I concur.
So will said sacrificed PC be reappearing later? And if so, in what role? Depending on who they got sacrificed to, of course....
Yes, she has been sacrificed to Glasya. The LE PC has an ancestor who is LG and is only going to help the group if this PC negotiates with her patron devil for the release of this soul (and some others the PC sacrificed earlier, such as her own paladin brother - this PC is the black sheep of a LG family).
Meanwhile another PC was so impressed by the sacrifice that she converted to Hessa's faith on the spot.
Nice incidental detail: among Hessa's possessions was a fingerbone which once belonged to Avner Meravanchi (this was the only thing left of him when he was eaten by terror birds on the Isle of Dread). Hessa had taken it in order to ressurrect Avner at some time in the future, preferably in order to get something from his family.
Now her NPC friend has taken all her possessions in order to give them to her followers (her temple). Except for this fingerbone, as he will be handing it back to the Meravanchis. (This NPC was a good friend of Manthalay). So guess who will be brought back to life soon :-)
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When we did ToD, Vanthus dropped the pearl. The only person within reach was the party cleric, who was played by a fairly new player. He had by far the worst Reflex save in the party.
He totally nailed that save and caught the pearl inches above the ground. It was pretty awesome.
In my group, the only person within reach of the pearl as Vanthus threw it (he was flying 30 feet up in the air at the time) was the Dragon Disciple... he made a jump for it, missed and had the thing bounce off his head...
The group didn't think the spluttering pearl was the threat (Vanthus already had beheaded the party tank) so left it for a few rounds... A few rounds of trying to work out what to go led the to simply panicking and jabbing it in the bag... luckily for them, it saved Farshore
We've jumped forward two months, Vanthus is buried, Farshore is all but rebuilt, and trade lanes are being established.
My group heads out to finally investigate what happened to the 8th village this week... meanwhile the Dragon Disciple has finally jabbed the Tooth of Ahazu into his gob... with interesting effects :)
The rogue/swordsage in my party stole it right out of his hands on the AoO. Vanthus raised his fist to smash it, rogue disarmed him and yoinked the pearl, Vanthus's fist hit his other palm. He had about two seconds of a "WTF?" look on his face before he died.
Fun to hear what happened to the pearls in your campaigns. It is one of those iconic moments of the STAP.
In my campaign the gnome wizard teleported away with it - and dropped it onto a deserted island - well, actually it wasn't deserted. It had some monsters on it (I think it was harpies) my group still had a score to settle with. After having dropped the pearl he used a fly spell to quickly get away as far as possible.
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PC: Amelia, Female Fighter/Wizard/Hellknight Signifier
Adventure: Here there be monsters
Location of Death: on the Isle of Dread
Catalyst: Mummy Guardians.
This was very simple. The mummies came out of the wall while the party was under ground and the rogue looked at the door for traps. She was immediately paralyzed by their fear aura, and was coup de graced by one of them before anyone in the party could act in the combat (bad initiative rolls all around).
If I recall correctly, after being shot by the gunmage, Vanthus activated the pearl. The group quickly killed Vanthus and with only a few rounds left, they gathered the pearl and debated what to do with it. At first, they thought about magically transporting the pearl elsewhere until the gunmage suggested they put it in an extra-dimensional space first and then take it elsewhere.
With mere moments left, they chucked it in a portable hole or a handy haversack, I cannot recall which, and then magically transported it elsewhere (I forget which specific spell they used). So it detonated safely. They had suspected earlier that they might run into a savage tide at some point so they had already figured out possible means of disabling the pearls (since they recalled Harliss' account of what happened at Kraken Cove).
Still, evil things (like the fiend that possessed Avner when they reincarnated him) lurk within Farshore, waiting for the opportune moment (like when they leave Farshore for Scuttlecove) to strike.
CB out.
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PC: Diesel, Male Dwarf Forgemaster Cleric
Adventure: Here there be monsters
Location of Death: on the Isle of Dread
Catalyst: Boss monkey demon guy ambushing us at night.
Again, someone in our party was killed before they could take an action in combat. We were camped in the weird valley, after talking to the strange semi-intelligent mummy. The monkey demons jumped us, and while the dwarf was awake, he hadnt gone yet, the monkey boss jumped him. After being converted to pathfinder, the DM gave him the 'scout' rogue archetype, allowing him to get all his sneak attack when he charges, and they have pounce for free. needless to say, the dwarf took over 80 points of damage before he could act or even stand up during the first round of combat, killing him out-right. They then kidnapped the gnome druid during the surprise round as well. We were left, stunned and confused, since we'd lost two party members in two sessions, both during surprise rounds, with no chance of even fighting back or saving them.
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All too easy ...
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PC: Syraneth, Female Human Evangelist Cleric
Adventure: Here there be monsters
Location of Death: Inside the demon monkey stronghold
Catalyst: Swarm of fiendish baboons
Same player's character died again, and again, nothing he could do to stop it. The thing this time, is the changes to the fiendish template from 3.5 to pathfinder made smite horrifically powerful on a mob with 30 HD. It ran up, grabbed her with it's massive grapple, smote her, and started doing 5d6+30 each round. We're level 8. Not much that could have been done. We tried. RIP.
I have great memories of this adventure path, but TONS of my characters died in it. It was a long time ago so I don't remember all the details of their deaths. All in Savage Tide, naturally.
-PC: Austen, Male Halfing Fighter/Rogue
-PC: Enelia, Female Half-Celestial Paladin (Yep, back in the level adjustment days.)
Bounded Mount: Redfeather, Male Hypogriff (disintegrated)
-PC: Syle "Lunar", Male Human Rogue/Shadow-Dancer
-PC: Aust, Male Elf Wizard/Fighter/Arcane Archer
-PC: Diesa, Female Human Fighter/Monk
Austen died in the adventure where they were stranded at sea getting attacked by seaweed monsters.
Syle died to a glyph of death. (Rolled incredibly well on the perception check, and incredibly terrible on the will save. *sigh*)
He got to the point where we were so high level a lot of the fights didn't even make sense;
In the victory point assault on the city, when the ships came in, the Psychonic shaper in the party said: "I create a giant 120 foot tall and 2000 ft wide wall of fire right in front of the ships." The DM said "No, you don't." "Yes I do, it's right here on my character sheet." "Yes, well, I'm saying you can't, because that would end the huge fight before it even begins." "*sighs*"
I remember the last one we did before we got TPK'ed was in a harbor of wrecked ships being used as buildings, with one huge one in the center that was a bunch of ships on top of each other. Instead of going in and fighting all the baddies, why didn't the cleric just cast earthquake?
I also remember getting really tired of darkness every other fight, so every character I made had blindfight or something that gave them true seeing.
It was good times, though.
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All the ships are magically reinforced and held in place with the equivalent of immovable rods. Earthquake would shake things up a bit, but ultimately would just tip off all the bad guys that you were coming. Might move the fight from the cool suspended ships location to a boring middle of the salt marsh location.
All the ships are magically reinforced and held in place with the equivalent of immovable rods. Earthquake would shake things up a bit, but ultimately would just tip off all the bad guys that you were coming. Might move the fight from the cool suspended ships location to a boring middle of the salt marsh location.
Immovable rods; that seems convenient... Is that really written into the adventure?
Tip them off?? Why would they assume that it's a spell, instead of, I don't know, an actual earthquake?
Of course, we also could have gone the "wall of fire" method I mentioned earlier. In 3.5 psychonics were pretty broken.
Salt marshes and earthquakes don't dance in the same ballroom. ;)
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It's written into the adventure--don't have the issue in front of me, but it's in the description of the Wreck.
It's possible that earthquake might not tip them off, but if I were them and an earthquake hit, I'd be looking for a hostile spellcaster. They have enemies that can wield that kind of magic.
I think the immovable rods are referred to in the general description of the wreck.
Ok, cool.
More to the point - a sizable portion of the hostiles in the Crimson Fleet base are capable of flight, have great Perception skill modifiers, and have more long-range attacks than the standard party of four meddlesome interlopers. Attempting long-ranged attacks against them is hardly a sound tactic.
In addition, the base is significantly larger than the area of an earthquake spell so overall damage is going to be minimal. Toss in the fact that the earthquake spell's effect is exceptionally small in scale compared to an actual earthquake, one can easily deduce it's the cause of a magical effect.
The real problem though is finding out where the hell is the base. You don't get a Will save just for walking around in the area since the illusion designed is that of a saltmarsh (and the environment itself is a saltmarsh so why would you ever disbelieve?) As far as the average civilian in Scuttlecove can tell, the Crimson Fleet's base could be an underground area. Realistically speaking, there is almost no way for the pcs to find the base without tipping off the residents. Only dumb luck and the expediture of numerous magical resources will grant the pcs the element of surprise.
CB out.
Back on track... couple of 'effective' deaths from last week
PC : Asash (Half Orc Sorcerer 5, Dragon Disciple 7) and Tarjik 'Target' (Dwarf Inquisitor 12)
Adventure : The Lightless Depths
Location : Holashners Ziggurat
Catalyst : Kopru domination
The group decided to assault the Ziggurat, not realising it would be so heavily defended. Scuffles with the Kopru outside were simple enough until the partys Life Oracle happened to be stood need the door (subsequently referred to more simpler words for colon) when it opened. Inside the Kopru there successfully dominated her, and beckoned her in. She went in and the 'bum' closed behind her.
Once the group had determined how to get the 'bum' open, the Oracle had been led down into the shrine to Demogorgon where 50+ Kopru and Naga were praying. The party fought past more guards and Asash attempted a rescue attempt (using his flying ability, invisibility and fear). This didn't work, and 'Target' ran in after (as this was this characters first combat with the group, he simply assumed this was normal tactics)
The party phanaton monk also leapt in to try and shake some sense into the Oracle, unsuccessfully, and in the end the rogue and mage used hero points, dimension door and teleport to get themselves, the Oracle and the Monk out
Both Asash and Target were dominated (the sheer number of Will saves were too much) in the fracas and unfortunately left behind. (The party simply couldn't risk getting to them to save them)
I'm now trying to work out what the Kopru would do with them... Any ideas?
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SACRIFICES
For the domination series of spells, any act that would be against the victims' nature means they get a new saving throw. For example, submitting yourself to be tied up or allowing someone to kill you? I think that qualifies for a saving throw. Self-destructive orders are also never carried out by the victim.
I imagine that intelligent koprus would first pump the victims of domination for information, such as number of allies, their abilities, where did they come from, how far away is that village they mentioned, and etc.
Afterwards, the kopru can use the victims to either lure in new victims, to fight against other outsiders, or simply pummel them to unconsciousness, strip them naked, tie them up, and then SACRIFICE them.
CB out.
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I started the Savage Tide a few months ago, version 3.5 as written, and have just finished Kraken's Cove; the party is on the way to warn/save Lavinia. Four of six have Savage Fever.
I am on the fourth fatality. My first fatality was session 1, from the Rhagodessa in the hold of the Blue Nixie. Despite hearing the scream, crashing, and ruckus, the brave 6 HP rogue jumped down alone. He was a noble, and his father raised him, banning him from further adventuring. He ignored that advice, and rejoined the group tracking Vanthus to Parrot Island. Alas he perished again to the hidden crabs, alongside the cleric who were both hanging back (by the water) while the heavies pursued turned ravenou: fatalities 2 and 3. The fourth was, Magali, cleric of Istus, who was quite appealing to the cook and his hungry savage customers in the mess hall.
Now they are 4th level, and have a deep hatred of Vanthus and fear of the Shadow Pearls.
PC : Morlam (19th level gnome wizard)
Adventure : Enemies of my enemy
Location : Nine hells
Catalyst : assassin devil
Because one of my PCs worships Glasya, I added her to the potential allies the PCs can win in Enemies of my enemy. The PCs visit Glasya in her palace on Malbolge in order to ask for her help (actually they are on a mission to free some souls she has in her possession - long story). She invites the PCs to spend the night and says she will give them her answer the next morning. They have dinner with Glasya and then she asks whether they want to sleep together in one room, mocking the fact that adventurers always do this and then block the doors and station guards. "No, I will sleep alone!" Morlam the wizard calls out. Morlam wants to claim the throne of the Abyss for himself after Demogorgon has been defeated and makes no secret of it.
What the PCs do not know at this point is that Moloch has sent some assassin devils to Malbolge in order to create havoc there and discredit Glasya in her role as leader of Malbolge. What better way to do this than to kill the prospective new ruler of the Abyss?
When the wizard sleeps, one of the assassin devils teleports into his room and assassinates him.
I was surprised as a DM. I kept waiting for him to tell me how he would protect himself. But the wizard just went to sleep. He had posted no guards and he had not taken any precautions at all (not even an alarm spell). In Malbolge, of all places! I guess he had it coming.
In the meantime he has been greater ressurrected, but the assassin devil has taken off with his original body and all his possessions. Which he will want back of course. The PCs have already announced they are going on an assassin hunt next time!
PC: Lyall Cale (human Crusader 4th)
Adventure: Here there be monsters
Location of Death: Lavinia's Manor
Catalyst: One really angry-at-humans boggard, combined with tactical errors
We entered a room that, in retrospect, was too small for a reach fighter. Lyall lead, though his armor had been badly damaged by a rust monster earlier that day. Upon entering, we were swarmed by boggards, including a raging barbarian/ranger who had favored enemy humans. Lyall weather three rounds of brutal impacts from her paired hand axes. The last round of full attacks lead with a critical hit, and Lyall absorbed more than three times the amount of damage necessary to kill him, even if he was at full health.
It was noted, however, that the amount of damage he took during that encounter would have killed the other three PC's, combined. He died doing his job, and doing it well.
PC: Stefanie (11th level Cleric of Vanya)
Adventure: City of Broken Idols
Location: Plateau on Isle of Dread
Catalyst: Wyvern poison and a hungry 'bloodhound'
The party had found the village of Mantru deserted, and learnt of the attack by the skinwalkers, but a botched Knowledge check meant the party did not know about the shapeshifting demon. Travelling towards he lizard camp, they were set upon by a random flock of wyverns, which swooped by and were quickly killed, but not before one lucky strike poisoned the cleric. The poison was neutralised, but had still done significant damage (DM: which I'd assumed they'd heal...!). Arriving at the lizardfolk camp, they are greeted by Noltus and Bulgan. Stefanie is immediately suspicious, and tries to slink off to cast a divination, but is doggedly pursued by a soppy panting bloodhound. She tries to cast the spell anyway - at which point it attacks. Still very weak form the wyvern poison, the party loose their cleric in the first round of a difficult combat, as Noltus reveals his true nature.
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PC : Maegara (21th level LE ranger/blackguard/death knight)
Adventure : Prince of Demons
Location : Wat Dagon
Catalyst : St. Kargoth the Betrayer
The two death Knights could not resist dueling, LE against CE. It was actually a quite honorable and fair fight. At first it seemed Maegara would win, as she had gained initiative. But later on Kargoth was the stronger of the two. She lost the duel and died.
The other PCs were waiting to intervene. She had told them that she would say a codeword when she had had enough. But in the end she decided to fight all the way to the end...
When she was dead, the other PCs finally intervened and killed St. Kargoth. This was one of the memorable fights of a great campaign.
PC: Jonathan "Mako" Krom, Psychic Warrior/Aegis 7th
Adventure: The Wreck of the Sea Wyvren
Location of Death: On the deck of the ship that just hit a reef
Catalyst: Dinosaurs Monsters attacked during a storm, when wearing heavy armor was a bad idea
Two crewmembers had been washed over board- and rescued by Mako- earlier, justifying Mako's call not to wear armor. So where the ship ran into the reef, and he busied himself pumping water out of the ship, he was still sans armor. We word reached him that the captain had been eaten by the monsters, he rushed up tairs without pausing to don or manifest his armor. He got one good hit in on mom monster before her and two baby monsters bit him.
One of the babies spent several rounds dragging his body off the ship, while three of the crew tried fruitlessly to keep him on board. Alas, he went overboard after those crew had been picked off one-by-one. Several round later, all the monsters were driven off of killed, and Mako's body was recovered, but he was too far shredded to revive. His only hope to rejoin the living is a raise dead spell that might be found at Far Shore...provided that the ship can be made to sail again. Otherwise, its a long trek across the Isle of Dread.
Luckily, Merry, the Priestess of Myrhiss, is traveling with the party, and has agreed to cast gentle repose until the crew arrive at Far Shore.
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PC: Thorin, lvl 2 dwarven cleric of Torm
Adventure: There is no Honor
Location: Lotus guild water cavern
Catalyst: Vanthus opened valve to flood chamber before fleeing
A crocodile took a bite out of the cleric and dragged his body out to deep water. Although the party's fighter managed to swim out and slay the beast, Thorin expired before anyone could aid him.
Fortunately for Thorin, his recent donations to the orphanage in the Sunrise District had gotten the attention of the Lightbringer's priests, who agreed to perform a raise dead (5th edition rules, they're cheaper, and as an RP factor it's a major undertaking to convince any religion to perform it).
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PC: Grym, level 1/2 sorcerer/warlock
Adventure: Bullywug's Gambit
Location: Harliss cavern
Catalyst: Harliss said the Vanderboren line will be wiped out for Vanthus's treachery.
It was a bold move, but the party was really beat up and not full strength, out of spells and low on hit points. They didn't stand a chance. Harliss gutted Grym (the instigator of the attack) and left the others when one player, who refused to attack, explained their connection and concern with Lavinia.
PCs: Balren - Lvl 2 warmage, Quilzolan - Lvl 2 runeblade, Milo - Lvl 2 rogue, Laerith - Lvl 1/1 rogue/ftr
Adventure: There is no Honor
Location: Underneath Parrot Island
Catalyst: After barely handling the first four ravenous zombies, another four along with their leader showed and spelled their doom.
One party member managed to survive by running into the the water, finding Penkus, and escaping via underwater tunnel (barely). The party learned to perhaps spend some of that money gained on important adventuring gear like, and I quote, "holy water, alchemist's fire, or healing potions."
PC: Logan, Level 2 unchained rogue
Adventure: There is no Honor
Location: Underneath Parrot Island
Catalyst: Total zombie overload
The party took their ambush by Vanthus in their stride and set about exploring the dungeon confidently. Maybe with too much confidence as a series of unfortunate events took place in each room they entered. They accidentally break the dungeon's power source which is pumping the water out. They get mauled by crabs. They slip over in a slippery corridor and get covered in gunk. This was an extended skills challenge to determine how many zombies they would face in the final room. As they failed to the maximum possible extent, they would be facing 12 zombies plus Kyd the huecuva. Yikes!
The d20 encounter calculator predicted that the battle would be 'overpowering'. I thought it was a likely TPK. Fortunately the party had a cleric present and had encountered Kyd in an earlier battle so they at least knew what they were up against. They planned well, took out the BBEG first then turtled to let the cleric channel round after round, but the rogue fell in round 7 just as the cleric was finishing off the last of the undead.
The party plan to use all the treasure they final in the dungeon to get him raised. I encouraged them to spend the cash on equipment and let the player roll up a new character - I think they are going to need all the help they can get - but they want to do 'the right thing'. :D
Yes, that was a tricky dungeon crawl.
(snip)
The party plan to use all the treasure they final in the dungeon to get him raised. I encouraged them to spend the cash on equipment and let the player roll up a new character - I think they are going to need all the help they can get - but they want to do 'the right thing'. :D
Perhaps Lavinia is willing to help them raise their friend, by borrowing money from the Merovanchi family!
Luna, yeah, I had read through this obituaries thread before running the module so I knew it had already claimed the lives of many adventurers. And it did not disappoint! The players loved it because the final combat against Kyd felt epic, even if they were only second level.
Hagor, I did a lot of soul searching about the funding of the raise dead spell, and did consider having Lavinia stump up the cash. But where is the pain in the character dying if their sponsor is just going to bail them out each time? And without that then the suspense is gone - the players only need to fear TPK or their character dying in such a way that their remains can't be recovered.
No, the party understood the consequences and made their choice. They will have to catch up down the road, and I will throw in some side quests eg War of the Welded to give them a chance to do that.
Lavinia borrowing from the Meravanchi family however offers lots of opportunities for devious plot twists. Suppose Lavinia borrows money for a raise dead and in return is forced to marry Avner!
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Lavinia borrowing from the Meravanchi family however offers lots of opportunities for devious plot twists. Suppose Lavinia borrows money for a raise dead and in return is forced to marry Avner!
Oh man, nice. Keeping that one in the back pocket. At the very least, he'll probably feel entitled to her virtue.
Which is even more fun!
PC: Logan, Level 4 unchained rogue
Adventure: The Bullywug Gambit
Location: First room in Kraken's Cove
Catalyst: Literally ripped in half by a savage deinonychus (Ripclaw)
Logan (yes, the same thief who encountered the terrible demise described a few posts above) was scouting ahead in the 'Hall of Hanging Silks' and got the drop on Ripclaw. He charged in for a sneak attack and did a good amount of damage, but the return attack from Ripclaw in the next round dropped Logan down to 2 hp.
By that point the rest of the party had arrived and Logan's player bet that another good flanking attack, plus some more damage by his comrades would finish of this mutated 'Thunder Lizard'. Logan did hit. And he did do a lot of damage. But the rest of the party did none! The dinosaur retaliated and dropped Logan down to -20. The DM's interpretation of what that meant: Ripclaw sticks a talon into the rogue's belly, bites down on his head and pulls... until the thief is in two pieces.
The party have said that they will raise him. Yes... again.
As the party barbarian said: "RIP - Rest in Pieces little buddy."
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Yes, the deinonychus was nasty. Fond memories.
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PC: All of them (Thorin, Eiva, Thunk)
Adventure: The Lightless Depths
Location: Golismorga
Catalyst: Bilewretch + Ocean
Without a cleric for create food and water, and without the sorceress to fly him up the ledge and out, he realized this was a one-way mission. He aimed to find the Tear of Tlaloc while he still had strength. Props to the player for fighting on. Finding the crater and listening carefully to flavor text, he opted to smash the Tear.
Mounting a Goat of Terror (figuring of wondrous power), he let the surefooted beast avoid the various molds and diseased surfaces and charged down. I played the guardian as cautious (not everyday a mad half orc riding a Goat of Terror charges you), and after it spent some invisible rounds boosting itself, it realized the mad half orc was trying to destroy its life work. It tried Hold Monster twice, failing, then tried to damage him with Cones of Cold. Epic saves at the right time. The fighter spent every attack, every edge he could muster, into smashing the statue with an enchanted maul. At 225 damage, I ruled it was cracked enough and ran the finale (wherein the collector fled).
When the ocean began pouring into the cavern, he thought he was done but remembered a Cloak of the Manta Ray that the sorceress once owned. He donned it and tried to recall his way to the surface, but here the epic story would end as he became lost in the dark twists and turns...
A true testament to never giving up, and how against the odds he completed the mission. Even more telling was the roleplay as his half-orc was a former solider. He never believed in giving up, and as a DM, was pretty good to be a part of a heckuva story.
Wow! Would make a very exciting movie!
@ Touc: Will the campaign continue with different characters (and the same players)?
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@ Touc: Will the campaign continue with different characters (and the same players)?
Alas, we lost one player due to real life and added two new ones, mutually decided to put the campaign on indefinite hold so the new guys could get invested in a campaign from 1st level. Interestingly enough, our new campaign tops out at 15th level and involves Mr. Two-Head, so not saying we couldn't creatively come back to this one....
PC: Skarneck, 6th lvl Abyssal Bloodrager & Piran Trevelyan, 6th lvl Seasinger
Adventure: The Sea Wyverns Wake
Location: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (inserted as expansion of area C)
Catalyst: Combat fatalities
Crushed to death and devoured by Xilonen, the ancient plant spirit. The other players fled, leaving their bodies behind...
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PCs: Nashota (Half-Giant Soulknife|Aegis 5), Rin (Human Investigator|Slayer 5)
Adventure: The Sea Wyvern's Wake
Location: Tamoachan
Catalyst: Petrified by the Basilisk. The rest of the party quickly restored them with its blood after killing it.
Urol Forol, of course, spent the entire combat sketching one of the beast's footprints off the ground, oblivious to the attacks on his bodyguards and the petrification of half the team.
PC: Janore Stormwave (4th level Cleric)
Adventure: The Sea Wyverns Wake
Location: Journeys End
Catalyst: Combat death - beaten unconscious by Vine Horror, then dragged away into the Sargasso.
PC: Tavey Nesk (2nd lvl Expert)
Adventure: Here There Be Monsters
Location: Dark Mountain Pass, Room 6
Catalyst: Combat death - dissolved by Black Pudding