Xaene the Accursed's page

Merciful Spell

Your damaging spells subdue rather than kill.

Benefit: You can alter spells that inflict damage to inflict nonlethal damage instead. Spells that inflict damage of a particular type (such as fire) inflict nonlethal damage of that same type.

Level Increase: None (a merciful spell does not use up a higher-level spell slot than the spell’s actual level.)

Okay, so this spell will turn your fire damage from, say, a Flaming Sphere into non-lethal fire damage. What about the fires that the sphere starts? Is that converted to non-lethal too?

Could an enterprising mage set fire to an entire town using merciful fire spells, burning away all of the buildings but not killing a single commoner?

Greetings all,

Recently, a great thread was created on these boards. The thread amounts to "Rules a lot of people don't know." It is awesome and informative and I found myself learning a lot from them.

Most importantly, I learned that Pathfinder does deviate in significant ways from some of the foundational assumptions of the 3.5 rule set.

Two of the biggest game-changers, however, are as follows:

1. Critical Hits: Constructs and Undead had long enjoyed immunity to critical hits, mainly because they have no anatomy that is "critical" to them. This is backed up in the description of the vorpal weapon quality, which makes it clear that things like constructs and most undead shrug off the game's most powerful weapon enchantment.

2. Sneak Attacks: Similarly, Constructs and Undead had also been immune to sneak attacks for similar reasons. They have no anatomy to target as they are animated not by biological functions but by spiritual (undead) or an admixture of magical and spiritual (constructs) forces.

Game Designer Question: Was it the intent of the Game Designers to make Constructs and Undead subject to critical hits and sneak attacks?

Game Designer Question #2: If so, why?

Gamers at large: Convince me that allowing constructs and undead to be subject to critical hits and sneak attacks is a good idea in light of a more than a decade of game history and the simple reality of what animates the physical substance of these creatures (e.g. no anatomy, etc.).

-DM Bryan

Hey all,

We are -finally- closing out the Savage Tide adventure path.

We're running it under Pathfinder Rules (which creates its own problems, including a LOT of time spent updatinr, or just "winging it" for the NPC's).

The group consists of 7 adventurers, each 22nd level as they enter Wat Dagon for the final showdown.

I've always been a huge St. Kargoth fan, and wanted to do him proud as his big moment came.

So, I gave him a full (and very powerful) update - as befits someone facing 7 22nd level experienced players at the same time...

St. Kargoth the Betrayer
Male half-fiend human death knight anti-paladin 20/thrall of Demogorgon 5
CE Medium undead
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good, true seeing; Perception +36
DEFENSE
AC 48 (+14 armor, +5 deflection, +16 natural, +1 Dex, +1 Haste)
Touch 18
Flat-footed 45
HP 558 (20d10+5d8+350 from desecrate)
DR 15/cold iron and good, 3/- (adamantine armor)
Immune acid, cold, electricity, polymorph, positive energy, undead traits
Resist fire 30; SR 39
Fort +51, Ref +32, Will +38
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft (perfect)
Melee Deathbringer +56/+56/+52/+47/+42 (1d6+27, plus 1d6 fire, 17-20), and Demogorgon’s Bilious Sphere +56/+52/+47/+42 (1d6+27 plus 1d6 acid, 19-20 plus 1d10 acid on crit.)
Melee with Power Attack (7) Deathbringer +49/+49/+45/+40/+35 (1d8+41, plus 1d6 fire, 17-20), and Demogorgon’s Bilious Sphere +49/+45/+40/+35 (1d6+34 plus 1d6 acid, 19-20 plus 1d10 acid on crit.)
Special Attacks abyss blast, auras, channel negative energy, dual actions (2/day), reaching touch (3/day), smite good 8/day, staggering critical (DC 35), touch of corruption plus cruelty 23/day (60 points), two-weapon rend (1d10+31)
Half Fiend Spell-Like Abilities (CL 25th; concentration +38)
3/day – darkness, poison (DC 27), unholy aura (DC 31)
1/day – blasphemy (DC 30), contagion (DC 27), desecrate, destruction (DC 30), horrid wilting
(DC 31), power word kill, summon monster IX, unhallow (invisibility purge), unholy blight
(DC 27)
Anti-Paladin Spells (CL 17th; concentration +30)
4th (7) freedom of movement, greater invisibility x2, inflict serious wounds x4,
3rd (7) dispel magic x4, nondetection (DC 28), vampiric touch x2
2nd (6) corruption resistance (15), hold person (DC 25) x3, silence x2
1st (8) inflict light wounds x8
STATISTICS
Str 52 (+21), Dex 14 (+2), Con --, Int 16 (+3), Wis 18 (+4), Cha 36 (+13)
Base Atk +25 (equiv. +31 from heroism, haste, and desecrate)); CMB +52; CMD 54
Feats (16) channel smite, critical focus, double slice, greater two-weapon fighting, improved critical (light mace), improved critical (long sword), improved two-weapon fighting, mounted combat, power attack, ride-by attack, spirited charge, staggering critical, two-weapon fighting, two-weapon rend, weapon focus (longsword), weapon focus (light mace)
Skills (+4 to all due to Greater Heroism) Bluff +45, Fly +31, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (Religion) +35, Knowledge (the planes) +35, Perception +36, Stealth +44 (+15 from armor)
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic
Combat Gear +5 greater shadow adamantine full plate, Deathbringer (+5 anarchic, flaming, lawful outsider bane, speed, adamantine longsword), Demogorgon’s Bilious Sphere, boots of speed, belt of giant strength +6, headband of Charisma +6, amulet of natural armor +5, ring of protection +5, ring of evasion, cloak of resistance +5
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Abyssal Blast (Su) As a death knight, St. Kargoth can unleash a blast of unholy energy 1/day, range 1,200 ft., with a 20-ft.-radius spread. The blast inflicts 20d6 damage (unholy energy); a DC 32 Reflex save halves the damage.
Flight (Su) St. Kargoth’s fly speed is supernatural in nature, functioning similarly to that granted by a fly spell, save that it cannot be dispelled. This is a boon from Demogorgon.
True Seeing (Su) St. Kargoth has been granted permanent true seeing by Demogorgon as a boon for his centuries of loyal service. This effect is constant and cannot be dispelled.
Positive Energy Immunity (Ex) As a death knight, St. Kargoth is unaffected by positive energy and positive energy-based abilities (such as turn undead or aligned channel).
Scaly Flesh (Ex) As a Thrawl of Demogorgon, St. Kargoth already steel-hard flesh becomes even stronger, giving him a +2 bonus to his natural armor.
Reaching Touch (Su) As a Thrawl of Demogorgon, St. Kargoth can stretch his limbs unnaturally 3/day, increasing his reach by an extra 5 feet for 1 round.
Dual Actions (Su) As a Thrawl of Demogorgon, St. Kargoth can take two full rounds’ worth of actions in the same round 2/day.
Aura of Evil (Ex) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth gives off an aura of overwhelming evil. A paladin who uses smite evil upon him deals 2 points of damage per paladin level on his first successful strike.
Detect Good (Sp) At will, as an antipaladin, St. Kargoth can use detect good as the spell.
Smite Good (Su) As an antipaladin and half-fiend, St. Kargoth can smite good 8/day. As a swift action, St. Kargoth selects one good opponent. St. Kargoth adds his Charisma modifier (+13) on his attack rolls and adds his antipaladin levels (+20) on all damage rolls made against the target of his smite. If the foe is a good outsider or dragon, the damage from the first successful attack is doubled (+20).
In addition, while the smite is in effect, St. Kargoth gains a deflection bonus equal to his Charisma modifier (+13) to his AC against stacks made by the target of his smite. The smite remains in effect until the target is killed, St. Kargoth starts a new smite vs. a different target, or the next time St. Kargoth rests.
Unholy Resilience (Su) St. Kargoth gains a bonus to all his saving throws equal to his Charisma modifier (+13).
Touch of Corruption (Su) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth can shroud his hand with a fiendish flame, causing terrible wounds to open on those he touches. He can use this ability 23 times per day as a standard action. As a touch attack, this effect causes 60 points of damage (see Unholy Champion, below).
Cruelty (Su) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth adds a cruelty effect to his touch of corruption ability. Whenever he uses his touch of corruption ability to deal damage to a target, the target also receives the additional effect from one of the cruelties possessed by St. Kargoth. The choice of cruelty is made at the time the touch of corruption attack is used. The target receives a Fortitude Save, DC 33, to avoid the cruelty. The cruelties available to St. Kargoth are: sickened, staggered, cursed, poisoned, blinded, stunned. When St. Kargoth uses his Channel Smite feat, a cruelty also affects the target.
Channel Negative Energy (Su) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth can channel negative energy like a cleric. Using this ability consumes two uses of his touch of corruption ability.
Aura of Cowardice (Su) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth gives off an aura with a 10’ radius that causes all enemies within the aura to suffer a -4 penalty on saving throws against fear effects. Creatures that are normally immune to fear lose this immunity while within the aura.
Aura of Despair (Su) As an antipaladin, all enemies within 10 ft. of St. Kargoth take a -2 penalty to all saving throws.
Aura of Vengence (Su) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth can expend two uses of his smite good ability to grant the ability to smite good to all allies within 10 feet.
Aura of Sin (Su) As an antipaladin and half-fiend, St. Kargoth’s weapons are considered both Evil an Chaotic for purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Aura of Depravity (Su) As an antipaladin, each enemy within 10 feet of St. Kargoth takes a -4 penalty on all saving throws vs. compulsion effects.
Channel Negative Energy (Su) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth can channel negative energy like a cleric. Using this ability consumes two uses of his touch of corruption ability.
Fiendish Boon (Sp) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth has chosen to add the anarchic, flaming, and speed weapon abilities to Deathbringer.
Unholy Champion (Su) As an antipaladin, St. Kargoth is a conduit for the might of Demogorgon. Whenever he uses smite good and successfully strikes a good outsider, the outsider is also subject to a banishment functioning at 20th level (with his weapon and unholy symbol counting as objects the subject hates). In addition, whenever St. Kargoth uses his touch of corruption of channels negative energy, he deals maximum possible damage.
Inherent Bonuses St. Kargoth has a +5 inherent bonus to Strength and Charisma.
SPECIAL ITEMS
Demogorgon’s Bilious Sphere (Major Artifact, CL 25) +5 corrosive burst unholy adamantine light mace.
- Can cast stinking cloud 5/day (DC 28)
- Can cast acid fog 3/day (DC 32)
- 3 day as a swift action, can create three spheres of acid that attack foes independently. Spheres function as flaming spheres in every other way, except the damage they inflict is acid damage.
- 1 day, can create a feeling of intense hatred in a creature within 60 ft. The target can resist this effect with a DC 30 Will save, otherwise it views another creature within sight (chosen by the Sphere’s wielder), as its most hated enemy. The target must do everything in its power to slay its enemy. This effect lasts until the enemy is dead or 24 hous pass. It may be dispelled as if it were dominate monster.
- A creature whom Demogorgon favors can, as a free action, gain the following benefits once per day: greater heroism, spell turning (10 levels), 4d12 temporary hit points, a +6 profane bonus to Strength.

APG Page 23.

Human Favored Class Option for the Rogue

What does this mean?

"Rogue: The human gains +1/6 of a new rogue talent."

Foresight
School divination; Level druid 9, sorcerer/wizard 9
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M/DF (a hummingbird's feather)
Range personal or touch
Target see text
Duration 10 min./level
Saving Throw none or Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance no or yes (harmless)

This spell grants you a powerful sixth sense in relation to yourself or another. Once foresight is cast, you receive instantaneous warnings of impending danger or harm to the subject of the spell. You are never surprised or flat-footed. In addition, the spell gives you a general idea of what action you might take to best protect yourself and gives you a +2 insight bonus to AC and on Reflex saves. This insight bonus is lost whenever you would lose a Dexterity bonus to AC.

When another creature is the subject of the spell, you receive warnings about that creature. You must communicate what you learn to the other creature for the warning to be useful, and the creature can be caught unprepared in the absence of such a warning. Shouting a warning, yanking a person back, and even telepathically communicating (via an appropriate spell) can all be accomplished before some danger befalls the subject, provided you act on the warning without delay. The subject, however, does not gain the insight bonus to AC and Reflex saves.

My take: This spell sucks, at least for 9th level in power. As written, it should be a 4th level spell (at most). Any wizard that specializes in Divination pretty much out-classes this spell merely from his granted specialist abilities - yet this spell is the ONLY 9th level divination spell.

Questions:

- Any chance of Errata in the near future that makes this spell worthy of its casting level? My suggestion would be to allow recipients of the spell to roll 2d20 (and to take the better roll) for saving throws while under the effects of this spell.

- Will there be any 9th level divination spells in the Advanced Player's Guide so high-level diviners have a spell actually worth taking in their 9th-level bonus spell slot?

Hey everyone,

I have a question about ranged weapons and their ammunition.

Specifically, what stacks and what applies?

Page 468 of the PCRB speaks a bit about Ranged Weapons and Ammunition.

Istates:

"The enhancement bonus from a ranged weapon does not stack with the enhancement bonus from ammunition. Only the higher of the two enhancement bonuses applies.

Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or hither is treated as a magic weapon for overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon."

The language above seems to say that the amunition itself only gains a few of the properties of the missile weapon (e.g. a magical bow) - but not all of them. Further, later entries for magical weapon properties go on to specifically state when a magical weapon bestows the benefit upon the ammunition fired from it. Thus, non-magical ammunition seem to become "magical" in a limited and restricted sense when fired from a magical ranged weapon.

In addition: The language from page 468 makes it clear that ammunition fired from a magical bow is "treated as a magic weapon for overcoming damage reduction." A quick look to the rules on Incorporeal (Ex) on page 301 of the Pathfinder Beastiary makes it clear that incorporeal creatues can "be harmed only by ...magic weapons..." Incorporealness is not a Damage Reduction issue - it seems that the weapon directly "touching" the incorporeal target must be magical to inflict harm.

Specific Questions:

1. When firing a non-magical arrow from a +1 bow, which of the following applies:

a. +1 enhancement bonus (from the bow) to hit;
b. +1 enhancement bonus (from the bow) to damage;
c. All of the above.

2. So, does non-magical ammunition fried from a magical ranged weapon harm an incorporeal target?

a. Yes
b. No

I'd really appreciate feedback - or decisive answer from the game designers - so we can figure out if ammunition is itself relevent in the game -or- it is simply something like non-valuable spell components (e.g. spend 50 gp once ever 5 levels and you're good to go if your bow is cool enough).

Consiering the advantages that ranged fighers get (i.e. nearly always being able to use their Full Attack), this would seem a good balancer - at least as far as the damage they inflict per arrow (if the enhancement bonus to damage didn't carry over of they could not affect incorporeal foes unless the ammunition itself was not magical).

Thank you.

The Age of Worms took us over two years to run through and we fianlly had the conclusion adventure - Kyuss died though he took racked up six deaths (should have been 7). The party made much use of Wish and Miracle magic, Revifify magic, and had a Celestial Paragon at their side aiding them (as well as the sphere of annhilation).

They barely made it.

They had a fairly easy time of it though Ahlaster - only the Overworm encounter (briefly) and the encounter with Marilee gave them trouble.

What of Lashonna? They had help dealing with her...

Morreto from the tomb of Icosiel (he had a HUGE part in the campaign, his story grew in the telling) had plans for the energies released from the Wormgod's death - but realized that it was unlikely they'd survive Lashonna to get to Kyuss (the Silver Sorceress was READY for them and had pulled out all the stops).

Knowing he'd have to bring in amazing power to deal with her he reached out with his magic to the only entities he believed would be interested: The Dark Powers of Ravenloft.

The powers sent a proxy to contact the PC's and told them that the pressence of Kyuss was too strong for them to get involved directly - they had to help by doing two things: (1) opening a Gate to the Outlands and (2) wishing Lashonna to walk into it.

Happily for the PC's they managed to pull it off, and as Lashonna (to her horror) walked into the portal (I gave her a 50/50 chance of being allowed a Will save - she failed) she was taken by the Dark Powers and placed into her own private Hell - or so they thought.

Now, the campaign epilogue:

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Many corners of the Multiverse have the 'pleasure' of boasting the spetacle of true horror for those unfortunate enough to behold them.

But in one horrible corner of creation, no other place bar (perhaps) the Far Realm, can match the horror of what has taken shape.

Behold a vast and sickly land of towering greenish mountains and yawning chasms filled with green mist. The skies above are filled with writhing and bubbling greenish brown clouds which seem to swirl around a great central mountain tor. A revulsive pal greenish-yellow illumination seeps from the clouds, adding new layers of horror to the myriad of worm-infested abominations that writhe over and burrow through the ground.

On the top of the realm's central mountain stands a giagantic spire of black stone. Green energy writhes across it, almost as if they were giagantic worms made of pure green energy passing across and through the spire here and there. Thunder rolls and blue-black lightning lances down, striking a giagantic writhing green something, bringing an angry roar that dwarfs the sound of the thunder. Kyuss worms then begin to rain down from the clouds above - ever eager to find flesh to devour.

* * *

Lashona, the Queen of Worms, looked out upon her domain from the pinacle of the Spire of Long Shadows. The anger and despaire that had threatned to overwhelm her had passed - replaced with a myriad of darker emotions. Her groom, the great Wormgod Kyuss was dead - slain by interlopers she herself had built up for her own fell purposes. Tools that had become too powerful to control.

Her hands clenched in a moment of rage - her face twisting into something utterly unbecomming for the beautiful elven form she favored.

Thunder rumbled again and more kyuss worms bounced off the windows of her chamber. She smiled at this, knowing that each storm brought new horrors upon the mortals unfortunate to be trapped here with her. Writhing Doom is what she named her domain - and she could feel the anguish of everything in it. She could also feel her power growing with each new transformation wrought by her adopted children.

The laugh of pure wicked glee startled even the most jaded and corrupt of her undead servitors in earshot. Revenge would one day be hers - but now was the time to grow. She knew the natures of the beings that had entrapped her - but they had failed to grasp something fundamental. Ravenloft was a place built to contain death and horror - but she and her children were different.

Oh yes.

The true nature and evil of her children is that they not only required life for sustenence, they were partially alive themselves. And that which lives continues to spread and grow - time was all that was necessary...

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With the death of Kyuss, Moreto was wating to harvest the bounty of divine energy released.

Here is his epilogue (he is served by two NPC's from my campaign, one an ancient Ur-Flan who tricked a PC into giving up his younger body, the other a PC who was utterly corrupted by dabbling in abyssal magics - he cast a forbidden epic spell to slay Ashardalon in a previous campaign).

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With a heavy jerk forward Moreto was thrust out of the crystalline chamber and onto the floor. Lines of green and purple magical energy rolled over his naked pale flesh, causing his long-undead muscles to twitch and writhe. A magical maelstrom continued a moment more in the elevated chamber – the last vestiges of the harvest so carefully cultivated and drawn to this very spot.

Then all was quiet.

The other figures in the room watched with uncertain trepidation – even Moreto was unsure of what would happen when the time came. Moments passed, then one of the senior figures motioned for a cowering human to go forward and check on their leader. The pathetic fellow, a fat and ugly fellow balked at the task.

“He’s dead, I say we get the Hells out of here!” shouted Balabar Smenk defiantly. He had once been the ruler of Diamond Lake not so long ago. Good times, at least until the cursed interlopers came and ruined everything.

“We must know!” said a purple-robed figure in a young, but crackling voice. It was if he believed he was old, and made his voice to sound thus.

Fear gripped Balabar anew – as bad as the interlopers had been, this man was worse. A man of cruelty and evil that Balabar suspected that even Moreto did not understood. He knew his own kind when he saw it – and the thought chilled him to the bone. Fear overcoming reason, Balabar crept forward toward the figure crumpled before him. He could feel the magical power emanating from the figure, a sickening combination of hot/cold that also felt oily.

It all felt wrong.

And then Moreto looked up.

A lifetime of selfishness and cruelty, all personified in the bloated form of Balabar Smenk, came to an abrupt halt in a single heartbeat. Balbar, mere inches from Moreto, suddenly found himself looking into depthless eyes and in this moment he truly knew fear. And then oblivion. In an instant the fat man was erased from existence – the divine power obliterating Smenk body and soul. All from the merest glance.

It was tomorrow – much had changed.

“The Wormgod is dead.” Said Moreto to his fellow conspirators. Of the dozen or so persons who had attended Moreto and his “endeavor,” only two remained. The only two strong enough to survive in his presence. “This is no accident – our Master intended this, and for us to capitalize. We’ve much to do.”

“Our master is one of strange ways – slaying this servant, sparing that. We alone survive from his chosen – it falls to us to complete what has begun” the purple-robed figure said, his young voice cracking with each syllable.

“The Age of Worms was not an end, it was a Means” said the remaining figure, a tall, bald, demonic looking human in black with skull motifs embossed on his ebon robes. “He who sleeps engineered this from the beginning – Kyuss was a pawn, a creature of evil, corruption, and consumption whose purpose was only to serve the greatest of ends. Our Lord’s freedom.”

“The Wormgod’s end shall serve us well” said Moreto, now fully dressed and fully recovered from his ordeal. “Our Lord engineered Kyuss’ ascension for no other purpose than for his harvest – Kyuss was to be consumed, much as he consumed all around him.” Moreto was thoughtful for a moment, then continued. “I believe the Final Event has come, and it is time for us to fulfill His purpose. I propose to liberate the Shothragot.”

Time seemed to stop in the chamber as all three figures locked gazes.

“You know the price that entails!” shrieked the purple-clad figure. “The Suel and Bakluish annihilated themselves in the wake of that vestige!”

“You will squander what we have worked so hard to attain” said the skull enthusiast. “The key to that horror’s prison is your own ruin. You will sacrifice all you have gained – perhaps more – to unleash its madness upon the Oerth.”

Moreto regarded each with his now purple eyes – depthless eyes filled with the power of divinity. “Zelfin, Altrec – long have you labored for the freedom of our Master. You have read the same signs and secrets as I. Do you think it any coincidence that the power necessary to release his greatest servant came into our hands as this time? Do you believe that this might is only here to serve our own ends?”

Zelfin looked horrified at Moreto’s words. “You would sacrifice your newly-gained divinity to unleash a madness you cannot control? It may destroy us all in the process!”

Altrec , however, looked pensive. “Your plan, Moreto, is an enormous risk. The prophecies of the Age of Worms have indeed come to pass – that Kyuss would arise, but be slain in the deed. But you have already shown you can risk and win – your dealings with the Dark Powers of Ravenloft showed this. Pointing them toward those pawns so Lashonna could be removed proved your nerve and the risks you were willing to take. I believe the time is right for what you propose.”

Moreto’s confidence waxed anew – and the corona of his divinity glowed a deep and penetrating purple. It could not be doubted he was the Chosen of Tharizdun – and the one to deliver his god from his eternal prison. “Then let us begin – with this creation’s end shall ours begin. Our Master will unmake all that is impure and wrong with this multiverse – and we shall sit at his right hand to usher in the new reality. A reality of our own making.”

Fade to black.

This is not over….

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What the hell's going on?

Lashonna is going to "break the rules" or Ravenloft - eventually - because the Dark Powers misunderstand the nature of the undead of Kyuss. This is an error that will cost the mortal realm dear in a campaign to come.

Moreto, however, is busy in his task of releasing Tharizdun - he wants to see his Lord destory the universe and remake it in a form more pleasing to the True Ghoul (you'd all get a kick of how this NPC went from 2-paragraph bit player to major power player, much of it with the assistance of the PC's).

Moreto is going to exend the harvested divine energy to free the Shathragot (see the Wizards of the Cost Dragon magazine stuff on it) - which will weaken the bonds of Tharizdun's prison so that Moreto and company has a chance to free him. From there Moreto will let the Shathragot run rapant while he penetrates the deepest valts of the Isle of Cursed Souls to recover the remaining artifacts necessary to accomplish his goal.

This all culminates in a modified version of the Quicksilver Hourglass - with the price of failure the release of Tharizdun itself.

At the conclusion of the Savage Tide Adventure Path our intrepid (and very lucky) band of heroes has slain the Prince of Demons and thrown the already chaotic layers of the abyss into a true malestrom of destructive anarchy.

With Demogorgon slain there is now open and bloody warfare between every faction of the Abyss that wan'ts a piece of his former power - meaning, anyone who is anyone is going throwing themselves into the fray in the hopes of coming out with more than they had previously. In addition, the obyrith species is once agian on the rise - and likely to take the undisciplined masses ot tanar'ri frenzying for a share in the power by surprise.

In short, the Abyss has been turned into a seething couldron of carnage with every side fighting every other side like never before. Demon princes are likely to fall, entire layers are likely to change, perhaps entire speicies of demon will be wiped out (likely replaced by new obyrith species).

And from his dark throne in Nessus, Asmodeous smiles - and sends forth a hellish army the likes of which the multiverse itself cannot fathom to strike the blow that will tip the scales of evil toward Law for all time...

Its a damn shame that Paizo is now "off the job" for Dungeon and Dragon Magazine because the ending of the Savage Tide Adventure Path suggests a beginning of a new Adventure Path: One where the devils finally get their due and our players find themselves pawns in a battle that may decide the fate of the entire multiverse. Aside from the adventure "A Paladin in Hell" - there has never been an adventure (let alone an adventure series or path) that captures the true politics, spleandor, and horror of Hell and its masters.

That's a damn shame - because I believe that the ending of the Savage Tide has presented an unprecidented opportunity to finally involve "The Lords of the Nine" in an adventure path frought with politics, intrigue, betrayal, and double-dealing as only the devils of Hell can cook up. Such an adventure path would also be a fantastic opportunity to present the players with choices entirely unique: such as siding with the "lesser of evils" in making them actually side with the interests of the Abyss (or simply that of Chaos) in order to thwart the tyranny of Hell.

On the World of Greyhawk the perfect setting for jumping this campaign off woud be in the Great Kingdom - where the fate of Ivid V and Rauxes could be explored. The Causeway of the Fiends and the Isle of Cursed Souls could be explored, but most of all: the players themselves would be involved in the politics of the shattered Great Kingdom - the perfect opportunity for "skill-based" characters to shine from the beginning to end of the Adventure path.

Anyway, these are just some post-Paizo thoughts for Dungeon and Dragon Magazine and the direction I believe they could have gone (to the delight of all).

-B

I just got my Dragon 344 and was very disappointed to find that the glue used to stick the Book-club advertisement to page 66 was so strong that it ripped apart the right-hand section of the page.

I've dealt with these glued-in adverts before and pride myself on getting them out without damaging my magazine, but whatever was used for the latest issue SUCKS for we the subscribers.

PLEAS PLEAS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE -NEVER- used this wretched glue again!

Lashona is an incredibly ancient and devout follower of Kyuss the Wormgod. She's also the bitter foe of Dragotha, the original Dracolich and Kyuss' herald on the Material Plane.

So, combining this wisdom and animosity, what would you get?

Hopefully, some good planning...

Lashona's Wish List (or, what I would'a done with that nifty ring of three wishes):

Wish #1: Although Lashona is a Vampire, she's a wuss when compared to other dragons of her age category for one very important reason - like it or not, D&D is a numbers game and any being that has lived for 1,500+ years has to have come to grips with this by now.

So, my first wish would be to upgrade my Bonus Vampiric Dragon Hit Points into the Unholy Toughness special ability.

Ok Dragotha and adventurers, BRING IT!

Wish #2: Few creatures gain in power as they age the way dragons do. Undead kinda do (if they're evolved), but not many undead creatures get to take that template and the benefits it grants are limited. Now, I'm sure Lashona was thrilled to learn she's be sleek, slim, and good looking forever - vampires are vain that way - but she couldn't have been particularly pleased with the fact that any other dragon that manages to live as long as she will pass her up in power. Some 'Bride of Kyuss' she'd be if she had to compete with some trollop of a blue dragon who happened to have the hots for the Wormgod just so happened to live long enough to become a Great Wyrm.

The nerve!

So, my second wish sould be for me to continue aging as a dragon until I reached Great Wyrm status. If I needed any additional advancement I'd start gaining experience points and taking those funky dragon prestige classes in the Draconomnican.

There, biotch, see if any anyone can rival me now! No way am I gonna be content remaining at the same power level for 1,500 years!!!!

Wish #3: Discretion is typically the better part of valor, and in this case Lashona'd be pretty well served to keep this on hand for an emergency. If I just had to use it, however, I'd wish for something like "I wish to receive a saving throw or the appropriate type even against effects that normally do not allow a save" or something like that. That'd keep me alive for a bit against stuff like a Sphere of Annihilation or naty turning effects that instnatly fry undead.

Yeah, that's what I'd do!

I’ve been running the Age of Adventure Path since November and can say with absolute confidence it is one of the finest offerings ever to come out of a Dungeon Magazine. My party and I are enjoying the whole experience thoroughly and eagerly anticipate the AP’s momentous conclusion (though, in all honesty, we’ll be sad when it all comes to an end).

My players are currently preparing to go forth to confront a certain black dragon that had recently laid waste to parts of Diamond Lake so we’re currently far enough into the AP for me to offer some ‘humble’ feedback and suggestions for the editors of Dungeon, at least as far as this AP’s eventual compilation into a hardcover masterwork.

Feedback #1: Encounter at Blackwall Keep was disappointingly simplistic. It was a fine adventure, but it had nowhere near the ‘satisfaction value’ of any of the adventures preceding or coming after it. The lizardfolk siege wasn’t the threat that the author perceived it would be (two fireball spells and its about done). The lair was gratifying but very simple. In the end, the party came out of the adventure with a ‘This was it?’ feeling only to find themselves badly out-classed when they really got into the Hall of Harsh Reflections.

Suggestion #1: I’d strongly suggest re-working Encounter at Blackwall keep a bit to add more meat to the adventure. I’d make the lizardfolk army unassailably bigger (though the skirmish at the keep is fine the way it is, but perhaps it is the tip of the iceberg and the party realized that the swamp’s northern border is now teeming with an army of lizardfolk made up of a conglomerate of the tribes – all under the sway of a certain lizardfolk chieftain who has had the aid of a particular black dragon). The keep skirmish hammers home the fact that bad things are afoot, and the party will need to go in and take out the chieftain in order to break the lizardfolk alliance (and perhaps find a way to negotiate peace between the Free City and the lizardfolk of the Mistmarsh).

Suggestion #2: I mentioned adding more meat to the adventure. One way to do it is to add a chapter to the whole thing. One idea is for a Favored Spawn of Kyuss Druid (and his favored spawn animal companion) is the servant of Ilthane and has been working corruption of his own in the swamps and was using the lizardfolk uprising as the perfect opportunity to begin infesting creatures (and people) outside the Mistmarsh. This would go a long way toward explaining the mention of ‘Unkillable Undead’ in the hills and would introduce the party to the horrors of the spawn of Kyuss a lot better than a sole spawn in the basement of the keep (who was likely slain by the reinforcements who arrived from Diamond Lake long before the party ever got back from the lizardfolk lair). I suggest this to give the party a nice way of accumulate some extra XP and wealth before they head to the Free City and deal with the Hall of Harsh Reflections.

Feedback #2: Balabar Smenk is a character my party loved to hate. The campaign set him up perfectly as the bad guy the party longed to bring down. He embodied the corruption and hopelessness that permeates Diamond Lake to its core and they still take no end of pride in how they brought him to justice. While many DM’s are capable of putting together a nice ‘adventure’ that deals with Balbar’s fall I felt it would still have been nice for us to have more detail and perhaps an mini-adventure provided for this event.

Suggestion #3: Put together a ‘floating chapter’ that can be inserted anywhere in the campaign (though, likely, at some point after the Three Faces of Evil and before the Hall of Harsh Reflections) that deals with Balabar’s fall. I’d suggest detailing how any of the other Mine Managers would go about contacting/helping/using the party for this end. I’d also detail Balbar’s Mansion and what the party would have to go through navigating it to find the damning evidence necessary to get Smenk arrested. I wrote a short ditty detailing just this and my party beamed with pride and wicked glee as Balbar was led off to stand trial for his myriad crimes. They all agreed it was vastly more satisfying than killing him and I agree: they assassinated him politically and that went light-years toward preparing their mind-set for the intrigue of the Free City and likely Ahlaster.

Feedback #3: Kyuss, his spawn, and his depraved worshipers are fantastic foes who will forever have a place of dark dread within the hearts of gamers worldwide. The AP has been rife with new spawn that will horrify and disgust all that come into contact with them, ‘Bravo!’ I say. One thing all my players agree on is the enjoyment they take in encountering and fighting all the new and unusual monsters (as well and some old favorites from years and classic modules of the past) the AP has used. They’re on the edge of their seats once they realize they have no idea what it is they’re dealing with (those octopins were just plain NASTY) and that tension adds to gaming experience as a whole. What the AP has lacked, however, are specialty powers and abilities for the followers of Kyuss…

Suggestion #4: Make the followers of Kyuss stand out (and unusual) as much as the variety of new monsters that the Wormgod has created. Prestige classes, new magic items, unique spells, and the whole lot. Bozal Zahol would have been MUCH cooler had he been something more than a mere 11th-level cleric. Perhaps a 5th-level cleric/6th-level Wormeater of Kyuss? A party of adventurers gets just as tired of NPC’s all having the same suite of spells (resist this, blast that, heal, repeat…) as they are of fighting the same trolls (rend, regenerate, rend, regenerate, repeat…) over and over again. Dress the NPC’s up! The players are taking the time to take up prestige classes, research new spells and magical items, make use of as much material from the Expanded Books (Complete Class books, Complete Race books, etc etc etc) as they can. I say strike back with the devoted followers of the Wormgod doing the same! Likewise, I’d spend zero time worrying about space detailing feats, spells, classes, magic items, etc found in the Complete Book Series (or Libris Mortis, or Draconomnican, etc, etc, etc) within the hardcover Age of Worms book. Some assumptions need to be made and most hardcore gamers will have these books. For those that don’t, put a disclaimer in the forward warning them that the above books were used and that they may need to substitute for some things. Followers of Kyuss just scream “Book of Vile Darkness!” and “Libris Mortis!” (particularly the Corpsecrafter feat tree), use ‘em and enjoy the aftermath!

Feedback#4: This is a bit of feedback that can be aimed at any dungeon magazine adventure, but I figured I’d put it here. Simply put, I’ve found that most D&D campaigns have at least 4 players and sometimes range to 7 (with 5-6 being the majority). These adventures are written to challenge 4 players and are the treasure and ECL ‘payout’ reflect that. So do the adventure encounters.

Suggestion #5: In the ‘Scaling the Adventure’ sidebar I’d suggest the following:
- Continue detailing how to modify the adventure for characters of certain levels (suggestions additional monsters to add/subtract or how many Hit Dice/Levels to add/subtract from monsters and NPC’s).
- Add some detail about how to increase/decrease the treasure (say, increasing/decreasing the monetary take by a certain %, leaving out or adding a specific magic item here or there – this would only be used for particular items) based on party level.
- ALSO: Give detail, along the lines of the two entries above, on how a DM would best go about modifying an adventure’s encounters and rewards based on a larger or smaller party. This would be VERY useful for a number of DM’s who are dealing with larger or smaller groups. The larger groups are trickier, because just adding levels oftentimes just doesn’t translate (particularly when you begin dealing with higher level spells and wicked save DC’s).

That about does it for now. It’s a mouthful, but in my opinion it would help to really round out and improve on the Age of Worms AP when it gets put into hardcover form. I’m sure there are numerous additional suggestions and feedback (and errata) that will be posted as well, but I just wanted to make my suggestions known.

Cheers!

-B

Carrion Pit Area #5: Charlgar the Hill Giant Fighter 10 is listed has having the Greater Weapon Specialization feat.

Greater Weapon Specialization requires that you have at least 12 levels in fighter (see under Prerequisites on PHB page 95) in order to take this feat.

I have a question about the Froghemoth's statistics found at the end of the Champion's Belt adventure:

- Why doesn't the froghemoth have ranks in the jump skill?

Adding up his Jump:
Strength: +12
Racial: +16
Penalty: -6 (for having a movement rate of less than 30 ft.)

This gives our froggy a total Jump score of +22.

However, the Jump skill states very specifically that if you don't exceed the DC of the distance you're jumping by 5 you end up landing prone. That doesn't sound very frog-like.

The frothemoth has 23 skill points to distribute, so it should at least be able to have a Jump score of +23 (reflecting his bonuses and his sole skill rank - which prevents this hoppy creature from occasionally making a fool of itself when it jumps after foes...)

Well, probably not. But you never know!

This is a good clean laugh for any gamer.
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Ok, you'll laugh and cringe, but hey, it's about gamers...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7521044027821122670

Event Five (Second Battle):

The party fights a pair of dwarven barbarians named Pitch Blade. They're fairly tough (must have rolled HORRIBLE for HP, 'cause even giving them 6.5 per character level and NOT giving them max hit points at level 1 would still give them 125 hit points, and their stat blocks give them 120 - ugh!) but I do have one question about them:

1. Why in the name of Moradin did they waste a feat on the bastard sword when they gain weapon familiarity with a weapon of greater power (the dwarven war axe)? The bastard sword does 1d10 per hit and can be wielded in one or two hands, as you wish. The dwarven war axe does 1d12 and can be wielded in one or two hands - and as dwarves they don't have to squander a feat to use it.

You'd think that they'd be better served taking one of the various 'Rage' feats found in the new 'Complete' books (Extended Rage wouldn't be a bad one, but there are still others).

2. Their ability scores seem a bit off for grizzled barbarians who have made it to 10th level. Namely, their putrid strength scores. I'd expect a barbarian of 10th level to have an 18 Strength (at the very least), but gaining this score only after drinking a potion of bull's strength seems like a very limp idea indeed.

Any thoughts on this? Or on their crappy hit points?

Adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons are written so that they are a challenge a party consisting of four players. The 'Scaling the Adventure' section at the end of all adventures in Dungeon Magazine deals with making the adventure more difficult or less challenging based upon the party level. This is nice, I like it, it makes it easy.

Unless.

You are not dealing in terms of party level, but in the number of members in a party.

So, how would one go about scaling the adventures in the Age or Worms for a party of 6 (sometimes 7) players? The group is 50% or more bigger than the party the adventures were written for.

What should I do?

Go with the 'Scaling the Adventure' advice given for higher level parties information given at the back of the adventure?

I'm a veteren DM, but I'm finding myself a little unsure of this situation as I don't want to 'upgrade' the adventure difficulty only to find the party over their head most of the time.

Hello all!

Ok, I figured since I wrote this place up I may as well share it with all. My group finished out the Three Faces of Evil but took their sweet time getting out of the dungeon. The emergence of the Aspect of Evil and the waves of pure vileness it gave off caused a mine riot and the place cleared out. Smenk, who was having the place watched, decided that the players were either unsuccessful (in which case the cults were probably weakened enough to be vulnerable) or had succeeded and were likewise weakened and vulnerable. So, he set an ambush for them outside the mine and waited. Sure enough, the party emerged and Smenk (being a clever fellow) was nice enough to confront the party and to hand over all paper trail linking him with the cult. This was a very tense encounter, but the party eventually gave over (Smenk "generously" let them keep all the loot they cound in the temple) and Smenk departed with the evidence and Ragnolin Dourstone in tow (Smenk intended to turn Dourstone over to the authorities, but not until he gather some quick cash so he coud buy Ragnolin's former holdings).

So, to make a long story short, the party conspired with another Mine Manager to deal with Smenk, and after telling said manager about Smenk's involvement with the cult it was decided that they must regain the evidence they lost and free Ragnolin Dourstone. To do this the Mine Manager called a 'Manager's Meeting' in Blackstone to discuss the situation in Diamond Lake, which the other mine managers eventually agreed to. Smenk couldn't resist a chance to gloat over his rivals and was only too happy to attend.

This left his Estate relatively unguarded, or so the party thought...

10. Balabar Smenk’s Estate

Balabar knows he’s a man of many enemies and the precautions and condition of his home reflects this. In a rough-and-tumble town like Diamond Lake you need to make sure you can take care of yourself, thus he has put a significant amount of time, effort, and resources into making his residence as ‘thief proof’ as possible. This does not mean he put the majority of his resources into keeping thieves out (he knows that is well neigh impossible for an estate as large as his), he has only taken reasonable precautions to prevent unwanted entry. Instead he has put his resources into making sure any would-be thieves do not escape his residence alive. This serves the dual purposes of eliminated an enemy while also leaving his gear to be collected off his corpse.
Balabar Smenk’s residence uses the Inn Map from the adventure The Assassin’s Knot. I am no cartographer (one of my acknowledged weaknesses) so I use what I’ve got. Hopefully you can find said map on your own or bum a copy off some friends. The map was modified in several ways:
§ A 15’ tall stone wall was drawn around the entire estate with only one gate granting entrance.
§ All those pesky secret trap doors in the floor were eliminated.
§ Almost all the windows were boarded up (this particularly applies Balabar’s Bedroom, Kitchen, or the Secretary’s office, which are bricked up and then boarded over. The vault room has no window).
§ I expanded the basement level beneath the Inn enormously, adding a large room to the north that has a secret door on north eastern wall. That secret door leads to a 40’ long hall laden with traps that turns to the south and runs another 40’. Yep, more traps in there too (add the ones you like, I used whirling saw blades trap, the pit trap, the spear trap, the wyvern poison arrow trap, and the collapsing ceiling trap). 25’ down the southern turn there is a secret door in the west wall, which leads to a 20’20 room where Balabar’s real hoard rested. I put said wealth in three enchanted iron chests that were bolted to the floor. The chests were magical items in their own right (they go well beyond merely being ‘trapped’ each having several defenses from blasting multiple living creatures with spells to summoning guardians) and proved impossible to get into – this was intentional on my part, seeing some angst on player’s faces was good and they’ll always be curious as to what was in them! This room also had the evidence linking Balabar to the Ebon Triad set out on a large desk (as well as several items of mean value) that the party made off with and turned over to the militia. This completed the adventure, though they got quite a tongue-lashing from the militia captain for ‘going vigilante’ and violating personal property.

The way I write adventures for my campaign is to put down as many thoughts as I feel I need to remember and then I free form as I go, adding detail where I feel appropriate. Having done this for 20 years or so I find this works well for me, so you may find more than a few details missing from this write-up. My suggestion: copy it onto a word processing document and edit it as you see fit. Consider this my permission to use this in any way you wish/

General Description of Smenk’s Estate
Smenk’s is large but aging badly, the buildings within looking shabby and weathered and poorly cared for. A 15’ wall of new (but poor) construction surrounds the whole of the estate, which is made up of a one-story manor house, a barn, a coral, a weed-filled garden, an outdoor privy, and a very shabby wooden shack for the long-departed gardener. A single double gage made of rusting iron allows entry into and out of the estate. It is always kept open, fulfilling a promise Smenk once made “to always be available to his miners.” A variety of trees and un-trimmed bushes dot the grounds of the estate and long, sickly-looking grass grows everywhere. Balabar evidently feels his money is better spend on other things than property upkeep or landscaping.

Three (who bunk in area 17) thugs patrol the streets and exterior of the Smenk’s estate, warning anyone they see to go away with a sneer and the brandishing of a lead pipe. The walls of the estate are rough and extremely easy to climb (DC 10).
§ Thugs (warrior 2): Use stats for Militia 2 from Age of Worms Overload.

The Manor House
The manor house’s condition is rapidly moving from ‘rough’ to ‘dilapidated.’ Few windows have glass in them and those that don’t are boarded up. Stone can be seen crumbling here and there off the building and the effects of long term water damage is evident throughout the structure. The manor has two entrances, a main entrance and a rear entrance for servants and deliveries.

A trio of dire apes prowl the interior of Smenk’s manor house. These savage beasts have been trained to keep anyone not reeking of Smenk’s personal cologne (a rare and dreadful extract obtained from needlefolk). The beasts have been trained to not leave the manor interior for any reason (though fire or dreadful injury will overcome this training). These savage beasts have the run of the house (with the exception of rooms 9-12). If the apes notice intruders or attacked they howl, shriek, and make a terrible racket easily noticeable by the thug guards nearby.
§ Dire Apes (3),

Ruined Rooms: Doors broken off hinges for rooms 1-7 & 11
This room is a filthy ruin. Bits of animal dung, half-eaten meat and bones, broken glass, dust, and ripped draperies are spread throughout. It looks like only animals have spent any time occupying this room for several years.

There is nothing of value in any of these rooms, though characters breaking into one of them (or searching around in them) are sure to attract the attention of Balabar’s guardian apes. The rooms are each in their own special state of ruin with so much detritus and unmentionable material spread throughout that they are considered Difficult Terrain for purposes of movement. This does not hinder the apes’ movement due to their four-appendage mode of movement. There is no treasure to be had within these rooms.

Room 9: Secretary’s Office:
This room is very much unlike the majority of the house: it is tidy and relatively free of dust. The room contains a roll top desk, a wooden 2-drawer filing cabinet, three chairs, a table, several oil lamps, and an overpowering smell reminiscent of bloody cow urine (characters who have spent significant time around Balabar can make a DC 12 Intelligence check to recognize this as a smell that always accompanies Balbar – it is in fact his personal calogne).

A search of the office turns up the following: 3 ink wells, a dozen quills, 50 sheets of paper, a magnifying glass, a forgery kit with 6 uses remaining, and a jar of Balabar’s cologne with a dozen applications. Within the filing cabinet are records Balabar’s mining transactions: wages, equipment purchases, sales figures, transport costs, etc. There is nothing else of value within this room.

Room 10: Secure Room (CR 6)
This room is built like a vault: it has solid (2’ thick) concrete walls faced with stone in all directions except the roof, which is still concrete but is covered with tiles. The only way in is the locked iron door.
The door to this room is made of iron and is securely locked.
§ Locked Iron Door (Hardness 10, HP 60, Break 28, Open Lock 28). Balabar has the only key.
§ Glyph of Warding (Blast): CR 6; triggers from attempt to open door or failure to pick lock; no reset; spell effect (glyph of warding [blast], 16th-level cleric, 8d8 sonic, DC 20 Reflex save half damage); multiple targets (all targets within 5 ft.); Search DC 28; Disable Device DC 28. Cost: 680 gp to hire NPC spellcaster.

The iron door opens into a bare 10’x10’ chamber. A large 3-drawer metal filing cabined rests against the eastern wall. A flight of stone stars descends into darkness below.

The filing cabinet is made of steel reinforced with stone (to prevent the papers within from burning in case of a fire). The cabinet’s locked and reinforced drawers have the following statistics (Hardness 13, HP 20, Break 30, Open Lock 30). Balabar has the cabinet’s only key. Within the cabinet are the following:
§ Velvet bag containing 100 pp
§ 2 potions of Cure Serious Wounds (5th)
§ 2 Potions of Invisibility (3rd)
§ Bottle of Wyvern Poison (2 applications: DC 17 Fortitude save resists, 2d6 Con/2d6 Con)
§ Accounting books detailing assets, debts, and monthly and yearly sales and profit figures for Balabar’s mining operations. Going over this information takes a great amount of time, though after suitable reading and comparison it can be found that Balabar’s current assets equal 56,750 gold pieces against debts of 64,860 gold pieces – primarily due to Balabar having borrowed funds to purchase mines and to bribe local and Greyhawk City officials into giving him his way.

Room 12: Balabar’s Quarters
This chamber is secured by a locked iron-bound oaken door.
§ Locked Iron-Bound Oaken Door (Hardness 8, HP 40, Break 22, Open Lock 28).

Gaudy opulence and the overpowering stench of bad cologne assails your senses the moment you open the door to this large chamber. Dominating the northeastern corner is a four-poster bed with purple curtains and coverlet. Piles of pillows with frills are heaped high upon the bed’s overstuffed mattress. Opposite the bed on the west wall is a vast mahogany wardrobe and at the bed’s foot is a large roanwood chest. Next to the bed is a marble nightstand upon which sits an empty wineglass. The chamber’s floor is covered by an ornate but worn rug. A half dozen oil lamps are set around the walls of the room, two of which flank a vast mirror that dominates the southern wall.

Balabar keeps little of real value in his bedroom, knowing that any who wished to raid his home would likely make this one of their first targets. His bed and its trappings are bulky and quite normal. The contents of his wardrobe are also of little interest (clothing tailored to fit his large frame and three bottles – with a dozen applications each – of his odious cologne). The chest is only item of real interest within the room:
§ Locked and Trapped Wooden Chest: (Hardness 8, HP 35, Break 20, Open Lock 28)
§ Burnt Othur Vapor Trap: CR 7; mechanical; location trigger; repair reset; gas; multiple targets (all targets in a 10-ft.-by-10-ft. room); never miss; onset delay (3 rounds); poison (burnt othur fumes, DC 18 Fortitude save resists, 1 Con drain/3d6 Con); Search DC 21; Disable Device DC 21. Market Price: 17,500 gp.
§ Contents:
o 1,200 sp.
o Emerald worth 600 gp.
o Amulet of Protection from Arrows (grants DR 10/- against ranged weapons). Cursed! This amulet actually attracts arrows, and the wearer suffers a –15 penalty to AC vs. ranged weapons while wearing the amulet. Can only be removed by having a remove curse spell cast on it by a 10th level or higher caster.

Room 13: False Vault/Prisoner Storage
The door to this stairway descends deep under the earth and ends where a hallway made of carved stone begins. The hallway’s only feature is a locked iron door set into the wall.
This door is locked tight with three locks.
§ Locked Iron Door (Hardness 10, HP 60, Break 28, Open Lock 28). Balabar has the only key.

The door opens into a smallish stone chamber lit by an everburning torch set into the southern wall. Two iron chests, bolted to the floor, are set against the western wall. Laying on the floor near the northeastern corner is the crumpled figure of Ragnolin Dourstone, stripped to nothing but a loin cloth and secured by a chain attached to a ring on the northern wall. Ragnolin is the picture of misery and barely blinks as you study him.

Ragnolin is in rough shape. He hasn’t been abused particularly by Balabar or his men, but his spirit has been crushed with the realization of what he’s done (aiding the Ebon Triad) and the fact that Balabar has made it very clear he’s ruined and that he’ll soon be stripped of all his holdings, which Smenk is currently working on buying for a pittance. Ragnolin sees no way out and only wishes to die quickly and on his feet: he fears dying in prison after a long and brutal term above all else. The fact that he was magically compelled (in part) to aid the Ebon Triad won’t save him: Balabar is gleefully seeing to that. He honestly sees no way out. The chains securing him are held with a good quality locks (Open Locks DC 24).
He knows nothing of what’s in the chests or where Balabar is keeping records of his dealings with the Ebon Triad or recent events in the Dourstone Mine.
§ Locked Iron Chest #1 (Hardness 10, HP 90, Break 30, Open Lock 30). Balabar has the only key.
o 3,500 Silver Pieces
o 10 gold ingots worth 25 gp each.
o Stone of Weight (Loadstone) – Identifies as a Stone of Good Luck

§ Locked Iron Chest #2 (Hardness 10, HP 90, Break 30, Open Lock 30). Balabar has the only key.
o 2,500 gold-plated lead pieces
o Potion (labeled Haste) of Poison. The imbiber must make a DC 16 Fortitude save or take 1d10 points of Constitution damage. A minute later he must save again (DC 16) or take 1d10 points of Constitution damage.
o Ivory-Hilted Dagger +1

Room 14: Guardian Chamber
The secret door to this chamber has a Search DC of 25.
This chamber is entirely lightless.
A continual darkness spell (caster level 10th) keep all light out of this near-empty 15’x15’ stone chamber. Within is a Flesh Golem programmed to attack anyone who does not say the phrase “Mine’s mine” immediately after opening the secret door.
§ Flesh Golem.

If anyone wants to take the time to improve/smooth/fix this little encounter than feel free. My party consists of 6 5th-level characters and this little foray proved to be quite a challenge to them (a dire ape double hitting - one a critical hit- and rending the gnomish wizard is BAD).

Hopefully this proves useful to some of you!

Cheers,

-B

Its amazing how time and responsibility in the real world infringes on your fantasy world as you get older. As a 20-year Greyhawk DM and writer of numerous GH articles for Canonfire! (Xaene the Accursed, the postfest-winning Screaming Column, numerous others) I have to say one of the hardest realizations of my life came earlier this fall when I reconvined our Liberation of Sterich Campaign (beginning the year after the Greyhawk Wars ended) and found that due to life's many pushing and pullings I found I had no energy or creativity left in me to continue forging the campaign.

It wasn't burnout, it was the simple fact that the tide of reality that comes when you are 32, have a family, run a small business, and work fulltime (in addition to a social life) simply left me with no time or energy to dream up and write down the campaign to come. I began to dread Gameday, as my adventures I hastily put together were becomming less and less fluid and I honestly felt my campaigners were being shortchanged. I even began to consider giving up D&D because of the strain and the simple fact that I felt I was letting down my group and the campaign world I held so dear.

Then, happily, I took the time to honestly pay attention to the Adventure Paths that Dungeon Magazine had been publishing. In so doing a light clicked on and I felt inspired to DM D&D for the first time in about two years. All the work was done for me! All the twists, turns, mysteries, betrayals, and carnage that makes any campaign session an event to be excited over! I ran out and bought the Shackled City hardcover (yeah, I had them in the pages of Dungeon, but being old school I just -LOVE- a big hardcover adventure!) read it through and then studied the Age of Worms Adventure Path.

Then came the time to tell the party what was up. Some of members of the campaign (the ones who'd been in it for 15+ years) thought I had hit my DMing limit and was going to just quit for good, others had no idea what to think but had noticed a downhill trend in my preparedness and the passion I put into the game. In any case, the end result was that they were sad to see the Godakin Keep campaign perish but they all agreed that my contiuing to DM Greyhawk, whatever the capacity, was better than nothing at all. After some debate over which Adventure Path to follow (I let them choose, and provided some vauge details about the flavor of each campaign) they chose the Age of Worms.

Let me tell you with beaming pride and happiness it was one of the best 'jolts' my campaign has gotten the past decade! In the span of two weeks we geared up for the Age of Worms (much campaign website updating was necessary) and exicement grew. Then, after a 15-hour Saturday game session the Whispering Cairn and the vile Filge were conquered and everyone sat back smiling after one of the best sessions I've ever run.

Now the campaign is in full swing and our campaign forum is abuz with exicement and praise for the adventures and the energy the campaign is generating. My campaigners are having the time of their lives and I couldn't be happier. The Adventure Path has made my life as a DM wonderfully easy and their lives as campaigners challenging and fun.

So, after the longest lead-up possible, I just want to say THANK YOU ERIC MONA AND DUNGEON MAGAZINE! Your adventure paths are making it possible for me to enjoy doing what I've loved doing for so long. Many of us 30-somethings just don't hace the time to design and write the way we used to, and I'm certain that I'm not alone in my thanks for your hard work and creativity that brings us these fabulous AP Campaigns set in the best campaign world in the multivers: Greyhawk.

Keep up the fantastic work Eric and Co!

-Bryan Penney