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How would you rule this?
The group fights through the museum, no one being affected by the mist as everyone made their save <sadface>. However, when they reach the climatic final battle with the Ape and his puppet master idol, the druid finally perks up...and casts charm animal on the Ape. I gave the ape a +10 circumstance to resist charm person (+5 as written in the spell for being threatened, and another +5 for being enraged by the mists)....he rolled a 2. So.....It was a bit anti-climatic...but I felt lame not letting the Druid have his moment to shine. I thought about just saying the mists prevented the charm from working...but that seemed silly and arbitrary.
The idol had literally no way to go on the offense at this point...Someone spotted it (perception roll) and the druid ordered the Ape to smash the idol. End of adventure. Honestly, we were running out of time anyway so it was kind of nice that it ended to quickly.
How would you have run it?
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I wouldn't have granted the ape an additional +5 for being enraged by the mists unless the scenario specifically states that animals receive said bonus.
Otherwise I think there was no issue with the charm. Now keep in mind the druid doesn't automatically gain complete control over the ape like dominate would; you would be able to ask for Handle Animal checks to have the ape help against the idol.
Nice job letting the player enjoy his moment. :)
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This is actually covered in the scenario.
All of the primates here are under the sway of the Tik Taan and do not respond to enchantment magic, wild empathy, or Handle Animal checks until they are freed of the idols’ influence.
So saying the mists seem to stop it from working is how it should go.
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Jacob nailed it. One more thing about charm spells; they make the subject friendly to the caster--not the rest of the PCs. Although this doesn't apply because of what Jacob pointed out, in other circumstances if another PC had attacked the ape previous to the charm, the ape would continue to attack that PC. Like Adam said, it isn't domination. The druid would need to make a Handle Animal check or an opposed charisma check, depending on how the GM rules. This most certainly would be a Push as the ape is untrained.
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That final encounter was sooooo anticlimactic.
With all this in mind, I would not beat yourself up by having a Druid end the fight like he did. Especially since the druid probably did not have a whole lot of time to show his/her stuff during the rest of the mod, as it took place entirely indoors. Good call.
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Is turning on your master and attacking it something a Charm Person (monster/animal/whatever) can do, even with an opposed Cha check? That sounds more like Dominate Person (animal/monster/whatever)territory.
Well, being magically influenced by the TikTan Idol isn't exactly the same thing as turning against the master that trained and fed you as a pup.
Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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Don't worry. When I ran the scenario, my players did a much more anticlamitic move. On the first round of combat, the fighter drew his bow, shot at the ape and confirmed a critical hit. The ape just dropped without doing anything but looking big and mean for a few seconds.
But then, it wasn't that bad, because the idols were a bit harder to defeat ^^
Don't worry. When I ran the scenario, my players did a much more anticlamitic move. On the first round of combat, the fighter drew his bow, shot at the ape and confirmed a critical hit.
That sounds extremely climactic, not anticlimactic at all. Or maybe you really did mean to say anticlamitic, and you're complaining that there weren't enough clams in the final combat. :-)
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Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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That sounds extremely climactic, not anticlimactic at all.
It really was some kind of anticlimatic. It's a bit sad if a big meanie just gets shot down right after he appeared. Wouldn't have made much difference if he hadn't been there at all ;)
The idols have very little offensive capability. How did they put a fight?
Their hardness can get quite annoying if almost none of the characters do a lot of damage. But it's good they don't drop that fast, that way they still present a fun battle, even with the ape gone with a single blow.
That sounds extremely climactic, not anticlimactic at all.It really was some kind of anticlimatic. It's a bit sad if a big meanie just gets shot down right after he appeared. Wouldn't have made much difference if he hadn't been there at all ;)
I think it's only anticlimactic if you describe it anticlimactically.
If you describe as the ape as just about to make a deadly leap when the archer quips "Yippee-ki-yay, monkey father!!" before sending an arrow to blow his brains out, it sounds pretty cool to me!
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Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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If you describe as the ape as just about to make a deadly leap when the archer quips "Yippee-ki-yay, monkey father!!" before sending an arrow to blow his brains out, it sounds pretty cool to me!
Unfortunately, the player just rolled the damage and announced the amount of damage.
Oh, and the ape didn't even have time to make any leap, deadly or not :P He just finished appearing on the scene and growling menacingly.I did, however, describe in the most dramatic way possible at that point. Would have been much worse if the ape would have been the only enemy.
I've seen other situations where the scenario actually allowed for a non-combat solution:
But it wasn't too much anticlimatic, the situation was just too funny to be considered really anticlimatic.
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The idols are an absolute pushover even for the weakest party - if you know how. Only saw this happen when I GMed it the 7th time and done by a beginner group with hardly any experience.
Their defense against low level parties is (from memory) AC (decent), hardness and self-healing
Their weakness
One level 1 otherwise pretty under optimized party member declares - I grab the idol and stuff it in a sack. Rest of the party follows.
Look up their CMD - never seen anything that low.
All the 'experienced' players before just hacked through them - some very fast, some less so. But this is my favorite way it was handled.
I immediately used the other defensive ability once in the sack - turn into / pretend being an idol again ;)
