall of Fire with some Cones of Cold, allowing the party to regroup and finish them off. We ended up with one dead and everyone else in the single digits, except the scout, who never took any damage.

Anyway, it was a great fight. I am so happy with it that I needed to share with some people who would understand.

Thanks,
Olodrin

In simulations, I found that the 8 KT originally assigned to this room wouldn't be able to survive 20 rounds against my PCs, so I added another 4. By the time Aushanna showed up, they were mopping up the last KT, but they were in such bad shape that she was dropping a player/round.

I had similar concerns when running BH. I softened up my players by using 12 Kuo Toa instead of 8 in the central area and used them in teams of four (2 whips + 2 soldiers/team) with disciplined lines of retreat across the three levels and abundant cross fire. I also had the temple floor in about 2 inches of water to force my players up the stairs. I actually managed to drag out the combat for the 20 rounds before Aushanna showed up. Indeed, the combat took 5 hours of real time. Once Aushanna showed up, she pretty much drove them out of the temple.

On their return, they ran into both Mangh-Mictho and the assasin in ZS' anteroom, which was then sealed shut and filled with water. The assassin killed the party cleric, and MM blinded the wizard and crushed the rogue while the confused fighter cut his way through the door to ZS room with an adamatine axe.

It was awesome.

Long story short: I think you can leave ZS just the way he is. You can do a lot of softening up with the KT squads, Aushanna, MM and the Assassin. BH is a setup that is expected to kill the party; make them feel it.

My two cents,
Olodrin

Hi all,

After much debate, worry and SCAP board advice, my party wrapped up DL this afternoon. As many of you know, i was very worried that my players wouldn't go along with Kaurophon under any circumstances, but a solution that worked, oddly, was to have K show up about 6 rounds into the fight, and start chasing around the player with the Haunted trait (ie the one having all those nightmares, thanks DD), referring to him as LORD so-and-so.

Kaurophon was urbane, polite, even engaging. He explained that he was one of the keepers of Occipitus, and that the player was one of the chosen of Adimarchus.

When my paranoid necromancer said "What does this have to do with anything?!", Kaurophon took the high road, talking about how it would be good to keep the essence of a piece of Celestia from being gobbled up by the Abyss, etc, then threw in a line about there being a lot of goodies still lying around; that clinched it.

Anyway, to make a long story short, my boys headed back to Cauldron to sell treasure and re-equip as K urged them on, and are headed to the 507th layer of the Abyss next Saturday morning, starting at 10.

So, many thanks to everyone for the great advice!

Olodrin

Hi everyone,

Quick question. For those of you that have rounded off DL and are heading into TotSE, how are you making this transition?

I ask because, according to the hardcover, the PCs should have a chance to rest and re-equip post DL, but I think this would tend to ratchet down the tension of the story. Also, I want to use DD's Battle of Redgorge mod. Clearly, I would like to barrel from the end of DL right in TotSE, without having to convince my players of Kauraphon's good intentions.

My thought at the moment is to use my player's rampant addiction to loot to my advantage. They will find the (apparently) dead body of a half-fiend in the desert at the end of DL, and as soon as they touch it (for looting purposes), they are transported instantly to Occipitus. They awake in a rather dazed state to find that the supposedly dead half-fiend is in fact very much alive and impatient to get started, and continually refers to the dream haunted character as Lord so-and-so.

I am very much looking forward to play Kauraphon as a grumpy curmudgeon.

So, to summarize:

Do the players need a break at the end of DL?
Has anyone been able to use the DD's Redgorge mod while following along with the book instructions?

Thanks,
Olodrin

Yeah, she's nasty. In my game, she slaughtered the ranged fighter in the first round, then gorked the wizard in the second.

Then she offered to spare the party in return for their souls, which they heartily embraced, and eventually led to a nice little sidetrek on the outer planes to get their souls back.

Ba'atezu are so reasonable.

Skyknight,

You win the prize for most elegant solution. In fact, it is so elegant that I wonder if you might be a management consultant in real life.

Thanks,
Olodrin

Wow, I'm almost overwhelmed by the flood of responses.

After reviewing all the ideas, I think the best solution in my case is to have Kauraphon use Magic Jar to possess Alek's body when he dies, tell them he's been sent back for etc etc. While they explore Occipitus he tells them about the Cagewrights, information he has gathered through "investigations".

When they get to the last task, he attacks the party. Just before the party kills him, he jumps back to the Jar (which he invisibly placed on Alek's body during the fight with Nab), then makes a launch for the party's meathead fighter, causing a huge amount of confusion.

Because he isn't competing with Alek's soul for posession of Alek's body, I will rule that he can use it indefinitely.

Any thoughts? Does this create any permanent damage to the Path?

Thanks,
Olodrin

Hmm, interesting suggestions.

It's not very logical is it.

I1 One such suggestion could be to have Alek rise from the dead and be 'possessed' by Korophan (sp?). 'Alek' will explain he has been sent back from the Heavens to free Occiptus from the abyss and the first step to this would be to finish the Test.

'Alek' can not remember anything about his past but knows he has been risen with the power of Occiptus flowing through his blood which has tainted him somewhat, but it was a sacrifice he had to make if he was to gain control of the plane.

When the party finally reach the final test Korophan either emerges or dramatically bursts out from the body of Alek to attack the party.

2 Another idea is to let the party return to Cauldron and be introduced to Korophan by their trusted mentor or even Lord Vhalantru?!

3 What about the party being contacted directly by Nidrama and being asked to take the test. She tells them that unless one of them claims Occiptus for good then the plane will be doomed. When they arrive they are greeted by a cleverly disguised Korophan who acts as their heavenly guide. Korophan disguise himself as Saurya (the fallen angel).

Delvesdeep

Of these, I think I prefer the 1st option, simply because it minimizes the number of changes that the players need to accept. My players will also demand an explanation why Cauldron is doomed if they don't go haring off to some (literally) god-forsaken place in the Abyss.

A 4th option: Nab & K are allies, have them somehow Magic Jar Alek's soul (some misinterpretation of K that a purely good soul is needed to finish the Test), then K bails to the Abyss, the party goes home and through various and sundry means discover the general location of Alek's soul.

Then... dammit, I'm out of ideas.

Olodrin

So here it is: the players fight their way through the Demonskar, go through the Starry Mirror, find Alek, and fight Nabthatoron. Then some dude in a robe show up, in the middle of the freakin' desert, and says "hey guys, my name is Kauraphon, I radiate evil and I know lots about this big conspiracy that you're starting to suspect exists. I have an idea, let's go to Hell."

Yeah.

Well, if my mage player doesn't have Teleport at this point (which he will, because he's not a moron), the party can still call Meerthan to get them home. I just don't see the cryptic mutterings of a clearly dead paladin driving them into Kauraphon's arms.

Has anyone else had this problem? It feels a little too much like railroading.

How did you get your players to go with him? Keep in mind that we're about two sessions from this now, so clever foreshadowing that might have helped is not gonna happen.

Thanks,
Olodrin

Now he's looking at a prestige class that will allow his bard to become more sorcerer-ey.

I recommend the Sublime Chord (Complete Arcane), though it has some hefty skill prerequisites. (K Arcana 13 ranks, K Spellcraft 6, Perform 10, Prof Astrologer 6, Listen 13 ranks)

It's pretty much THE PrC for Bards looking to be a little more spell-oriented and de-emphasizes the combat side of things. Specifically, it allows spell progression up to 9th lvl spells, with a wizard's BAB, half-progression for bard song, 4SP/lvl, and maintains the ability to cast in light armor without an arcane spell failure chance.

Hope that helps,
Olodrin

My guys did a couple of things in this space.

First, they turned Jzaridune over to the city.

Second, they paid a decent sum to hold on to the Malachite Hold.

Third, they cut a deal with Morgan Ghelve, Keyghan's nephew, where they built an addition on to the building for Morgan to live in in exchange for continual access to the door downstairs.

Fourth, they spent a few weeks remodeling the Hold using Stoneshape. If anyone can tell me how to attach a file, I'll post the new Hold map here.

Toodles,
Olodrin

My party has one ranged combat guy, so between him, the necromancer, and the cleric summoning a celestial hippogriff and casting spiritual weapon, they managed to drive him off.

Flyby Attack [General]

Prerequisite
Fly speed.

Benefit
When flying, the creature can take a move action (including a dive) and another standard action at any point during the move. The creature cannot take a second move action during a round when it makes a flyby attack.
Normal

Without this feat, the creature takes a standard action either before or after its move.

My guys just finished BH as well, and it was definitely one of the most memorable encounters I've run.

For fun, I added another pair of whips and soldiers to the central combat in the big, balconied room, for a total of 12 KT in that combat, all CR3. Everything was going well (ie party was holding their own, and had nearly finished off all the KT) until round 20, when Aushanna showed up. The wizard, floating 30 ft up in the middle of the sanctuary, was the first to go (smug little bugger had cast Resistance to Electricity and was feeling invulnerable until Aushanna turned him into a pincushion).

Next was the Fighter/Cleric ranged specialist.

Realizing that she could kill them all easily, Aushanna offered them a deal. In return for not killing them (and a solemn promise that they would not deface the temple), she would get their souls, or a year of service in the Blood War, whichever they preferred.

This deal happened telepathically between the Erinyes and the LN gnomish urban ranger/rogue.

Having read all of the posts about TPKs in BH, I thought this was a neat side-step that was both believable and could lead to some interesting role-play as well as possible alternate adventures.

Next session: consequences.

Thoughts?

A quick question about Drathar's Dominate ability. Even if the barbarian makes his Will save, can't he just try it again on his next turn? With a Will save of +0 (Wisdom of 8), it seems like it's only a matter of time before the barbarian becomes Drakthar's flunky.

Oh, did I mention that the party doesn't have a cleric? Ouchy...

Watch out for wizards with Command Undead.

On the topic of more DD publications, I am all in favor; heck, I'll even do some copy editing, if you like. I think it's fair to say that DD's mods have transformed the adventure path (ie a set of linked adventures) into a cohesive campaign, smoothing out transitions and increasing the comprehensibility for both players and DMs.

That said, I am also intensely interested in the previously mentioned org chart and calendar. Are either of these documents available for public consumption?

In looking through the effects of the statue in the temple of Bhal Hamatugn, I noticed that first and foremost is the permanent, widened Unhallow.

Unhallow has three components:
1. Acts as a Magic Circle Against Evil (+2 Deflection AC, +2 saves vs good creatures or their effects, shields from compulsions)

2. Makes it more difficult to turn undead, and easier to rebuke them

3. Allows the caster to tie one spell of a set of spells to the location.

Is it me, or has this last element been missed? Frankly, the idea of tagging a Dispel Magic set to go off on anyone who is not evil sounds fantastic, or maybe tagging Death Ward would be best (my necro mage would hate me even more than he does already).

Is this third element taken up by Aushanna's summoning?

The available spells are as follows:
aid, bane, bless, cause fear, darkness, daylight, death ward, deeper darkness, detect magic, detect good, dimensional anchor, discern lies, dispel magic, endure elements, freedom of movement, invisibility purge, protection from energy, remove fear, resist energy, silence, tongues, and zone of truth.

Any thoughts here?

Thanks,
Olodrin

Hi all,

My five guys are about to enter the Pit of the Seven Jaws (PotSW), and they are just on the cusp of 7th. Should I cheat a little and bump them up to 7 before they head in?

Thanks,
Olodrin

As I like to remind the player of the Wizard: "Drathkar wasn't killed by sunlight, he was killed by friendship."

That's a little dark. My guys convinced him to come up and sit in the bathouse where they would be able to interview him the next morning(mage is a necro, follower of Wee Jas).

Then they borrowed a big mirror, grabbed Alek as backup, and kicked in the door. Big D still almost made it out of the bathouse, but they got him.

As for the way he was played, I ditched the "wandering monster" schtick, and had him come in with his 3d6 wolves right after the players got hit with the big ambush. Ruphus got off a strong turn, which sent D running for 10 rounds or so, giving my guys time to clean up the wolves etc, before he came back.

It was pretty desperate there at the end: Rufus was down to -9 HP, the Rogue was out, the mage had 5 HP and the fighter had 10. In the end, the mage was backed into a corner, ready with his scroll of Command Undead, sealed off from D by the fighter, who was using the Decanter to provide some "running water".

Yeah, it was touch and go, but they pulled it off. If I couldn't scare the crap out of them occasionally, I wouldn't be much of a DM.

My guys took him down with a scroll of Command Undead. Pretty effective.

Wow, Tarkilar went down quickly - none of the PCs figured out that they needed Silver to bypass DR, but between a raging barbarian with a two-handed sword, a paladin with 24 points of lay on hands, and a hasted celestial bison, it was over in 3 rounds. Tarkilar's two hits with the spiked chain resulted in 33 damage to the barbarian though, and since she only partially healed with a potion, some of the hillfolk killed her later with a pair of critical hits.

Meanwhile, Skaven is still planning. The slippery steps around the bloodbloater ooze water pit didn't do the trick - the rogue took point, and easily made her save. They've got 5 of the 8 wands now, so they may just attempt to escape.

In my case, I made Tark a 5th lvl Cleric and had him prep with a descrate, so when the players got into the lair and were having a tough time getting past his damage reduction, I had him animate an Ettin skeleton, which laid waste. It was a pretty epic battle, actually. Tark went down, but he took Shensen with him, using his icky Death domain ability.

I never let them know that coming home with less than 8 wands was an option, so they cleaned the place out.

I ran this encounter quite recently, with virtually identical results. I determined that Skaven would certainly be able to keep track of events, but that he'd rather do it through his familiar (which I changed to a rat) than spells, since some people can detect that they are being scried.

I changed up his spell list a little, thinking that his advance knowledge would allow him to prep for the encounter. The first step was to have the familiar near the opening of the webbed areas to let him know when the party approached, at which point he cast a minor image of himself talking to the Harpoon Spider, followed by an Invisibility on himself. Once the party came into the cavern and spotted the illusory Skaven, (who "failed" his listen check), they let loose with a "surprise round".

The real, invisible Skaven, took this round to cast Improved Invisibility. The party Mage, seeing the attacks pass straight through the back of the illusory Skaven, got halfway through saying "Oh, sh**" when he was slapped on the leg by a small, invisible halfing hand casting Ghoul Touch. Four rounds, and one casting of each Scare, Enervate, Lightning Bolt and Ray of Enfeeblement later, the Mage was immobile, the fighter at -3 to hit & damage, the party healers were scarpering at top speed and the rogue was at 0 STR.

They did pull it out though, which was awesome to see.

It was a good day.

A quick question: does anyone know of a decent way to handle the Swallow Whole ability?

Today, my 6th level part came across a T-Rex. In the 1st rd, it grabbed Ruphus, doing 3d6+13 pts of damage, then swallowed him in the 2nd rd doing 2d8+8 bludgeoning +8 pts of acid, resulting in a stunning 3d6+2d8+29 pts in 2 rds! I didn't want Ruphus (my favorite NPC) to die, so I had the beastie swallow the party tank next and help cut his way out (not a strict rules interpretation, but hey, I'm the DM).

So, has anybody come up with some sort of substance that forces critters to puke swallowed adventurers? Obviously, it shouldn't be something that works automatically, which would obviate the terror of being swallowed, but... well, you see what I mean.

Thanks,
Olodrin

I think DD IS in Australia, actually. I'm not sure why I think that, but I am definitely under that impression.

Olodrin

Truer words were never spoken... Indeed, I will be running the Demonskar Ball this weekend. I only hope that my players rise to the challenge.

Olodrin

My guys were having a tough time with TE too, but they showed the value of that most survival-related tactic: the tactical retreat.

In the case of TE, they engaged him in the small park area in the middle of the LM, where he took the chance to use his potion of Enlarge. Once it became obvious that the party was getting nowhere and that TE was going to kill them all if they didn't retreat, they did so.

They ran back into the kitchen, where they dealt with some bad guys, but I ruled that TE wouldn't be able to get through the door until the Enlarge wore off, at which point his Rage had also ended, leaving him winded and then the wizard hit him with a Ray of Enfeeblement. After that, the party rallied, surrounded TE and beat the heck out of a VERY unlucky monkey.

As a side-note, the wizard is my most experienced player and is very tactically minded. He is playing a buff/debuff necromancer, which is both highly effective and extremely irritating. He's proving to me that Evocation is a valid opposition school.

Hello all,

Over the last little while, I've been trying to liven up my game with a couple of unusual creatures. Having set Ebon Triad HQ under a sunken ziggurat out in the jungle, I've been having a lot of fun trying out some of the critters that don't often show up in dungeons. One in particular that caught my eye is the Tendriculos:

Tendriculos
Size/Type: Huge Plant CR 6
Hit Dice: 9d8+54 (94 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-2 size, -1 Dex, +9 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+23
Attack: Bite +13 melee (2d8+9)
Full Attack: Bite +13 melee (2d8+9) and 2 tendrils +8 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, paralysis, swallow whole
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, plant traits, regeneration 10
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +2, Will +4
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 9, Con 22, Int 3, Wis 8, Cha 3
Skills: Hide +9, Listen +1, Move Silently +1, Spot +1
Feats: Alertness, Iron Will, Power Attack, Stealthy

Improved Grab (Ex)
To use this ability, a tendriculos must hit a creature at least one size smaller than itself with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can try to swallow the opponent in the following round. A tendriculos can also use its improved grab ability on a tendril attack. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold, picks up the opponent, and transfers it to the mouth as a free action, automatically dealing bite damage.

Swallow Whole/Paralysis (Ex)
A tendriculos can try to swallow a grabbed opponent by making a successful grapple check. Once inside the plant’s mass, the opponent must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 3d6 rounds by the tendriculos’s digestive juices, taking 2d6 points of acid damage per round. A new save is required each round inside the plant. The save DC is Constitution-based. A swallowed creature that avoids paralysis can climb out of the mass with a successful grapple check. This returns it to the plant’s maw, where another successful grapple check is needed to get free. A swallowed creature can also cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 25 points of damage to the tendriculos’s interior (AC 14). Once the creature exits, the plant’s regenerative capacity closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. A Huge tendriculos’s interior can hold 2 Large, 8 Medium, 32 Small, 128 Tiny, or 512 Diminutive or smaller opponents.

Regeneration (Ex)
Bludgeoning weapons and acid deal normal damage to a tendriculos. A tendriculos that loses part of its body mass can regrow it in 1d6 minutes. Holding the severed portion against the mass enables it to reattach instantly.

Another was brought to mind by the apocryphal "Gazebo Incident" (for those poor few of you who are not familiar with this, please check it out here: http://www.dndadventure.com/html/articles/gaming_stories.html)

My wife found this story to be so amusing that she asked me to elaborate on it in game, and so I give you Gazebo!

Gazebo, Advanced Mimic, CR 8
Size/Type: Huge aberration (Shapechanger)
Hit Points: 21d8+ 126 (210)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 10
AC:16 (-2 Size, +8 Natural), Touch 8, Flat-Footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +15/+31
Attack: +22
Full Attack: +22/+22 (2d6+8, slam), 19/20
Space/Reach: 15/15
Special Attacks: Adhesive, Crush
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, immunity to acid, mimic shape
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +14
Abilities: STR 27, DEX 10, CON 21, INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 10
Skills: Climb +20, Disguise +20, Spot +9, Listen +9, Diplomacy +12
Feats: Alertness, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (Slam), Improved Sunder, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness (+1HP/HD), Weapon Focus (Slam)

Adhesive (Ex)
A mimic exudes a thick slime that acts as a powerful adhesive, holding fast any creatures or items that touch it. An adhesive-covered mimic automatically grapples any creature it hits with its slam attack. Opponents so grappled cannot get free while the mimic is alive without removing the adhesive first.
A weapon that strikes an adhesive-coated mimic is stuck fast unless the wielder succeeds on a DC 16 Reflex save. A successful DC 16 Strength check is needed to pry it off.
Strong alcohol dissolves the adhesive, but the mimic still can grapple normally. A mimic can dissolve its adhesive at will, and the substance breaks down 5 rounds after the creature dies.

Crush (Ex)
This mimic deals 2d6+8 points of damage with a successful grapple check.

Mimic Shape (Ex)
This mimic tends to assume the shape of a small garden gazebo, about 10 feet across and a roof 8 ft high. A mimic’s body is hard and has a rough texture, no matter what appearance it might present. Anyone who examines the mimic can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the mimic’s Disguise check. Of course, by this time it is generally far too late.

Skills
A mimic has a +8 racial bonus on Disguise checks.

We're finishing up Flood Season at the moment. To date, we've had only two deaths, both in Life's Bazaar. I've had to pull a few punches (like not coup-de-grace'ing a PC whose been caught by Hold Person) and I tend to avoid save or die situations. One of the previously dead characters, a gnomish rogue/urban ranger, has hit -9 more times than I can count. That light at the end of the tunnel is turning into a strobe...

I've also had only two NPC deaths to date. One was Fario in Jzaridune, who got gibbed by Yuathyb with a critted sneak attack javelin. The other was Shensen who was killed using Tarkilar's Death domain ablity.

Not bad, considering some of what I've read on these boards. This is mostly due to one of my players being an expert at the game, who has dedicated his necromancer to being a buff/debuff/battlefield control, and understands the value of tactical retreats. He's saved the party's bacon on at least 3 separate occasions by talking them into a limited withdrawal action.

I say have the ghost of a gnomish bard wandering around, lamenting the loss of Jzaridune. Not only is this just neat, it means that if you have some really sad, ethereal music available on CD or Ipod, you can spin it up and change the volume as the players get closer to or farther away from the bard.

If my group had been captured, I think I would've had the Stormblades rescue them to help kick off a healthy rivalry.

It's gotten to the point where now, every time the PCs run into a group of mooks, mook #1 says "Oh no, it's the Stormblades, we should give up!" followed quickly by mook #2 "That's not the Stormblades; they're way scarier than these guys."

Gets my players all stirred up.

Generally, I have to agree with all of the above advice, though I did find J handy to help my players gel their tactical style. After a few hard hits from various nasties, they smartened up a lot.

Also, I don't know if I was playing him wrong or what, but the Dark Stalker guy was a complete monster. He absolutely spanked my team, killing Fario outright in the first round.

Frankly, my favorite part of Chapter 1 was in the Hold, after my clever players had disabled the elevator to prevent any nasties from coming topside. After re-enabling the elevator, they ran into Xukasas and the elemental, which was a little tense, but it was when they entered the complex proper that things got fun.

I ruled that the Hobgoblins were smart enough to know that trouble was coming, and set up an elaborate ambush that allowed both pit traps to be used effectively. The crowning moment was when a group of hobgoblins, using secret doors, came out behind the wizard and bull-rushed him into the first pit.

The players loved it, I loved it; heck, even my wife, who wasn't playing at the time, loved it.

My players have been enjoying SCAP immensely. Indeed, they have been enjoying it to such a degree that several of them have decided they want to run the next APs (AoW & ST).

However, buying the back issues of the necessary magazines is kind of inconvenient, so I am wondering if there is any indication that these APs will follow SCAP's lead and be published in hardcover format.

Anyone?

Hey all,

So, in a fit of inspiration, I decided to locate the Ebon Triad's Headquarters (ET HQ) beneath a ziggurat out in the jungle, forcing my players to cut their way through trackless wilderness full of very wild, and often very hungry, critters. Keeping in mind that my party was a group of 5 4th lvl characters (bolstered somewhat by Shensen), I used the the monster filter on d20srd.org to bring up the appropriate animals for the climate and class level and had a blast.

Here's the rub; they will now be heading into ET HQ at 5th lvl. I've done some calculation around encounter level and a bunch of the combats still come out as "Very Challenging" but I just wanted to check this past some of you all on the board.

Will this be a cakewalk for my players? should I bolster some of the encounters in ET HQ?

Thanks,
Olodrin

I had the same experience. After reading some of the posts on here, I thought Drakthar would be a cakewalk, but instead, he was almost a TPK. Thankfully one of my players is a necromancer and managed to snap off a Command Undead from a scroll at the very last second. This was AFTER they had determined he was a vampire and gotten the silver/magic combo prerequisites for fighting him. Eventually they killed him with a combination of trickery, a giant mirror and the help of a higher level cleric of Wee Jas.

It took my guys 3 6-8 hour sessions to finish up LB. A PC and Fario died in Jzaridune (Yuathyb is nasty), and another PC died in the MF (Prickles scored a crit on his first attack, a charge). I made sure they were 3rd lvl before they hit the MF, but it was still pretty difficult.

Olodrin

The Demonskar Ball: before or after the events in Flood Season?

My players (3 PCs, a skeleton familiar, and Ruphus Laro) were reluctant to pick a name until I told them that it would be much harder for someone to hire "those four guys with the skeleton, who live variously at the temples of St. Cuthbert, Wee Jas and, in two cases, with their parents"" than, say, "The Malachite Marauders."

I never mentioned Skie's, as it felt a little awkward to delineate something that should flow naturally from being involved in Cauldron.

Anyway, they did go with "The Malachite Marauders"

There's only 5 players in my game (3 are lvl 11 and 2 are 10, so below the recommended lvl 12 they should be).

Well, my group is only 3 PCs, and we're just starting Flood Season, so my feedback will only be marginally helpful, if at all, but I've included two NPCs with my party. As of right now, we have Rufus Laro, though rebuilt with more CON, Toughness, Endurance and Diehard. The second NPC is a fighter/ cleric, focusing on ranged weapons. He tends to start the day with buffing spells, but does a lot of spontaneous conversion.

I offered the group a third NPC, but they said that would make things too crowded.

Olodrin

Besides all the issues with Drakthar being a vampire viz Toungueater, I have another problem: his Will save.

In my case, I have a necromancer in the party who I know for a fact has taken Control Undead as a 2nd lvl spell. Given the player's 16 INT, Drakthar will have to make 1 to 3 Will saves vs 16 or be controlled by my PC for 3 DAYS. I figure that would qualify as a game-stopper. While the spell doesn't result in a dominate effect, it's still pretty good, serving as a long lasting Charm Person for undead. I'll post it below to show you what I mean:

Command Undead
Necromancy
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Targets: One undead creature
Duration: One day/level
Saving Throw: Will negates; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell allows you some degree of control over an undead creature. Assuming the subject is intelligent, it perceives your words and actions in the most favorable way (treat its attitude as friendly). It will not attack you while the spell lasts. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.) An intelligent commanded undead never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing.

A nonintelligent undead creature gets no saving throw against this spell. When you control a mindless being, you can communicate only basic commands, such as “come here,” “go there,” “fight,” “stand still,” and so on. Nonintelligent undead won’t resist suicidal or obviously harmful orders.

Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the commanded undead (regardless of its Intelligence) breaks the spell.

Your commands are not telepathic. The undead creature must be able to hear you.

Perhaps I could get some advice on this point. I have a party with 3 PCs plus the eminently survivable Ruphus (I rebuilt him with the Endurance and Diehard feats). They are all about half-way between 3rd and 4th lvl.

Should I run DW (or some other filler) or should I just jump straight to Flood Season?

Olodrin

Given the numerous planar jaunts in the Path, I think it would be pretty reasonable to have the party end up in Sigil. A group of 20th lvl clueless primes would be both terrifying and amusing for the inhabitants at the same time.

I second that thought; Tongueater should be terrifying, but if my party gets hold of silver weapons beforehand, he's just gonna be another monkey chump.