He does, probably :D
Is that a vote for the duskblade for Most Humiliating Death then Calavingian ? ^_^
He does, probably :DIs that a vote for the duskblade for Most Humiliating Death then Calavingian ? ^_^
It is indeed, oh mad and Turin -like one.
It is indeed, oh mad and Turin -like one.He does, probably :DIs that a vote for the duskblade for Most Humiliating Death then Calavingian ? ^_^
*Chuckling* Duly noted good sir. :)
My vote for most humiliating death goes to the Duskblade, toasted to perfection by the Burning Hands spell from his own team.
Who says Burning Hands isn't a good spell? ;)
Burning Hands is a wonderful spell. Especially at caster level 5 built into a 50 charge pair of gauntlets, worn by an adept NPC with a fire fetish who mayhap comes upon such happy circumstance as a dying PC the burst of his Burning Hands along with 2 or 3 still-upright PCs...
But that is a tale for another time perhaps.
Now that the beverages have been piled up, critter carcasses have been procured, two sessions loom on the horizon for tomorrow and Monday.
In Session 4 of the First Savage Tide, our heroes went carousing and wenching in the streets of Sasserine from the proceeds of selling the two hand crossbows they looted from the 2 Lotus Dragons they fragged at the end of Session 3.
While the 1st level rogues of the Lotus tailed most of the party in an attempt to pick many of them off, only one player was caught in an appropriately vulnerable position. Sadly, the 3 Lotus thieves failed in thier attempt to bring low said PC.
It did succeed in motivating them to go after the Lotus, however. Sadly, they took the wiser course and went into the Taxidermists' Shop. As usual with this group, they went in the alley door, proceeded to spend considerable time searching and looting. Once the taxidermist in question heard the ruckus, he (sadly) blew his INT check to think more of it than some punk kids vandalizing his workshop, went into the rear with one of his wands at the ready ... and was fragged on the spot by readied actions on the part of the rogue/bard and his pet dawg, the latter of which outright killed the luckless NPC. They proceeded to thoroughly loot the place before taking the trap door down into the den of the Lotus proper.
One of the Lotus forced the door nearest them shut and locked before moving to start spreading the word throughout the rest of the complex.
Over the course of the remainder of the session, the party pretty much butchered the entire guild, talked thier way past the mantas (cursed Diplomacy checks with a character who learned Aquan as a bonus language at character creation), smartly avoided the chamber with 3 deathbugs. Even the malevolent worg Cruncher (advanced to 6 HD and given the non-elite ability array) failed in his task to bring low any characters.
The excitement came as they finally worked thier way into the training room - only to beat the 6 Lotus thieves on the contested Spot vs Hide. A few close calls were had, but the thieves were butchered wholesale. After this, they wandered a little further, butchered the bugbear zombie and kept on going. Prior to returning to the den, the party was smart enough to chip in on purchasing a fully charged Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
Once the bugbear zombie was necrokibble, they worked past that to find ... the advanced non-elite array rhagodessa awaiting on the business end of a loosened chain. In the ensuing carnage, the scout/fighter heading to dervish with a positively ridiculous AC was (luckily) chomped into critterkibble by the deathbug before the party butchered it too.
Which left improved versions of Rowyn Kellani and Gut Tugger. Sadly, my latest order with Paizo has not yet shipped, so the crested felldrake mini was not available for this group.
Rowyn made her pitch, the VoP druid (with the shapeshiftin option from PHB 2) nat 1'd her Diplomacy check quite cheesing off the Kellani noblewoman, and the carnage ensued. During the course of the fight Kellani used the narrow corridor and Gut Tugger's formidable durability (60 hp) to chokepoint the PCs. Many grievous wounds were dealt out, although a critical arrow hit from the grey elf wizard's uncanny fortune with her longbow scored [using the critical hit deck] a bleeding wound [1d8 bleed]. Gut Tugger fell to the party's arrows, whip dagger and naked steel. During this time the druid, in predator form, had closed to melee with Rowyn, who had set said PC up for the business end of a successful Improved Feint at the end of the previous round. Sadly, for the PC, Kellani also scored a critical rapier thrust to accompany the 2d6 sneak attack, scored a whopping 20 or so damage to the druid and slew her outright.
Unfortunately for Rowyn, the barbarian pranced into the room with her, scoring a critical hit of his own and cleaved her from crown to crotch in two [dropping her from 20 hp to -17 hp in one hit - ow] and thus eliminating the primary 'alternative campaign path' handily.
In the notes they discovered Vanthus' racey love/lust letters as well as the excerpted notes which mentioned Kraken's Cove, along with a notation by Rowyn Kellani as to the desirability of beating some unnamed group 'to the punch' in a little place just outside of Sasserine dubbed 'the Barrow of the Forgotten King'. The last 2 hours of the session saw the party venture into the mausoleum and the initial area beneath. Given that the party was 3rd level going into a 2nd level module, the challenge was rather miniscule for them. I was - after 10 hours of GM'ing - not particularly inclined to force them to spend what probably would have been a couple of hours of puzzle solving and permitted a die roll to deal with the beholder puzzle that permits passage beyond that chamber.
Stay tuned for later today when the 5th session has been concluded and we discover how well our heroes continue to do.
The Fifth Session of the First Savage Tide campaign saw the big swing into the group's first Side Quest into the Barrow of the Forgotten King.
Amazingly enough, all 9 player characters were in attendance in a RAW module that started at the end of Session 4. 3 PC's at 2nd the other 6 at 3rd.
Needless to say, the group finally found thier tactical senses and proceeded to clean house royally almost all the way through the end of the first module. The 2nd level PCs achieved 3rd level, with the 3rd level characters well on thier way to 4th level.
The elemental water wierd almost did a few characters in, but was not really up to the task of solo-ing that large a party.
The wererat, with his DR 10/silver almost did the trick, until the whip-wielding rogue/bard clevery disarmed him of his primary weapon. After a few bite attacks, despite his fighting defensively and 1 pt of Combat Expertise ramping his AC to 25 (with a touch AC of 20) the party's dice got hot and they butchered the poor hobgoblin wererat brutally.
Sadly, no player character deaths were incurred this day, primarily due to the players not playing stupidly. (Even RAW, there were some close calls. Of course, I'm enjoying the fact that they are chewing steadily through thier first Wand of Cure Light Wounds, having thus far burned about a third of the way through it between the Lotus den and the 2nd level module. Unfortunately, they have been wise enough to commission a second such wand.)
As things stand, this campaign is sadly lagging behind Allen's Age of Worms, at a meager PC death count of 12 (3 of which can be attributed either directly or indirectly to the wizards' timely Burning Hands spells) compared to my illustrious friend's total of 15 after the conclusion of his 5th campaign session.
Of course, soon enough they will descend into part 2 of Side Quest 1, as they conclude the Barrow of the Forgotten King and contemplate proceeding into The Sinister Spire. I do look forward very much to thier getting (hopefully) devoured alive by numerous swarms of cockroaches...
As a refresher, for the 9 player characters I do believe the roster is as follows:
barbarian 3
grey elf wizard 3
rogue 1 /bard 2
cloistered cleric 3
fighter 2 (or maybe 3, not sure yet, the 9th player character who started mid-way through the session)
enchanter specialist wizard 3
crusader 3
druid (shapeshifter) 3
amazingly, I cannot remember the 9th player's character... but it would be the one who got his kobold eaten and his dwarf death touched in session 3... how embarrassing. Not remembering his character, that is.
They are almost all the way through The Barrow of the Forgotten King leading into The Sinister Spire, as what I have dubbed Side Quest 1.
It should prove interesting to see what direction the party takes, especially since it seems likely that they could get through DD1 and DD2 quite some time before DD3 is published and shipped from Paizo to me. *Sighs*
I am figuring on probably 2 more sessions for them to get through DD1 and 2, leaving DD3 in the lurch as far as completion goes. Which will make ramping it up all the more interesting when/if they elect to go back to complete this side quest.
Of course, they may not ... time will tell either this weekend or next.
Session 6 of the First Savage Tide, for the players, was a good time overall.
Effectively speaking, 7 characters participated for the full duration attempting to clean out the tail end of The Barrow of the Forgotten King.
They again have had the satisfaction of, through intelligent play, bypassing the obstacles the module presented for them. No falls to messy deaths from as high as 110 feet (at 3rd level, 11d6 is a death sentence), no death by strangulation while asleep (sadly, I hosed up and forgot to adjust the encounters more than a tiny smidge the whole evening), only some gruesome leech-derived infestations of disease on 3 characters and a few mangy points of CON damage. The leeches and leech swarms were the big hurrah of the evening, coupled with a foolish move combining a Web spell and numerous flasks of oil flung following an ignition by torch while player characters were in the web's area of effect. The control water trap was triggered during the scuffle, which extinguished fires and swept away a few characters.
The players spent another 2 days - and the last of thier trail rations - bunkering up to identify magic items and restoring ability score damage and lost hit points at the end of the session.
The big saving grace is that the 7 only earned a paltry 540 xp for the entire session.
Still, my average body count per session is plumetting rapidly...
Although I do appreciate that the players made a comment to the effect of " we're not dying in the side quests, we only die in the main campaign ! We LIKE sidequests! " Oh, how little they know of the peril that lay ahead ...
Greyhawk Ruins is likely to be too extensive a side quest to easily interleaven into the Savage Tide, so I need to requisition the fleshed-out Tamoachoan as well as bone up on the side quests in the environs they will be involved in during the main part of the adventure path.
I need my kill ratio back ... I'm down to 2 per session ... *sniffs*
Having pondered (some more) on the progression of the campaign thus far, a few brain-farts issued forth with mediocre revelations.
So far, it has held to a solid average of 3 sessions per 'chapter' or equivelant of play time to run. Even the thin page count of DD1 The Barrow of the Forgotten King is going to run a full 3 sessions (5, 6 and the yet-to-be-played #7) before they will conclude it successfully.
As a result, it strikes me that a good side quest / module-equivelant should probably 'shoot' for that amount of play time, which it seems DD1 and DD2 are about the right 'size' to accomplish. Roughly about 16 to 20 hours of play time.
By contrast, the Expedition module-books would come across more along the lines of requiring several months' time to conclude in and of themselves, or somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 - 100+ hours' playing time, which is far too much 'side time' away from the main focus of the campaign arc.
Interesting tidbits and brain droppings indeed...
Okay, I was wrong...I was going to catch up this entire post before saying anything but....SIX out of seven in the very first session!
Turin, if we weren't Dm's crazed with power and sadism, I'd almost say that I Lov....oh who am I kidding, I'd do my right best to kill your characters too. And would of course expect the same. Continuing reading now...
Okay...now I am done catching up. Woe betides...damnable Barrow not ramped enough eh? Hey everyone misses things and doesn't scale appropriately, though I expect you to remedy this soon. You do make me wish that I lived out by you and Allen though. I would have loved the chance to be involved in both of your games. I love making Noobs and usually even experienced players look bad (unless my character is stupid, then its baaaaddd...).
I am currently hoping that someone will run Savage Tide, but it looks like I will be up to run it after I roll through Age of Worms. No one else around here is up to the task/will do it well. Set for me a good example!
Are they going back to the main adventure arc next session? Or is it another side quest? Oh, and please do let me know if you are looking for input for player-death.
I would absolutely love it if even some small contribution on my part might help you cause mayhem and death.
Yasha, by all means, suggestions, comments and such are always welcome.
Yeah, the Barrow is not as much fun as the Sinister Spire (cockaroaches to creep out the Ladies of Hack!), but I will plan some time to upgun the end-critters for the former to administer suitable smackdown upon my candy-arsed PC's. They have gotten the false sense of security, so it is time for the hammer to fall!
And yes, the 'deathbugs' of infamy I would wager secured at least 4 character deaths out of 5 on the kill thread for the first chapter of the STAP. Personally, I adore the vicious beasties, even statted up the 12HD ones as Figurines of Wondrous Power. ^_^ And I have every intent of tormenting the group with more of them later on too.
Between the deathbugs and the Wizard's well-timed Burning Hands spells, only one other character death has been had besides those two means.
Of course, atm, 3 PC's are now struggling to throw off a supernatural disease ... so all hope is not yet lost ...
Session 7 should see the conclusion of the Barrow and whether or not our scurrilous scaliwags elect to continue after the items of Legacy or return to the surface and thus the main campaign arc.
At which point they will get some bullywug-delivered a$$kicking.
Okay, I was wrong...I was going to catch up this entire post before saying anything but....SIX out of seven in the very first session!
Turin, if we weren't Dm's crazed with power and sadism, I'd almost say that I Lov....oh who am I kidding, I'd do my right best to kill your characters too. And would of course expect the same. Continuing reading now...
And we expect nothing less from each other. Since we, as properly cold-blooded calculating players capitolize on the gaffes of the GM, as GM's we likewise cackle gleefully and butcher characters wholesale when they do something tactically bone-headed.
Like, oh, entering the cargo hold of a ship with no recon ...
The last time I was ever actually caught with a recon issue was when the DM had about 20 vampires trying to sneak up on us under cover of invisibility...and the DM had forgotten my 'hat of detect invisibility'. ^_^
He had given it to a hobgoblin NPC and I got that little bit of treasure. My Rogue was still using it 13 levels later. I spotted them (after I reminded him I had it), however the point at which I told him about the helm was at a range of about 20 feet. I needed much Restoration that day.
The suprise round was murder...he ruled that I had just then activated the helm.
Do bear in mind this was 2nd edition...The next round my Elven Wizard PC toasted about all the Vamps with the extremely goofy spell 'Sunbolt'. One more Sunbolt the following round and that encounter was over rather quickly. I am sure there many DMs that particularly hated that 2nd edition spell. For those that don't know, it was these stats..I think it was from the FR Elves of Evermeet book or something...
4th level
1d6 damage/level but..
2d6 damage/level to undead + stun undead for I think 1d4 rounds or some such garbage.
Oh and I think the area of effect was about a 30' or 40' radius burst
I steadfastly refused to ever use that spell again..it was obviously way too powerful for its level.
The last time I was ever actually caught with a recon issue was when the DM had about 20 vampires trying to sneak up on us under cover of invisibility...and the DM had forgotten my 'hat of detect invisibility'. ^_^
He had given it to a hobgoblin NPC and I got that little bit of treasure. My Rogue was still using it 13 levels later. I spotted them (after I reminded him I had it), however the point at which I told him about the helm was at a range of about 20 feet. I needed much Restoration that day.
The suprise round was murder...he ruled that I had just then activated the helm.Do bear in mind this was 2nd edition...The next round my Elven Wizard PC toasted about all the Vamps with the extremely goofy spell 'Sunbolt'. One more Sunbolt the following round and that encounter was over rather quickly. I am sure there many DMs that particularly hated that 2nd edition spell. For those that don't know, it was these stats..I think it was from the FR Elves of Evermeet book or something...
4th level
1d6 damage/level but..
2d6 damage/level to undead + stun undead for I think 1d4 rounds or some such garbage.
Oh and I think the area of effect was about a 30' or 40' radius burstI steadfastly refused to ever use that spell again..it was obviously way too powerful for its level.
Considering how much I despised the previous editions (and in many ways even 3rd edition) energy drain abilities, I wouldn't shirk a blink at vaporizing every energy draining undead critter within range.
I remember on more than one occassion: "Vampires .. or ancient red dragon ... wights ... or ancient white dragon ... eff that man, we're going for the dragons, they'll only kill us!"
Ahhh...the horrid Energy Drain.
Yes, I have a particular problem with that ability. For example with some tooling the Baddy from City of the Spider Queen (granted this was 3.0) could conceivably do 16 levels of energy drain in 1 round of combat. A friend of mine who ran it actually did this to some poor soul.
In 2nd of course, there was no recourse. You just got permanently weaker, unless you had a really good cleric (and pray he/she wasn't the one hit).
Also..whoever thought it was a good idea to have a vampire's Blood drinking cause permanent Con Drain? I know its called 'Blood Drain' but its not as though your body (fictional PC body I realize) can't reproduce the lost fluids. Personally I have house Ruled that out to Constitution Damage instead, it just makes more sense.
And please Turin, don't get me started on the whole 'connection to the Negative Material Plane' crud that was used in every other sentence in 2nd Edition. Okay I get it. I still think that most types of Corporeal Undead shouldn't actually Level Drain. I personally reserve that for my Incorp types. The occasion oddball is okay, but thats my rule. I just give my Vampires and other Baddies of walking corpse nature a few different abilities to keep their CR the same.
100% agreement there, Vamps definitely do not do CON Drain from slurping blood (any more than a giant demonic ferret would), that should be all rights be reclassified as CON damage. If you *have* to bother 'balancing it', ramp the die size up one and give vamps improved grap (slam) or something along those lines.
Vamps shouldn't do energy drain at all with a knuckle sandwich. Energy drain I agree should be the province of something truly horrid, like the horrificly creepy Expert Set Spectres (the ones with the Erol Otus illo). Wights - meh, super zombies or something, but not energy drainers. Ghosts are horrible as is, yadda yadda.
On the other paw, that lovely negative energy connection is what alla clerics' turn abilities plow through ... and so on.
Still, even now I'd rather face dragons than most undead - at least dragons won't spawn you into a monster in a matter of anywhere from seconds to a few days ...
Oh I agree with you Turin. Every point you just said is right on the money. I don't mean to bash Negative Energy Connection, I was bashing the excuse for why Vampires could ED, was due to their 'Extremely Strong Connection to the Negative Energy Plane'. I don't have a problem with the abstract concept, just the way they tossed around as the excuse for so many types of undead having ED.
I'd rather have the dragons too...unless, oh wait...you are getting ready to face Dragotha...best of both worlds. Good Luck!
Oh I agree with you Turin. Every point you just said is right on the money. I don't mean to bash Negative Energy Connection, I was bashing the excuse for why Vampires could ED, was due to their 'Extremely Strong Connection to the Negative Energy Plane'. I don't have a problem with the abstract concept, just the way they tossed around as the excuse for so many types of undead having ED.
I'd rather have the dragons too...unless, oh wait...you are getting ready to face Dragotha...best of both worlds. Good Luck!
At least he doesn't energy drain. Lich paralysis I'm sure, but not energy drain. And I won't spawn into a mindless mockery of life to boot. I'll just be a worm-riddled carcass with the rest of them.
I can deal with that. :)
I am trying to think where I had seen it at this point, but an...interesting side quest might be to have them end up at the Spire of Long Shadows...I seem to recall seeing a map that showed it as being ridiculously close to Sasserine. Just over a small mountain range and in the jungle a short distance away.
Not to throw the actual Spire adventure from AOW at them...but maybe just for a version that had been already cleaned out during the AOW adventure path. It would be AOW homage and I sure you could put some interesting baddies there. Besides, the place is just creepy. I always loved Spellweavers as villians...
In spite of my ranting about various things Turin, I finally seem to remember that this is your Savage Tide posting...so I will try to keep my tangents to a minimum and focus on your talented slayings. Oh..and if there isn't a place you had intended to fit it in yet...the Lost Temple of Demogorgon from Dungeon 120 should probably be included in Savage Tide.
It is for four 14th level characters though. So I'm not really sure how it would fit into ST.
I am trying to think where I had seen it at this point, but an...interesting side quest might be to have them end up at the Spire of Long Shadows...I seem to recall seeing a map that showed it as being ridiculously close to Sasserine. Just over a small mountain range and in the jungle a short distance away.
Not to throw the actual Spire adventure from AOW at them...but maybe just for a version that had been already cleaned out during the AOW adventure path. It would be AOW homage and I sure you could put some interesting baddies there. Besides, the place is just creepy. I always loved Spellweavers as villians...
*Chuckling evilly*
It would indeed be rather a bitter pill for Allen to have to swallow and deal with one of his own encounter locations. I would of course have to back-check his campaign journal to see how our group did in clearing the place out. Once our group concludes (or elects to conclude) the Age of Worms, I will acquire a personal copy of that campaign arc for use in years to come. If at all possible, we tend to lump our campaigns on the same game world (Oerth) dating many eventful sessions of gratuitous brigandige back to when we were junior high schoolers.
I do indeed plan to work up (time permitting) the various available side quests for the Savage Tide, suitably tailored for the ... peculiarities of the player groups of course.
In spite of my ranting about various things Turin, I finally seem to remember that this is your Savage Tide posting...so I will try to keep my tangents to a minimum and focus on your talented slayings. Oh..and if there isn't a place you had intended to fit it in yet...the Lost Temple of Demogorgon from Dungeon 120 should probably be included in Savage Tide.
It is for four 14th level characters though. So I'm not really sure how it would fit into ST.
I'll badger Allen about it, he may well have that issue on hand. ^_^
He does I believe have the Dungeon 3rd edition treatment of Tamoachoan available ... or will in a little while...
In spite of my ranting about various things Turin, I finally seem to remember that this is your Savage Tide posting...so I will try to keep my tangents to a minimum and focus on your talented slayings. Oh..and if there isn't a place you had intended to fit it in yet...the Lost Temple of Demogorgon from Dungeon 120 should probably be included in Savage Tide.
It is for four 14th level characters though. So I'm not really sure how it would fit into ST.
I'll badger Allen about it, he may well have that issue on hand. ^_^
He does I believe have the Dungeon 3rd edition treatment of Tamoachoan available ... or will in a little while...
I`ll echo Yahoo on that one. I remember that particular scenario with a great deal of fondness. A TPK wiating to happen if ever there was one (provided the monsters are used well, that is). And singulalry appropriate to the campaign in question due to its location and the nature of the denizens.
Well worth digging out of the storage cupboards
Did Calavingian just call me 'Yahoo'? LOL! Glasses my friend...Glasses.
I think I also have the 3rd ed Tamoachan...I'll have to check it out. Savage Tide seems rife with many possibilities in my opinion. Far more areas I think that can be expanded and fleshed out without detracting from the main storyline than in AoW. Not to mention that so much of the story/pacing/encounters are things that many DMs never include in their games. My players always cringe when they are on a ship...I have been using all kinds of ship combat and aquatic encounters for year...I just love watching the Tank character SINK!!
Stormwrack tends to cause a drop in the Spiritual Pressure around my gaming tables...for the life of me I can't remember the old second ed book I used to use...hmmm
Calavingian and Yasha :
Yes, that was a fun chapter/dungeoncrawl from what I can recall of it.
I don't remember anything for 3.0 for Tamoachoan other than the husk of it that remains in the Savage Tide itself. Could you point me in the right direction for requisitioning it ?
Hmm...I'm looking...though I could have been lulled into a sense of mistaken module. I am digging and digging and all I am coming up with so far is the other adventure for the Isle of Dread that was published in Dungeon 114. I saw what Caravingian wrote and my brain (which may be Kyuss Slow Worm infested...) thought, "I have that! Must! Help! Turin!To KILL!"
I will continue looking, but I am really starting to think I was hallucinating.
Wait...I was wrong...It wasn't Calavagian, it was you Turin...You said something about 3.0 Tamoachan! Arghh...I'm just gonna fold my DM screen over my head until I figure this one out.
I will seriously keep looking though.
From what Allen said, there is the Lost Temple of Demogorgon floating around in a Dungeon issue from 2 or 3 years ago, plus the "Insider Exclusive" 3.5 Ruins of Tamoachoan that they can also play with...
Did Calavingian just call me 'Yahoo'? LOL! Glasses my friend...Glasses.
Lol. Right Yasha0006! Porbably one of the most amusing errors Ive ever made. Dyslexia can be a pain sometimes, but every now and then its quite a hoot!
I have the Lost Temple of Demogorgon its in Dungeon 120. I still haven't managed to find the Tamoachan though. I am definately thinking I was hallucinating. Confusing Tamoachan for the Isle of Dread adventure that was released in Dungeon 114.
My wife has Dyslexia too, so I understand Calavingian.^_^
Well gentlecritters, in about 11 hours' time the scurrilous scaliwags that comprise my player group - who will have the reinforcement of a 'guest player' from the Age of Worms campaign Allen Stewart runs minus 1 or 2 players - should once again have been messily dispatched by numerous hopped-up zombies.
Oh ... urm ... wait ... *starts flipping pages* ... oh, even better, tactically coordinating constructs, varag scouts, some kind of wierd fey ... and that particularly nasty end-module chap.
Oooooh, this should be an interesting day indeed ... *chuckles evilly*.
This is going to be good...heheh
Just digging through some other stuff (still no sign of Tamoachan, except my old original copy...bequeathed to me by my old DM long ago)....a few suggestions Turin. And just so you know Turin, I am currently only caught up to ST5: Tides of Dread, so beyond this point my knowledge of the Savage Tide AP is limited to Wikipedia and these forums.
Okay, I already brought up this one...
-Lost Temple of Demogorgon adventure (from Dungeon 120, built @ 4 chars of 14th level) This one is just great because it should tie in really well, and the main antagonist is Lord Khayven of Rax, a Death Knight. Not to mention the Dread Forge item involved might give even scrupulous PCs a thought towards a little Human Sacrifice. Not sure where to place this one though. From what I can tell you would need to place it somewhere around the Serpents of Scuttlecove, after most likely. It would be a little strange to have another Temple to Demogorgon down here (i.e. by the Isle of Dread). The adventure itself is set near Irongate, so depending on whether you are going to give your players a little time before going through 'Into the Maw' this might actually work. It might be easy enough to place some of the final clues about the Savage Tide here as well as in Scuttlecove.
But to add some other very Savage Tide opportunities for Side Quests...
-'Isle of Dread: Exploring the Isle of Dread' in Dungeon issue 114, which also includes a Poster Map of the Isle. This is an article that is a lead-in to the next one, providing some in-depth history and other goodies about the island.
-'Isle of Dread: Torrents of Dread' also included in #114. This is an adventure for 4 6th level characters, which should work to flesh out what the characters are doing to gain the aid of the Olman settlements of the Isle, a central part of Tides of Dread. Mix that in with appeasing the Fiery Camazotz and it might prove a pretty substantial fleshing out of this leg of the campaign. I think this adventure is central to one of the Olman settlements in particular, Mora village. They probably won't help Farshore until their problem has been dealt with. ^_^
Adding in Torrents of Dread might give a little more glory time to the Olmans of the Isle of Dread and give you a greater chance to showcase them with all the coming chaos.
Oh yeah...and how many did you kill today?? Details!
As a future player in Turin's second Savage Tide campaign, I'm definitely looking forward to a side trek to Tomoachan, and will endeavor to produce my copy, or a photo copy of it for Turin's use. I'd elaborate, but I have to go and change a diaper:)
@#!!
The forum allows far too short a time to post.
7th session, 9 players, no deaths, several close calls and friendly mutilations.
8th session, 7 players, no deaths, several close calls and decent denial of schwag due to NPCs plummetting 1,000 ft to thier deaths.
The big question is, as the group will have burned off 3 months' game time and has completely (or mostly) achieved 4th level at the beginning of session # 9 [which ironically represents that the 'side quest' has thusfar consumed most of the campaign play time thus far], whether or not to just wallop them with the Bullywug Gambit as soon as thier 'errands' are concluded, or to let them choose whether or not to return to the bowels of the earth beneath the Barrow of the Forgotten King and pursue the other legacy items. If I pounce them with the Gambit, they would have to them backtrack to Kraken's Cove and find out what happened there.
And that would let me upgun the critterbeasties and savage-feral pirates and whatnot enormously... *evil plans start plotting*
Having basically used the side quest of the Barrow of the Forgotten King as a further testing of my groups' capabilities, which effectively ramped the entire party (more or less) to 4th level, it strikes me that the ramping up part is trickier than merely ramping up the BBEG's of a given chapter.
As mentioned in this thread : http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/savageTide/scalingSavageTideFo rEightPlayers
there is more to adjusting the scenario than "as is". To borrow some elements, it clearly boils down to the following. I have the 'side quest' to thank for this most recent education, and to a strong degree re-education (reminding me of things done in the Red Hand of Doom).
1.) Maximized hit points. This alone makes a big difference in whether or not the bad guys even stand upright long enough to matter, which leads to
2.) Have no mercy. Or, play the bad guys as smart as you (and thier ability scores) permit. Another spin on this is adjusting the set ups, as I've already seen that a party of (effectively) 8 3rd and 4th level characters is far more capable of dealing with the 'as written' elements of the adventure path and its primary encounters. Don't permit 'oops I forgot this' types of things to happen. If they forget, too bad.
3.) Keep your own tally of hp dealt to each (and cured to each) PC and thier assorted pets. This is far too valuable to neglect and can deny rightfully earned character (and by nature BBEG) deaths.
4.) Ironically, I personally feel no need to adjust the treasure from what is written. Why? Simple - if the group even follows averages, that translates into 2 divine casters, 2 arcane casters, 2 sneaky types and 2 fighter types. That's FOUR casters quite capable of tossing magic weapon and (later) greater magic weapon spells, among many others. Frankly, they can handle themselves if they think a bit and prepare spells accordingly. One of the reasons they had no deaths during the side quest (covering 4 or 5 entire sessions of time) was because they purchased not one but TWO fully-charged wands of cure light wounds. I was moderately mollified to find out that they had almost completely depeleted the first wand and chewed fairly deeply into the second. A bit of forethought on the players' end will see them snap up another fully charged 1st level wand or three and the 'minor headaches' will be easily addressed.
5.) I will adjust nominal CRs of critters as the encounter unfolds if I deem it necessary to reflect more accurately the threat said critter(s) impose. After all, thier are 8 of them (more or less), so I'm not overly worried about xp gain - it's progressing rapidly enough as is.
6.) Adjusting the mooks - sometimes something as simple as the elite array can do what tacking on extra HD or two does not achieve. This of course has to be done on a case by case basis.
7.) If your group needs it, be ruthless in enforcing table discipline. A combat round is 6 seconds - they can't take more than a minute to do what they are going to do or it bogs things down too far.
8.) Having run the side quest through to conclusion, two things. First, try not to use side quests that do not fit well within the main campaign arc. Second, be prepared for side quests to take longer than anticipated. I've learned a great deal more about how long it can take to run a large group through a substantial side quest - too long, in this case.
So, next week, the players will come into the Bullywug Gambit from the 'back end', getting bushwhacked by the carnies first then (presumably) rushing to Vanderboren Manor to muscle out the bullywugs, only to find that the source of the trouble was from someone at Kraken's Cove. This will also help throw off the 'pre reader' types from self-assuredly strolling around Sasserine with thier 'I've read up on this already, we're fine' attitude.
Lemme see if I can recap the highlights:
Session 7, 9 PCs and a pet leopard
Opening encounter was in a room with 4 constructs hiding in statues. Said constructs worked as flanking pairs. They were successful in mauling the would-be arcane trickster and one or two other PCs but ultimately found themselves reduced to scrap.
Next encounter was with 3 varag scouts. Hilarity ensued as massive Hide bonuses for both the arcane trickster and the 3 varags [this was a switch on my part to upgun the encounter for the # of PCs] could not Spot each other to save thier hides. The scouts opened fire, mightily perforating the barbarian and crusader, almost killing the latter over the course of the ensuing battle. Only the delayed damage pool saved the crusader's miserable hide long enough for a timely cure wounds spell to bring him back from the brink of a messy death. One varag was executed, one was driven off into the brutal death by silver hand axes of the waterfall fey and the third was traded to said fey (who proptly fragged him) for information and what little healing ability left at his disposal.
The tomb spider, 2 web mummies and a broodswarm while successful in maulings and afflicting temporary tomb-taintings via poison were ultimately turned and incinerated by the party.
Session 7 ended here.
Session 8, 7 PCs, no pet. (Three players were absent but a guest player from Allen's AoW was in attendance with an arrogant sorceror of draconic heritage plus a porter in tow.)
The first 'encounter' was ad-libbed in the room with 4 empty sarcophagi and a hugemongous mirror that called for Will saves from viewers to either experience Weal or Woe. 2 suffered Woe (shaken for 24 hours) while 2 benefited from Weal (+1 bonus on a bunch of stuff for 24 hours). One was temporarily imprisoned in a sarcophagus (the lid's face transforming to match his own) before the barbarian employed the Universal Door Opening technique and blew out the mirror. Said mirror exploded but was sadly unsuccessful in inflicting any permanent injuries upon the barbarian.
The second was with the huecuva and plague walker. The huecuva was successfully turned on the second try by the cloistered cleric/wizard, while the plague walker was whittled down to the point where it could blow itself up in a spray of ... itself. The measly 7 points of damage was roundly successfully Reflex saved against or evaded outright by the arcane trickster-to-be. Fortunately, the armor of rage (DMG p 276 - and it is a standard item from the module) was looted and eventually distributed to the favored soul of Tharizdun. (Yes it is +1, but that nice bonus to hit him will spell his demise later on I hope, let alone the hit on social interactions.) The poor sap believes it is Armor of Command.
The third encounter was afterwards. The AT-to-be stealthed up under invisibility from a potion, snatched the Betrayer's +1 bastard sword and beat feet in a hasty retreat to the party. The Betrayer and both fused skeletons of course moved to engage, but were not fast enough in the wake of the AT's hideous +10 initiative bonus (improved init, quick reconnoiter and an 18 DEX will do that handily). The skeletons were both webbed and turned shortly thereafter. The rearmost was also set on fire, which resulted in the fiery cleansing of webbing from the hallway in its retreat. The first skeleton was rapidly smashed into kindling while its burning status incinerated the webs from its spaces.
The Betrayer made full use of his Call to Betrayal, successfully getting the Favored Soul to swipe the Barbarian on his way in to wallop the skeleton, then in turn getting the barbarian to swat the Favored Soul, a miss and a cheap shot by the sorceror to butt stroke the cleric/wizard in the chops with his light crossbow. While the Betrayer was quite successful in pounding upon the barbarian, even with 4 maximum damage slams (3 of which inflicted a point of CHA damage apiece) it was not enough to bring any characters low. On the bright side, it took the entire party of 7 about 7 rounds or so to lay waste that particular encounter.
The final encounter was with Xeron and Jaroog. Xeron nat 20'd his observation roll to notice the AT stealthing down the stairs, so he promptly used the nagatha figurine to chomp his face as the AT rounded the corner, with wonderfully successful WIS damaging poison depriving the AT of 5 points of Wisdom. The remaining rounds of the nagatha's presence resulted in one more face chomping but no WIS damage before it disappeared (back into its figurine). Jaroog and Xeron did mighty battle with the party, fearing the favored soul for 2 rounds, scoring a mighty 8 pt enfeeblement ray on the barbarian and nearly slaying both the sorceror and the favored soul as well as mauling the barbarian a hefty amount. Even a critical melf's acid arrow (that achieved a 3-round slow effect on said barbarian) was ultimately insufficient to bring any PCs to dirt nap status.
Xeron met his messy demise as the AT used Jaroog's greataxe to sever the rope Xeron was attempting to escape down, plummetting him to a gruesome death and (fortunately) ruining all the magic items on his person, including a wand of magic missiles, the nagatha figurine and IIRC a cloak of resistance.
Interestingly, the grey elf generalist wizard laid claim to the adamantine longsword of legacy dubbed Merthuvial ("Kingmaker" in Celestial), and the bardic lore check coupled with the Knowledge (history) check of the cloistered cleric/wizard revealed the entire history of the weapon to her.
As a side note, as mentioned above, I had to slap the barbarian character with a 500 xp penalty for failing the encumbrance audit post-ray of enfeeblement, coupled with his being shaken by his failed Will save against the mirror made for endless hours of mewling and whining. I am hoping that the player gets his character sheet together. Since the player doesn't work IRL, he has no excuse that I am willing to entertain.
....No one died? Your players are either getting luckier or they are getting smarter. As for side-quest content, that is why both of the above possible Side Quests are very closely or easily adaptable to fit with Savage Tide. Is there actually any ties to Barrow of the Forgotten King?
(I'm realizing I actually haven't played that one...).
I'm sure you'll do better next time ^_^
Just don't start slipping like Allen has (as if having a baby isn't a distraction...)
....No one died? Your players are either getting luckier or they are getting smarter. As for side-quest content, that is why both of the above possible Side Quests are very closely or easily adaptable to fit with Savage Tide. Is there actually any ties to Barrow of the Forgotten King?
(I'm realizing I actually haven't played that one...).I'm sure you'll do better next time ^_^
Just don't start slipping like Allen has (as if having a baby isn't a distraction...)
There is a cemetary in or just outside Sasserine with a mausoleum on the map IIRC, and the terrain outside of the city is certainly not detailed enough to dodge placement of the Barrow and its follow-on modules.
Actually, what I do depends heavily on what the group as a whole elects to do. While I expect to begin Chapter 2 of the Savage Tide, they may well elect to dive right back in after the other legacy items/weapons, either of which is fine by me.
Either way, I expect to be able to hose them now that I have a much better feel for what characters I am dealing with. *grins evilly*
How about giving a quick accounting of what you have?
What is the (now 4th level) party makeup you are having to deal with?
I am sure some of us might be able to give some suggestions just based on that. Besides, I'm curious. Most of the people I play with (and it looks like I might have a group in a few weeks, YAY!) tend to whip out all kinds of interesting combinations of characters and prestige classes (barring the ones I restrict).
Hey Turin, I know this is off-topic, but what CR would you place a Fighter 14 or so, with only masterwork equipment, nothing magical whatsoever?
I'm sure the rule for figuring CR for a character of this sort must exist somewhere, I just can't think of where.
How about giving a quick accounting of what you have?
What is the (now 4th level) party makeup you are having to deal with?
I am sure some of us might be able to give some suggestions just based on that. Besides, I'm curious. Most of the people I play with (and it looks like I might have a group in a few weeks, YAY!) tend to whip out all kinds of interesting combinations of characters and prestige classes (barring the ones I restrict).
Ask and ye shall receive:
Barbarian 3 or 4 hewmahn,vaguely male, nominally CG (sliding fast to CN), STR 18, greatsword fetish, player is the proud (?) recipient of having died the most times in Allen's Age of Worms campaign, has a nasty habit of not knowing basic facts about his character, player is married to ...
Grey Elf generalist Wizard 4, female,CG (barely), INT 21, now the bearer of Merthuvial, black-bladed +1 adamantine longsword of legacy, one of my saner players in most circumstances.
Crusader 3 hewmahn, male, vaguely good-aligned, Devoted Spirit and White Raven schools, actually better suited to use the sword just received from the Forgotten King. (Although the King would not choose a non-Good aligned bearer I believe.), power gamer and currently dating ...
Druid (Shapeshifter class variant) 3, female some kind of elf, Vow of Poverty, NG, not particularly emphasizing spellcasting but rather melee ability, has a pet leopard [note the word 'pet'], shares an 'ew, icky' mentality regarding spiders and cockroaches with the elf wizard's player. I do believe she is going for warshaper prestige class, not sure about a second possible prestige class under consideration, although doing so I think would dilute her ability overmuch, is very pleased with her hideously high AC.
Fighter 3, race, gender, alignment unknown, player has made one or perhaps two sessions thus far due to the female leash that does not game.
Rogue 1/Bard 3, male human, NE, aspiring arcane trickster, VERY crafty player, is currently the group's bacon-saver due to (smartly) using a whip-dagger, disarming specialty and poisons whenever he can. Brooks no friendly fire on his person. Absconded with the Betrayer's +1 bastard sword only to return to the group with an armload of alchemists' fire, acid, tanglefoot bags, a couple of nets and a guisarme.
Cloistered Cleric 3/Wizard generalist 1, male human, N (soo close to NE, but not quite), heading for Mystic Theurge and the party's primary item crafter once he hits 6th level. Will, for all practical purposes, be perpetually 'stuck' at 4th level turning ability (due to the ephod he acquired on the side quest), won't have feats available with which to acquire divine metamagic nor the extra turn attempts per day to really make it worth his while.
Guest-starring draconic bloodlined (red) Sorceror 4, CN (was CG, will likely slide all the way to CE in the next session), arrogant scion of the Meravanchi family (that good old Avner belongs to), has a peon/caddy in tow. His peon has requisitioned the +1 studded leather suit that the bickering party members left behind on the floor.
Favored Soul of Tharizdun 4, human male, NE (sliding towards CE), favored weapon is a sacrificial knife (using kukri stats), has received my blessing to choose spells from Tharizdun's domain spell lists as well as from the standard cleric list.
fey-bloodline Warlock 4, human male, CN, has been going out of his way to pick invocations he believes a fey would be inclined towards, proven his value to the group time and again.
I believe that sums it up nicely Yasha...
Hey Turin, I know this is off-topic, but what CR would you place a Fighter 14 or so, with only masterwork equipment, nothing magical whatsoever?
I'm sure the rule for figuring CR for a character of this sort must exist somewhere, I just can't think of where.
Depends on the value of all that masterwork gear - if it is on par with an NPC's gear allowance, then he'd be a CR 13 nominally, although probably quite a bit lower since he has no saving throw buffs or potions. Personally, I would baseline the fellow's CR at 13 and adjust according to how easy he was for the party to annihilate.
Or, heheh, you could give him a Vow of Poverty and mundane equipment (dagger, gauntlets, primary melee weapon, enough javelins for a full-round volley or two and a mighty non-MW composite bow and arrows) for stomping on the evil PCs. Tack on the Mage Slayer feat tree, Golden Ice (and tons of exalted feats that are not martial strike related for ability focus to ramp up that save DC on the Golden Ice) and otherwise ramp up his ability to close with and murderlize PCs and you might have yourself a full-CR bad guy...
Ugh ... my players ... they taunt me, and I shall have them ... for hate's sake, I stabbeth them ... from hell's heart, I spit my last breath ... at them ...
(I absolutely love Star Trek 2, fyi. Especially those horrid brain worm things [Alpha Ceti brain ticks or something].)
The bastiches seem to be betraying my intent to brutalize them with whackjobs on stilts with alchemists' fire by the score ... *sniffles*
Therefor, I shall have to sicc massive swarms of mutant cockroaches on them and strip thier flesh from thier bones ... mwahahahahhahahah!!
Although if they don't bring about 1500 ft of rope, the falling damage could do the whole group in for me ... ^_^
I just absolutely love that you have a Favored Soul of Tharizdun in that group.
Do the other characters know who his god is? I certainly hope that is one bit of roleplay you are absolutely going to do. Then again, a lot of the party seems to be sliding towards evil...
Maybe they'll abandon the Savage Tide AP to go looking for the Theoparts.
I just absolutely love that you have a Favored Soul of Tharizdun in that group.
Do the other characters know who his god is? I certainly hope that is one bit of roleplay you are absolutely going to do. Then again, a lot of the party seems to be sliding towards evil...
Maybe they'll abandon the Savage Tide AP to go looking for the Theoparts.
That would be hilarious indeed. He has made no bones about which gawd favors his doomed soul, so watching him descend into madness will be fun.
^_^
Hey Turin, I just did a redesign on Zyrxog...as a Body Tamer....I would like your opinion on this. I am going to post it and see in the Zyrxog posting in the Age of Worms thread. It reeks of TPK...