I'm running Champions Belt In about 48 hours, and unfortunately, work and personal life have left me very little prep time.
So, I need to cram, and I need your help!
The group has already signed on with Ekaym Smallcask, so I imagine that our 6-hour gaming session will encompass the pre-games party, some gladiator team interplay, and the first battle.
I've already fleshed out the remaining gladiator teams, so the party should be a fairly easy RP session. Should I worry about the PCs exploring under the Cenoeby yet? What sould I be wary of for the near-term future, foreshadowing, etc?
Any advice, shortcuts, references, tips, or cheat sheets would be appreciated.
No cheat sheets, but you should be able to discourage any exploration under the coenoby the first night just by virtue of tight security and the large number of witnesses packed into the coenoby. The upper level of the coenoby is basically a working level for the coenoby's support staff, so you can wing that section if necessary. The only thing to pay attention to is the crazy prisoner in the cells and the trap at the entrance to Bozal's lair.
Likewise, the caverns south of the main coenoby cave are pretty empty and can be winged, unless the PCs somehow discover and manage to extract the stone plug, or go swimming in the underwater streams.
Basically, I recommend you focus on prepping the banquet and the first gladiatorial match. Scan quickly over the rooms outside Bozal's lair just to get an idea of the layout--the mad prisoner is the only important thing to read carefully there. The encounters in the streams and tunnels that can be accessed from the caverns south of the coenoby are pretty straightforward and easy to wing with a minimum of prep. Just a pack of ghouls and some oozes.
|
Any advice, shortcuts, references, tips, or cheat sheets would be appreciated.
When my group went through, they didn't do any exploration of the Cenoby before Ekaym provided his information - that's probably due to the fact that my PCs joined for different reasons.
That said, they are unlikely to explore before the first match, since they have the first match the day immediately after the pre-games party. My players elected to explore during the day off.As other people have mentioned in other threads, when the PCs get to the cleric dude (Bozal?), swap his Harm for Blade Barrier.
During the party, my PCs (who aren't RP-heavy) didn't do too much mingling. They did a bit of betting (make sure that it's available to them). The more they bet (on themselves, in theory), the more they'll have invested in winning and the more they'll (try to) avoid getting caught in an area that could expel them.
I think that you've got it pretty well covered. I very much doubt that you will need to worry about further exploration for, as Peruhain said, the sheer crowding on the first night and the heightened security are likely deterrent enough. My party was pretty excited just to be in the games and they were focused on winning the first battle. As such, they did not wish to tip their hand too early, so they spent the first night secluded in their little cave.
Depending upon how burly your party is you may think about beefing up some of the first battle opponents. However, it is nice to have the party flex their muscles a little bit and there are plenty of other challenges later on. I didn't hesitate about altering Pitch Blade to suit the party a bit better. Raknian provided them with magical gear to protect them a bit against the ravages of our party wizard who otherwise might have turned the battle into a 2 round joke. That battle is likely to occur well after your next session though.
I'm not sure if anyone else has a wizard in their party like ours, but you might be prepared for the spell 'Arcane Sight'. I gaped at the player when he said that he cast it, and that he wanted to know the highest spell level able to be cast by any attendee at the banquet, as well as wanting information about the general level of their magical equipment auras. He took pity on me and didn't ask for the strength and type of every magical aura out there. Gee, thanks for that. I mention this, only on the outside chance that you have a similarly devilish player so as to at least prepare yourself mentally.
In the end, this bit of intelligence gathering has worked against the party, as they discovered a group of 5 kobold wizards and sorcerors who were all able to cast 5th level spells. They are quite certain that the kobolds will be their next opponents and they are quite dreading it. I'm sure that Madtooth will be as much of a surprise to them as it is to Auric. :-)
The Titan's House is a nice place for them to explore, and gives them plenty of RP opportunities while meeting other teams. My group was a little horrified to walk in on the team of Hill Giants pursuing carnal pastimes there for instance. I am limited by time, so I removed the whole ghoul warren section and none of them showed any interest in swimming in underground streams, so the Titan's House was a bit of a dead end, and therefore a fine way to avoid having to detail other parts of the complex if you are short on prep time.
Enjoy the RPing as you begin the Games. It's quite rich.
The printed format of the adventure usually required a lot of flipping from page to page for me, but if you think of it in a type of "outline" format, based on day-to-day events, it becomes easier to manage. Fortunately, there is an outline in the adventure in the upper-right corner of page 36.
Beginning with the Free Dinner, look over the description of the scene on p. 39, and the events highlighted in bold. Make sure to have Talabir (the referee) disclose the rules of combat, just before the feast. The rules for combat are on page 41, and I'd make them very clear, so as to avoid any confusion in the complex first battle. To reinforce any suspicion they have of Raknian, make sure to do the "Raknian's Interest" event in this subsection. "Ekaym's Obsession" is also useful in this regard. If your players are into gambling, check out "Tirra's Visit", which also reintroduces them to an old NPC, namely Tirra. I'd pass on any of the more extensive gambling and rankings, as they will slow the game down...unless your players are die-hard gambling nuts. Of course, close with "Fireworks Display", and have the PCs and all the other teams escorted into the Coenoby.
I would keep the description of the Arena Understructure following the dinner very minimal, and move right into the Coenoby. However, make sure to mention (casually, in character, of course) the rumor about the ghouls and plugged entrance to their warren in the pool in the Titan's House (p. 42). This will plant the seed to explore this section of the Arena...after the first day's security dies down. Clever PCs will take advantage of their 2nd day in the arena to explore, when the security is lax. But first...
The first battle. It looks intimidating, but it can be quite easy if you do a couple of things to speed up the play. Of course, don't forget to give the PCs a brief opportunity to roleplay with each team. Their attitudes and motivations are listed on page 43. If you want to have the PCs make a general Diplomacy check for all of them, the easiest group to ally themselves with will be the Sapphire Squad.
Before battle, as each team is being raised up to the Arena via the lift, give the PCs 2 minutes to cast pre-combat spells, like shield of faith, mage armor, etc, or even drink potions, cast spells, etc. Remind them that combat will start in two minutes, and thus they should be careful casting rounds per level spells until the last minute. Ask each player to keep track of which spells they have active on their character, and with regard to rounds per level spells, their remaining rounds, minus the rounds they cast it prior to the trumpet call to engage in battle.
When the time for battle comes, remember to space the four teams in four corners of a square 100 feet long by 100 feet wide. For ease of initiative, I recommend using a "team initiative" roll. To do this, add together all the initiative modifiers from all members of the team, and divide it by the number of members on the team. Thus, Arcane Auriga would have a team initiative modifier of +9, Badland's Revenge +1, and Sapphire Squad +3. I recommend putting your players on a team initiative, and going clockwise around the table for each player's actions. Remind the players that this is an isolated instance used to speed up the flow of combat.
Read through the tactics for each team on p. 45. Arcane Auriga will use range, probably with Rapid Shot, Badland's Revenge should probably charge if possible, and I'd have Joren rage and wild shape as soon as possible, Sapphire Squad will use Ride-By Attacks to hit and run.
For the actual battle, have enough miniatures (about 11 at least for the enemies, preferably three mounted figures for Sapphire Squad).
After the battle, if the PCs win, let them return to the Coenoby, with Ekaym stopping by just before they do anything else. Proceed with Event 4: Ekyam's Request, which should be enough to spur them into exploration on Day 2. From there, it comes down to your players deciding to explore the depths of the Shrine of Kyuss, or wait until one or two more Events, such as the battle with Pitch Blade, or as late as after the Battle with Madtooth the Hungry (Froghemoth). If they decide not to explore the Shrine of Kyuss by the time the battle with Auric's Warband comes along, exploring the Shrine of Kyuss becomes almost moot, as the Ulgurstasta emerges shortly thereafter.
However, what's more likely is that they will explore before the emergence of the Ulgurstasta (stats on p. 59). If so, proceed to Area 18 when they choose to explore the Titan's House, and call for a Spot check (DC 15) to see the stone plug at the southeast end of the room. However, since the DC to break is 34, depending on how much material you wish to provide to break the stone plug, you may opt to suggest another entrance...
There is another entrance into the Shrine of Kyuss in Area 8. This is located in the Arena Understructure, and can be reached most directly by taking the stairs in Area 16 (The Coenoby) up to Area 5 (Northern Hall). From here, heading south past Area 6 (Beast Cages) leads to a rotunda. (Bear in mind that the animals in the beast cages will alert guards, but if you wish to just get your PCs into Room 8 fast, tell them that the sounds of footsteps and guards is coming from the north, west, and east. This should push them into heading south, and hiding in the most convenient entrance, the one for Area 8 (Wine Cellar). If this is the route you believe your PCs will find easiest to descend into the Shrine of Kyuss through, reduce the DC of the Search check, or give a clue, such as an overpowering smell of vinegar from the east wall, as mentioned in p. 50. If the entrance is found, and the PCs descend, don't forget about the slay living trap for the first person who descends onto the upper landing.
Beyond this, your players will already have their hands full with all their choices. But don't forget the fear auras of the Spawn of Kyuss as they emerge in Areas 25 and 26, in the Shrine of Kyuss, or the Kyuss' Gift ability, for the next day of combat.
Hope this helps, and best of luck. My players still consider this one of the most fun adventures they've ever played.
One thing that sped up the first battle in my game was that the PCs allied with Sapphire Squad and the DMPC wizard put up a wall of fire in the first round, effectively separating the arena in two parts. We just played the two battles separately after that--putting a limit on the sapphire squad-arcane auriga contest based on when the PCs finished their first battle.
It was a cakewalk for my group, but that made for a nice change of pace after the battle with Zyrxog and before the tough battles with Pitch Blade and the Alkilith.
Many groups, I think, won't find a way to break the seal on the Ugly, and like mine will know something bad is coming, but be unable to avoid it.
I'm working on my logs for this adventure and hope to post them over the next couple of weeks.