How did the urgahl??? (can't remember how to spell the big undead word) work out in your game? Did the PC's neutralize it before the final match or did they have to fight it instead of Auric & friends? If fighting the big undead worm in the final match how did you have Auric and company act. Did they help? Did they run? Has anyone had the big undead worm succeed in swallowing Auric and essentially destroy the free city.
What happened in your game? Trying to forsee what might happen in mine?
SHade325
My players fought against Bozal on the day after the first round (the down day), then had to run out to the arena sands to fight it before it tried to leave the arena.
It was a tough fight, and they were all down of spells and stuff, but the dice were on their side. I rolled 1s each time the ulgurstasta tried to eat someone, and I rolled exceptionally low on the Con damage from its breath weapon.
Just finished this one off last weekend. My crew made light work of Bozal and the rest of his baddies and then settled in to stuy the scroll. The wizard rolled a natural 20 on his knowledge check, so I pretty much gave them all the info fom the sidebar about the scrolls. I made it abundantly clear that the only way the only way anyone other than the late Bozal could release the Apsotle was Disintigrate, Wish, etc, and I specifically mantioned the Rod of Cancellation.
They were pretty comfortable with the the security so they returned to their quarters and prepared for the fight with Auric and Co. Needless to say they were pretty PO'd when the Apaostle broke through in round three of the fight! "Railroader!" they cried. "Liar!" they shouted. "You (lenghthy yet creative expletive deleted), you put Auric right next to where he was going to come out!" they moaned. "I roll a freakin natch 20 and he screws me..." one muttered. It was great!
The fight with the Apsotle wasn't too bad, the tendrils made things really interesting, but the worm was no more before the first wight rose from the dead.
Needless to say Auric was gobbled, the ritual was completed, Raknian became a Death Knight, thousands died and became wights, and little bits of the "zombie movie" scenario discussed elsewhere on these boards ensued, though I had to gloss over cerain things as the PCs were som mad at me they were prepared to die fighting the wights to spite me.
Best part: They're broke, they bet all their money on themsleves and have been planning what they intend to do with all the cash, but now their bookie is dead.
That should give them reason to go back to diamond lake, "Er mom, we went to the big city to seek our fortune as well as discover what the green worm is... Oh... er... whats that? A dragon destroyed our home? Oh... I thought the campaign was over.
If Bozal (sp??) is defeated how is the big undead worm released. I thought he's the only one who can do it. Can Raknarian (sp).
To the dramatist in me, having the PC's deal with the big undeadworm before the final match is very anti-climactic.
Thanks,
Shade 325
(Sorry about the butchered spelling but don't have the adventure near me right now and can't rememeber.)
If Bozal (sp??) is defeated how is the big undead worm released. I thought he's the only one who can do it. Can Raknarian (sp).
Anyone with a rod of cancellation can release the ulgurstasta. IMC, the PCs took Bozal down to exactly 0 hp, and with his partial action he released the creature. I considered his action to cause him to drop to -1, so that encounter didn't feel anti-climatic at all.
Fighting the ulgurstasta early will still be tough, because more than likely the PCs will burn a lot of their spells/items just getting there. The fight should push their abilities to their limits.
They captured the cleric of Kyuss (Bozal, Bozo?) their first trip down.
Their bookie (Akeim?) got them the Rod of Cancellation.
Akeim had his sister ressurected in the City of Greyhawk with
money for the diamonds priovided by a PC.
They fought Madtooth one day, then the Big Ugly worm
that night.
The ninja won the grapple so he didn't get ate.
He was damaged more than half and everyone took some from
the mucus tenticles so it was a real combat.
The next day the two half dragon brothers wanted to kill the
returning champions but my telepath used dominate to get them
to surrender as per the female rouge's wishes.
The Steel preditor the evil Wizard had called with a scroll
of gate at the beginning of the championship fought to the
death, destruction, or whatever.
I added the Steel Preditor because the group is mostly
tough guys.
It joined the team in return for all the tropys.
The card says arrogant.
Anyways, when Raknarian tried to leave town with the authorities hot on his heels, the assassin killed him and
took his head. (To prevent Speak With Dead).
I'll have him do that to the sage wizard too so he is basicly
getting a duffle bag full of heads.
The Ninja likes to take trophys so he is already POed at the assassin.
Was just reading through this section and had a couple of nitpicky questions for James (or whoever else has a good answer):
1. How does Bozal or Raknian know when to release the Ulgurstasta? (Assuming there are no precise clocks in this world--this thing must be timed very precisely for the ceremonial consumption of Auric to happen). My imagined answer is that Bozal has a hidden spot from which to observe the proceedings in the arena--it appears he can take his standard action from anywhere, merely concentrating for a moment to break the seal. If Bozal is dead, Loris tells Talabir he has an urgent affair to attend to and can't be in his luxury box when the combat starts, but wants him to notify him by sending spell as soon as the combat has begun.
2. How does the Ulgurstasta know who it needs to attack to complete the ceremony? It could be told to attack the one with the champion's belt--but why does any victim with "at least one level in fighter" trigger the final transformation? What is spiritually special about a fighter as distinct from a barbarian, ranger, paladin, etc.? (I.e. this arrangement seems like metagaming to me--the thing should have to devour Auric, the reigning champion, unless he has just been killed or surrendered, in which case presumably the "captain" or the buffest warrior-type in the party is now the champion. Unless the Ulgurstasta emerges in time to observe Auric's defeat, though, how is it supposed to know who the new champion is?
3. The entry on the Ulgurstasta's chamber says that once it is released it attacks anyone it can reach from area 32. Who can it possibly reach? The stone portal to the east is sealed, and there is no indication that it is supposed to break out in that direction. The pipe from 26 is only 2 feet in diameter, presumably too small for the Ulgurstasta to attack by biting, though perhaps it could blast anyone inside the pipe with its breath weapon, if it even noticed them.
4. Given my understanding of the answer to number 3 above, it seems to me that if the PCs get to Bozal and the Ulgurstasta early, they will almost certainly have to run (or dimension door) up to the Arena itself to fight the thing before it rampages through the city, leaving spawn of kyuss in its wake. Though it will be the middle of the night, it seems unlikely that a battle in the Arena will go unnoticed--the sleepy guards will wake up and see--run to tell Raknian and/or the city watch, with many implications for the plot that might take some time to explore. Even if we assume everyone's in bed and sleeping so soundly as not to hear the midnight battle, there will be a gargantuan rotting undead worm carcass and a big hole in the middle of the floor when everyone shows up to work in the morning--unless someone does some major magical cleanup to hide the evidence of the battle. I would guess that Raknian would try to skip town immediately, and the finale of the Champion's Games would be delayed while the authorities investigate the strange happenings--at the very least. And if the PCs are observed and identified during their midnight battle, there will be some question as to whether they should be disqualified from the tournament. In this case, the final battle is unnecessary--Auric keeps the Champion's Belt by forfeit.
Sorry, I keep having these nitpicky questions--I just want to be clear on what the original intent was on these matters before I go off on my own tangent.
(And I do think it's much cooler and more climactic to have the beast come crashing up through the floor of the arena in the middle of the final gladiator match, although there is an extreme risk of disaster. I guess if the heroes are more efficient and do their work in the middle of the night, they'll be like our spies saving LA from the terrorists--the citizens won't even know they were in danger until the tales are told years later, when Mayor Glasgol needs a boost in his political ratings and can claim the PCs were acting at his direction. Wouldn't want to compromise our methods or endanger our agents in the War on the Age of Worms, now, would we? In the final analysis, perhaps it is coolest to let the PCs make their choices and roll the dice, with the DM knowing that the fate of the world's greatest city depends on their actions, and knowing that they'll either be publicly acclaimed superstars or unsung heroes, depending on what path they take to greatness.)
While it's acknowledged in 'The Champion's Belt' that the PCs may fail to stop the Ulgurstasta before it completes the prophecy, there is no reference to this possibility in the later adventures. For example, 'The Spire of Long Shadows' is written with the assumption that the PCs stopped the Ulgurstasta (sp?) leaving only 1 more prophecy ahead of them to be stopped (tri-partite spirit). What I would've liked to see is mention of this possibility in the other adventures, even just a paragraph with suggestions of how to handle the adventure had the PCs failed in Champion's Belt.
In our campaign the PCs found Bozal & the Apostle on the second night. While they killed Bozal, they left the Apostle where it was for 2 full days...and didn't even examine the scrolls. Even with some subtle reminders that they were really there to investigate Raknarian's (sp?) connection to the AoW they instead concentrated on winning the tournament.
During the battle with Auric's band the Apostle burst into the ring. Our 1/2 orc fighter ignored it and focused on beating Auric (he wanted to win the belt); 2 mages continued to assault Khellek (Auric's mage companion?). Only our warlock & my NPC mage targeted the Ulgurstasta. Khellek sent the Leatherworks against the Ulgurstasta too, before falling. Between the 1/2 orc fighter and the Ulgurstasta, Auric fell quickly. Lovely. The necromantic wave hit with the fulfillment of the prophecy and the citizens dropped. The PCs finally killed the Ulgurstasta as wights began arising & the survivors fled. They assumed someone had set the Apostle loose so charged down the hole it had created and....promptly blasted the Scrolls into oblivion (?).
What followed was a 4 gaming session side quest to save Greyhawk. In the end the death count was 50k citizens (we operate with a 200k population Greyhawk). Atrocious. Disgusting. But, as the DM I know my priveledge is to provide a *fun* time for the players, allow them to make choices, and create the narrative & descriptions for the results of their choices. Still...for a bunch of 'good' characters the actions of a few really disgusted me (mainly by focusing on making money in the arena, and concentrating on killing Auric over an obviously dangerous creature of Kyuss).
Their reputations over the incident suffered a little; it's known that they fought the Ulgurstasta but failed to defeat it in time; it's known that they were instrumental in defeating the wight horde that resulted; it's *not* known that they knew about the creature but didn't do anything about it for days. Occassionally I remind them of their responsibility for the disaster in Greyhawk (ie. From an NPC shopkeeper, "I heard you were involved in saving many lives in Greyhawk a few months back. A right tragedy that was; I lost a brother & his family in that..."). The failure to stop the Ulgurstasta in time added a lot of urgency to the campaign, especially when they scryed Alustan's place to discover Ilthane's swath of destruction.
In my campaign, I wish they'd care more about just how dangerous the AoW is. They're approaching it more as a dungeon hack but we're about to start 'The Prince of Redhand' so I'm quite excited to get them back to ROLEplaying.
On a side note, thanks to all contributors on these topics and boards; they've helped immensely by supplying ideas, approaches, and tactics that have kept my players very excited about gaming in general, as well as this AP.
Chris
Wow... what a difference between groups. IMC, the bard made a great bardic knowledge check, and I gave him a little quote that he had heard:
"The Apostle of Kyuss will rise, feasting on the Champion"
The players had no idea what the "Apostle of Kyuss" was, or what would happen if it ate "the Champion," but they took it to mean that they needed to protect Auric at all costs.
When they finally saw the ulgurstasta, they still didn't really know what it was they were facing... until it was released.
When they studied the scrolls and understood the implications of what might have happened, everything started to make sense. They understood that Auric received help from Raknian (giving the golem manual to Khellek, etc.) ensuring that they survived to the final round for the sacrifice.
To them, the Champion's Belt itself was secondary. But now that they've managed to avert dissaster, they want to win.
Spoilers...
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My players are a chaotic lot, except for the Monk and the Priest of Cuthbert. They did display good tactics in the first two rounds of arena combat, though, and used their resources well. The halfling archer-ranger (back after Blackwall Keep)decimated Arcane Auriga and The Sapphire Squad in the first round, while the Priest's summoned hippogriffs ran interference. The halfling had constructed a wheeled mantlet (a tower shield on wheels, basically)with his carpentry and leatherworking skills, and stood behind it shooting as the rest of the team charged in.
Against Pitchblade (3 dwarves to oppose 6 PCs), things were tougher, but still the Blackrazers were victorious. Okoral provided potions of Protection from Arrows 15/magic to his minions to negate the halfling's archery, and the dwarves were given Adamantine breastplates for a total DR 4/-. But good PC rolls, particularly by the party's own dwarf berserker, resulted in the dwarves' defeat. The halfling's mantlet was sundered, but as he had broken out his last oil of magic weapon to coat a handful of arrows, he was able to slay the last dwarf with help from the Monk, who took a sword cut to the belly for his help.
But it was against the Froghemoth that things almost got away from the party. Firstly, they were immediately incensed by the delay and wanted to walk out, 'fireball the crowd', shoot Talabir Welik the referee, etc. They knew it was a setup from the third minute or so. The halfling climbed into the stands via Rope of Climbing, only to be met by Security and turned back. The party surrounded the lift/elevator, but then turned and rushed the chariot-cage as it entered by the northwest gate. They didn't let the handlers get too far away from the cage, and in two cases tripped them. Welik the referee's protests were drowned out by the roar of the crowd. When Madtooth was released, the twin rangers tumbled in and whittled down the 'stoneskin' spell rapidly with their improved two-weapon styles. They were seized, and squeezed, for a round, but cracked ribs were a small price to pay for opening up the creature to other attacks.
A hapless guard, targeted at random, was grappled by the long tongue of the monster, and reeled screaming towards its' maw. But the party's strikes were starting to tell.The halfling, using rapid-shot against three eyes 'as big as dinner plates' blinded the Froghemoth, and the dwarf berserker finished it off with a powerful Urgosh blow.
As the dust settled, the halfling turned to the terrified guard he'd tripped and extended a hand, saying 'sorry'. His wicked grin spoke volumes...
But it was against the Froghemoth that things almost got away from the party. Firstly, they were immediately incensed by the delay and wanted to walk out...
Oh, yeah... my group yelled foul at me as well. I just said, "hey... I'm running this as written" with a satisified smile. A couple of the players were ready to leave, but one reminded the rest of the amount of money that the thieves' guild had on them and suggested that they just wait it out.
Almost everyone was grappled. The cleric had some spell on him that made him automatically win any grapple checks (I don't remember which one), and the druid's summoned elementals were, once again, very effective.
My party took care of the Apostle early as well. We're in Eberron, so sneaking through Sharn's sewers was nothing new to them ;) They found the path that led up to the temple's trash heap and worked their way through to the tiefling. They killed him rather quickly, so he had no time to release the Apostle. This is all taking place two days before the Tournament is slated to begin, mind you. So the party rested in the temple (via rope trick) and used their fully-charged wizard and cleric to take down the Apostle's protective shield; the wizard had succeeded on a rather high Spellcraft check to figure out how to take it apart, and once it was down the Apostle went up into the Arena. By the time the party got up there it had already killed many of the workers and guards, so it had quite a large group of skeletons helping it. The players took out the Apostle, then just about swaggered through the tournament.
Until the froghemoth almost killed three of them :) Then they were kinda ticked off.
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although my players haven't hit this one yet, i am studying up on it and while i'm a little concerned from reading the posts on this thread, i think it'll be the sort of challenge and (more importantly, IMO) wake-up call they'll need to let them know just how serious and important their actions are to the campaign.
... once it was down the Apostle went up into the Arena. By the time the party got up there it had already killed many of the workers and guards, so it had quite a large group of skeletons helping it. The players took out the Apostle, then just about swaggered through the tournament.
I'm curious as to what Raknian thought of the large hole in his arena after the Ulgurstasta broke through clearly thwarting his plans....
If the Ulgurstasta escaped early, how did everyone (as DM's) handle the rest of the tournament? Did it continue as if nothing had happened, or was it cancelled and Raknian did a runner?
In my game when Racknian tried to run his assassin did him in
and took his head(to tie off loose ends).
Note that you cannot use speak with dead on a headless corpse.
I took someones advice on NPC behavior and am happy.
Roleplay the NPCs.
If one of the PC's help Hakeem pay for the ressurection, he will
have it done "in town".
Did the PCs collect evidence of Racknians murder?
When he vanishes the games will go on.
Note that the PCs in my game all waited for the final
introductions to use the short term (less than an hour)
potions and spells.
Note that the guys in charge only manage to delay one half hour.
On the other hand role playing the riot sounds like it was fun.