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And so, after nearly 2 years, my players and I finally completed Shackled City last night. What began as an impromptu pick-up game between me and a few friends at GenCon 2005 eventually resulted in our group's longest running D&D Campaign.

Last night the party finally confronted Adimarchus within Skullrot. After defeating the warden of Skullrot in a previous session, the party managed to rest while they recovered their spells. The next morning the party's rogue, a halfling named Penelope (and only member to bear the Smoking Eye), smashed open the cage that held Adimarchus. While the battle against him lasted most of the night, the party did admirably well. The only change I made to the demon-lord was to give him divine rank 0 (in my opinion all Demon lords have at least divine rank 0), with the subsequent benefits (AC bonus, immunities, etc...)

He tried to use blasphemy on the party, but the cleric managed to counter it using a ring of spell battle. A subsequent Word of Chaos, however, drove about half the party insane. In fact, the only death in the party occured when the party's warblade was confused, attacked and killed Penelope. However, one thing ended up saving the PC's, the Iron bands of Billaro thrown by our party's archer. These managed to imprison Admiarchus again, long enough, for the group to launch a counter-offensive.

Final Thoughts

So in the end this was one of the best, and most satisfying campaigns I've ever DM'd. I am, however, glad it's over as I've been itching to pick up the dice as a player for months now. We begin the Age of Worms next week.

The Good

• Some of the most interesting NPC's and villains I've ever had in a campaign. Inparticular I very much loved Vhalanthru, Tifraine (who was one PC's love interest for most of the campaign), Jenya and the Stormblades.
  
• The Eruption in Cauldron. This adventure, while difficult to run, was probably one of my favorites in the campaign. Amazing use of events to guide the PC's and a frantic night for the characters that stretched them thin.
  
• The focus on Cauldron. For the first time one of our campaigns was based almost entirely within a single city. I think this did a lot to tie the party to the campaign and motivate them to take a more proactive approach to running their characters.
  
• This board. The Paizo boards and TheRpgenius web site were some of the best resources I found during this campaign. While I obviously couldn't use every idea, they were inspiring to read.
  

The Bad

• Forshadowing, while it existed, wasn't really prevalent as much as it could be throughout the campaign. The Cagewrights are introduced too late in the game, and Adimarchus only comes into play late as well. I did my best to incorporate future campaign elements as early as possible, but I wasn't always successful. Vhalanthru was well foreshadowed, but that was about it. Everything else I had to pretty much do on my own.
  
• Trip to Occipitus. The Test of the Smoking Eye was a hard adventure to include and justify in the adventure path. It comes out of left field, has very little reason for the party to accept the adventure, and the payoff is a long time in coming. Many changes (like many suggested on these boards) could have been made to improve the adventure.
  

The Ugly
Honestly, nothing comes to mind in this category.

This has been one of the best-written campaigns I've ever had the pleasure of DMing. I say congratulations to Paizo and all involved in crafting some of the best entertainment my friends and I have had for the last 2 years. I look forward to Age of Worms and every Adventure Path to come.

Hi all,

My players are currently nearing the end of the Secrets of the Soul Pillars, and so I am gearing up for Lords of Oblivion at the moment. One running plot thread in my game up to this point, has been the PC's tracking of Triel Eldurast. They managed to defeat and capture her in Flood Season, but she subsequently managed to escape from the party. She fled Cauldron with plans to return and seek revenge.

Since that time they have been keeping tabs on her, usually using scry spells. Of late I've been hand-waving the results of the scry spells (leaving them to out-of-game emails) since I am not really sure what she would be doing at this time. The last the party saw of her, she was exploring some unknown ruins seeking an item of power. I haven't really had a good idea of what she's been doing of late, so I'm holding off on the results of those scry's for the time being (since my players wouldn't have any means to react to her anyway).

My idea is to have her return in Lords of Oblivion at the meeting of the various villains in the city, upgraded and ready to payback the party for her previous defeat. I'd like to solicit some ideas on how she might have changed in the time since Flood Season, what feats, or possibly prestige classes she might have adopted. Possibly a new cohort.

Since she is a member of the Ebon Triad I think it would be good to have those elements enhanced. The problem is, I will be a player in the Age of Worms AP so I cannot reference how the Ebon Triad is presented there for any ideas.

So does anyone have ideas what a 10 - 12th level Triel might look like?

Ok, I'm facing a relatively new dilemna in my DMing career, higher level game play in D&D.

Me and my group have been playing 3rd Edition in its forms since it was first released. However, for a variety of reasons, we have not really experienced the higher levels of D&D as part of a regular campaign. A few one-shots, for sure, but nothing ongoing. We are currently running through Shackled City, and the group is around level 11. Now we're starting to encounter some growing pains. I'm afraid as the campaign unfolds, we will accomplish less and less each session.

Specifically, I'm finding that running the game is becoming increasingly complex, and the game is slowing down. Character have far more options available to them (in terms of spells, items, skills and feats). As a DM, my NPC's are becoming equally complex, if not more so. In addition to the longer lasting combats, the plots are becoming more complex, as rival adventuring parties, allies, villains and NPCs work in the background for and against the characters.

what I'm really looking for is a way of streamlining the game, and simplifying things. Suggestions on how to keep the game moving more quickly, both for the players and myself.

Now our group does get bogged down in out of game conversation, but since we're all good friends, game night is also one of our major socializing times, and that's not something I want to lose. But once we do get into the game, things can grind to a halt.

Finally, since I want my player's to read and post to this thread, I want to keep any Shackled City spoilers out, and just focus on some general strategies.

Well, our campaign has been progressing quite nicely, and the group has finally reached "Secrets of the Soul Pillars". But right now I'm facing an interesting challenge. My players seem adamant that they won't/can't face the church of Wee-Jas.

Some background...

Throughout the campaign I have been seeding the game with hints that the Church of Wee-Jas is up to no good. It started with Flood Season and their refusal to help control the rising waters. Later, at the end of Zenith Trajectory, one of the characters (a holy warrior dedicated to Wee-Jas ironically) hitched a ride on Kravichak after the insane derro kidnapped Zenith from the party. He was polymorphed into a toad at the time. I decided, to foreshadow Embril's involvement with the Cagewrights that the derro would teleport to the cathedral where Zenith could be raised (since he had been killed just before being teleported away). While there, the holy warrior discovered Embril and Ike are in league with the Cagewrights and the beholder.

Later, after Alek Tercival is placed into a coma during the battle with Nabthatoron, the party was forced to turn the paladin over to the church of Wee-Jas for care, in exchange for the lifting of the siege in Redgorge. Eventually, through scrying, the party learned Alek was being prepared for some foul arcane ritual, teleported into the cathedral and rescued him (too late though, I've decided that Alek has already been possessed by some demonic entity, possibly the spirit of Nabthatoron himself)

So to date the party knows the following:
1. The church of Wee-Jas is a powerful supporter of the corrupt government in Cauldron.
2. The church (or at least Embril and Ike) are involved with the Cagewrights and the beholder.
3. The church was trying to perform some evil ritual on a paladin of St-Cuthbert.

And now, the party has been attacked (and almost killed) by assassins. However, since one of the assassins was a priest of Vecna, the party is convinced the Ebon Triad is responsible. Now, I know that the group will use divinations to find out who was behind the assassination attempt so I can point them in the direction of the church that way, but the party is just too scared to go up against the church of Wee-Jas.

They are convinced that the church is too powerful politically and magically, and would be impossible to attack. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can, subtely, guide them towards that confrontation? I think finally taking down the church, and Ike, will really make them feel like they've accomplished a significant goal in the campaign. I've let them know that they've entered a phase of the campaign where they are expected to be much more proactive, but I don't know if they'll actually decide to finally confront the church once and for all.

Ok, so the expert also happened to be a fire giant, but that’s besides the point. First I will set the scene, then ask for some advice.

Party Composition
Ander (8th level human wizard)
Torrek (8th level dwarven fighter)
Penelope (8th level Halfling rogue)
Dagmar (7th level dwarven cleric)
Gwydion (8th level human holy warrior)
Sorin (7th level shifter ranger/barbarian)

While the party is at a slightly lower than recommended level, we use a number of house rules to help bolster the group, including action points.

In our last session the party entered Vaprak’s Voice to find Alex Tercival. They were able to deal with the hill giants and ettins relatively easily. At this point the party decides to press on, instead of resting as the wizard’s player recommended. The cleric still had about half of his prepared spells, but by this point the human wizard was down to his wands and a few low level spells.

The party continues and faces Dugobras, the fire giant blacksmith. Even as he starts heaving fiery anvil pieces at the group, the two dwarves and the ranger decide to engage in melee, while the rest of the party hangs back using ranged attacks. Unfortunately, even Torrek’s optimized AC vs giants (at 37) wasn’t enough to keep Dugobras from pounding him into submission. When the dwarven fighter (the tank and meat shield as it were) went down (at 6 hit points and took about 27 points of damage), the party really kind of realized that they were doomed. Provoking an attack of opportunity, Sorin grabbed the dwarf’s body and tried to run. He got hit and was dropped to 1 hit point. The holy warrior decided to sacrifice himself by surrendering while the rest of the party fled.

Dugobras locked Gwydion up in the prototype cage and then chased down the party. Encumbered as they were Sorin and Dagmar were slow fleeing the ruins. Ander managed to escape and cast fly on himself to flee. Penelope managed to hide from the fire giant and wait for him to pass. At the exit to the ruins Dugobras caught up to Dagmar and killed him. He almost killed Sorin, but the ranger was able to just barely escape after dropping Torrek’s body.

Meanwhile, Penelope snuck back to check on Gwydion and found him locked up, she released him and the two snuck out, after Gwydion threw the cage into the magical fire, destroying it.

So here’s where we ended. Ander has fled, thinking he is the only survivor. He plans on resting and recovering spells, then returning to avenge his friends. Sorin is in the sewer pipes without a map trying to find his way out. Gwydion and Penelope have escaped but are still in the pit that houses Vaprak’s voice. Each of these 3 groups feels they are the only survivors of the massacre.

So now I need to figure out how to play this. The survivors don’t really plan on retreating back to Redgorge or Cauldron. I figure at the start of the next session (in 2 weeks) they will find each other so they can plan their attack. But, right now I have 2 dead characters and 2 players I don’t want to be sidelined for long. Ideally the group would like to rescue the bodies of Dagmar and Torrek so they can be raised (neither player wants to create a new character) but until that happens I need to find something to keep them involved in the game.

Any suggestions?

I come to the boards seeking all of the wisdom you can possibly give in what has turned out to be the most absolutley messed up twist I think could have happened in my campaign. Essentially, last night one of my player's managed to snag a free ride to the Fiery Sanctum much earlier than planned for.

Here's some background.

My players are currently at the tail end of 7th level at the end of Zenith Trajectory. They managed to capture Zenith and bring him back to Cauldron to be delivered to his father. However, Vhalantru has informed them that Davkid's health has turned for the worse and has returned to his clan's hold south of the city for care. The PC's insist on returning Zenith themselves, and eventually Vhalantru relents. The party, still tired from the days journey to return to Cauldron decides to rest for the night in the Malachite fortress (which the dwarven cleric has been in the process of converting to a dwarven temple/compound).

Needless to say, during the night, Kravichak attacks in order to steal away Zenith. Here's where things get a bit muddy. Since, during the original battle with Zenith, the party never ended up using See Invisible or Purge Invisibility to counter the invisible stalker, they never saw the Carcerian Sign.

The wizard now has a wand of See Invisible so I wanted to make sure that the player's caught a glimpse of it before Zenith is taken. I personally think this is an important plot point, so I decided to stretch out the battle with Kravichak to ensure this happens. So I decided that Kravichak in his insane glory, would toy with the PC's a bit, and not just teleport in and out in 2 rounds.

First he disintegrates the manacles holding Zenith, The two PC's on watch try to stop the invisible assailant, but are not being very effective. By this time the rest of the party, who had been sleeping, awaken to the sound of his insane laughter and battle, The holy warrior had grabbed Zenith and was running with him, but Kravichak just teleported after them. The wizard used the want and could see invisible, and finally spotted the sign on Zenith's face. Kravichak decided to cast baleful polymorph on the holy warrior, who failed the save and was turned into a toad. Luckily he makes the 2nd will save so he still retains his mind. So what does he do?

He crawls into Zenith's clothing.

So now the holy warrior (as a toad) is tucked away in Zenith's clothes, The rest of the party is trying to stop the invisible assailant. Kravichak casts another baleful polymorph on the wizard turning him into a monkey (he failed the 2nd will save as well).The dwarf cleric, still convinced that Zenith is a corrupt monster not deserving of mercy, decides to Coup de gras the unconsious dwarf. He succeeds and beheads Zenith. By this time Kravichak catches up and decides to get what he came for, grabs the body and teleports away.

See the problem? So now the party's holy warrior (minus his gear and in toad form) has just been taken to the fiery sanctum at 7th level...

So now what do I do? I'm looking for suggestions. I don't want to simply counter the player's tactic by simply saying "oh you didn't get teleported" or "you fell out of Zenith's clothes", Nor do I simply want to hand-wave it away and simply tell him to create a new PC since his current one is almost guaranteed to be killed.

So I want to do something interesting. How do I turn this to my advantage?

Also, a little more info on the character in question. The holy warrior worships wee-jas, but has never been a strict follower of the faith. He was always on the outs with the traditional church in Cauldron for his unorthodox views. And now he's about five feet from Embril. I would like to take advantage of this.

This was the most unexpected thing a player could have done, but also one of the most exciting. So if anyone has any suggestions on how I could deal with this, or make use of it in campaign, let me know.