SoEgern's page

As Erevis Cale wrote, there is a danger of Occipitus becoming “the most boring and pointless chapter of the campaign”. That’s why I had planned some potentially nonviolent encounters to make the plane more alive and interesting.

And yes, in an outdoor adventure characters have the option to avoid most encounters. I just didn’t expect it. I had added some insanity rules, to represent relative low level characters exposure to The Abyss. That might have spurred them on.

Anyway, I did exactly what you suggested MundinIronHand and the characters earned their XP later on in TotSE. They had some tough encounters, but didn’t complain all that much:), even though the dwarf FtrRog bought the ticket against two Vrocks and some Babaus.

Throughout the campaign I have occasionally handed out “story” awards to keep them on par. At least two of the players really enjoy “taking a shortcut” to surprise the bad guys. It can be a lot of fun but they sometimes end up missing vital clues, treasure and XP. A thorough search of a dungeon is seldom very attractive, once you have killed the main villain.

So I turned to Kaurophon to make Occipitus more alive and he was fun to play. He had such a well of information that the characters didn’t know what to ask, as every answer brought three new questions. The fact that he was recognized by several natives, and had his motives questioned, put him in a bad light and kept the players at their toes. Altogether kauroFUN!

During the trek across Occipitus it became apparent to Kaurophon, that he wouldn’t be able to defeat the characters at the final test. So slowly his attitude changed, as his confidence drained away. His exited and arrogant self became more and more sullen.

The players (not the characters) were disappointed when Kaurophon didn’t attack them in the end, which they for some time had expected. They were looking forward to “putting him out of his misery”:)

Come to think of it, Kaurophon is capable of the Plasma-in-the-sky trick himself, so maybe he could have evened the odds by a nice little assassination attempt:) Well he didn’t, and halfway through Foundation of Flame (where we are now), is probably a little late for a reappearance.

SoEgern

Hi everyone!

I love when the players surprise me, but I hate being caught unprepared. Browsing this board has been a great help preventing being caught unprepared, while leaving plenty of room for surprise. So I thought I would contribute with a situation that came up during our game.

In TotSE where mass travel spells like Windwalk was still out of reach, several days of trekking towards the cathedral was expected.

I was very surprised when I realized that the 9.L. sorcerer had selected Phantom Steed as one of his only 3, third level spells. A good hour later they were all traveling at speed 180’on silent phantom horses. Kaurophon had already estimated that the journey would take about a week (speed 20’), but with their new steeds they could make the distance in … one day!

The group elected to bypass all encounters if possible, with full focus on reaching the Cathedral as soon as possible. How do you to catch anything with a base speed of 180’?

If necessary the party could even hustle at speed 360’ for up to 4 hours without killing the steeds. A Slaad could have fireballed the entire bunch, probably destroying the steeds, but that seemed a little farfetched to me and not entirely fair.

As it turned out I let them bypass most of my planned encounters, unsure of how to deal with situation (unprepared). The group really needed the XP from the combat encounters to keep up the pace, and noncombat interaction with some of the residents, to make Occipitus more “alive”.

Some of my planned encounters could fortunately be used later in the adventure, which brought up another question. One of my players made a comment during a combat with some demons. “Vrocks, Telekinesis and Plasma-in-the-sky!” The spell is “by will” and can be used at range 1000’. After roughly 7 rounds, 8d6 fire and 8d6 evil each round (no save) will ruin most character’s day. Could be nasty!

Anyone used telekinesis to lift the characters high up in the air?

SoEgern

Hi HW!

Always interesting to hear how other groups game.

You are right. Staying “in character” during combat is not always easy. Some gamers (sadly I am included) tend to suggest/dictate other characters actions, especially in tricky situations when trying to avoid a TPK. It is a bad habit, but metagaming shows is ugly face at most tables I guess.

I imagine it is easier to avoid this crosstalk when you game online, maybe I will try it one day. Then again, it is a question of what the group is there for. Our group has turned considerable more social over the years and 4 hours of intense gaming a week, is now replaced by 8 hour social gathering roughly once a month.

That gives us about 5 hours at the table. Not enough according to my taste, but small children, traveling distance and work takes its toll. We are currently partway through chapter 8 and that has taken us… 3 years and 4 months :)

I like dynamic dungeons as well, but probably go a bit softer on my players. So far we have had only 4 deaths, not much compared with other groups. The fact that I roll my dice out in the open and therefore cannot ignore accidental crits to save an unlucky player, makes most combats a possible deadly affair in the players eyes.

After we had lost a couple of players due to stupid real life, we tried out the use of Action Points. That has turned out OK. Most points are used to reroll failed saves or lousy skill checks. So, offensive enemy casters have been nerfed a bit, and the odd critical failed knowledge religion check, almost avoided.

…about 19 years ago… wow. Long time gaming relation, probably a good friend as well!

SoEgern

Hi HW!

Your gang just knocked on the door, entered the Lucky Monkey, ordered drinks and then continued to whoop the Allybashers, the Hillfolk, the Baboons AND Tongueeater in one monstrous battle… I hope they are proud of their achievement ‘cause that is not an easy task:). And nice approach by the way, not everything needs to be so gloomy in SCAP!

My group (seven Level 4-5) had severe trouble with the werebaboon and his minions, but clever use of Invisibility and Gaseous Form (potions), gave them a surprise round and saved their bacon. (Three characters with rogue levels!)

Interesting way you run your game! Good for the group that two other players joined. Filling up with NPCs is OK but nothing compares to real PCs:) I am not familiar with maptools and have never gamed online, but it looks like a possible solution when geography challenges you.

Could you perhaps tell us a bit more about a gaming session, like how many hours are you on, how much is edited in the session report before you upload it, it online combat tedious or can you keep pace with tabletop gaming?

Looking forward to read about how Triel Eldurast and Mr. T will fare against them, but then again, it sounds like your group contains some pretty decent melee characters.

SoEgern

It has been a while, but this is how I remember it.

My group made some excellent diplomacy rolls and got a free ride from Abhaca. The monk later joined the fight at the entrance and got killed. He sort of left his boat at the shore, so I did not turn the lake into at challenge for my group. Bhal Hamatugn was tough enough without the lake as an obstacle.

When Aushanna turned up, the party ran away… (only time that has happened in the campaign, and we are currently partway through chapter 8) I am not sure they could have beaten Aushanna anyway, so I ruled that she would not move more than 30’ away from the statue-room. The hasted party turned right at the first corner, jumped the fingerling pool (Haste gives +12 to jump checks if you have 30’ speed), landed on the stairs, sprinted down the corridor, kicked in the door and found…Dhorlot:) That was a moment to remember.

They did chase of the dragon in two rounds (D. escaped through a chimney, put there for the same reason), and the group never fought the Fingerling swarm. The Dwarf Ftr/Rog landed in the water, but that was all.

The High Priest is one tough customer and he almost killed them, but they survived it, caught Zenith and went home. Overall Bhal Hamatugn is very difficult if you play it strictly by the book. My group at least could not handle it as written. So I gave them some slack and everybody had a good time. They certainly remember the place!

SoEgern

Nice idea with the druid, Borealis! I think I am going to borrow it, when we start Drathkar’s way this Saturday. A smugglers ring and a false vampire will suit my group of players (and characters) much better than the original setup.

A few thoughts:

Orak Stonehaven is loosely connected to The Last Laugh, but all that goblin-activity might annoy the thieves’ guild. That could be Jil’s reason for helping the characters if they fail to locate how the goblins enter the city.

I like the idea with the “materials for the Tree” which is much better than smuggling in mercenaries. The heroes can still encounter the mercenaries, but they are not here to enter the city unseen. Perhaps they guarded the last shipment of materials?

My version of Drathkar, will probably include false teeth and good use of a disguise kit…Yes I know, the danger is that he could turn into a comical relief, but that’s all right as long as he gives the characters a good scare and a decent fight first. I can make them scared…I hope.

Druid Drathkar will fight as an individual like the real Drathkar. I won’t let him join the goblins, as it could spell death to several characters, or even a TPK. Three Dire Badgers (or something worse) with a lucky SNAIII, could turn the table during a combat against the goblins.

Drathkar will be 5th level, with a wolf companion. As things develop he will exchange prepared spell slots with SNA, to produce a nice little wolf pack. Send in the wolves while he wild shapes into a “special wolf”, preferably out of the character’s sight.

After the wolves (incl. Mr. D) take at least one character below zero, I'll have him pull back and assume his Bugbear/Vampire form with one of the famous evil Mwahaha. He will provoke a few failed turning attempts from the clerics, when he shows of his huge fangs. Then I'll have him stare intensively at the characters, like he is trying to dominate them, maybe even ask them to roll an odd d20 now and again. Maybe I'll use the result as a Spot/Sense motive/Knowledge religion check to tip the players of. “He appears to be breathing”!

After the encounter with Orbius last session, the “everything is not what it seems” experience might make them wonder if they were fooled in Life’s Bazaar as well :)