Reign of Winter was our groups first AP, with two being inexperienced and one being completely new. We didn't have any major problems in the first book.
Looks like a pretty well balanced party. Generally speaking I would expect them to do just fine, but a fudged roll here or there won't hurt anything.
Looks like a pretty well balanced party. Generally speaking I would expect them to do just fine, but a fudged roll here or there won't hurt anything.
I agree. That is a VERY well balanced party. Watch out for the ravens that can permanently blind the characters.
So for any gms out there in reign of winter. How did your players managed in pale tower isnt it hard for a Group of 3 levels without long rest
it might be if everyone is built for 15 min. adventuring days. When I ran it my group plowed straight through it without a problem, since they weren't in the habit of blowing all their resources every fight.
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My group got through the tower in one adventuring day. That day also included Events 6 and 7.
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In my case the reason that I have had trouble with killing groups of characters in Reign of Winter's first book is my focus on the details of the extreme cold and the difficult terrain of moving through heavy snow.
Other factors that could be pretty serious are wind and snows ability to thwart ranged attacks and provide concealment (maybe).
I would echo someone from up above that said that maybe throwing a few cold iron weapons at them wouldn't be a bad idea. Also if the cleric in the party takes the fire domain... wait is that druids?
Anyway, if someone has the ability to do consistent fire damage then things will go better for them.
Okay. First... read and use the tactics provided for the enemies even when the tactics are stupid. For instance, the Lodge is a lethal encounter for 1st level adventurers. I made sure my group was level 2 before going through it... but it seems most groups got wiped because the GM had Rokhar use Channel Negative Energy for an AoE attack that did 2d6 damage to 1st level characters... while the tactics said "he only uses this to heal his undead." It's a stupid tactic. But it lessens how lethal Rokhar is.
Another thing is, use Hero Points. Further, allow the Hero Point ability to avoid dying to ONLY cost 1 Hero Point instead of 2 as is in the rules... as the players otherwise don't use Hero Points for things like boosting saving throws or rerolling natural 1s. In fact, I give my players one Temporary Hero Point every new game as well as the permanent Hero Points - this encourages their use and has kept me from fudging rolls (which two of the players hate).
Good luck, and remember - the game is suppose to be fun! :) That goes for you as the GM as well as the players.
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Another thing is, use Hero Points. Further, allow the Hero Point ability to avoid dying to ONLY cost 1 Hero Point instead of 2 as is in the rules... as the players otherwise don't use Hero Points for things like boosting saving throws or rerolling natural 1s. In fact, I give my players one Temporary Hero Point every new game as well as the permanent Hero Points - this encourages their use and has kept me from fudging rolls (which two of the players hate).
I a considering just making "avoid dying" cost all of your current hero points (minimum 1). This encourages the players to spend hero points instead of stockpiling them for a rainy day, while still keeping the threshold low.
In my case the reason that I have had trouble with killing groups of characters in Reign of Winter's first book is my focus on the details of the extreme cold and the difficult terrain of moving through heavy snow.
Other factors that could be pretty serious are wind and snows ability to thwart ranged attacks and provide concealment (maybe).
I would echo someone from up above that said that maybe throwing a few cold iron weapons at them wouldn't be a bad idea. Also if the cleric in the party takes the fire domain... wait is that druids?
Anyway, if someone has the ability to do consistent fire damage then things will go better for them.
The Ulfen guy the party meets in the beginning offers to lend them his cold iron longsword.
Also, there was some discussion in the first book GM thread here about how the cold rules presented in Snows of Summer are actually a lot harsher than ones presented elsewhere, so you might want to use the more lenient rules to avoid killing your PCs with cold (and avoid having to roll Fortitude saves over and over).
I just ran the first session of this last night, and the party acquired cold weather gear (which, per the APG and Core, means they don't need to make Fort saves at those temps since they have protective clothing). I also said that the Ulfen guy could help them make snowshoes if they wanted, so they did. Once they get to the winter portal and Irrisen, I'll have them make Fort saves every hour, with a +5 bonus from the cold weather gear, until they meet Nadya, who provides them with even warmer winter clothing. I'll probably have a few super-cold periods along the journeys in Irrisen also requiring Fort saves, to get across the feel of being in severe winter without bogging the game down with too many saves.
AFAIK, the snow only provides concealment near the winter portal, not elsewhere in the forest (just the -4 to ranged attacks and Perception). This post talks about an alternate way of dealing with the portal as well.