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We just finished the Campaign (hardcover book) this past Saturday! What a game!!! As my previous post indicated, I had used a lot of creative liberties of my own, and ideas that were borrowed from many great contributers here on this forum.
Instead of Chapter 12 being on Carceri, it took place within the dreams/nightmares of Adimarchus. Read more about there here.
First the boy, “Addy” led the heroes w/ Ni’Drama among them to the towers spire. Ni’Drama was powerless as Admiarchus’ psyche considered her dead to him; thus as far as he was concerned she did not exist. The party encountered Dark Myrakul – it was almost a standoff for a long time; the lich had managed to incapacitate all but the paladin and the ceric. Finally the paladin having spend many rounds receiving buffs etc, decided the only way to end it would be to grapple; once that started, I just finished the combat knowing that it would just be an arduous round by round of grappling (boring).
So it was explained that Adimarchus’ body was “somewhere else” but who knows….it was his MIND that was a prisoner to his insanity, and the fiend was the ‘jailor’ of that imprisoned mind. Admiarchus’ psyche and residual image of himself in the cage watched the jailor get beat by the heroes, and so his mind was able to comprehend that the jailor was defeated and so it disappeared.
Then they opened the cage – the boy Addy and Adimiarchus joined together as one – (addy representing the small amount of goodness and innocence left within him). Then they separated – the evil winning and being the dominant. Addy was now locked in the cage and Admimarchus unleashed his demonic side stats upon the party. Two characters talked to Addy in the cage to try diplomacy to realize that he was indeed just as powerful and just needed to believe – to understand it was all in his mind and to try fight past the confusion and change the dynamics of the dream.
During the fight with Admiarchus, Ni’Drama was slung against the wall and being held there magically somehow. This being all in Admimarchus’ mind, I basically allowed Adm to change the parameters of things at a moment’s notice (think Neo changing the physics of the Matrix).
Once per round as a free action, every creature that did not specifically get interacted with by Adm, needed to roll a DC 30 Will save or be afflicted with some ‘nightmare.’ Basically it was as if Adm was able to lock those characters away into a different nightmarish version of the same place they were in. Everything looked exactly the same, except that Adm and the character actually fighting him were not there. And those failing the Will had something weird happen to them that preyed upon the basic fears of most. One round they felt they were falling, one round they felt the floor sucking them down, one round they were being swarmed by spiders and flies, one round their hands turned to serpents and began biting them, one round their eyes started bleeding etc. Basically they were in Adm nightmare, unable to do anything to specifically affect the actual events of Adm fighting the other PC(s).
The paladin held off Adm (barely) for 14 rounds – just long enough for the character to use the diplomacy for 10 rounds (plus the few failed Will saves where he was unable to do anything).
Their role-playing and speech to Addy was enough for me to rule that the boy suddenly realized the truth. The first thing he did was free Ni’drama (she had been with the party along with the boy, and she had been specifically nurturing and protecting him - so the boy saw her as the angel she was and ‘loved’ her for it – thus freeing her. Then he willed the cage away and then will the evil side of Adimarchus into oblivion – the creature poofed in a cloud of black smoke just before he made what would surely have been the killing blow on the paladin.
Two characters were dead by now – the human swashbuckler (Todd Vanderboren’s brother), and a dwarven fighter/rogue).
Then Graz’zt along with his daughter showed up (who replaced the role of Anthux in the story), and two Balor demons. The players eyes were wide – they were sure they could not endure anything more.
That’s whey they started begging the good adimarchus (remember it was just a mental psychic impression of adimarchus – not really his body), but was still a ‘boy’, to remember who he was – who Ni’Drama was and to help fight Graz’zt.
By the end of the first round, Admimarchus remembered – he freed Ni’Drama from her powerlessness – then did a mass resurrection on the two PC (they were only dead in his mind – remember he was changing the world around him like Neo); Ni’Drama slayed the two Balors – Adimarchus slayed Graz’zt’s succubus daughter of him and Malcanthet. Graz’zt slayed Ni’Drama, and Adimarchus fueled by anger realized he had complete power there – since it was all in his mind. He locked a cage around Graz’zt “No more shall you haunt my mind. I am locking memories of you away forever.” The cage then faded and disappeared altogether – wiped from his memories for good.
He knelt over Ni’drama and offered his existence as a sacrifice to save her. He returned to an energy form shaped like a tiny ball pure energy. She awakened, and explained that he would be returned to the heavens – having redeemed himself and being pure once again, “Who knows” she said to the PCs; someday he may wind up watching over your descendants.”
With Admiarchus’ death, the surroundings faded from view – they were no longer at the Asylum – but were still floating aimlessly in the demi-plane of dreams. The PCs asked how they could leave? Ni’Drama suggested that since they were the lords of Occipitus to imagine themselves there – as masters of that plane, they should be able to affect it. They did so and found a way out of the demi-plane – met up with their bodies which were transported to them in Occipitus – just as the plane reconncected to Celestia.
Angels swooped down and Ni’Drama introduced them. Celeste (Haloen’s daughter in my game), now heading the heavenly choir as her replacement told the angels they owe amazing gratitude to the heroes; as one the angels bowed to the PCs all around them.
Ni’Drama told them, “It appears both our worlds are a better place because of you. You have ensure a place here among the heavens…..but it will not be this day….you have earned respite….but there is much of your life left to live. Return to your mortal world and live the rest of your days in peace. There is much left for you to do. Some day we will meet again; and I will be here with your reward.”
DROP CURTAIN.
TOTAL Games: 40
Total Time: 22 months (approximately played every other week - for 8 hr sessions each).
Total PC Deaths: 14
Kick ass. Congrats.
That's a great ending for a stupendous story. Congrats are in order.
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Something occured to me while reading this thread again and seeing the following as written.....and needing one more cliche' line.....
TOTAL Games: 40
Total Time: 22 months (approximately played every other week - for 8 hr sessions each).
Total PC Deaths: 14
Returning to 1st level in 2 weeks to run Age of Worms and get a much needed break from 9th level spells, 40+ AC and 4+ attacks per round!.......PRICELESS!
Thanks for nice comments guys. See ya'round. I'll be making a new home for myself next door on the AoW board.
Robert
Congratulations!!!
Gratz! Great game.
A really superb final of a great campaign!!
Well done, Robert.
I love hearing that another group has made it through an entire adventure path. Kudos!
Congrats Robert. I hope my group gets there some day. We are just about to start the Demonskar Ball tonight so there's still 9 adventures to go. A lot of adventuring left to do but I think we'll get there eventually.
Olaf the Stout
Congrats Robert. I hope my group gets there some day. We are just about to start the Demonskar Ball tonight so there's still 9 adventures to go. A lot of adventuring left to do but I think we'll get there eventually.
You do have a little ways to go. :D My group is only at the Pit of Seven Jaws so we've got a ways to go too.
great job! congrats.
Congrats Robert. I hope my group gets there some day. We are just about to start the Demonskar Ball tonight so there's still 9 adventures to go. A lot of adventuring left to do but I think we'll get there eventually.You do have a little ways to go. :D My group is only at the Pit of Seven Jaws so we've got a ways to go too.
2 and a half years on and we are nearly finished Foundations of Flame. We had a 7 month baby hiatus after the birth of my second child but other than that we have been playing fortnightly. I expect that we'll wrap this up by around the end of the year.
I've still got 3 of the starting 5 players in the campaign. I only lost the other 2 as they went overseas to work on a cruise ship, lucky buggers! Rather amusingly their father was one of my replacement players. :-D
Olaf the Stout
Something occured to me while reading this thread again and seeing the following as written.....and needing one more cliche' line.....
TOTAL Games: 40
Total Time: 22 months (approximately played every other week - for 8 hr sessions each).
Total PC Deaths: 14
Returning to 1st level in 2 weeks to run Age of Worms and get a much needed break from 9th level spells, 40+ AC and 4+ attacks per round!.......PRICELESS!
Thanks for nice comments guys. See ya'round. I'll be making a new home for myself next door on the AoW board.
Robert
I hope you enjoy age of worms as much as we did.
I played a neutral cleric of Vecna. It was amazing fun being able to control the undead and it really helped later on because it is such a undead centric campaign.
I explained away my reasons for being there as the current vecnites were all heretics and I had been authorized by my church to hunt them down and sacrifice them if I was able.
We didn't finish because of a Total Party Wipe. It was our fault not the DM's, we didn't rest and got our buts handed to us.
I hope your group has better luck.
Something occured to me while reading this thread again and seeing the following as written.....and needing one more cliche' line.....
TOTAL Games: 40
Total Time: 22 months (approximately played every other week - for 8 hr sessions each).
Total PC Deaths: 14
Returning to 1st level in 2 weeks to run Age of Worms and get a much needed break from 9th level spells, 40+ AC and 4+ attacks per round!.......PRICELESS!
Thanks for nice comments guys. See ya'round. I'll be making a new home for myself next door on the AoW board.
Robert
I hope you enjoy age of worms as much as we did.
I played a neutral cleric of Vecna. It was amazing fun being able to control the undead and it really helped later on because it is such a undead centric campaign.
I explained away my reasons for being there as the current vecnites were all heretics and I had been authorized by my church to hunt them down and sacrifice them if I was able.We didn't finish because of a Total Party Wipe. It was our fault not the DM's, we didn't rest and got our buts handed to us.
I hope your group has better luck.
Note that you're responding to a post from 2.5 years ago...
nope I missed that little detail. Thanks for the information.
My group has just discovered SCAP and so to us everything is new.
Although playing a cleric of Wee Jas is very fun.
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I am just starting my group on chapter 5...I love all the background material on the RPGenius site. I have a player who is a noble Paladin of iomedae, so I gave him the set of laws and the roles of the nobles, and he has alot of knowledge that the other Pc's do not
I ran Age of Worms for 2 years. It was awesome. The group was tough, as it included a hexblade, Force Missile Mage, Radiant servant of Pelor Paladin and Rogue/Barbarian...