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SPOILER ALERT:
I have finally started DMing an AOW campaign with a group of six players and they have got as far as the 3 wolves (not far but some great RP had by all as well as a solid bedding in to their characters in Diamond Lake).
What are the things I need to know to run this properly that are not in the magazines and overload?
I guess I am thinking of all the stuff that has disappeared off the bottom of this messageboard with hints, tips, errata, etc., that make the game go that little bit better without the Players moaning there's some error or discrepancy.
Cheers for all help offered
***By it's nature this thread will contain spoilers so please do not look if you are not a DM!***
Jason
The one thing that REALLY springs out is this: Be careful with the Acid Beetle Swarm. That encounter has ensured Kyuss' ultimate victory over the world long before the PCs ever become a threat to him, and I'm going to hazard a guess that it resulted in total or near total TPKs better than one quarter of the time.
Beyond that, I will tell you to read ahead. Know what NPCs you want to use and which ones you want to scrap ahead of time. You're not going to like everything you see in the AP, so take note ahead of time.
Beyond that, no specifics. Just be careful with the swarm...
Funnily enough, my players scarpered when faced with both Acid Beetle Swarms. They eventually stopped to deal with the Mad Slasher and (later) the Giant Beetle , but managed to outrun the swarms.
I have a question related to this, how do DM's adjudicate pursuit (and capture)? The DMG has some guidelines on pursuit, but they don't really help with what happens when the chaser has caught the prey. The combat rules cleartly state that if you move more than your normal movement in a round, you cannot attack, except if charging. Thus (according to the rules) you can catch up with someone during normal initiative, but can't do anything about it once you are next to them! (No wonder Cheetahs are endangered...)
Any help appreciated (and sorry if I'm hijacking the thread....)
My group also ran from the swarm. They went all the way outside, and the swarm just wandered off into the wilderness, no doubt dispersing at some stage. Made it easy for me :-)
I have a question related to this, how do DM's adjudicate pursuit (and capture)? The DMG has some guidelines on pursuit, but they don't really help with what happens when the chaser has caught the prey. The combat rules cleartly state that if you move more than your normal movement in a round, you cannot attack, except if charging. Thus (according to the rules) you can catch up with someone during normal initiative, but can't do anything about it once you are next to them! (No wonder Cheetahs are endangered...)
Any help appreciated (and sorry if I'm hijacking the thread....)
Turn based play doesn't work very well for pursuit. Basically, once a pursuit situation begins, I calculate whether the pursuers have the potential to overtake, and if so how long it will take. If no constitution checks are required, the pursuers overtake when they are within charging range after each group has taken the same number of turns. So I basically fast forward to avoid the illusory effect of the turn-based system in which the pursuers pass the pursued but can't attack them, and are in turn passed by them. If the pursued poop out due to a failed constitution check, or if they see that their enemies are gaining and turn at bay, that also ends the pursuit.
all i can say so far(and we are just finishing up the first adventure) is read all the adventures before hand. this should inprove the flow of the whol AP and if possible make the big reveal at the end of the giant adventure not seem to jarrring if u can forshadow some time before hand ( i plan on having the wind dukes hesitate slighty before attacking as theyu recognise the pcs for what they are). i was wooried that allustan would not be liked by and used by the pcs so play up the connection to him too. if you spent a lot of RP time on diamond lake then yopu should have a great time there.
Two things spring to mind:
1. Read 3 Faces of Evil well before hand. It is riddled with fairly important editing errors. You may also wish to edit how the Vecna chapter runs, as mazes just don't seem to work well in D&D.
2. Something I just discovered last week. When running Hall of Harsh Reflections, beware that parts can feel a little railroaded. My players are not used to roleplaying hanging out in a tavern (they like roleplaying, mind you, but not this kind). In some ways it is hard to avoid the issue when one player has to leave the bar early to provoke the attack on the gnome tavernkeeper by the doppelganger.
In the first module, the directions to the old observatory
and the map do not agree.
Assume the map is wrong as the PCs copy will not have the
observatory marked.
When I played it the Kenkus didn't all find the adventurers at once going in.
Coming out the remaining Kenkus tried to ambush them but realized when they were beat.
As for pursuit, remember, in a maze or forrest, you need tracking or your quarry will get away.
The npc will make one move straight and one move in any
of 7 directions.
Write their move down and ask the PC to guess.