Hey! Guess where my PCs insisted on going... That's right, to the part of the map that says 'bad guys are somewhere that way'. I'm just wondering if anyone else encountered the same decision. As '19. Ghastly Convention' puts it "the extent and exact occupants of these tunnels are beyond the scope of this adventure"...and the busy DM running it! So, any ideas, adventure modules, Dungeon Magazine adventures or even home brewed ideas would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
WtMD
I'm just wondering if anyone else encountered the same decision.
Oh yeah, this was a huge problem. The party was convinced this was the way to go, despite any signs I left. I kept indicating more and more undead would be found this way. Yet, the party kept going. They even came up with all these plans to unleash the undead in the arena to disrupt Prendergast (the Realms conversion of Raknian). They were convinced that since there were undead this way, it had to be important.
Finally, the party got back on track after having to retreat from a horde of ghouls, but this was certainly one of those "details" I overlooked in my read of the adventure that left me with headache after headache.
Actually, I wish my PCs had done similarly, but they were pretty concerned with the time constraints of the (mostly) event-based adventure.
Dungeon #129, in the AoW AP no less, has a listing for the monster known as a True Ghoul (on p. 62, with an example being Moreto, on p. 58). If I did it, I'd do a side quest featuring an underdark community of ghouls, ghasts, specters, and, of course, these true ghouls. True ghouls benefit from class levels, and I'd also check Libris Mortis for more cool things to slap on to them, like the swarmshifting(?) template.
The true ghoul description also mentions that Dungeon #70 had an adventure called Kingdom of the Ghouls, which might be of use, if you can dig it up. Otherwise, I'd use one of the maps of mystery for your side quest, notably the Underdark Caverns in #133, as well as #138's Ancient Catacombs, or #144's Forgotten Tombs.
BTW, I gave Moreto the "Bela Lugosi" treatment, making him quite over the top. I'd imagine all true ghouls to be kinda like him, so could make for a funny kinda side quest, as well.
My players also went into that direction: "oh, the only sensible way is upwards, but if you have to hide something it is always on the lowest level". *DM bangs head on the table*. So after sending the druid as a fish for scouting all the waterways, they decided to go to the Ghoul Warrens. Of course the Ghasts in there were no problem for them. I told them, that they had the impression that there were well of ghouls down that way and only natural cavern after natural cavern (we are low on time anyway, so I thought it is ok to appeal to their sense of "metagaming" ;-), and ghouls don't give them XP anymore). So they took the hint and turned around. So, yes, either tell them in an unsubtle way, that the adventure lies into the other direction, or you have to come up with some underground dungeon. If you have the time, just make some caves, do not hand them a map and let them be attacked by 1d10 Ghouls in every cave. Hopefully your players will take the hint (maybe you could also hint, how time passes and how they move away from the arena more and more.
I also had this issue, particularly with the Radiant Servant of Pelor getting distracted from the rather nebulous 'figure out what Raknian's up to' plot. There was a certain amount of "I can turn anything. Anything! Bwahahaha!!" and so on. Eventually I decided to make the corridor roofs rather shaky, and the fighter with ranks in profession(miner) persuaded the party otherwise.
I blocked off the passage. The ghouls were there, but the passage led to a dead end. ;)
Actually, I wish my PCs had done similarly, but they were pretty concerned with the time constraints of the (mostly) event-based adventure.
Dungeon #129, in the AoW AP no less, has a listing for the monster known as a True Ghoul (on p. 62, with an example being Moreto, on p. 58). If I did it, I'd do a side quest featuring an underdark community of ghouls, ghasts, specters, and, of course, these true ghouls. True ghouls benefit from class levels, and I'd also check Libris Mortis for more cool things to slap on to them, like the swarmshifting(?) template.
The true ghoul description also mentions that Dungeon #70 had an adventure called Kingdom of the Ghouls, which might be of use, if you can dig it up. Otherwise, I'd use one of the maps of mystery for your side quest, notably the Underdark Caverns in #133, as well as #138's Ancient Catacombs, or #144's Forgotten Tombs.
All excellent ideas! Thanks for the research you did. I've looked at all the above and have some wonderfully dark and ghoulish ideas in mind. Thanks again!
WtMD?
BTW, I gave Moreto the "Bela Lugosi" treatment, making him quite over the top. I'd imagine all true ghouls to be kinda like him, so could make for a funny kinda side quest, as well.
I didn't go to this extreme, but my PCs were convinced Moreto was a vampire, especially after he used his cloak of the bat to take bat form. They were suitably stunned when his "special" ability activated
when they killed him. Great stuff.
Sorry to raise a dead thread (almost exactly a year after the fact), but I am now running the CB adventure and my players decided to delve deep into the ghast warrens too. From the not-yet-archived threads I saw, it looks like I'm not the only one still ruinning this adventure, so hopefully someone other than just me will find this topic interesting.
Anyhow, It took them a surprisingly long time before one of my players said, "Hey, have you guys noticed he rolls some dice behind his screen every time we ask him to describe what's around the next corner? I noticed he rolled something right before telling us how many ghasts we saw right before the last 3 encounters too. It's almost like he's generating these twisty tunnels and the number of ghasts in each room randomly on the fly... I think we may have wandered off the map here. Maybe we should head back to the Coenoby, or maybe check out that other pasageway we saw back there before we all catch the ghoul fever or I run out of Turn Undead attempts..."
I just shrugged and asked them what they wanted to do next.
It worked; they turned back, though not before I had started rolling my random tunnel turn dice louder and louder each time until they finally got the hint.
Of course, later on they also managed to become obsessed with the other unmapped (but tempting) area in the adventure - Raknian's palace. I had to add a bunch of Raknian's "elite" guards to the passages leading there, ready and waiting to extract appropriate bribes and send any overly curious gladiators back to the Coenoby under threat of ejection from the games.
Basically what I learned from this adventure was that accessible unmapped areas are like PC magnets to my group. Unless of course I have some elaborate plan for when they wander off course, like the completely ignored kobold warren I had ready for them when they played through Final Resting Place (issue #122) earlier in the campaign...
Kang
As soon as I read that section, I made a mental note, and I walled off that area. There was no ghoul warren in my running of Champion's Belt.
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I created a noncombat encounter with a ghul munching on an arm close to that area, the feeding beast not being too keen on engaging a swarm of adventurers alone. It told them not to come closer to "home warren", and sternly warned them to leave the "great feeder" alone, too. That was all the info they needed which way to turn.
As soon as I read that section, I made a mental note, and I walled off that area. There was no ghoul warren in my running of Champion's Belt.
Same here, I left out the ghoul warrens, especially since I didn't want the PCs to encounter any non-Kyuss undead.
I also provided a map for Raknian's palace, but it turned out I didn't need it.
I also provided a map for Raknian's palace, but it turned out I didn't need it.
Though I didn't feel it necessary to write up a ghoul warren encounter, I did find it necessary to write up Raknian's palace. I used the Vestang Manor map from Dungeon issue #142, and I populated it with my own guards, an iron golem, and other bodyguards from the gladiator roster (including "One of Us," whom I made into a draconic ettin barbarian). The PCs tangled with the bodyguards while Waterdeep's magisters confronted Raknian directly. His crimes constituted death, which included several counts of rape and murder (one of which was the mother of one of the PCs), to say nothing of the Kyuss cultist brewing an undead plague beneath Raknian's arena (which he clearly allowed and financed), putting the entire city in dire jeopardy.
I was surprised that the map was absent from the module, especially when PCs are given a route to the palace, hinting that the PCs might be the ones bringing Raknian to justice. However, I enjoyed creating that from scratch (with the help of the pre-made map, of course), as I enjoy adding my own personal touches to all the modules I use. "Champion's Belt" is awesome enough with the arena understructure and so forth. The absence of Raknian's palace does not lessen the module. It's one of my favorites.
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As soon as I read that section, I made a mental note, and I walled off that area. There was no ghoul warren in my running of Champion's Belt.Same here, I left out the ghoul warrens, especially since I didn't want the PCs to encounter any non-Kyuss undead.
I figured the ghoul warrens were mostly for if the PCs ended up out of the games somehow and wanted to sneak in through the sewers. Once the PCs found the proper way in, I left the ->to warrens tunnel off the map.
My players found it hillarious that the builders of the arena responded to the "ghoul problem" by just walling the bastards into a little room to rot.