bitplayr's page

Agreed. It cracks me up.

I just found out through the local newspaper.

I actually did get to meet Dave, once, for a couple of minutes. He seemed so pleased I knew who he was.

Dang.

Druids make interesting villains, given their motivations and their powers. The very fact that many talented designers have drawn from them attests to that.

Desert-based, which is a nice change. Lots of possiblities here, but Zelicia would have to become more pro-active to be a true villain to the PC's. Otherwise, she becomes more of a crime-boss, someone to deal with rahter than necessarily defeat.

Other than the reincarnation-just-to-become-undead thing, this villain has a great set of motivations and foils. He runs counter to his own goals and either does not realize or does not care - the PC's will have to outthink him, because they'll never outreason him.

Unsure if I would use him, but he certainly has the staying power if I were of a mind to.

While the story may have been seen before, that doesn't mean it can't work. Interspersing this villain through a larger story would add a level of interest if done properly. This becomes an urban character hunt, allowing for non-combat skills and PC's to work the scenes and do the research.

In the end, it will be one or two combat encounters, but some time and energy put into the story can keep the rest of the campaign from being dull.

Subtlety and fun lead the way to ruin and misery!

My players are going to really hate me now.

Certainly someone that could cause a great deal of misery. Later, when confronted, does he use it to become truly villainous? Then the PC's have their own issues of responsbility.

Lots of possibilities here.

Well done, not overdone, and useful. Anything I might add has already been said.

I can see a number of uses for this item in the hands of villains. That evil chasm? NPCs are safe on the other side, but PC's? Evil quagmire for you!

Okay, sure, they could use potions of flying, but how many horses are going to want to drink that?

A line or two of text could clear up any confusion about using it as a weapon - there are other items that specifcialy state they cannot be used for martial purposes. A related item (perhaps designed by the same Cirroc), could be re-purposed for warfare, becoming much more expensive. In that case, the bridge effect would be secondary.

I see a goblin lair with one of these in my future.

Practical, basic... yeah, pretty much what everyone else has said. This is my kind of magic item.

Maybe I missed it, but what's being done with Erik?

Add me to the list, if anyone's counting.

Poor Eligos... it seems he's become the new Kullen (die Eligos die!!!)

I haven't gotten to this yet (just starting a majorly revised version of Hall of Harsh Reflections). I think I am going to change this so that the PC's arrive as the assassins are trying to kill the poor mage, and make them fight to save his life. If he dies, he stays dead. However, my PC's are a pretty capable bunch, so I expect him to be fully alive and gloomy in the later stories.

We just finished 3FoE. I took a page from an earlier poster and broke it up into 3 different locations scattered around Diamond Lake, placing Vecna's temple just a few miles from Blackwall Keep. They have already met the garrison there and Alustan's sorcerer friend, and are planning to regroup there now that The Faceless One has escaped (he summoned the Ebon Aspect to cover his retreat).
Theldrick also managed to escape, but Grallak Kur died gloriously, giving my party it's first character death. My player wants to play Kullen, who is now working on the front lines at Blackwall Keep. He's good enough player that I might let him.

I'm starting 3FoE this evening. I've already changed the ending so that the Faceless One calls the Ebon aspect as a direct summon to cover his escape. They also followed some of Theldrick's followers from the Feral Dog and observed the married Priests in action. I'm not sure how I am going to handle Theldrick, but I don't want him to die if I can avoid it.

The above thread is going to make tonight a great deal smoother.

All it would take is one spoiled rich-kid rogue-wannabe getting past the lantern locks and blown off the ledge to his death for the place to be closed down, and the PC’s hunted for a while. PC’s always do the unexpected, the same with NPC’s. Every so often, the traps reset themselves, too, which can lead to unexpected consequences.

I'm running a party of six.

Between my party's psion using mind-stuff, and the rogue's Gather Information, they found out that Kullen's mage worked for Smenk because he was in debt. They scraped together some money and some of the treasures from the WC, and paid him for the information they wanted, allwing him to cut Kullen out of the prize altogether.
He gave them the location of Kullen's house, a description of what he had seen at Filge's observatory, and information about the Sherrif and his cronies to boot. I plan on him showing up again in the Free City once they get there, now working for the arena owner.
The price is that now Kullen and the remaining two bullies are free to cause problems for the PC's during 3FOE and later, when the party comes back from the Free City.

I started them all slightly above level 1 ECL.

Irkla – Male Goblin Blue Psion2 (Kineticist).
Has a ‘magic act’ at the Emporium
Sister Danetta – Female Human Monk2.
On the run from authorities in the Free City
Vinna Ten a.k.a. Violet – Female Dark Elf Rogue1.
Working toward Shadowdancer
Shev - Male Ork Cleric 2 Domains War and Animal
Backup chaplain for the garrison
Jythian - Male Grugach Elf Scout1/ Sorcerer1.
Hunting Filge for a bounty
Gavin - Male Human Exp1/ Bbn2.
Int5 stablehand based on Xu Zhu from Dynasty Warriors

I DO like the adventure - a great deal. It just seems to me like it would be better placed later in the story, when the PC's have a better idea what it is they are fighting against.
After the beating my PC's got in the Whispering Cairn, they have absolutely no desire to go into another underground enclosure where evil dwells just because it's there. They believe that's what the garrison and other authories are for.
And it gives me a chance to play a villain with a 21 Intelligence against the party for a long time - giving them a greater motivation to work against the Bad Thing.

Good point about party motivation, as well. I may have to move my library above ground, and have the PC's witness strange behavior there - possibly meeting the Faceless One there, and then following him somewhere. Luckily, I have at leastone more week to plan.

The more I read about the story, the more it seems like Three Faces of Evil was premature in the story. Both Theldrick and the Faceless One are much more important to the overall plot than they seemed at first. My party is almost finished with Whispering Cairn, and I am not looking forward to losing two good villains so quickly.

I’m writing up a substitute adventure for the second adventure, one that focuses on a hidden library under the mine instead of a temple. The PC’s will meet The Faceless One, but will deal with some grimlocks while he escapes with ‘hidden knowledge’. They will have to get out of the library while it burns down, and hopefully save a couple books in the process. I haven’t decided how I am going to introduce Theldrick, yet. I am planning on running TFoE later, with appropriate level adjustments.

Because we're children of the computer age, and if it doesn't appear *right now*, then it's late.

I see alot of 'Oh, no, it's different!' in my area, too. Sad, really. For me, gaming is about trying different things and powers.

I use Psionics extensively, and it is a major portion of the powers in my world. Characters must take psionics into account as much as they take magic and faith. They don't automatically have all the answers, and they are forced to take risks that might not work out for them.

Sure, it's a little extra work, but that's my job.

I was amused, but left feeling like more could have been done. The world was too 'clean', and the barbarian too civilized. On the other hand, it was an enjoyable two hours, and I didn't have to go to a theater to watch it.
Sci-fi has certainly shown a high number of far more horrible movies recently. If there is a third movie, maybe it will improve, as well.

I agree, this was an amazing show. I haven't seen it in a while, and I think I need to track it down.

My life has been a bit depressing of late. I could use a good laugh. Ironically, I'm actually goiong to hurry home after work tonight to watch this.

I have a hard time believing that such a low-level spell would replace the entire profession of blacksmithing, myself. The spell should not be allowed to restore the lost 3 points of AC bonus, as the metal to provide that bonus is physically gone from the armor. The spell *repairs* the items, it does not generate new tempered metal. With that loss, the value of the armor would drop, as well.
'Getting creative' is all fine, and I'm a loud voice for encouraging my players to use their heads (otherwise, why do we game?). However, there's a limit.
One of my players will likely think of this. He did something like this in my last campaign. I made him haul that stuff for nearly two game months before he could unload it, and he spent almost half the value on wagons and storage for it by the time he got to a decent-sized city, and two of the items were stolen by a pair of rogues he embarassed in a town on the way. The rust monster made him real nervous.

I also spent a great deal of time trying to find a fixed number for the cultists. Is the number deliberately vague?

I've been working with a homebrew version of the froghemoth, since I couldn't find it anywhere (I thought I was just missing it). Now, it can be official. My players will be *thrilled*.

My campaign borrows alot from Lovecraft, so AoW and froghemoths are perfect.

Later in the adventure, the text says that the lizard folk eat their prisoners - including lizard-men from other tribes. This isn't an eveil act for them - it's their cultural base. They are not human, and do not think like humans.

This doesn't change the reaction from the human (and elf, and dwarf, etc) characters. Remember, they're reptiles.

I'll be converting him to Psion, but my players are just starting WC. It's going to be a while before I get there.

My thought was to have the Faceless One use an 'unknown until now' spell or ritual to substitute Filge for himself when the Ebon Aspect rises. It fits the concept of evil and betrayal that the Triad seems to love so much. The whole thing was planned, including his escape. This especially works if the PC's let Filge live back in WC

There DOES seem to be a great deal of magic and treasure for a 1st-level adventure. I assumed it was prep so the party could survive the Ebon Triad, which is pretty powerful. A few adjustments to both the treasure and the opposition will likely keep my players from doing the same thing (at least, I HOPE so).

Since WOTC has started saturating my LGS with uninspired, brown-cover books, I have been holding off spending any money. I guess I'll focus on my home-brew from now on.