Good afternoon all!
Just about to start chapter 4 and the attack on Sandpoint. My party are making very good use of teleport and spells to travel large distances so in a few sessions, we'll be coming to the Valley of the Black Tower.
The map presented has a full breakdown of the black tower area. The one thing I don't get is, how am I meant to portray this information to the PC's?
For example, the dragon's lair is on the other side of the valley. How the heck are they even supposed to know about that? Or even about the various monster cave's on the side of the cliffs.
My question to DM's: How did you describe this area to the PC's and what information do you give them, especially in regards to the map and area's of interest.
Many thanks all!
I think the best thing to do would be to describe the area in a very general sense. Wide valley, fort near the edge of a cliff. Running water below. Fort surrounded by several different camps. Guard tower watching the road from far away.
I'd keep certain details like the dragon's cave or the caves in the cliffside to yourself and let your players discover them organically. With access to high enough level magic to teleport, there are a number of ways that they can scout the area without revealing themselves. Anything from scrying sensor to shapeshifting or even communing with deities. It allows you to have a ready reward for good tactics in your back pocket, and a go-to answer if they try the front door first and get rebuffed.
I would always advise caution with giving too many secret-ish details of any location away, as it may inadvertently cause your players to think that you're giving them hints about how to proceed. In my own experience, I find it tends to resonate more when they think it's their own idea. Hope this helps!
I think the best thing to do would be to describe the area in a very general sense. Wide valley, fort near the edge of a cliff. Running water below. Fort surrounded by several different camps. Guard tower watching the road from far away.
I'd keep certain details like the dragon's cave or the caves in the cliffside to yourself and let your players discover them organically. With access to high enough level magic to teleport, there are a number of ways that they can scout the area without revealing themselves. Anything from scrying sensor to shapeshifting or even communing with deities. It allows you to have a ready reward for good tactics in your back pocket, and a go-to answer if they try the front door first and get rebuffed.
I would always advise caution with giving too many secret-ish details of any location away, as it may inadvertently cause your players to think that you're giving them hints about how to proceed. In my own experience, I find it tends to resonate more when they think it's their own idea. Hope this helps!
Thats fantastic advice! Many thanks. The cleric does tend to commune with her deity a lot, so I imagine they would do so to gain some advice. The wizard also loves to use invisibility and fly, so perhaps they will come to that idea themselves.
I think I'll draw a map of the valley for them as they uncover it. If they fly close enough tot he entrance of the dragon's cave and make a decent perception DC, I can draw the cave on the map and they'll probably want to explore it.
Awesome advice Leedwashere, cheers mate!
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IIRC, I basically gave the players the basic outline (giant camps around Jorgenfist, cliffs to the north, and a cliffside to the east with a river that flows through it quite a distance below), and they decided to scout it from there, both magically and somewhat mundanely (the wizard cast arcane eye,, and the druid wild shaped into a hawk). That's how they found out about the different caves in the cliffsides, and scouted those out for other ways in.
One thing to keep in mind - the taiga giant's spirit summoning gives her access to a bunch of different spells, and since she's on guard duty, I can't see why she wouldn't have her see invisibility up. The wizard was surprised when she looked right back at his scrying sensor and raised the alarm. The camps were on heightened alert after that, which meant they had to spend extra resources in making sure they couldn't be found as they snooped around.