The Teeth had seen mention on an earlier post on this board. As stated, my first encounter with the Teeth came from the 2nd edition Book of Artifacts, where they were the teeth of Dalhavar-Nar were the fangs of a red dragon.
Later in the new 3.5 Tome of Magic, we see Dalhavar-Nar as a Vestige of a man covered in teeth.
If the teeth were also originally relics of a Saint, then they've seen many incarnations thus far. I'm curious to see the teeth in Torrents, as I've yet to get it yet. However it sounds like it's another totally new view of the teeth.
~ Bryon ~
hmm... what kind of creatures are those teeths coming from. Im sure someones players will try to use the no material components combined with some teeths to get a new simulcra pet...
Nothing like a demon lord as a pet?
In addition to those kraken limbs they so carefully harvested in kraken cove.. one never knows when a pet kraken becomes useul ;)
..esp after that "dead mans chest"...
I have a question for James:
Just how important is the Tooth in the overall picture?
The reason I ask is my players took a pass on the Tooth.
I suspect their rampant paranoia kicked in when Zotzilaha responded that he didn't recognize the item and that it wasn't part of treasures they can select from but they could take it if they wanted. They discussed it and declined.
So, what are the ramifications?
I have a question for James:
Just how important is the Tooth in the overall picture?
The reason I ask is my players took a pass on the Tooth.
I suspect their rampant paranoia kicked in when Zotzilaha responded that he didn't recognize the item and that it wasn't part of treasures they can select from but they could take it if they wanted. They discussed it and declined.
So, what are the ramifications?
Wrong James, I know; but from my understanding, the only drawback will be that they will have one fewer option for weakening Demogorgon when they get to the Abyss. Since the tooth of Ahazu has been built up as a plant from Malcanthet in the hopes that the PCs will discover it and use it against the Prince of Demons, that's the conclusion that I have drawn.
I like the idea that the tooth is part of a collection originally attributed to a Saint in 1st Edition. The fact that it had something to do with the making of the Wells of Darkness. Since Ahazu was known for his delight in capturing creatures of the Abyss for imprisonment, perhaps a "Saint Ahaz" or "Saint Ahab" would be a good background seed for folks just starting the campaign; known as "Saint Ahaz the Binder", perhaps he was thought of as a follower of St. Cuthbert or some other deity that used his attribute (magic teeth) to somehow imprison demons and other creatures of the Abyss. What a surprise the PCs would have to find that he is actually a long dead demon that worked in mortal disguise from time to time.
Can't decide whether the couatl is a blessing or a curse in this adventure. On the one hand, it's nice to have encounters that don't automatically end in combat. On the other hand, after negotiating with the couatl ("Hey... he's gonna give us free loot!"), aren't the players more likely to follow the same strategy with Zotzilaha (or is that the whole point of the couatl)? Anyway, I could see this sort of constant reinforcement leading to them negotiating with every monster from now on, which will get them killed against, say, the T-rex at the tar pits.
Can't decide whether the couatl is a blessing or a curse in this adventure. On the one hand, it's nice to have encounters that don't automatically end in combat. On the other hand, after negotiating with the couatl ("Hey... he's gonna give us free loot!"), aren't the players more likely to follow the same strategy with Zotzilaha (or is that the whole point of the couatl)? Anyway, I could see this sort of constant reinforcement leading to them negotiating with every monster from now on, which will get them killed against, say, the T-rex at the tar pits.
The couatl encounter isn't that cut and dry. Remember that it will be using all of its detection abilities to determine alignments and intentions. Unless ALL of the party members are on the up and up and straight and narrow, so to speak, there's still a really good chance of problems with it. Especially if their attitude is "Hey! Free loot!"
Anyway, I could see this sort of constant reinforcement leading to them negotiating with every monster from now on, which will get them killed against, say, the T-rex at the tar pits.
If a party thinks that a T-Rex with an animal intelligence charging at them with meat hanging off it's teeth is wanting to talk they probably are in the wrong line of work.
However, trying to negotiate your way out of encounters with intelligent creatures isn't a bad option and personally its nice to see encounters written where the party isn't forced to perform hack'n'slash with every monster they meet.
Personally, I can't wait until the big boys come into the game (Orcus, Igwilv, etc). In fact, it could be argued that having encounters where the party isn't forced to kill everything might be setting them up to survive against entities that could kill the party outright if they were simply to attack.
Creative Director
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We're including numerous "negotiate with monsters for the reward" encounters in the adventure path for a very specific reason. We want the players to be used to doing this by the time they reach the last adventures. If they go into the Abyss with the mentality that "All Monsters Must Die" and don't try to talk their way out of battles, they're not going to make it to the end of the campaign. Some of the "monsters" they'll be interacting with near the end have CR scores pushing 30 or higher. And those monsters are certainly not encountered alone...
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Creative Director
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I have a question for James:
Just how important is the Tooth in the overall picture?
PCs who take a pass on the tooth are simply making things harder for themselves later on. Harder, but not impossible. When the need for the tooth arises later in the adventure, they may regret not keeping it but it won't be a game-over situation. They'll just have to work harder to solve one particular set of problems than they otherwise would have.
We're including numerous "negotiate with monsters for the reward" encounters in the adventure path for a very specific reason.
Very good! I like to see this used sparingly in adventures. Not every combat needs to end with enemies dead on the ground.
It helps when it makes sense, too. With the Couatl (and even Zotzilaha, in his own way), it certainly makes sense.