We just finished this chapter, and I must say the fight at the end was stunning. My party sleuthed their way to the pyramid with the help of some illusions, but got spotted in the room of eyes. Hearing the boss below casting spells on himself (I am fairly strict about spells having a Listen DC of 0, and the distractions weren't enough) they charged down, and much hilarity ensued.
In the end, the 8 proto-shadow pearls found here and the one they got earlier was left in the hardening Black Bile of the World. They figured that once it hardened it would be tough enough to keep just about anyone out. I had foreshadowed this and played up the toughness of the material, so IMC this makes complete sense.
The Eye of Tlaloc was religiously avoided just as I expected, only now they plan to go there to check out its properly defended. Wonder how they'll like the current defender.
The best idea of the evening was to release a Shadow Pearl and trigger a Savage Tide in the Cavern as a distraction. Though it wasn't done because it was an evil act, particularly to the poor troglodyte slaves, it was still a very, very cool idea.
My character thought of this as well (we finished this adventure off just yesterday) and she was holding the pearl taken from Vanthus. Thankfully things never became desperate enough for her to actually consider using it, but I'm sure that thought was constantly at the back of her mind (along with other things).
It isn't a bad idea, just an evil one. Though I can totally see Tristan Lidu doing such a thing.
It isn't a bad idea, just an evil one. Though I can totally see Tristan Lidu doing such a thing.
<as the monsters draw close to the beaten party Tristan cuts her hand with her knife, pulls the shadow pearl from her haversack, and holds the thing aloft with her bloody hand>
"Do you see this monsters? It's the fruits of your labors! Come let's all enjoy the blessed madness together! See you in hell Kopru!"
<with that she throws the pearl to the ground and teleports away. She's crazy . . . not insane!>
It's always interesting to see what folks do with shadow pearls. My party always ends up summoning a hound archon and making it take the pearl and teleport into the center of the sun (though the ranger always wants to hide one somewhere on the moon, just in case...).
It's always interesting to see what folks do with shadow pearls. My party always ends up summoning a hound archon and making it take the pearl and teleport into the center of the sun (though the ranger always wants to hide one somewhere on the moon, just in case...).
nice idea (if not so nice for the Archon).
Our group keeps disposing of the things in local (active) volcanoes, air-drop delivery. Kossuth, the elemental god of Fire has yet to take notice... A shame noone in our STAP is mad enough to try the "Lidu-Gambit"
<as the monsters draw close to the beaten party Tristan cuts her hand with her knife, pulls the shadow pearl from her haversack, and holds the thing aloft with her bloody hand>
Dude, you just got blood all over the stuff in your haversack. You should cut your hand open after you get the pearl out...
You know how hard it is to handle a giant pearl and a knife? What do you do, stick it under your arm like a football while you cut yourself? I think Tristan does this in the right order :)
Maybe she could just put the pearl in her mouth and bite down on it. Not only would she likely cut the inside of her mouth with the pearl fragments, but she'd get to breath out the savage smoke. That'd be cool.
You know how hard it is to handle a giant pearl and a knife? What do you do, stick it under your arm like a football while you cut yourself? I think Tristan does this in the right order :)Maybe she could just put the pearl in her mouth and bite down on it. Not only would she likely cut the inside of her mouth with the pearl fragments, but she'd get to breath out the savage smoke. That'd be cool.
Are you suggesting that Tristan has a big mouth?
<I always thought that the pearls were only slightly smaller then the size of a bowling ball>
More Softball size is my impression
Cheers!
wtf.... size of a bowling ball ? Demogorgon could probably buy the entire plane with that ! Could I pleas get some of the stuff you are smoking *grin*
we always envisioned them at roughly eyeball size... (which is monstrous enough, wealth-wise )
I mean even Demogorgon would be hard pressed to swallow in one fell gulp (as he is scripted to do ) the master pearl, if even the "normal ones are bowling ball sized.
alright just so I know I wasn't loosing my mind I looked it up:
Pg 46 of dungeon 140 (last paragraph middle column): "A shadow pearl is a lustrous black pearl approximately four inches in diameter."
from Wikipedia:
Five-pin bowling balls have no finger holes and are between 4.75 to 5 inches (12.1–12.7 cm) in diameter. They weigh between 3.25 and 3.625 pounds (1.47–1.64 kg). The smaller size and lighter weight of the balls allows bowlers to hold the ball in the palm of their hand when throwing.
and from the youtubes: 5 pin bowling
And no, that's not me in the video.
missed that size description entirely.... seems rather ludicrous to me....that's a fair sized grapefruit ! I shall keep pity on the oysters and keep them at 1" each...