I will start TFoE next week and have some things which are unclear to me:
-In the cathedral (room1), are all the doors locked (and which locks do they have, I did not see any information)
- In room 3: how many cultists are there? (EL3/CR 1:3 means 9 cultists?) and why do they have Atk+2; I thought +1: Com1 +0 Str +1
- how did you treat resting in the complex, what about resupplying; I think for a group of this level it is quite dangerous, if they do not have the possibility to buy fresh healing potions etc. or is this no problem in the end?
Thanks for your advice.
I will start TFoE next week and have some things which are unclear to me:
-In the cathedral (room1), are all the doors locked (and which locks do they have, I did not see any information)
I'm not sure (I doesn't have the adventure at hand), but I believe that no entrance door is locked. You need the correct Knocking for entering the Temple of Hextor without raising an alarm, but the door itself isn't locked.
- In room 3: how many cultists are there? (EL3/CR 1:3 means 9 cultists?) and why do they have Atk+2; I thought +1: Com1 +0 Str +1
I had used six cultist and some other DM on this board used six, eight or nine, depending on the number of player characters.
- how did you treat resting in the complex, what about resupplying; I think for a group of this level it is quite dangerous, if they do not have the possibility to buy fresh healing potions etc. or is this no problem in the end?
Thanks for your advice.
Very difficult. If the PCs leave the dungeon the Fadeless One will be prepared the next time they are entering the Temple. My group rested in the Temple of Hextor after fighting Theldrick. When they are leaving the temple the other "Boss" charakters awaited the group in the cathedral.
I'm sorry for my english. It's not my native tongue.
I know that it says that the doors are locked, and has each of the BBEG's have keys on their persons for said locks. However, I found it much easier to leave the doors unlocked. It just wasn't that important.
I used nine cultists and it seemed about right.
I let them rest in Theldrick's area. There are lots of doors and they had a lock, so they felt pretty safe. And the temples are working together, but they don't really get along, so it seemed fine to me that maybe no one noticed the lack of Hextorites immediately.
Incidentally, I would have them start with Theldrick's temple regardless of which door they go through (though you need to remove any symbols marking which temple as which). I had given them a bonus wand of CLW in Filge's so they didn't need the potions from town. I know that there's at least one other wand down there (with the grimlocks) but you might consider giving the Hextorians something like that too. Without too many charges on it. I also implemented alternate identify rules (it takes a minute per check, each check is a spellcraft check, the spell identify gives you a +20 on your spellcraft - the more specifics are over at WOTC somewhere). This allowed them to start using some of the stuff that they found in TFoE while they were still down there. That's a good thing.
I tried to compile a list of all the errors in the write-up for the adventure. If you search the paizo site here, you'll probably find that old thread. There are some good ones, so make sure that you figure 'em out ahead of time.
Thanks, this helps a lot!
The doors are locked but this is only really an issue for Hextor's temple (which our rogue picked) and after that the PCs had the keys.
IIRC, the official answer was one cultist for each character. In our group it was 6 for 6. This was more than adequate since the PCs really get ganged up on in the battle arena.
The PCs should be able to sleep in the Hextor section after clearing it out without much trouble since they can lock themselves in and be secure (there's even comfy beds supplied). After that it becomes increasingly dangerous and difficult. The party left the mines altogether between the Caves of Erythnul & Vecna's Maze and this caused all kinds of complications (not only with the Ebon Triad but with Smenk, Dourstone, the mine guards, and the authorities in town). I'd suggest somehow trying to discourage the PCs from this kind of action. Rest, okay; but don't leave until the job's done.
I'd suggest somehow trying to discourage the PCs from this kind of action. Rest, okay; but don't leave until the job's done.
I would second this. I pulled it off by describing how well guarded (and fortified) Dourstone's mine was. The players realized the the miners were poorly treated and that Dourstone ran a company store that kept them in debt to him. A few well drinks on the part of the palyers and a couple of gold coins baought the loyalty of a group of miners that smuggled them in and showed the party the "secret elevator."
This made my players (1) dislike Dourstone, (2) realize that sneaking in and out is not an option, and (3) motivated them use caution.
One thing I discovered though was that I needed to add some healing items. The group I am running has an archivist as the healer, so they did not have as much healing available to them as a party with a cleric.
This adventure is still my favorite in the whole AoW campaign, and it's exactly because it's such an intense, tripartite--thanks to the Ebon Triad for that bit of diction--dungeon crawl. Our party ambushed the tieflings in the Dark Cathedral, and proceeded into the Caves of Erythnul. They tried to enter the Citadel of Hextor, but became severely intimidated by the number of cultists within. After clearing out a section, they rested in Area 21, but not without having to deal with a couple of tiefling scouts who approached them while they rested. Alarm spell is golden in this dungeon.
The fight in the Citadel of Hextor followed, and we went round by round on a huge battle map for this one. Encourage group spells for the cultists in Area 3, like color spray or sleep. (I thought there were eight of them, because the previous room had the same EL, with eight skeletons.) Turn undead can be very helpful for the skeletons. Though the Hextorites tactics on page 29 can be complex, go over it a few times...it really defines the fight. They rested after cleaning it out, but they became suspicious when no one came to search for them. This heightened the mystique behind the next area.
The Labyrinth of Vecna is loads of fun. Get a big battle map/dry erase board, and draw on piece by piece. Have the kenkus play with the secret doors, but try not to let them get caught. Watch out for the kenku boss' necklace of fireballs. Have fun with the spellcasters in the Faceless One's sanctum.
My party's best real challenge was the fight with the Ebon Aspect. I loved it when he went into the Bloodthirst of Erythnul, and full attacked our fighter, who only barely survived. Easily one of my favorite fights.
I think the original intent was for the players to do the temples in order: Hextor, Erythnul, and Vecna. With this in mind, the door to the Hextor temple is the only one unlocked at the beginning (plus the teifling guards run that way - which should help direct the PC's attention).
The Hextor priest has the key to the door to the Erythnul temple, and the Erythnul priest has the key to the Vecna temple.
But - this makes the adventure pretty linear, and some players may resent being "railroaded" into doing things in a particular order.
Note that the average CR of the encounters is about 3 for Hextor, 4 for Erythnul, and 5 for vecna, so players that do things out of order may get into serious trouble early on, then later find things too easy.
As for resting - assume that the 3 temples mistrust each other, and rarely interact (say, once a month for a big ceremony in the cathedral). That way, once the PCs clear out one area, they're relatively safe resting there before moving on.
If they try to flee after the Hextor temple, and bring back help from the garrison, etc. things can get complicated. I'd suggest having some of the other cultists ride the elevator up - effectively trapping them down there, and eliminating that possibility.
This adventure features some really great tactical battles - great fun if you have lots of miniatures and battlemats - but you have to guard against bogging down in all the combat. After several game sessions of continuous fighting, players may start asking, "now why is it we came down here in the first place?"
Try to keep them focused on specific goals, so the progression through the temples appears logical.
Let me just say that Kenkus with crossbows, secret doors and ambushes will bring a Nam' like effect to your players.