Hey guys,
Well, after years of owning the Dungeon magazines and yearning to run this campaign, I've finally gathered my old gaming group and we're off. We've played three sessions thus far (only 4 hours each, so slow going), and are about half way through the Whispering Cairn.
The first session actually ended in a TPK. It was inadvertently hilarious. Having figured out the sarcophagus mechanism, the PC's spun it around once, letting it rest on the collapsing elevator for two rounds before getting spooked by the grinding sound and moving it on. The half orc barbarian then descended into the Architect's Lair, and being a trickster he filled a bladder with goat blood and burst it in the elevator, then sent it back up. The other PC's at first reacted with dismay, and then the druid did a Heal check and realized it was old blood. They figured out the half orc's joke, and in retribution the Mystic spun the sarcophagus again, trapping him down there.
And triggering the collapsing elevator's third round.
Cue the acid beetle swarm, the mad slasher, and my howls of laughter. The druid and his wolf went down before they realized how much danger they were in, while the mage and mystic fought for a few rounds more before also being dropped.
The half orc finally rolled a basic search check to find the elevator button, ascended and was totally shocked to find everybody butchered. He raged, killed the mad slasher, and then managed to revive the mystic. Together they returned the other two bodies to town, but the players decided to create a completely new group since they were totally demoralized by their death and everybody blamed the half orc!
So they've returned to the Whispering Cairn. They're now playing a Pelorian paladin and cleric who came to Diamond Lake as part of a mission, along with a rogue and mage who have been enjoying the decadent lifestyle of gamblers and louches in the Emporium. They were nearly dropped by the brown mold when the rogue foolishly plunged his torch into it AFTER the paladin had made the same mistake, but avoided touching the earth elemental, much to my dismay.
The Laborer's Lair proved no challenge for them; Uluvant botched his attack on the cleric, the only one to swim into his room, and was then turned, allowing the paladin to dispatch him with ease.
The group now has all the torches, and in the next session will light them all and encounter Alastor Land. I hope to have them make it all the way through Kullen and right to Bilge, but who knows?
One thing is for sure, I wish I'd read these boards before running the game. As such, I have a weak motivation for their exploring the Whispering Cairn - the Pelorian cleric who has brought the mission to town needs funds to build a chapel, and as such cleaning out the Whispering Cairn following the massacre of the previous party provided both financial and moral motivation for the group to go in. Thus far they've had very little interaction with the citizens of Diamond Lake, and I hope that their return to town to find Alastor's grave and then Kullen will provide me with a chance to introduce them to Smenk's perfidy and perhaps sow seeds for further devilry.
Either way! I will keep things updated here, or you can keep track of my campaign by visiting http://www.ageofworms.com, the site I've created to keep track of my game. I'm going to be writing up the last session tomorrow or the day after, in case you're curious about the lag :)
Personally, I really had fun running the Age of Worms and bringing Diamond Lake to life. The Age of Worms Overload provides a great many NPCs to drawn from, and it helps them feel connected to their home town long after they leave it. Have fun with Diamond Lake and their environs. I think it makes the game go from good to fantastic!
Good luck. You should indeed check out the boards, they are full of interesting ideas.
Check out http://paulmurray.id.au/ageofworms
Check out http://paulmurray.id.au/ageofworms
Ha! Great stuff, Paul. I browsed through a bunch of your entries. Excellent work, and kudos on finishing the campaign!
My group has just defeated Filge in a rather disappointing encounter. In fact, but for the first beetle swarm all of my fights thus far have been disappointing; Kullen got dropped in the first round of combat in the Feral Dog, and the rogue back-stabbed Merovinn before he could get a spell off, forcing Rastophan and Todrik to flee. Filge saw all his undead turned by the cleric, had his ghoul touch shrugged off and only managed to get the rogue to flee due to his Scare spell before being critted into oblivion by the paladin.
Frustrating!
I'm pinning my hopes on Theldirk giving them a real run for their money in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, they have to deal with Smenk's having bought the rights to the Whispering Cairn following their having unloaded loot at Titwoad's, and Sheriff Cubbin coming after them for armed assault and robbery against Kullen's gang.
So! Still just beginning, but we're having a blast.
Check out http://paulmurray.id.au/ageofworms
Aagh! The link isn't working. I'm about to start a AoW campaign, and was really looking forward to looking through this site!
Help!
Sounds like you have a great group. Enjoy the experience. My group recently destroyed Kyuss last month, a campaign that started in April of 2006.
It's been a fantastic experience molding the campaign with the many resources Dungeon makes available. The Vampires of Waterdeep trilogy (starting with Dungeon 126) fit in beautifully after "The Champion's Belt" and beyond. "Menagerie," also from Dungeon 126, came in handy in the city. "Taboo Island" from Dungeon 145 fit nicely with "The Spire of Long Shadows." The "Kings of the Rift" module led to "The Storm Lord's Keep" (somewhat nerfed) from Dungeon 93. I also slipped in Sons of Gruumsh after "Encounter at Blackwall Keep," and I combined "Prince of Redhand" with Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. Age of Worms is a fantastic canvas to work with given the resources in Dungeon alone.
I'm getting ready to start this one and I'm mildly excited about it. I say mildly because I've had a couple of false starts. A couple of my previous players are returning and they actually remember pretty much everything about the Whispering Cairn and the kenku maze in Three Faces of Evil.
I'm not changing a thing. Maybe that will surprise them.
Plus, maybe this time Kullen won't be taken out by a single critical hit from a Large goliath greathammer.
Thanks for the info, Crust. Interesting suggestions! I'm going to try and swap out Encounter at Blackwall Keep for something else, so will now take a closer look at Sons of Gruumsh.
And: updates! Here are some random/interesting developments:
1) Titwoad managed to convince the PC's to tell him where they acquired their loot, and then told Smenk, who quickly bought the rights to the mine. Upon returning after burying the Land skeletons, the group found Kullen & Crew stationed outside, demanding a gold fee to enter and 24% commission of whatever they found within. Further, Auric's group was paying and entering as they arrived, making matters worse!
They ended up fighting their way through, only to team up with Auric farther in, and be betrayed by the Freecity Band at Zosiel's Tomb, such that Auric & Co stole all the loot. Talk about PC fury and setting up the Champion's Belt (PC's get the loot from Smenk later as a reward for helping him with the cults, so they don't get robbed int he long run).
2) I split the three temples. Vecna remained under dourstone, Hextor was placed in Smenk's abandoned mine (which is why Smenk was brought in, to coerce his allowing its usage), and Grimlocks were set a half day's travel into the hills. This allows the PC's to heal up between fights, and inject more rp between them too so it's not one huge dungeon crawl.
3) Awesome fight in the temple of Hextor. They were stunned by Beast, nearly panicked and ran, but gathered their wits and evaded the arena room, instead taking the battle into the side corridors where Kendra and Garras fell to a Color Spray. Epic grinding battle, culminating in the whole group vs. Theldirk along the balconies around the arena. The rogue was perched on the statue and fired off arrows at Theldirk as the paladin and cleric fought him in melee. Theldirk's sound burst dropped the mage, and his fiendish ape nearly dropped the cleric. With no spells left, everybody's hp in single digits, and everybody out of arrows, Theldirk missed his crit on the paladin and was dropped by the rogue's backstab. Huge victory!
4) Only for them to be demolished in the Grimlock caverns. The archers on the ledge in the U-shaped cavern killed the rogue, and one of the guards at the end of the rope bridge managed to get away to warn the others. The PC's took some 10 rounds to cross the bridge and make their way over, so I ruled that the grimlocks had all gathered in the main room. The paladin, a true tank with high AC, decided after realizing their were 9 of them up there to still go up and create a beachhead, only to be hit by the Grimlock Chieftain who critted him with his greataxe for 52 hp.
The others below simply gaped as half the paladin fell down at their feet, and in extreme panic they turned and fled the caverns, utterly demoralized as the grimlock's screamed Erynthul's name.
So! Epic amounts of fun, lots of tense rp, and now the group is re-assessing what to do next.