Sandpoint / Homebrew Playtest

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I started a new game for a couple new players, and we had our first game last night. I started the PCs off in Sandpoint, but at a time after Rise of the Rune Lords. I'm using Sandpoint as I like the amount of premade NPCs, but I'm beginning with an altered version of Hallow's Last Hope. I set most of the encounters in Mosswood (The Elder Tree, and The Dwarven Temple).

For PCs we have;
Wizard 1st Level; human, conjuration specialist
Wizard 1st level; quickling faen (from Cook's Arcana Unearthed), Evocation specialist

The group also recruited a 1st level Valeros from Sandpoint. I played him as an NPC.

1st Encounter

Spoiler:

The Witches Hut: The animated cauldron surprised the group, and as new players, they didn't realize how weak they realy are at this point. The cauldron dropped the faen into negative numbers by the 2nd round. The other wizard got the hint and backed off, using her unlimited Acid Dart. They were especially shocked when the cauldron squeezed through the door to pursue them. This was a tough fight for 3 characters, but they won out.

The PCs realized they needed to heal up, and went back to Sandpoint. They also then recruited a ranger to join them and help guide them to the next locations; Harsk, 1st level.

2nd Encounter

Spoiler:

Hobgoblin Trap; This is a scene where a hobgoblin has a fox in a trap in an attempt to lure prey. He is accompanied by two razorcrows. In the surprise round, the faen was hit by an arrow from the hobgoblin. When normal initiative started, the other player did something that only new players can think of. Instead of helping her friend or attacking the hobgoblin, she tried helping the fox out of the trap. Thankfully, her injured friend pulled off a spellcraft check, and cast a Sleep spell. She caught both of the crows, putting them out of the fight. A few rounds later, the human wizard and Harsk put an end to the hobgoblin.

3rd Encounter

Spoiler:

The Elder Tree: The PCs noticed the dead bodies in the tree, but did not notice the tatzlywyrm hiding among the roots of the tree. As the PCs search for the elderwood moss, the tatzlwyrm got a surprise round on the human wizard. Unfortunately, she was dropped to negative points in the 2nd round. A series of misses by Harsk and Valeros also led to them being dropped to negative numbers by the end of the 5th round (a crit dropped Harsk in 1 round). The 6th round found us with one wizard standing 30ft away from the monster, and all of her memorized spells were gone. Luckily, her energy ray hit, sending the creature to 3 hp. It then fled into the underbrush.

Comments and Observations : Most of these commenst are not going to be new or earth shattering, but I hope to keep this game going. I'll use this as a place to post more as the campaign evolves.

1st Level School Powers: Without these powers, I think I would have had a TPK in each encounter. Having new players, they especially did not realize this.

1st Level Fighter and Ranger: One player commented that "the boys didn't do a thing", and it was true. I rolled a lot of misses for them, but I think it was just bad luck with the dice.

CMB: I did use Grapple rules with the tatzlwyrm, and this was fairly easy to me.