Great-my PCs have just liberated the Sea Wyvern in the Bullywug Gambit scenario-and my hardcore Traveller veteran player will surely want to put a gizmo like that on board...
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To answer your question, Dark: Ratik, Ratik, Ratik...IMC not only has that area (the whole Corusk Mtns. region in fact)been a favorite of my players for years, but there are also many parallels worth noting-closely connected mountain and coastal settings, prevalence of humanoids and giants (and rangers), a lost city (Skrellingshald is mentioned in the 1st Ed. GH Adventures HC, Xin-Shalast in RotRL), and the frontier feel of the established human domains. When I will run RotRL I don't know (Recently started Savage Tide), but I have three of the PF issues and am eager to set it in Ratik and/or Bone March.
Now here's a story (and song)of someone who was too clever for his own good...and has dragged our hobby's name in the mud to boot by association: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/us/24gang.html The song is like Firefly's 'Ballad of Jayne Cobb', but in reverse...
Well all right then...! Thanks, RoF
Hi- Please drop 'Bow and Blade' and ship the remainder of the items on this order immediately. Please adjust my credit card charge accordingly. I'll order 'Bow and Blade' if it's back in stock during the sale period, possibly along with a few other goodies ($2 Game Mastery stuff most likely)to lessen the shipping cost per item. I really could use that Flip Mat by the 16th, please help me out here! Ring of Five
PCs:
Adventure: There is No Honor Location: Cruncher's Pen (D5) Catalyst: Cruncher earned his keep… Long-winded account: A large party of seven PCs (now second level mostly) had just torn apart the thieves’ barracks, slaying 7 Lotus Dragon lackeys (leveled up to Rog2) and a Ftr2/Rog2 boss. Having entered in secrecy from the Taxidermist’s, the party had meandered through the complex without alerting the Guild as yet. The lone Lotus survivor, impressed by the party’s ferocity (And enamored of the massive half-ogre who’d apologized to her before starting to interrogate her [natural ‘20’ on reaction roll]), decided to spill the beans about the guild and throw in her lot with the heroes. When told of the fearsome Worg guardian around the corner, the party decided to remove this threat before proceeding against the guild leadership. With the party priestess of Geshtai Naoko, half sea-elf duskblade Kaji and half-ogre fighter Jollring in the lead, they moved up to the door to Cruncher’s Pen. Cruncher, who’d not really noticed the melee in the barracks, did smell the party’s unfamiliar scent (Jollring’s musk in particular and Kaji’s salty tang) and let loose a rumbling growl. Forewarned as well, Kaji threw open the door and beheld the eight-foot long, black furred red eyed fiendish worg (A formidable 8HD cross between the SRD MM worg stats and Blackdirge’s ‘Crackjaw’ from ENWorld). Naoko ran left thrusting with her shortspear and the half-elf went right with his katana. Jollring cut with his massive greatsword up the middle (reach attack). First blood went to the party but their weapons found no vitals and did little true damage against Cruncher’s infernal hide. As Cruncher made ready to bite the duskblade, a heavy crossbow quarrel from the malenti monk to the rear clipped the Worg’s jaw and dazed him, sparing the heroes for the moment. The next 30 seconds were a series of dodges and strikes as Cruncher could not land his one bite attack but utilized combat expertise to avoid most of the party’s blows as well (AC 21, from 16 initially). Frustrated, Jollring’s mistress Vashti (a drow black dragon shaman/sword sage) tumbled in front of her bodyguard and brought her two blades into play. The party’s grey elf bard Camthalion (singing) and dervish Yasmina stood or knelt behind Jollring in the tight corridor and loosed arrows which barely scratched the beast’s hide, while the monk Mano cranked his heavy arbalest and slowly squeezed off bolt after bolt. About the eighth round, Kaji landed the only blow, cutting Cruncher on his flank for 8hp. Infuriated and at half HP, the Worg suddenly snapped out and tore Kaji’s head from his neck (Crit for 85 hp-Kaji had 10 hp). Blood fountained over the adjacent Vashti as Cruncher howled in evil satisfaction. Setting her jaw, the dervish Yasmina dropped her bow and prepared to run up front past Jollring and the drow. In the following round the party flailed at Cruncher without success, while the dervish sidled up to the half-elf’s gory corner with her scimitar out. Filled with a wild rush of fear and elation, the petite river priestess on the left flank screamed out ‘Take me, take me!’
Fighting desperately, the dervish Yasmina took a bite to the chest and dealt a cut in return, while Jollring’s heavy blade tore into the Worg’s right leg. The drow, wounded, spun and cut in slicks of blood from left and right. Bleeding heavily from 13 wounds dealt by the party, Cruncher could not land a further bite but the heroes were ready to flee. At last, Mano the monk took up his trident and, as Cruncher crouched to spring on the wounded Vashti, tumbled up and skewered the beast through the right eye (Crit for 60 hp; Cruncher had 14 remaining from 99 initially). These veteran players had run through the Age of Worms with only one fatality. It was Kaji’s player’s first character death ever. (He’s just 14 and has played since age 12) But they all laughed and groaned, and cheered when it was done and the Worg lay dead. Kyuss had taken less time, and blood, than this battle. And they loved it….!
Could you kindly send me the files as well? jimboexe(at)aol(dot)com Many thanks for your efforts! Ring of Five
The idea started out as part of an island I'm working on; there's also some frost giants there who, once a year, come down out of the mountains and walk around to all the human steadings and collect the "man tribute." It's protection money essentially... Exactly-it went down pretty much the same way with these heavies except they came from 'over the water'. After a fearsome bloodbath for both sides, the Fruzti raiders and local Cruski townsfolk finally triumphed over the Thyrm-worshipping giants and their human allies. The sole survivor the PCs and their crew were able to capture was the dragonship's helmsman, a puny Frost Giant only ten feet tall and with a hunch-back. Bjarni the Runt, as he was called, became the mascot and mobile artillery of the Fruzti barbarian raiders thereafter and fit right in with them. (Chaotic Neutral, like most of the crew)
I've come late to this thread, but it's an intriguing idea and reminded me of my own take on a viking ship with a twist long ago (in 2nd edition), when I ran over the PCs longship a la PT-109 and killed a quarter of their NPC crew with a huge dragonship crewed by Frost Giants. The PCs and survivors were cast ashore and had an epic trek into the old scenario 'Blood on the Snow'
Frost Giants would certainly have the mojo (and axes)to chop down a small forest of Treants, and the wicked will to craft them into a ship of rime-covered death as well, I'm sure. What a combination that would have been!
Hilarious, Sebastian, but oh so true here... :)
#41 here. The back view of a robed wizard leading a little lizard-child back to grade school-kinda reminded me of Charles Addams' drawings in a big way. And it had 'The Halls of Beorl-Dur' inside, with those mightily-overpowered dwarven and salamander artifacts-but boy was it fun!
That's 'KUshite', by Crom! Time to put in a Hyborian filter...:)
PC's Name: Demaire
Setting: The Shreiken Mire, Yeomanry (Greyhawk)-Night Below Campaign (Yeah, it was an Adventure Path too, y' know)
Well, being a Greyhawk snob and all, I've never had to do much more than change a name or two to make the AoW purr along just fine in Greyhawk style. Now, however, I'd like to know if Paizo will still be allowed to (or wish to) provide 'conversion notes' as in the past/present APs. And would they include GH notes then? If so, I'll take my seat in the front row and start converting diligently with all the other humbled grognards...
While our campaign world is certainly inspired by Greyhawk in places (it can't not be, given who's designing it), it's not going to be Greyhawk. It'll be in the Greyhawk spirit of the game, though. If that makes any sense. Of course, of course...but I'd love it if my wild guess was even halfway true. I know we've seen fig leaves aplenty like 'The Free City' and 'Maanzorian', alongside the genuine likes of 'Alhaster' and 'Iuz' all together in the pages of Dungeon. Dyed-in-the wool Greyhawkers like myself (With our 1980's GH folio maps which we bought in, well, 1980!) however would love a tip o' the hat here and there in this new publication, from time to time. Call 'em the 'Crag, Rock, and Mountain Barbarians', profile the 'Archbarony of Sandpoint', and make 'Xin-Shalast' the primordial surface Drow city, throw in 'five swords' (quenched in that new damage-reduction bypassing whatsis...)to face the evil archmage reborn...and we'll all rest easier waiting for the new AP... :)
Well said! Gamemastery is going to rock out! Thank you Nick, and Lisa. It's a good thing I have two jobs then, 'cause it ain't cheap what you're going to be doing-but I for one will take maps in color any day, and 12.99 is the new 7.99 anyway... RoF
Please let us in on the campaign setting for this AP as soon as you can. My first instinct is to try to convert to Greyhawk. Sounds like it already is in Greyhawk, at least in the minds of those who set it in, dare I surmise, the Corusk Mountains and Ratik? And the fabled lost city of Xin-Shalast sounds much like the (non-Canon)Grey Elven city of the Corusk-based 'Aliador' realm lost to Vecna's armies...? Perhaps Karzoug is Vecna's avatar reborn...? Or perhaps I should lose a hand and an eye for even suggesting such things so early in the game...? ;)
That seems to be the worst of it-there will be one lovingly-crafted adventure per month-where before there were 4-5. The sucessive scenarios will be linked in a well-written, fully supported Path, but the oddball non-AP adventures, the variety in levels (even now, low/middle/high are available monthly), the Side Treks and so on will be mostly gone. As a DM and one who has formed his own 'Adventure Paths' from countless issues of Dungeon-it's a big letdown... :(
I have to say that this is not a unique phenomenon in the industry in some respects-as a longtime Traveller player I'd seen the GDW house organ, 'Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society', morph into 'Challenge' magazine (covering a wide but sadly shallow range of vaguely-related games by that publisher, and with steadily worsening writing and a lack of focus on the core Traveller game), while startup mag 'The Traveller's Digest' took GDW's license and grew with it into a fan favorite 'zine and became DGP (Digest Group Publications-the 'Paizo' of the day)with lots of cool supplements, great art and slick presentation, and an 'adventure path' which was truly original and groundbreaking (Dr. Theodore Krenstein, Aybee Wan Owen, Akidda Laagiir and Dur Telemon were 'iconics' long before WotC coined the term...) Sadly, neither GDW nor Digest Group survived past the mid 90s... I enjoy online content, being a regular reader of the Oerth Journal and other Greyhawkania-so I hope Paizo's new initiative will carry on all of the traditions we've associated with Dragon and especially Dungeon despite the change of name.
I'm the DM in our group, and haven't lived with my folks since going away to university at 18... in 1984. (Not counting six months when I came back from my post-college East European Tour with a newlywed bride ...long story but neither side was ready for that experience...) However, at one point not long ago (in 2000) I had four players and they all lived with their parents-(One had lived in a basement-another in his parents' attic). They were all in their early 30s. Today, I still have three of those four players (One guy moved to Canada),and two of the three live with their parents. They both work and one has a nice new 2006 Camry, so it seems as much a matter of choice as anything else-although here in NYC rents are astronomical.
Well, Brazzemal's Aerie is in the 'next adventure', above the Wormcrawl Fissure. It is deliberately left undetailed (One would assume) so that a DM may place a wounded and/or beaten Brazzemal from KotR there, or do something else. IMC, I statted out his mate and had her guarding an appropriate-sized hoard. When the PCs took too long looting it after dispatching her, I had Dragotha send in a Wormdrake and a summoned Balor ally (My party had six powerful PCs), but the heroes prevailed. As for the giants, I detailed the Palace of the Riftlord Achaime based on the border fort from the Istivin campaign arc earlier in Dungeon, appropriately re-sized. For the treasure there I took the combined loot of the 'boss hoards' from the old TSR G1-3 series, and set a 'Praetorian Guard' of elite cloud giants (based on 'The Storm Lord's Keep'Roc-riders), fire giant fighters and hill giant hangers-on of the King as inhabitants. The party decided to proceed on to the Fissure rather than mop up the city after slaying Brazzemal though, so my effort was for naught. (Although they might return there after the campaign is over...)
'And so it goes...' (But Kilgore Trout still lives...)
Original Film Scores and Video Game OST's...only. I'd save the metal and jazz (Cowboy Bebop anyone?) for Traveller or d20 Modern/Future. But jazz for DnD...? I love the genre but in 20+ years I've never had the urge to use that music for a medieval fantasy game. The very idea of an orc with a trombone or a swamp halfling (dixieland) jamboree leaves a strange taste in the mouth...or ears as the case may be... (Not that the music as such would be played 'in the game', by characters-I just can't see that jazz vibe as 'clicking' with the DnD milieu or any of the settings...perhaps a conservative viewpoint but I'm trying to answer your question here...) In any case, Maestro Trev Oli, what jazz do you listen to for DnD? I'd really like to know, and so too perhaps would others who answered your post...?
Has to be: Mizaaab Zalen (the Greyhawk Dragon)-the 'behind the scenes' patron of the old 'Falcon' series of 2e GH modules. Not only did he become a major patron of characters in that trilogy, he even set himself up as a fixer and lawyer for a major PC thief, had PCs as his followers (including a samurai with a Batman-type fixation, regrettably-'Stately Grey Manor' indeed!), and had his son (by his mate Aestrella Shanfarel, also a Greyhawk Dragon)appear in a 'Greyhawk-2000' minicampaign arc I ran IMC. Besides him one should mention Dragotha, Torc the Red Dragon (from 'Fate of Istus', who in human guise duped even the Paladin-King Belvor of Furyondy), Sulphacitezus (in whose hoard the great sword Azor-Alq lay), Ailamere (the Prismatic Dragon), Vesicant, and the Great White Wyrm from 'Glacier Season' whose name escapes me...
Taurus/Horse/Beaver(?) Big ...teeth all around. Favorite quote for my zodiac: "You mess with the Bull, you get the horns..." [What-I was supposed to say 'leave it to beaver' or 'a horse is a horse, of course, of course'...? Naaahhh! ;)]
'This is what is called a good death! Perhaps worthy even for apotheosis.' Well, right on both counts Peruhain... The party (six PCs) plus gated allies Xitomat (Couatl Monk), Walkyrie XVII (Zelekhut Fighter), Azunai (Planetar) and Galdronnal (Ancient Radiant Dragon Paladin) squared off against a much enhanced Dragotha (Dracolich Lord modified template), a Vrock (Frenzied Berserker) [WotC], a Death Giant (Ur-Priest), an Advanced Devourer, an evolved Bone Naga (Sorceror), four Kyuss Knights (Bucknard/Balakarde’s ex-comrades), Venk, and a posse of Dread Wraiths, reinforced by three Avolakia Priests. (Yes, I scoured the boards for these foes-thanks to all who posted them).
By the eleventh round the radiant dragon lay dead at Dragotha's feet, while the Vrock had eviscerated Xitomat in a single round. All PCs were wounded and only the party cleric (of St. Cuthbert) and the planetar were keeping the group alive as the Vrock tore at the Zelekhut who kept trying to entangle him with his chains. The rangers in the group were talking flight, and the halfling archer was already at the exit. (It was fun to see the fear of God in those guys for a change!) With the demon unkillable and Dragotha well-nigh un-hittable by the three heroes to his front, Haakon ran up the rear steps of the ziggurat and leapt (via air walk) onto Dragotha's back. The Dracolich pirouetted, slamming the former front rank with his tail sweep and rending the dwarf with a double claw/claw/bite. The slayer spirit of Bucknard, bound to the dwarf's waraxe from earlier, cut through Haak's rage with a harsh whisper-
Bereft of the frenzy, the demon (at -357 HP)collapsed in a bloody heap of feathers and bone, while Haakon roared his defiance and, dropping his waraxe, drew out the Rod of Fury. The following round, while the other heroes again struck at the Dracolich from the rear, Haak (who'd lost initiative)was mortally wounded by four out of six possible attacks (reduced to -213 HP from -47;he'd had close to 480 initially, raging and with Righteous Might)-and a Mass Cure Critical from the Planetar did not change things much. He dealt Dragotha the death-stroke, and then the frenzy ended (as it was pretty much stretching it even for Bucknard to be able to steal an ability like that, and Istus must see to the balance) with Haakon going to his knees in the dust, next to his axe. The figure of a great red-bearded dwarf, smiling, beckoned to him, and at his shoulder Bucknard smiled as well...and the dwarf's body crashed to the ground with a clang and was still. (And after that, the others still wanted to raise him! Ehhh-I don't think so, but he will possibly make a curtain call in 'New Age' as a gated Einheriar ally-he's got a job to finish!)
'There are black folk in the Flanaess - the Flan.
I stand corrected, Sam - but that was the point with my players-they found it very odd to be playing/interacting with Tenha people and culture, whom they always thought were 'shoehorned' into the setting, and who were oppressed/invaded by the (mostly Suel)Stonefist of course...to quote NyrDyv.com on the Duchy: 'Alcoholism, prostitution, and debauch has been the fate of many of these wretched exiles. Even those with some skills to offer are caught up in black despair.'(Poor choice of words there) Who would want to identify with this kind of people-not my crew! They stayed as far as possible from this negative stereotype-even to the extent of playing Suel on occasion, or mixed race half elves. Only one player had a full-blooded 'Flan' human, and even he was raised by elves and later knighted in Furyondy, where he settled with his elven bride. The point being that IMC I didn't play up the Flan as dispossessed, even if they lost their only modern kingdom in the course of our gaming careers.
Name: Haakon, Deep Dwarf Barbarian 10/ Slayer Priest of Bragni 10
‘Haak’ died heroically after absorbing two rounds of hasted full-attack punishment from Dragotha at the end of the melee in the Writhing Sanctum, damage that would have killed any of his already-wounded comrades. Swinging the Rod of Fury in a two-handed grip, he lived long enough to shatter the great wyrm’s ribcage and see Dragotha’s bones turn to dust around him. Then, his deathless frenzy spent, he expired from his wounds.
This white guy cooks the broth (as the DM)-and has been doing so for over 25 years with an all-minority DnD gaming crew-meaning I'm the 'minority'... :)
Spoilers follow...
Now, the PCs are in the first rounds battling Dragotha and the characters have retained their items (and associated benefits) gained earlier. However, since the halfling Archer/Rogue had the purse (Which gives a spellcasting level benefit vs. Dragotha's SR), I ruled that the scholar fragment's arcane enhancement powers spontaneously shifted to the party Warlock. (The halfling's greed is legendary and he is loath to give up anything to his comrades, whom he generally considers as beneath him-typical CN player!) I am running Bucknard/Balakarde's spirit as much more involved in the tactical part of the combat ("...and at it's advice are the mighty undone."), so this represents the Wizard's choice of action. The three initial PCs will retain their bonuses to stats and skills until Dragotha is destroyed, at which point all will fade away with Bucknard/Balakarde save for his stat-enhancing 'gifts' to those that survive. There's enough treasure to go around (and I am throwing in my new 'Deck of Many Things' for good measure and as a tip of the hat to our Old 'Skool players), so the idea of the initial fragment bonuses persisting as well is a bit too much even for my high-powered campaign.
'Kus&&!e' fighter???? Nice filtering there, Paizo..! No matter how many times I try to spell 'K u s h i t e'without spacing-it won't come out as such! Juma would be most displeased...
Hyborian Fighter-sorcerer
"...and the Cimmerian...what of him?"
Toughen his cadre of Mohrgs by using some (or all) of the ones in WoTC's 'Elite Opponents-Mohrgs' article(08/2004). I had a party of six against him so this was practically mandatory. Although the heroes were all neutrally-aligned, the (LN)Priest of St. Cuthbert initiated hostilities immediately after realizing whom they were talking to...
Greyhawk, or beneath it or above it, Flanaess or Isle of Dread, Amedio or Land of Black Ice...
Thank you, Russ, for pointing that out. I was acting for dramatic effect in the case of the ring, and since the Golem itself had donned the ring I ruled it had bypassed the magical immunity. I cite in this some instances of golems interacting with worn magical gear, although you are technically correct. As for the weight issue, the party had several strong flyers underneath as well as Walkyrie XVII the Zelekhut, (a Large creature), who was flying above the horizontal Golem hauling it up by a chain rig. As a construct the zelekhut was immune to the green rain effect. The weight of this golem I couldn't find at the time (I know they are in MM2, though), but surely it is among the lightest of them since it's almost two-dimensional... The main point was to transit the wormvent quickly and protect the party, only three of whom were shielded by 'Death Ward' at that point.
Having impressed the Lillend somewhat, my group of heroes had an apocalypse golem on loan, which was invaluable (and invulnerable)in breaching the interior wormdoors. As for the main entrance-I stretched things a little bit in allowing the party's Warlock to 'deceive item' and with a very high Use Magic Device roll, he got the doors open. I considered that fair enough, since this type of 'bypass' had featured in several other AP adventures such as the gate to the 'Library of Last Resort'. Displaying further ingenuity, the heroes gave their Ring of Feather Falling to the golem and, with its nearly null weight and their own powers of flight, used it as a giant windshield when flying up the wormvent...
on a lighter note, in the sea of dust gygax/gord book, gygax had a sailor swear by "procan's pearly pizzle." ...ahhh, of course. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzle and that's the Captain's 'log' floating in the jakes then...? I'll stick with 'Pearly Gates', thank you!
Sol wrote:
...well thank you Sol-more power to you! For a smallish .jpeg of Raknian, in color, I would be more than willing to swap some original counter art by that player of mine, who is also a freelance artist, F/T art college student and whose wife is expecting a baby shortly. Sounds like you two have a lot in common-including an ironic sense of humor... RoF
'Statted out' is one thing, but has anyone with artistic talents sketched out or done a Photoshopped (tm) Raknian as an undead? His original art representation was certainly memorable, as are most all of Eva Widermann's NPCs.
Thanks, Vic... Tell 'em to dress warm 'cause it's colder than Cania here in NYC! RoF
"Procan's Pearly Gates...?"
One of my players will attend the Toy Fair 2007 Trade Event in NYC this Sunday-He's in the very highly competitive Toy Design major at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology)in NYC and thus allowed to attend-I know the show is not open to the public otherwise. I was reading though the show's website and saw that Paizo Publishing, LLC will be there-do you have any comment on who's attending to represent the firm?
Try the Great Cleaver stats from the Temple of Elemental Evil PC game: Great Cleaver 10lbs. Damage: 1-10 Critical Range: 17-20/x3. This was one of the most lethal weapons found in the game, and was used by my Dwarf Fighter to great effect. IIRC the threat range was without any associated feat on the dwarf's part, meaning it must have been a keen weapon also.
I own them all...except Issue #2. After awhile I just stopped trying to get that one...although the 'Dwarven King's Court' adventure always sounded interesting. My group tended to favor high-level adventures, and there were plenty of great ones back in the day. I actually started my collection in the early 90s with Issue #45-and 'An Artist's Errand' was the first adventure I ever ran for my PCs. To this day, the magazine is the best value in the industry in terms of hours of enjoyment per dollar...
Mine will enter next weekend, but I don't see them reaching Dragotha until the session after that one. Still, I am looking for some funky music too... I go for big orchestrals, not metal (metal is for Traveller or Halo, IMHO). Godzilla (the score), Reign of Fire, and Matrix Revolutions have epic-sounding choral-backed music-I have also sampled long fight tracks from the Neverwinter Nights and Temple of Elemental Evil PC games, both of which I own. In a half hour, one can rip and burn a good battle CD from these sources...
I second that motion. I DM'd all three scenarios (changing the setting to Greyhawk, so the last one became 'The Eye of Nerull'...) with four 2nd Ed. PCs-an archer-ranger, a wild mage, a fighter and a rogue. The Yuan-Ti, lizardfolk and especially the black dragons were memorable villians, plus I threw in a Dungeon mag Side Trek about Sutholo the lizardman shaman infected with mummy-rot-can't recall the issue number. The PCs befriended and healed him, and he became the archer-ranger's follower. As good as any later FR adventure arc, IMHO.
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