I'm currently running Skeletons of Scarwall and the party just ran into Belshallam (I'm using the conversions from another thread here).
Basically the party stumbled into the courtyard and were set upon by the gargoyles, whose screeeching alerted Belshallam. He cast Displacement on himself and proceeded to interrogate. The gargoyles took flight immediately rather than being caught in his breath weapon (I suppose that would have happened before).
The fight was really brutal, with the party only slightly buffed. Excepting Sial and Asyra they were a cleric 12 of Sarenrae, arcane duelist 12, a fighter 8/hellknight 4 and a rogue 10/shadowdancer 2. The party is really not optimized as you can see, and didn't use very good tactics (such as not scouting properly although the shadowdancer's stealth is through the roof).
Anyway it ended with Belshallam gobbling up Sial as he was trying to save Asyra (the party were running for their life at this point), and then she went ballistic and was killed too.
I'm not quite certain that they will be able to beat the dragon even after buffing - they scored about 160 points of damage, so by now Belshallam is taking them seriously and will probably be buffed too, not to speak of the other threats in the module.
My players are mostly casual gamers and I'm starting to wonder if they really have the skills needed to tackle Scarwall - or high-level play generally. Or perhaps Belshallam is just really, really tough.
Any advice about running high-level adventures with casual players would be appreciated, as would any funny stories of parties getting their butt kicked in Scarwall.
I'm currently running Skeletons of Scarwall and the party just ran into Belshallam (I'm using the conversions from another thread here).
Basically the party stumbled into the courtyard and were set upon by the gargoyles, whose screeeching alerted Belshallam. He cast Displacement on himself and proceeded to interrogate. The gargoyles took flight immediately rather than being caught in his breath weapon (I suppose that would have happened before).
The fight was really brutal, with the party only slightly buffed. Excepting Sial and Asyra they were a cleric 12 of Sarenrae, arcane duelist 12, a fighter 8/hellknight 4 and a rogue 10/shadowdancer 2. The party is really not optimized as you can see, and didn't use very good tactics (such as not scouting properly although the shadowdancer's stealth is through the roof).
Anyway it ended with Belshallam gobbling up Sial as he was trying to save Asyra (the party were running for their life at this point), and then she went ballistic and was killed too.
I'm not quite certain that they will be able to beat the dragon even after buffing - they scored about 160 points of damage, so by now Belshallam is taking them seriously and will probably be buffed too, not to speak of the other threats in the module.
My players are mostly casual gamers and I'm starting to wonder if they really have the skills needed to tackle Scarwall - or high-level play generally. Or perhaps Belshallam is just really, really tough.
Any advice about running high-level adventures with casual players would be appreciated, as would any funny stories of parties getting their butt kicked in Scarwall.
If played right, Belshalam is rather brutal for a party of the expected level. In my case, he was hovering 40 feet off the ground in the courtyard and almost killed the Paladin in one go with his breath weapon, afterwards using Enervation to poke at the characters until his breath weapon had recharged. He was brought down in the end by the Wizard casting Fly on the Paladin and the Paladin smiting the hell out of the beast.
In the case of your group, having one or two Greater Dispel Magics ready would be a good tactic and giving Air Walk or Fly to the melee fighters, so that they can get to the beast.
So, Laori got rid of Sial and Asyra that easily? The poor girl, now the Nightwing in the star tower will focus all his attention on her. I hope she'll be okay. :(
My PCs knew they were no match for Bellshallam anywhere where he could fly. They managed to lure him into the main gates and close the portcullises on him; then, they scurried between the arrow slits and murder holes and peppered him with spells (almost none of which got past his SR), arrows (with the paladin's Smite Evil to overcome DR), and some brazen melee forays. He was plenty strong enough to break the portcullis, but he hesitated too long, especially when the rogue kept taunting him by jumping on his back.
Dragons are generally too clever to allow themselves to get boxed in like that. I allowed the plan to succeed because (a) Bellshallam is desperate for a good meal, and probably not thinking straight, (b) even if the plan failed (ie. Bellshallam escaped), the PCs weren't going to end up slaughtered (they could regroup and try something else), and (c) it was a clever plan and deserved a shot at success.
If you study the maps, you may be able to find a few other chokepoints that might also work. Then you can have Laori suggest them all, and let the PCs choose which one they like best (this gives them more control, and makes them feel much better if/when the plan works out).
All that said...dragons are supposed to be tough. That's why the game before this one had "Dragons" in its name. If some of your party members go down, it's not because they're "casual gamers" -- it's because they're big damn heroes fighting the living embodiment of malice and destruction.
The party in my game quickly managed to determine they weren't going to have a good time of it fighting him, but they also managed to figure out he was under magical control and freed him. Throw in a little flattery and he just flew off on his merry way.
The party in my game quickly managed to determine they weren't going to have a good time of it fighting him, but they also managed to figure out he was under magical control and freed him. Throw in a little flattery and he just flew off on his merry way.
Besides the obvious alignment repercussions for letting loose a CR 14 chaotic evil dragon on the countryside ( assuming that they were predominantly a good party ), I don't remember there being a way of freeing a spirit anchor.
The party in my game quickly managed to determine they weren't going to have a good time of it fighting him, but they also managed to figure out he was under magical control and freed him. Throw in a little flattery and he just flew off on his merry way.Besides the obvious alignment repercussions for letting loose a CR 14 chaotic evil dragon on the countryside ( assuming that they were predominantly a good party ), I don't remember there being a way of freeing a spirit anchor.
There is; you just have to cast Dispel Evil on it.
There is; you just have to cast Dispel Evil on it.The party in my game quickly managed to determine they weren't going to have a good time of it fighting him, but they also managed to figure out he was under magical control and freed him. Throw in a little flattery and he just flew off on his merry way.Besides the obvious alignment repercussions for letting loose a CR 14 chaotic evil dragon on the countryside ( assuming that they were predominantly a good party ), I don't remember there being a way of freeing a spirit anchor.
Ah, I guess I overlooked that. Well, it wasn't something which my group could have done easily, anyway.
Ah, I guess I overlooked that. Well, it wasn't something which my group could have done easily, anyway.There is; you just have to cast Dispel Evil on it.The party in my game quickly managed to determine they weren't going to have a good time of it fighting him, but they also managed to figure out he was under magical control and freed him. Throw in a little flattery and he just flew off on his merry way.Besides the obvious alignment repercussions for letting loose a CR 14 chaotic evil dragon on the countryside ( assuming that they were predominantly a good party ), I don't remember there being a way of freeing a spirit anchor.
Being good doesn't mean having to commit suicide. Which is what fighting the dragon would have been. And the countryside in question was the Hold of Belkzen, populated predominantly by orcs. Oh no! The poor, downtrodden orcs!
I'm pretty sure the party's wizard was Lawful Evil anyway, despite the player's claims to the contrary.
Being good doesn't mean having to commit suicide. Which is what fighting the dragon would have been. And the countryside in question was the Hold of Belkzen, populated predominantly by orcs. Oh no! The poor, downtrodden orcs!
I'm pretty sure the party's wizard was Lawful Evil anyway, despite the player's claims to the contrary.
Well, I think an chaotic evil dragon won't be satisfied killing some chaotic evil orcs for long ( and they taste funny ^^ ), so he'll probably go terrorize more civilized areas soon. :p
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Well, I think an chaotic evil dragon won't be satisfied killing some chaotic evil orcs for long ( and they taste funny ^^ ), so he'll probably go terrorize more civilized areas soon. :p
I wouldn't inflict any alignment repercussions for that. It is not GOOD to commit violence in order to prevent potential future EVIL. That is at best NEUTRAL. Letting the dragon who is a prisoner of this castle go is the best choice available.
Belshallam is vicious. I went easy on my party and it was still a close thing. Had I really been devious this encounter would have been a straight up TPK. Moral: beware of dragons.