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Hey all,
Just ran my game tonight, and I've got a conundrum. Because of a large group, and some missed encounters, they've finished up the Test of the Smoking Eye at 10th level, rather than 12th.
When they came back, they were nervous about going back to (my campaign version of) Taskaunt because of the paladin's fortelling, so I planned a political intrigue side-quest that would wrap up the werebaboon thread.
Unfortunately, the bard of the party snuck back into Taskaunt, found out how Vhalantru is running things now, and went to the Cusp of the Sunrise and researched the Soul Pillars, the Cagewrights, etc.
To top it off, some of the players were getting restless, so I had no choice but to throw Zarik Dhor (the half-dragon) at them to give them at least one combat this session.
So, I'm propelling the PCs right into the Soul Pillars, when really I need an engaging side quest (or a drawn out preamble) to get them levelling up to the point where they can survive the Soul Pillars.
I've not thrown the assassins at them yet. Any ideas on what I can do before or after the assassins to keep them engaged and near Cauldron for a little bit (like about 4-8 encounters' worth?)
Thanks!
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Let them go against the slave ring run by Zarn Kyass in Kingfisher Hollow and venture further into the Underdark to rescue some of the sold kidnap victims. Final villain could be a mind flayer with a beefed up Phyllrak Shraat, the duergar from the first chapter, as his minion (in case he is still alive in your campaign).
They could be sent on this mission by a worried parent of one of the Stormblades, as they have been missing for more than 2 weeks now.
Hey all,
Just ran my game tonight, and I've got a conundrum. Because of a large group, and some missed encounters, they've finished up the Test of the Smoking Eye at 10th level, rather than 12th.
When they came back, they were nervous about going back to (my campaign version of) Taskaunt because of the paladin's fortelling, so I planned a political intrigue side-quest that would wrap up the werebaboon thread.
Unfortunately, the bard of the party snuck back into Taskaunt, found out how Vhalantru is running things now, and went to the Cusp of the Sunrise and researched the Soul Pillars, the Cagewrights, etc.
To top it off, some of the players were getting restless, so I had no choice but to throw Zarik Dhor (the half-dragon) at them to give them at least one combat this session.
So, I'm propelling the PCs right into the Soul Pillars, when really I need an engaging side quest (or a drawn out preamble) to get them levelling up to the point where they can survive the Soul Pillars.
I've not thrown the assassins at them yet. Any ideas on what I can do before or after the assassins to keep them engaged and near Cauldron for a little bit (like about 4-8 encounters' worth?)
Thanks!
I would insert a adventure from Dungeon.
Maybe "What Is The Black Egg". Lot's of Half Dragon's in the adventure and they could be friends of Zarik Dhor.Don't know what level the adventure is, but you can easily adapt the adventure.
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I went through my Dungeon collection to no avail. The problem isn't coming up with a side adventure (I had one prepared). The players are hot and heavy to find out about the Cagewrights and the Soul Pillars. I need an 'obstacle' adventure, rather than a 'side' adventure (which they're avoiding).
Oliver, those are great adventure ideas, but my players aren't going to be easily dissuaded from their investigations. I need something tied to the Soul Pillars, the recovered soulcage, or the half-orc mercenaries in town, or the Blue Duke, or something beyond their ability to say no to (since they did that to my nice political intrigue side-adventure).
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Ah, the "Fane of Scales" Adventure. It's set for 12th level- fairly straight-forward combat "masher" with a solidly creative set-up (meteor strike near PCs). It has a few errors in the writing (mostly ACs/CR/Stats for certain villains), but if anyone is interested in running it, I can share my fixes...
I assure you, it will give the PCs a nice experience boost, but they better be tough enough to survive it all.
magagumo (at) gmail.com
The players research uncovers a retired wizard they should talk to. Run Jackal's Redemption from Dungeon95. It's for 9th level, you'll have to post it a bit. Nice and realitively short.
Dungeon113 has Practical Magic for 9th level as well. Involves a kidnapping. Don't remember much beyond that.
Or do a search at The Wyrm's Hoard (my site, www.paladinpgm.com/wyrm) to see what else turns up.
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Zarn Kyass is the "Blue Duke".
He is a) leader of the mercenary gang and b) has big ties with the local slave market. In my campaign, he was very thankful to the PC's that they eliminated his rival, but that disappeared when one of the PC's made a move on Thifirane Rhiavadi during the festivities in the "Flood Festival", a very jealous guy...
You said that you have a large group, how many players are we discussing?
If the number is greater than the suggested 6 from the book, then you should probably feel free to run the adventure. Remember for every character above the suggested party size, you can add one to the average encounter that they can take on to keep it challenging. Thus, simply adding 2 characters means that they would be ready to hit the Soul Pillars now and you don't have a need for an obstacle encounter. Else you set yourself up for a disappointingly easy adventure for your party. I had a similar experience as I had fewer than the six recommended players, they gathered way more experience than they should have had. I worried myself needlessly over it. After adding two players, the problem has worked itself out. They are getting ready for the Test of the Smoking Eye and have evened out at the recommended level for that adventure.
As an example, if you have a party of eight 6th-level characters they can face as much as a CR10 creature and experience the same challenge as a group of four 6th-level characters should experience with a CR6 creature. Now, as a word of caution, depending on the creature, that CR10 is still going to be very hard for the characters to defeat.
- Neomorte
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Heya!
There are 6 of them, and they're two levels below target. I have been just bulling through, but the SCAP seems to be outpacing them ... I really need them to gain a level or two before plugging on, or I forsee a TPK.
Okay, it's crunch time, my gaming session is tomorrow.
I'm going to divert them to the Haunted Village. So, if you guys could help me brainstorm some 'winging it' details...
Here's what I have decided
- lots of undead -- I'm going to have a dawn of the dead adventure.
Questions...
- why do they *have* to go to the Haunted Village?
- What's a good big bad guy to end a zombie-fest with?
- Can anyone recall a good village Map of Mystery?
- What's the reward for going to the Haunted Village?
- IMC the Soul Pillars were used to destroy the Haunted Village. What leads/ties could they find there?
Thanks!
Heya!
There are 6 of them, and they're two levels below target. I have been just bulling through, but the SCAP seems to be outpacing them ... I really need them to gain a level or two before plugging on, or I forsee a TPK.
Okay, it's crunch time, my gaming session is tomorrow.
I'm going to divert them to the Haunted Village. So, if you guys could help me brainstorm some 'winging it' details...
Here's what I have decided
- lots of undead -- I'm going to have a dawn of the dead adventure.Questions...
- why do they *have* to go to the Haunted Village?
- What's a good big bad guy to end a zombie-fest with?
- Can anyone recall a good village Map of Mystery?
- What's the reward for going to the Haunted Village?
- IMC the Soul Pillars were used to destroy the Haunted Village. What leads/ties could they find there?Thanks!
I thought I would chime in, though I will state upfront I know essentially nothing about the AP or the adventures in it.
Why do they have to go to the village? I think it could be as simple as the village is between point A and B. The party just happens to come upon it in their travels, (Easier if they're using less traveled roads to get there) or perhaps they encounter refugees from the village on the road. Another option would be encountering a surviving member or two of a party who failed at retaking the village.
As for a good 'boss' encounter for the zombie fest, I tend to modify existing monsters somewhat. Beef up a zombie, make him/her intelligent and give a few class levels. (Cleric perhaps, bolstering the other undead and having a fair combat ability w/equipment and spells)
Perhaps the soul pillars could tie in with the 'boss' guy's status as a non-standard zombie? I know nothing of soul pillars , do they rip the souls out of people, or what? Maybe the soul fragments from a few other villagers lodged in the priest, driving him mad and turning him into s ome mutant zombie thing. A few scraps of writing, random bits said by the thing. They could add up to clues as to what sorts of effects the Soul Pillars could cause. This could give the players a bit more motivation to continue their quest, but also to free those affected by the pillars.
Reward? Could be bits of gear left by the undead after destruction, or simply the satisfaction of freeing the village from undeath. Paladins like that sort of thing. Perhaps the temple of the village priest could offer some reward if the party approaches them with the information about what happened to the haunted village.
Just my two bent copper worth.
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Hi guys!
We ran our game session last night, and won't be regathering until after New Years, so here's what happened...
They decided to go to the Haunted Village, and prior to going, they cast divination on their course of action, here's is what I've given them:
"Alabaster lore lies within a frozen fountain,
While the dead stand ready under watchful boughs"
What I've decided (and ran a bit of) is that (IMC in the FR) the Haunted Village was wiped out by necromantic energy from the Soul Pillars, so the village is filled with undead and covered in perpetual frost (even though its summer). The inhabitants of the village are zombie-movie tough undead (Half-elf juju zombie Ftr7's, with some nifty scary feats from Libris Mortis).
They got to the village, and fought a gaggle of undead, and while they defeated 8 with some effort, we ended the session with the noise of doors opening all over the village ...
So here are some more questions/pleas for help.
- I've tied the 'alabaster lore' to the church of Jergal, who have subverted the Cathedral of (IMC) Kelemvor (not Wee Jas). Since in my campaign Ike and Embril are really clerics of Jergal, I need something to tip off the players about Jergal, but I can't see Ike, Embril, or Taskaunt having anything to do with a village wiped decades (centuries?) ago. Ideas?
- I'm obviously going to pretend I'm George Romero and run a zombie adventure (it's going to make the party Cleric very happy). How can I keep this from becoming a slaughter-fest, and more of a duck and weave, including some real horror. By making the zombies very tough and with mysterious fear/ice powers, I've started to create fear, and I'm planning on using them in mobs of 8, 12, 20, etc. Does anyone have some finesse-ish adventure ideas to make this more than kill, kill, kill?
- I'm going to map out a village and put some frigid zombies throughout it, but I need to spice it up a bit (some traps which are dilapidated, dangerous buildings), but I could use some ideas.
I bought some time to build an interesting adventure, now I just need to do it over the holidays. Ideas would be greatly appreciated?
Thanks!
- I've tied the 'alabaster lore' to the church of Jergal, who have subverted the Cathedral of (IMC) Kelemvor (not Wee Jas). Since in my campaign Ike and Embril are really clerics of Jergal, I need something to tip off the players about Jergal, but I can't see Ike, Embril, or Taskaunt having anything to do with a village wiped decades (centuries?) ago. Ideas?
- Does anyone have some finesse-ish adventure ideas to make this more than kill, kill, kill?
I bought...
As a sudden idea. Why don't you link Jergal with the Soul Pilars. As it name states they may be a kind of Soul containers full of the knowledge of dead people/spellweavers. It might have happened that while using the soul pillars (or due to the centuries of abandon) some powerfull souls of dead necromancers had flee from the Soul Pillars and found a perfect place in the village. Then, Embril-Ike found it and are trying to control them, or the like.
Hope this helps,
PS: Sorry for my bad english
"Alabaster lore lies within a frozen fountain,
While the dead stand ready under watchful boughs"- I've tied the 'alabaster lore' to the church of Jergal, who have subverted the Cathedral of (IMC) Kelemvor (not Wee Jas). Since in my campaign Ike and Embril are really clerics of Jergal, I need something to tip off the players about Jergal, but I can't see Ike, Embril, or Taskaunt having anything to do with a village wiped decades (centuries?) ago. Ideas?
In the official background, the Haunted Village was wiped out by an ally of the founder of Redgorge and Cauldron during the Demonskar invasion 700-ish years ago.
Since you are playing FR, I have an NPC you could use (recycled from my last FR campaign): Xenogias, Drow Cleric (Jergal) 5/Wiz (Necromancer) 5/True Necromancer 2. He is of House Jaelre and is searching for a way to become a lich. These character was quite ... obsessed over zombies, and used them exclusively over any other form of undead.
He could have come to the Haunted Village in order to do try to find any lost notes from the necromancer who created the Haunted Village, and could provide all sorts of information about Jergal without being a direct tie-in to the local church.
BTW, there is a portion of Jergal's church called (IIRC) the Companions of the Pallid Mask. They have a tendency to create church-sponsered undead and to destroy non-church-sponsored undead. That could be the faction that Ike & Company belong to, and ties into the 'alabaster' theme you have going...
- I'm obviously going to pretend I'm George Romero and run a zombie adventure (it's going to make the party Cleric very happy). How can I keep this from becoming a slaughter-fest, and more of a duck and weave, including some real horror. By making the zombies very tough and with mysterious fear/ice powers, I've started to create fear, and I'm planning on using them in mobs of 8, 12, 20, etc. Does anyone have some finesse-ish adventure ideas to make this more than kill, kill, kill?
It's hard to throw horror in the mix without knowing what works for your players. I would advise you to describe things very vaguely and to use a variety of types of creatures.
If you do use Xenogias, he had a tendency of zombifying anything he thought remotely useful, from cats and bats to (once) a beholder. Flip open your MM and find some unusual critters that could have the zombie template added to them and have fun!
- I'm going to map out a village and put some frigid zombies throughout it, but I need to spice it up a bit (some traps which are dilapidated, dangerous buildings), but I could use some ideas.
I used my map of Nulb from RtTToEE for my version of the Haunted Village myself.