Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I just finished running the Kullen encounter and the observatory sections of the Whispering Cairn. The whole thing turned out to be very anti-climactic because my players did an admirable job of setting up ambushes.
For Kullen, they sent in the bard and rogue/cleric to gather information about him and his lackies. The two questioned patrons of the bar about their skills and abilities, identified who was a wizard and who was not, and followed them home at night to find a good ambush spot. Once all that ground work was laid, the whole party took 10 on their Hide checks. The wizard won initiative, color sprayed the NPC's into unconciousness, and the party went to town. No one in the group took damage. The NPC wizard went down during the surprise round from a single sneak attack. It was brutal.
Having handily defeated Kullen's band, the party proceeds to the observatory. They climb onto the roof of the outbuilding and enter Filge's bedroom. Rather than look around (and set off the magic mouth trap), the cleric/rogue sneaks upstairs and discovers Filge singing and working. The party rushes upstairs and combat starts. Filge rolls terribly for initiative. The paladin immediately closes and smites him down to 2 hp. The monk swings behind him and finishes job. The zombies remain in the tank, unsummoned because Filge never got to take an action.
In retrospect, I probably should have let Filge use his free action at the beginning of combat rather than on his turn or at positioned him to be far enough away from the door that he couldn't be reached in a single move action.
Oh well. Just wanted to share my group's antics. Thanks for the great adventure Eric.
Sebastian
Interesting story, thank you.
These events are the rewards of clever planning on part of the PCs and not charging in headlong. I´m playing in a 2nd ed game, and if we plan our actions thoroughly, even powerful enemies are far from invincible. The same goes for nearly every tactical situation.
Stefan
Oddly enough, my party did exactly the same to Kullen and Filge.
(Well, they filleted Filge with hand axes and a short bow in the surprise round and then he rolled poor initiative and didn't even get a chance to duck behind the operating table and cast Mage Armour)
Still, they left Kullen and co alive, allowing Smenk's lads to make a midnight visit to the old farmhouse and incapacitate them. Kullen was killed in the fight, so now Smenk is forcing them into working for him in ordr to repay him for the death of Kullen, the death of Filge and the ongoing safety of Constance Grace.
My group did roughly the same thing. They sweet talked Kullen to get the info and used Detect Thought. They then climbed up on the observatory and snuck in the window. The whole group is fairly stealthy so getting to Filge was no problem. They didn't roll as well on intiative but over the fight was in their favor. I'm glad to see I don't have to only group trying to finesse their way through this AP.
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Well played!
Rather than being anti-climactic, those times where PC plans go very, very well can be rewareded with the look of pure shock and terror on the faces of their foes just before they are overtaken... a reversal of the usual "ACK, a beholder!" role.
My players love to describe their final taunts to soon-to-be dispatched foes, whether that happens after only moments of in-game confrontation or long, furious battles.
Fun stuff; thanks for sharing.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Thanks for the responses! I'm glad to hear that other players dealt with this threat as efficiently as mine did. I was concerned that I had let my players off easy, so it's good to know that other DM's saw the same thing in their games.
It was a funny session because on the one hand, while the characters did a great job destroying Kullen's gang and Filge, they really fumbled the grick encounter and suffered the first party casualty as a result (see the obituary thread for details).
Sebastian
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know what you mean. the players ambushed Filge basically by scaling the observatory and dropping in through the opening for the telescope. he was so caught up in his work and singing that by the time he realized what happened, he had already been captured. of course he was wishing otherwise once they got his eyes to give to Kullen as promised, but hey the druid thought he got off light considering that he lived to give them information.
Heh. My group didn't even fight Kullen, well they did briefly. One of the party members tried to seduce him, but she did it badly, then she threatened him, which worked even worse. The party rogue created a smokescreen by hucking a few dozen silver pieces all over the Feral Dog that gave the party a chance to slip out. Later, the rest of the group (who Kullen didn't peg as working with the potential seducer from before) succesfully appealed to his mercenary nature for the info they needed.
The gang climbed in Filges 2nd story window, stole his spellbook, and jumped him without his protections, but I did let him shout for the zombies. It caused quite a ruckus.
The funny part is that after 3 Faces of Evil the government auctioned off Smenk and Dourstone's mines, and the party bought one. They ended up hiring Kullen and his crew as enforcers.
When I DM I don't even fret about encounters like that. Sometimes things are just bound to go in the PC's Favor. In this case, as least it was due to their careful planning and actions.
Don't think you have to nearly kill a character to challenge the party. Part of the challege for you characters in this senerio was coming up with a working plan. I am sure there will be plenty of tough fights to come for them ahead anyway..... three faces of evil for instance. :)