So -- where's Erik Mona ending up in this?
~Richard
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How many pages are in each issue?
Thanks -- sorry I missed this until now. I never got to run Birthday, but Bottle turned out okay. I added a cavern/abandoned mine secondary entrance to Three Faces that allowed for some classic cavern crawling. I've also added an (greatly Modified) old Monte Cook 3.0 free adventure from WotC to the city portion of Hall of Harsh Reflections to expand on the Wind Dukes aspect of Whispering Cairn. Given time, I might be able to type those up for sharing here soon. ~Richard
The reason I just didn't swap Zyrxog's sorcerer levels for psion,is that he would TPK a party of 7-9th levels. Without major rewrites starting from the beginning of the campaign to prepare for a CR11 'flayer manifesting at 11th level it's a TPK. I'd rather run the errata'd Zyrxog (Mind Blast DC 20) than a straight psion one. ~richard
I, along with several people here it seems, found Zyrxog wanting as he appears on HoHR. I do want to open a door to psionics in my campaign, but I do want them to be the exception as opposed to a common ability of either villains or heroes in my Greyhawk. Setting my evil DM mind to work I recreated him as a 1/2 Illithid-Drow elf with 7 levels of Psion (Telepath) so he's still CR11. My players are still a week or more from possibly bumping into him, so I thought I'd drop him here for comments and feedback. I'm not a Psionics rules guru, so suggestions or tweaks there would be appreciated. Apologies for my crude statblock - -can't seem to get the hang of them. ~Richard Zyrzog, male 1/2 illithid drow Psi7: CR 1/2; ECL 11; Medium-size Aberration (1/2 illithid drow); HD 7d4+28+6; hp 57; Init +7; Spd 30 ft; AC 24 (+3 Dex,+4 psi armour, +4 psi shield +3 natural); Melee: tentacles +6 (1d4-1); AL NE; SV Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +9; Str 8, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 24, Wis 14, Cha 16. Skills and Feats: Concentration +14; Diplomacy +14; Knowledge: Nobility +12; Knowledge: Psionics +12; Knowledge: Local +12; Knowledge: Arcana +17; Knowledge: Dungeoneering +12; Psicraft +17; Improved Initiative; Narrow Focus; Psionic Body; Psionic Meditation; Weapon Finesse: Tentacles. Psi Points:74
Drow Traits: 120' darkvision, SR 18, Spell-like Abilities: 1/day: dancing lights, darkness and faerie fire (at 7th level); Weapon Proficiency: hand crossbow, rapier and short sword; Light Blindness Half-Illithid Traits: +1 natural armour, +4 tentacle attacks (1d4 damage each), Special Attacks: Mind Blast (Sp)1/day. 40' cone, DC 16 Will or stunned for 1d4 rounds. Improved Grab, Extract: if 4 tentacles are attached for a full round, the target's brain is automatically extracted. Psionics: detect thoughts, levitate, and suggestion 3/day, Charm Monster 1/day. Telepathy 100'. Languages: Common, Elven, Undercommon, Abyssal, Aquan, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, Goblin. Equipment: Headband of Intellect +2; Periapt of Health +4; Vest of Natural Armour +2.
Heh -- thanks. . . . I'm planning another two town-based sessions, one after the party plays through cairn, then 3FoE -- I swap saturdays with another DM, so I'll probably be a while before posting them, but I'll certainly post them! The notes are very rough right now, but they both look far more scaleable than A Night on the Town, so they can probably be dropped in on higher level parties with some ease. One's called Afterbirthday Party, the other's Bottle. ~Richard
BAB stands for Base Attack Bonus right? Yup -- but I've been using it as shorthand for Attack -- I guess I really should have uploaded the tougher, six player party stats for the gang I originally wrote instead of too quickly refiguring while typing them from my notes for a standard 4 player party. So, the BAB really should read Attack. Gah -- hitpoints, BAB -- I really need to be able to edit my posts to look a little less like an idiot. ~R
Running in Greyhawk: Human Cleric of Wee Jas
At one point, the rogue player was also interested in playing a cleric, which would have made things really strange, I think. Even though all three clerics are planning to skimp on the healing(C of WJ took rebuke and can only swap for inflicts), I think between the three of them they'll have more curatives than the average party. ~Richard
Greyhawk. I'm a long-time Greyhawker since 1st ed. ~R
Hmm -- a wounded lizardfolk would certainly have "openings" for worms to crawl in. . . . A fully spawn of K/Lizardfolk might be a too tough encounter on its own. Heh, what do you call a bowl of dried green worms? Special K. Might call the potions that in my campaign notes. . . . ~R
Sorry -- guess it's showing how sloppy I am when I'm primarily writing for myself. The whole gang and their hostages should be together in Dead Hole when the PCs track 'em down. I tried to do some letter-art to make a map -- just a rough approximation of where I had them placed in the chamber -- but the [ and _ kept disappearing -- prolly due to board code or somesuch. Not sure if I can post images here. . . . When I ran it, Thurbiss and Gulgh made their listen checks and both kidnappers and PCs spent some time prepping. Gulgh got ready to do his bit with the curtain while the others drew their short bows and moved to get a better view of the tunnel in hope of getting a shot or two off before melee started. Any other questions, feel free to ask. ~Richard
I've got a question regarding the stats: how do first level warriors gain 16 hp? Aha -- I know -- sloppy cut n' paste after editing down the stats for a 4 character party. The warriors should only have 8-10 hp each. I'm running a larger party, so I made one war2 and the other two war1/rog1.
I know I'd love a stat block resource, even though I find the new blocks easier to do than the old ones.
I like to include "phantom time" into my campaigns -- the period where characters train, craft items do other sort of bookkeeping things (like operate the aspects of the Leadership Feat). Unless there's contradictory requirements, like one adventure dovetailing immediately into another, I like to say an adventure takes at least a month of game time out of the characters' lives and all the training to prepare to level-up takes another month per level gained. So a character going from 1st to 3rd level over the first adventure would start the second adventure three months after he started the first. It usually works out to three months per adventure, actually, which is kinda cool in that each adventure will usually take place in a subsequent season. I'm starting Whispering Cairn in spring so Three Faces takes place in the summer, and Blackstone in the fall.
Back in the Preamble thread a few mentioned an interest in my one-session intro to Diamond Lake. Here it is without maps and with truncated stats: Age of Worms
A Free City merchant, Terris Culvert, made the mistake of bringing his sons and two of their friends on a business trip to Diamond Lake. While Terris was dining with Gelch Tilgast and discussing various business matters, the four teen-aged boys decided to leave the estate and check out the night life against Terris’ orders. Several hours later, after the boys failed to return, Terris dispatched a servant of his to find them. The servant returned empty handed, only discovering that the boys had visited several Diamond Lake establishments, but were no longer at any of them.
The servant, Gulmber Hunder, reports that the boys visited a few Diamond Lake nightspots – someone saw or interacted with the boys at each of the following places; The Hungry Gar, Lazare’s House, The Spinning Giant and possibly The Feral Dog. Gulmber isn’t much of a detective; his investigation was timid and ended at the door of The Feral Dog, he didn’t ask what times the boys were around at any of the locations or who they might have met with. Terris offers the adventurers 25 GP each and whatever is left of the 200 gp the boys took to find them and return them as soon as possible. When the adventurers arrive, it’s nearly 1am; the boys left the inn almost seven hours earlier after filching nearly 200 gp from Terris’ traveling money chest. The boys first visited The Hungry Gar, ordered extravagant meals and far too much wine. Two hours later, they left the restaurant and wandered over to Lazare’s House. In less than an hour they were asked to leave, Dannath, the hostess, didn’t want drunken teenagers losing their parent’s money there or the subsequent problems such an event would cause. A brief visit to The Spinning Giant, where they left after one round of ale (a patrol returned and the lads felt both ignored and creeped out by the aggressive advances of Primmith), resulted in a trip to The Feral Dog. It’s likely the adventurers will start at the Feral Dog, but that will lead into an investigative dead end, even though this is where the lads really landed in trouble. Thurbiss Callahorn, recently fired-miner and thug, saw the boys as an opportunity to get the coin needed to leave Diamond Lake far behind. He was at the Gar when the boys arrived, visiting an ex-girlfriend, L’weeze Hallithel, to ask for money. Seeing the obviously wealthy boys, he hung around until L’weeze left work. When he asked her about the boys, she sensed he was up to no good and refused to help. Thurbiss beat her to unconsciousness, took her tip money (including a 5 gp tip from the boys) and went to fetch his buddies; all miners with aspirations of adventuring careers. They dressed up in their “adventuring gear” and returned to town in time to see the boys heading to the Spinning Giant. Following them, they also managed to order one round of ale before the patrol returned and would have left anyway after a few of the soldiers recognized Thurbiss, but were lucky that the boys took this as a reason to leave as well. Falling into step with the lads, Thurbiss convinced them to go to The Feral Dog, something the boys wouldn’t have done without five tough-looking, friendly men they assumed were associated with the local militia. Thurbiss got the boys drunker and then led them out to an abandoned shed he and his gang have been calling home for a few months. The boys finally tweaked to trouble as they neared the shed and resisted. Thurbiss and Gulgh launched a sudden attack on the teenagers, Thurbiss using a sap and Gulgh breaking the younger Culvert boy’s arm. One of the gang, Gerzy, was very uncomfortable with this, also only realizing Thurbiss’ plan at this moment. His fear of Thurbiss and Gulgh is such that he goes along with the plot, hoping to free the boys and escape before things get any worse. A short stay in their shed is followed by a trip to the home of local letter-writer, Smialczy (Exp2). They wake the older man up; buy some cheap paper, ink and a pen from his and leave after they let the insistent scribe make a sling for the injured Chezzik. Gerzy “lets slip” that they’re going to Dead Hole. Smialczy isn’t the most grounded individual, doesn’t really get what’s going on and goes back to sleep. At the point where the adventurers should encounter the gang, Thurbiss is crafting his ransom demand, while the rest of his gang waits and keeps watch. The boys, Nerris Culvert, Berrot Vertist, and Ferlis Derth are scared, drunk and increasingly ill as their hangovers start to kick in. Chezzik Culvert is moaning, hung-over and in pain from his broken arm. Given any opportunity, Gerzy will surrender. Brekk and Sherkel will also surrender if things look bad. Gulgh will fight to the death and Thurbiss will threaten to kill one of the bound and helpless boys unless the adventurers surrender. Locations:
Lazare’s House: Trevant and Dannath both recall the boys visit. They were starting to get drunk and Dannath asked them to leave, suggesting The Spinning Giant as a friendlier place for what they wanted to do. Spinning Giant: Nimiscent vaguely recalls the boys coming in (Silky Free City lads, all their parents’ coin with nothing to show their own worth yet. Aye, I recall them. They bought a round – Primmith served ‘em. Ya got questions, ask her.) Primmith recalls them as well, especially the elder Culvert son, who she thought was quite handsome (and held all the coin). They left too quick for her liking, after a patrol came in. A gold piece or two will remind her that a group of armed miners were in and out as quick as the boys and that one of the soldiers still at the Giant recognized one of the miners. The soldier, Jerch Molownt, will tell what he knows, happily so if he’s bought a drink; Thurbiss and his cronies were here earlier, but left when the soldiers came in. Jerch knows Thurbiss from past experience; a “. . .no-good thug who loves to mix it up in bar fights when he’s got his hulking friend Gulgh around”. Jerch recalls some other soldier once stopped Thurbiss beating up his girlfriend, L’weeze, a waitress at The Hungry Gar. The Feral Dog: One of the serving girls, Elspeth Malinder, recalls seeing some boys in earlier. She thinks they were drinking with a regular – “…A miner named Gurbass -- maybe Terbiss .. “ The Abandoned Shed: A rather large, but run-down L-shaped shed. A single, smashed rear window is boarded up. The rotting wooden walls seem to have been insulated with a combination of mud, dried grass and rags. The roof looks suspect; a canvass sheet stretched across a hole that might either serve as a chimney or has just rotted through. The front door is boarded shut from the inside. Open Locks attempts will fail, but a (DC 15) Search check will find a trap. Breaking open the door will trigger the trap – a group of stirges (equal to the number of PCs in the party, will be released from their cage on the far side of the room. A Disable Device (DC12) will cut the release rope. Climbing onto the roof is a bad idea and PCs attempting this can make a Knowledge: Architecture & Engineering check (DC 15) to realize that the ceiling can’t hold any weight. Getting the ceiling will immediately cause it to collapse. The collapsing roof will also trigger the stirge trap (by accident, not by design) unless it has already been disabled. Among the shabby furniture, smelly bedding and miscellaneous impoverished living apparatus of Thurbiss and his gang, a Search check (DC 12) will find a small piece of new green silk, probably cut from a shirt (Nerris Culvert’s doing this with a small pen-knife he’s concealed). Tracking the movement from the shed to Smialczy’s house is made easier(+5) by knowing about Nerris’ shirt – he leaves a slightly trail by cutting small pieces from his shirt as they’re lead there. The DC is 10 to follow the groups’ tracks (apply other penalties as needed -- it’s night and overcast). Smialczy’s House: A nice stone and mortar house. Smialczy is a bit of an eccentric and will know and be known to anyone with ranks in Profession: Scribe or similar. Although sleeping, Smialczy won’t react negatively to being woken-up. He’ll answer any questions to the best of his ability. He will be surprised to learn that Thurbiss was up to some sort of criminal activity, especially since he was allowed to treat his drunken friend’s (Chezzik Culvert) broken arm. He’ll volunteer that Thurbiss and crew were headed to Dead Hole, if he isn’t asked. Once the PCs leave, Smialczy goes right back to sleep. Dead Hole is a false start of a mine, less than 100 meters deep, just outside of town. The mine is dug into the side of a hill, descends slightly and the 15’ wide tunnel curves to the left ending an a larger 35 by 40’ chamber. The chamber is closed off by a heavy oilcloth curtain, to keep lights from being seen from outside. Four torches on the walls and a small fire in the center of the room provide quite a bit of illumination. Gulgh waits by the curtain with a torch/club in hand; he’d love nothing better than to ignite the curtain and throw the huge burning sheet over someone (-8 to hit penalty on a ranged touch, as a net, but +1d6 fire damage per round entangled in it). Thurbiss’ gang: Thurbiss Rog2, War1, AC 14, HP 17, BAB +3, 1d6
Gulgh, War1, Bar1, AC 16, HP21, BAB +4, 1d8+2
Gerzy War1, AC 16, HP15, BAB +2, 1d8
Brekk War1, AC 16, HP16, BAB +4, 1d8
Sherkel War1, AC 17, HP16, BAB +4, 1d8
Resolution: Terris Culvert will pay each PC an additional 50 gp once he learns the mission turned into a rescue, and will gladly have them to his home for dinner if they ever are in the Free City when he is. The heroes will dine free for a week for what they did to L’weeze’s attacker. Gelch will also consider the heroes the go-to guys for anything that comes his way that requires special skills. Reduce Terris’ bonus to a flat additional 50gp if any of the boys were killed by Thurbiss, without any inclination of interest to meet again in the future. The PCs will get a free dinner at the Gar, and Gelch will still treat them kindly, but he’ll be uncertain of their competence.
Hi, just thought I'd mention a few things I'm doing with my AoW campaign: I'm using a Hero Point variation. Nothing worse than a PC dying to lowly thug's crit with a great axe in the middle of a session. I'm using Log Sheets -- anyone who plays RPGA campaigns knows what I'm talking about. Never used them for a home campaign before, but they can serve as a good info tracker and campaign diary for PCs. I decided, since Diamond Lake is a pretty dirt poor place to start, to slightly change the starting gold/equipment rules. Each PC starts off with a piece of equipment worth up to 75 gp and 10% of their classes' usual maximum starting gold. I also introduced a loan shark situation, so PCs could go for more gold, but start off in debt to some scary fellows. Also, since I really want this colourful town to be the heart of the campaign, I thought it might be better to run a short, one session adventure primarily set in the town. A visiting merchant from Greyhawk (yup, set there!), needs someone to track down his son, his son's friends and drag them out of whatever gambling pit they put themselves in in Diamond Lake night life and bring them back to their rooms. It's a small, probably safe job that will earn them a quick 10 gp each for what should only be a few hours work at most. . . of course, things don't quite work out that way. That should get the PCs to meet many of the NPCs around the town while visiting some of the main locations. The treasure and payment they recieve from this session should be enough to bring them up to PHB starting gold or make sure they have coin to start paying off their debts as I get The Whispering Cairn ready for my next session and the official start of the campaign. If anyone is interested, I can post the gist of the scenario after this weekend. ~Richard |