I am currently preparing to run the Red Hand of Doom Adventure which I believe will be an awesome experience for my players. Brings back memories of the "Against the Giants" and "Slave Lords" adventures of old. Anyways back to my question; has anyone began running the adventure, finished the adventure? If so do you have any information to offer, tidbits of advice, did you make any changes that you thought enhanced any the adventure?
As it stands the party I will be running through the adventure will be:
Human Paladin - Lion of Brindol (Cavalier)
Dwarf Paladin
Human Druid (Animal Lord)
Gnome Cleric of Fharlanghan
Elven Rogue
Human Spellthief
Thanks, any info will be appreciated.
- G
I am working up to it, but haven't run it yet. For ramp up adventures I used / am using:
* A Dark and Stormy Knight (WoTC Freebie) - Intro Session
* Siege of the Spider Eaters (Dungeon 137) - Level 1-2 progression
* Unfamiliar Territory (Dungeon 119) - Level 3-4 progression
I need to find some sort of city adventure that will be good for level 2-3 in a city environment, and am open to suggestions. City is Derlusk in the FR if that helps, so it's coastal but I want to keep them ashore by the end of it.
How about Salvage Operation from 123 as a 2nd level adventure? The one with spiders on the boats. Tie-in with Siege maybe? I thought that was a great, creepy adventure.
The Devil Box from 109 is a city-based adventure from 2nd level. It's got those goofy kobolds in it.
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My crew includes:
Human Wizard with Storm Variant from UA
Dwarf Samurai (heading towards kensai) (brothers)
Dwarf Cleric of Freya (brothers)
Whisper Gnome Ninja
Elf Ranger
...sounds cheesey, but it works!
They haven't actually started RHoD, but they just hit 4th level and soon they'll be heading for Vraath Keep. So far, all of my adventures have been geared toward making Elsir Vale their home. They traveled through Hillwatch, Dauth, Nimon's Gap, and now Brindol. They've met key people and have introduced to some of the important undertones for the siege later. Once they find what they're supposed to find in the keep (some of them may be lurking around here) it's going to be a pretty aggressive time line!
I'm actually allowing my players to start at 5th level. We will just be finishing up the Shackled City Adventure Path in the next 2 weeks and this is going to be sort of a fun shorter adventure before we start the Age of Worms Adventure Path early next year.
-G
I just finished up and I have to say some of the later fights got extrememly easy. My group ended with the following...
Alaric, A Queen's Knight (OA Samurai/Iaijutsu Master).
Saint Sarah, Radiant Servent of Pelor (Saint Template, Cleric/Radiant Servent of Pelor).
Prince Evander, Hylarian Knight (Blooded[birthright], Paladin/Cavalier).
Zugg, The Orc Dreadnaught (Tough/Dreadnaught)
Reinn, The Legendary Marshal (Marshal/Legendary Tactician[Dragonlance]).
All in all it was pretty good fun, though I failed to give the roleplaying time to develop, oh well.
What level did your PC's start at and what levels did they finish at? Would you suggets upping the CR's oor were your players overly powerful?
- G
All except for Alaric started out at 4, Alaric started at 5 (he won the big tournment in a neighboring kingdom). They ended around level 12, they took the Aspect out in a single round and that is after I doubled the original DR. The fight against the High Wyrmlord only lasted because of his antilife shell, and the Skathar was present.
They killed the second in command of the Red Hand after expecting alittle more out of them.
Truth be told, my characters may have been alittle powerful.
Zugg, Orc Double Axe two-weaponer, until he got the Dreadnought ability to count any weapon as one lower, then he went to Greataxe/Battleaxe combo.
Alaric, +10 Initiative plus Iaijutsu Focus (+22) with Strike of the Void adds atleast 3d6+9 (Alaric's natural cha mod, he had like a plus 5 really with his cloak of charisma so, 3d6+15 before weapon damage).
And then... A griffon-mounted Paladin, spirited charge with a lance, triple damage with a charge.
My suggestion is watch all the battles closely and just hand wave some stuff to make it more interest/challenging.
Also with Aspect I used its weapon along with allow it to make 4 bite attacks, string, and crush. It only got that one round of action.
I tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible... hope I didn't give anything away.
I'll try and read through Devil box tomorrow, but at first glance it doesn't look like it will end up fitting well.
Salvage operation has some promise however, I read that one not to long ago and could work it in (they are doing Siege of the Spider Eaters now which is all about spiders, ships and pirates booty, arrr).
Thanks for the suggestions,
-Fest
My players have just finished the third Chapter of the Red Hand, having returned the Phylactery to its rightful owner (though they were sorely tempted to put an end to the GhostLord).
I have 5/6 players, and they started at Lv 6.
The first few encounters went really easy. They got very frustrated at the tactics of the force at the Skull Gorge Bridge, as both sides were using cover and ranged weapons, with the hobgoblins using their potions of Cure Light/Moderate Wounds when needed.
The only thing that bothered me was when they went straight from Drellin's Ferry to Brindol, after finding out about the real strength of the Red Hand (and informing Drellin's Ferry), as the adventure assumes that the PCs don't get there until quite late on. I would also recommend, heavily, getting the PCs to Rhest (and then the GhostLord) rather than using lots of set encounters along the way to Brindol.
BTW - How are others running the Aspect of T. in combat? I wasn't sure if it was a case of either one breath weapon being employed in a round, and no melee, or if she can actually use a breath weapon AND melee at the same time (as someone did above). I have checked other souces, but am still unsure as to what she can and cannot do in one round.
How about Salvage Operation from 123 as a 2nd level adventure? The one with spiders on the boats. Tie-in with Siege maybe? I thought that was a great, creepy adventure.
The Devil Box from 109 is a city-based adventure from 2nd level. It's got those goofy kobolds in it.
"A Dark and Stormy Knight" is a great intro for "Red Hand of Doom," but beware of "Unfamiliar Territory," as it's a very unbalanced adventure. My group of 2nd-level characters breezed through it until the final encounter, which was overwhelming.
Also, don't forget the bonus lead-in encounter available at wizards.com: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ub/20060224a
BTW - How are others running the Aspect of T. in combat? I wasn't sure if it was a case of either one breath weapon being employed in a round, and no melee, or if she can actually use a breath weapon AND melee at the same time (as someone did above). I have checked other souces, but am still unsure as to what she can and cannot do in one round.
Check out the RHoD book, p. 110--on the first round, one of the five heads uses its breath weapon, the other four bite, and her tail makes a sting attack. In subsequent rounds, a different head uses its breath weapon while the other(s) recharge, and the remaining heads bite. Nasti...
How about Salvage Operation from 123 as a 2nd level adventure? The one with spiders on the boats. Tie-in with Siege maybe? I thought that was a great, creepy adventure.
The Devil Box from 109 is a city-based adventure from 2nd level. It's got those goofy kobolds in it.
"A Dark and Stormy Knight" is a great intro for "Red Hand of Doom," but beware of "Unfamiliar Territory," as it's a very unbalanced adventure. My group of 2nd-level characters breezed through it until the final encounter, which was overwhelming.
Also, don't forget the bonus lead-in encounter available at wizards.com: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ub/20060224a
I was kinda of wondering about that final encounter in that module, but it's hook was already set in Dark and Stormy (a goblin called for storm peace and they chatted over a warming fire).
The players are on the coast around the border kindoms (Derlusk to be specific). Getting them south across the shaar will involve a journey on a "prarie schooner" type wagon, though it will be closer to caravel sized. I have some ideas for encounters along the way, but am still looking for some excitement shipboard to happen en route. Soemthing is going to happen to the ship en route and then we will kick into that inro encouter.
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I need to find some sort of city adventure that will be good for level 2-3 in a city environment, and am open to suggestions. City is Derlusk in the FR if that helps, so it's coastal but I want to keep them ashore by the end of it.
Urban Decay looks like it might help out. I like the meat pie 1/2 orc guy. And it looks easy to increase up if you need a 3rd or 4th level quickie.
I'm in a game where our DM has run us through a home-made intro, then is currently running us through "Forge of Fury" before Red Hand of Doom. Not sure how related the Forge module is to anything, but there's a vague tie-in via our dwarven ranger/fighter (seems instead of a near-empty dwarven stronghold, it's now crawling with Orcs). I assume the Forge Orcs are not related to the Red Hand, but instead it will be some form or resurgance of the goblins we spanked in our very first adventure. Still, I've heard that Forge of Fury is a really good module, and from what little I know it's probably similar to RHoD in terms of being a very large dungeon crawl type of module, which is probably fine for our disparate party of dwarf fighter/ranger, elf fighter/duskblade, human shugenja, human monk/sorcerer and human rogue/bard (two humans are sisters, but they are from a far-off land, and the elf is from elsewhere too).
I've been running RHoD more or less bi-weekly for some time now. The party was enormous, but scaling up the encounters generally wasn't a significant issue. (There were 10 players at one point, we're at 9 or so atm...)
I've run it through up until very near the end of the Siege of Brindol. In the process of gauging the characters' capabilities (as well as a strong urge to finally get that nasty Staff of Healing out of play), in that siege, I elected to insert a single combat encounter instead of 3 of the ones delineated in the module proper. The party, at the start of the encounter, rightly constituted an EL of 14. Keeping with the desired feel of the siege (as the most memorable section of the entire module), I chose to deploy 4 bluespawn gawdslayers against them (also an EL 14 encounter) rather than 3 rapid-hit ho-hum encounters which accumulatively posed an EL of 14. The time allocated for the session concluded at this point : 2 of the four bluespawn gawdslayers have been felled, with the third very slightly wounded but stunned. One PC has been outright butchered, while that nasty Staff of Healing has been drained of all but 1 charge - with the party's sole Cleric (who had that staff) reeling and on the edge of a one-hit squish. The rest of the party is more or less in fair-to-mint condition.
With that party of six PCs you've described, my suggestion would be to keep in mind that they have enormous self-healing abilities, but less-than-optimal firepower at thier disposal. The Spellthief will be near-useless (as there are very, very few arcane spellcasters for the spellthief to go up against, let alone spellcasters in general). The druid and cleric provide the primary healing and restoration, the paladins hamburger everything else while the pointy-eared rogue kindey-perforates from cover and sneak attacks ... Basically, you can amp numbers of mook critters to keep the EL in line with a party of 6 rather than 4 with no trouble given the party you are facing. That party WILL have a difficult time in certain sections, especially relying on a spellthief. I would strongly encourage whomever is playing the spellthief to choose a different character concept - preferably sorceror, as the module's time frame allows NO significant amounts of time for item creation and spellbook scribbling, and that party has no higher-end firepower at its disposal.
Granted, with a Druid, firepower is not entirely lacking ... the druid can certainly start spewing forth hordes of critters to gnaw on the hordes of goblinoids, not counting a decent array of fire-based spells with which to incinerate thier many foes...
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As I became confused as whether to run my Eberron RHoD campaign at 5th or 6th level (contradictory info on cover and inside, after all) and because I was just starting up a gaming group, I ended up running them through a few adventures in Sharn first.
So, when all things were started, the group was either at 6th or 7th level, and had the following six members.
Standard, Adamantine Warforged Paladin of Freedom 6/Fighter 1
- Magebred Heavy Warhorse Mount
Jorraen, Human Wizard {Non-specialized} 7
Juniper, Changeling Psion {Telepath} 7
-Sage, Psicrystal
Sapper, Adamantine Warforged Artificer 6
-Benny, Morningstar item familiar, controlling 6 HD tin golem
-Makoma, 6 HD wood golem
Xaavaras, Hobgoblin Bard 3/Ranger 2/Extreme Explorer 1
Seglind, Human Cleric of the Silver Flame 6
Although my players are still not running at top efficiency, they're a fairly hardy group (esp. with Vitality & Wound). My personal advice, if you're own group is steamrolling through fights, is to make sure you are accounting for the extra two PCs.
While it's well and good to imply let the exp gain slow down, this simply leaves them with easier fights, and eventually leaves them more frail than the adventure intended. Personally, I find you need to raise the total EL of a fight by .5 for each player to ensure smooth exp gain, and that usually means adding more creatures to the fight.
So far, after four weeks, the group is in the midst of a pitched battle at Skull Gorge Bridge, with a v. high Diplomacy check netting them Warklegnaw and a few boulders. As far as I can tell, they're loving it all, but it hasn't been easy on them, and there has been a tremendous number of close calls.
So, personally, I advocate upping the general numbers of combatants if that isn't too much of a strain on you. Additionally, I'd really try to describe Vrath Keep as a hornets' nest, waiting to be stirred up- In other words, the group would be wise to target one group of combatants and beat on them, then withdrawing before the full force engages them.
With my group's higher numbers & levels, they ended up facing four worg riders, 4 worgs, an advanced manticore, a greenspawn sneak & greenspawn leaper, a redspawn arcaniss {in the tower}, eight hobgoblin veterans, Karkilan {with barbarian levels}, and a dragon shaman version of Wyrmlord Koth, all at once. It was shocking that they survived, and it was a close thing with the arcaniss's fireballs.
I'd be glad to share my scaling notes if anyone is interested; it's an Excel spreadsheet detailing the campaign up to Chapter IV's end & a word doc of revised statblocks- I use MM III & IV to spice up some combats.
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I'm currently DMing this for a group of 4. They are:
1 Orc Monk (hits like a fighter)
1 Human Monk (AC infinity)
1 Human Fighter/Wizard (spells and attacks)
1 Human Cleric
I started my characters at level 4, having them run across a group of hobgoblins trying to hire an ogre to help them (saw that suggestion on enworld). They did this on the way to an abbey from which they were told to retrieve a holy artifact by a high-ranking cleric in the Church of the Silver Flame. After dealing with goblins in the abbey who also were after the holy artifact, my characters were at level 5 and I continued the adventure from there. I've actually beefed up a lot of my encounters, and aside from Ozyrandion, the group has had few problems thus far. Of course, 2 sessions ago, they were captured in Rhest whilst attempting to kill the Red Hand stationed there, and they've blown most of their escape routes. Probably will be a TPK, but it was fun getting there. :)
I ended up writing my own 3-4 bridging adventure. A suspicious fire breaking out at an orphanage kills all five children who live there. A half dozen suspects and one of the children's grave being defiled the day after it was buried lead into a investigative story of what actually happened and who is at fault.
Along side this I will be running the "Shut in" adventure, since it has some strange happenings as well that would fit in.
Lots of flavor for the city criminals, one of my players being a "beat cop" type will have a good time with this one, particularly while the others are busy crafting and shopping.
I'm looking for advice & "scaling notes" as I need to scale up RHoD for a party of 6 PCs which start at 8 (halfway to 9th) levels. Playing new PCs is not an option.
They have a Wiz8, a Wiz7 evocationist, Rogue4/warmage4, paladin 7, Barbarian 6/HorseLord2, ranger6/wildPlainOutrider2, cleric6/combatMedic2.
They're traveling to deliver stuff to Brindol then they'll try to come home going west and run into the horde and fall back.
It's in FR.
I'd like to know what has worked and what has not.
I'm not even starting yet but the adventure itself lokk preeeeetty awesome... We would love to see some of that mad stuff on Dungeon huh?...
I've been dropping hints and hooks in the last dozen gaming sessions leading toward RHoD. Many goblins have been moving away from the PCs areas and toward Wyrmsmoke Mtns. The PCs once had a short adventure to spy on that migration. They managed to get a glimpse of AzarKul persuading a tribe to join his forces (similar to RHoD's back cover).
My problem is that I did let them do a few more adventures (the downside of not railroading) and they now leveled up quite a bit. Short of having them run into a dozen wights to lose more levels than hte cleric can cast restoration, I need to advance the adventure.
I'm looking for advice & "scaling notes" as I need to scale up RHoD for a party of 6 PCs which start at 8 (halfway to 9th) levels. Playing new PCs is not an option.
They have a Wiz8, a Wiz7 evocationist, Rogue4/warmage4, paladin 7, Barbarian 6/HorseLord2, ranger6/wildPlainOutrider2, cleric6/combatMedic2.They're traveling to deliver stuff to Brindol then they'll try to come home going west and run into the horde and fall back.
It's in FR.I'd like to know what has worked and what has not.
Do not let them retrieve the staff of healing awarded at the beginning of the module. That item (and its substitute) largely depends on the party of 4 PCs being 5th level. The party you've described, with 6 PCs, is going to be able to cakewalk through the entire module as written, obviously. I doubt they will need a staff of healing.
My recommendations :
1. Double the numbers of the mooks (regular critter types), which will take care of the majority of the encounters in the module. Make sure that they use tactics - aid another actions, flanking, cover bonuses, terrain modifiers that favor them, you name it. They're going to need it against the combination of two mounted-combat specialists and two heavy firepower arcane spellcasters they're facing. Who have an unpleasant rogue and healer along for proper backup. Kill thier mounts, companions and familiars repeatedly and often - most likely the mounts, as any infantry recognize that the greateast asset of D&D cavalry is also the weak link - the horses themselves.
2. Keep the timeline of the module strictly monitored, and increase the # of victory points they need to break the siege of Brindol by at least 50% if not doubling it. The biggest time sink they will encounter is going to be the trip to return the phylactery to the GhostLord - even on horse, that should add a good 2 to 3 weeks' to the party's travel times. At least, when I ran, it did. The time table is mucho important, and the only clue they get at it is the map that they can uncover early on. Sticking to the timeline forces the PCs to keep moving in order to keep pace with the bad guys. And don't give them anything other than the flavor text. If the party doesn't wander through the swamps and play with the swamp elves, they don't. If they don't come across the possibly-friendly giant, they don't. If they goof off somewhere for a week, wake them up in the middle of the night and set thier inn on fire - or the wake up call is a boulder smashing through the roof and almost-squishing a PC in thier sleep.
3. The named bad guys (the dragons and behir, as well as the non-dragon dragonlords) are going to require proper homework before running them up against that party. I'd suggest ramping the dragons up one size category at a minimum, and you may want to tack on another age category on top of the next size category to go with it. Make sure to note the various dragons' tastes in gear, and increase accordingly. The dragons in the RHoD fight smart and nasty - the first dragon (the green) took the group to school and was single-handedly responsible for 2 deaths in one round with a well-aimed breath weapon. None of the RHoD dragons should be played stupidly. Be especially wary if the cleric has the Glory domain - that Holy Sword spell is brutally effective for a 5th level spell, and your PCs are right at the cusp of accessing it - well, maybe, I'm not familiar with the combat medic PrC. The behir IIRC is a half-fiend - advance its HD to get another ability or two, give it a flawed electricity-variant necklace of fireballs that it places as a booby trap or tempting target to the greedy to target with its breath weapon. (The flaw being that it automatically fails saving throws against electrical damage - thus, it autobooms when it zaps the necklace.) Make sure that the nastiest sandstorm you have available to you springs up to drive the party into the lion's den (as it were) at the opening encounter when it comes time to deal with the behir. If they stay out in the flensing storm, they will die or be forced to igloo. If they go in, they must fight a foe in its chosen lair. I recommend a ring of spell storing with a dimension door for the behir to escape with. Might want to give all the dragons that item, so that they can exact vengeance at the end of the module as a single group. (My group doggedly made sure to smoke the dragons at every encounter - only the behir escaped.)
4. Most of the dragonlords can be advanced 4 class levels to present the proper threat to your party. Make sure that the enchanter dude (the first dragonlord they run into in Vraath Keep) has liberally sprinkled alarms and magic mouths throughout Vraath Keep to permit the entire garrison to raise the alarm. Or even Improved Alarm (the 3rd level spell from the Spell Compendium). If need be, place single-charge wands in the treasury with the necessary spells and tweak his skills accordingly. (When I ran, the party scout did fine, but the cleric got impatient and sounded the general alarm by starting a fight with the manticore. Higher level PCs may not be so foolish...)
5. The non-dragon dragonlords will need every one of the extra 4 class levels to remain a vicious threat to your PCs. Be sure to ramp up thier gear accordingly, and in the same vein as thier present gear. (I.E., not necessarily of ideal use to the PCs.) They should also be able to cast useful enhancement spells on thier minions/mooks before sending them into battle with the PCs. Protection from Arrows, Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Stoneskin cuts both ways ... Max all thier hit points. Brooches vs. Magic Missiles are also a good idea. Rings of Counterspelling (if the item slots present themselves) are also useful - especially against Evard's Black Tentacles, Silence and the like. Cleric NPCs should make liberal use of Spell Immunity to thwart the most common methods of no-saving-throw hosings. They PCs should be.
6. The GhostLord as written is, well, rather lame. Generally, the party gains 2 or 3 levels by the time they reach him, which means the written CR 13 should be adjusted to a CR 16 or 17. He's supposed to be a nasty customer, make him one. Give him PC-rated gear instead of NPC gear. He should be a CR 5 or 6 higher than party level in short. Don't let them get the idea that he will be an easy foe to topple at the point in the RHoD that they meet him.
7. The BBEG isn't the Aspect of Tiamat - it's High Lord Azaar Kruul or whatever his name is. As written, he is a half-blue dragon cleric of Tiamat. I suggest gestalting him to either Fighter or Warblade, maxxing out his hit points, tacking on the half-fiendish template and adding another 2 to 4 class levels. (Given that they are supposed to be 10th level, your party potentially being as high as 13th, means he should probably be 16th level. Build him no more than 2 sessions prior to the party encountering him in order to gauge the BBEG's abilities appropriately.) I *hope* that they do not have access to 6th level spells by the time that they reach him - or, if they are, be sure he has several Greater Dispellings available to strip the preparative spells from the party's arcane casters. Higher-end Summon Monster and Planar Ally spells are part of his CR too - don't be afraid to drop and anvil farm on them. (Contingent Spell feat anyone ?)
The whole idea is for that fight to tax the party to thier utmost, with the Aspect arriving to drive them off after messily dispatching thier nemesis for the mini-campaign. He is the driving force behind the RHoD, and is the only NPC who could intimidate the Ghostlord into reluctant service - he needs to be able to actually do so in game stats. Make sure he can scry the party once they become a noticeable pain in the butt - give him a font for clerical spell scrying or a crystal ball or something similar to use to that end. He needs more than some hysterical scout's rantings to get an accurate picture of what he's up against. He will prepare accordingly to what he can scry in conjunction with the field intelligence his Horde reports to him.
8. Your biggest problem to deal with are going to be scrying type spells available to the party as well as instant-movement spells. Note that they never really come across a good description of the high lord or his lair until very late in the module. Once they gain access to 6th and 7th level spells, they may well choose to scry for him and attempt to directly teleport to his immediate surrounds. Thier are a few options for dealing with this, ranging from simple nondetection, to the dimensional travel blocking 8th level spell to the Anticipate Teleport/Greater Anticipate Teleport spells in the Spell Compendium. Most likely, with a liberal perusal of the PHB and Spell Compendium, I think you may well find that he can effectively ward his entire lair against divination, scrying and teleportation/ethereal travellers well in advance. I'm not saying to railroad the PCs ... if they decide a few levels too early to gun for him, then by all means let them get themselves butchered and the whole Elsir Vale becomes ruled by devils, dragons and ghost lions, oh my.
Thanks - that's what I need.
Your 2PCs death was against advanced dragon or the scenario as written?
Doubling critters is the basis of the solution but it lengthens each fight. Any good pointer to solve this? Maybe I need a co-DM for tactical fight.
Vraath Keep:
You're right I need to give him 4 lvl otherwise, it's too easy. Minor Globe of Invuln. will reduce their artillery threat. I'm making the Minotaur bodyguard a Barbarian 6 and he'll get Stoneskin and maybe a Fly spell. Sorcerer will Dispel Magic. The whole Keep needs more Traps.
Rhest:
That Ranger wyrmlord needs more punch in melee and some arcane help. I'm not sure whether to increase his ranger level or multiclass him.
I need to find out more about those alarms spells. There will be patrols around the Keep and one that comes back in the middle of the fight unless they scout ahead to attack right in between patrols in/out.
First my preemptive strike at next game session: their caravan will run into a Slaughter Wight & a half-dozen Murks (Libris MOrtis) to peel off a level or 2. This should work since the cleric has just been petrified in DUngeon #126 Menagerie and won't be around Restoring & healing.
With him petrified, they have an extra incentive to go to BRindol to fix him.
They haven't got much feats in mounted combat yet but it's coming. I'm keeping a tight control on which spells are "available". Invisibility was difficult to get and so will Teleport.
FYI: combatMedic = same spellcasting + healing kickers - no progression in turning undead. Kickers example are a 1 round sanctuary and later on aid on the subject you just healed. Heal checks become a Move action,... it's from Heroes of Battle
Thanks - that's what I need.
Your 2PCs death was against advanced dragon or the scenario as written?
Doubling critters is the basis of the solution but it lengthens each fight. Any good pointer to solve this? Maybe I need a co-DM for tactical fight.Vraath Keep:
You're right I need to give him 4 lvl otherwise, it's too easy. Minor Globe of Invuln. will reduce their artillery threat. I'm making the Minotaur bodyguard a Barbarian 6 and he'll get Stoneskin and maybe a Fly spell. Sorcerer will Dispel Magic. The whole Keep needs more Traps.Rhest:
That Ranger wyrmlord needs more punch in melee and some arcane help. I'm not sure whether to increase his ranger level or multiclass him.I need to find out more about those alarms spells. There will be patrols around the Keep and one that comes back in the middle of the fight unless they scout ahead to attack right in between patrols in/out.
First my preemptive strike at next game session: their caravan will run into a Slaughter Wight & a half-dozen Murks (Libris MOrtis) to peel off a level or 2. This should work since the cleric has just been petrified in DUngeon #126 Menagerie and won't be around Restoring & healing.
With him petrified, they have an extra incentive to go to BRindol to fix him.
They haven't got much feats in mounted combat yet but it's coming. I'm keeping a tight control on which spells are "available". Invisibility was difficult to get and so will Teleport.
FYI: combatMedic = same spellcasting + healing kickers - no progression in turning undead. Kickers example are a 1 round sanctuary and later on aid on the subject you just healed. Heal checks become a Move action,... it's from Heroes of Battle
In order :
1. The 2 PC deaths was against the module-written and geared dragon (no increase in size or age category) vs. a party of 8 or so PCs of proper level for the encounter. Like I said, the dragons in RHoD are smart and (most of them) have good tactical sense. Thier aerial mobility is available to them at thier initial encounters in the module - take advantage of it to really challenge the group.2. The doubling of critters is initially hairy to run. A few basic tips that I found to work well consistently :
* Don't roll individual initiative for the mook critters. Roll it for whole squads (4 to 10 mooks) that have identical statistics and gear. It is very plausible given that tactical training by a LE army would be to act as a whole squad rather than as skirmishers.
* Whole squads will focus thier attention and fire on ONE target at a time. Mook infantry will definitely seek to mow the horses out from under the party as rapidly as possible, as well as to capitolize on any advantages of terrain and cover. The opening encounter in the module is a good way to establish that the PCs are not facing an ordinary clump of mook 1HD hobgoblins, they're facing serious opposition. If the first squad to act fires individually on one target, and no attacks hit, the second squad to act would aid another so that one of thier number takes a seriously boosted attack roll on that SAME target. It gives them an idea of how hard (or easy) to hit thier prospective foe is.
* The supporting critters and spellcasters are not stupid either. They can certainly order flanking movement, attain altitude (for flyers), sneak up to optimal spell range and so on. Very very few foes in the RHoD are unintelligent. And as a general rule they have VERY good morale. Decent to superior tactical play on the part of the mooks will actually speed play - an entire squad of mooks can certainly elect to reorient, for example. If they spot the party before the party spots them, there is nothing in the rules that says they won't spend thier surprise round(s) maneuvering for better cover and such.
* With doublings I find it easier to run the critters/mooks in pairs or squads. It GREATLY speeds play time for you as the GM and raises the hair on the backs of the necks of the players in one go.
* If none of the above work, then by all means draft a co-GM (the cleric's player perhaps, as that character is out of play until they get a Break Enchantment dropped on him ?). I didn't find it personally necessary, but you have to play up to your own strengths and weaknesses when running combat.
3. Vraath Keep : Trapping an inhabited structure that is basically a fortified barracks for the Red Hand isn't necessary other than what's already in place to protect the schwag. Upgunning the existing ones should prove sufficient. The alarm spells I've mentioned will certainly augment the mooks' ability to respond to hostile intrusion by a careless group of PCs. The base DC for Search and Disable Device on an Alarm spell - IIRC - is 26. At 8th level, with a +5 ability modifier, the trapfinder of the group should have about a +16 bonus on both checks (11 ranks +5 ability modifier) - most likely a +18 for the disabling check, giving that character a statistically favorable bonus to do the trick. If you want to be nasty about it, pay close attention to that character's actions and movement - as well as the spell descriptions - and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised about how easily they raise the alarm. If the PCs screw the pooch and attempt a daytime intrusion, they're really hosed. Finally, the module-written occupancy is for the remaining garrison after accounting for the patrols that are out and about raising havoc in the countryside.
The Wyrmlord therein I believe is a mindbender - perhaps you could rebuild him into a summoner of fiendish critters (with appropriate feats and spells available) to drop the critter anvil instead ? I had two minotaurs in there (instead of one) and only the lousy terrain inside the keep itself prevented them from capitolizing on thier goring charge. You could certainly remove the mapped terrain or remap it to favor the garrison more heavily. The book minotaurs proved more effective against the group I ran than tacking on class levels to one - one foe of that sort is an easy focal point of attack for the party. Two to four of them plus the worgs and levelled hobgoblins I suspect could prove able enough to give your PCs fits.
4. Rhest : The goblin ranger Wyrmlord, with his black dragon buddy, are a nasty tag team. Read his gear closely - he packs Bane arrows for his favored enemies - tack on a few ranger levels more and add more Bane arrows, and amp his bow a bit more as well. There's another arcane spell-caster in the keep as well, with a tame giant IIRC. The keep in question has a good number of heavy hitter types in garrison. Presuming the PCs employ the stealth approach, odds are that they'll wind up setting of the alarm before they grease the entire garrison. If they succeed, the main, named bad guys in Rhest have (after tacking on the extra class levels they'll need) a pretty good set up.
As far as the goblin ranger himself, you could certainly have his animal companion playing the role of invisible scout critter. Don't forget that the weather has an element to play in Rhest as well - it is to the PCs advantage for the weather to be inclement (whereas it is decidely not in thier favor to have a really nasty sandstorm kick off later in the module). I don't do animal companions and familiars, so I had completely forgotten about his when I ran. Assuming your party gets to the main keep in Rhest before starting hostilities, I had the ranger perforate elven PCs from behind those nasty arrow slits that form the bulk of the perimiter at "dock level". He was successful in mauling two of the elves before he ran out of Bane arrows. Assuming he levels high enough, tack on Humans as his second favored enemy and that probably covers the entire PC group - if they're all human, change his Elves to Humans and you're set. Between the named spellcaster, the giant, the black dragon and the goblin ranger, plus the goodly number of lizardfolk mooks (who can swim in behind the PCs and surround them from the rear) and ogre mooks will give them a good run for the money. Make sure that spellcaster has at least 2 dispels ready to roll - Evard's Black Tentacles is the PCs best friend here, and he wants to minimize the amount of time that spells of that nature are determining the terrain of the defense of his post. Oh, and at the kind of level of ranger your group is looking at, there are some VERY nasty ranger-specific spells from the splat books (most of which are compiled in the Spell Compendium). Should the PCs strike as the ranger is off on patrol with his dragon buddy, I suspect that when the alarm is sounded (by a large horn perhaps, blown by the giant ?) that he and the dragon both will knock back a potion of invisibility and return from above to rain death on thier parade ...
5. A slaughter wight against a party with NO cleric ? Oh man, they are so screwed ... even with an uber turning cleric, the slaughter wight has 18 HD and average hp of 135, so turning simply is not an option for them whatsoever ... I wouldn't bet on too many surviving that fight unless they have a couple of disruption weapons on tap ... I suspect they will be beating a hasty retreat from that encounter the moment they realize what they're up against.
6. Mounted combat feats I'm personally not overly concerned with - but mook infantry most certainly would presume that mounted warriors bearing down on them at a speed of 50 ft+ have them and act accordingly. If nothing else, it's a great way to keep the cash on hand for the party diminished.
7. Undead turning is not a generally significant issue in the entire mini-arc of the RHoD - with the exception of dealing with the GhostLord's incorporeal undead mooks. They are in deep poo however should they decide to press the issue with the GhostLord - he seems to have an awful lot of rather unpleasant critterminions avaiable, and incorporeal critters do not care about such minor details as gravity, ceilings, floors and walls ... The combat medic is otherwise perfect for the module.
Hope this helps !
It will be a slaughter but I think the PC will surprisingly survive it ok. At 135hp the Slaughter Wight should survive the 3-4 fireballs going his way + scorching rays but then the barbarian has a long history of crit'ing my Bosses. We'll see how fast they can wake up and whether they take guard duty or rely on the caravan drovers only.
I don't want to overdo it/TPK on a side encounter just before RHoD starts. The slaughter wight will be on a "recruiting mission" with only a few minutes before dawn: 1 or 2 attacks per caravan person to maximize the # of new wights. After attacking a PC and noticing he doesn't die from a few slams, he'll just go after next target such as another PC or an easier target i.e. civilians. Then the PCs will need to deal with the spawns. This will spread the pain and the drains.
The PCs rely too much on their unique cleric e.g. they never carry Holy water or use death ward. A Gather Intelligence would have informed them of rumors of undead on the road. So I'll have surviving drovers splash holy water on a spawn wight and dispatch it. Afterward the PCs will race to get the Break Enchantment in Brindol and to get their Cleric to do tons of Restoration in time. The RolePlaying of who should get the few Restorations will be fun to watch. They'll get in debt of the chick cleric of Brindol too which is cool. One new hook could be to save Elsir Vale while waiting for a Greater Restoration from her far away superiors.
Being drained will make the first encounter(s) more manageable.
The Keep's wyrmlord is a Sorcerer 6 but gonna be 10. Minor Globe of INvulnerability will even the odds by removing the artillery threat. Invisibility Sphere will be one dangerous trap. Also a
A combo I like is Celerity & Benign/Baleful Transposition to move/swap position. Example swap the evil animal companion who just delivered a Shocking Grasp to the PC wizard with a minotaur ready to swing.
SC has a good Wiz3 spell for alarming: "Skull watch" with nice flavor too.
The Ranger Wyrmlord needs a Str boost and being 11th gives him COmbat Mastery to become an arrows machine gun. His spellcaster minion is a Mindbender/Bard so not much firepower.
I have a problem with the LIch. Once he has his phylactery, why wouldn't he jsut kill the PCs. He'll need to be adjusted right before they meet him so both sides are afraid of combat i.e. Mutually Assured Destruction.
Seems like you have a good preliminary set up. Although you obviously won't have to worry about the undead creature(s) being crit'd ...
Personal taste for me is to steer very clear of energy drains - it has always struck me as supremely cheese, strictly a means of " level control ", basically stealing hard-earned xp from the characters, but that's not really relevant either, so my apologies. The one question that springs to mind, however, is " why is a slaughter wight out here ? " Given thier HD and general capabilities, one slaughter wight at the right place and time would put a hideous dent in the plans of the RHoD, unless the heavy guns show up and frag the beast along with all its spawns ...
The group's super-heavy reliance on a cleric that isn't all that good at turning the undead is certain to change for those who survive the encounter. I do like that hook for owing the NPCs some serious favors for saving thier bacon too, that's a nice touch.
The Lich lost his phylactery due to stealth and the High Wyrmlord's " persuasions ". The GhostLord strikes me as being rather introverted, even for a Lich, and once he acquires his phylactery, presumably issues dire warnings to the PCs, permits them to leave alive and recalls his mini-onions. He most likely scrys them for the remainder of the adventure on a regular basis to keep tabs on them, presumably (given his alignment) to potentially sic a small pile of brute ghost dire lions on them in the middle of the night when they sleep at a later date ... false sense of security and what not ...
We finally got RHoD started. I started writing down what happens in a wizards board
D&D styles/D&Dadventures/ RHoD chronicles (adjusted for higher levels):
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=741883
The prequel encounter with the slaughter wight and 6 murkers was a slaughter with one PC (the barbarian) KIA and several negative levels to the others. The player faces was priceless when they realized that the militia/caravan guards that came to help them would prove to be a liability as they were being killed and turned into more wights.
The PCs brought their friend remains to Brindol and were told that Raise Dead are reserved for heroes of the state and not just sold to the rich. This will be a motivator for the PCs to defend Brindol.
Oh and now they appreciate their cleric a lot more.
I have a problem with the LIch. Once he has his phylactery, why wouldn't he jsut kill the PCs. He'll need to be adjusted right before they meet him so both sides are afraid of combat i.e. Mutually Assured Destruction.
Perhaps he has some shreds of honor left? Just because he's evil doesn't mean he won't honor a deal he makes. After all, if the PCs don't destroy his phylactery, there's at least a certain degree of trust/gratefulness that could be gained. I would treat him a little like Dr. Doom: evil, willing to ally with others to achieve his ends, but will honor a deal he makes to the letter, and will return a kind gesture with the privilege of at least leaving those who showed him the kindness with their lives. He's not a typical "I AM EVIL! YOU MUST DIE!" villain. He's more of a "I will withdraw my forces from the Wyrmlord's armies, and I shall allow you all to leave with your lives. Now return whence you came! The next time we meet, it shall not be so pleasant" kind of character.
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I have a problem with the LIch. Once he has his phylactery, why wouldn't he jsut kill the PCs?
Perhaps he has some shreds of honor left? Just because he's evil doesn't mean he won't honor a deal he makes. After all, if the PCs don't destroy his phylactery, there's at least a certain degree of trust/gratefulness that could be gained.
There's that.
When I've played that scene, I play the Ghostlord as having seethed under the indignity of being blackmailed by hobgoblins ... hobgoblins! ... and forced to manufacture their precious bonedrinker brigades, under the watchful eye of a Wyrmlord guard. When the PC's release him from his indenture, he's a lot angrier at the Red Hand than he is at the PC's.
So he aims the party at the hobgoblins, possibly correcting any wrong conclusions they might have drawn, and sets them on their way.
Killing the PC's, who have proven to be such a thorn in the Red Hand's side, is the very last thing the Ghostlord wants to do.
There's that.
When I've played that scene, I play the Ghostlord as having seethed under the indignity of being blackmailed by hobgoblins ... hobgoblins! ... and forced to manufacture their precious bonedrinker brigades, under the watchful eye of a Wyrmlord guard. When the PC's release him from his indenture, he's a lot angrier at the Red Hand than he is at the PC's.
So he aims the party at the hobgoblins, possibly correcting any wrong conclusions they might have drawn, and sets them on their way.
Killing the PC's, who have proven to be such a thorn in the Red Hand's side, is the very last thing the Ghostlord wants to do.
Exactly. Nothing says that the Ghostlord even wants to aid the Red Hand, but it could be he's been manipulated into it...
About to start it, using Hollow's Last Hope and Burnt Offerings to get the characters from 1st to 4th level or so (going from goblins to hobgoblins seems like a logical transition). 4th to 5th remains to be seen; I'll pull something from Dungeon, maybe.
Here's the thing: I'm also debating using slower level progression and interweaving the rest of Rise of the Runelords with it (the end of Hook Mountain would be great for the military themes, for example). Any advice?
About to start it, using Hollow's Last Hope and Burnt Offerings to get the characters from 1st to 4th level or so (going from goblins to hobgoblins seems like a logical transition). 4th to 5th remains to be seen; I'll pull something from Dungeon, maybe.
Here's the thing: I'm also debating using slower level progression and interweaving the rest of Rise of the Runelords with it (the end of Hook Mountain would be great for the military themes, for example). Any advice?
I might consider a different option. Logical transitions are all very nice and all but the difference in feel between fighting goblins and fighting hobgoblins is not very large. There is a real danger of having it so the fights start to feel stale if you go this route. I'd actually suggest you find adventures that feel nothing like the Red Hand of Doom and transition from them to Red Hand of Doom. It'll hopefully keep the campaign feeling fresh for far longer. An important consideration considering how long the players will be in RHoD.
I'd actually suggest you find adventures that feel nothing like the Red Hand of Doom and transition from them to Red Hand of Doom.
Any specific recommendations? The party are a bunch of nobles (and retainers) undertaking military service as "the only profession suitable for a gentleman." So far there's a gnome bard (the senior officer), a half-elf ranger, a human battle sorcerer, and a gnome druid. Neither of the gnomes has pink or green hair.
I'd suggest going over your Dungeon collection and seeing if anything there catches your eye (no worries - more will catch your eye then you can run). Your looking for stuff thats neat but won't feel at all like RHoD. I'm really not sure what your preferences are I'm just pretty sure that a constant stream of anything is going to make it feel less new and exciting as one gets closer to the end. Nothing worse then building up tpo the final encounters in RHoD and realizing that you've just about lost some of the players around the table.
I'd suggest going over your Dungeon collection and seeing if anything there catches your eye (no worries - more will catch your eye then you can run).
Heheheh. Yeah, you're not lying!