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Session 2's notes on trying to escape the prison.
- The rogue hear the guards conversing and badmouthing the current king and his daughter, and comparing him to The Zealot, and how the daughter will likely be even more soft then her father because she's a woman. They send the rookie to get firewood and get the servant to help. The younger guard doesn't want to freeze while taking over upstairs, and figures the fireplace will be out of wood by the time he gets up there.
- The rogue informs the group what's being said, and the tiefling comes out of the office and hands the papers to the guards who question who they are. Concerned about what they read, they agree to come into Blackerly's room. The group bring them in and show them the papers that implicate the sergeant. The guards immediately accept things, and carry the sergeant out, who's been dressed in prisoner garb.
- The erinyes/succubus and infernal human cleric stay behind to disguise Grumblejack before following after them. The story is that once he's disguised, with his own documents, he was to get the "prisoners" and walked into the prison to get them. His name is Jack, for simplicity sake.
- The rookie comes out of the main hall and questions what's going on, but the older guards tell him to continue on with his original orders.
- As they leave for outside, the guards tell the rookie to get the belladonna for Grumblejack so that they can weaken him some more.
- The rogue tries to get a sample by telling the rookie that the plant didn't look too healthy. The rookie calls his bluff, but the tiefling tells the rogue to stop hazzing the rookie, and it is left at that. However, the rookie is suspicious.
- The PCs notice that there's a drunk guard in the garden. They comment on the drunk and mention that this place better clean up before the inspector comes in two days or heads will roll. This causes the two older guards to stiffen up
- A few patroling guards come to check things out, and they too read the papers that were forged. Concerned for their well being, and afraid of being implicated, they wish to go with the PCs to see the warden. The PCs send the guards away, and tell them to do something about the drunk guard on duty by the garden.
- The older guard gets the wizard to open the door after mentioning that an urgent situation has come up and requires his direct attention. He grumbles, unlocks the door, and they go up the stairs.
- As they enter the tower, they realize that the first floor is full of banners, one of which is actually something rather Asmodeun, and the wizard realizes that Branderscar Prison, is Castle Brand, the place that was given to the Hellknights (brought that into my game as per the suggestion of "Jared Rascher") 100 years ago, in order to establish their own native order, the Order of the Brand. However, it had been wiped out by Markadian I almost 30 years later.
- They enter and talk to Richter. He takes the paperwork from the tiefling and questions the possible existence of such a group being allowed to exist under the current regime, especially under Solomon himself. However, he's willing to accept that Blackerly might have done some under handed things, and asks that he be allowed to interrogate him. They're allowed to watch while he does it.
- The Warden pulls out elven truth wine (Dragon 280) and a vial of cure serious wounds. He heals the sergeant to full, and lets Blackerly know that he's in major trouble right now and to not disobey his interrogation or else there's going to be an exemplary amount of trouble. Blackerly realizes that position he's in, and accepts what must be done.
- After the wine is drank, and various questions are asked, the Warden realizes his mistake in blindly letting Blackerly take complete control of the prison for this long, without once checking in on him. All that was left was to thank the PCs for bringing this to his attention, however, he wanted to know a few things. Namely, how did they get out of their cells? The group points to the disguised Grumblejack, who shows his own set of forged papers, and explains that he had a key to the cells. With the official paperwork, he'd been able to just walk through everything without anyone questioning him.
- The Warden knew full well that the tiefling and the half-dragon had been brought in for fraud and forgery, and decided to test just how far they were willing to take the lie. So he confirmed with the group that it was Grumblejack who walked passed the gate. Who had the key. Who had released them. Very well then. Then it was HE who'd know the password to enter the complex and get passed each of the guards. It was then that the PCs realized that they were in trouble.
- The guards pulled out their longswords and Richter cast Hideous Laughter on the group. Unfortunately, only the two rogues fell into fits of laughing, and fell to the ground. Everyone took up arms as the Warden kicked an alarm button, alerting all of the guards in the prison to come to his tower.
- The erinyes/succubus watched the stairs as the tiefling wizard and cleric started firing blasts at the wizard.
- Blackerly pleaded with Richter and the guards to let him go. That he'd fight on their side, and they could negotiate is sentence later. It was agreed, and they released him, giving him a dagger to take on the PCs.
- The tiefling got off a lucky shot of Color Spray, and everyone except the warden was taken out. Blackerly, unfortunately, was still stunned for a round.
- The PCs poured it on, and due to more than a few lucky rolls, took out the guards and warden in a round. Blackerly took a bit more work, but Grumblejack and the half-red dragon was able to eventually deal enough damage.
- The immediate concern was the erinyes/succubus yelling out that they had a bunch of guards charging up the stairs.
- The PCs sent Grumblejack to the stairwell, and had him stand in front. There were 16 guards and two dogs coming up towards them. Some managed to get passed the ogre, but all that did was put them in a direct path for the cleric to use his "evil only" energy channeling, taking them down a slight peg.
- The tiefling used up the last of his spells with sleep, and blocked off the top of the stairs, allowing Grumblejack to coup-de-grace from 10 feet away.
- Between the half-dragon's cone of fire, the negative channeling, and the sleep spells, the party eventually managed to take out a majority of the guards that had come to do battle with them.
- Only one of the guards managed to escape, and get outside to warn the rest of the prison about what was going on.
- The two rogues came together, and with the help of the oracle, finally managed to get the alarm to stop.
- They looted the bodies of what they could, but know that they've still got to get out of the prison. They have no idea what's waiting for them outside, but they do know that there's going to be an ambush of some kind. The worst part being that they've got no idea where it'll come from.
Again, the PCs rolled well when they absolutely needed to, and my rolls sucked the big one. Any time I needed to save against a poison, it was always a natural 1. Those poor guards had practically had no Con left.
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Has anyone come up with how to properly elaborate on the Hellknight Order of the Brand, any? The anti-paladin's considering it greatly. For a favored weapon I was thinking of "greatsword or heavy mace".
Being a game all about the devils, should taking out a devil of higher HD still be a prereq? Wouldn't a demon or a lawful good outsider make more sense in this respect? I know I have to already remove the "witnessed by another Hellknight" part because there won't be one. Reckoning be branding someone with the forsaken poker?
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Wolfram can be the Hellknight witness if you need/want to have one. Other than that, I'd say that either a LG outsider, or a member of Mitra's church.
Well the devil's there to test you, not as an ENEMY-enemy. It'll certainly do its damnedest to kill you, but it's all in the name of winnowing out the weak and foolish, nothing personal.
Snowheart,
Thanks for taking the time to write a review and thanks very much for your kind words.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I have some doubts about Lord Havelyn :(
My group is going to have the final battle against him this sunday but
I'm not sure about this, however. My group is lvl 5, but they are almost without resources. Casters don't have spells left (Magus can recover 1 first level spell with a pearl of power, the Wizard can use his bonded item, and the summoner and inquisitor can cast 1 extra spell each), and they don't have many resources left (arcane pool, judgments, etc). They do have Tacitus' wand and a bunch of scrolls, though.
I'm in doubt. I don't want Havelyn to be an easy challenge, dying in a couple of rounds. He is a memorable character, with influence in the campaign, he should be a memorable fight. But I don't want him to destroy the party. 9th level imply a extra d6 self-healing with lay on hands, an extra 2nd level spell (vestment of the champion??), extra +1 to hit and damage with Divine Power, and 2 extra damage with smite evil.
I'm specially concerned about his smite evil. Fully buffed (he has heard the fight and has the time to cast everything he needs) he does like 1d8+19 (or 1d8+22 with 9th level), but against the antipaladin, that's 1d8+28 (or 1d8+31). That's ... harsh... A full attack can kill the antipaladin in a single round.
From what I've seen in Internet, for most groups this is a tough challenge. My PC have stomped through the AP until now (they have been clever and treacherous, and got the surprise round vs most NPC), but I don't know how to make this one. I'd rather not resort to cheat the dice (I normally roll in front of the PC during combats), but I'm not sure about the outcome
Any advice would be very appreciated :)
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I have some doubts about Lord Havelyn :(
My group is going to have the final battle against him this sunday but
** spoiler omitted **
I'm leaving him as is. When my PCs get to him, he'll be able to take a couple of them out no problem with a single charge. He might have trouble hitting one of them because they're AC's going to be a little higher than the others, but that's what you want for a front line fighter.
If he gets into trouble, I've given him a slew of extra potions. Namely, an elixir of healing. It's 11,250 and heals 150 hp. He's also been given max hp instead of 1/2.
I'm checking it, and I think I can safely make him lvl 9 Paladin. He should attack the fiendish griffin (evil outsider) eidolon first anyways, which is a decent HP and AC buffer for the group. The group should be able to get enough adventage in the mean while to win the combat. Exhausted, but victorious. Sound a good plan, let's see how it works :)
Reaper Miniatures
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Play report!
Two PCs stayed behind to help organize the fire detail, and arranged to have another 12 soldiers killed or incapacitated from smoke, burns, and falling timbers before the fires were put out. total Soldiers out of combat now: 60. The remaining soldiers were now mandatory guard shifts and hunting down actors.
The other PCs went with Havelyn to "safeguard" him and thus were in premium positions when the actors were brought in. I judged with only 40 active guards, and the actors not being very threatneing, and what with Havelyn having Donnegan and all 4 captains int he room, that only 5 guards were needed at the "hearing". The actors protested their innocence, and, of course, Havelyn cast Detect Evil.
Immediately recognizing this act, the Inquistor, disguised as Eddarly, cast Silence on Donnegan, and the Barbarian (disguised as Mott), seeing the attack had begun, attacked Havelyn. The others soon followed, and in the chaos, Captain Barhold ran away - only to go to the roof and light the flare, then out to the gatehouse to blow the explosives he had been planting when he was working alongside the dwarves for the last 2 weeks.
After a long fight (Havelyn did not go down fast!), Havelyn was slain, along with his 5 guards, and Donnegan was brabded with a Forsaken Rune and thrown from the roof!
The defenses are now in shambles, the leaders dead, the rookery emptied, the munitions shattered, and the chapel a smoldering wreck consecrated to the kingdom's enemies, and the bugbear horde arrived! I tallied 37 Victory Points, which was enough for a hard fought victory! They shared the spoils of the Watchtower Balentyne, and were whisked away by Tiadora, ready to lay low for a short time and begin Book 2!! Future play reports in that thread!
Having played it now my thoughts:
Beyond that, I think the VPs for defeating the soldiers was maybe a tad low - 12 VPs for 60 soldiers, and only 20 VPs had they killed them ALL - and yet 20 VPs results in defeat. So I think next time I run it, I'll probably change it to 1VP per 4 soldiers, so killing ALL would be worth 25 VPs - a narrow victory, assuming no other mayhem. It's a small change, and would have only net the kids 3 more VPs, but I think it's a fair one.
Beyond that, and the Optional Rule addition of Demonic Favors, (Hero Points), I think the module was very solid, very well done, and the kids (and this GM!) had a BLAST!!
Major Kudos to you, Gary, for a wonder time running this so far, I'm happy to continue to support FMG!
Bryan,
Wow! I'm a bit overwhelmed by the praise. Thanks, man, I'm glad you and the kids are enjoying the adventure.
And thanks also for continuing to post the reports. I eagerly look forward to what the kids make of Call Forth Darkness.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
The praise is well deserved. This is a wonderful, open ended adventure.
Just take a look to the different reports. Every group finish the adventure in a different way. The challenges are well designed, you have several options, most encounters can be solved out of combat, and you can choose stealth, bluff, magic, or front fight in most of the situations. I take that as a sign of a well designed adventure.
To Bryan: I'm happy you find the Dark Favor interesting :).
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The praise is well deserved. This is a wonderful, open ended adventure.
Just take a look to the different reports. Every group finish the adventure in a different way. The challenges are well designed, you have several options, most encounters can be solved out of combat, and you can choose stealth, bluff, magic, or front fight in most of the situations. I take that as a sign of a well designed adventure.
To Bryan: I'm happy you find the Dark Favor interesting :).
Thanks! I was looking for a way to introduce a dark version of Hero Points, and after reading your post, it hit me! I'm pretty sure for the next group to run this one I'll use the same conceit - no Dark Favors at first, until they either achieve similar things or otherwise please Asmodeus in a more liturgical sense!
Today we had our 7th session. It was the climatic fight vs Thomas Havelyn...
He entered the Magister's Lab, where the PC were taking his spoils of war, with 4 halberdiers and a surviving Acolyte. The PC won the Initiative (not that it matters, as he never attack first anyways), and used a fireball charge from the wand which killed two of the soldiers and damaged the other two. Havelyn healed them with a channel energy, and moved forward. The PC spent another fireball, cleaned the table, and attacked him. The eidolon pounced, but missed most the attacks. The rest of the PC surrounded him, but AC 25 proved to be a good defense measure.
Next round he insta-killed the Eidolon with a Smite Evil, while the PC managed to damage him slightly (the AntiPaladin used Touch of Corruption, to avoid the high AC and damage him, one extra hit from the Inquisitor and another one from the Magus made some damage too)
Havelyn selfhealed and then attack, cleaving the Rogue (with smite evil) and the Magus. That round, the antipaladin got a Command Cruelty through the Touch of corruption, and Havelyn rolled a 3, being forced to fall to ground next round. However, that wouldn't happen. A crit from the Inquisitor bow (currently a flaming burst bow, thanks to a spell), which was Human Bane (Inquisitor class feature), meant a nice 3d8+1d6+2d6+2d10+6, which rolled high. Havelyn died, instantly, his weapon becoming a Asmodean sword (with a asmodean symbol in the haft) and his armor becoming a barroque devil armor.
The player divided themselves in two groups. One of the groups fortified themselves in Havelyn's tower, while the other feather-falled to the wall, going to the bridge. They called the Bugbears, and opened the Portcullis.
The resoult was a major Victory. The Bugbears captured Balantyne! Some survivors fleed from Aldencross, though.
The PC were ordered later to go to Farnholde, to search for the Tears of Vetra Kali. They visited Arkov Vandemir, a noble who is a asmodean cultist, and related to one of the Players' Background (he's the brother of someone who hurt the PC, and the PC murdered before going to Brandescar). Arkov is friendly, but distant, and the PC think he is a bit treacherous (or maybe just selfish). They trust in the White Ravens, though, and have said the Winter Witch to spy Vandermir :)
Other player is an Orfan from Farnholde too, and is surprised to learn that currently the Orphanate is lead by a person who works for Vandermir.
They have found the map in the Tavern, left by Aideen Kaiel. After buying some gear, selling stuff, and finding a few rumours, they go to the forest, where they find Jurak The Eldest. They decide to obey the Treant, and leave the forest, for now (it was late and we were going to finish anyway).
Another good session, my players are VERY happy with this AP. Next week, they'll go into the Horn. I'll post the report there.
Nah, the Devil armor is just the +1 Dastard full plate in the Book.
The sword is a +1 Conductive Longsword (allows only Asmodean touch attacks to be conducted by the blade).
I had to increase the treasure by 50%, because I have 6 players instead of 4. The masterwork dagger of Knights of Alleryon is also a +1 dagger. Most fights also have slightly increased CR
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Nah, the Devil armor is just the +1 Dastard full plate in the Book.
The sword is a +1 Conductive Longsword (allows only Asmodean touch attacks to be conducted by the blade).I had to increase the treasure by 50%, because I have 6 players instead of 4. The masterwork dagger of Knights of Alleryon is also a +1 dagger. Most fights also have slightly increased CR
Yeah, I've had to increase the treasure a significant amount as well because I've got seven players myself. It's amazing how quickly it all adds up.
After what event should they hit level 5?
@cheapy I made them to level up in the middle of the last attempt to infiltrate the castle. They should level up somewhere after they start to take captains out, and before they face Lord Havelyn/Tacitus.
This may sound silly but I'm having a hard time decerning what the difference from the $10 version is and the $24.99 version. Is it just a hard copy or is it all the books in one go?
I ask this as my party are preasently faceing a horrible death and I was looking into an evil quest for us to do should the worst come to fruition.
I allready have the free preview so I know that I want to run this next but I just want details on the product options.
Thanks.
The $10 version is just the PDF, the $24.99 is a print/pdf bundle (a pdf of the one book and a hard copy of that same one book).
AngryGM,
The $24.99 version is the Print and PDF version (i.e. you will receive a physical book). The $10 version is the PDF version only.
Hope that clears everything up.
If you do run "Way of the Wicked", I would love to hear how your game goes.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Cool. Thankyou for clearing that up for me.
So I purchased the "Way of the Wicked" hoping my players would enjoy this side of the game... Well they all want to play it, but I am getting a massive amount of push-back on going "backward" to Pathfinder ( D&D 3.5 as they put it)... I have tried to convince them that the system has been tweaked and it would be fun to try the system... So now I am in the process of converting the adventure (not all that hard) into D&D 4, but I was wondering has anyone already attempted it already and if they have posted their notes online?
Does anyone know if there is a download of the maps that are NOT keyed... I am running the game on roll20.net, and the keyed entries make the maps looked cluttered when shown on my TV. (we use it instead of drawing out the maps on wet erase battlemats )
Otherwise, this product rocks and as a DM I just love reading the product. The back story information, NPC description and depth is great and something I really missed in D&D 4th Ed. Overall, the product has a great balance of informative information for the NPCs and encounters and a great crunch aspect also. Great job Fire Mountain Games...
Warren
Woot, got WotW 1-5 ordered.
*shakes fist at Book 1 still being on backorder*
Soon, my players will unleash their evil on the world, and it will be good.
>_>
Woot, got WotW 1-5 ordered.
*shakes fist at Book 1 still being on backorder*
Soon, my players will unleash their evil on the world, and it will be good.
>_>
I just got my backordered book (module 1)... It looks great..
Say, am I wrong, or did Mister McBride include a link to some pregenerated sample characters for WotW in the discussion for this module? I can't find them anywhere.
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Say, am I wrong, or did Mister McBride include a link to some pregenerated sample characters for WotW in the discussion for this module? I can't find them anywhere.
You'll have to e-mail him for them. The link's now gone. I too went searching for them but couldn't find them. He had made seven characters, with artist's rendering of each one, for anyone who wanted to use them at one-shot conventions.
Thanks, Kevin_Video. The next time I see him posting here I'll ask about it.
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Thanks, Kevin_Video. The next time I see him posting here I'll ask about it.
Just go to Fire Mountain Games and e-mail him. I don't know that you'll see him around here for a while. At least not until the final book's about ready. He's been crazy busy all last month, and it's been a rarity to see him visit the forum of his Facebook page.
Did anybody else just try to kill Sir Thomas in his sleep?
Were there ever any "scrubbed" versions
It's a bit rare to find Fire Mountain Games doing some other products when Book VI isn't finished and it's late :/
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For those that use Hero Lab and are running or playing in Way of the Wicked I have good news as Book 1 & 2 are inputted in HL by the community. These are 100% free to download and use.
The packages are broken up into into two pieces. One is for GM's that has both the player equipment and the DM monsters and a Player pack that has just the stuff that Players need.
If you have not setup the Powered by HL feature for the Community start with this Setup Post then. If you have this setup already for say the Mythic Addon then proceed below.
For GMs you need to install the Community Bestiary which requires a bunch of the Official Packages to load. But once installed you have access to all the Player content and to all the monsters and encounters for Book 1 and Book2. You can download the portfolios and the encounter .por files from d20pfsrd. The file is AP(FMG) - Way of the Wicked.zip.
For Players you need to install the Community Player Pack which requires nothing more then the base HL license and contains the traits, gear, and magic items for Book 1 & 2 currently.
It's a bit rare to find Fire Mountain Games doing some other products when Book VI isn't finished and it's late :/Yeah, he's spreading himself pretty thin as of late. He's part of another kickstarter, got his previous kickstarter being done, and his second AP.
I understand this might be necessary for him to stablish his company. But as a customer, it gives a bad impression. It's not my case, but some people might be waiting to get the VI book to follow up their campaign. Imho, he should focus in a project before he start another one.
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I understand this might be necessary for him to stablish his company. But as a customer, it gives a bad impression. It's not my case, but some people might be waiting to get the VI book to follow up their campaign. Imho, he should focus in a project before he start another one.It's a bit rare to find Fire Mountain Games doing some other products when Book VI isn't finished and it's late :/Yeah, he's spreading himself pretty thin as of late. He's part of another kickstarter, got his previous kickstarter being done, and his second AP.
Agreed, but I'll save my opinion and possible ventings for after the 31st. He said that he could have had Book VI done by Christmas, but it wasn't to the specifications of how he wanted it to end. He wouldn't have been proud of it. I can get behind it. However, because of that he said that he'd just need one more month. This is before Christmas, New Year's, and other projects creeped up. It was conventions and editing issues that caused it to be four months behind to start. I just hope he can keep the promise of this month.
Someone asked a while back about playing for six, and I suggested upgrading the Warden. Here's the upgraded version:
** spoiler omitted **...
Thank you for the Stats Douglas Muir. The next week we will start the Evil Campaign.
This is the first time we play Pathfinder (coming from 3.5) and for the first time the cleric will be Evil.
The Pathfinder cleric is nerfed (less spells) because he now can Channel Energy.
I know the cleric should not be used as a Healer but I wonder if someone else has problem to run an evil cleric in the party without using Channel energy and spontaneous casting to cure wounds now available only to inflict wounds.
is that hard for the characters run an evil campaign with a few cure spells prepared?
Thanks
Nerianus the triton oracle seem to missing not only his racial hit dice, but also I can see no mention of his revelations (he should have two). What did you select when you played him? Also, his haunted curse is only mentioned in passing in the flavor text, but not in the statblock.
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This is the first time we play Pathfinder (coming from 3.5) and for the first time the cleric will be Evil.
The Pathfinder cleric is nerfed (less spells) because he now can Channel Energy.
I know the cleric should not be used as a Healer but I wonder if someone else has problem to run an evil cleric in the party without using Channel energy and spontaneous casting to cure wounds now available only to inflict wounds.
is that hard for the characters run an evil campaign with a few cure spells prepared?
Thanks
The lack of healing can be an issue, however a lot will depend on your party composition as well. Fortunately my players did do a little bit of discussion and one of the things they did was to have one PC play a witch with the healing hex.
However, the only time when they had serious healing issues was during the escape from Branderscar. They eventually managed to get out, but at one point only Grumblejack and the party's necro/cleric were standing.
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This is the first time we play Pathfinder (coming from 3.5) and for the first time the cleric will be Evil.
The Pathfinder cleric is nerfed (less spells) because he now can Channel Energy.
I know the cleric should not be used as a Healer but I wonder if someone else has problem to run an evil cleric in the party without using Channel energy and spontaneous casting to cure wounds now available only to inflict wounds.
is that hard for the characters run an evil campaign with a few cure spells prepared?
Thanks
Our cleric is using Book V's Unholy Barrister archetype for the cleric so that the channeling will still affect the majority of the players. I house ruled it so that even those who aren't evil, but have the evil subtype would also be affected by the channel.
@ Zaister -- You're right. I had noticed that he was missing his racial HD, but that was about it. I even updated him accordingly, but didn't realize what else was missing. I'll work on that today.
The Haunted Curse doesn't gain new abilities until he has five oracle HD, which is why you don't see anything other than mage hand and ghost sound in the stat block.
This is the first time we play Pathfinder (coming from 3.5) and for the first time the cleric will be Evil.
The Pathfinder cleric is nerfed (less spells) because he now can Channel Energy.
I know the cleric should not be used as a Healer but I wonder if someone else has problem to run an evil cleric in the party without using Channel energy and spontaneous casting to cure wounds now available only to inflict wounds.
is that hard for the characters run an evil campaign with a few cure spells prepared?
Thanks
We don't even have a cleric, so no, it's not needed. Wands of Infernal healing (sold by Tiadora) is all the healing you need.
Our cleric is using Book V's Unholy Barrister archetype for the cleric so that the channeling will still affect the majority of the players. I house ruled it so that even those who aren't evil, but have the evil subtype would also be affected by the channel.
Thank you very much Kevin_video this is the solutions we are looking for!
We don't even have a cleric, so no, it's not needed. Wands of Infernal healing (sold by Tiadora) is all the healing you need.
Yes, this is another good solutions. thanks everyone
Hey everyone,
I have got Derek's email. Today I am still in Texas with family, so I just have a moment. I will look over it in more detail later this weekend.
Oh, and this is the 1000th post. Wow! Thanks for all your continuing interest in "Way of the Wicked".
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games