I ran this campaign twice in 3.5, and ended up with a TPK twice. One was in 3 Faces of Evil, the next was in Hall of Harsh Reflections. Even with the players using each and every splat book out there, including the spell compendium. I didn't modify a thing as DM.
I am now running it in 4E and the game is running a LOT better.
Not sure if you'd consider trying it in 4E, but I am happy that I did.
I am starting the AoW in a month myself. As I move forward I will reach out and let you know what I think as I am also allowing all 3.5 books for the characters.
I think for the NPC's in general though it would be useful to have Spell Compendium handy as a DM and swap out spells as you see fit, that is what I plan on doing. I am also running my game in the Forgotten Realms so some NPC's I will tweak a bit just because I want a different mix of classes in some cases.
I've started it two weeks ago. If you want to share ideas, as I think we shall have a similar time line, email me drfegg@aol.com.
My campaign log is around here somewhere...I have made what I think I made good use of The Faceless One very early on. This weekend the party may just turn on themselves...
From a player perspective, I'm okay with 4e. However I'm saving my first attempt at running it for when WotC reproduces Tomb of Horrors (supposedly sometime in 2010).
I've read that Dragotha's spell list in particular could use some tweaking with the spell compendium, hence why I asked if anyone else's should be looked at.
Dragotha is far enough down the road that you should wait to see the power levels of your PC's before you adjust him. They may not even be playing with the same characters at that time, modifying him twice is only more work for you.
Read this Killer GM Runs Age of Worms . It has good tips and its good entertainment.
Smarnil le couard has some interesting tweakings in this thread on adjusting the second adventure in the path. It is definitely worth reading.
This is how I started AoW here
It foreshadows the Faceless One, more in the TFoE tweakings thread.
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My group just finished this campaign all the way through. Only three deaths, but they were all fairly monumental. Made level 20 by the end and let them retire as epic characters (may pick it fromthere someday, but having a dm break atm)
My advice on the spell compendium mostly comes for the buffing members of your party (if any). All the mass spells are essential, especially since they naturally allow you to selct who gets healed rather than just release an area effect. This works for your guys as well as the party.
Make sure a caster has access to mass conviction at some stage. The extra save bonuses are a must for EVERY character. If its a cleric casting this, then that bonus gets high and becomes very important in the end game phase.
As for attacking spells, let your players dictate what works. When they start using spells that are effective, make sure you swap them in for something else with the baddies you're running. It worked well for me and I didn't modify the spell lists of my NPC's too much at all, just occasionally threw one of the characters favourite spells right back at them. The orb spells are particularly dangerous as they are touh attack, no save. That hurts rogues and characters with evasion alot.
Be careful of Psionics, make sure you track how much they overchannel a power. The overchannel mechanic has built in limits but some of those psionic effects are far more powerful than equivalent spells.
DON'T use spells from other splat books. Many of the ones from the complete series are not well balanced and were superceded by the spell compendium. Sorry if that sounds bossy of me. We had some issues with spells my players wanted to use from those books. One fight was a complete NPC wipe because of a thorn spell in the complete divine. It had been nerfed in spell compendium but my player was using the divine version and complained when I made him convert over. It's easier to set the blanket rule at the beginning rather than have that fight half way through.
That's all I can think of. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It was by far the best campaign we have played to date, and that really has everything to do with the quality story line and game design.
Cheers.
I hate to say, but after the party split apart in the whispering Cairn (half going down the hold below the green lantern, the other half going down the elevator below yellow) we mutually agreed there was going to be a TPK, and the campaign ended prematurely.
Another player in the group has been wanting to run Red Hand of Doom, so I'm letting him, and I'm going to try to subtly improve this group's tactics as we play.
Basically, it seems your players weren't motivated at all by the AoW campaign. Calling it quits without even bothering to play out a possible TPK is the sure sign of bored players.
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I can't help but feel that due to the experience of some of my players they are walking through this module a bit, but I'm inclined to let them after 3 player deaths on the Ebon Aspect.
This is a chapter that can vary wildly in difficulty, depending on what languages the PCs speak, and whether they are inclined to parley.
There really aren't that many lizardfolk at the siege, not enough to make it a sure thing, even before the PCs show up. One PC snuck in, invisible, and talked to the soldiers, went back, and the PCs charged across the lizard camp. Killed 10, wounded several more, including a KO on the war-leader. Quite obviously, the remainder were in no mood to continue, but had hidden their true numbers via fake trenches and pavises. So there was a truce, in which they revealed why they were attacking ('Ape-wizards from big town kill our eggs!'), but not who had given them that information.
They agreed to take a message to their chief, and slunk off. The PCs searched the keep, and found evidence that Marzena had been lured to a fake truce. After being attacked, she had teleported back to the keep, but been snatched from the battlements by Ilthane's harpies, before being able to write more than a brief warning.
I foreshadowed Ilthane, by having the dragon appear on the horizon, and making Allustan fly off to act as a decoy and harass her, taking both big guns out of the picture. I don't like the written event of him teleporting for for help, given it's so few lizardfolk.
A small dragon did attack the PCs on the roof top (I added this to explain why none of their bird-messengers were getting through). This dragon was beaten, but escaped.
The spawn in the cellar I changed, as it made no sense that the soldiers would lock one into a tunnel, and then NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT FOR YEARS. I had it be one of the soldiers who had accompanied Marzena, been attacked, teleported back with her, but already infected by slow-worms. This gave him time to recognise the symptoms, and wall himself up, scratching a message in the wall with his dagger ('The kobolds have poisoned me'), which made no sense to the PCs. They found him after taking a head-count, and someone asking 'Where's Ulfgar? I thought he came back from the swamp...'.
Once they made it to the Twisted Branch, using directions in Marzena's earlier notes (always provide more than one clue!), the lizardfolk were already expecting them, so they demanded an audience with the chief. I was happy for this, because I really didn't want to play out several pointless fights with CR1 goons.
Instead, they met all the tribal leaders, and tried to ask for Marzena and the prisoners to be released. All the evil lizards had been detected as such. Hishak, the druid, can speak Sylvan, which the others can't, so she told the PCs 'The chief has already decided to kill you. If you kill them, I'll deal with you.'
Cue one massive brawl (chief, sub-chief, evil druid, half-dragon guards, elite lizardfolk, and even the otyugh), with most of the normal members of the tribe kept out by webs, which made it easier to form a truce afterwards. Hishak took control of the tribe, looked at some random papers of the PCs, and bluffed her people that she'd seen proof of Ilthane's treachery. Time to bag up the eggs, and evacuate the lair...
So my group of players for my Monday night game are on their way back to Blackwall Keep. They successful negotiated with the Lizardfolk Shaman and dealt with the guardians Ilthane left behind in the egg room.
Now laden with the treasures Ilthane left behind they are carrying one additional unique item.... Ilthane's "Egg".
So I'm looking for ideas on how to handle this, I could simply have a random encounter in the Marsh target the egg (Constrictor Snake?), but I'm wondering if this is sufficiently devious enough.
So, ideas?
I eventually had the egg hatch. Coupled with the fact that the egg was surrounded by kobold eggs the heroes can be allowed to put 2 and 2 together with a sufficient wisdom or intelligence check of your choice.