Hi,
The party im DMing has just found Zenith, they have just defeated Mangh-Mictho, Aushanna, Saagogoi and a bunch of Kuo-toa soldiers and clerics so they need to rest mainly for the cleric to get some spells back.
The chatted with Zenith and asked him to come with them, but he refused, so they left to find a place to rest.
Does Zenith do anything? Does he communicate with the rest of the Koa-toans to track the party down?
I'll send the Spearman with some soldiers to search the complex for the PC's and attack during the night, but im assuming they would do this anyways after they discover dead bodies and probably alerted that intruders are in the area.
I'll probably leave Zenith in his room, he's not afraid of the PC's and he will wait for the PC's to return.
The PC's are probably going to use ranged attacks against him and maybe even sunder/disarm the orb in his hand if they do try to get into melee, btw if the orb hit the ground from a disarm does that creature still get summoned?
If the PC's rest im also going to kill off the two prisoners, they had a chance to release them but the cleric cast detect thoughts on them and didnt like what they were thinking :)
Does anyone have any other suggestion on what approach i should take?
Cheers
Z
Zlorf wrote: Hi,
The party im DMing has just found Zenith, they have just defeated Mangh-Mictho, Aushanna, Saagogoi and a bunch of Kuo-toa soldiers and clerics so they need to rest mainly for the cleric to get some spells back.
The chatted with Zenith and asked him to come with them, but he refused, so they left to find a place to rest.
Does Zenith do anything? Does he communicate with the rest of the Koa-toans to track the party down?
I'll send the Spearman with some soldiers to search the complex for the PC's and attack during the night, but im assuming they would do this anyways after they discover dead bodies and probably alerted that intruders are in the area.
I'll probably leave Zenith in his room, he's not afraid of the PC's and he will wait for the PC's to return.
The PC's are probably going to use ranged attacks against him and maybe even sunder/disarm the orb in his hand if they do try to get into melee, btw if the orb hit the ground from a disarm does that creature still get summoned?
If the PC's rest im also going to kill off the two prisoners, they had a chance to release them but the cleric cast detect thoughts on them and didnt like what they were thinking :)
Does anyone have any other suggestion on what approach i should take?
Cheers
Z
Pardon my tone, but as a DM, you blew a good, dramatic encounter intro on that one. Read on...
1. Zenith has just had his entire temple gutted and his lackeys murdered by a roving band of invaders and HE WANTS TO TALK WITH THEM AND THEN LET THEM LEAVE?????
The encounter text is pretty clear that, other than his opening threat, he will clearly make the party pay. You already know that Zenith doesn't fear the party - why would he let them retreat and rest up when he can kill them off more easily when they are weak and battered?
2. The encounter text clearly states that Zenith's first action will be to throw the orb to the back of the room as the party attacks (or he initiates an attack on them, of course), releasing the Invisible Stalker; even if the party successfully makes him drop the orb with a sunder, the crerature will still be released when the FRAGILE GLASS ORB SHATTERS and nothing plot-wise will change, except that it will have farther to move before attacking.
What you can do now, to make things better:
- DO NOT LEAVE ZENITH IN HIS ROOM TO AWAIT A COMING AMBUSH. He might be insane, but he's not stupid. This is HIS fortress and home - defend it!
Assume that the party will be found resting in the temple by any surviving Kuo-Toa (unless they make efforts to avoid detection ); do not engage! Have them inform Zenith, who will assemble all surviving Kuo-Toa and assault the party where they are encamped! As Zenith's remaining followers attack, have him throw the orb and join in.
Sometimes as a DM, you have to go off-script for the sake of logic; villains are not text-puppets that quietly wait their turn to be attacked in their compartments - they are Evil, so they don't "wait for you to rest up for a fair fight". They are NOT Inigo Montoya, who will let you catch your breath and empty rocks out of your boots. They will attack when they see you are weak, they will ambush you if they find you first and they will KILL YOU without mercy!
Play them that way!
M
Good points. I appreciate you views.
The party probably could have gone in without resting, basically they are made up of 3 fighter types, rogue and fighter/cleric. I think they were a bit worried of the orb, the undead and the circle. They didnt enter the room or initiate combat.
Yes, Zenith could have initiated combat by throwing the orb, but i feel the party would have just closed the doors and even if the invisible stalker had a chance to attack, i think the combat would have been more exciting for the player and DM (me) if the inv stalker was between the them and doorway (the only exit, apart from teleport circle)
I think sometimes the DM has to consider whether the continue beating up on the PC or give them a break. If the PC's wish to continue exploring maybe i should have had Zenith attack.
Do you think i should have Zenith follow them and attack them straight up, they have entered the Mushroom room and there is only one exist, it would be easy to break down the door and throw the orb and let the Inv stalker loose as he follows up .
Cheers
Z
I replyed without having your post up. So it was a bit hard to answer your reply.
I like the idea, gather the rest of the troops and attack as one with Zenith leading the way. I probably mis-interpreted the text, i didnt think Zenith would initiate combat if not threatened, this actually may work well for him, now that the PC's may think he completely lost it and is waiting for them to return.
I have tended to be on the side of caution, due to the TPK's that have been mention in this area. No has been close to dying to maybe its time to make it a bit more scary for the PC's
Thanks again for your comments, i agree sometimes it too easy to follow scripts...they should sometimes be tossed out the window :)
Cheers
Z
Marc Chin wrote: Zlorf wrote: Hi,
The party im DMing has just found Zenith, they have just defeated Mangh-Mictho, Aushanna, Saagogoi and a bunch of Kuo-toa soldiers and clerics so they need to rest mainly for the cleric to get some spells back.
The chatted with Zenith and asked him to come with them, but he refused, so they left to find a place to rest.
Does Zenith do anything? Does he communicate with the rest of the Koa-toans to track the party down?
I'll send the Spearman with some soldiers to search the complex for the PC's and attack during the night, but im assuming they would do this anyways after they discover dead bodies and probably alerted that intruders are in the area.
I'll probably leave Zenith in his room, he's not afraid of the PC's and he will wait for the PC's to return.
The PC's are probably going to use ranged attacks against him and maybe even sunder/disarm the orb in his hand if they do try to get into melee, btw if the orb hit the ground from a disarm does that creature still get summoned?
If the PC's rest im also going to kill off the two prisoners, they had a chance to release them but the cleric cast detect thoughts on them and didnt like what they were thinking :)
Does anyone have any other suggestion on what approach i should take?
Cheers
Z
Pardon my tone, but as a DM, you blew a good, dramatic encounter intro on that one. Read on...
1. Zenith has just had his entire temple gutted and his lackeys murdered by a roving band of invaders and HE WANTS TO TALK WITH THEM AND THEN LET THEM LEAVE?????
The encounter text is pretty clear that, other than his opening threat, he will clearly make the party pay. You already know that Zenith doesn't fear the party - why would he let them retreat and rest up when he can kill them off more easily when they are weak and battered?
2. The encounter text clearly states that Zenith's first action will be to throw the orb to the back of the room as the party attacks (or he initiates an attack on them, of course),...
I'm sure where Marc is getting that authoritative way to run Zentih. Personally, I played Zenith as insane with little connection to the world around him. He sits in his chair, mumbles, and that's it. He'll starve to death there if the players leave him. If accosted, then he attacks as described in the tactics.
The surviving kuo-toa should respond though. I'd have them go alert Dhorlot and let the dragon track down the PCs.
That's the way I'm playing it, too, DMFTodd. Zenith willingly conversed with the PCs spouting prophetic verses and reacted only when the PCs tried to force him to leave, then after he was removed from the temple he became even more distant and incoherent, docile as it says in the hardcover.
I've chosen to wait a while to have the PCs tracked down by the remaining kuo-toans who will inform Dhorlot of their location and plan an attack as the PCs travel south to Redgorge after the tax riot to meet with the Chisel. I'm looking forward to the surprise!
hehe...when we encountered him, he was siting on his "flesh throne", with the dripping bodies/zombies around him, dressing in a human flesh tuxedo, holding the orb, smirking to himself. Well, we detected evil (just to be double sure), and asked him who he was. He replied (and the cleric had previously had a Discern Lie), we stared blankly and said, "Huh. Who'd a thunk it?". Then we closed the door and went back to town. There was no way we were going to 'rescue' this psychopath, so we told our employer that he was a crazed, evil, wack-job, and it was safer to just leave him there.
End "Zenith Trajectory". :)
Well the party missed out on a sh*t load of magic equipment. :)and i presume their reward. I would have thought bringing him back to Cauldron so he could be treated by what ever evil has consumed him, would have been the smart thing to do, at least a way to justify why you have brought an evil dwarf into town.
Then again its good to see that greed isn't the only thing that drives your characters :)
Cheers
Z
pming wrote: hehe...when we encountered him, he was siting on his "flesh throne", with the dripping bodies/zombies around him, dressing in a human flesh tuxedo, holding the orb, smirking to himself. Well, we detected evil (just to be double sure), and asked him who he was. He replied (and the cleric had previously had a Discern Lie), we stared blankly and said, "Huh. Who'd a thunk it?". Then we closed the door and went back to town. There was no way we were going to 'rescue' this psychopath, so we told our employer that he was a crazed, evil, wack-job, and it was safer to just leave him there.
End "Zenith Trajectory". :)
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