Pyre_89's page

10 months after my last post, and we have managed to get from Flood Season to Secrets of the Soul Pillars. I'll try to remember them all, but I'm not quite sure if I will . . .

I said last time that Raenef was ready to be Raised, well I lied. She decided that she wanted to just make a new character . . . Cue Reynaldo Andre Espinosa Nemesio Ezequies Fernando the Third (Acronym: RAENEF).
As well, Kai was not Raised, rather he was Reincarnated. He turned into an elf from a human.

Well, Reynaldo's first encounter was against Triel, and he got caught in the door trap leading into her room. Triel then bashed his head in.
Reynaldo was since raised, and hasn't died again since.

Zenith Trajectory's first death was marked when they were crossing the lake into Bhal Humatugn. Our boatkeeper tipped the boat, and then drowned Demek. The body could not be found, and Demek was not raised.

The next death was in the room leading into Zenith's throne room, with the Assassin on the roof. I don't remember the name of the character, but it was the same player as Demek. Anywho, very simple this time . . . the Assassin jumped down from the roof, Death Attacked, and killed her.

Demonskar Legacy saw Wode retire.

As well, the first death there was in the Demonskar, when Kai got bashed into a wall by a Hill Giant. He was not raised again after this.

Myrtle (Wode's replacement) was the next death, during Nabthatoron. I believe it was an Unholy Blight, although I am not quite sure . . . same attack that killed Alek.

Test of the Smoking Eye's first death was Jormund (Myrtle's replacement). He was killed by a Slaad in a random encounter. Who knew that one fireball was all it took? As well, Drusila's familiar died in the same battle, and was later reincarnated as a human (from a ferret).

The next death was technically Mahtan, when he willingly threw himself into the Gusher. Of course, he came back with the Smoking Eye, though.

Finally, in our last encounter with the Assassins in the Tipped Tankard, Valarthis died to a head wound, when he was smacked down by the Half-Orc.

I'm sure I'll be back in a year with more . . .

Two years after completing the campaign fully, I have started playing with a new group, so I thought it was the perfect time to pull out this classic.

So far, they have just entered the Kopru Ruins of Flood Season, and explored a little bit. Character Deaths as Follows:

Very first death of the campaign was to poor Damien, who opened up the trap-door in the theater and was strangled to death by the Choker.

Next one did not happen until they got all the way to Kazmojen, where Prickles decided that he wanted to bite off the head of one Mauton Oronar.
Mauton was later saved, and raised.

Next, the party decided that they would like to go back to the Malachite hold in order to loot / find Mauton's body. In the process, Tobias got stabbed through the chest by a hobgoblin. Died in one shot.

Flood Season comes along, and they don't find death until the Kopru Ruins. They walk into a room with a couple thugs and Alleybashers (Conveniently, the room closest to Skaven), and they figure it is no problem. They kill three of them, and the fourth runs out of the room to warn the compound / warn Skaven. Everyone runs in after him, and the first person (Raineff, I believe) stops short in the doorway. Demek proceeds to stand behind him, while Kai stands behind him. Wode and Mauton are to either side.
Skaven sees this nice little formation, and sends a lightning bolt through the doorway. Raineff drops, Demek drops, Kai dies outright.

Raineff gets healing, and runs into the room after him. I didn't run the encounter entirely properly, and had Skaven continue to fight, so he burned him down with a Scorching Ray. Died outright.

Currently, they have raised enough money to bring both Kai and Raineff back. They are sitting on the resurrection tables in the Cathedral of Wee Jas as we speak, and out first plan of action this Saturday night is to bring them back.

Then? God only knows . . .

I tried to find the E-mail I usually use for this, but I couldn't find it, so. . .

I have yet to receive Dungeon issues #144 and #145, as well as Dragon #352.

I think my local postal service is to blame, because I do remember when I last reported issue #131 missing, I promptly got a replacement, and then the original copy came in 6 months later completely tattered, so. . .

Profuse thanks in advance, you guys are always the greatest with these things!

Okay, so my party couldn't handle Brazzemal. Vercinabex killed the spellcaster with a prismatic spray, which also caused insanity in the bard.
The Blackguard, Ranger, and Cleric couldn't handle it when Brazzemal made his appearance, wherein the Blackguard was killed with a series of melee attacks and his breath weapon, while the Ranger and cleric where near dead. So, they had the bright idea to planeshift to the Astral Plane, sleep and heal, and then try shift back and continue the fight. They just forgot about the part where you appear 5-500 miles from your target.

So now, Brazzemal escapes with the phylactery (Which he took from Gazzelfek before combat). What happens? I looked throughout the magazine and it always assumes that the PC's got the phylactery and got away. Is there some way to continue the adventure, even though Dragotha has hs phylactery and probably hid it? Because Idon't want to end the adventure here.. .

Any suggestions are happily taken.

Hmm. .. you know what? All of your parties at least managed to kill Adimarchus. My party when faced with the battle ran like hell. . .
They stayed to fight for a few rounds, until one got hit with an imploding strike and died. At that point, they just booted it. . .
I really wanted them to get through it too. . .

Needless to say, my group runs at the first sign of danger. . .

My suggestion would be to make a battlepriest. It really isn't that hard to make, all you have to do is up your Strength and Constitution, and invest in some heavy armor and a good weapon. That way, you are a fighting-type, with the ability to cast spells.
For Deity/Domains, I would personally go with St. Cuthbert. The domains of Strength and Destruction go good for it, because a feat of strength and a smite attack can be really nice when in a tough fight. Plus if you take a lot of the buff spells, you can really kick some butt. You can then heal yourself later. I had one (Half-Orc Cleric 8 of St. Cuthbert) who actually made his allies afraid!

Of course, you have to sacrifice a bit in the way of charisma and Intelligence. The aforementioned character had a Intelligence of 8 and a Charisma of 5. Your turning suffers, but that doesn't really matter when you can kill most of it anyways.

I know someone will probably correct me on this, but here goes. . .

How does a 0-level character work? If you get your first hit points at first level, and have 0 Xp to start out, what does a 0-level get. If we go logically, they need 0 xp to get to level one (0x1000=0) and they should constantly be at zero Hp and near unconcious. Don't make sense to me!

Also, the Hp system is kind of weird. I know you need it for the game to function, but still! If you knife a fighter in the back, he will proceed to turn around, and chop your head off. In real life, he would drop instantly. (And no one come along saying a 20th-level rogue sneak attacking a 1st level fighter)

Hmm, didn't see that one. . .

Well, thanks, do I just get to keep my copy of the new one then? I don't know what I would use it for, but I could always send it back if you want.

I have also received a second copy of 124, only I have not tried to re-subscribe (this is only my second issue). I received a brand new one in the mail today, although I received my old one about 2 weeks ago. Does this mean I'm going to be short an issue? I really hope not.

In any case, I think the readers of Dungeon are smart enough to realize that advertising is a necessary and accepted part of a magazine, and most of life in general. We've reached the point where ads are included in restaurant menus (like Cheesecake Factory). I'm not sure how much advertising defrays the cost of my subscription, but I don't think I would be able to afford it if there were no ads. Besides which, the loss of ads would be unlikely to create more pages of content. On the other hand, 2 new pages of ads might be able to add one more page of content. So, ads are fine because they help give us more of what we like.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I know that they are a necessary evil, and I was just on a rant before. It was the first thing that came to mind.

That's an interesting argument. How many other people have to like something to keep you from complaining? 1? 20? 10% of the readership? 50% of the readership?
If you really dislike something, you should let the magazine know, even if it is only through a reader survey. The magazine will do best when it pleases as many readers as possible.

As long as a lot of other people like it, I know that it is worth it. I known this is going to make me sound like a hypocrite (Seeing as I just did it in my last post), but I really don't like to complain, as the one thing that bothers me is a complainer. It sends me on rants like that and then I sound like a moron.

Probably a good idea. But each thread has a topic. The Failed Wil Save thread was about Wil Save. There is a thread specifically devoted to the elimination of Downer. Posting off-topic posts is generally considered rude. Besides, saying "Wil Save sucks, but Downer is worse" doesn't really support keeping the Wil Save feature.

I personally don't like Downer. But I do like comics in general. I'd love to see Downer removed, and I'd love to see 2 smaller comics go in its place, yielding another 1 1/3 pages of content. But, I do like comics, and I don't want them to be removed. That is why I'm less vocal on the subject. Also, when I brought up valid criticisms of Downer Erik Mona told us that those criticisms were being addressed. When a change is made, I believe in giving it a little time before I begin complaining. Of course, when I begin complaining, I believe in continuing until someone addresses my points adequately.

I am sorry to make this sound off topic, but my point was to sound sarcastic. I personally have not seen the "Get rid of Downer" thread (I don't come here a lot), but my point was that if that one page bothered you so much because it was not game content, why doesn't these two. Now I do realize that it does bug some people, and I apologize.

I've looked through some of these posts, and I can not beleive how much people complain. It really and truly amazes me! I mean, you don't complain about all of the useless ads in the Magazine! They have even less game value than Wil save, yet you don't mention them!

Take this for example. I do not like the Eberron adventures that they print out in the Magazine. I don't even read them. In the case of the last one, that is 10 pages out of my issue. You only had one that you didn't read (well, I'm assuming.)
I also don't read campaign workbooks, dungeoncrafts, or Downer. In the last issue, that was 9 pages out. Now do you see me coming here and bashing all of those things? No. Why? Because I know some people get use out of those things. I know that other people enjoy these things. Plus, the magazine is such high quality that I don't care, as long as there is one good adventure, I am happy. You guys make out the changing of one page to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I mean, some people actually enjoyed reading Wil Save, some people may have gotten some ideas out of it. So why this one page?

Finally, before I end my rant for the day, I must ask. What use does Downer have for D&D? Which rules does it add? Which campaign does it allow you to run? Which ideas does it give you for campaigns? For that matter, what does Mt. Zogon or The Portent have for such things? Not to be a downer on Tony (Which, BTW, Tony, I have been with your site since week one), but really, what D&D related content does it add? Maybe we should start a Vendetta against all of these things, because they have no value whatsoever!

Mine took roughly six sessions, 5 of them being 3 hours long and one about 6-7 hours.

Well, I told my group to come up with a name before Life's Bazaar, and it took them until Test of the Smoking Eye to come up with one. And being how original they are, they came up with the name "Group of the Smoking Eye" seeing as they all had it.

Yeah, I am having the exact same problem, I really need my issue, and it hasn't come yet. I mean, everyone else seems to have gotten theirs (Except the gentleman above me) and started running age of worms.
I need reading material! Math class is too boring!

I just ran Zenith trajectory with another group, and I have already had the following deaths -

1 Hobgoblin fighter - died to Gottrod, Attempted to lasso him and ride him.

1 Hobgoblin Fighter/Rogue - Died to Aushanna/Whips

1 Hobgoblin Rogue - Died to His pary member, when they were running away

1 Hobgoblin Fighter and Cleric - Died to a behir on the way back to the cauldron, rolled it on the random encounters table.

This is one mean adventure! You may also notice all the creativity on their parts, as everyone was a hobgoblin, And when they cam back, they were hobgoblins again!

On an interesting side note, they killed the cryohydra in one round.

Orson Scott Card - Enders Game

Man, I had to read that book in class! English ten for anyone who wants to know.

Neil Peart - Traveling Music - Good for anyone who likes music.

Douglas Adams - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life The Universe and Everything, So long and Thanks for the Fish - The trilogy of four, and has been a good read so far! (Okay, I'm only into the first one so far, but I have been told by countless people that it is an awesome book

J.R.R. Tolkein - The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. Probably the best books ever written.

Had my first Character Deaths last night, just as the players were entering the Kopru Ruins.

They all decided to pile into the cage, so of course, it fell. Killed the cleric immediatly, and the Barbarian and Wizard barely made it (The wizard made the check to hit the water gracefully, so he didn't take falling Damage).

Then after they got out of that incident, They decided to take the most direct path they could to Tarkilar. After a fight that only Tarkilar down 20hp, He managed to kill the Paladin, and give the Barbarian Huecuva Blight!

My group has added their final character, he is Aramil (Admire the creativity) the Human Paladin of St. Cuthbert.

He has already almost died two or three times, and had a nice streak of 3's going!

Yeah, when I finished they had no fatalities either, seeing as I let them role play through it. They have some amazing Diplomacy checks! Of course, they were smart enough to realize they probably wouldn't have got through that battle. And the rogue freaked out when he saw Vhalantru. That stopped him from ever wanting to fight again.

Of course, what makes that even funnier is that this guy is paranoid. He kept saying, before there was any clue to it, that I was going to pit them against a beholder. Was he surprised!

Also remeber that they can pick up the Lesser Amulet of the planes from Kaurophon when they kill him. And doesn't Kaurophon give them scrolls of plane shift when they get to Occipitus?

Oh, and it's the 507th layer of the Abyss

One thing I noticed, and it is a really easy fix, was that in one of the adventures (I think it is either Demonskar or Soul Pillars) was that it said the last year had been pretty rough for Cauldron and the PC's. Then in a later adventure, one of the last ones, it said that this has only taken place over a couple of months.

Which one is it?

I like the Tenebris thing, I may just use it myself.

But change him being a beholder? I think he needs to stay the same, no matter what.

Imagine a gigantic forest, that takes three days minimum to get through because it is so dense. No one has ever gotten through alive, but it would take weeks to travel around it. Inside, there is a gem of great power, that was sealed away by a powerful mage. The only ones who could touch it are true Neutral, as the mage figured they would not care for it. Inside, are demons, and celestials, both attempting to get at it. They will try to get any neutral character out of a party so that they will be able to get the gem. This is the reason that no one makes it through. The party must find a way to smash the gem, or find them gem and use it for themselves!

I'd think that either Vhalantru/Cagewrights would tell the church they must let him in, so that he would be part of the church and would not be able to go against them in Secrets of the Soul Pillars.

Of course, you could also just do it that he is not allowed to join Wee Jas. Either because he has worked too much for St. Cuthbert, or that they are not accepting new worshippers. That way he wouldn't be able to find out about the Cagewrights plans.

I think you should check out John Avon, as his work is awesome. Of course, I've only really seen landscapes from him, but it's still awesome stuff!

Just started Adventure Path on Wednesday, and here they are. . .

Xanthrax, Rogue Doppelganger (He found one that you could play and it would be a normal first level)
Aust Nightbreeze, Elven Conjurer
Gotrek, Dwarven Barbarian
And the nameless cleric, because I have to NPC one for them. We have another player coming later, so I made this guy a cleric of Fharlanghn. that way he can go off and join the Striders because they were interested in him!

What magazine is Age of Worms going to start in? Please say soon, I want to get into it as soon as possible!

And is it really going to be 1 adventure for every level? I don't really like the idea of having to prepare 20 adventures, and having to use 20 different magazines. . .

Hey, I'm interested to see if anyone on the boards are from Regina. I doubt it, but hey, give it a shot!

I want a group to play witht that I can be a PC all the time. I DM a lot for another group, and they won't let me just be a PC, so I'm interested in finding another group.

Email at Pyre_89@hotmail.com if interested.

Well, there is in my campaign, it's about the monk. My DM decided that everytime he rolled a 1, and missed his reflex, he canned himself. Of course, everytime he rolled a 1 (quite often), he would fail. Well one day he made three reflex saves in a row, so the DM decided to make it so that he would never can himself agian by putting a mental block in his brain. His arms can now never go around his . . . area.

The running gag? "Hey man, can you scratch this for me?"

Well, I play a LOT of D&D, it's by far my favorite game. I have never actually tried any other RPG, save video games, but I still love D&D.

I also play some casual Magic: The Gathering, I find it fun, but that has been tapering off in the past little while.

I play chess, monopoly, I'm even known for a little scrabble now and then. Oh, and Risk. All kinds of Risk!

Well, I feel pretty safe, I showed the picture to my brother (the faces of Cauldron), and he didn't see Vhalantrus shadow until I openly pointed it out to him!

Of course I have no problem showing this to him, as my one group has already quit playing it. They whined when 2 of them caught the Vanishing, and quit out.