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Hi,
The short version of this story, is that after the glassworks, my players didn't explore as far as the catacombs, and instead, took a night to rest then went directly to thistletop.
For the long version...
They managed to not explore most of the glassworks, finding the goblins right away by going through the service entrance, then going downstairs to Tsuto, a nicely placed crit took Tsuto's head off, and they found Ameiko right after.
At this point, low on resources, they decided to head back up to the surface, where they found the town watch waiting for them, with the angry mob they had stirred up breaking into the glassworks, a small discussion with the may later, it was decided they would go direct to Thistletop, and the watch woul keep the citizenry out of the glassworks, while Ameiko was looked after.
They managed to get into Thistletop, almost miraculously, only fighting the Goblin dogs on the way in, and the goblins/Ripnugget in the throne room, the goblins asleep in the barracks were mercilessly slaughtered in their slep, and they wandered downstairs before anyone else was the wiser.
Wandering around level 1, they took a right, and managed to again, avoid enemies, and just find the tentamort, going from there to the Chapel. They *just* defeated the Yeth hounds, and have healed up, and gotten the requisite XP to level up to 3rd. I am allowing this, right down to the sorcerer getting her extra spell/slots, since I like the idea that in the heat of battle, they manage feats they could never have managed before, that and they need the help!
As per the script though, the Yeth hounds made a *lot* of noise, they are going to be fighting their way out...
They are now in the Chapel of Lamashtu, and have a round or two before Bruthazmus, Orik, and Lyrie arrive, probably staggered due to the different distances they will have to come.
I have 4 players(Barb, Fighter, rogue, Sorcerer) + a level 4 Shalelu, and the PCs are now level 3 after the Yeth hound fight.
Q1...Would you alter the stats of the NPCs, drop their CR at all? or should my PCs be ok (considering Shalalu has a wand of CLW with around 30 charges left)?
Q2...How would you alter the catacombs to compensate for the now higher level PCs?
I *think* the PCs can probably manage as long as Nualia doesn't come as well. But it depends a lot on what spells the sorcerer has. If you suspect it will be a problem, I'd have one of the named NPCs go to guard Nualia rather than responding to the alert.
The catacombs will be okay for 3rd level PCs as they are; in fact, the last fight is better suited for 3rds, in my opinion (groups that hit it earlier seem to find it very frustrating). If you really need to increase the difficulty, I would add one sinspawn to the early sinspawn encounter, and allow the zombies to come out of their pits. I wouldn't change the last encounter at all.
Mary
I noticed they have no healer. What are the current hp and healing resources like?
Also, don't discount certain spells like Sleep. The wizard in my group saved a sleep spell up to the fight with Nualia. I had moved Orik in that room instead of the hound, since they had circumvented his area, and he was a non-issue. He got one attack off, slept, and coup de grace.
I think staggering is a good idea. Then you can mentally judge when to throw in the next combatant. Also, if you look at Lyrie, she may not join in. She's a scholar and a coward. She could very well presume that the others will handle it while she does her important research.
I have 4 players(Barb, Fighter, rogue, Sorcerer) + a level 4 Shalelu, and the PCs are now level 3 after the Yeth hound fight. ...
I wouldn't change a thing! If memory serves correct they're supposed to be level 3 or 4 by the end of this chapter so it sounds as though your right on course game mechanics wise.
Chapter 2 is meant to be begin at level 4 (roughly) so by the time they've finished Thistle they will be ready for it.
It also mentions in Chapter 1 that the catacombes are an "optional" dungeon that aren't neccesarilly cleared to finish the chapter, kinda like bonus xp in the game.
Funny thing about all this is my group have done exactly the same!
They arranged with Amieko and the local militia to secure the glassworks and they went off to rest
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Cool, thanks for the advice, Nualia will definietly be staying downstairs, and the party is in a good position tactically.
I am going to try to take this as an opportunity to get them using some better taktics than "stand still and hit it/shoot it".
As for healing, they have had a few rounds break to prepare, so are back to full (now level 3) HP, and Shalalu has a wand of clw, so they should be ok on that front for a while.
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Just an update for anyone who may be interested.....they blew through Lyrie, and Bruthazmus (with a fighter and a barb each with readied actions 1 on each side of the door, it was never going to be good for the NPCs....) and then we all went into stonkingly bad rolls for the fight when orik turned up a few rounds later....
3 NPcs down though, and all coup de graced (me thinks they just got a few more wrath points) with barely a scratch between them.... Now we will see what Nuallia does to them.
