I'm loving your thread, keep it up. On a side note, your Druid has some interesting options, not just the wolf. The baboon comes with an increase to speed, too, plus the wicked bite and a climb speed. The crocodile and monitor lizard both have swim speeds. The boar is a little slower than the wolf, but with a mean gore attack, and never forget the black bear and wolverine, with their claw/claw/bite combos. The +2 to strength makes up for the loss of +1 weapon, so for utility the wild shape is definitely worth his time.
P.S. I've seen a lot of players forget that an animal with only one natural weapon gets 1.5 times it's strength bonus on damage. Makes that gore attack kinda rude...
nedleeds wrote: Well since it's a playtest, I'm going to run it by the book. Using the Beast Shape I(II, III) rules. I'll see how it goes and if it is of any value at all. Sounds like it might be more useful for reconaissance than for combat at this point since our party druid has decent strength and a good magic weapon at this point (Club of Striking +1). I can't see any reason to Wild Shape into a Wolf in combat at this point (except to run away maybe). The best medium-sized animal form from the Monster Manual is probably a deinonychus (if you have dinosaurs in your campaign) -- it's faster than a wolf and has 4 attacks instead of 1. But as the previous poster said, he might be able to change into a baboon and still use his club.
hogarth wrote: nedleeds wrote: Well since it's a playtest, I'm going to run it by the book. Using the Beast Shape I(II, III) rules. I'll see how it goes and if it is of any value at all. Sounds like it might be more useful for reconaissance than for combat at this point since our party druid has decent strength and a good magic weapon at this point (Club of Striking +1). I can't see any reason to Wild Shape into a Wolf in combat at this point (except to run away maybe). The best medium-sized animal form from the Monster Manual is probably a deinonychus (if you have dinosaurs in your campaign) -- it's faster than a wolf and has 4 attacks instead of 1. But as the previous poster said, he might be able to change into a baboon and still use his club. And he could Bulls Strength himself, then Wild Shape ? Retaining his bullish strength ?
nedleeds wrote: hogarth wrote: nedleeds wrote: Well since it's a playtest, I'm going to run it by the book. Using the Beast Shape I(II, III) rules. I'll see how it goes and if it is of any value at all. Sounds like it might be more useful for reconaissance than for combat at this point since our party druid has decent strength and a good magic weapon at this point (Club of Striking +1). I can't see any reason to Wild Shape into a Wolf in combat at this point (except to run away maybe). The best medium-sized animal form from the Monster Manual is probably a deinonychus (if you have dinosaurs in your campaign) -- it's faster than a wolf and has 4 attacks instead of 1. But as the previous poster said, he might be able to change into a baboon and still use his club. And he could Bulls Strength himself, then Wild Shape ? Retaining his bullish strength ? Yes, but the +4 Str bonus from Bull's Strength would overlap with the +2 Str bonus from wild shape (since they're both enhancement bonuses).
hogarth wrote: nedleeds wrote: And he could Bulls Strength himself, then Wild Shape ? Retaining his bullish strength ? Yes, but the +4 Str bonus from Bull's Strength would overlap with the +2 Str bonus from wild shape (since they're both enhancement bonuses). This is my only beef with the new polymorph spells. I don't think the bonuses should count as enhancement bonuses. I think it brings it down too much. The bonuses are already pretty nerfed from the original. Maybe I'm just whining, though.
dthunder wrote: This is my only beef with the new polymorph spells. I don't think the bonuses should count as enhancement bonuses. I think it brings it down too much. The bonuses are already pretty nerfed from the original. Maybe I'm just whining, though. You're not the only one who feels that way. Personally, I'm agnostic -- I'd have to see it in action.
I don't see the 4th level wild shape options coming in handy for anything other then Recon and Running / Flying away at this point. Especially if your 4th level druid already has a usable magic weapon at this point (which mine does ... a Club +1). Scent is useful, but again mostly for recon. The SRD also has the following under scent:
"Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights."
So if the druid hasn't faced (or sniffed) an Umber Hulk before he can't really sniff him out 60' away.
nedleeds wrote: I don't see the 4th level wild shape options coming in handy for anything other then Recon and Running / Flying away at this point. Especially if your 4th level druid already has a usable magic weapon at this point (which mine does ... a Club +1). Well, I think the 2 claws + 1 bite + 1 talon attack of a deinonychus would be better on average than a +1 club, but YMMV. The real downside is that you lose your armor & shield (if any).
nedleeds wrote: ...
"Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights."
So if the druid hasn't faced (or sniffed) an Umber Hulk before he can't really sniff him out 60' away.
Identifying isn't the same as detecting, the creature could know there's something in the radius but can't figure out what the smell is.
By the way, keep up the good work, I enjoy it a lot!
hogarth wrote: nedleeds wrote: I don't see the 4th level wild shape options coming in handy for anything other then Recon and Running / Flying away at this point. Especially if your 4th level druid already has a usable magic weapon at this point (which mine does ... a Club +1). Well, I think the 2 claws + 1 bite + 1 talon attack of a deinonychus would be better on average than a +1 club, but YMMV. The real downside is that you lose your armor & shield (if any). Eeesh ....
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dinosaur.htm
And he gains the land speed of 60ft. ?
Just spent the afternoon reading this while trying to get work done. What a great job you have done both in running a creative a fun game and in telling a great story! I feel so excited to go home and play some D&D and was bummed when I got to the last post. Please continue telling the story and thanks for the good times.
Note - as someone who is new to pathfinder and anything past AD&D2 the DM Notes and mechanical discussions were very educational. I loved reading about how you set things up.
JH
I feel bad now because it would seem we've nearly derailed your thread here. However, you mentioned that the +1 Club of Striking seemed better to you than the natural weapons. I'm not sure what the Striking ability does, but remember that the +2 strength bonus from Wild Shape replaces the +1 attack and damage bonus from the Magic on the club. In addition, the natural weapons generally do more damage than a club, whether in one hit (gore-1d8) or in multiple strikes (2 claws-1d4 and bite-1d6). I may be wrong, though, since I'm not familiar with the Striking ability.
In any case, please feel free to call for an end to the threadjack.
nedleeds wrote: And he gains the land speed of 60ft. ? Yup.
dthunder wrote: I feel bad now because it would seem we've nearly derailed your thread here. However, you mentioned that the +1 Club of Striking seemed better to you than the natural weapons. I'm not sure what the Striking ability does, but remember that the +2 strength bonus from Wild Shape replaces the +1 attack and damage bonus from the Magic on the club. In addition, the natural weapons generally do more damage than a club, whether in one hit (gore-1d8) or in multiple strikes (2 claws-1d4 and bite-1d6). I may be wrong, though, since I'm not familiar with the Striking ability.
In any case, please feel free to call for an end to the threadjack.
No it's fine, if anything my idiotic rules questions don't belong in the playtest forums :p
Striking (as I've ruled it). Is a charge based ability that allows you to expend a charge to deal an extra 1d6 damage on a hit, declare the expendature before rolling. He also fires up Shillegghehehe (sic) to enhance it and lay the beats down. But I see your point about the multiple attacks, especially if the chance to hit is pretty low anyway, at that point you're better off rolling lots of attacks. I understand that when you're wild shaped all weapons get stowed away in the animals colon. Only constant (Ring of Protection) effects continue. He just hit 4th level, so we'll stretch the legs of the ability and see if it's balanced.
Note that (strictly speaking) Shillelagh only works on non-magical clubs and staves. So it wouldn't work on a +1 club. Of course, you're the DM so obviously it does work in your game.
nedleeds wrote: ... when you're wild shaped all weapons get stowed away in the animals colon... That's just WRONG man! Now it'll be branded in my brain the next time I have a character with wild shape! ;)
Also, as Hogarth noted earlier, a baboon could feasibly use a club as a weapon. That means using his +1 Club of Smashy-bits with a +2 enhancement bonus to strength and a secondary bite attack at -5. Would work as long as the Striking ability isn't command word activated, or if the command word was "Ooh, ooh" or "Aaah!"
-- Session 6 --
We have a new NPC with the team, Ilde Ungart. She is the last of her clan and is out for vengeance on anything evil that steps in the path of her warhammer.
Attendance: Chopper Toughstick, Han Wanabe, Ifersh and Emmett Fletcher.
The Plot: A larger conspiracy lurks at the edges of Nulb. Malignant forces are recruiting like minded people for an evil temple. The party is loaded down with magic items that need to be identified.
Recap: The party returns to Nulb battered and bruised from the fight with the orcs. After consulting with Mona, she is pleased to have her Orb back she gives a battered and ripped up shawl to the part (a Cloak of Resistance +1). Turns out the orb has no real magic properties, but pirates being a superstitious lot think of it as a fetish of some kind. She is confident her fortunes will turn. They have several items that require identification, using the horses aquired from Wat they decide to head off to Hommlett. They would also like to have Spungoir back in the fold as the lack of a wizard is making life tough. Chopper also wants to consult Terjon on the recruiting patterns of the temple agents, Wat and Dick.
DM Note: Some party members hadn't played D&D (or AD&D) and were perplexed at the whole 'identify' system in D&D. Positing that they'd need to know the bonus if they used it in combat, all they need to do is attack a tree stump, the DM would be forced to divulge the +1 or whatever modifier. I agreed that the system was dumb, but I likened to an instruction manual. Identify imbues you with an innate knowledge of how to use the item. I also mentioned that not all magic items are beneficial.
Back in Hommlett Chopper convened with Terjon, who agreed to send an agent to replace Wat. At the Inn of the Welcome Wench some of the other party members had beers with the recently raised and returned Spugnoir. They tried to convince him to rejoin the party, but his heart and confidence just wasn't there. He said perhaps a less risky expedition then a dread temple would be more his style. He identified all the parties items for their trouble however. Time was of the essence as they had to be back in Nulb to deal with Dick Rentch. Upon leaving town on the way back to Nulb they encounter 4 orc raiders.
Combat ensues and normally 4 orcs wouldn't be much of a match for our intrepid adventurers however somebody had been trailing the party from Hommlett ... an assassin!
A couple of rounds into combat, a super perception check managed to spot the man in black lurking in a bush but it was no help to Ilde who became the victim of a well timed Death Attack !!! By the skin of her dwarven ass she managed to save (by 1 !!!), but the sneak attack damage from a Rogue 5 / Assassin 3 (5d6) tore her a new hole regardless. The combat got much deadlier as the assassin ripped off another sneak attack using the orcish flank.
DM Note: More rookie mistakes here, rather then quickly dispatching the 15-20 hp orcs and removing any chance of a flank the party desperately tried to take down the assassin. His 65 hp's and decent AC 18 made this pretty tough.
They manage to stabilize Ilde and heal Emmett enough to keep him alive. They escape with their lives and find a note on the now dead marauder.
my_script wrote: “Smigmal, dispatch your finest assassin immediately. A group of meddlers have captured Lareth and are on to us here in Hommlet. We are working to free Lareth, once we do we must flee town. They are dangerous. Have your assassin stalk the exits of Hommlet. <insert party description here>. “
(Rannos’ seal here)
The party hobbles back to Nulb after healing Ilde back to conciousness. Back in Nulb the party got a nights rest at the Waterside Hostel. They had another day to kill, bought some healing implements, and decided to hit the Boatman's Tavern that evening. As usual Toluub was boxing and rough housing. He thanked the party for dispatching the 'swine' that had raided Nulb earlier by challenging the party to a good hearted brawl with 100 gold at stake.
DM Note: I scripted this encounter a few ways, one was if the party hadn't had any positive pirate karma; then the pirates would fight dirty and possibly become hostile upon a Toluub defeat. Another was if the party were 'Grud Buddies'; in this case the occasional pirate might help Toluub (Aid Other), but it would take some cheating by the party to induce hostile action. The third is 'Grud Buddies' that had slain the orcs; pirates then wouldn't interfere and a Toluub knockout would only result in a handshake and a round of beers.
The monk is the obvious choice to handle this, even being at 4th level he (with some solid rolling) was able to barely beat Toluub (8th level fighter) in bare-knuckle combat. Toluub is true to his word and pays up, the party buys a round of ale for the pirates regardless just to show some respect to the pirate leader. After the fight the pirates resume their drunken loud party, the party decides to get a meal and get an unexpected offer from Skole, the bartender.
my_script wrote:
If the PCs approach Skole for drinks or chat he opens up with the following.
The party beat Tolub fair and square:
“I see you can handle yourselves in a fight. You think you can handle a secret?”
The party lost:
“Hey you wanna get back at that arrogant son of a b!*$&? I got a little mess that need cleaning up.”
Party did neither:
“You don’t look like you’re from around here. You think you can do some work and keep your mouth shut?”
Skole proposes that the party get rid of Lodriss (the waitress) for him. His initial offer is one fine black pearl (worth at least 500 gold) before and another one once the job is done. He doesn’t care how they do it, just that it be done discreetly. If the party bargains hard he offers a set of magical chainmail armor.
The party decides to defer the offer, and being lawful good certainly won't kill her. Some quick talking reveals that Lodriss 'owns' the tavern and skole merely works there, Lodriss is Toluub's main squeeze, with her out the way Skole can control the tavern and rake in the profits.
They go and rest up at the Waterside Hostel and prepare to head out with Dick Rentch to meet his 'friends' the next morning. Upon awakening the party meets up with Dick and heads out of town along the south road. 3 men greet Dick and after some small talk inform the party that they are to be disarmed and blindfolded, they'll be taken by horseback to a location where they will be told more. The party feigns interest and Dick shoves off back to town. The moment Dick is back over the ridge out of site the party springs an ambush on the agents. They make quick work of them; using good teamwork and managing to dispatch the men in quick fashion. The men are in possession of ochre and earthen colored robes. It's clear that the 'secret' passage leads off to the east, a well concealed deer trail.
The party follows the deer trail a few hours east until they arrive at a circular clearing. It appears to be a dead end. A Knowledge (Nature) check reveals that the dense foliage surrounding this clearing is not indiginous to this area. The elf rogue decides to walk right through it, and reveals to everyone that it is indeed just an illusion. As he passes through the barrier he finds himself standing next to a gravel road, the sky strangely dark and forboding, off to his left in the distance a few hundred yards he spots a huge watch tower.
DM Note: At this point it's pretty late and the party starts bickering about what to do, the rogue wanting to rush in and fight and get some miniatures on the board. Others wanting to tie off some other loose plot threads. Eventually the rogue decides to head up the tower regardless. The dwarven NPC driven by rage decides to follow along, not to concerned for her own safety. At this point the party decides to jump in and follow along. But not without snide comments and general crabbiness from all sides.
The party formulates the following plan (at 1:45 am). Everyone but Ilde and Ifersh will don the earth robes and pose as recruiters delivering two new recruits. What happens past then ... they'll play by ear. A quick knock on the door and a couple of good Bluff rolls and the doors swing open ... and that's when things get worse ...
The tower is home to a rather numerous group of guards, sorcerers, sergeants, and other baddies. The eyeball total goes as follows:
12 guards
6 xbowmen
2 well armed men
1 clear leader of the crew adorned in fine armor
2 strange women stirring a stinky pot of shit
The party is now unsure of what to do. One of the well armed men comes over to interrogate the party.
my_script wrote:
The sergeant then questions each PC.
“What’s your trade? Can you fight?”
Ifersh and Ilde are then asked to place their weapons and armor on the large table. The rest of the party asks to use the bathroom (hahahahah !!!!) and refill their waterskins. They are directed to the trough at the far edge of the room. What ensues is straight out of Tropic Thunder, with the other 3 PC's feigning urination while discussing what to do. At this point Ifersh is freaking out and still being close to the door proposes that they get the door open and make a run for it, thinking they can funnel the enemies through the door. Much arguing ensues between the PCs that want to infiltrate, versus those that want to run, versus those that want to kill everything. Eventually Chopper turns away from the pisser and decides to knock the pot o' poop over as a distraction. Ifersh flips out and bolts for the door and tries to unlatch it and push it out. Ilde pulls out her warhammer and yells, 'Die by the fist of Moridan defilers !!!!' she throws an Obscuring Mist over the xbowmen stationed above on a catwalk.
At this point it's 2:30 am and we decide to suspend play thinking this fight might take away.
Stay tuned true believers !!!!
This ends session #6.
Next post Session #7 ->
So I'm still one session behind but I thought I'd catch up with some of the few photo's I had.
I guess this mickey mouse board software can't handle image linking so here they are as links.
This is the orc brawl from a few sessions back. The party infiltrates the cave lair of the orcs and rescues Ilde Ungart.
Orc Fight 1 !!!
Orc Fight 2 !!!
Orc Fight 3 !!!
Orc Fight 4 !!!
Orc Fight 5 !!!
Orc Fight 6 !!!
These are from the huge tower brawl coming in the next post.
Tower Fight 1 !!!
Tower Fight 2 !!!
-- Session 6 --
Attendance: Chopper Toughstick, Han Wanabe, Ifersh. I'll be controlling the intrepid ranger Emmett Fletcher.
The Plot: The party is between a rock and a hard place, forced to choose whether to be disarmed, separated and brought before the earth temple; or whether to stand and fight an insurmountable horde of evil humans. Regardless Ifersh's upbringing as an only child shines through and he flips out, not being one to miss out on a good blood bath Ilde follows right along and decides to go Rambo on the temple populace. The party must now fight their way out of the tower.
Recap: (see above pictures) Right off the bat Ilde drops an Obscuring Mist over the archers view hoping to minimize the missile bombardment. Ifersh battles with the lock barring the door in a vain attempt to give the party a possible escape route. Chopper attempts to go Conan in Thulsa's palace and flip the pot of stew in order to create a distraction. He finds out the hard way how heavy 5' x 5' cast iron pots are. Initiative is rolled and the party finds itself split up with 3 members on the north edge of the room and Ifersh and Ilde with their backs to the south wall.
The two tables near the middle cause the baddies to split along the west and east sides. The spearmen and guards with longswords are crammed more on the south side of the room. Chopper deduces that the witch-looking-Give-Us-Back-the-Eye crew should be based and eliminated (they are 2nd level Abyssal Sorcerers), so he moves and bases them. The sorcerers let loose with 5-foot steps and ranged touch attacks (Ray of Enfeeblement) and Cause Fear. The RTA's fail miserably and Chopper passes his fear saves. The large number of attacks starts to wear down Ifersh and Ilde, eventually enough room opens up for Ifersh to Summon Nature's Ally II a Hippogriff into the frey to provide an effective meat shield against the guards. This both distracts the guards and provides flanks for Ilde. Meanwhile Emmett is going toe-to-toe with the leader who is taking out large chunks of life from him.
The narrow area between the tables and the middle wall are making it tough for Han to flank the leader. The tight quarters are also making AoE spells tough to drop down (Entangle etc.). A couple of party members drop to 1, and even the Xbowmen get into the act with 2 criticals against Emmett.
In summary I remember a few things being key, 1 was the large base Hippogriff(s) providing some space and meat (and occasionally hitting, despite our forgetful Druid forgetting that he has Augment Summoning :( ), the monk was night unhittable between Dodge, Mobility, and his Ki Pool defensive boost. All in all the fight took almost 2 hours to wrap up. In the end amongst the bloody mess the party noted some fancy equipment on the leader guy (Longsword +1, Chainmail Armor +2, Steel Shield +1). They also manage to (due to elf presence) find the secret door in the back room leading to the escape tunnel.
DM Note:This (obviously) is one of those choose your path moments that can really swing the story one way or the other. One path would have gotten them into a completely different scene (a whole web of lies and infiltration involving the earth temple), the other was a giant bloodbath.
I also planted a bunch of information (in the form of log books) on temple recruiting. Numbers of recruits, dates brought in, payment ledgers detailing who was paid for which recruits. The documents roughly break down as follows.
Earth (Romag): 28 warriors, 16 laborers, 2 mages
Fire (Alremm): 24 warriors, 8 laborers
Water (Belsornig): 33 warriors, 11 laborers
Air (Kelno): 8 warriors, 2 laborers
Payments:
Wat – 349, Rentsch – 246, Toloson – 128, Gremag – 1222
I used a 4th level Fighter for the lieutenant. I used two 2nd level fighters for the sergeants. I used two 2nd level sorcerers for the witches. All other combatants were level one warrior’s.
They decide to barricade the door and heap all the dead bodies on the trap door and rest. Given the time of night that the fight started I throw a bone and allow an unimpeded 8 hour rest. Ilde burns the remainder of her postive energy and heals before nap time.
Following morning the party decides to send Han and his Cloak of Elvenkind sneaking down the escape tunnel one direction and the druids rat in the other direction. Han finds a long winding natural tunnel that ends at a rickety ladder. Smelling fresh air and seeing starlight he decides to investigate. He climbs up and despite it being morning he finds himself under dark skies in a burnt out horse stable, an air of evil permeates the air. He wheels around to face south and sees a several hundred foot high obsidian temple towering over a grove of wretched dying trees.
DOMINUS !!! AH AH !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!!
He also notes an encircling wall to his north. It appears as though the stable is in the middle of a keep of some kind. Reporting back to the party he decides to investigate the other direction. This again winds a while and eventually turns into a man made tunnel. Torch light eventually brightens an T-shaped area with a couple of doors. Han doesn't hear any noise and the brightness of the area makes it tough to determine if there is activity in the rooms. Again regrouping the whole party decides (sigh ...) to come down into the tunnel from the broken tower. They all head down to the torch lit area. They creep up to the door on the left, a whole party making enough noise to wake a corpse. They hear a faint noise in the room, like metal scraping stone. They (sigh ...) open the door only to find it empty. They pile in (all but Ilde), the room appears recently occupied. There's a workbench with whetstone and stool in the middle. An ornate cabinet in the corner filled with a variety of outfits from courtier, to noble, to cook, to guard. The party surmises that whoever resides here is some kind of rogueish person. About as soon as this realization hits, Ilde screams out in agony. The party rushes out to see a female Half-Orc standing over Ilde (whose inerds are spilled out on the stone), with a blood sheathed short sword. Combat soon ensues, the assassin tries to back out and down the tunnel. Getting in a couple of shots, but eventually using some Dust of Dissappearance to turn invisible (again). Chopper lands a lucky shot, but then the assailant is off down the tunnel. The party decides to back up to the room and make a stand and attempt to get their cleric back on her feet.
They manage to heal her to her feet, but are now paranoid about an undetectable sneak attacking (5d6 sneak attacking!) half-orc. A quick search of the room reveals that this is the lair of Smigmal Redhand, the one who dispatched the assassin earlier. They find her lockbox, and unable to disarm it decide to carry it out. Not quite learning their lesson they decide to open the other door. Peering in Han finds a robed individual with a long white beard, intently focusing or meditating, fluttering around the room is a winged demonic looking critter (quasit) who quickly awakens his master. Without even turning to look and concern himself, the mage shouts.
"You have disturbed me for the last time you prattling idiots, I said leave me alone! This is your last warning!"
Han deciding to sit this one out, shouts back "Yes, sorry". The party then high tails it back to the ladder into the broken tower. The trap door is (predictably) now locked from the outside. They are forced to head to the burnt farmhouse. Piling out into the dark starry courtyard the party gets a good look at the temple of elemental evil.
DOMINUS !!! AH AH !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!!
DOMINUS !!! AH AH !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!!
DOMINUS !!! AH AH !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!! DOMINUS !!!
They don't want any part of it right now and decide to make their way along the wall. They soon see the broken tower (from inside the courtyard this time). They scale the wall with the help of the monk, and manage to get back to the gravel road and the illusionary hedge. They decide to book back to Hommlett to report the news and to perhaps gain some allies (Spugnoir) to help with raiding the temple.
On their way back they are Random Wilderness Encountered by a pack (5) of apes (which I switched to War Apes from War of the Dragon Queen for you miniatures fans). The party fails to wild empathy the hostile apes, and a bloody fight ensues. The wild apes were a bit tougher then I thought and with 2x slams and a bite they started tearing the party up. Eventually the rangers favored animal enemy and some sneak attacks by Han took the apes out.
Landing back in Hommlett, scarred, bleeding and perhaps more wary the adventurers again have escaped certain death. They are now aware that they are dealing with forces out of their league, and that the temple is going to be no walk in the park.
This ends Session 6 ->
Next up Session 7
Thanks for continuing the updates. And keep posting choice player and DM 'funny things' said in the game.
Got the best memories of ToEE.
edit: Love that Spider Man makes a cameo on the game table in your last pic.
baron arem heshvaun wrote: Thanks for continuing the updates. And keep posting choice player and DM 'funny things' said in the game.
Got the best memories of ToEE.
edit: Love that Spider Man makes a cameo on the game table in your last pic.
Yeah, I didn't notice ole' web head there. I'm a huge fan of the TSR Marvel Super Heroes game (with custom rules to use Heroclix maps and figures for combat). Lacking a Pathfinder DM screen I use my old school original basic set TSR Marvel Super Heroes screen.
I also just realized that this is the first sighting of the aforementioned temple, and that the party has quite a ways to go. For those out there reading, who have played through the original ToEE - do you remember how long it took to get all the way through? (or die trying).
nedleeds wrote: Recap: (see above pictures) Right off the bat Ilde drops an Obscuring Mist over the archers view Isn't obscuring mist a spread that follows the spellcaster?
I love your well-drawn battlemats. Did you do those images yourself?
If you should ever decide to go high-tech, I have RttToEE maps (some of the CRM and all of the OF and IF) as MapTool campaigns. The OF and IF have all vision-blocking lines drawn in, but I think the CRM maps are so old that MapTool didn't have that feature at the time. And those maps have the NPC tokens on them as well. (MapTool now has an advanced macro system for automating things, but these maps won't have any of that as the macros are new within the last few months.)
azhrei_fje wrote: nedleeds wrote: Recap: (see above pictures) Right off the bat Ilde drops an Obscuring Mist over the archers view Isn't obscuring mist a spread that follows the spellcaster?
I love your well-drawn battlemats. Did you do those images yourself?
Doh! I read the summary of the spell stating it had a 20' range and that it was a 20' radius. I guess it really doesn't have any range. That's confusing everything else with a listed range means that the spell can be cast *at* that range (ala Entangle).
As for battle mats I use a combination of things.
1) Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures skirmish maps. I have everyone ever made (30 some odd) all laminated. You can depict just about anything imaginable with these, dungeon, forest, indoor, city alleys, graveyards, ice, snow, lava pits, prison, sewer. Almost anything.
2) Paizo flip mats. I've used forest and water extensively.
3) Plain ole' battle grid from old school DDM starter (laminated, as shown in the tower fight scene) and dry erase markers.
azhrei_fje wrote: If you should ever decide to go high-tech, I have RttToEE maps (some of the CRM and all of the OF and IF) as MapTool campaigns. The OF and IF have all vision-blocking lines drawn in, but I think the CRM maps are so old that MapTool didn't have that feature at the time. And those maps have the NPC tokens on them as well. (MapTool now has an advanced macro system for automating things, but these maps won't have any of that as the macros are new within the last few months.) I'm running the original ToEE by pbem and I use MapTools to make the round-by-round summaries. Is there any chance you could post the maptool campaigns somewhere? I, for one, would be immensely grateful. I know a lot of the maps are different, but having the campaigns for the Return would be a great starting point.
Nedleeds, these are awesome summaries - I'm getting a ton of inspiration from what you've posted so far. I've changed a bunch of the details just to keep the players on their toes, but the various ideas you've outlined are a great help. Thanks!
I love this thread so much. thanks for updating
Sleepy wrote: I'm running the original ToEE by pbem and I use MapTools to make the round-by-round summaries. Is there any chance you could post the maptool campaigns somewhere? I, for one, would be immensely grateful. I know a lot of the maps are different, but having the campaigns for the Return would be a great starting point. Sure. They've been on my web site for a few months now, as one of the GMs on the RPTools forum wanted them as well. (And he's done such great work on his CampaignMacros for 3.5/PF that I wanted to help out!)
Be warned -- the campaign files are only 8-10MB, but the other resources are two ZIP files that are each over 75MB.
azhrei_fje wrote: Sure. They've been on my web site for a few months now, as one of the GMs on the RPTools forum wanted them as well. (And he's done such great work on his CampaignMacros for 3.5/PF that I wanted to help out!)
Be warned -- the campaign files are only 8-10MB, but the other resources are two ZIP files that are each over 75MB.
Thanks a million! I'll dig through and see what I can use - anything to help get a level started is better than nothing.
I am really liking this! Keep up the good work!
So when is your next session?
-- Session 7 --
Attendance: Chopper Toughstick, Han Wanabe, Ifersh and Emmett Fletcher.
The Plot: The resurgance of the ultimate evil in all of Greyhawk has been confirmed! The temple is evil with chaos and malevolence! The party almost got killed (twice!)! Seemingly hitting a wall the party scurries back to Hommlett to lick their wounds, and perhaps rally support for the upcoming infiltration of the Temple of Elemental Evil (DOMINUS !!! AH AH !!! DOMINUS !!!). The party limps back to Hommlett after being nearly killed in a huge brawl and almost getting skewered by a brutal assassin. The party now has definitive proof of the scale and scope of the temples recruiting efforts, log books show a growing legion of fiends all dedicated to one faction or another. What is still unclear is why these 4 factions all exist within the one greater whole.
Recap: Back in Hommlett the party consults the usual suspects on their recent findings. Jaroo resolves to heighten the awareness of the temple with the druids of the Gnarley Forest. Terjon is undermanned at the moment, and without the leadership and resolve of the Canoness they are hard pressed to raise an offensive force. He feels they must concentrate on preparing to defend Hommlett. Rufus and Burne are concerned the towns keep won't be ready in time to defense it against an approaching horde. They resolve to redouble their efforts to get the keep finished, and a standing army trained and ready.
The other goal in this pitstop is to regain the services of Spugnoir. The going has been tough without a wizard. After speaking with Terjon and with Burne and Rufus the party feels the haunted plains of Emiry Meadows might be a place to garner more clues and perhaps some items of power to help even the odds. Terjons recounts the story of his fathers death there, and that the rock upon which his father took his last breath shone with a rainbow hue as his dads lifeless corpse slid off of it. This seems to be a more acceptable expedition to the battle scarred Spugnoir then storming an age old, wrought with evil, obsidian citidel of ultimate and all-encompassing malevolence.
DM Note: The last few fights have been grinds with no solid area damage / hold spells. Forcing the party to literally chop their way through mounds of hit points has left them susceptible to large numbers of attacks (resulting in the odd critical here and there). In addition around 4th - 5th seems to be where a wizard would be hitting his stride. Ilde is a combat focused cleric, and her blood rage isn't helping her become a more tactical spell caster. Ifersh is busy taking feats like Self-Sufficient and forgetting to add in his Augment Summoning bonuses to be much of a spell casting threat.
The party (quickly) re-arms as best they can. First stopping in at the town blacksmith. Upon hearing of the parties plans to head to Emiry Meadows and their request for fine (read: Masterwork) arms he scoffs and proposes that despite their successes they aren't worthy of such goods. He jokes that should they bring him the head of a giant he'd happily sell them his finest arms. When the party rebuffs and insults him he quickly retorts that he lost his entire family to a giant ambush along the north road that leads up toward Emiry Meadows.
Arriving at the outskirts of the field of battle, the party decides to make camp in between the north road and the meadows rather then explore the haunted field at night. After a nights rest the party views the meadows in the light of dawn. It's an expansive rolling plain that heads off for what must be miles, each hill obscuring the view of the next. Huge boulders dot the landscape in clusters.
The party decides to head toward the southern edge of the meadow where the rocks are a little more dense. Finding no good reason why they should be here, the party resolves that they must have been ammunition for giants. As the party wades through the waist high grass they are startled as skeletons rise to their feet.
A skirmish erupts, the party switches to bludgeoning weapons (except the rogue who was too stubborn to buy a club). The pack of skeletal warriors include some with scimitars and some with spears. The party dispatches them without too much trouble and heads further south. The rocks get more frequent and the party stumbles on a large semi-circle of them seems to be the site of the last stand of some elvish siege equipment. Shattered elf skeletons, and battered and torn scraps of wood dot the field. As the party investigates the site, the roar of a brown bear surprises them! The ranger and druid fail to settle the animal with wild empathy and a fight ensues. The druid initially posits that the bear has every right to be here. The monk rushes the bear and is greeted with about 30 hit points worth of damage from a mauling. The druid changes his mind. A round of fighting passes with the rogue wheeling around left to try to flank the beast. As the rogue sneaks through the rocks he gets a better view southward, and spots a hill giant rushing to his pet's aid. The next round the giant gets hit by a web from Spugnoir. He fails his reflex save and is stuck wasting a round freeing himself. Ifersh and Ilde begin summoning fodder to attempt to distract the giant while the rest of the party fires away from range, hoping to soften him up. Spugnoir unloads with magic missiles and ranged touch attacks (Acid Dart). A cautious combat ensues, two decent damage rolls or one critical is certain death for any party member. The party eventually wears down the giant and the rogue finishes him off with a sneak attack. Two party members were dropped at one point or another, and the hill giant chewed through about 80 hp's of summoned critters.
DM Note: The brown bear, which was only listed as a CR4 was a freakin' terror. He raped the monk in one round. Hill Giants are also a hell of a lot tougher then their 1e/2e counterparts. They are literally a one hit kill on a critical for 4th-5th level characters. Yeesh! This showed the need for a spell caster, Spugnoir was able to tie him up for a round and deal a good 30 damage between magic missiles, and acid darts. Without Spugnoir the party would have likely been dead.
Burning some healing the party is largely back on it's feet, though nearly out of spells. A search of the area reveals the skeleton of what appears to be an elvish hero, he is adorned in Elven Chainmail Armor carried a fine sword, and had a pair of boots that had weathered the years just fine (Elven Boots). The party heads further west (chasing down their horses that ran at the sight of the bear and giant)and find themselves in a rock circle with a brightly colored 'rainbow rock' at the middle. As the party approaches skeletons rise from all sides (Slayer's Ghosts of War begins playing). One well armed skeleton throws his arms in the air and casts a spell which seems to invigorate his comrades (Desecrate). A tough fight ensues, but Ilde's channeling really busts the skeletons up and they roll miserably for their saves versus the positive energy.
DM Note: Channel Positive sure kicks the tires off Turning. You bust up the undead and heal up the nicks and bruises of your party. Against all-undead enemy packs it's a game breaker.
The party digs up the area around the rainbow rock, finding the remains of Terjon's fallen father, a necklace with ihs family crest, as well as a strange mushroom statue. The party decides to make haste back to Hommlett.
With few threads left hangining (Dick Rentch, Skoles plotting) the party seems poised to begin the assault on the temple, no matter how futile it may seem.
DM Note: Translation: They leveled up to 5th
This ends Session 7 -->
Next post Session 8 -->
Fantastic recap. Thoroughly enjoyable.
I agree Channeling Positive Energy can really destroy low levels of undead, especially skeletons and zombies.
There are at least two easy ways around that, and it is by redefining your undead as circumstances need it.
Undead are usually fueled by Negative Energy- and thus susceptible to Turning and Channeling. But Skeletons in particular are excellent choices to be fueled by elementals instead. The battlefield could have seen a tremendous number of summoned elementals that have been trapped on our plane and animate the skeletons of fallen warriors, trying in vain to carry out the final commands. Now the skeletons function as Constructs rather than undead. It fits the story and is certainly not cheating. If the players get to lax and cocky to adapt to an ever changing magical world, that is their problem.
Another option, particularly useful for more advanced undead, like vampires, is to have them be animated corpses fueled by demonic or diabolic possession. Again, the demon/devil is not as susceptible to Turning and Channeling. You may rule that Channeling may affect them, but less so than normal undead.
Krome wrote: Fantastic recap. Thoroughly enjoyable.
I agree Channeling Positive Energy can really destroy low levels of undead, especially skeletons and zombies.
There are at least two easy ways around that, and it is by redefining your undead as circumstances need it.
<snip>
Good suggestions, and I may need to keep those in my back pocket. Emiry Meadows is merely mentioned in the original module, there are no encounters for it. But it struck me as strange that this hollowed site of the epic final (first ... final anyway) battle was never worked into the original addventure. What lies there? Who died there? Is it haunted? Surely there must be treasure there. Again the video game provides inspiration, as there is a sidetreck off to the meadows.
The other channeling issue is the undead weren't paired with any living allies (a necromancer, etc.). Certainly that would make the channeling effort a little more strategic. Another option might be to reduce the effect of channeling in an area affected by Desecrate.
Anyone who has played the ToEE knows that undead aren't the focal point (once you get into the temple proper), so I doubt it'll be a play balance issue going forward.
Something that has been mentioned here and there is pairing undead with an evil cleric or two. When they channel negative energy it not only heals any undead they have with them, it also deals damage to the nasty heros who are attempting to pillage the lovely new temple of (insert evil god or gods here). This combination can really ruin a good parties day even if they have a cleric of their own, and it can hammer (or even TPK) a party that doesn't.
Is this thread going to get locked when the playtest is over? If so can it be moved?
--Session 8 --
(really took place 3 weeks ago, I am 2 sessions behind)
Attendance: Chopper Toughstick, Han Wanabe, Ifersh and Emmett Fletcher.
NPCs: Ilde and Spugnoir
The Plot: We left our party on their way back to Hommlet from the unholy plains of Emiry Meadows. Burdened with some cool loot, a giant's head, and Terjons dads bones they are eager to get prepared to mount an assault on the temple.
Recap: The wilderness encounter for the party goes well this time, and they meet a merchant caravan. They are able to swap out some of their useless gear for cash and other goods.
DM Note: The elf champions corpse had a set of mithral chain mail, elven boots, a masterwork sword and a darkwood shield. So far most party members have one or more minor magic items. The rogue decides to take the elven chain in honor of his elveness and the defense bump, despite the small armor check penalty. He now has boots and cloak of elfness. They also recovered a strange fungus statue or idol from the skeleton priest fight.
The party is now 5th level as well and Spugnoir is hitting his stride with spells.
Regrouping in Hommlett the party quickly consults with the Mod Squad of Burne, Jaroo and Terjon. Terjon is eternally greatful for the remains of his father, whom he can finally bury. The party stocks up on healing, doesn't get many answers about the fungus idol other then from Jaroo who posits that it's a summoning device of some kind.
They gather the troops and head off to the temple. The opt this time to sneak around the outer wall to the crumbling section on the North edge, then hit the burnt farmhouse. Using that as a point of reference they will explore the mysterious courtyard.
No wilderness encounters ensue and the party (leveraging the monks superior climbing and built in feather fall) manage to scale the wall and rig up some ropes to allow the less dexteritous (?) members to get over the wall.
The party exercises caution while scurrying around the outside of the temple, expecting a Balor to drop from the sky at any moment. It's surprisingly quiet and uneventful. Finally making their way to the 'front door', they find the two huge main doors bound and sealed in bronze. Convienent side doors are found on both sides and have been recently opened. In addition there are signs of recent tracks on the gravel roads leading up to the front door.
The temple first floor is an exercise in description, there are no monsters or people. It's an expansive but sparse shrine to slaughter, murder, rape and carnage. With paintings of atrocities on the walls culminating in a raised pulpit area with a sacrificial altar, a huge stone throne, and the remains of a pleasure room of some kind off to the side that makes the nastiest strip club in Atlanta look tame.
DM Note: This whole exploration exercise took an hour at least. The party was convinced something was going to ambush them, or jump out of the darkness.
After completing the grand tour the party found a couple of routes down, one is a dry well near the middle. The other a wide staircase leading downwards to a set of sealed doors.
The party ropes and acrobatics it's way down the well. Finding a narrow descending ledge. After heading down a 20 feet or so they find a detachable panel in the wall. Opening the panel they find themselves peering into a wide hallway that runs as far as they can see in either direction. It is piled knee high with humanoid bones. As the party members file out one by one the dead begin to rise and assault them.
A savage horde of skeletons pour onto the party. Having learned some lessons from their Emiry meadows fights they manage to handle the skeletons pretty easily.
Unfortunately the racket has stirred the ogres from the adjoining rooms (124 and 126). 2 Ogres and their shaman boss rush the party.
DM Note: At this point the party had been given Earth temple robes 3 times. I guess they didn't get the hint, so the dungeon bash was on!
The ogre fight was managed pretty well, Augmented Summoned Hippogriff's, a well placed lightning bolt and a flaming sphere wore the ogres down pretty good.
For those of you with the original adventure. The party was near area 125, 124 and 126
After dispatching the ogre's the party loots them and investigates the room to the West. A groove in the floor is found by the rogue, who immediately activates the secret door (a 2 foot thick rotating door section). The secret door rotates and reveals ....
GNOLLS PLAYING POKER !!!!
Well anyway. I described the scene as 6 gnolls sitting around a long table playing cards, with 2 hobgoblins arm wrestling across the room. Immediately the PCs envisioned 'Dogs Playing Poker'.
Another brawl ensues, with little or no rest from the ogre battle it's a tough fight. I used some hobgoblin duskblade dudes I dug up from Monster Manual (IV?) as the leaders.
The fight winds down, and the party burns some healing to get up to snuff. It's also quite late at this point so we decides to pause the game.
this ends Session 9 -->
next up Session 10 (which has already happened) -->
Kevida wrote: Is this thread dead? I hope not. I'm thinking of running this in the next year and this is a great overview. I'm posting just so I can easily find it again.
And we're back ! Sweet !
nedleeds wrote: the party found a couple of routes down, one is a dry well near the middle I have heard from a lot of dm’s who run this module that other means of getting to the lower levels are a must need addition, be it for simple air supply or verisimilitude travel by the temple factions themselves.
Please elaborate on yours.
baron arem heshvaun wrote: And we're back ! Sweet !
nedleeds wrote: the party found a couple of routes down, one is a dry well near the middle I have heard from a lot of dm’s who run this module that other means of getting to the lower levels are a must need addition, be it for simple air supply or verisimilitude travel by the temple factions themselves.
Please elaborate on yours.
Well it's a double edged sword. There is a trap door (as my players found) that leads down to the 3rd level from the Broken Tower. My players (thanks to elf-ness and a good perception check) found it and almost got themselves killed.
The broken tower encounter is designed for 4-5 level 4-5 PCs. Temple level 3, you are likely to encounter 2d4 Hill Giants. My PCs encounter with a key player (the distracted mage) could have spelled TPK.
I think the key to giving your players options is simply getting a map of the level in their hands, my players have neither the patience or attention to detail to map an entire temple out on graph paper. If the have the map the stairs become apparent. To avoid being too railroadey the might likely get a map from either one of the elemental faction leaders (in order to complete the many quests they give them, or off their dead bodies after kicking in the door), or perhaps from Wonnilon or Otis.
In summary (IMHO) giving your party a quick way to decend would likely result in certain death anyway as the CRs jump pretty savagely from 2-3-4 to the nodes (which as I've scripted them are a little different then the vaguely depicted ones in the original).
Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Hey Ned, Your thread actually got me to go out and pick up a copy of this adventure (maybe you can get WotC to give you a commission). I intend on eventually converting it to 3.x or Pathfinder. Can I perhaps, check out a copy of your script? I promise to keep it super secret from your players. Anyway, this has been an incredibly entertaining read. Nice Job!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading how things turn out.
So, where are you on Pathfinder? Do you like the changes made for pathfinder?
It has been years myself since I have played, but I am looking into it, and stepped in right in the middle of the 3.5 vs. 4e vs. P3.
I am really leaning towards P3 because I looked at 4e and was overwhelmed with all the leveling, at will powers, encounter powers, etc., etc.
3.5 just has too much, so P3 seems like a good starting point. Especially wiht the changes they have made to simplify things.
--Session 9 --
(really took place 4 weeks ago, I am *still* 3 sessions behind)
Attendance: Chopper Toughstick, Ifersh and Emmett Fletcher.
DM Note: It's too tough for me to manage the 3 NPC's so Chopper handles Spugnoir, and Emmett handles Han (Han's player is out of town). There won't be much in depth character exploration for those 2 characters ... but if you've been reading along there isn't much character exploration going on here anyway :)
NPCs: Ilde, Han Wannabe and Spugnoir
The Plot: We left our party in the ToEE on the 1st level of the dungeon. They had cut a path of blood and carnage through some temple minions and were a little beat-up and drained of spells.
Recap: The party decides to head back out to the burnt farmhouse to attempt to nab a quick 8-hours of shuteye. They hope that the confusion of what happened to the ogres and gnolls might be blamed on another temple faction.
DM Note: I let the rest go without any interruption. I would have liked to seen some creativity here, the PCs have fire temple robes - they could have planted some torn shreds of the robes and cemented the subterfuge. But alas, my players are still like newborn calves on the roleplaying farm.
The party descends back down to the dungeon level 1 area where they left off. They are in full on kick in the door mode and start heading towards 127, 128 and 129. Essentially a couple of rooms and a long diagonal corridor.
They encounter some Gnoll guards (4) in the first room and go Commando on them, however they don't mop them up in time to keep the rest of the gnoll guards (7 more) and their bugbear (Fighter) leader from storming in. The battle rages through in room 128, and mostly goes the parties way. The gnolls are struggling to hit Emmett, Chopper or Ilde and the encounter burns up some party resources but doesn't seriously threaten them.
They turn the corner to the diagonal hallway, and are rushed by a troope of Earth Temple human guards. These guys are a bit better armed and trained. Geometry is a mother f'er however and as the guards storm down the straight hallway it lines up a savage opportunity for Spugnoir's lightning bolt (or in 4th edition terms his "Thunderous Electroblast Arc Rage Encounter Power"). He manages to roll well for initiative as well and throttles a bunch of bad guys and softens up the leader. The bad guys (7 warrior 1's, 3 fighter 1's and a fighter 5) are bottle necked pretty badly and get peppered by range while the party holds the breech. The lead fighter gets through the choke point eventually and causes some pain but over all the party handled the fight pretty well. The loot isn't great, but the lead fighter had some good looking gear as well as a map of this level of the temple.
DMs Note: A couple of things are starting to pay dividends. One is Spugnoir always being able to touch attack for damage (and Spugnoir has Point Blank and Precise Shot), the Ranger taking Quick Draw is paying off also - he's able to shoot (w/ Point Blank and Precise) when it makes sense and seamlessly switch to being the parties melee beater. The monk still misses quite a bit, but it's hard to tell if it's just dice or not, his player certainly doesn't roll even average on attack rolls. The ranger at this point hates animals and humans and has taken Hunter's Bond with his party mates rather than a companion. At this point, not one party member has attempted anything resembling a Combat Manuever, and I can't say I blame them, it rarely seems to be the best course of action.
This was it. We burned some of the earlier part of the session on book keeping, and leveling up. So it was a couple of long brawls, and the party being relatively unscathed. There was some discussion about perhaps being a little more stealthy about their exploration after I dropped another 8 Earth Temple robes on them.
--Session 10 --
(really took place 2 weeks ago, I am *still* 2 sessions behind)
Attendance: Chopper Toughstick, Ifersh and Emmett Fletcher.
DM Note: Once again Chopper handles Spugnoir, and Emmett handles Han (Han's player is out of town).
NPCs: Ilde, Han Wannabe and Spugnoir
The Plot: We left our party in the ToEE on the 1st level of the dungeon. They had cut a path of blood and carnage through some *more* temple minions and were in pretty good shape. They decide to be a little more tactful this session and try to avoid a pure hack and slash.
Recap: The party decides to gather up the Earth Temple robes from the slaughtered guards and put them on. The plan is to bluff their way through an encounter or two in order to get a better inventory of the baddies that lurk here. They head up from 130 westward, hoping to check out what lurks in the large room to the north marked 145.
They encounter a pit trap out in front of 149, and manage to avoid it since Han was leading the way. Skirting along the edges of the now exposed pit they enter 149 - which houses a contingent of human Earth temple guards. The room currently houses 15 guards, 2 sergeants and a commander. The noise of the pit trap falling is enough to cause the leader to confront the PCs as they come through the door. The earth robes give him pause, however and Han begins trying to feign stupidity on his part. He claims they are new recruits and didn't know about the trap, and that they'd be happy to reset it if he could just point
them to Romag for initiation. The bluff check is pretty solid, and the commander isn't exactly Inspector Gadget. After repairing the pit he allows them to continue on, pointing out that Romag is typically in his chambers or in the barracks near 137 or 136.
DMs Note: Security is a little lax in the temple in general, there isn't a really good code word system or ID card for membership. I don't push it too hard, the robes are good enough to get a chance to talk your way through. I assume thats why Gygax left them scattered around the original adventure. Had the party rested overnight after slaughtering the guards in 129, 130 I would have made this much tougher as news of an incursion would have made it around the Earth temple Facebook group.
The party heads north then decides to skip the mysterious 'big' room thinking it might be more than they could handle. They loop down around through 148 and head over to Romags chamber.
DMs Note: I've written Romag to be a bit of a comic book villian, constantly boasting, giving monologs and speeches. Loud, obnoxious but at the same time aloof.
The party wanders into the chamber from the north end. Startling Romag and his 2 curates, who are going over some paperwork.
“Wha...How did you get here? This is all wrong. You should not have come here.”
Han attempts to convince Romag that they are recruits, and are here to get to work.
“Ah, yes more recruits then. Perhaps this is not so bad being up here. I get all the fresh meat this way. I mean, quality recruits, of course. Please report through the door here to my commander.”
The party (bluffing, diplomacy) convinces Romag that they are no ordinary men-at-arms and that Dick Rentch sent them here personally. To this end Romag decides to test the party, before doing so of course he has to brag and gloat for a little bit.
my_script wrote:
“Very well then, welcome to the Earth Temple. I am Romag, the chief cleric here. If Rentsch sent you down, then I know you must be good. He doesn't waste his time with losers. Are you ready for some work?”
“I have a small (gritting his teeth) but irritating task I need you to do for me. You see, due to our superior numbers, (proudly) and the fact that we are currently the favored Temple here, we have victory banquets often in a large room to the west of here.” (The party may respond that they aren’t cooks).
“No, no. It's nothing like that. A giant snake has made its way into the kitchen off to the side of the room. The beast killed my best ogre chef. And now the rest of the ogres won't even go near there. Kill that damned reptile and throw it in the mess hall for everyone to see. Then finally, we could get a nice cooked meal again. It would mean a lot to the troops, too. It just shows how superior we really are here at the Earth Temple. No wonder everyone wants to join us.”
DM Note: In my opinion one of the best aspects of the ToEE adventure is pitting the factions of the temple against each other, and creating mayhem among them. All the temple faction leaders have a little more depth and personality in my script. The original gave you their THAC0 but not much on personality and mission. So with my input and some material from the computer game each temple leader has some tasks they need done and some special requests, there just in case the party wants to use a little guile and actually pose as recruits or mercenaries.
At this point Romag shuttles the PCs off to the room south of his chamber to get instructions from his troop commander (Hartsh). Han chats up a bit and they find the guards scrambling to figure out who killed the guards on the south side of the floor. Obviously it had to be that damn fire temple. Hartsh points out where the kitchen is and sends the PCs on through the main barracks down through 133.
DMs Note: This gives the party a pretty good feel for how many troops are left. They walk through 2 large barracks with 20-30 troops total.
The PCs make there way over to 120 on the west side without incident. The kitchen is a mess, tables are overturned and the place reeks of spoiled flesh. A mostly consumed ogre corpse with a giant white hat lies rotting on the north edge. Lurking underneath the mess is a Large Viper. The party dispatches it without too much effort. They lop it's head off and return to Romag. Romag is thrilled to have his kitchen back in use and also has confirmed that the party is at least minimally competent.
my_script wrote:
“This should not be too difficult. I need you to deliver this sealed note to Rentsch up at the Waterside Hostel in Nulb. And make sure it remains sealed!”
So the party decides it's a good time to tie up some loose ends in Nulb, off Dick Rentch and perhaps get some rest. The way back to Nulb a wilderness encounter rears it's head. This time it's a Bullette ... a HUGE Bullette. Using a combination of decent attack rolls, summoned meat shields and peppering it with ranged attacks they manage to subdue the land shark. It ripped a couple of decent chunks of HPs out of the party, and never got to use it's Leap special attack (I forgot :p). I don't remember all the details of this fight, only that the party was shocked that something so huge (the Huge Bullette from Giants of Legend) didn't completely cornhole them.
The party hits Nulb and has to decide what to do with the note. Whether to try and break the seal on the note and read it, or whether to hand it over and play along. The end plan is to just take Dick by surprise (?), they whisper the plan to the Cuthbert agent that has replaced Wat at the bar (which is fine by him, as tending bar is very un Cuthbert like). Figuring Dick is the biggest threat (?) they decide to go after him first. The patrons of the Waterside Hostel join in as do the barmaids (Rogues). Dala and Pearl are level 3 rogues, Dick is a level 5 fighter and he has a level 3 fighter as a henchman. The party stays out of sneak attack situations and eventually overwhelm the whole Waterside Hostel. They then loot Dick and his minions for some decent treasure. Schemp (the Cuthbert agent) is pleased to be able to report back to the church in Verbobonc. Ifersh decides the best plan is to bequeth the hostel to Preston Weltz, in exchange for the house he keeps trying to sell him. Preston is more than happy to become the inn owner. The party is respected by the pirates, and so is Preston. There's a good chance they'll let him run it without incident. The party are now pround home owners ! (no wonder there's a mortgage crisis). They decide to rest up in their new shack.
Grymore wrote: So, where are you on Pathfinder? Do you like the changes made for pathfinder?
It has been years myself since I have played, but I am looking into it, and stepped in right in the middle of the 3.5 vs. 4e vs. P3.
I am really leaning towards P3 because I looked at 4e and was overwhelmed with all the leveling, at will powers, encounter powers, etc., etc.
3.5 just has too much, so P3 seems like a good starting point. Especially wiht the changes they have made to simplify things.
I think you make a great point about P3 being a more 'digestable' version of 3.5. My party were largely either new players (to 3.x anyway) throwing my whole bookshelf at them (Complete XXXXXX, PH 1, 2, Miniatures Handbook, etc. etc.) would have been overwelming. At the same time level 1-4 3.5 as played straight from the player's handbook can be a little tough to survive and a little dry in terms of options (see: Wizard/Sorcerer). Pathfinder seems to have kept my players interested in their core classes, and despite my decree of no multi-classing / prestiging until level 4 they all decided to keep going with their core class onto 5 (and probably 6). Some harp about conversion as being an issue, it really isn't unless you are insanely OCD about monster stat blocks. I general bump the hit points about 1-2 per Hit Dice of the monster. The CMB is easy to calculate, and honestly as we've gotten out of 4th level the differences are starting to even out. Initially the HP boost and slight power boost of a P3 character might make your typical level 1, 6 goblin encounter pretty easy. If things are going too easy just throw some Giant Frogs at them :)
Jam412 wrote: Hey Ned, Your thread actually got me to go out and pick up a copy of this adventure (maybe you can get WotC to give you a commission). I intend on eventually converting it to 3.x or Pathfinder. Can I perhaps, check out a copy of your script? I promise to keep it super secret from your players. Anyway, this has been an incredibly entertaining read. Nice Job! Right now there is one session left to write up that has already happened (quite a session it was). I'm about 2-3 sessions ahead with my script, meaning it isn't complete yet. I anticipate the adventure concluding sometime just before Gencon. I'll have a complete script by then and would be happy to share it. Maybe Gencon 2010 I'll run the whole thing in a marathon :p
Awww.... no more posts? That's too bad, I was really enjoying that as a fun read. Looking forward to more if it comes that way, but if not, thank you for the entertainment thus far.
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