Now I realize this is only a guideline but what have you as other DM's experience with regards to advancement of the PC's in this chapter.
I have kind of the same problem. I think I'll use Fario and Fellian in order to increase group numbers and thus lowering PX per PC.
With regards to the dynamic NPC's in the adventure such as Fario and Fellian where should they be position with regards to advancement of the PC's. I recall reading somewhere in the book that the NPC's should be the PC's level -1 (roughly). What are your suggestions on this?
I'll use book suggestion, just to give it a try...I dunno.
I actually have had the opposite experience, but then I have a large group and they didn't want to explore every nook and cranny, they wanted to save those kids! (They are just going into the battle with Kazmojen and are 2nd lvl)
Sean Mahoney
I think it is really more a question of the group. Once again I have a large group (more division) who doesn't want to explore everything (they even miss most of the treasure they fight for.
Sean Mahoney
I also had a problem with the group gaining too much xp too fast. Perhaps it was my fault for giving them xp for every new trap they survived. And trust me, they tried each and every trap...
Get this: after saving the kids, they went back in and went through Jzaridune and the Malachite Fortress room by stinkin' room. Now, while most of the 'intelligent' monsters (i.e. hobgoblins and dark creepers) had the good sense to clear out, the animal-like monsters and the unsprung traps remained.
Now that they're 6th Level, I think it's safe to run them through Flood Season. I hope. But I think I'm going to have to beef it up a little... like with a Tarrasque!
Yeah, I have never been comfortable giving out XP for traps. I don't like the idea of just the rogue doing something and everyone getting as much XP for that one roll as an entire encounter.
I was lucky though, my group tried one of the gear doors and then decided to avoid the rest like the plague.
Sean Mahoney
My players are currently not even finished Jzadirune and they're already pushing 4th level, at the beginning of the second chapter the text block states that the PC's should be around level 3. Now I realize this is only a guideline but what have you as other DM's experience with regards to advancement of the PC's in this chapter.
The problem with makeing encounters in the second chapter more difficult (a la scaling the adventure) is that your PC's will get more xp for the encounters, and increase in level at an even higher pace.
I'd leave Drakthar's way as is right now. If they continue to gain more xp than the adventure sugests, you can allways be more stingy with xp, or introduce more npc's so the experience per character is lower.
Now if they reach 6th level before finishing that adventure you can allways beef up Drakthar a bit. Perhaps make him a full blown vampire or something.
My players are currently not even finished Jzadirune and they're already pushing 4th level, at the beginning of the second chapter the text block states that the PC's should be around level 3. Now I realize this is only a guideline but what have you as other DM's experience with regards to advancement of the PC's in this chapter.
With regards to the dynamic NPC's in the adventure such as Fario and Fellian where should they be position with regards to advancement of the PC's. I recall reading somewhere in the book that the NPC's should be the PC's level -1 (roughly). What are your suggestions on this?
My 6-7 characters are in Jzadirune since three sessions (9 hours each)and are only 2nd lvl and they encountered nearly every creature (but sometimes they failed to overcome them).
I think that the NPC should be one level ahead of the pc UNLESS you use them often to be a group reinforcement.Don't forget that by the start of the adventure they are 2 lvl (in the magazine) maybe not in the hardcover.
My 6-7 characters are in Jzadirune since three sessions (9 hours each)and are only 2nd lvl and they encountered nearly every creature (but sometimes they failed to overcome them).
Reading this it seems clear that this adventure progression is designed for 6-7 players (as it is stated in the book). Thus lowering this number will result in a overlevel characters. As I play with 3-4 players I will definetely introduce Fario and Fellian to balance XP in the group.
My group was only about 500 xp from fourth level when they went into the battle with Kazmojen and the bulk of the hobgoblins. So they should be well into fourth level by the time they start Drakthar's Way. For the moment, I'm just going to let it continue without intervention and see if things naturally balance out as they get slightly less xp when they are more powerful than they are supposed to be. Maybe they can do Drakthar's Way in a single session or one and a half sessions due to their greater power.
I have visited the board for some time and the question of level and party size comes back all the time. From what I have gathered in the various posts, the adventure is designed for 6 players. Therefore if only four characters run the adventures, they will get more XP and be at a slightly higher level. But honestly I think they really need that. The problem with small groups (four players or less) is that there is usually no back-up character for certain skills. So if a crucial character is taken out early (e.g. the fighter gets charmed, the cleric knocked unconsious) it will easily end in a TPK.
So my advice is, take it easy. I think the challenges will be appropriate, even if they are at a higher level. A good balancing device is, to give the monsters higher HP (in the framework of their current Hit Dice). This will not change the CR, but nonetheless beef them up enough. Or use clever tactics.
I agree with the previous post. The number of players/characters greatly impacts the rate at which the party progresses in levels. Since the SCAP is designed for 6 PCs, a group with fewer members who face all the same encounters will gain levels faster, but that's necessary for them to overcome the pretty significant challenges they'll be having to face. I've got a party of five who just finished Life's Bazaar, and they're about 3/4 of the way to 4th level, save for two who just pushed over the 4th level mark because they wound up fighting the mimic in Kazmojen's treasury by themselves (rogue went looking for loot, paladin managed to come to his rescue in the nick of time).
My group has 4 PCs and an NPC, and I have found that by halving the XP they are supposed to get, that they are progressing at the perfect rate.
They have cleared out Jzadirune, and will be entering the Malachite Fortress next session, and they are all 2nd level, a little over half way to third.
I'm actually having the opposite problem that everyone else seems to be having. Instead of actually forging ahead of the predicted Level gains, my party has fallen behind. They are a group of 4 and unfortunately had some close calls in both Jzadirune and the Malachite Hold to the point that they did not even complete either complex fully. I tried to give out some more XP for roleplaying during the Feast before the actual Flood Season adventure began, but they are all only around 4th level. I think the team might be in big trouble at the Lucky Monkey. A well prepared party of five 4th level characters would have a rough go at it...I think I might have set them up for disaster. Any ideas on how to avert disaster at the Lucky Monkey and get this party where they need to be? I threw in a small dinosaur while they were making their way to the Inn. It wasn't too much XP, but it certainly helped.
I had a similar problem but for different reasons. When I started SCAP it was with the dungeon modules. So there was no Drakthar's Way and I knew from reading the modules and the boards that if you don't boost the xp somehow the party will consistently be fighting against severe odds from the Lucky Monkey onwards. So I ran a prequel adventure before SCAP which got everyone to level 2.
Then I got the HC and I saw there was a whole new adventure in there. So on average my party is one level higher than they should be. My party fluctuates between 4 to 7 players. By the end of Drakthar's Way my characters were all level 5. This is how I dealt with it.
1. I made the hit points of all the monsters in Drakthar's Way max.
2. Once the players hit level 5 and hadn't killed Drakthar yet I gave Drak a class level - Fell Caller.
3. I threw in more interesting goblins without increasing the CR. So I had the Silent Wolf goblins actually ride their mounts in combat, threw in a goblin blue and a goblin grenadier (mortar guy that scared the crap out of the party), turned Chorlynder into a gun-mage etc.
So now their XP has slowed without increasing the aggregate total of xp given out. I think I will halve XP in Flood Season as that should then put the PCs back on track for Zenith's Trajectory.
One question I have for the Jzadirune doors is should I give the PC's experiance for opening the doors with the keys?
Last session, they broke through one of the R doors, activating the trap. Then after they found the J key, they used that on all of the J doors they came across. Should they get exp for opening the J door the first time with the key? I wasn't sure if that counted for bypassing the trap technically for exp.