Overall, I like this adventure, but I've found a few problems with it:
1. Is Marzena clueless or what? The old battlemage has been locked up at BWK for 2 years & Marzena doesn't know a thing about it? Her room is right next to the tunnel where he's holed up! Now, the text says the guy's waiting it out, but surely he makes some noise now & then. Maybe I'll make her hearing-impaired or something.
2. The submerged tunnel. I'm assuming the snare spells are within the submerged portion of the tunnel, though the text doesn't specifically say that. However, the exact number of snares isn't mentioned (though there are "several"), nor are they given a CR (I'm assuming 4 or 5--1+spell level+ an adjustment for underwater). I'm sure players will want to know how many snares they have to find, disarm, &/or set off, & how much xp they get for overcoming them.
3. Light. Since lizardmen don't have darkvision, one would think that every room would mention some sort of light source (though some do, more should), such as a firebit, brazier, phosporus flora or fauna, or torches. The only rooms I can see being "dark at all times" are #2-5 & the hallways. All living spaces should have some type of illumination.
4. What's in those treasure chests in area 12? I remember this being answered on here, but I'm not exactly sure what the response was--I think the answer was that contents of the chest beneath Ilthane's egg should be in those 3 chests, but I'm not sure.
5. While we're at it. . . How does one pronounce "Ilthane"? I've been going with "Ill-thuh-nee" or "Ill-thuh-nay," as "Ill-thayn" sounds like a sick noble.
Creative Director
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1. Is Marzena clueless or what? The old battlemage has been locked up at BWK for 2 years & Marzena doesn't know a thing about it? Her room is right next to the tunnel where he's holed up! Now, the text says the guy's waiting it out, but surely he makes some noise now & then. Maybe I'll make her hearing-impaired or something.
He's undead... he can sit in the same spot patiently for years not making a sound. If you don't buy this, it's easy enough to lengthen the hallway he's locked into so that he's very far away.
2. The submerged tunnel. I'm assuming the snare spells are within the submerged portion of the tunnel, though the text doesn't specifically say that. However, the exact number of snares isn't mentioned (though there are "several"), nor are they given a CR (I'm assuming 4 or 5--1+spell level+ an adjustment for underwater). I'm sure players will want to know how many snares they have to find, disarm, &/or set off, & how much xp they get for overcoming them.
Technically, the XP for the snare spells is part of Hishka's CR award. Just as you don't get XP for killing monsters called by a spellcaster's summon monster spells, you don't get XP for dealing with snares. The snares themselves are indeed underwater. The number of snares unfortunately got cut, it looks like; there's four of them.
3. Light. Since lizardmen don't have darkvision, one would think that every room would mention some sort of light source (though some do, more should), such as a firebit, brazier, phosporus flora or fauna, or torches. The only rooms I can see being "dark at all times" are #2-5 & the hallways. All living spaces should have some type of illumination.
The illumination of the lizardfolk lair is discussed on page 29, middle column, middle paragraph.
4. What's in those treasure chests in area 12? I remember this being answered on here, but I'm not exactly sure what the response was--I think the answer was that contents of the chest beneath Ilthane's egg should be in those 3 chests, but I'm not sure.
The three chests shown on the map and mentioned in the boxed text shouldn't be there; the treasure's all kept in one underwater chest as detailed in the Treasure section on pge 38. ALTERNATELY: Just put all this treasure into the three chests shown on the map.
5. While we're at it. . . How does one pronounce "Ilthane"? I've been going with "Ill-thuh-nee" or "Ill-thuh-nay," as "Ill-thayn" sounds like a sick noble.
Ilthane is pronounced as you fear: ILL-thane. If this doesn't work for you, pronounce it however you want; just be sure to pronounce it the same every time and the players will never know the difference.
Here's a question:
It takes a few days for the characters to trudge through the swamp to deal with the lizard folk. They spend a day (or more) dealing with it and then rest up. They trudge three days back to Blackwall Keep.
So, wouldn't the Diamond Lake Milita be there waiting for them by then? I think that it takes a few days for them to arrive, but it seems certain that they would have arrived before the players make it back from samp stomping the lizardfolk.
If that is the case, wouldn't they have already dealt with the Spawn of Kyuss? There can be little doubt that Allustin would have impressed upon the militia commander the dire circumstances the keep were under, and it being a Greyhawk possession it seems reasonable to expect the Commander to send very strong response to the situation.
The adventure doesn't deal with this at all. It comes to a conclusion and apparently forgets that Allustan has teleported home to get the calvary.
I suggest this be looked into when it comes time to conpile and revise the Age of Worms for the hardcover versions.
What I did:
The group made peace with the lizardfolk fairly quickly (only around half the tribe and the otyugh was slaughtered) so when they rested after slaying the king I had them encounter a Spawn of Kyuss Lizardfolk (the sick one 'got worse' that evening and infected three other lizardfolk while they slept and then went on a rampage in the lair).
THAT made for one heck of a nail-biting encounter with the spawn of Kyuss (I knew the party would run squeeling to the militia if they got back to Blackstone Keep only to witness the spawn of Kyuss break free - I wanted them to handle some of these nasty zombies themselves) that also sent them into a near-panic as they assumed that all the other tribes of the Mistmarsh had been contacted by Ilthane and thus were at risk.
Ok, that's my piece, make of it what ye will.
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Creative Director
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Don't forget: Diamond Lake is a mess of red tape and corruption. It's likely that it'll take a week or more for Allustan to get any sizable reinforcements on the move to Blackwall Keep, and since large groups move more slowly than small ones, it'd take the reinforcements like 2-3 more days to reach the keep.
That said... if the reinforcements DO arrive... maybe they end up getting in over their head, and when the PCs return, they find that most of them have been turned into spawn of Kyuss.
My group found the spawn of kyuss before they left to the Twisted Branch lair. They wanted to be thorough, and they were.
They spent several days at the lair itself. After they found out about Ilthane and the slow worms, they spent time to help the tribe create defenses against Ilthane for when he would return to find that his egg had been destroyed along with the kobolds and everything.
All in all, they were away from the keep for nine or ten days, and by the time they got back, the militia had indeed arrived and had already begun repairs on the keep and its battlements. If they had not found the spawn of kyuss before they left, I had planned on the militia camping around the keep, trying to keep the undead monstrosities from getting out. I figure that there would have been five or six kyuss zombies by the time they got back... but I didn't have to go that route.
He's undead... he can sit in the same spot patiently for years not making a sound. If you don't buy this, it's easy enough to lengthen the hallway he's locked into so that he's very far away.
Sure, he's undead--which also means he's had two years to dig his way out with his bare hands (the tunnel is of packed earth, not stone). If he can wait for two years, he can also dig, IMO. I think I'll just give Marzena some hearing damage from an old mage-duel or something.
Technically, the XP for the snare spells is part of Hishka's CR award. Just as you don't get XP for killing monsters called by a spellcaster's summon monster spells, you don't get XP for dealing with snares. The snares themselves are indeed underwater. The number of snares unfortunately got cut, it looks like; there's four of them.
I see your logic, but I think there's a difference. Summon monster only lasts 1 round/level, whereas snare lasts until triggered, and it's not like Hishka can cast 4 in one day or even utilizes them in its encounter. I can understand making the snares part of Hishka's CR award IF they were cast anywhere near its lair, where it would have a chance to benefit from them. However, would it still be considered part of Hishka's CR if s/he had died two days before the PCs arrived & thus were denied any xp whatsoever? What if Hishka had cast 30 snares? What if the snares were cast in the otyugh's or harpies' lairs, thus increasing the difficulties of those encounters?
The illumination of the lizardfolk lair is discussed on page 29, middle column, middle paragraph.
I saw that, but my point was that a mention of at least some illumination in all rooms occupied by lizardfolk, unless the PCs arrive at night, would have been helpful.
4. Thanks. Since the chests are already on the map, & I've printed it out for the PCs to play on, I'll just stuff all the stuff from the chest under the egg into those three.
5. Crap. I was afraid of that. :)
Anyway, thanks for the reply, James. Like I said, I'm generally quite pleased with this adventure--Though I did openly curse SKR in last night's game as my players mowed down one lizardman after another, barely breaking a sweat: "Damn you, Sean K Reynolds, for giving me such crappy toys to play with!" Then I lured them into the otyugh's lair & it was all better. :)
Technically, the XP for the snare spells is part of Hishka's CR award. Just as you don't get XP for killing monsters called by a spellcaster's summon monster spells, you don't get XP for dealing with snares. The snares themselves are indeed underwater. The number of snares unfortunately got cut, it looks like; there's four of them.I see your logic, but I think there's a difference. Summon monster only lasts 1 round/level, whereas snare lasts until triggered, and it's not like Hishka can cast 4 in one day or even utilizes them in its encounter. I can understand making the snares part of Hishka's CR award IF they were cast anywhere near its lair, where it would have a chance to benefit from them. However, would it still be considered part of Hishka's CR if s/he had died two days before the PCs arrived & thus were denied any xp whatsoever? What if Hishka had cast 30 snares? What if the snares were cast in the otyugh's or harpies' lairs, thus increasing the difficulties of those encounters?
Hmm, I think Bastard has the right of it. The snare spell creates what the DMG calls a "magic trap" or "spell trap," like a fire trap or a glyph of warding. Each snare should have its own CR of 4, (1 + spell level).
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Creative Director
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I see your logic, but I think there's a difference. Summon monster only lasts 1 round/level, whereas snare lasts until triggered, and it's not like Hishka can cast 4 in one day or even utilizes them in its encounter. I can understand making the snares part of Hishka's CR award IF they were cast anywhere near its lair, where it would have a chance to benefit from them. However, would it still be considered part of Hishka's CR if s/he had died two days before the PCs arrived & thus were denied any xp whatsoever? What if Hishka had cast 30 snares? What if the snares were cast in the otyugh's or harpies' lairs, thus increasing the difficulties of those encounters?
You could always treat the snares as magical traps; per the DMG, this means they're CR 4 traps. Snare falls into a strange zone along with spells like fire trap and glyph of warding in this regard.
In the end, as long as you don't over-XP the PCs so they're too high level to start the next adventure, it's all cool.
As for the lack of illumination notes in room encounters: We summarized the illumination notes in that one paragraph so we didn't have to repeat ourselves in every room description. Just one of the many sneaky tricks we have to pull every month to make everything fit nice and neat between the covers.
Anyway, thanks for the reply, James. Like I said, I'm generally quite pleased with this adventure--Though I did openly curse SKR in last night's game as my players mowed down one lizardman after another, barely breaking a sweat: "Damn you, Sean K Reynolds, for giving me such crappy toys to play with!" Then I lured them into the otyugh's lair & it was all better. :)
Hey, nothing wrong with the PCs having some easy encounters. It makes them overconfident. And after they've blown all of their top-level spells on the cheesy encounters, they're in a bind when the _serious_ threats show up.... ;)
It looks like Sean K Reynolds is some kind of Power with the ability to "scry on any location where his name or initials are spoken, up to 24 hours thereafter". ;-)
Bocklin
Or maybe just a Chosen . . .
hmm, I jut put the treasure for the encounter in one chest and had the other ones empty. The snare traps were bypassed by Hishka (being the only lizard folk left alive) so she could save the eggs. The party did live up there word this time.