WE had 5 players
illumian fighter
illumian rogue
halforc rogue
Gnome cleric (wants to be a divne prankaster)
Human scorcerHowever the Gnome died in jzarden
The player is now a Elve cleric (using archery as his mane fighting style)They are going to finish life's bizzar next session...
I have not updated this in some time:
The Elven Cleric and the Illumian figher bolth diedAlso in the same combate the liiumina rogue and the halforc rogue were bolth captured and the players desited to build new ones
so the party was
Cleric of st. cuthbert (Human)
Figheter (two weapon) Human
Human Paragon, Wizard, Alternate druid (becoming a bard with out being a bard)
and an elven monk
and the Human socer form the start
Now that the bard with out being a bard died
we have this as our line up
Cleric Of st. Cuthbert 7 (died and rased)
Fighter 8
Elven monk 8
Worlock 7 (if they die and don't want to be raised they have to rebuild at -1 level to try and keep them with the same characters)
Scocer 8 (he is really starting to kick ass)
We are not halfway threw demonscar legacy they have just meat with the chisel and are going to set out to find alik on sunday
The Light Steels, currently trailing Zeniths Trajectory, consists of:
Shaythelan "Shay" Quavin; Male Elven Rogue/Fighter/Temple Raider of Olidammara 4/3/1.
Gruff McWolf; Male Human Monk/Sacred Fist 5/2
Rallon of Gildenlake; Male Human Wizard/Rogue 5/2
Eberk Splintershield; Male Dwarven Fighter 6
And the former members:
Ratha Vaine; Female Human Cleric of Pelor, devoted her life to service at the temple.
Mezoan of the Snake Tribe; Male Human Druid, killed by Skulks.
Tongah of the Snake Tribe;Male Human Barbarian, left in shame after he failed to save his friend Mezoan.
Deven "Deacon" Nyzzal; Male Human Sorcerer, left in anger after the party vetoed him having an army of undead.
Rus; Male Human Figther, gave up adventuring and now runs the Lucky Monkey Inn & Casino alongside his wife-to-be, Coryston Pike.
Rumors has it, that a Dwarven Monk/Sorcerer will join the party next time....
My group has added their final character, he is Aramil (Admire the creativity) the Human Paladin of St. Cuthbert.
He has already almost died two or three times, and had a nice streak of 3's going!
I'm only running my group through Test of the Smoking Eye.
It's happening 1000 years in the character's past, after they mind-transfer with some dying god's avatar races.
So, we've got 8 characters, four of which are PCs:
SARAH - cleric of Terak (Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous) in the body of a Wemic
ZO - wizard (Sarah's brother) in the body of an avian
MARWEN - elf ranger in the body of a faen (Arcana Evolved)
MIRA - barbarian in the body of an ursine (humanoid bear)
SEREGON - elf monk in the body of a four-armed batrachian (like a fire genasi bullywug)
FAYDAH - half elf rogue in the body of an avian
ANCALIME (an KAH leh may) - elf wizard in the body of an aranea
GORLOCK - runt cyclops, curator of a weapons museum and a pacifist. Obviously an NPC ;)
It's been a total blast.
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***SPOLIERS FOR PLAYERS***
I DM. The party are thinking of calling themselves The Triad. This is an update as they have finally made it to the end of Life's Bizaar.
Only three players but I ran Evil Unearthed from DUNGEON #82 first (converted to 3.5) and placed it in Kingfisher Hollow as the party travelled to Cauldron from Sasserine (a sort of road stop intro adventure).
Halbarand: male human (Oeridian) Ftr2/Clr3 (Saint Cuthbert) LN; a total zealot who wants to become a Pious Templar for the Church of Saint Cuthbert in Cauldron (he has already taken the True Believer feat). His brutal approach to the unlawful has already caused a stir with the guards (particularly the three off-duty ones that attacked Ruphus), as well as his own Church. Striding around half of Cauldron at midday, covered in blood, to get back to the Church after dealing with the skulk at Ghelve's Locks (to update Jenya) means that most of Cauldron's folk will hear of this zealot down at the pub over the next few days. Not a subtle man. The party's Intimidate man. Currently bleeding to death after attacking Kazmojen.
Xia Sacari Kurruth: male human (Amedian Suel orphan) Cloistered Cleric2 (Wee Jas)/Wiz3 LN; a learned man, more used to books and study, he is beginning to realise the power he is starting to command. With the Tomb Tainted Soul feat (which took some explaining to the paladin: "Don't touch me!") and the Death domain (as well as a focus on necromancy), his ambivalence to the undead (and the attitude of "if the undead are already there I might as well try and control them"), are all going to create problems with the other two. He aspires to become a Mystic Theurge (and secretly a True Necromancer!), which Embril encourages, as she secretly knows he is Shackleborn (player asked for a "cool secret background") and has thus brought him to Cauldron as a reserve (she keeps this knowledge secret for now, to her own benefit, from the other Cagewrights at this point). The party's Sense Motive man. Currently on a handful of hit points having just blown Kazmojen's head off by shoving a wand of burning hands in his head (through his eye) whilst he was unconscious (thematic coup de grace), facing an injured Prickles, and Pyllrak who has decided that as Kazmojen is dead, along with most of his guards, he can take all the slaves for free, including the party. Currently has three terrified children hiding behind his cloak and robes. Incidentally, has contracted the Vanishing.
Stern Bloodwood: male human (Oeridian/Suel mix) Pal5 (in house crusader variant that gets Scaling faith of the Sun feat instead of a paladins steed) (Pelor) LG; the friendly and reasonable face man of the party, but zealous and wrathful in the battle against evil. He has interesting theological discussions with Xia, mostly around undead and their use. Since Xia used command undead on a skeleton, that was part of an enemy group, that ended effectively saving the party from certain death, these discussions have become more focused on the practical applications of necromancy as opposed to the theoretical, much to Stern's discomfort. The party's Diplomacy man. Currently bleeding to death having just managed to knock Kazmojen unconscious.
They just managed to defeat most of Kazmojen's hobgoblins in a four hour (real time) running battle. Managed to kill Kazmojen. Stern and Halbarand are bleeding to death. Prickles is injured but enraged, and Pyllrak has decided that everyone can now be his slaves. Zarkad is due to arrive next round to disagree with him. Additionally Yuathyb is still skulking about with his last dark creeper, but has noted that Xia has the same illness as him but seems to be less worried than he is, perhaps an arrangement cam be reached? Xia is also out of spells, is totally useless in melee, and only has a wand of burning hands to fight with. Always good to end on a cliffhanger :)
I've posted enough on how I beat up on these guys, so here's what I've got:
Tessius of Knightsbridge, now a Male Human LG Ftr 3/Clr 2/Prestige Paladin 2-a former soldier who has taken on a more contemplative attitude due to his deepening respect and affection for Jenya;
Dinoskepsi Ippota, Male Human NG Clr 7- a cleric devoted to a complex web of interlocking duties, he is a priest of secular humanism and doesn't believe in gods (the name is Greek for "Fist of Thought";
Ariadne Liadon, Female Elf CG Sor 6/ Ftr 1- a hot-tempered, foul-mouthed elven princess who never seems to learn that she doesn't have the hit points to mix it up like Tessius does;
Vergal, Male Halfling CG Rog 7- a reformed street urchin who still has strong survival instincts, instincts that mostly encourage him to pocket everything not nailed down; and
Brigitta, Female Human CN Brd 7- a wandering chronicler of adventures, she has settled in Cauldron to develop her "art" and has therefore wound up affiliated with the party.
Together they form the Malachite Fellowship, named both for their derring-do in the slave bazaar beneath Cauldron and for the many funny ways to abuse the intials MF. They have a great dynamic, with Tessius and 'Skepsi often forced to rein in the more anti-social proclivities of the three chaotic group members.
After a year or so of trying to get a group together for this, we FINALLY got our start today! They are a little over halfway through Jzadirune and achieved second level! My group consists of:
Hust "Hush" Amakiir - Elf Rogue 2
Rambo van Hooijdonk - Gnome Wizard 2
Ray Ray aka Double Ray - Human (Oeridian) Cleric of Pelor 2
Rokgut Ironrunner - Dwarf Ranger 2
Dread Rawdon of the Cudgel - Human (Suel) Variant Paladin of St. Cuthbert 2
Gravel Rockjah - Dwarf Fighter 2
Rambo van Hooijdonk - Gnome Wizard 2
Oh my God, that's probably the most frigthening character name I have EVER seen!
UPDATE: My players just recently completed Jzadirune and are now working their way through the Malachite Fortress. The team now consists of the following 7 players:
Isharri Crystalwind - Wild Elf Rogue 3
Bigberry Thistlefoot - Halfling Paladin 3
Aydin Shoemaker - Half-Elf Sorceror 3
Oaf - Half-Giant Barbarian 3
Rawthon Doomshovel - Dwarf Cleric 3 of St. Cuthbert
Bragak - Human Druid 3
Amaru - Vanara Monk 3
My PC's initially started their group with 4 players, but word spread and we're now up to 7, soon to be 8 (after which I will accept no more new players).
The high number of experienced players, along with the well-balanced nature of the team, has thrown off my Challenge Ratings and I've started adjusting a lot of the encounters. At the entrance to the Malachite Fortress, I threw two ogres and two carrion crawlers at the group, but after a bit of jostling, they handled them much better than I had anticipated. I'm now following the "Scaling the Adventure" recommendations and will add levels (and appropriate feats and skills) to all hobgoblins as well as Kazmojen, Pyllrak, and Zarkad. The automatons will be full strength, the dungeon is on full alert with planned ambushes, and I've added a couple of pesky imps. We'll see how they do now!
Hurm.
Well we had some changes in the party:
As of TOTSE we had
Cleric of st cuthbert 10
Fighter 11
scorcer\elemental sevant 11
Paladen of heronius 10
monk (with alkalst) 11
after TOTSE
we ended up with
Cleric of st cuthbert\SSE 13 and now evil (because he threw
his familer in to get the sign)
Fighter 12
Scorcer\elemtal sevant13
palden of heronius 11
monk (with alkast) 12
i ran Black egg as a side quest
The Palden and the sorcer left the palden was taking the sorcer to try and bringhim back from darkness
The Two replacments were a druid and a halfcleric\socrcer class (don;t remeber the name) however the Sorcere\cleric died and the druid left after that adventure
Now we have
Cleric of st cuthbert\ SSE 13
Fighter 12
Monk (with alkast) 12
Paladen of St cuthbert 12
Wizard 12
its funny because the player that was the paladen is now the wisard and the player that was the sorcer is now the palden
BIG changes shold be funn
I want to know your party!!!
Fighter/Thief Half-Dragon (M); Fighter/Mage Quickling Brownie(M); Elf Mage/Cleric (F); Kobold Paladin/Mage...don't ask (M); Dwarf Fighter (M); Human Bard (F); and two of the Stormblades have been given out as PCs.
I have a group of 4 players, and when all 4 are there they take one PC each. If one or more of the players can't make it, I let the rest double up. The only exception was I let all four take two apiece for the last part of the Soul Pillars as they were having trouble getting through the first part (almost had two TPKs... one of them right off the bat in the opening assasination attempt). They're lagging in levels from where they should be at this point per the modules because of the way our group does XP (house rules), but they're still doing a pretty good showing for themselves, and having a blast!
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The final set up for my group ended up like so...
Xenon the Great Earcharmer(Morty)/Human Bard
Ker/Human Rogue
Tanya/Human (VOP) Monk
Svaal/Human Conjurer(Wizard)
Can you believe it? An all human party, I was so suprised.
So far they have skipped over the orphanage encounter, adn moved straight into Jzadarune...
The bard has died twice and they just made enough to buy a twinkle stick. Their survivability should improve now.
We are just starting it tonight, so no one has names yet.
Hoever we have on tap...Human Bard
Human Wizard
Human or Dwarven Rogue
And some form of Monk...This ought to be fun...
The party is currently working through Flood Season. They have located and explored some of the Kopru Ruins. Even have one wand of control water. The group, as it is now:
Addabar Silverwhisper (male gnome Rogue 4)
Schnyder (male human Soulknife 2/ Cleric 2)
Jadyn (female human Ninja 2/ Soulknife 1)
Cirlyn the Colourful (male half kender Wizard 3)
Joshua Jacobson (male human Cleric 3)
Until recently, two others were with the party:
Isamu (male human Samurai 3)
Vishnak Goblinsmasher (male half orc Ritual Warrior 2)
The players for these two PCs went home over the summer, so they have not been able to play.
Still looking for a name for the group, however...
The Company of the Shiny Man
Currently the are mopping up, taking prisoners (6) and finding survivors (2 Shenshen & Roger the Red PC) at the Lucky Monkey Inn.
Kagan human male LG Paladin 4 (fallen)Used to shine before he tortured Kazmojen and lost his Shiny aura.
Feston Bulbous human male NG Cleric 4 Has a large nagging wife (why he adventures) and three kids
Rink Id Nar human male N Sorcerer 4 Has a bed of flowers on his head instead of hair.
Conk 1/2 orc male CN Barbarian 4 A plain horror with his mighty spoon. running down those who try to flee.
Tolken 1/2 orc male CG Fighter 4 In plate mail and weilding a full blade, and enchanted with mage armor & bull's strength, he is the main battle tank for the group
Serina elf female CG Ranger/ Sorcerer 3/1 deadly with a bow uses precise shot
Wil human male LN Wizard/ Rogue 3/1 He wants necromantic power
Roger the Red "Red" LN Monk 4 a strange mix of indiana jones wit and Jackie Chan moves.
I now have a ninth player as a DM helper hopefully that will help speed up combat
Hello from Paris,France.
At last I have started a new campaign, thanks to Dungeon, it saves time.
My party:
1 h/f ln cleric of Zelis (Destiny)(replace Wee jas)
1 h/m ng cleric of Alzina (Magic)
1 h/m lg monk(exalted, vow of poverty,....)
1 h/m cg barbarian
1 halfg/f wizard(weird little thing...)
1 elf/m rogue
1 tiefling/f rogue(related to the ancient war near the Demonskar)
1 h/m barde(without spells, a kind of fighting leader who think he is the best)
They are all first level, we made only 2 sessions with only 7 players each but they have freed the familiar and they are back to the light after a dangerous fight with the mimic, they drank 4 or 5 potions to survive.
They have not finished Jzadirune but they are nearly 2nd level and after meeting some dark one it will be done...if they survive.
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As above with amendments:
***SPOLIERS FOR PLAYERS***
I DM. The party call themselves The Triumvirate.
Only three players but I ran Evil Unearthed from DUNGEON #82 first (converted to 3.5) and placed it in Brookhollow (which I placed north of the Lucky Monkey on the road to port Sasserine with the advent of the SCHC) as the party travelled to Cauldron from Sasserine (a sort of road stop bonding intro adventure).
Halbarand: male human (Oeridian) Ftr3/Clr3/Pious Templar1 (Saint Cuthbert) LN; a total zealot who has become the Pious Templar for the Church of Saint Cuthbert in Cauldron, second in command after High Priestess Jenya and the Church's Keeper of the Keys. His brutal approach to the unlawful has already caused a stir with the authorities, and his zealotry is causing an increased level of militancy within the Church. Enraged at the death of Sarcem, Jenya has declared holy war upon The Ebon Triad, and Halbarand is the devoted instrument of the Church's wrath. Not a subtle man. The party's Intimidate man. Has taken the Scion of Surabar trait retroactively when the HC came out. The Judge.
Xia Sacari Kurruth: male human (albino Amedian Suel orphan) Cloistered Cleric3/Wiz3/Mystic Theurge (Wee Jas) LN; a learned man, once more used to books and study, he now realises the power that is his to command. With the Tomb Tainted Soul feat (which took some explaining to the paladin: "Don't touch me!") and the Death domain (as well as a focus on necromancy), his ambivalence to the undead (and the attitude of "if the undead are already there I might as well try and control them"), are all going to create problems with the other two. He aspired to become a Mystic Theurge which he recently achieved (and secretly a True Necromancer!), which Embril heartily encouraged, as she secretly knows he is Shackleborn (player asked for a "cool secret background" and since the SCHC came out retroactively the Scarred Soul trait) and has thus brought him to Cauldron as a reserve (she keeps this knowledge secret for now, to her own benefit, from the other Cagewrights at this point). She slowly tries to tempt him to evil with spells from the BoVD and Libris Mortis. He and Ike Iverson absolutely detest each other, although he gets on well with Calmus Vel. The only thing that Xia hates more than Ike are the "oiled meat-head loincloth wearing idiots who serve Kord". He passes the Temple of Lordly Might as often as possible and snickers at it. He currently has trained half of the Cathedral's acolytes as wizards, and it is these that will accompany the elite mercenary patrols later in the campaign. The party's Sense Motive man. The Executioner.
Stern Bloodwood: male human (Oeridian/Suel mix) Crusader7 (Pal variant without mount) (Pelor) LG; the friendly and reasonable face man of the party, but zealous and wrathful in the battle against evil. He has interesting theological discussions with Xia, mostly around undead and their use. Since Xia used command undead on a skeleton, that was part of an enemy group, that ended effectively saving the party from certain death, these discussions have become more focused on the practical applications of necromancy as opposed to the theoretical, much to Stern's discomfort. He is revatilsing the community around the Shrine of Pelor, has helped Kristoff stop being so ineffectual, and his kindness and friendliness is much loved by the common folk of Cauldron, who are starting to think of him as a saint (might eventually use the template from BoED as he is bound to sacrifice himself in the Test of the Smoking Eye). The party's Diplomacy man. Has taken the Nobility trait retroactively as a Noble from Sasserine who is now very well known, although is is considering fully severing ties to his family as he pledges himself fully to Pelor. The Jury.
They have just killed Skaven Umbermead who nearly wiped them out as they wouldn't let him esacpe from his room. Xia is overjoyed at having all of Skaven's paraphanaelia, but equally pleased to have killed him using his Death Touch when Skaven was on negative hits. He is convinced Skaven worshipped Vecna (he is correct) and is taken delight in having killed him. Stern and Halbarand are just glad they have retrieved two of the wands and that they are still alive.
Haveing just started the new campaign in the Shackled city we are all level 1. We are useing 3.5 rules.
1. Dwarven Ranger-Fror-CG-owned the first encounter against the theives w/ his axe.
2. Halfling Druid-Ozryk-N- Climb dog animal companion-working twords arcane heirophant.
3. Cleric of Kord-CG-Brother Benidictus Eegantay- Back-up fighter/healer.
The player is trying to expand his RP and be the party face this time.
4. Human Sorcerer-Alexandrous-CN- Draconic heritage feats and red dragon affinity. Uses bluff to steal and build his horde.
5. Dwarven theif- Joe-unknown- new player to the group. Very useful so far.
6. Human Cleric of Wee Jas-Dorien the Grey-LN-ME- Cloistered cleric so the party would have the needed knowledge skills and languages. I stay behind the party alot so I don't get hit but I'm always there with the cures or the answer to "does anybody know...?"
I as a player am usually the party "face" IE capatin diplomacy. I still have max ranks in it but it's nice to not have that duty all the time anymore. So far I am LOVEING the cloistered cleric because of the skill points and the bardic knowledge feature.
We just started the game and so far me and the sorcerer are haveing some RP conflict because of the lock maker. He wanted to let him go because he was cleraly the victim and I called for his arrest and trial. Rest of the party didn't care.
Since he turned himself in we are useing his shop as a base of operations to stop the kidnappers from comeing back through. The sorcerer found the shop owners lock box and busted it open and robbed him blind. I caught him in the act but was bluffed into believeing that he was going to use it for the shop keepers bail.
All in all I think this is going to be a fantastic game.
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Well, I am GMing 2 groups. The first one, we have gamed together for a very long time, the 2nd one has the Owners of my FLGS, and very good friends, (www.daysofknights.com), and a few other very experienced players. Both have been alot of fun so far...very different groups.
The first one has not named themselves yet.That on consists of:
Irodel Lathenmire-Paladin (6th) of Iomedae
Titus (Town Gaurd) Fighter 6
Richard Longshaft (Road warden ) Ranger 6
Rand Al'Kir (Teifling) Rogue 6 (he is dream haunted and I may make him a distant offspring of Soconobeneth, replaces Graz'zt in my game)
Kyles character (don't have the name with me) Necromancer 6th (investigating Liduton)
Inga (Dwarf) Wiz3/Clr3 going Mystic Theurge ( sarenrae.
The 2nd group has 8 players, but we always have 1 or 2 absent.
The Avatars of the 3 Gods consist of:
Sister Rae (1/2 Elf) Cleric 5 of Sarenrae. Unofficial Leader of the group
Zebula the Meek (human) Evooker 5, devotee of Sarenrae and best frind and protegee of Sister Rae
Callista (Human) Cleric of Cayden Cailean. Likes to drink and fight.
Enoch (human) Paladin 5 of Iomedae and member of the PFS originally from Cheliax but of Azlanti descent, from Absalom, brought to Cauldron through dreams and visions of dread)
Skif (Human) Seargent on the watch. Urban Ranger 5. Winner of the Duel of Valor at this years Flood Festival
Fur (human) Rogue 5, a scoundrel with a heart of gold, possible illegitimate son of the Pirate King of Port Peril.
Thrakka (1/2 Orc) Fighter 5 2 handed weapon specialist. A good guy, but quick to anger and resorts to violence quickly.
Dashi (human) Tian Ninja 5. Master of disguise, forgery, poisons, on a mission to kill the Jester. Jester was a former stundent of his master, and disgraced him by killing the wife and children of his target.
Well..that is it..
Our group calls ourselves the Crater Lake Aquabears (it comes from someone's really bad knowledge nature roll). We converted to Pathfinder RPG around the return from the Test of the Smoking eye but kept the grayhawk setting. We are about to start Chapter 12!
Amreal Knowlern (LG, half-elf female, Pal 8 [Elhonna]/Ranger 9) she is the niece of Ophilia Knowlern. The only PC to be there every session from Chapter 1 on. Paladin mount is a unicorn named Areon. She did die once to the bow wielding nightmare in Bhal-Hamatan and also was statued by the beholder.
Quellis (LG, elf male, wizard 17) replacement character for a previous sorcerer who kept angering the other PCs and wanting to be paid for everything and was ejected from the group for trying to kill helpless gnomes. The new guy fits much better and was rescued from an Occipitus puss capsule.
Smyrival (sp?) (NG, human male, oracle 17) joined just before Lords of Oblivian. Spent a small amount of time as a halfling after being reincarnated after Moltwing disintegrated him.
Makao (LN, half-orc male, cleric [st. cuthbert] 17) joined just before Chapter 10. Spent a brief period as a dwarf after being reincarnated when Moltwing disintegrated him (moltwing actually got both healers and the wizard, but the paladin used paladin's sacrifice spell to keep the wizard alive on that one). Along the the oracle paid a lot of money for a miracle to take his original half-orc form.
Oliver (NG, elf, wizard 12, Arcane Archer 4) joined during Chapter 11 after his other PC (Arnold) was hijacked and taken prisoner on another plane.
Arnold (NG, human, fighter 16) started at chapter 1 and the only other original member other than Amreal. Talks like Arnold and worships a particular version of Kord he calls Crom. Currently in another plane as a prisoner. This is the only PC that is original and never died.
Dallos (LN, human, monk 17) started just a before Chapter 10
Thomas (?, human, inquisitor 17) started just before Chapter 10
Riza (NG, human female, rogue ?/shadowdancer ? 17) Started in Chapter 10 when the player's other character Zaon (CN human male barbarian), an original, died for the 4th time and 2nd time in this chapter. This new character is the sister of the old barbarian. She charges the bad guys a lot less than Zaon did.
None of these character have the Smoking Eye because John Smith (human male rogue/wizard) who had it died in chapter 8 and quit playing afterwards. We had several other players come and go over the campaign.
Wow, it's awesome seeing people playing this path, despite it's age!
I'm the GM (first time), and we just started playing a few months ago (this friday is the 4th session). We play bi-weekly, so it will probably take us some time to get through. Also, we decided from the start to use Pathfinder rules, so I've been converting the creatures as I go.
When I had told the group about the available local traits, all of them were interested. As such, this party is quite the odd mix of outcasts, who were all friends growing up (and recently re-unitied as the adventure begins).
The party consists of:
Caleb, Male Human Bard 2, son of a local (and fairly wealthy) merchant, is touched in the head. He has the tendency to orate Lewis Carroll when casting spells.
Oin, Male Dwarf Oracle 2 with the Stone mystery and the Haunted curse (I used the gnomes of Jzadirune as the context to reveal his Haunted state). He's the son of a blacksmith who lives in the surrounding country, and as the adventure begins he just failed out of Cleric training. He chose the local trait with the terrible dreams.
Aaron, Male Human Rogue 2 (named after the players for Oin and Caleb, both of which are named Aaron IRL). He was raised poor "by the lake", though his family legacy descends from the Spire of Long Shadows. He is obsessed with finding artifacts from that society, though he doesn't know much about it.
Graham, Male Human Paladin 2, orphaned child who was taken in by a kindly old dwarven blacksmith (Oin's father). Family was friends with Deakon's parents (from ch 1), recently found out about the Carcerian Sign on his forehead.
Orangina, Female Human Alchemist 2, local store owner who was found captured by the Skulks in Jzadirune.
We haven't been able to get together since February (people keep having kids and/or going on long business trips, the nerve of adult players!), so we still haven't transitioned into Cauldron yet.
Nevertheless the party is (3.5e, Greyhawk setting):
1) Gorunn - male dwarf Wizard 4, from the Yatil Mountains
2) Aramil - male elf Rogue 4, from Highfolk (before the story began, was captured by Gorunn's dwarven fortress, befriended and freed by Gorunn)
3) Ruelannen - female half-elf Ranger 4, from Highfolk
4) Ragnar - male halfling Cleric of Thor 4, indeterminate origins
5) Sir Bradford - male human Paladin of Pelor 2, from Bissel, rescued from the Sunless Citadel and restored to normal humanity by the Church of Pelor
The party began in Thornward, Bissel, with the first 3 characters. Ragnar joined them in Oakhurst, for the Sunless Citadel, and Sir Bradford joined them after being rescued (when a new player wanted to join).
Ah, ye olde found new PC in the dungeon as jump-on. That's how our Alchemist joined in medias res. It never gets old ;)
Wow, so if your characters are already level 4, it sounds like you'll have quite a bit of work in increasing the CRs for the first few chapters. As a first time GM, I'd love to hear what choices you made if you post them her. Since I'm familiar with the context, that could help understanding how far to go when modifying CRs
Hi Numerator. We're still in the "Forge of Fury" (WOTC module from about 2001), and we only play about 3 times a year. I'm hoping to play again in September or October . . .
Next session, they will find a portal to the Malachite Fortress.
The backstory is that the Troglodytes and Duergar in "The Forge of Fury" got there via a gate from the Malachite Fortress -- which makes sense since the main entrance to the surface is blocked by a hostile (to them) orc tribe and the Underdark access is blocked by a (spoiler nasty monster).
Further backstory is the gate was built when both places were dwarven fortresses and the gnomes of Jazidrune (sp?) were in full bloom. It was used for economic purposes -- quick and easy transport of tropical goods from Cauldron, in exchange for metalwork from the Forge, northern goods like cheese and horses, and ice from the mountain above the forge, which was a real delicacy in Cauldron (ice cream!).
More recently, the Duergar and Troglodytes, along with the Skulks, became refugees from the Underdark "White Kingdom", AKA Kingdom of the Ghouls, by Wolfgang Baur in Dragon 70 -- you can find a brief description on GHwiki too. The refugees found the Malachite Fortress, and the gate to "The Forge of Fury". The trogs all went through, but the Duergar retained control of the gate (you must be a dwarf to use it) and are focused on rebuilding their strength -- making money from slaving in Cauldron, and making arms and armor in the Forge.
How it will work in actual play is that PC's will come into the final scene in the Malachite Fortress, the slave auction, and will likely trounce my duergar version of Kozmajen and his followers, though I haven't stat'd him yet. That's fine, as it's just an intro to the new setting.
What they will discover after this fight and freeing the slaves is that Jazidrune was already cleared. I was a player in two parties -- with another DM and no overlap in players to this group -- who cleared most of it. The second party (with two PC survivors from the near TPK of the first) got TPK'd in the final slave auction encounter. My PC, a survivor of the first tragedy, was the last to die there. :) Whatever those two parties didn't clear out (not much) was dealt with by the Stormblades, who were just about to breach the Malachite Fortress themselves . . .
The PC's will meet the Stormblades right after they rescue all the slaves, creating obvious reasons for antipathy between the two parties, as the PC's stole the glory of the very last bit of the adventure from right under their noses! (The fact that Stormblades did very little and were just following in the footsteps of 9 dead PC's who did most of the work, won't be immediately apparent to our PC's, though Jenya at the Church of St. Cuthbert is aware.)
I will skip Drakthar's Way and, after some roleplaying in Cauldron like meeting the major NPC's, I will proceed with Flood Season, which is about the right level of challenge. We'll likely play about 3-4 chapters in from there.
One thing I haven't decided on is what to do with Keygan Ghelve . . .
Was his rat already returned to him by the prior group, or is it wandering around down here? If so, you could have Starbrow "investigate" your party while they are sleeping, prompting them destroy the vermin before they realize what it is... then Keygan could call for justice, leading to an investigation that backfires on him and leads to his arrest and subsequent trial (and introduces some key NPCs as well).
The first near TPK was in the room with the (spoiler omitted) that had the familiar. We had no idea we could negotiate with it, and we didn't speak the right language anyhow.
The two survivors of the first encounter (my wizard and the rogue) pooled all the oil from our packs and the packs of the two comrades who bodies we managed to drag out of the room. We made a few dozen Molotov cocktails and sauteed the monster.
I don't recall finding the familiar afterwards -- I quite sure it would be dead and gone.
I think the original party didn't quite figure out the plot around the familiar -- we knew Keygan's shop was the access point between Jazidrune and Cauldron, but we didn't figure out the "why" of it, other than that's where the tunnel from Jazidrune came out -- and coming out to a gnome's house made sense to us.
We told Jenya at the Church of St. Cuthbert about the discovery of the entrance, but there wasn't a lot of action around Keygan. (It was kind of a hack and slashy campaign, more about the action than story.)
I think I will have Keygan claim to be an innocent and unaware victim, with the Skulks sneaking through his workshop while he was asleep upstairs. Whether anyone believes him, we shall see -- especially since the first two victims were gnomes and his associates (in my campaign), there are some clues that he was involved.
Hey Patman, are you playing at the Days of Knights in Newark, Delaware? I went to school at the U of D, have fond memories of that place, and still shop there whenever we're visiting my wife's family in Newark. Crazy.
I find I never described the SCAP party I DM for, so here goes:
Audhild Strackel, Dwarf Fighter 6
Ursula Drausdatter, Half-drow Druid 6
Tariel Gwadorn, Elf Ranger 6
Enaku Levandrel, Elf Scout 6
Keira Ruthven, Elf Rogue 6
Liam Forsvar, Human Cleric of Mayaheine 6
Raiden Delphiki, Half-elf diviner 6
Reiko Makoto, Human Bard 6
Rhao, Human Monk 6 (w/ Vow of Poverty)
They've just started Chapter 4, and I'm really looking forward to Bhal-Hamatugn. No one has died yet, though they've all been in negatives at some point, some of them several times, and it's been a very near thing once or twice, including what looked like it was going to be a TPK when they first invaded Drakthar's caverns.
We're having a great time, and it seems to me this campaign gets more attractive over time, not less, since there's so much material made for it by people who have run the campaign already, and more all the time, including updates to Pathfinder and 4E. So much great stuff to take advantage of!