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As I mentioned in another thread, I just spent the last week putting together a mix of shanty's and ballads, all of which use either only vocals or instruments that are period appropriate. It's a veritable treasure trove of adaptability. So dig in and enjoy! Spotify Playlist: Press Ganged (111 tracks)
Hey guys, just thought I'd throw up a link to a spotify playlist I spent the last week putting together. It's a mix of shanty's and ballads, all of which use either only vocals or instruments that are period appropriate. I've also split it up into some other situation appropriate playlists as well (ie. one to play when they are on deck working, and one for the evenings when instruments were more likely to be used). I suppose I may as well link them too. Enjoy! Spotify Playlist: Press Ganged (111 tracks)
I have a bit of a problem here and could use some advice... I should start by saying that my players are not a typical party. At the moment they are made up of a Pixie Rogue, a Half Fey Ultimate Magus, a Half Doppleganger Swashbuckler, a WereTiger Favored Soul and a 10 year old Aquatic Lizardman as their Legendary Captain. It has been an incredible campaign so far, full of a lot of laughs as my players role play their characters very well. But they are a very tough lot and suffer from a certain sense of invincibility at times even though a few have been killed off in the past. The problem you see, is that my group recently made it's way to Golismorga and naturally went to the first (and only) man made looking structure they could find. Upon reaching the Ziggurat, they watched the troglodytes for a few minutes as they milled around the building. At this point, the fearless 10 year old Lizardman (played by a 30 something man with a great sense of humor) decided that he would don the pixies hat of disguise and make himself look like a trog. The pixie thought this great fun and off he ran into the midst of the trogs. He was promptly Dominated and put to work. Most of the party didn't get that there was a problem at first, but eventually realized they had to get him out of there. Thus the battle ensued and all hell broke loose. The Pixie and the Half Fey were killed and the Captain nearly fell as well. Their only saving grace was that the majority of the party stayed a good distance away from the fight and rained down fireballs. In the end they managed to get both corpses and huddle up for a teleport back to the docks where the shadow pearls are delivered. In the end, after a few quick (yet expensive spells) Revenance and Revivify, the party is whole again, but a bit shaken. They have determined that it would be unwise to try to tackle the ziggurat again, or even return to Golismorga for that matter. Any suggestions as to how I might impress the dire outcome of that decision upon them?
Magehound, are you awarding xp by the EL or the CR of the creature? I have been awarding xp by cr, not el. I calculated el and xp with the el calculator today, seperate from in game, just for my spreadsheet. after mowing down about 1/4 of the rogues in the Lotus Dragon Guildhall that the rest will flee. If you let your players face every single one of them AND they took out Rowyn Kellani & Gut Tugger that is probably where your xp totals starting getting too high. They did go a bit hog wild down there, though they did split it up with a day of rest, thus letting the guild members rest up and re-fortify. What I think it really boiled down to is that no one has died so far, and no one has been doing any crafting, not to mention that they have been really good at sniffing out all the baddies. I will be making some adjustments as I go from here on in though. except in cases where this would move the adventure out of its designated challenge level This makes total sense. Thanks.
we don't assume that the PCs will defeat each and every encounter in an adventure. Ah... so I'm right when I tell these guys that they are over-achievers and that they don't need to go through the dungeons with a fine tooth comb. I'll try not to be so hesitant to let one or two get whacked either. I just got worried when I saw mention of plot hooks in case your PC's needed extra xp before the next mod. I don't want to be too far out of the reccomended range. I also have to say that I was dissapointed to see that the scaling the adventure side bar in Wyvern's Wake only gave options for scaling down, not up. Was that just a space issue? The Magehound
Are you including even things they don't fight/get XP for? Like Havill... Javiss... Mamba Jamba... whatever the name of the obscene leveled pirate capatian woman is? No, I did not include Harliss Javell. That counter was an EL 4 for my party as they were smart enough not to tangle with her. On the other hand, they did outright cream Rowyn and Gut Tugger before she could escape (though this seems rather common). I'm not sure what other things they "would'nt gain xp for"... At the end of No Honor, I have them tracked at 6,113 xp ea. And by the end of Javell's standoff they are at 11,013 xp ea. The only gross encounter that my group took on and barely escaped victorious from was the slave pen EL9 at lvl 5, and that only accounts for 1300 or so. Now that was a skin of the teeth fight. I'd be happy to share the excel spreadsheet with anyone that thinks they can spot the problem... Thanks again The Magehound
Ok, perhaps I'm missing something here. I am currently halfway through The Bullywug Gambit with my group of 4 players and I am seeing them fly up through levels, so I started up a spreadsheet and started entering all of the encounters to date and through issue 141 to see where my players would be if they continued as is. This has left me confused. According to the magazines, There is no Honor should take pc's from 1st - 3rd lvls. Bullywug is for a group of 4th lvl pcs and Wyverns wake is for a group of 5th lvl pcs... Halfway through Bullywug and with only 2 filler encounters, my pc's are just about to hit lvl 5? If they complete all encounters by the end of 141 they will be half way through 7th lvl. What am I doing wrong? I have calculated every EL through the exp calculator and it jives with the dmg. Are my pc's not supposed to be taking on all the encounters in each mag? Please help me understand.... The Magehound
I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we would absolutely love that... so... please Mr. Pett.... would you do us the honour?
Two quick things... both of them a smidge off topic... 1. I know where Cauldron is, but where in Greyhawk is Diamond Lake? 2. And this one is waaaay off topic, but Sean, does Rolland's Hollow mean anything to you? I knew a Sean Mahoney once... The Magehound
Tell me about it. I can garauntee that I will be using Sasserine in other campaigns in the near future, there is just too much good stuff to just pass by. The city as a whole is fantastic.
Our party is starting with a bit of backstory. They are crew members of "The Misfits Berth", a merchant/profiteer vessel sailing out of Sasserine. The crew as a whole is quite unique, made up of misfits and cast offs from everyday society, almost all obscure races and or monster classes with the exception of Captain Isaiah Blermgut (human). For reference, I allowed the PC's to start as ECL 3 characters and they were asked to pick their own "pirate names" for flavor. So far we have... Suli - aka Arrrr! (I swear there is no better way to keep your PC's talking like characters than to make them say Arrr!) - Female Pixie(2) Beguiler(1) - duties: ship's mascot/spirit, she's always boosting morale with her jokes and pranks T'Klq - aka Hopper - Male Dromite(2) Druid(1) - duties: deckhand and apprentice windsinger Azzarelle - aka Stinky (until she gives me her preference of pirate name, this is what her fellow crewmates decided on) - Female Half-Fey Human Evoker - duties: pilot/shipsmage Sseriaz - aka Grommet (traditional name for a ship's boy) - 10yr old Male Reptillian Aventi Sailor (the reptillian template is due to a curse bestowed on him in retaliation to his fathers actions, the sailor class is just a sea faring ranger variant) - duties: ship's boy/reef scout So far I am loving this group... I can't seem to stop saying Arrrr!
Kind of off topic here, but I my players are starting as the crew of a pre-existing ship, my original plan being that as a pre AP setup, we would have a small adventure in which their ship goes down and while they barely escape the accident, some of the NPC crew are lost at sea. My question, as I don't have 140 as of yet, is... How do the adventurers come upon the Wyvern? Is it a stolen ship, an abandoned ship, a reward from their employer or what? I was thinking perhaps I would change the story a bit and have their ship taken from them by pirates or some such, allowing them to just reclaim their ship instead of the Wyvern. Do you think that could work? Thanks for the help all.
Ah well, my group will have to settle into Greyhawk after all, I can't tell them oh, just one more week again... Thank you for all your effort anyway. <pout> |
