Hello all. We'll be starting Zenith Trajectory soon and I was looking through the first couple of encounters--the umber hulk and Jared's hut/dragon.
I was thinking that both encounters may be too easy for my group. For the umber hulk, I was thinking about just making it a regular umber hulk but adding a second one. For the dragon [can't remember his name right now] I was looking to pump him up an age category.
Any thoughts or comments on either encounter would be great.
Also, party composition is human Hexblade 6, human warmage 6, human cleric of Cuthbert 6, and a human marshall 3/rogue 3 [NPC].
Thanks again.
Gregory Ellen
I did add a second umber hulk to Event 11 for my group, but they are playing gestalt characters. I'd make sure to put plenty of townspeople in the encounter and really play up the danger to them so that the PCs are torn between going toe-to-toe with the umber hulk(s) or removing any commoners to safety first. Get really familiar with the tactics sections for all NPCs involved, too, so that you can keep those separate scenarios running throughout the event. Your PCs should have to work pretty hard to keep everyone out of danger while still defeating the umber hulk(s). If they don't show any concern for the safety of anyone else, especially if any commoners should die, make a point of knocking down their fame a bit. No one will congratulate the PCs if they succeed against the umber hulk(s) at the expense of innocent lives.
For Gottrod, I minimized the encounter so that I could run it later as a side quest. The party got a chance to seek out Gottrod's lair and defeat him and his minions to get at his hoard. My campaign has been running low on cash for a while, so I thought I would reward them with a little infusion of wealth. It was much more challenging for them this way, too.
Good luck!
Koramado
Thanks for the prompt response. I have a couple of weeks before I re-start the campaign, so I'll try to have a "dry run" before the real thing.
Also, I like your idea of a side quest for Gottrod. I may steal that idea! Did you use your own version of a dragon lair or did you borrow one from Dungeon or another source?
They have been selling nearly everything they could get their hands on, so they are pretty cash rich but equipment poor. [I opened a bank Eberron style in the city so they could save their money].
Again thanks.
Greg
I was looking at adding another Umber Hulk in my game. However in the end I am glad I did not.
We have five players, all sixth level in the game. Not exactly over the top but still rather well geared.
I had the combat drawn up on 4 A3 map grids and started the scene off and went running. And it took....ages...about 90 minutes just for this. Not that I am complaining mind. The confusion gaze can really really cause havoc...or should I say confusion. The first failed save saw the rogue start stabbing helpless townsfolk!
Highlight of the fight was the old fruit peddler attacking the mage (confusion) with a watermelon and critting.
I hear you Tearlach, the confusion gaze can have some nasty results. One of my players ended up killing three commoners herself, but luckily was in an alleyway and went unnoticed, at least for now. I may have some future NPC have a negative reaction to her, having silently witnessed her unexplained slayings or something of that sort.
I fit the sidetrek to Gottrod's lair in between Zenith Trajectory and Demonskar Legacy. One of my players ran it to give me a breather from DMing, so credit goes to him for pulling the pieces together. His character was incarcerated at the moment so it gave him something to do and I got to take a small break.
Here is a different thread where he details his sources for the sidetrek.
When they completed the sidetrek and returned to Cauldron with their loot, they were met by the gate guards who inspected their cart and promptly called the tax collectors to assess a portion for the city. This was the last straw for the PCs and made a great lead in to the tax riot which folowed the very next day. It made my players very sympathetic to Maavu's cause, when they had previously been suspicious of his flight from Cauldron after the umber hulk attack.
Hope you have fun with it!
Regards,
Koramado
Thanks again for the info. I actually have Dungeon 100 so I can run the side quest with the info from the link.
I'll keep in mind the confusion gaze. I don't have my MM with me--it's out on loan--but they will all be well rested and itching for a fight. Although, if I can have the hexblade confused, it would make for another memorable session.
See ya later.
Greg
CEO
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The confusion gaze can really really cause havoc...or should I say confusion.
I just ran this on Tuesday and my party had a pretty easy time of it. The key was the Paladin of Freedom, who gave any ally within 10 feet of him a +4 on will saves. Only the rogue failed his save and was out of the action. The other key action was our druid summoned two Dire Badgers who tunneled undeneath the umber hulk and made it impossible for him to flee downward when the fight turned against him. It was a fun battle, but not much of a challenge.
Bring on Gottrod!
-Lisa
I was thinking that both encounters may be too easy for my group. For the umber hulk, I was thinking about just making it a regular umber hulk but adding a second one. For the dragon [can't remember his name right now] I was looking to pump him up an age category.
I'm combining The Banewarrens with my SCAP, so I have added the fiendish template to the umber hulk and linked it to the first part of the Banewarrens. My players aren't there yet, but I can't wait for it! :)
Gottrod is problematic if you don't 'sell' his presence in the area sooner. Have your players hear rumors about him being seen in the north, otherwise it could come across as a random encounter - and no one wants that. :)
Remember that the PCs will be facing Dhorlok in the temple shortly afterwards, so you may want to avoid overwhelming them with dragons. I like the idea of his flying off and allowing the PCs to track him down later...which could tie in perfectly with his father's appearance later in the adventure.
My party has become overconfident. They've displayed brilliant tactics thus far, dispatching all the various "bosses" in the SCAP with relative ease and little danger. They have amazing character stats (due to rolling three sets and choosing the best) and they've played enough games in the past to know how to fight as a team and win a battle.
There are six of them, and all are at 6th level now:
Human Fighter 6 - greatsword expert and improved disarm. always wins.
Human Monk 6 - runs into melee constantly with low AC. never dies.
Halfling Rogue 6 - always flanks to sneak attack
Halfling Cleric 6 - selflessly heals front-runners
Elven Transmuter 6 - casts 1:haste 2:enlarge fighter 3:bull's fighter
Human Bard 6 - inspire courage, hang back and heal
In addition, they will be getting cohorts now, increasing the party size to eight!
The way it looks right now, the Umber Hulk has no chance. It wouldn't even be an exciting fight.
Others have suggested perhaps adding a second umber hulk to the equation, but again that would just lengthen the battle but add very little to its difficulty. Boring.
I think the party needs to learn a lesson. They need to stare death in the face. I'm going to upgrade the umber hulk into a TRULY HORRID UMBER HULK. Yes, a CR 14. 270hp. With a will save of 22 to avoid being confused. It will likely hit with every one of its attacks, dealing a MINIMUM of 26 damage each round, and potentially killing the fighter in one round. Of course, I'm hoping he won't run up to fight it in melee. Considering it will tower over him!
Why am I doing this, you ask? Because I still think the PCs can win, if they fight cautiously instead of charging in as usual, trying to do as much damage as possible in one round. I'm gonna try to convince the fighter that maybe, just maybe, for the first time in the campaign, he should pull out his composite bow.
I see this being a memorable battle, with the umber hulk trashing the majority of the warehouse district (all buildings except for Maavu's in order to cast suspicion on him) and causing huge casualties and such. When the party brings it down, they'll get much more fame as a result. If things look badly for them, I can have Fario and Fellian, or possibly the Stormblades, join in. Also, I can have the MTA agents show up earlier if need be.
Just wondered if anyone had convincing arguments for why this is a horrible idea.
I ran this about 4 sessions ago for my group (we're just finishing up Bhal hamatugn this weekend). Although my group is smaller, I also bumped up the Umber Hulk stats. I don't have my books in front of me, but I think I advanced the UH to 12 hit dice, gave it 75% of max HP, and changed the feat selection a little bit. It worked not too badly, but my group can be very tough despite their small size (3 gestalted characters). What I did do was have the UH retreat into one of Maavu's big warehouses and had some clerics on hand to heal it while hidden from view. The PCs saw them but weren't able to ID them (similar to Embril's appearance in Life's Bazaar). Made for a long memorable fight. I found the crowd part didn't work to well, since only one group was close enough to be affected by the UH gaze in the first round (kids watching the puppet tent) and the other two crowds fled after round one making them essentially a non-issue.
IMC this was a nice break from constant life or death battles. Since the FUH was more intent on destroying buildings than people, the only real danger came from buildings falling on people, and we did lose some commoners to this.
The fighter spent the majority of the fight confused, so for the first time the cleric saved the day, and single-handedly took down the FUH with his war ax. The rest of the party ran around dealing with commoners and guardsmen who were acting wacky.
So by all means, if your party has been breezing through, upgrade, but if it's been one life-or-death battle after another, this made for a nice break (as I don't recall any party member even taking damage until the last round). The confuse gaze really makes for some nice slapstick if you're willing to play it that way.