I'm currently running a campaign taking younger (college) players through some of the Gygaxian classics of my era.
They've run through T1-4, Lost Caverns of Tjoscanth, Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, and are running through the Giants series now on their way to Q1 where they should be about 20th level when they face Lolth herself.
The party started with:
Muirrek, paranoid LG male Cleric of Pelor (Sun & Healing), Mitrik born and bred from a long line of proud Clerics of Pelor. (or so he thought...)
Caolfleign (or something like that, it's Celtic), "Key-Lynn",
LG female Fighter w/ 5 Int taken in by Muirrek's family & church.
Both were assigned to check out the current condition of the Temple of Elemental Evil.
Amaris, vengeful CG Mom-turned-Ranger who lost her husband and children to raiders in the Gnarley led by a man with one-eye.
Lathnyano, a CN (thinking she's CG)Elven Wizard from Celene out to explore the moathouse to find power and forget her drowned sister that was lost due to negligence.
Amaris ran into Lathnyano at the Inn of the Welcome Wench where they quickly became friends. Not soon after that they joined up with the rest of their party, namely half the adventuring NPCs at the tavern.
Muirrek and Ms. C (as we call her in print) came in later that evening and teamed up with the other half of the NPCs.
(Gotta' credit the players for not metagaming who's who.)
Amaris and Lathnyano were up at first light and headed out with their group, running smack into the giant frogs. Several severed tongues and crippled adventurers later they limped right on back, running into the Muirrek/Ms. C group. After a bit of reflection and conversation the groups decide to join forces the next day.
(more later)
I enjoy taking the old 1st editions and porting them over to 3.5 compatability. Haven't tried it with something as large as "against the giants though"
Giants have become a lot more impressive between 1st and 3rd edition. I would be careful with the quanaties. Still it would be a BLAST to play through.
(The new XP system in 3.x allows for higher level parties by the end of the Temple. The moathouse and early ToEE need little adjustment w/ cautious players, though the later part needs quite a bit.)
The PCs headed out early in the morning, leaving behind the CN oversleeping Spugnois (who had been badmouthing the PC Elven Wizard so as to try to get her left behind.) They left the evil fighter NPC (Zert?) behind as well because he'd been making passes at the Ranger. [Zert reappears in Return to ToEE w/ dual-wielding, so evidently she had some influence on him. :)]
The party went in, facing the giant spider first. (Little did I know that the new player had a dreadful fear of spiders, and would not only face one right off, but eventually face the Drow & Lolth. Too good.)
They were hurt, but okay, and went on to take out the rest of the moathouse monsters in the next few days, pretty much leaving the NPCs to their own devices, though they knew that something (the bandits) was around and spying on them. Amaris the Ranger contemplated going in the back way into the bandit room, but thankfully did not. The party faced them in the main hall after opening the door. The bandits streamed out, quickly getting into melee and making a line of archers guard by reach weapon wielders along the edge. Gulp. TPK was quickly approaching, as the Lathnyano the Mage actually shot an arrow instead of casting Sleep. A flight of arrows in response later and down to 1 h.p. or so, she cast, taking out a small group. Muirrek the Cleric meanwhile was fighting to keep the Ranger and Fighter healthy, both getting torn apart by the volume of attacks. In the end it came down to the Mage actually using her sword to drop one of the bandits. Gulp.
(DMs note: The rats were changed to a rat swarm (which tore them up well), the bandits were first level warriors with the assistant a 1st level fighter and the leader a 2nd level fighter. Well above the party's EL, but with the amount of NPCs to draw upon, reasonable.)
The party gathered quite a bit of loot, but the traders, of course, screwed them over on price. The naive PCs just agreed to whatever was offered. Doh.
Zert managed to get good info on the PCs despite being known to be evil (detect evil) and disliked by them.
Spugnois teamed up with the hulking Kobert and evil Taruko (sp?) forming a rival party. Elmo, meanwhile, was watching them all. (The party couldn't afford to equip him as he requests, so he just trailed them instead.)
Party vs. Party.
After the difficult battle with the giant lizard, the party was headed back, healed but w/ few spells, when Taruko and friends show up. Taruko gives a nonsensical spiel about how the PCs have wronged his group by plundering all the good stuff and they should turn it over. The PCs naturally resist and somehow turns that into insult (false, but so as to drive Kobert). Unfortunately, the party has a +1 Diplomacy (Muirrek), and could not stop the impending battle. Lathnyano, the PC mage, cast Sleep, putting Spugnois down, but from there on it was pain and more pain. Kobert struck the PCs hard and fast with Taruko using missle fire to hamper them. Luckily, (predetermined DM choice for reasonable battle) Elmo, who had been trailing the other group, came in the front gate. Taruko Deflected the first arrow to which Elmo responded with an "Oookayy", dropping his bow. The party managed to drop Taruko relatively fast and another Sleep took down Kobert.
Elmo came clean about his duties and all three baddies were deported to Veluna (after detention in the St. Cuthbert jail). Spugnois, poor unfortunate that he was, was actually going to turn sides, not wanting to jump the party. Being put to sleep in round 1 gave him no opportunity to do so.
About this time the party was 2nd level and ready for Zombies. Amaris the Ranger spotted and identified the "2nd" green slime, but was hit by the other one. Fortunately they scraped it off quickly enough, but lost several blades and almost scraped Amaris to .
Days later...
The Zombies. The proved to be quite a tough battle, but the Cleric read the door situation right and waited with his Sun turning, though sadly only got 3 or so wounded ones. Ms. C the Fighter wielded her MW scimitar (the broadsword from above, all 1.0 broadswords were changed to 3.x scimitars) tenaciously taking on the endless onslaught. The Ranger, with her short swords, was getting nowhere, but thankfully remembered the hatchet left behind by her family's killers and went to work. Afterwards, the party was pretty chewed up, but scouted about anyway. Thankfully the Ogre was heard and avoided before fighting. The Ranger also tracked the ghouls to the secret door so they were in a quandary.
Ogre day.
The Ranger, as every Ranger this group has had (2), had Favored Enemy Giant, though that gave nobody any hope. You see, both the previous Rangers have died in one hit to an Ogre in their first encounter with an Ogre. (One was 1st level, one was 6th or so, but faced a Half-Ogre/Half-Orc Cleric of Vaprak (Strength & Destruction) That Ogre used both domain abilities in one round and scored a critical, doing 80+ damage. (From Greyhawk Castle module))
They went in, bold and fast. They managed to get to the Ogre while it was flat-footed, but did little damage. The Sleep didn't work and the Ogre nearly downed the fighter in one hit. They chopped relentlessly, getting in good damage, but not dropping it. The second Sleep failed and the Ogre thankfully missed. Nobody expected luck like that again, but after miss after miss, they barely dropped the Ogre right before it was to go again.
They freed the prisoners, giving them food and an escort back.
Next, Who knew Ghouls were so funny?
Side note before the ghoul part:
Elmo was kind enough to return to the moathouse for Amaris, the Ranger, so as to skin the giant snake for her. She hadn't been able to bring it back and was still recovering. He was waylaid by the bandits and captured. Thankfully, they got to him the next day.
The party, not finding the secret door behind the secret door in the Ogre's room, went down the passage in the pillar. It took some luck to down even the first ghoul so the party ran rather than face the other two when the turning faded. With a paralyzed Amaris the party had to wait until the paralyzation ended before ascending the ladder. Meanwhile the Ghouls returned. Failing to budge the secret door held by Ms. C (w/ 16 Str), one began chatting to distract her while the other one went around. It went something like this...
"Let me in."
"No."
"But I'm... a Palidan."
"Really?" (5 Int, remember)
"Yeah"
"No, it isn't." (Muirrek the Cleric)
"It says it is."
"I just want to talk."
And so forth, essentially trying to establish the kindness of ghouls and how ghoulness was a gift to bestow upon the world.
"Just a hug?"
The heroes won in the end, but with Ms. C (and the player)overly fond of ghouls. Now when she faces ghouls she's cordial and chatty even while they melee.
The party went forth and fought the gnolls, barely scraping there way through. At this point Muirrek (and the player) realized just how tough this "introductory" module was. He contemplated bringing others NPCs in, and after an ambush by the Bugbears up in the moathouse that almost led to TPK he decided to bring in backup.
Along the way they had gathered info (from prisoners) about the existance of Lareth the Beautiful and knew they needed big guns. They recruited Furnok and Elmo for the battle and went in full bore. Gulp. And here's where the scarring began.
The party luckily went through the first guards quickly, not getting bottled up in the hallway. They pushed into the chamber and took out a large share of guards quickly, but things began to quickly turn. The sergeants and the captain held the line while the wounded guards fell back and used missile weapons. Elmo's high AC let him stand strong while Amaris and Ms. C rotated in the front line between healings.
Then came Lareth. Just the plate mail was enough to wow the party. A peek at the original T1 cover made PC hearts sink, especially since things were already going bad. The party focussed on Lareth, missing a great deal more than chance should allow. Lareth smacked Elmo about with his Rod of Striking (made into a rod so he could use it one-handed with his mace). Furnok quickly chewed through the guards & sergeants when Ms. C deigned to flank for him, frustrated with Lareth. It was still going poorly. Amaris went down to -9 bringing my scarring rule came into play, (anybody hit to -9 gets a scar to remember the occasion, assuming they live, she did.)
Ms. C, Elmo, and Furnok were all one Strike from (not just going down, Lareth was using 3 charges/round), but they managed a series of lucky hits that finally dropped him.
If I recall correctly, only two of the six party members were standing, Ms. C & Elmo. A quick revival of Muirrek allowed him to bring some others up. The party still came back with two members thrown across the back of a horse (but hidden by a blanket so as not to alarm the villagefolk.)
The party donated the standard arms and armor to the village , of course ecstatic about the rest of the loot.
Next: Meeting a new PC in Verbobonc, the 10th level Assassin, and off to the much-hated Nulb
The 10th Level Assassin was sort of an experiment more than anything. All things considered, it should have be a TPK being a CR 10 guy against a 3rd & 4th level party.
I used a Ranger 5/Assassin 5 so as to reduce the Sneak Attack from being instant kill. Upon reflection, putting in some NPC class levels, reducing the CR to 9, would have been better.
The party made its first trek to the big city, Verbobonc. There they reported to their peoples and Furnok introduced them to Milo, a Halfling Rogue being played by a regular player who rejoined. Finally the party had a lockpicker & diplomat. Furnok remained behind to enjoy his new wealth, but the party naturally took to Milo and they went back hoping to pin down the location of the ToEE and see who was behind Lareth.
On the journey back, the assassin struck. Perhaps I should have waited the weeks given in the module, but I knew it could kill and wanted to get that over with before the players got too attached to their PCs.
In the first round the assassin dropped Lathnyano who was on guard to -9. Milo, also on guard wrapped his wounds and ran. The assassin took down several PCs, taking only about 1/3 his hit points in damage. "Feint, sneak attack, PC down" was the pattern nearly every round.
With the healers down, Elmo & Ms. C both severely wounded, Ms. C boldly stood and thwacked the assassin soundly. Elmo, with his battleaxe & whopping strength, scored a critical blow to the assassin to drop him in what would have been the final few rounds for the party. Whew. All hands survived. Multiple scarrings around.
At this point Elmo retired from the party. Too much NPC involvement for my sake.
The party took the assassin back to Verbobonc to face charges, wondering what the strange spider bites all about his body were from. The assassin was summarily executed (Elmo is a spy, after all), and the party shook their heads wondering what they had gotten into.
Nulb, oh how I loathe thee...
I enjoyed Nulb, but the party, if they hadn't been Good all around, would certainly have laid waste to it with Fireball, that being the first thought of Lathnyano the Wizard upon gaining 5th level.
The party tried subterfuge, but being as Milo was an honest halfling, their attempts went detected. The thought for certain stern Otis was in with the ToEE(despite Elmo having mentioned him), d the old ful hags, and, thankfully, feared the pirates.
Various PCs were beaten, robbed, and/or duped. Moral characters watched men, women, & children get beaten, stabbed, and ed upon feeling hopeless knowing they were outnumbered and prone to only cause more trouble. So they snuck in a heal or two when the bullies weren't watching, watched each other's backs, and after locating the trail to the Temple, avoided Nulb like the plague carried within.
The intro to the ToEE, with revision, did its job, leaving the players anxious. They skirted the temple, having a tough time with some ravens & the rats, but feeding the lizards.
I used the tower as is and the party fared well despite being lured in and having a small number of ravens to contend with. At one point Lathnyano was going one on one with a raven while Milo was having trouble with his own, both having backpedaled away from the group. The rest of the group was plowing into the bandits with abandon, passing right by the area where the trap was. The group had pressed the villains, but an itchy scroll finger led to a "Stinking Cloud" which let them regroup and forced the group back. The next excursion in, the trap was sprung and the group was outflanked. They pushed through, doing very well against the leader and sergeants while the few remaining weenies used missile fire and polearms. The leader beat a hasty retreat when down to a few weak allies. He made it to the door, secured it, and made off.
(Since he worked for Smigmal he reappeared in that battle, giving Smigmal somebody to flank with and Falrinth somebody to use as a wall.)
The party found the secret door and the way to the old house, but the elf failed to spot the other secret door, thankfully. The party, usually meticulous about using a Detect Secret Door Wand at every juncture, never did use it along the long tunnel.
Into the Temple they went, dabbling on the east side, then going to the west. Bit by bit they punched their way through, sadly thinking the prisoners were something terrible, those were left behind the first pass. When the prisoners were released the party took them back, equipping the soldiers & sailor, whom they adopted. The sailor, a crass fellow, nonetheless won them over by justifying the party's hatred of Nulb when he mentioned the ties of various people to the temple.
On the next venture in, all heck broke loose. Thankfully the new 1st level warrior tag-alongs were there and equipped with polearms. The alarms all sounded and pretty much to whole south side of the first level came, all except the humans. The party backpedaled to the intersection just below the stairs where the ex-prisoners were able to hold the flanks against the gnolls while the PC warriors took the middle flank. A fireball cleared out a bunch and weakened the oncoming ogres, but Gnolls can be pretty hardy, especially in those numbers. The head Ogre, a Barbarian 1, took several rounds time to detach the net trap because the corridors were clogged. He brought himself a fireball for his trouble which also took out the hobgoblin archers. The side flanks were falling as enough numbers had circled around. The party tried to pull back, especially upon seeing the net, but it was ill-coordinated so a few were stranded. One ex-prisoner later (the party was actually saddened, for most had one they'd personally equipped & attempted to win over) the net came in. It only caught two of them, but those two were Muirrek the Cleric and Milo the Rogue who were stranded in the front and would soon fall. The PCs surged back boldly, and with a bit of luck felled the Ogre chieftain before it could do too much damage. The party came out victorious having faced what seemed an endless, "unfair", stream of foes.
Horses mounted they rode back through Nulb, not for the first time. Sadly, this time Nulb was ready for them. Tolub had rounded up the riff-raff with a diatribe against the "goodies" who were out to take from Nulb with their "taxes" which he described as a more dishonest way of thieving.
The party was slow to catch on and almost rode right into the mob before high-tailing it out. The group took a few hits from missile fire, but otherwise came out whole.
The party earned its first glimpse of Tolub, but what was more interesting was that Amaris had spotted Grud Squint-Eye the one-eyed scoundrel who had killed her kin...
She tightly gripped the handaxe he had left behind, knowing she would get her due someday.
The party didn't even pass near Nulb after that, instead having Amaris scout out a back-trail and using a log to cross over the river.
Amaris 5th level favored enemy? Humans, of course.
(Noticed today that Erik Mona named an NPC Amaris in Diamond Lake. His Amaris being a Cleric of Wee Jas, most likely an evil one.)
The 1st level of the Temple was pretty much run as is, leading to some troubles.
The Ring of Stars somehow went unsold despite debating, proving its worth in the hands of Milo the Rogue who oft used it against the undead or when unable to flank.
The harpy battle to the east went horribly. The portcullis came down, trapping Amaris the Ranger who was scouting ahead. The harpy songs numbed everybody except Lathnyano, who, after pondering using a bow (dreadful, I know), realized this was her time to shine. A pair of Fireballs took out the harpies before they could coup de gras Amaris and released Muirrek from the song so he could do a bit of Pelorian sun-turning on the ghouls making their way out. Ms. C managed to bend the bars enough to the party could start making its way in and fight alongside Amaris who was besieged by ghouls & ghasts. A few Remove Paralysis spells and some turning checks still barely kept the party running. Thankfully, Lathnyano the Wizard, an elf, was able to keep going throughout. At full strength, 2 levels above when they first entered, the party barely made it through the encounter which easily could have been the first had they taken a different stairway. Luck Be a Lady Tonight.
The prophecy room was great because half of the PCs thought it worked and the other half thought it worked, but was inherently evil to use. Lathnyano used it to try to find out where her sister was and spent some time contemplating the meaning of the random, but fairly accurate, answer. Muirrek ended up taking the divining stones, etc. and hiding them. Certain members would return from time to time, checking to see if they were replaced.
The fight against the Earth Temple went well, the disliked half-orc (wounded and last alive in his room) ended up burning to in the oil poured by his allies. Even the PCs were saddened by that. The fight was hard, but never in doubt despite the enemy tactics all playing out as intended. The head cleric nearly escaped to the Earth Temple, but Milo, a halfling, managed to Tumble past him in the 5 ft. secret corridor and then, amazingly, knocked him prone when he tried to bullrush past. The players loved it. They captured him, and he was later executed in Hommlet (which by then had a gallows)
The Gnome prisoner was released and went his own way before the party found his gear. That proved a good thing for Milo because there's very little weaponry or other gear for small folk. That +2 dagger would be his main weapon throughout.
The Earth Elementals rightfully scared the bejeezus out of the party, one nearly Milo with one strike. A daring rescue by Ms. C (herself nearly killed for it) and the party was out of there, scattering down whatever corridor was nearest. It would be many, many months before the party took them on.
As for the gallows, its presence, and usage, was changing Hommlet. The older folk who remembered the first rise of the Temple knew the necessity of it, though it saddened them. The younger folk were shaken out of their innocence.
Next: Level 2 and the rescue of an old friend.
Any more of this? It sounds to be going well