So my players, of course, wiped out the mold before anyone became infected. It doesn't sound likely any of them will need Zoraster to heal them, so anybody have ideas for other ways they can become moldspeaker? Seems too important to leave out of the adventure but I don't want to fudge die rolls to get it in.
One though is that Zoraster is going to setup his lab down there. Perhaps the party will buy a potion or two from Z and that might infect them?
So my players, of course, wiped out the mold before anyone became infected. It doesn't sound likely any of them will need Zoraster to heal them, so anybody have ideas for other ways they can become moldspeaker? Seems too important to leave out of the adventure but I don't want to fudge die rolls to get it in.
One though is that Zoraster is going to setup his lab down there. Perhaps the party will buy a potion or two from Z and that might infect them?
How's this:
One idea could be that a small piece of slime survived in the pipes of the lab and at some point in the night it works its way up into where the pc's have their bivouac and tries to infect the closest PC to the door.
Another option is that maybe there's some mold on Tempest itself, and it's transferred into the tree above it, thereby contaminating the grier that will attack on day 4. It'll be a lot easier to hit with a mold-covered giant vulture than the meager grapple checks of the slime molds.
For our campaign, I was planning on throwing slime mold after mold at the party until one of them finally succumbed. But I got lucky and grappled our knight within the first couple rounds.
What I did was:
As written, there is a door leading down into the cellars that requires a strength check. Behind the door is a mass of mold that a Knowledge(nature) check reveals that it does not look 'natural'. This is in the text so no worries there.
What I did was to have a spore cloud get kicked up when the pcs opened the door. The player opening the door and anyone assisting them has to make a will save or become infected.
In my game, the player assisting botched their will save. *boom* Infected.
Another option is that maybe there's some mold on Tempest itself, and it's transferred into the tree above it, thereby contaminating the grier that will attack on day 4. It'll be a lot easier to hit with a mold-covered giant vulture than the meager grapple checks of the slime molds.
For our campaign, I was planning on throwing slime mold after mold at the party until one of them finally succumbed. But I got lucky and grappled our knight within the first couple rounds.
I got to thinking about this, and I have to point out a problem:
Vardishal's consciousness was not slime-riding when Tempest was buried so there is no way for the slime to get there. Unless it crawled there itself.
** spoiler omitted **
heh. Precisely what I was thinking. Some more animated and it crawled all the way over there.
Little far-fetched? Maybe. But hey, we already have animated molds holding dead consciousnesses.
It strikes me that this could also be a way to transmit the moldspeaker's powers if the original one dies (like that poor one who lost the sword int he House of the Beast a few posts ago...). The next person who had the closest contact with the original gets infected and their weapon turns crusty and moldy as well. The power isn't in the sword, but in Vardishal inhabiting it.
heh. Precisely what I was thinking. Some more animated and it crawled all the way over there.Little far-fetched? Maybe. But hey, we already have animated molds holding dead consciousnesses.
It strikes me that this could also be a way to transmit the moldspeaker's powers if the original one dies (like that poor one who lost the sword int he House of the Beast a few posts ago...). The next person who had the closest contact with the original gets infected and their weapon turns crusty and moldy as well. The power isn't in the sword, but in Vardishal inhabiting it.
That gets into a little bit of a sticky wicket story wise. Tempest is really designed to stay static throughout the arc, just gaining power over time.
In fact, I am half-thinking about making all the weapons of the templar weapons increase in power over the arc. It would help prevent other players from complaining that the one player got the kewl stuff.
I just need to make sure I adjust the final BBEG to compensate for power balance.
On to House of the Beast and still no moldspeaker. My next attempt:
On to House of the Beast and still no moldspeaker. My next attempt:
** spoiler omitted **
Personally, I don't think you tried hard enough! ;-)
Frankly, you should have just made it that when Mold attacked (and hit) someone that Vardishal's essence transfered. DC 18 isn't too reliable. I was lucky that my player failed the save, but even if he didn't, I'd just say it was successful. It's too big a deal to leave it to chance and DMs do have to fudge rolls, precicesly because things like this.
And the Moldspeaker has already missed the chance to spend a year examining Tempest and thus unlocking its powers...
You should have done it waaaaay earlier. The more you delay, the more you are reducing its significance, which is a shame, really, it's such a cool weapon.