armnaxis's page

It depends on the encounter "level" if you will -

If it's a campaign ending BBEG - No (my PCs will die) and Yes (Though I design my BBEG fight with support, so the party will not be facing just one person the entire fight, so it's unlikely I'll need to do this anyway).

If it's a major sub-plot BBEG - Yes (Although this is critically important, a TPK is a real downer) and Yes (if it's as bad as you say - if the fight literally goes a round, I'll up it to 2 or 3).

If it's a mid-boss BBEG - Yes (It's a mid-boss) and No (If the party one-offs him, he was a mid-boss, so who cares? Party get a feel-good moment of bad-assery).

Then again, I don't roll dice in front of the PCs so I don't have to fudge HP, of all things. If I did, I wouldn't fudge a thing, most likely.

That is a good approach! I personally follow the same general rule, but decide on the fly depending on:

Yes, I agree. My group had enough trouble as it is with Vanthus.

Well I agree with both of you. When I was playing this as a PC a long time ago, we stomped Vanthus; but that was probably due to a supercharged item our DM handed out (pratically free resting + buffing once/day).

I will be careful with the captains. They will see them from a distance; encounter each on their own if and when the scuttle a ship, and in the final battle I will bring on max two only when I feel they can handle a bit more.

Thanks for your input!

I am preparing the crimson sunset part of ToD; alas it's fun but too less piracy for my taste. So I made concepts for the other four captains. They will be either encountered if th PCs opt to scuttle a ship, or in the final battle with Vantus (he needs flanking buddies :)

On a side note, I am running this campaign with pathfinder rules; but the follwing statblocks are by no means detailed writeups.

I regularly hand out paper print-outs of villains; in the stat blocks I have some google search hints to help you visualizing)

Captain THE MAD RED of the Kraken
male human Lich cleric 9 of Tharizdun
(former cleric of the scarlet brotherhood gone mad and rogue)
(picture search google for "crrll2wo")
Ini +5
hp 70
AC 19 touch 12 flat 18; DR 15 blud. + magic, CMD 19
Save: Fort 7, Reflex 5, Will 12
touch +8 (1d8 + 4) + paralyzing touch DC 18
fear aura DC 18
channel negative energy 5d8 DC18
O slay livingm melee tough +8 (12d6+9) DC20
O plane shift, O unholy blight 5d8 + sick DC 19, OO inflict critical wounds 4d8+9, O blindness DC18, OO dispel magic
gear: captain's hat (+2 enhancement to CHA; +4 on ship decks if captain of that ship); scarlet robe (+1 enhancement to armor; +1 res on saves)
cast on self: air walk, freedom of movement, magic vestment

Captain DEATHKISS of the Soulshark
female succubus rogue 3
(picture search google for "4293 epic skarre")
Ini +3
hp 105
AC 25, touch 13, flat 23
DR 10/cold iron or good
Fort 8, Ref 12, Will 11; SR 20
CMD 25
Immune: death effects, electricity, paralysis, poison
2 claws +14 (d6+2) + 2d6 sneak attack
or +1 scimitar +15 (d6+2) + 2d6 sneak
or mw pistol +11 (d8+4)
at will: greater teleport, charm monster DC22, ethereal jaunt, suggestion DC21
OOO enervation, silence, vampiric touch
O dominate person DC23
kiss > neg level

Captain LONGTOOTH of The Hag
male half-orc barbarian 6 / fighter 3
black skin, dreadlocks, gold chain, studded leather armor
(picture search google for "Studded Shoulder Plate Armor")
Raging stats:
Ini +3
hp 75
AC20, touch 10, flat 18; uncanny dodge, CMD 28
Saves: Fort 14, Ref 4, Will 7 (+2 vs fear)
+1 falchion +16/+11 (2d4+12 / 15-20)
gear: +1 falchion, +1 studded leather armor, boots of striding & springing

Captian BLOODCURSE of the Sea Witch's Curse
female human summoner 10 (houseruled)
dark olive greenish skin, black silken robe, crazy eyes
Ini +2
hp 60
AC 15, touch 11, flat 14; CMD 17
Saves: Fort 5, Ref 4, Will 6
mw cold iron dagger +2 (d4-1)
OO dimension door, baleful polymorph DC19
OOO stiking cloud DC18, haste, summon monster 3
OOOO glitterdust, invisibility, bear's endurance (cast), summon monster 2
OOOO grease DC16, mage armor (cast), protection from good (cast), rejuvenate eidolon
gear; lesser metamagic rod (silent); scrolls: obscuring mist, see invisibility, black tentacles; cloak of resistance +1; headband of Cha +2; black wooden idol of demogorgon

Eidolon: Appearance resembles Demogorgon: Large furred biped with apehead (only one), 4 rubbery tentacles
hp 90, AC15
bite +17 (d8+9) & 4 tentacles +15 (d6+4)
grab (CMB +18)

Hi,

due to a recent move, I'm craving for a nice dice throwing and role playing. Pathfinder preferred, but you can convince me about other systems. German or English, I don't care. Age 33. Oh - I only play on weekdays. Tue, Wed, Thu work best.

I'd like to hear from you!

Regards,
armnaxis

awesome, congratz!

Seems the isle is cursed yarrr...

The curse is lifted! I finally got the map.

thanks, armnaxis

Cosmo wrote:

I apologize for the missing map. I will get one sent out to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,
cos

awesome!

Hey Cosmo,

something went wrong. I got the replacement yesterday, but the envelope contained nothing more than an eight-panel poster celebrating the paizo era of Dungeon. I don't even know from which issue this poster is.

What I am looking for, and missing from my order of dungeon #351, is the poster map of the isle of dread: http://media.photobucket.com/image/isle%20of%20dread/ssveter/LarissaVanderb orensMapoftheIsleofDr.jpg
It is a four-panel map.

Could you please once again look into this?

Thanks,
armnaxis

Olaf the Stout wrote:

Edit: Why do you envy me though if you have already run the AoW AP from start to finish?

Again, apologize to Armnaxis for stepping in and answering, but I envy anyone sitting down to run this GREAT AP for the first time as well.

No need to apologize, you pretty much nailed it down.

You can build up that much foreshadowing, tense and sense of urgency; you can give them the feeling of overpowering evil at every corner; you can give them sweet moments of triumph... make it count :)

@ Olaf the Stout:
You say there is a rogue; when I played this campaign even before DMing, our rogue was at least mildly frustrated more often than not. When I DMed, we had a rogue/bard who could seldomly make his sneaks count. Will you use pathfinder rules for sneak attacking? Or help him/her out with items? And please tell him/her to pay attention to his/her willsave :)

Good luck!

A party that is not fully death warded in SoSL deserves to die :) Honestly, they encounter a sword of kyuss early on, can and should retreat to change spell selection, and then return.

Awesome, I envy you. I have DMed the whole campaign from 1 to 22, and it was terrific.

There are certain things you must pay attention to, and this board is your very best friend in this. Search for the titles of every installment, and read up. Many many good advice.

Overall, the right party setup makes the difference. Let them plan their party, and make sure they know it is about undead, among other nasty things. Make them pay attention to: Saves. You won't survive AoW without good saves. Teach them the lessons of teamwork, buffing others, delay and ready.

You should get your head around the WoTC splat books. It is easy for you to say: All of them, all content. But this opens up several severe gamebreakers, and lots of work on your behalf afterwards. My advice: Ban the most obvious nonsense. Open all non-core books "conditionally". Make it a policy to change/ban content that does not work in play; often enough, pathfinder has the right answer, especially in high-level play.

Has there been an update / official comment to Anatagonize?

I'd go with this version:

Antagonize
Whether with biting remarks or hurtful words, you are adept at making creatures angry with you.

Benefit: You can make Diplomacy and Intimidate checks to make creatures respond to you with hostility. No matter which skill you use, antagonizing a creature takes a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. You must succeed at a Diplomacy or Intimidate skill check vs. your target's Sense Motive check. You and your target must be able to see and hear each other, and you must be within 30ft. of each other. You cannot make this check against a creature that does not understand you or has an Intelligence score of 3 or lower. The feat has no mechanical effect in non-combat situations. However, there might be social effects that are up to the DM to decide.

The benefits you gain for this check depend on the skill you use. This is a mind-affecting effect.

Diplomacy: You fluster your enemy. For the next minute, the target takes a –2 penalty on all attacks rolls made against creatures other than you and has a 10% spell failure chance on all spells that do not target you or that have you within their area of effect.

Intimidate: The targeted creature flies into a rage. On its next turn, the target must attack you. The creature can decide in which way to attack you, and it does not have to use it's most effective attack on you. It can include other targets in it's attack, but it cannot target others without targetting also you. If it cannot attack you from afar, it must move towards you. If the creature is unable to reach you, or if it's movement would be harmful for it, it can decide not to move towards you. The effect ends after the creature has attacked you once or after it's turn, whichever comes first. Once you have targeted a creature with this ability, you cannot target it again for 1 day.

I apologize for the missing map. I will get one sent out to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,
cos

awesome!

Hi there,

I just received dragon issue 351; the poster map of the isle of dread is missing. Any chance that it is lying around somewhere in your warehouse?

Thanks,
armnaxis

I do appreciate your effort!

Bothersome Balloon
Aura moderate evocation; CL 6th
Slot -; Price 360gp; Weight -
Description
By blowing up a bothersome balloon, you invoke its magic. It grows to considerable size and fancies concentric patterns. You now have two options: If you tie the balloon and release it into a space next to you, it hovers gently in place, providing you cover. If you aim it at an opponent within 30ft. and then let it go, it flies toward him and importunes his actions. Fidgeting and sputtering, it repeatedly nudges your opponent. If your opponent moves, it follows him a maximum distance of 30ft. While being harassed by the bothersome balloon, your opponent takes a -2 penalty on ability checks, skill checks, saving throws and attack rolls. To cast a spell, he must make a concentration check (DC 10 + spell level). The bothersome balloon becomes deflated at the beginning of your next turn.
Using a bothersome balloon in either way is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. It has 1 hp and hardness 0, and can be blown up only once.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, pilfering hand; Cost 180gp

Kain Darkwind wrote:

:) I'm already trying to merge that adventure into the Savage Tide endgame.

If you find a good way, I would love to know.

+1

I have to second the others; here in Munich, I know of four active pathfinder groups. Probably there are much more, though. You should check doder.org for local gaming.

There is not so much overland travel; instead, you'll be in lots of cities and dungeons. Thus, I'd recommend a dog for roleplaying reaons, however it's a poor choice mechanically. Maybe you sould go for wolf statistics, and make it appear as a big dog (neufundlander or such). Ask your DM.

Starting out at Market:

1)
Thick Crowd (DC 15 Escape Artist)
or
Jump the Tables (DC 10 Acrobatics)

[in south-east direction]

2)
Hidden Passage (DC 10 Knowledge Local)
or
Where's He Gone? (DC 15 Perception)

3)
Hurry up, m'lady! (DC 15 Intimidate) [Fat noble lady on narrow bridge]
or
Jump the Canal (DC 20 Acrobatics) [Failure: Must swim next round]

4)
Over the Fence (DC 10 Climb)
or
Through the Laundry (DC 15 Escape Artist) [lots of wet laundry hanging in an alleyway]

5)
Sorry, Officer! (DC 10 Diplomacy) [At garrison]
or
Going Unseen (DC 15 Stealth)

6)
Eigenfrequency (DC 10 Reflex) [old, swinging bridge]
or
It's not too cold? (DC 15 swim)

7)
Oh That's Tight! (DC 10 Escape Artist) [very narrow alleyway]
or
Where's the Hungry Gorilla's Backdoor? (DC 10 Perception)

AMBUSH

8)
Maze of Alleys (DC 15 Survival)
or
Rooftop Stepping (DC 10 Climb)

9)
A swowly moving cart blocks the way just in front of a tavern

Swing It! (DC 15 Acrobatics) [jump at the tavern sign and swing over cart)
or
Duck and Cover (DC 10 Escape Artist) [roll under cart]

10)
Well in Dead Dog Alley
Grab the Rope! (DC 10 Reflex) [Grabing the well's rope]
or
S$%@, it's Slippery! (DC 15 Climb)

Hi Savagers,

last weekend the PCs ran after the Lotus Dragon thief that slid the note in one of their pockets (TINH); They chased him beginning in the market in south-east direction, ran into the ambush, and after some fighting, continued the chase untill it ended in Dead Dog Alley. It was the first time I tried the chase rules, and it worked like a charm.

If you are interested in the chase obstacles, raise your hand, and I will happily post them.

It's in the skills, I think. Sense Motive, Intimidate, Bluff and Diplomacy are a must. Knowledge (Nobility), (Local) and (Geography) as a bonus.

Bards can cover that easily. Or Aristocrats.

But this is Pathfinder, and everything is possible. Just pick the right traits, and you got the skills.

Thank you all for your input - I'll give it a go with this revised version:

Jaguar Shaman
A shaman with this totem calls upon the jaguar, king of the jungle and implacable predator, master of the jungle hunt.
Nature Bond: A jaguar shaman who chooses an animal companion must select a jaguar (see below). If choosing a domain, the jaguar shaman must choose from the Animal, Strength, Travel and Jungle domains.
Wild Empathy (Ex): A jaguar shaman can use wild empathy with felines as a full-round action with a +4 bonus.
Totem Transformation (Su): At 2nd level, a jaguar shaman may adopt an aspect of the jaguar while retaining her normal form. She gains one of the following bonuses: movement (+10 enhancement bonus to land speed, climb speed 15ft.), senses (low-light vision, scent), or natural weapons (bite [1d4] and 2 claws [1d4] for a Medium shaman, rake, +2 to CMB on grapple checks). While using totem transformation, the jaguar shaman may speak normally and can cast speak with animals (felines only) at will. Using this ability is a standard action at 2nd level, a move action at 7th level, and a swift action at 12th level. The jaguar shaman can use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to her druid level. These minutes do not need to be consecutive, but they must be used in 1-minute increments. This is a polymorph effect and cannot be used while the druid is using another polymorph effect, such as wild shape.
Totemic Summons (Su): At 5th level, a jaguar shaman may cast summon nature's ally as a standard action when summoning felines, and these summoned creatures gain temporary hit points equal to her druid level. She can apply the young template to any feline to reduce the level of the summoning spell required by one. She can also increase the level of summoning required by one in order to apply either the advanced or the giant template, or increase it by two to apply both the advanced and giant templates. This ability replaces a thousand faces.
Wild Shape (Su): At 6th level, a jaguar shaman's wild shape ability functions at her druid level – 2. If she takes on the form of a feline, she instead uses her druid level + 2.
Bonus Feat: At 9th level and every 4 levels thereafter, a jaguar shaman gains one of the following bonus feats: Dodge, Athletic, Nimble Moves, Acrobatic Steps, or Skill Focus (Stealth). She must meet the prerequisites for these bonus feats. This ability replaces venom immunity.

New animal choice:

Jaguar

Starting Statistics: Size Small; Speed 40 ft., climb 20ft.; AC +1 natural armor; Attack bite (1d4), 2 claws (1d3); Ability Scores Str 12, Dex 21, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 8; Special Attacks rake (1d4); Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.

4th-Level Advancement: Size Medium; Attack bite (1d6), 2 claws (1d4); Ability Scores Str +4, Dex –2, Con +2; Special Qualities grab, pounce, rake (1d4).

Bardess wrote:

As for domains, I'd say Animal, Travel, Liberation and Strenght.

And why Run isn't a bonus feat?

I'd prefer something like Darkness over most of those. Jaguars are nocturnal predators evoking fear and superstition. Keep your children indoors after sundown because the night has eyes.

You do have a point. Stealthy as bonus feat might fit as well.

As for domains, I'd say Animal, Travel, Liberation and Strenght.

And why Run isn't a bonus feat?

Animal, Strength - yes. Liberation maybe. Travel? Hm. I'd definitely add Jungle domain, though.

Run is not a bonus feat, because well, jaguars are more climbers / stalkers than runners. They are good swimmers as well, and therefore I included "Athletic".

Why does the Jaguar Shaman have no option to take a domain if she chooses? Or is this simply because you already know the player wants a jaguar?

Yes, that is the reason.

Totem Transformation: First we get movement, which is weaker than the lion's and has a +4 to climb checks. If we're basing this off of the animal companion (which is based off of the Cheetah) then this is probably fine. However, the actual leopard entry is a stronger approximation of the jaguar. This ability should give a climb speed; say, climb 15?

Good point! And fits a jungle druid... Though climb speed is quite powerful, isn't it? Still, I will keep it in mind.

Then we have the attacks, which the lion shaman gives bite (1d4) and 2 claws (1d4). What was the reason for giving 1d6 bite?

Thanks for spotting that! This is an oversight from coying the text from bear shaman...

I think the jaguar in the beatiary is actually a medium size creature under the leapard entry. That being the case I think you should change what you have to "Cat, Small" as well as the statistics.

You are right in that jaguar is a medium sized cat in the bestiary (same statistics as leopard). However, there are some inconsistencies between the bestiary and the animal choices:

Well, I suppose I could just create a new animal choice: medium sized cat, with rake; pounce / grab at level 4.

Mechanics aside, jaguars can get quite big; bigger than leopards, though not so big as lions.

HAIL PAIZO!

This is a major reason why we made the switch to Pathfinder RPG (from 3.5). Thank you! Especially for the Search function! Well done!

What I'd love to see in future:
- Consolidated spell lists
- Consolidated feat overview

The thing is, I now want to have the books as well...

In my starting Savage Tide campaign, one of the players wants to play an Olman druid from the jungle; shaman style. I devised the jaguar shaman archetype; modifying the lion shaman. Feel free to use and critique:

Jaguar Shaman
A shaman with this totem calls upon the jaguar, king of the jungle and implacable predator, master of the jungle hunt.
Nature Bond: A jaguar shaman who chooses an animal companion must select a jaguar (counts as Cat, Big).
Wild Empathy (Ex): A jaguar shaman can use wild empathy with felines as a full-round action with a +4 bonus.
Totem Transformation (Su): At 2nd level, a jaguar shaman may adopt an aspect of the jaguar while retaining her normal form. She gains one of the following bonuses: movement (+10 enhancement bonus to land speed, +4 racial bonus on Climb checks), senses (low-light vision, scent), or natural weapons (bite [1d6] and 2 claws [1d4] for a Medium shaman, rake, +2 to CMB on grapple checks). While using totem transformation, the jaguar shaman may speak normally and can cast speak with animals (felines only) at will. Using this ability is a standard action at 2nd level, a move action at 7th level, and a swift action at 12th level. The jaguar shaman can use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to her druid level. These minutes do not need to be consecutive, but they must be used in 1-minute increments. This is a polymorph effect and cannot be used while the druid is using another polymorph effect, such as wild shape.
Totemic Summons (Su): At 5th level, a jaguar shaman may cast summon nature's ally as a standard action when summoning felines, and these summoned creatures gain temporary hit points equal to her druid level. She can apply the young template to any jaguar to reduce the level of the summoning spell required by one. She can also increase the level of summoning required by one in order to apply either the advanced or the giant template, or increase it by two to apply both the advanced and giant templates. This ability replaces a thousand faces.
Wild Shape (Su): At 6th level, a jaguar shaman's wild shape ability functions at her druid level – 2. If she takes on the form of a feline, she instead uses her druid level + 2.
Bonus Feat: At 9th level and every 4 levels thereafter, a jaguar shaman gains one of the following bonus feats: Dodge, Athletic, Nimble Moves, Acrobatic Steps, or Skill Focus (Stealth). She must meet the prerequisites for these bonus feats. This ability replaces venom immunity.

I guess it's never too late to start STAP, so... please make some old-school pulp hungry players happy and send the conversions to graebsch at gmx dot de.

Many Thanks!

Gimme, gimme!

graebsch at gmx dot de

Thanks a bunch!

To all of you who are posting / emailing your conversions: Thank you!!
To TheWhiteKnife: Good to see you again :) We took a year of and now are starting Savage Tide (Pathfinder rules, but set in Greyhawk).

Thank you all for sharing your experience!

It seems to me that most agree on pathfinder being better for the PCs, and that this change is quite liked by the players.

On the DM - ahem - GM side, there is voiced no big conversion headache other than to make monsters tougher.

Well, my prime directive is to keep your players happy. Pathfinder it is. Now I only have to find a way how to convince someone to play a houseruled conversed disciple of the nine swords, cause I really really like to see this in action...

Hi folks,

What is your opinion on pathfinder vs. 3.5 for the purpose of playing and mastering a whole adventure path?

I have read some pathfinder rule books, and have been lurking in the boards - what i see is appealing, yet I have not had the chance to play and g-master it. Is it worth the effort to relearn if you play only once or twice a month? Is it worth the effort to converse a whole campaign from 3.5 to pathfinder (savage tide)? What are the biggest benefits? the drawbacks?

Thanks for your biased opinions!

I started the campaign in early July and might need to move to a different town next spring. Therefore, I've been carefully editing the adventures to get them as far as possible before I skipped town. This might be helpful to others looking to cut out the fat, so to speak.

Whispering Cairn: I eliminated all of the encounters (wolves, beetles, slasher) up to the abberation, and also eliminated the later beetles and fungus. In my mind, they had little to do with the grand plot. I also had Alistair Land be an obvious good guy so they would spend little time debating whether to help him or not. To avoid TPK, I put one of the Wind Warriors around the air elevator and another one in the tomb itself so the players could heal. They seemed to like this, except it was a little slow before the players finally had an encounter.

At Alistair Land's place, I had the owlbear dead when they arrived. Kullen's gang killed her, but not before Skutch was killed.

Three Faces of Evil: I haven't played this yet, but here's what I have in mind. In the temple, eliminate all rooms except for the room with the statues and the balcony, and the individual living quarters rooms. The statue room will be an interesting challenge - There will be ranged fighters shooting at them, and I'm going to have the mascot charging at them as well. The cleric will have fled the room and will be hiding behind 10 cultists in his own bedroom.

I haven't gotten much beyond that, but I'm restricting the Erythnul battles to 10 grimlocks and the boss. The maze sounds too fun to abbreviate too much, but I will still have to do it. What have people had the most fun with in the maze?

My PCs: Spoiling it for the DM. Im serious: one solid tactic, and the labyrinth becomes a nuisance. Leave it out.

Can anyone give me some suggested tactics for the corrupted ghaele eldarin and sword archons in TSoLS? The eladrin has a massive list of spells and SLAs, and there's basically no guidance as to what they will do (apart from one line about the archons releasing the wormswarms)...

Thank you!

The biggest asset of the ghaele eladrin is his high AC, and his nasty SLAs. Dont fret to let him stay in melee, granting ac of his aura to the archons, while they hack away at troubled PCs. Have him release offensive area SLAs.

Well, we didn't actually roll that encounter. Zeech challenged the PC with the hightest authority score (our bard/rogue/something), and fought to the death. I just described the fight, the Oh's and Ah's of the crowd, and Zeech's demise. We didn't feel like rolling initiative after a 3 hour boss fight :)

Armnaxis did you ever finish AoW? I don't remember seeing any threads (sorry if I missed it). I am curious as to how it turned out especially based upon your ideas in this thread.

Oh yes, we dit. Lots of fun!

First encounter with Lashonna was her + unlife vortex in the basement of the spire - a very tight and momorable encounter because of the unlive vortex sucking d4 levels every round from the heroes ignoring death ward; a puzzle to close the vortex; and the disjoining of her astral projection.

So they met again on top of the spire, Kyuss was already entering the mortal world, but then the sphere hit her and she was obliterated before her plans could become grim reality.

In the end, Kyuss was slain (he had run out of 10th, 9th, and 8th level slots because of his freehanded use of time stop + buffs). Rickas, favored soul of Kord snatched the divine essence and has become demi-god (and is retired - until, one day, he might play a role in the endgame of Savage Tide :)

Cheers!

To that end I advanced her to Great Wyrm and made all sorts of plans.. Unfortunately she ate the Sphere of Annihilation and all my plans kind of fell into ashes :/

All the planning and scheming, and then there is the sphere... This is exactly what happened to me last Saturday :)

I don't regret to have put effort into it, as the conversation in their first encounter was quite interesting, and when they decided to not buy her sweet-talk, attacked and discovered that they had just disjoined her astral projection, they did become quite nervous :)

Endgame is approaching fast; in fact, it's tomorrow.

I have made up my mind, and wanted to clarify for you.

1) Lashonna will try to play the PCs to her advantage: She tells them that in order for her to "gain the form that fate dictates", Kyuss must be slain. She isn't even lying with that. To protect her from destruction in the initial encounter, she has used a scroll of astral projection.

2) Whether the PCs believe her or not, she will usher in the Age of Worms, as prophecy tells (I have added "The undead dragon's rage / will usher in the Wormy Age")

3) The PCs battle Kyuss. Lashonna either helps them (if they believe her), or remains passive (if they don't).

4) Kyuss dies. All present can make ascension checks:
Hit dice + CHA + circumstance bonus.
Ciscumstance bonus:
+5 if creature was involved in fight
+10 if creature has dealt damage to Kyuss
+20 if creature has dealt final blow to Kyuss

Lashonnas total bonus is +48; + eventually circumstance bonus.

5a) If Lashonna wins, she becomes a quasi-deitiy; She takes on Kyuss portfolio, and rules the Age of Worms (unless the PCs slay her - with will be hard, considering that their resources might well be exhausted.

6a) If Lashonna is slain, new ascension checks are rolled.

5b) If a PC wins, this PC becomes a hero-deity (deities and demigods). Lashonna immediately attacks him; but will probably fail. The PC can choose whether to take on Kyuss portfolio, or not (and thus not gaining a portfolio at all; he would have to claim it in further epic adventures).

6b) If Lashonna succeeds in slaying the PC, new ascension checks are rolled... possibly continuing the final battle.

What happens on divine ascension:
- become a quasi-deity / hero-deitiy (rank 0)
- Full hitpoints for every hit dice
- all spells replenished
- some other nice boni (look in deities and demigods).

you dont' have some pics of your players' faces during the revelation, do you?

I really wish I had... you know, the Paladin was even hoping of getting romantic with Lashonna, as she had played it quite nice: After LoLR, they were worried about her since they could not contact her, to the point that they assumed murder/abduction, broke into her mansion, and interrogated her staff. Later during KoTR, she sent him (the Paladin) a sending, that "my dear paladin" should not worry, and all would soon be well.

I guess you and I are in a race to see which group finishes first! Time to completely pimp my Kyuss!

Above all: Congrats; I will cherish this encounter as a hallmark of my DM career, and so will probably you :)

The race to Kyuss is on! We will play again this coming saturday - our last session, as one of the players will move away. Thus I will have to make heavy cuts from DoaNA (I will leave out Lashonnas dungeon and place the unlife vortex under the new spire).
As far as pimping K,
- I will rely on the antimagic field trick in the beginning - you know, the sentence "Deities and artifacts are unaffected by mortal magic such as this" has ever since gnawed on me :)
- I have given him three unique epic spells
- He has multispell and advanced spell capacity to quicken two harms / rd.
- I'm still pondering the idea to give him access to spell stowaway: time stop...
- Oh, and Kyuss will not be gimped by fighting despair and/or destruction of the unlife vortex, but psssht, keep it quiet :)

Last weekend my group finally encountered Dragotha, and succeeded in slaying the original undead dragon, Dragotha the First. This is a report of their battle.

Campaign / Material:
- 3.5, core with very few restrictions
- some changes on high-level spells (gate, mordenkainen's disjunction; similar to pfrpg versions)
- spells from SC and other books under individual consideration; some in (revivify), some out (death pact)
- Feats from Complete series and PHB2: most allowed
- High recommendation for alternative class features from PHB2 and other late 3.5 material; in fact, almost every PC has taken one
- Items from Magic Item Compendium quite conservatively approached; though some unique effects for "Tensers Gifts" allowed

Party roster:
Emrys, female human Ranger 15 / Homebrew Ranged PrC 5; minor artifact bow, favored enemy undead, low Will save
Galliard, male human Bard 7 / Rogue 3 / Homebrew roguish bard PrC 10; low attacks, low defense, much-needed inspire courage, some tricks up his sleeve
Grimmig, male dwarf Fighter 20; greataxe
Rickas, male human Favored Soul 10 / Homebrew kord-chosen PrC 10; bufficer and luck feats, greatsword just-in-case
Pallas, male human Paladin 15 / Wormhunter 5; wields Sword of Aaqa, lots of divine and smite-related feats
Sama, male half-elf Sorcerer 10 / Fiend-Blooded 10; "the many-blooded": Celestial feats and fiendish PrC. And half-elf. Spell-list just as versatile (with a slight nod towards battlefield control)
Arexis, planar bound ghaele eladrin, armor added

Changes from adventure as written:
- Bucknard's items did *not* provide the additional benefits vs. Dragotha: Neither +10 to attack, nor +10 to saves, no nothing else besides the initial benefits when found.
- Changed Mahuudril to avolakia Cleric 21 (of Kyuss). Domains Magic and Death. I sort of needed a high-priestess :)
- Changed Venk to Warlock 20. Signature move: Beshadowed Doom.
- Dragotha had Arcane Strike instead of Maximise Spell. Quicken Breath instead of Clinging Breath.

Adventure progress so far:
- Venk and Zyrith have been avoided by PCs, thus they joined Dragotha
- Mahuudril fled the initial encounter via refuge to Dragotha
- Wormdrake fled the initial encounter via teleport to Dragotha
- All avolakia clerics have been killed

Buffs prior to encounter:
Party in general: astral projection, fortunate fate, death ward, fly, mass conviction
Rickas: divine power, freedom of movement
Pallas: freedom of movement
Other minor buffs.
Dragotha: As written + protection from spells
Mahuudril: protection from spells, freedom of movement, spell turning
Venk / Zyrith / Wormdrake: Nothing special

Status:
Party: Resources somewhat depleted (no rest since entering the tabernacle of worms)
Enemies: Full health; Mahuudril lost a few prepared spells including mordenkainen's disjunction on the first encounter

***************************

The Tale:

After quite easily defeating the three wormcrawlers, the Diamond Knights venture further; Pallas as always going first. He is the first to be awed by the sight of Dragotha sitting on top of the ziggurat; the wormdrake standing guard in from of him, while Mahuudril and Venk/Zyrith observe from the ledge. Dragotha, much to his surprise, adresses him:
"And there finally comes the lapdog of evil visiting his grave"
"Lapdog of evil? I have come to destroy you and halt the Age of Worms!"
"No you have not. Think: Why are you here? What is your goal? And - who sent you here?"
"I am here because the prophecies speak of the undead dragon that is to usher in the Age of Worms, and so you will be destroyed"
"And the prophecies are right, whereas you are wrong! The prophecies do not speak of Dragotha, and they do not speak of a dracolich. Thus I ask again, who sent you here? I know the answer already: Lashonna! Is this not true?"
"Yes, and she is a proud silver dragon and a great ally."
"Bwahahaaa, so she fooled the fool. Don't you see it? She is a vampire dragon, long ago transformed by none other than Kyuss himself. While you were causing trouble in the Rift Canyon and here, she stole his monolith."
"I... no... "
"Leave my abode immediately, or serve as wormfood. I will count to five. 1... 2... 3..."

Pallas rushes back to his allies, who have used the opporunity to buff a bit (Rickas: mass spell resistance, Galliard: inspire courage, Sama: quickened haste + time stop + spell turning & move + displacement & move + project image & move + ready action: mordenkainen's disjunction on all enemies timed to go off as time stop runs out [We ruled this legal; your mileage may vary]. The disjunction removes all buff spells but failes to affect any magic item.

Initiative is rolled.

Round 1:
- Zyrith and Venk fly past the projected image of Sama; using beshadowed doom and a flyby attack to little effect (and both not making the Will saves to disbelief the illusion)
- Dragotha breathes his death wind into the party's faces. Thanks to death ward, there is very little effect; only Galliard is blown back a bit.
- Emryss uses her bow's special ability to invoke a "lightning ice storm" (call lightning + ice storm); Venk falls of saddle in the process [I deliberately added this effect to enhance the impresson of the bow's power which was used for the first time, because I didn't think that Venk would do much of a difference anyways, and because, well, I thought it was a cool effect]
- Rickas uses a bead of karma.
- Mahuudril recasts protection from spells, now including all except Zyrith and Venk. Too bad her mordenkainen's disjunction has been spent already!
- Galliard casts fugue (SC), affecting only Zyrith and insinuating that he should attack his hearest target: Venk, who is subsequently grappled. Hooray for the bard who just neutralized two opponents!
- Grimmig flies towards the ledge, drawing a successful attack of opportunity from Dragotha; failing his Fortitude save and thus ending his turn paralyzed. The aghast party registers the truly deep wound just one bite of Dragotha inflicted and painfully remembers that they have been told of the danger of paralysis.
- Sama casts quickened orb of cold on Mahuudril to no effect. His meteor swarm fails to penetrate Dragothas SR, but the other meteors inflict some damage on the Wormdrake.
- Pallas calls his combat spirit (alternate clas feature) and uses divine shield (only a move action thanks to a unique shield that was gifted to him from Tenser for turning in the rod fragment)
- Arexis casts plane shift on the Wormdrake, but to no avail: The area is dimensionally locked!
- The Wormdrake full attacks Arexis, landing some hits.

Round 2:
- Dragotha full attacks the paralyzed Grimmig, ripping through all his hit points including those granted by fortunate fate, thus ending the astral projection. Grimmig finds himself unbuffed in Tenser's castle.
- Emryss full attacks Mahuudril with her deadly arrows, inflicting 268 points of damage. 6 left.
- Rickas casts flame strike on Mahuudril, killig her.
- Galliard continues to concentrate on fugue, thus inflicting damage on the grappled Venk through Zyrith
- Grimmig drinks a potion of fly and is wondering about his options, and whether the others would join him in defeat.
- Sama casts time stop + acid fog (on the area the wormdrake, Zyrith and Venk were in) + some minor buffs + moves + readies a otto's irresistible dance on Dragotha to go off as time stop runs out. He failes to overcome his spell resistance! And is now standing right next to the gargantuan dragon. The panic on the sorcerers face is all to well visible.
- Pallas moves forward and activates sun devotion (feat from complete champion).
- Arexis moves back a bit and casts disintegrate on Dragotha, inflicting 5d6 points of damage, slightly annoying big D.
- The Wormdrake cannot move due to acid fog, forgets his ability to greater dispel it, and thus full attacks close-by Zyrith who apparently went rogue. Zyrith is down to a few dozen hp.

Round 3:
- Dragotha full attacks Sama, whose displacement grants him concealment, and shreds the sorcerer to pieces. But, behold, fortunate fate activates, and after two futher attacks from Dragotha - Sama lives! He has 13 hp left, and cannot believe his luck. Dragotha smiles and obliterates his astral projection with a quickened fire breath.
- Emryss full attacks Dragotha and inflicts moderate damage. Very uncommon for her, only few of her rapidly shot arrows strike true! Worse, she fumbles [critical fumble deck] and receives a bad injury to her arm! Dragotha down to about 650.
- Rickas casts mass heal, failing to penetrate Dragothas SR, but healing Zyrith (!) and Arexis in the process, and curing Emryss.
- Galliard continues his fugue; and thus Zyrinth finally kills Venk.
- Grimmig and Sama greet each other, far away in Tenser's castle, and begin re-buffing.
- Pallas moves towards Dragotha, the dragon's opportunistic attack fails to hit the brave Paladin! He returns the favor with lay on hands and inflicts 135 points of damage! [Does SR prevent lay on hands? I ruled that no, since there is no caster level] Dragotha down to about 520.
- Arexis fails to inflict damage to Dragotha with something I forgot. Probably a heal spell.
- The Wormdrake inflicts some damage to Zyrith.

Round 4:
- Dragotha is a bit unsettled by the damage taken, but as he has more than half his hp left, and there is a Paladin standing right in front of him, he full attacks with arcane strikes that use an 8th level slot. He inflicts murderous damage, well over 300, but the Paladin's good health and fortunate fate leave pain-wracked Pallas at 30 hp.
- Emrys, facing a very hard to hit target, does not use rapid shot. The plan is good, the result even better: She hits him four times, inflicting 209 damage. Dragotha down to about 310 hp. He becomes a bit wary; it does not go according to plan.
- Rickas buffs himself and moves closer.
- Galliard continues the fugue. The wormdrake takes only a few hits from Zyrith.
- Grimmig and Sama continue their preparations to return.
- Pallas, deeply wounded, stands in front of his nemesis. This is the enemy he believes must be killed in order to prevent the Age of Worms! Or so he thought only a few moments ago... What is real? What are the lies? He finds comporture, and focuses on the task at hand: Kill Dragotha! Survival is optional! Recklessly, he neglects self-defense, withdrawal or healing. Instead, he full attacks, smiting each time + divine might! All or nothing! Life or Death!
His fate is resolved: 17 - Hit! 18 - Hit! 19 - Critical hit! [Automatically confirmed due to bless weapon; ability to critically hit undead thanks to Wormhunter PrC] 18 - Hit! Four strikes hit! The Sword of Aaqa inflicts extraordinary amounts of damage to the mighy dracolich, each one marrying his old bones. The final hit is enough - Dragotha falls, his skeletal figure falling apart, and turning into age-old dust even before hitting the hard ground. The First Undead Dragon is no more.

************************

Lessons Learned:
- I forgot Dragothas paralyzing gaze. Make sure you don't.
- Weaker monsters (e.g. Zyrith, Venk) are a liability, especially if the party employs mind control
- Fortunate Fate is too good a spell. I had previously increased it's level to 8, but still - the duration is so long that it doesn't matter. I will rule it out, or revise it's duration. 1 min/ level seems a good idea, since then the caster has to decide whether to spend the slot (and on whom).
- A paladin optimized for fighting undead is truly a remarkable force. As is a ranger optimized for fighting undead. Consider this when comparing the power-level to your group. And remember that mine has six PCs, so be careful not to overdo it.
- Battlefield control is good! Don't forget the Wormdrakes ability to greater dispel at CL20 at will to undo some of it.

How to make it even harder:
- Change Dragothas spells into good buffs [which would have been moot in my case]
- Add a level of sorcerer to Dragotha: 9th level spells. Foresight is a good idea.
- Let him use some of his equipment; for instance, his Cha bonus is superb, so that he could profit well from the wishes granted by the talismans of Zagy. The prospect of a CR27 Dracolich having some wishes at his disposal is appealing...
- If you steal the idea of Mahuudril beeing a high level Cleric with the Magic domain, make sure that she has a mordenkainen's disjunction left, perhaps on a scroll. Of course, that depends on your ruling of MDJ. The 3.5 core version would be outright brutal.
- Give Dragotha an antimagic field. I reserved this trick for Kyuss...

Have you experienced this?

What have you changed, if anything?

My answer is two-fold. No, the AP ist quite hard, and offers many encounters that can provoke a TPK. An yes, it is an easy walk for the PCs most of the time.

Part of the reason lies in "specialization". AoW is quite "themed": Undead, undead, and to a lesser degree, evil outsiders, aberrations and dragons offer the bulk of the tough monsters. True, there a mooks of every creature type, but the tough ones, the ones that should matter, are most often of this narrow group. Now, if your players are smart, and/or adapt well to the campaign (a plus in my book), they will easily defeat the biggest threats. For instance, my PCs (now at level 20) have a dedicated undead-killing ranger, plus a paladin, plus a sorcerer with "energize spell". Most have holy weapons. They alway buff with death ward, and have invested heavily in CON-boosting equipment. Thus, undead monsters go down approx. twice as fast as non-undead, and most of their special attacks are wasted. Most chaotic evil beings are easily dealt with as well. One of the last memorable (very close) fights they had was thus vs. a living, non-chaotic, non-evil giant. Dragotha (CE undead) will suffer greatly, I fear... Thus I have taken a habit of extra-reviewing feat & spell selection, defenses and tactics of undead bosses: Get mooks or spells to dispel death ward; heavily invest in AC; kill the cleric first.

The other part lies in splat books, as others have pointed out. E.g., "Mass Conviction" looks like a good idea at first, but seriously hampers all spellcasters; it's a DMs curse. You can counter this a) by controlling access, b) by allowing rules only preliminary until you have seen them im play, c) by applying spaltbook goodness to monsters as well. All of which is a lot of work - but you will learn a good deal about the game and it's rules, and it allows your players to flesh out their characters (which exacebates the specialization problem).

TheWhiteknife, we seem to progress all along... in our next session, it's all about Dragotha as well. What goodies did you give him from the splats? Fyi, I just toned down Bucknard's fragments a bit (+5 on saves, +10 on attack, cannot be traded more than once a round), and have rewritten Mahuudril to 21st level cleric (Death and Magic; which means disjunction to counter astral projection). Would love to hear your approach!

Whoa Callum! When did you level to cleric 17? You just cast true resurrection on this thread? :)

WOOOOT! With these boards, you have all the power and inspiration a DM can ever dream about. Welcome!

Glad I spent 4 hours re-tooling Thess. grumbles

Ugly! I feel sorry for you. And I begin to really appreciate the fact that my group does not have a radiant servant (or cleric, for that matter). IMC, Thessalar got off many 10th, 9th and 8th level spells (upped him to 21st level; chained disintegrate and other niceties), and in doing so, he was telling them meticulously what he had invented. They really felt that they'd done a great deed when he was finally gone ("oh no, not for the seventh time", as he put it). God, I love that campaign...

Good luck with Zulshyn! She's so damn freaky. I got much inspiration by watching Barbarella...

armnaxis wrote:

They had lots of their resources depleted, as they didn't want to risk resting with the dragon army advancing.

If three (9th level) mass heal spells left over is "depleted," I'd hate to see them at full strength. Were they 20th level?

They levelled from 18th to 19th just before opening the door, and I ruled that they'd gain access to their new spell slots. The Favored Soul/Chosen of Kord (homebrew PrC) thus gained access to 9th level spells right before the battle, and used all his daily castings on mass heal. The sorcerer, on the other hand, took his last level in Fiend-Blooded ('loss' of spellcasting level), and had, besides 3rd level slots and lower, only one 6th level slot available - which he used to successfully disintegrate the phylactery. He was pretty much useless afterwards.

At full strength, they are quite formidable, but alas, that's just the way it is at this level. They are even a bit below treasure curve, and have mostly good but sane builds, nothing crazy. Still, spontaneous divine casting does make a difference (at the price of turning mechanics, which would lead to other headaches).

armnaxis wrote:

We'll see how that goes *evilgrin*

Well, how did it go? Must tell!

Finally, the party encountered Brazzemal. They had lots of their resources depleted, as they didn't want to risk resting with the dragon army advancing.

Lineup: Rickas (Favored Soul), Pallas (Paladin), Galliard (Rogue/Bard), Sama (Sorcerer). With very good diplomacy, they had secured Kargo Thundersmiters help, Vercinabex Tor was charmed, one Raam undead controlled, and the other taken over by Sama with magic jar.

Brazzemal was buffed big time (AC 55, mirror image, cold immunity, better attacks, true seeing, ...), and shocked them with a dispelling tempest breath, obliterating Vercinabex Tor and dealing lots of damage to the Paladin and the Favored Soul. Spallcasting Harrier proved to be very effective, especially vs. the Favored Soul who initially wanted to go into melee. A ring of counterspelling saved him a full precious ruond with all buffs up. Pallas would have died about four times would Rickas not have cast Mass Heal three times. Brazzemal employed tactics like bull rushing Pallas and Kargo out of the opening into the Rift Canyon, and dropping opponents after a grapple is spaces that let him move as he desired. After 8 (!) rounds of combat, Galliard was fleeing and tried to get reinforcements, Pallas dead on the Rift Canyons bottom, Kargo falling downwards, Sama without spells and flying outside to get Kargo back (who had dealt quite a share of damage), and only Rickas left standing. A charge with his holy greatsword luckily connected critically, and took away the last of Brazzemals 60 hitpoints, who was just about to heal himself. Very very close to TPK. Excellent session.

Spellcasting Harrier, good buff spells, and ring of counterspelling were key here. Could well have ended worse though, so apply cautiosly - or not :)

The party I DM for in AoW has a bard, and yes, his inspire courage is a great boon to the players, and thus he uses it in almost any fight. They have been saying that thanks to this ability, he becomes the "damage leader", if you'd add up all the extra damage the others do for hitting harder and more often. I tend to agree, although status effects are even more important in higher level play (Otto's, for instance). Still, I'm ok with that. This is what teamwork is about.

Now, he "only" adds +4/+5, and this is at PC level 18. (He has multiclassed a bit; and Tenser has given him a magical elixir that adds +1/+1 plus +1 sonic damage as a reward for the piece of the rod of seven parts). The numbers you give are the same, at level 5, thus surpassing other available buffs by far. And this is a problem. If inspire courage is the only buff that matters, the players can start the paingiving right away, don't have to rely on other buffs (which cost actions), positioning, and maybe crowd control. In essence, it gets boring.

So I would, in your case, restrict the available feats/spells/items your bard can use. Role zero that they don't stack. Or that only two stack. Or that stacking requires extra daily uses of bardic music. Talk to the player, reason that his super-inpriration is cool, but will make play boring in the long term (as the others don't have to resort to their extra abilities), and ask him what he would like to change. Then make an agreement.

This may seem contraintuitive to "rule persistency", so I'd like to add a little reasoning here. When I started DMing, I thought that by telling the players which books are "legal", I'd save myself time and trouble. Boy, was I wrong. The reverse is true. We now play by the general rule that core is ok and other things have to be approved on a case by case basis, and that I can even rule out things we tested in play. For instance, I allowed a player to pick death pact (SC), and we played a session. After seeing it in action, I ruled it out, and general concensus was that I did rightly so. I even changed some core spells (disjunction, gate), and everybody is cool with that. I have learned to never underestimate a player's sense for fairness and balance. In the end, DMing is about mutual trust, and this stems from the mutual agreement that playing should be fun (not boring).

I made a point in that they have to find the phylactery before the dragons, and that these would not stop for resting. The difficulty of this adventure thus lies in resource management. Etherealness can help, but once you are ethereal, you cannot interact with NPCs, let alone pick up the required keys. So yeah, a good start, but whoe the the party that has spend all their high level magic when Brazzemal shows up. With all other dragons supporting him.