Avast, ye spoilers!
...
So, my players dealt with Kraken's Cove with only one rest (and one PC death), and are going to beat Drevoraz et al back to Vanderboren Manor.
I've got a few weeks before it's an issue (I'm assuming one session getting through the festival to Vanderboren Manor, a bit of tension as they explore the empty house, someone entering as they're upstairs (Lavinia), and then preparations for the siege, culminating in the initial breakin), but I want to start prepping now.
I count 21 bullywugs, plus five named enemies (Chief Lorpth, Lorb-Lorb Tub, Bua Gorg, Drevoraz, and Chunkus). On top of that, they will have (and probably need) five NPC allies (the Jade Ravens and Lavinia).
That's a lot of dice to roll. I've been in scenes where the DM rolls more dice than the players, and it's not much fun for anybody. So I'm tentatively planning to let the four players each handle one of the Jade Ravens in combat. I have some misgivings (I don't want them getting the idea, even subconsciously, that the Jade Ravens are "theirs"); I'll try to mitigate that by handling all the roleplaying outside of combat.
I know the Black Bard has DMed this as a siege; has anyone else? Any words of advice? Anyone think letting the players handle the Jade Ravens is a bad idea?
Haven't looked at the adventure yet. Really busy and this site is the closest i get to playing at the moment. Haven't even looked magazines over lately, but i'll get to it :)
I just wanted to suggest rolling a bunch of dice ahead of time. You can add all the modifiers and everything before play. Should make things quicker and more fluid.I would have a list of atk rolls for each creature type worked out, then whatever modifiers the characters get from spells or what not can be added or subtracted from the rolls you made earlier.
Damage I would roll on the spot though.
Jody.
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I just wanted to suggest rolling a bunch of dice ahead of time. You can add all the modifiers and everything before playJody.
I have done this with an online dice roller before - just rolled 1d20 and repeated it enough times to have two rows of "rolled 1d20 result = XX" and then whenever an attack roll was needed I crossed the next one off the list and added the mod from the book. I have found that this method works well with NPC good guys and non-named monsters, but named monsters I still felt obligated to roll everything in sight.
Earl
I'm still undecided as to whether to play the Jade Ravens or hand them out to the players. (It's not just die-rolling time, but also a matter of "spotlight" time -- it should be more on the players than on the DM.) I'll probably play it by ear on game night, and hand out the sheets after a round or two if it seems appropriate. Thanks for the pre-rolling suggestions.
On another note, I can imagine the PCs retreating from the manor with Lavinia; if that happens, I plan to have the bullywugs torch the place, providing another story push for Lavinia to leave Sasserine.
Okay, my original plan was just to have the five named enemies and 20 bullywugs just pour out of the stream into Vanderboren Manor, and then go! An alternate approach, however, would be to have the siege go forward as a series of encounters, each representing a wave of the attack, a la the Battle of Farshore in "Tides of Dread".
The former has the advantage of being relatively easy to prepare for, and it will certainly be memorable. On the other hand, there's a good chance that the characters will be overwhelmed, esp. if the invaders fight with anything resembling intelligent tactics (cutting off retreats, etc.).
Following are some notes for reworking "BG" as a siege, following the model of the Battle of Farshore. Note that Savage Tide is my first time DMing D&D since 2nd edition, so if anyone sees any trouble with my EL calculations, please speak up!
I'm assuming that the characters will be level 11 by the start of the Battle of Farshore. This makes the ELs of those encounters equal to CL-2, CL+0, CL+0, CL-1, CL+1, CL+2.
A reasonable order of encounters in the siege might be as follows:
* bullywug hunters; EL = CL-2
* Chief Lorpth; EL = CL+0
* Chunkus; EL = CL-1
* Lorb-Lorb Tub; EL = CL+1
* bullywugs; EL = CL+0
* Drevoraz + Bua Gorg; EL = CL+2
Each of the named enemies will have zero or more bullywug hunters to pad out the encounter to the correct EL.
If the characters convince Drevoraz not to fight, the DM might choose either to reward the PCs by leaving the remainder of the encounter as-is (lowering its EL), or to pad the encounter with more bullywugs (keeping the EL the same).
Next post: Various CLs, depending on the actual PCs level and whether they're fighting by themselves, with the Jade Ravens, with Lavinia, or with all of them.
Now: The CL of the party and anyone who's fighting with them.
I'm using the d20srd encounter calculator for this. Never having used it, I can't say whether or not it produces good results.
There are four ways the party can fight the invaders: by themselves; with Lavinia (effectively 2nd level), with the Jade Ravens (4 3rd level characters), or with all of them. Players could conceivably choose any of these combinations (sending Lavinia off to a place of safety; sending the Jade Ravens with her; the DM decides the Jade Ravens haven't arrived yet, or the players anger them such that they leave before the siege starts; or the players want to fight alongside all of them).
As an aside, one of the strengths of the scenario as written is that it gives the PCs a chance to make friends with the Jade Ravens. For this reason, I think it's a good idea to have them fight alongside the PCs during the siege, with or without Lavinia.
My players' characters will probably be 5th level by the start of the siege; this produces the following combinations (from the encounter calculator linked above):
* Alone -- CL 5
* With Lavinia -- CL 5.2
* With the Jade Ravens -- CL 6.2
* With Lavinia and the Jade Ravens -- CL 6.3
If the PCs are 4th level, we get the following combinations:
* Alone -- CL 4
* With Lavinia -- CL 4.3
* With the Jade Ravens -- CL 5.5
* With Lavinia and the Jade Ravens -- CL 5.7
Next post: Adding bullywugs to each encounter to produce the right EL.
Finally: How many bullywugs to add to each encounter for a given party's average CL.
Since the encounter calculator produces fractional CLs, I'm going to do this for CL 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, and 6.5; DMs can pick the appropriate CL for their group's situation. (For example, if the Jade Ravens and the PCs start fighting together but are separated partway through the siege, the DM may start with a set of higher EL, then drop the EL after the Jade Ravens split away; presumably the Jade Ravens are busy with extra bullywugs.)
Encounter 1: Bullywugs (EL = CL-2)
This is a warm-up encounter. The PCs should hear much more noise approaching, indicating more trouble to come.
CL 4, EL 2: 2 bullywugs
CL 4.5, EL 2: 2 bullywugs
CL 5, EL 3: 3 bullywugs
CL 5.5, EL 4: 4 bullywugs
CL 6, EL 4: 4 bullywugs
CL 6.5, EL 5: 5 bullywugs
Encounter 2: Chief Lorpth (EL = CL)
With some cursing at "Chunkus", Chief Lorpth finally appears with a small retinue of hunters.
CL 4, EL *5*: Chief Lorpth alone
CL 4.5, EL 5: Chief Lorpth, 1 bullywug
CL 5, EL 5: Chief Lorpth, 1 bullywug
CL 5.5, EL 5: Chief Lorpth, 1 bullywug
CL 6, EL 6: Chief Lorpth, 2 bullywugs
CL 6.5, EL 6.5: Chief Lorpth, 3 bullywugs
Encounter 3: Chunkus (EL = CL-1)
Chunkus finally appears, munching on some piece of metal; sensing some better-quality material held by the PCs, he eagerly leaps into the fray.
CL 4, EL 3: Chunkus alone
CL 4.5, EL 3: Chunkus alone
CL 5, EL 4: Chunkus, 1 bullywug
CL 5.5, EL 4: Chunkus, 1 bullywug
CL 6, EL 5: Chunkus, 2 bullywugs
CL 6.5, EL 5: Chunkus, 2 bullywugs
Encounter 4: Lorb-Lorb Tub (EL = CL+1)
Lorb-Lorb Tub appears. Finding her husband and tribesmen wounded or dead, she enters a rage and charges into the fight.
CL 4, EL 5: Lorb-Lorb Tub alone
CL 4.5, EL 6: Lorb-Lorb Tub, 1 bullywug
CL 5, EL 6: Lorb-Lorb Tub, 1 bullywug
CL 5.5, EL 7: Lorb-Lorb Tub, 2 bullywugs
CL 6, EL 7: Lorb-Lorb Tub, 2 bullywugs
CL 6.5, EL 8: Lorb-Lorb Tub, 3 bullywugs
Encounter 5: more bullywugs (EL = CL)
A final wave of bullywugs issues forth, driven on by voices behind.
CL 4, EL 4: 4 bullywugs
CL 4.5, EL 4: 4 bullywugs
CL 5, EL 5: 5 bullywugs
CL 5.5, EL 5: 6 bullywugs
CL 6, EL 6: 7 bullywugs
CL 6.5, EL 6: 8 bullywugs
Encounter 6: Bua Gorg and Drevoraz (EL = CL+2)
Bua Gorg and Drevoraz finally show up. Depending on the PCs expected actions and the DM's wishes, the DM could provide extra bullywugs to pad out the encounter in the expectation that Drevoraz avoids the battle; alternately, the DM may expect Drevoraz to fight, or may wish to reward the PCs with an easier fight. Use the higher number of bullywugs to replace Drevoraz.
CL 4, EL *8*: Bua Gorg and Drevoraz
CL 4.5, EL *8*: Bua Gorg and Drevoraz, 0 or 1 bullywug
CL 5, EL *8*: Bua Gorg and Drevoraz, 0 or 2 bullywugs
CL 5.5, EL *8*: Bua Gorg and Drevoraz, 0 or 4 bullywugs
CL 6, EL 8: Bua Gorg and Drevoraz, 0 or 6 bullywugs
CL 6.5, EL 9: Bua Gorg and Drevoraz, 2 or 8 bullywugs
In the end, the number of nameless bullywug hunters will range from 6 (for a CL 4 party) to 30 (for a CL 5 party fighting alongside Lavinia and the Jade Ravens, assuming Drevoraz doesn't fight and the DM wishes to replace him with bullywugs). The 20 or 21 bullywugs that invaded Vanderboren Manor in the scenario as published map to a CL here of about 5.5, so it's no surprise that the CL 3 Jade Ravens were overwhelmed.
Bringing in other players is a great idea. I don't know if I have any I can bring in on short notice, but I'll definitely consider that!