So screw you, 4e! The Village of Hommlet awaits!
For some really cool maps!Check Out This Link!Click on maps! then go into Sections
I've been slowly stitching Toee/Slavelords/Queen of Spiders into a Adventure path. (The Drow are mentioned as coming to the Temple in it's history notes and Lloth had sometype of interest there...Then you have Elcavdra of the Slavelords (female drow)so there's another thread. The Slavelords deal with the Temple bringing in slaves and monsters.
Also during the party's attack on the Temple, I plan on having Npc's from the Temple attack Hommlet like Smignal Redhand, Barkinar and Deggum and a horde of bugbears,gnolls and ogres. I'll have my players play villagers and important npc of Hommlet to battle the evil forces.
So screw you, 4e! The Village of Hommlet awaits!For some really cool maps!Check Out This Link!Click on maps! then go into Sections
I've been slowly stitching Toee/Slavelords/Queen of Spiders into a Adventure path. (The Drow are mentioned as coming to the Temple in it's history notes and Lloth had sometype of interest there...Then you have Elcavdra of the Slavelords (female drow)so there's another thread. The Slavelords deal with the Temple bringing in slaves and monsters.
Also during the party's attack on the Temple, I plan on having Npc's from the Temple attack Hommlet like Smignal Redhand, Barkinar and Deggum and a horde of bugbears,gnolls and ogres. I'll have my players play villagers and important npc of Hommlet to battle the evil forces.
WOW. How long have you been working on those? I do all my maps by hand and then run them through photoshop/illustrator, but I've never attempted anything with that level of detail. I love how you've got the lighting worked out. I've never even really thought about displaying light sources/shadows on a map. Definitely makes a rogue's job easier (or more difficult, depending on how you look at it). Nice work!
Also, I like the idea of playing out the attack on Hommlet. I read a post somewhere (Dragonsfoot maybe?) where someone had Robilar bust into the Temple while the PCs are on the lower levels. He ended up freeing Zuggtmoy, which is kinda funny.
Nice.
I spent a day or so looking over my Saltmarsh notes and tightening up a few things (my DM skills have improved a lot in 20+ years). Some of the personalities will get more depth or be changed slightly. At the time, I played NPCs in a rather broad, more simple style.
Anyway, I was also rolling up some pregenerated characters to fit in with the area (south-west Keoland). I was going to allow better than "normal" characters (to appeal to the 3.x crowd): roll 4d6, drop lowest, six times; arrange as desired; sacrifice 2 points from one stat to raise another by 1, cannot reduce a stat below 10 or raise above 18 before racial adjustments; maximum starting hp; UA, DSG, and WSG rules in effect; allowed races human, hill dwarf, sylvan elf, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, and halfling.
My dice were possesed or something. First set of rolls: 18, 14, 15, 11, 17, 15! For six characters (36 rolls), I ended up with 2x18, 5x17, 2x16, 9x15, 4x14, 3x13, 6x12, 4x11, and 1x10; every single one had a 17 or 18 for the highest stat and at least 3 rolls of 14 or higher. The first character became a paladin (cavalier) with 18/52 Str, 11 Int, 14 Wis, 15/32 Dex, 15/15 Con, 17/94 Cha; rolling on the social class table in UA gave me 88 (Lower Upper Class), which let the paladin start as a 1st level cavalier with plate mail, shield, lance, longsword, dagger, a medium warhorse, and 70-180gp. Then, for the other character with an 18 (a ranger longbow specialist), I rolled a 98 for percentile Str. The rest of the set includes a cleric of Xerbo (Suloise deity of sea, travel and trade; main temple in Saltmarsh; clerics can use tridents and switch out Fire Walk for Water Breathing and Flame Strike for Conjure Elemental [water only] on their spell lists), half-elf druid (with two guard dogs), magic user (apprentice to the local herbalist/sage), and gnome illusionist/thief. What a powerful bunch.
We're doing standard chargen, but I'm allowing the Bard from 2nd edition AD&D. I've got a player who really wants to play one, and the 1e version is just too damn hard to qualify for. Also, What's your overall opinion of UA? A few people have warned me that if you use UA you want to stick very close to the rules as written (a lot of people find it unbalances easily, I guess). The idea of the UA Barbarian trying to destroy the party's magic gear at early levels cracks me up, though.
Oh yeah: Once, in a fill-in Saltmarsh game I ran, Oceanus (the captive sea elf ) ended up posthumously becoming one of the most important npcs in a campaign that went so far off the rails it wound up turning into a brief Spelljammer series. None of us saw that coming!
Not my maps-Daniel Rivera-I found them here on paizo James Keegan posted about them. Good job Daniel!Thanks JK!
Another thread in the adventure path I'm working is Robilar and could bridge the story as the TOEE ends could add on Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk as a alternate.
I have Rannos Dalv and Gremag connected to the Slave-Lords; they work with the half-orc slave Raider Dergrenche from Scourge of the Slavelords 1-4.(He had 4 ettin bodyguards, bugbears,goblins and worgs
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So screw you, 4e! The Village of Hommlet awaits!For some really cool maps!Check Out This Link!Click on maps! then go into Sections
As a fellow Dundjinni user, I bow in awe in front of your work.
Pal, it's astounding. Makes me want to cry in shame and spend a whole week trying to improve my mapping skills.
Nice maps!!!
We're doing standard chargen, but I'm allowing the Bard from 2nd edition AD&D. I've got a player who really wants to play one, and the 1e version is just too damn hard to qualify for.
The 1st Ed bard works pretty well as written if you eliminate the requirement for taking fighter and thief levels first (use the attack matrix for clerics, druids, monks and the save matrix for thieves, gain 2/3 proficiencies at first level and 1/1 every 4). The flavor in 1st Ed has them aligned with the druids, so you should probably keep that.
The requirement for four 15+ scores, with a 12+ and a 10+ for the other two is pretty steep. 1st Ed can be rough if you want to be anything other than cleric, fighter, magic user, or thief. If you don't want to use an alternate generation method, you could always go with DM fiat and give minimum scores to qualify for the class: 15 Str, 12 Int, 15 Wis, 15 Dex, 10 Con, 15 Cha. That's not that great in 1st Ed, really (+1 Magical Attack Adjustment, -1 AC, +15% Loyalty, +15% Reaction Adjustment).
Also, What's your overall opinion of UA? A few people have warned me that if you use UA you want to stick very close to the rules as written (a lot of people find it unbalances easily, I guess). The idea of the UA Barbarian trying to destroy the party's magic gear at early levels cracks me up, though.
The cavalier is a powerful class, but the steep ability score (and social class) requirements keep it rare. The barbarian is also powerful, but with fairly steep ability score (and backstory, IMO!) requirements. Mostly, the UA rules fill out what's in the PHB and DMG and bring a lot of what later gamers expect to AD&D.
First, was that your site Tobus Neth? Excellent work there (and not just on the maps).
We're doing standard chargen, but I'm allowing the Bard from 2nd edition AD&D. I've got a player...There was a Bard presented in an issue of Dragon (I think it appeared in one of the Best Of... collections too) that was essentially an Illusionist/Bard; that's my favorite version of the class, really - if you can track it down (I THINK it was in the 40s but don't remember and don't have access to a good index) it might be worth checking out.
This alternate bard - the Dragondexshows under the heading Bards an article for a variant bard from Dragon 56 named "Singing a new tune". Might this be the one you are remembering?
Stefan
Regarding the rules in the UA: I would disallow the double weapon specialisation - IIRC, it gives a fighter +3/+3 for a melee weapon, and IMO this is too much for 1st Ed game. With an 18/01-50, you are at +4/+6, and if you have magic weapons or even gauntlets of ogre power, these values are skyrocketing. Given the much lower hp numbers in 1ed, this could upset the game balance.
Stefan
Regarding the rules in the UA: I would disallow the double weapon specialisation - IIRC, it gives a fighter +3/+3 for a melee weapon, and IMO this is too much for 1st Ed game. With an 18/01-50, you are at +4/+6, and if you have magic weapons or even gauntlets of ogre power, these values are skyrocketing. Given the much lower hp numbers in 1ed, this could upset the game balance.
I've house-ruled a minimum level requirement of 6 for double specialization in most campaigns. At that point, it's not that unbalancing.
Although it can be amusing as a DM to smash a basket containing all of the eggs (turning that melee-focused fighter into a pincushion by 4 goblin archers).
I like the ideas for Hommlet. I’m a bit late to the thread as usual (don’t get online much except on weekends), but for an AD&D adventure path I’ve always loved the progression:
- N4, Treasure Hunt (I’m so glad to see FabesMini is running this -- definitely one of my favorites, and not often remembered)
- U1-U3, Saltmarsh (Great to see Heathy running these, too)
- UK2-UK3, The Sentinel and The Gauntlet (love the British 1E modules)
- Then on to the Slave Lords and the Giants, of course. Sometimes I’ll throw a beefed-up Desert of Desolation series in between, since the Giant series is still challenging at high levels.
I enjoyed Hommlet / Temple of Elemental Evil but I like this series even better -- I’ve run them several times in AD&D and now in 3E. I’ve also been fortunate enough to get some long-time players who never played any of the classic modules, so we’re doing them now in 3E.
I’ve thought that Cult of the Reptile God and The Assassin’s Knot would be an interesting alternative starting sequence, but I’ve never tried them together.
A number of these modules benefit from pruning the number of encounters, in my opinion. One way is to just use the competition versions. Cutting down is even more urgent for 3E conversion due to the level / XP changes – my rule of thumb is to delete ¾ of the encounters and tweak the rest to suit. I know, the purists would have my head!
Anyway, enjoy your campaign! Sounds like a great time, and a fitting tribute to Mr. Gygax.
Doug
I've heard the Weapons Mastery rules from the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (I BELIEVE they first appeared in the Master's boxed set too) were supposed to be better than the Specialization ones but haven't read through them myself.
That depends on how you define better. These weapon mastery rules were strongly level-dependent, had several levels of mastery for each weapon, needed training time and money, and the training had a failure chance depending on the level of mastery of the teacher. But if you achieved levels of mastery, the weapon damage increased, you gained a to-hit bonus, and various special effects, like being able to throw certain melee weapons, or AC bonuses, or the ability to deflect attacks, and several more, depending on the weapon in question.
It was much more detailed, and custom-built for each weapon, but could lead to quite powerful effects. Nice idea, basically, but seldom used because of the complexity. Now that you remind me of this, it might be worth a second look to use as feats under 3e. Some of the special abilities are available as feats, I think.
Stefan
I like the ideas for Hommlet. I’m a bit late to the thread as usual (don’t get online much except on weekends), but for an AD&D adventure path I’ve always loved the progression:
- N4, Treasure Hunt (I’m so glad to see FabesMini is running this -- definitely one of my favorites, and not often remembered)
- U1-U3, Saltmarsh (Great to see Heathy running these, too)
- UK2-UK3, The Sentinel and The Gauntlet (love the British 1E modules)
- Then on to the Slave Lords and the Giants, of course. Sometimes I’ll throw a beefed-up Desert of Desolation series in between, since the Giant series is still challenging at high levels.
Yeah, that's pretty close to my classic AD&D adventure path (or "campaign", as we used to call it). I'd go:
For full UK goodness, you could start with UK5, Eye of the Serpent, also by Graeme Morris.
I was never really into Basic D&D, but one of my favourite modules has long been O1, The Gem and the Staff. It's a great little one-on-one adventure for a thief, which I've run with many different players over the years, some of whom had never played D&D before.
Yeah, that's pretty close to my classic AD&D adventure path (or "campaign", as we used to call it). I'd go:U1-U3, Saltmarsh
UK2-UK3, Adlerweg
UK4, When a Star Falls
UK1, Beyond the Crystal Cave
I3-I5, Desert of Desolation
I8, Ravager of Time (writen by Graeme Morris, author of UK2-UK4)
S4, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth
G1-G3, Giants
D1-D3, Descent
Q1, Queen of the Demonweb Pits For full UK goodness, you could start with UK5, Eye of the Serpent, also by Graeme Morris.
Now that´s a really great campaign there! Did you have any kind of connecting story for that?
These UK adventures are strange little gems, with some particularly nasty ideas.
I was never really into Basic D&D, but one of my favourite modules has long been O1, The Gem and the Staff. It's a great little one-on-one adventure for a thief, which I've run with many different players over the years, some of whom had never played D&D before.
Oh well, this thread is a trip down memory lane *sigh*. I think I have all this stuff mentioned here around somewhere, but did not touch most of it for ten years or so. The exception being the slavelords campaign, which I DMed with 3e rules a few years ago.
Regarding Basic D&D, I absolutely love Castle Amber! You have to put some work into it, but it is great in its strangeness. I played it three or four times and DMed it twice, I think.
Stefan
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Since we're taking this stumble down amnesia lane...
I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt at the SEATAC airport last summer:
MY PARENTS LOOTED THE GHOST TOWER OF INVERNESS, AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS STUPID T-SHIRT!
Every year it's a smaller and smaller cross-section of the population that gets that joke...
... I need a bourbon...
I've heard the Weapons Mastery rules from the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (I BELIEVE they first appeared in the Master's boxed set too) were supposed to be better than the Specialization ones but haven't read through them myself.That depends on how you define better. These weapon mastery rules were strongly level-dependent, had several levels of mastery for each weapon, needed training time and money, and the training had a failure chance depending on the level of mastery of the teacher. But if you achieved levels of mastery, the weapon damage increased, you gained a to-hit bonus, and various special effects, like being able to throw certain melee weapons, or AC bonuses, or the ability to deflect attacks, and several more, depending on the weapon in question.
It was much more detailed, and custom-built for each weapon, but could lead to quite powerful effects. Nice idea, basically, but seldom used because of the complexity. Now that you remind me of this, it might be worth a second look to use as feats under 3e. Some of the special abilities are available as feats, I think.
Player's Option: Combat & Tactics also had a decent (IMO) system for 2nd Ed, with tight and broad weapon groups, familiarity, proficiency (both for weapons and shields), expertise, specialization, mastery, high mastery, grand mastery, and weapon styles. It's relatively easy to add these rules to 1st Ed in place of the UA weapon specialization rules. You could also use the "Weapons & Armor" chapter for a more detailed treatment of various armors (including partial/composite armor types) and weapons (including the improved damage and armor penetration ability of crossbows).
Now that´s a really great campaign there! Did you have any kind of connecting story for that?
These UK adventures are strange little gems, with some particularly nasty ideas.
** spoiler omitted **
Yes, there was some sort of connecting story, which I made up on the fly (in grand 1st Edition style), based on the characters and the relationships they'd built up with various NPCs.
You're quite right about I8...
If Treasure Hunt (this is a fantastic adventure!) goes well and we finish it, I'm tempted to run at least U1 (I ran all three in 2E and wasn't all that thrilled by U2 - the session lasted all of 30 minutes as my brother opened up negotiations straight away, and U3 was sort of thrilling in a will the party get mushed kind of way...)
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Brutal Hammer keep these posts coming, and terjon is never a bad guy in the original module but that does not mean that can't be one in your adaptation.
If you plan on a murder mystery here is a suggestion. In my home campaign the high level assassin slays the druid Jaroo instead of the players and the druid is impersonated by a greater doppelganger who is an agent of Iuz himself. So the town starts getting some really twisted preaching from a former neutral druid !! : )
Funny, because of the original artwork Burne & Rufus did seem a bit, odd. And as to the two shopkeepers maybe you can play them as the two assassins after james bond in Diamonds are Forever.
Rannos & Gremag- not too sure on these guys yet. They're basically there to screw the PCs and keep track of things for the Temple. They've each got okay Intelligence, low Wisdom, and really low Charisma, so I'm not sure the PCs should really have a hard time sussing out their motives. Any suggestions?
why not go with Dan Dority and Silas Adams from Deadwood as Rannos and Gremag (since you are not going to be using Swearingin as Ostler).
UK2-UK3, Adlerweg
I especially loved these. I think I ran them for four separate player groups, and they all had a ball. They fit in perfectly with the feel of 1st ed Forgotten Realms.
As a matter of interest, what was it about 1st ed that made you enjoy it so much? Was it nostalgia or the system or something else?I find this kind of question quite bizarre. If you tell someone you're reading a book written before 1985, they don't ask if it's from nostalgia.
If it was a book I knew you had already read, I would. Maybe its just me.
Cheers! :)
I enjoyed a lot of the modules people cited above. I’d also like to give UK module props to:
- UK6, All That Glitters…, and
- UK7, Dark Clouds Gather.
I’m running UK6 now in 3.5 and looking forward to UK7 after the Desert of Desolation.
But regarding to the OP’s tribute to Gary Gygax: Although we’re not running AD&D, we made sure to note and honor Mr. Gygax’s influence on our campaign. When we heard of his death, we had recently finished Tomb of Horrors and the party was resting in Gnome Vale which I had dropped in from Tsojcanth. He will truly be missed.
Doug