Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BartD 09-10-07, 06:56 AM	Warning: This thread will contain spoilers. If you are a player likely to play Scourge of the Howling Horde, Barrow of the Forgotten King, or Red Hand of Doom you should probably not read any further. This thread is my attempt at recounting my group’s experiences adventuring in Elsir Vale. As the location suggests, I intend to run the Red Hand of Doom adventure when the characters reach a suitable level, and until then I will run various adventures to keep all of us entertained. I hope it will be helpful to other DMs and I will appreciate any comments or advice you may have! As I do not have unlimited time preparing for games, I intend to use published adventures almost exclusively, and have every intention of borrowing/stealing ideas from any source I come across. One of the main ideas behind this recap is to help others do the same. Here are links to some of my main sources of inspiration so far (thanks!) RHoD Advice Thread (For DMs' Eyes Only!!!) (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=901991) RHoD/MIC conversion (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=818920) Red Hand of Doom - Total Recap! (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=642066) Absolute Doom Redux (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=858266) Adventures Adventures In Elsir Vale (SPOILERS) (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=805817) and finally the Index of RHoD Threads and Resource Links (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?p=12684296) which should have links to all the others. So far, the heroes have braved “Into the Darkness” (heavily modified, I pretty much just took the idea of a small goblin gang of highwaymen with a hobgoblin leader – it had to be short because I wanted to be able to run it the first night when we made characters) and "Scourge of the Howling Horde". A crumbled note found among Darax’ possessions (“Dear Darax, You may cease your pointless snivelling. Kharn will never agree to make you a Wyrmlord. So join the ranks or join the dead. - Pash-Kari”) will not make much sense to the heroes. After this, a letter is awaiting one of the characters in Barrow’s Edge telling him to go to Brindol and meet Kethra Timms via Eldramma Axenhaft. Heading toward Brindol, I expect the heroes to escort Lanikar and the 3 other elves to Witchcross (on the way they will be attacked by a greenspawn sneak + leaper duo) where they will meet Adranna who will arrange for any surviving elves to return to the Blackfens. If they discuss the greenspawns and Adranna, she will consider asking the centaurs if they have encountered the creatures before. Between Witchcross and Brindol (I think it will be a 2-day journey) the heroes will be surprised by a terrible hailstorm and be forced to seek shelter by a nearby tor. In “A Dark and Stormy Knight”, the hobgoblins will be Red Hand regulars with orders from Wyrmlord Koth to “1. Secure the tor. 2. Watch the road. 3. Report every week.” Koth will be unknown to the heroes. I expect them to spend a few days exploring Brindol and equipping for dungeoneering with Kethra Timms in the cemetery in Marthton ("Barrow of the Forgotten King"). There they will find yet unspecified clues leading them to Vraath Keep and the forces of the "Red Hand of Doom". As some will notice, I am indebted to many posters on these boards for inspiration, not least pukunui and Caligua. I hope to create a campaign as exciting as theirs while at the same time keeping the body count way lower!
BartD 09-10-07, 07:02 AM	I/we use some houserules which I will briefly mention here: - 28 point buy, fixed hitpoints (half rounded up), 4-level stat increases are +2 but not the same twice in a row. This is done to make character creation balanced and simple (most players took the suggested stat array of 16, 14, 14, 12, 10) and allow characters to be leveled without me looking at players rolling hitpoints. - Pretty much any types of characters are allowed, but as you can see below, the players have not taken much advantage of this. - Some minor house rules to make things easier; e.g. using spellcraft to identify magic items. - I (the DM) make almost all rolls openly. This has caused some discussion (“we’re gonna die!”, “but do we want the DM to cheat?”, etc.) but I think it has made the game more exciting even though it also forces me to be more careful to avoid killing characters by mistake. I would like to use the Players Make All The Rolls variant, will bring it up next session. - Retraining will be possible. The characters: - Arakil, elf rogue (considering warlock, arcane trickster) - Charlie, halfelf beguiler (wanted an enchanting, non-blasting sorcerer so the beguiler seems like a good fit) - Heron, human cleric of Farhlanghn (wants to fight reasonably, looking forward to travel spells) - Kna’ack, halforc barbarian (bear warrior variant – so I will have to get used to grappling…) - Mortarus, human paladin of Heironeous. Each character started out with a special item, the idea is to let them do something neat a few times per day (probably one round once per 2 levels rounded up). I hope it will help them survive without me having to pull too many punches. The effects should be suitable to the characters so they are determined in collaboration with the players. In order the items are: Earring of invisibility with the letters VK engraved, necklace of luck (defensive reroll), boots of traveling (extra move action), bear amulet (effect not yet set in stone), and Mortarus’ item is yet to be decided. I am quite satisfied with the effects and will probably let multiple ‘charges’ have greater effects (e.g. etherealness, offensive reroll, extra partial action). As for the remaining items, the bear amulet will probably allow an Iron Heart Surge (level 3 iron heart maneuver) while I can imagine Mortarus’ item allowing the use of Battle Leader’s Charge (level 2 white raven maneuver) with an added chance to daze the target. So far, the main combat power has come from Charlie’s takeout spells and Kna’acks intimidating 22-strength rage-powered greataxe/longspear. Arakil is played very cleverly and Heron’s support and healing have been invaluable. Mortarus has not really shone yet, but I think he will be fine. When all 5 are there, I think their power level is about 1 above their actual level. Out of combat, I try to emphasize roleplaying and skills, but it has been difficult for me not to focus on bluff, diplomacy and sense motive. Spellcraft and use magic device have also seen some use as well as survival to track (Heron) and knowledges.
BartD 09-10-07, 07:22 AM	I will not go through the whole adventure but only comment on what I consider worth commenting on ;) All in all, I think it has been a very good experience even though it turned out a bit different from the written adventure. A short note on the mad druid encounter: The entangle spell helped her survive much longer than she otherwise would have and the produce flame made the players think she was much tougher than she really was. A couple of lucky javelins and the companion were good too (she went really mad when it was killed). This was actually a good encounter, if a bit out of place. I think Barrow's Edge is a well-written town (I placed it between Red Rock and Witchcross) with a reasonable amount of fluff. Two characters had their fortunes read and were (of course!) pleased with the answers. Contrary to what the adventure assumes, the heroes did not want to simply assault the goblin cave. Instead, they captured and interrogated some goblins and managed to get the guards (and Bronk) out of the caves and defeat them (after a couple of rounds of missing, Kna’ack got lucky and Bronk fell to a greataxe crit). After this the heroes were worn out and returned to Barrow’s Edge to rest. They brought two goblins with them who had been hypnotized and intimidated into thinking Kna’ack would be a better leader then Darax. The villagers were very content that “something was being done about this goblin situation” and at the same time very determined not to lift a finger. Next session (all but Mortarus were level 2) The heroes had let the goblins know that they were only after Darax and the dragon, and this had attracted the attention of Rutven who helped them into the cave to confront Darax (whom none of the goblins really wanted as chief) and Noak. I did this both because the players thought the goblins had a mighty stronghold and were very cautious to approach it (and I didn’t want to ruin this cautiousness) and simply because I would prefer the characters not to slaughter the goblins en masse. Anyway, Urrtarr was allowed to try to convince Darax to let the heroes through to deal with Noak, but was cut down for her efforts (I am quite sure I got that idea from these boards). To make up for letting the heroes in unscathed, I had given Darax and his bodyguards an extra warrior level. The combat was quite good fun with Darax shooting arrows from behind the bodyguards until the heroes got their act together and charged. After this, the heroes healed up, drank some potions and went for Noak. Fighting Noak: I used the CR 4 version of Noak and I am glad I did. Even though the characters had quite some difficulty getting to hit and actually hitting, Noak was not able to harm the heroes much. Even though he got to breathe 3 times and managed to hit 3 characters each time, it didn’t do much (a few good saves, Arakil has evasion, Mortarus and Kna’ack had drunk potions of resist acid, etc.) Anyway, he taunted the heroes repeatedly and managed to tear up the paladin real good when he was cornered. After some quick solid hits, Noak was missed by 3 AoOs on his way to the exit but was finally killed by Arakil’s alchemist’s fire on the second round as he flew out into the shaft. I could not have set it up better if I had rolled secretly. Anyway, the whole encounter might have ended very quickly as Charlie was able to hypnotize 7 hd out of 2d4, but fortunately Noak was able to make his save. After Noak was slain, Rutven appeared with a host of goblins (including Kna’acks previous followers) and thanked the heroes for disposing of Darax and the dragon. He allowed them to loot Darax and the dragon and told them to leave with the message to Barrow’s Edge that they would not be troubled by goblin attack anymore. Carrying the dragon’s head in the nice cloak the dragon had worn, the heroes returned to Barrow’s Edge. Even though she was sad to receive her husband's ring (found on the dragon), Mallie was reasonably composed and threw a grand celebration for the town's saviours. I think the dragon head will be mounted on the tavern wall. Treasure: Since the heroes didn’t clear out the caves as the adventure expects, I gave Darax and his bodyguards masterwork equipment somewhat useful to the party. I also gave Darax a least crystal of return and a least ironward diamond (both from MIC) which I find very neat. I plan to continue inserting interesting stuff from the MIC. They also found a crumbled note (“Dear Darax, You may cease your pointless snivelling. Kharn will never agree to make you a Wyrmlord. So join the ranks or join the dead. - Pash-Kari”) which they can’t really connect with anything yet. Thanks, pukunui! Illusions: A couple of times, Charlie has tried to distract or scare combatants with minor images and/or ghost sounds, fx a threatening/growling lion when fighting Darax. I am not sure how to handle this. I want to let it have some effect while at the same time not make it too good. So far, I have let some opponents become distracted and maybe not acted optimally (draw AoO etc.) Sometimes the pcs have gone along with it and "wasted" actions, which I think is good. How do you all handle such illusions? That was all for this round, next game day is this wednesday. I have been fairly brief so far, but any questions, comments and (not least!) suggestions are welcome!
pukunui 09-11-07, 04:42 AM	Hi Bart! It pleases me to see that my campaign recaps have inspired you to the point that you're blatantly copying me ... ;) Your adventure sounds quite fun. I like what you did with Rutven and the goblins. I wish I had thought of that. It might have prevented that adventure from becoming the slaughter-fest that it was. Regarding illusions - I had similar issues with them when I had someone playing a beguiler in a previous gaming group. A lot of it's up to the DM to decide, I think, which, of course, makes it tricky on the night because you have to think up something on the spot. Sigh ... Anyway, good work with the campaign. Keep up the posts. I'm keen to see how things progress for your group. I see I'm getting quite the reputation for running a "lethal" campaign a la Caligula. I have to say that so far we've had more PCs die in Barrow of the Forgotten King (5) than in the Red Hand of Doom (3 + 1 PC-turned-NPC). Cheers, Jonny
Prom 09-11-07, 04:29 PM	Hi BartD, For a second there,I thought Pukunui's old thread had sprung back to life. I wouldn't have guessed that my DM would become a thread setter, lol. Your Barrow's Edge adventure sound's really good, much more involved then when I played it. Although there is a place for a bumbling slaughter-fest, in the tradition of the three stouges and rambo. Your players appear to be smart and cautious about their encounters, and who can blame them at level one. Say good luck to your players for me when they get to "Barrow of the Forgotten King." It has some interesting problems to deal with, which will hopefully have your players stressing as much as I did. Prom
BartD 09-12-07, 06:01 AM	Yes, I admit to blatantly copying - and promise to keep copying and imitating as many good ideas as I am able to put together :D Prom and Jonny: You mention BotFK which will be the heroes' next main destionation. Since the party has both a rogue and a beguiler, I am considering either changing some of all the undeads and constructs into something else, or simply remove some areas/encounters. So I wonder if there were any encounters you found to be less interesting than the others? Regarding cautious players in SotHH: I chose to let them circumvent many of the encounters in order to allow their approach to work out. Also, the adventure mentions Rutven returning and making peace with the villagers after Darax and Noak are killed so I just had him show up a little earlier. Anyway, I agree that a slaughter-fest is not always bad, but when there's an opportunity for something else it's often a welcome change. And they did have two really good fights. Anyway, tonight is game night. There will be only three heroes (Arakil the rogue, Heron the cleric and Mortarus the paladin, all level 2) so they will probably have their work cut out with a double greenspawn attack and the tor of the Dark and Stormy Knight. (The title is corny but I like it anyway :P ) The assistance of the 4 elves from SotHH will probably be needed against the greenspawns: The sneak has TWF and sneak attack +2d6 while the leaper has a poison burst for 2d6 twice. I think that's a lot for CR 2 each. I think the greenspawns are out for elf flesh and then we will see how it goes... Slaughter-fest: I expect the tor of the DaSK to be a complete slaughter-fest. The RH regulars have their orders and the other encounters are even less open to diplomacy. The adventure is made for first level adventurers, so I plan to make the tor a little more dangerous than in the pdf but I will tell more about that after tonight. I am not sure how far we will get, but I hope they will be able to complete the tor such that the whole party can reach Brindol together next time. By the way, do anyone have ideas for good encounters in Brindol? I plan to have them meet Eldramma Axenhaft, go to the Laughing Manticore (I'd like them to get a little involved with Rillnor Paln) and maybe the Craven Raven (where they will be out-of place) and see Lady Kaal's monthly shopping spree at the market. What else to do in Brindol for a couple of days? Cheers!
Gerry 09-12-07, 06:57 AM	Yes, I admit to blatantly copying - and promise to keep copying and imitating as many good ideas as I am able to put together :D ---snip--. By the way, do anyone have ideas for good encounters in Brindol? I plan to have them meet Eldramma Axenhaft, go to the Laughing Manticore (I'd like them to get a little involved with Rillnor Paln) and maybe the Craven Raven (where they will be out-of place) and see Lady Kaal's monthly shopping spree at the market. What else to do in Brindol for a couple of days? Cheers! Why not have them take in a play at Velorian's? The Tragic Story of Vraath Keep - A Play in One Act presented at Velorian's (http://www.cfrq.net/~rolemaster/fiverivers/archives/background/tragic_story_of_vraath_keep.shtml) Okay, in my world it only played one night to poor reviews, but hey. (http://www.cfrq.net/~rolemaster/fiverivers/archives/campaign_notes/notes20070411.shtml) Gerry
pukunui 09-12-07, 04:36 PM	The assistance of the 4 elves from SotHH will probably be needed against the greenspawns: The sneak has TWF and sneak attack +2d6 while the leaper has a poison burst for 2d6 twice. I think that's a lot for CR 2 each. I think the greenspawns are out for elf flesh and then we will see how it goes...That's what I thought too but mine rolled really badly and the PCs made short work of them very quickly.
BartD 09-13-07, 01:03 PM	Why not have them take in a play at Velorian's? The Tragic Story of Vraath Keep - A Play in One Act presented at Velorian's (http://www.cfrq.net/~rolemaster/fiverivers/archives/background/tragic_story_of_vraath_keep.shtml) Okay, in my world it only played one night to poor reviews, but hey. (http://www.cfrq.net/~rolemaster/fiverivers/archives/campaign_notes/notes20070411.shtml) GerryNice! And that goes for your other stuff as well, very well organised. I'm sure the PCs will get a chance to catch a play at Velorian's! I also want to use the story of the Ghostlord as well as Azhar Kul's letter to Kharn. And I will look into the timeline more closely to see what crunchy bits I'll be able to spot :D Quickly scanning the rest of your online material, I noticed that you mention Fane of the Drow. I am considering running it in some form after Barrow of the Forgotten King so I wonder how did you use it and how did it work out? (Why do I consider it? 1-The PCs may need XP before confronting the Red Hand. 2-I'd like to have played it in case I want to run City of the Spider Queen after RHoD.) Oh I almost forgot why your mention of FotD caught my eye - you have a drawing of Vraath Keep with comments about the third alcove added... How did you use the note in play?
BartD 09-13-07, 01:49 PM	Session 4: 4 hours, 2 PCs, 1000xp. One player called in sick and could not come and play with the rest of us. I considered canceling but since I had already planned a side-trekky session (2 of 5 players are unavailable for a couple of weeks), I decided to push along. Besides, as a player I hate it when the game is cancelled on game day. Instead, I toned down some of the most lethal encounters from what I had originally planned and it worked out quite well. As in many close calls but no casualties - with open dice. I guess I should note that the party was represented by Heron the cleric and Arakil the rogue – not a bad combination at all. When returning from the Howling Caves, Heron had received a letter (how? who knows, it’s a bit of a mystery to everyone) from his father & superior in Dennovar ordering him to go to Brindol and meet his mother’s friend Kethra Timms (BotFK) and to bring his friends along as their assistance would be required as well. After being celebrated thoroughly in Barrow's Edge (and leaving the dragon's head behind to be mounted on the wall in the inn), the heroes went off shortly after brunch, accompanied by Lanikar and the 3 other elves. On the way, Lanikar told Arakil and Heron about the Blackfens and the lizardfolk infesting it, making the heroes wonder why the elves would want to return to such a swamp? Anyway, the conversation was cut off by a greenspawn leaper leapcharging Arakil who led the way. The leaper missed and took a while to compose itself so it was nearly beaten down before it could act again. Even though the elves almost all made their saves against the poison gas, it managed to drop two of them as well as Arakil who missed his saves and would have died if he hadn’t been healed in between the two poison effects. Heron spent all his spells healing the group and everyone wondered what that weird froggy lizard thing was – it was certainly not like anything the elves had ever seen. They decided to bring it along to have someone look at it. * Fortunately, I had chickened out and removed the greenspawn sneak. It would have slaughtered at least 1-2 characters after the leaper randomly had attacked Arakil. As it is, the encounter worked out reasonably. In Witchcross, which they reached next evening, Adranna the Young came by the Druid’s Rest inn to arrange the elves’ escort back to the Blackfens and the heroes showed her the greenspawn. She was very interested as she had never seen such a thing before (“as far as I remember”) and said she would ask the centaurs of the forest if they had encountered such a creature. Heron tried to chat up the lovely girl and she was not entirely unresponsive. Back at the inn, some locals came over and asked if the heroes had noticed anything unusual about Adranna – they were full of stories of how she had always looked the same since forever and of how the druids sometimes turned into wild beasts and ate people. Or something. At least normal people shouldn’t mix with them too much. * I’m running with the idea that Adranna is actually a very old Elan. However, I don’t know if the players just translate the “not aging” thing as her being at least level 15. I hope they don’t remember the timeless body -feature because I’d rather not have them think there’s such a powerful character around. The next morning, the heroes and elves said their farewells and “come visit us in the Blackfens sometime” and went their separate ways, the heroes heading south toward Brindol. On the way, they were caught in a terrible snap storm but found shelter in what turned out to be the tor in A Dark and Stormy Knight. I won’t retell everything that happened there, just comment on a few things: - A swarm of rats is not nice, especially if you’re a rogue with a rapier. Arakil ran away and let Heron smash the rats. Afterwards Heron used his kit and rolled 14 to heal disease, so I guess they will just get a slight fever :) - The Lesser Varguille was weird and quickly dispatched as it had only 5 hps. Even though the party really could use the original Translator’s Ring (nobody speaks goblin) I replaced it with a Hand of the Mage (a very delicate female elven hand – now dried up, blackened and with a bit of bone sticking out where it has been torn off. The skin of the missing arm is braided into a loop which would fit around your neck...). - Expecting 3 characters, I had replaced the adventure’s 2 W1 hobgoblins with 4 Red Hand regulars but now I weakened the equipment of 3 of them and placed one at the top of the tor. I also added a room next to the central room for them to camp in. I made it clear to the players that the hobgoblins acted like soldiers but I didn't let any of them wear RH insignia. Maybe I should have? - Having lost a 5th warrior to the spider, the hobgoblins have barricaded the corridor north from the central room. - While examining the chest, the heroes were surprised by one of the hobgoblins who foolishly tried to take them on alone. The fight with the 2 hobgoblins in the added room was tense as I rolled really well so the leader hit every time. In the end, healing, working together and sneak attack won the day. - Having secured the accessible areas, Heron slept while Arakil set up an alarm in the hall and kept watch. During the night, the remaining hobgoblin came down form the top of the tor to be replaced – the last thing he saw was the point of a critting sneak attacking rapier protruding from his chest. - When expecting 3 characters, I had made the spider large but now it went back to medium. It turned out to be a piece of cake as the heroes easily slipped out of the webs. Heron’s freedom of movement (that’s how we play the travel domain granted power) came in handy. - To explain why the hobgoblins hadn’t disturbed the knight, I hid it behind a secret door. When opening the door, Arakil set off the a (dried up) gas trap and was pleased when he just got dusty. At 6hd, Heron needed to roll a 20 to turn the zombie, he only tried twice. The combat against the zombie was unusual but boring as both heroes resorted to papercutting it with daggers to overcome the damage resistance. It was hard to hit as it had a +1 light steel shield. How to make zombies interesting? Random thoughts - The adventure seems to encourage killing everything, which was fine under the circumstances. - In such a combat-heavy module, it’s really important to have a good healer as the heroes otherwise would have had to give up/rest a few times. - The heroes missed the story of the tor but if they mention it to Kethra Timms, she may be able to enlighten them. - As long as they can keep going, it’s really quick to play with only 2 PCs, hardly any waiting for each other. After clearing out the tor, the heroes staggered the rest of the way to Brindol, weighed down by all the loot they brought. Reaching Brindol by nightfall they went straight for the Laughing Manticore. The helpful proprietor, Rillnor Paln, offered to buy their excess equipment (weapons and armor from the RH troops) and he could also get magic items identified for them overnight (hand and shield). I'd like the PCs to get involved with RP and he certainly wants to know what such a band of adventurers are up to. That was the end of session number 4. Unfortunately, Heron's player is away the next couple of weeks so there will be no more than 4 PCs next session (26/9). I'm looking forward to letting the PCs loose in Brindol :). Mortarus knows the city (his father is a priest at the temple of Pelor - maybe he's a secret oracle?) as does Arakil (he originally left for health reasons after obtaining his magical VK-earring). Charlie the beguiler and Kna'ack the barbarian have never seen so many people in one place. I think they will fit right in!
Gerry 09-13-07, 10:48 PM	Nice! And that goes for your other stuff as well, very well organised. I'm sure the PCs will get a chance to catch a play at Velorian's! I also want to use the story of the Ghostlord as well as Azhar Kul's letter to Kharn. And I will look into the timeline more closely to see what crunchy bits I'll be able to spot :D Quickly scanning the rest of your online material, I noticed that you mention Fane of the Drow. I am considering running it in some form after Barrow of the Forgotten King so I wonder how did you use it and how did it work out? (Why do I consider it? 1-The PCs may need XP before confronting the Red Hand. 2-I'd like to have played it in case I want to run City of the Spider Queen after RHoD.) Oh I almost forgot why your mention of FotD caught my eye - you have a drawing of Vraath Keep with comments about the third alcove added... How did you use the note in play? 1) Handouts: Why thanks! Much of the actual content comes from others on the web, many here on the boards, and others around the 'net. A lot of Koth's notes came from Caligula. I re-wrote pieces in order to customize them for my PCs. Things like warning them about "a couple of Paladin of Heiron.... I cannot bring myself to write the foul name of Hextor's brother" which was my Favored Spellcaster of Heironeous and my Warrior of Heironeous. The spy mistook them for pallies. RHoD talks about all the notes and stuff they can sift thru on Koth's desk. C (and possibly others) sat down and made some actual notes. One of them is in Infernal (his journal entry), and C rendered it in Klingonese. I made Koth's other notes in goblinoid and rendered them in Russian (hey, I grew up during the Cold War.) When I handed the players Koth's notes, they started looking at them. Then passed them around asking if anyone could understand them. When a PC with Goblinese got them, I handed THAT person the english translation and said "you can read this" and he read it aloud to the other players. Paraphrasing a few crunchy bits so it got amusing after the Comprehend Languages revealed more detail.... They referred to Koth's journal notes as his "LJ", which I mistook for "Living Greyhawk" until one of them took pity on me and told me "Live Journal". It reads a lot like a recipe for HOW to defeat them, or more accurately, the things Koth & RHoD need to do to make sure verything is ok. It's basically their "inverse strategic plan". More amusing was the scroll case from Kharn. It contained Kharn's cover letter , and a scroll of Summon Lesser Dragon Ally. I had it rolled up with a rubber-band, sitting on the gaming table along with the notes. I told them that the rolled up paper was a scroll case. When one of the players reached for it I asked "oh, you're gonna touch that?" You'ld have thought they had burnt their fingertips they pulled their arm back so fast! They unrolled it to discover the cover letter (in russian aka goblinese) and a note claiming it was a "scroll written in Draconic". A couple of look-sees later, and I hand over the English translations. Eyebrows shoot WAY up! So, thanks to Caligula (et al) for the creation of such great "props". They added to my game, that's for sure. 2) "Fane of the Drow" - um, I'm embarrased to say that occasionally we use the gimmick from "Sliders" to link to/from adventures, especially when only a few players are available. FotD was one such. Two PCs get summoned back to their home town which has just undergone the 2005(?6?, no 5) "International DnD Day adventure" I had DM'd at my FLGS. As such, I had a copy of it. SO I ran them thru it, with the basic premise of "counter-attack", "teach them a lesson" which is the module as written. And then "Slider'ed" them right back to the campaign. I'm moving away from having "so many humanoid armies massing on your borders". Drow are "far away" threats in my game now. (And don't talk to me about snake-people). Every edition of DnD has a new, secrets-just-revealed villain-race. Drow in G1-3D1-3,Q1, Yawn-Ti, and now the Mindflayers and Rakshshas... It's hard to make them "just revealed" to players who've been doing this as long as I have (oh god, 1980!). 3) The play at Velorian's: I discovered on the web (http://www.uq.net.au/~zzjohnsg/redhand/legends/vraath.) a site that had some player background written up in a nice format, as stories ready to feed the PCs, vs the "facts as listed in the module". They were wandering thru Brindol (en-route to Vraath Keep, pre Chapter 1 events), and as I relate that building X is Velorian's they ask, "what's playing tonight?" And I had a flash of inspiration, and converted the story to a one-act play. What better way to portray bardic knowledge than as a play by bards? (and uh, I get to point out that some of the actors at Velorians like to play hobgoblins. Given the module write-up has the place closed cause they're out pretending to be spies, I figured I fore-shadow that they have the capability of just possibly pulling that off. ) 4) Vraath Keep Map: (http://willsfamily.org/games/rhod/HookVraathKeep.jpg) another gem from the net. It too is a physical "prop" or hand-out, meant to be the "default hook" as given in the module. In Pre-RHoD game play I had the PC's discover a couple of private libraries, and both of them mercantile related. So I figured Vraath Keep was doing more business than West Elsir Vale would seem to support, so there were notes to that effect that maybe there was some warehousing or something going on. So once a second mercantile library was discovered (all in "as written" in the various scenarios I was running) I figured I'd let them notice "hey Vraath Keep again" so they could go "what's with that place?" And then some more digging around (and after finding said map on the net) I gave them the map. Do you know ANY players that, when their PC walks into a library, doesn't ask the DM, "What are the names of all the books?" (sigh). All of the above is possible because, while I picked up RHoD in summer 2006, it wasn't until Sept. 2007 that my PCs arrived in the Vale. I had a looooonnngg time to think about hooks, discover these boards, and all the props, and miniature scaled tactical maps, and ideas, and suggestions. And, I am a DM who loves to throw out threads and one-liners and comments that might lead no-where, or might come back to haunt either me or my PCs. So all of the above on the web just gives me more things to toss at my PCs. I don't have to resolve them all, just the main ones. Unresolved threads are just stories in the world that don't revolve around the PCs, or are waiting for them to check out. Wow. Apparently I'm long-winded. Hope all that helps. Good night! Gerry, Toronto. ps. OH COOL! Check this out! (http://www.uq.net.au/~zzjohnsg/redhand/legends/letter.htm) Yet another hand-out from the same person who first produced the Vraath Keep hand-out, and the "Tragic Story of Vraath Keep". And I only discovered it as I was following the links to the map in order to code them into the above reply. Serendipity I believe it's called. I'll be adding that to the index asap!
Prom 09-16-07, 04:57 PM	Hi BartD, You mention BotFK which will be the heroes' next main destionation. So I wonder if there were any encounters you found to be less interesting than the others? There really aren't any encounters that were boring, maybe frustrating or fatal but that is because some of the encounter were too hard or the party sucked tactically (I also made some poor choices). There are a lot of practical problems and puzzles to get past, so these can seem boring, but they can also be the funniest encounters, like; the rope bridge, magic maze, pillars of stone, etc. I would just take Pukunui's advice with respect to that darn spider. By the way, do anyone have ideas for good encounters in Brindol? Here is what my character did in Brindol; visited a local Jousting Tournament outside Brindol, visited Gambling Den called the Laughing Manticore, to play cards and dice, visited the Velorian's Threatre to see a Play on Vraath Keep, a bit of social drinking in the pubs. Hope that help's. Prom
BartD 10-27-07, 03:09 PM	Hello, it's been a while - more than a month - since my last report. RL was the cause but I still feel bad about it, especially for not replying to Gerry's and Prom's helpful posts. Gerry, Handouts: I want to look at the handouts some more, but RL pressure forces me to keep it at a minimum. I have a bunch og Caligula's stuff as well, it's great. 1a. Living Journal: I think that's the designers' point, telling the PCs/players what is going to happen. 1b. Scroll of Summon Lesser Dragon Ally: I *so* want to use that idea, is it yours? I actually tried to prepare for it last session by having a rolled-up scroll prepared (E11, BotFK). However, as the warlock quickly determined it wasn't magical, he didn't hesitate at all to pick it up, even when I asked "so... do you touch it?" as omniously as I could. 2. Fane of the Drow: I won't mind running it, and it won't be too difficult to fit in after BotFK, but since I aim to please, I will try to figure if the players (not the characters) would prefer to get up and out or stay underground for a while. I am aware that the humanoid-armies-on-your-borders thing can be too much, but what if I let a couple of years pass before running CotSQ? :D (ok, so I don't care so much about overload...) 3. The play at Velorian's: I read the play and had Keethra invite the characters, but I don't think I played it out too well. Anyway... When (in BotFK) they find Krootad's note mentioning Vraath Keep, Keethra will remember that she found it odd that the play showed Avery hiding in the vault, when no vault had ever been discovered and the romor had never been verified (PCs will hear "gold never found") 4. The map of Vraath Keep: The characters may obtain the receipt either from the dwarves in Fane of the Drow or it may turn up in one of Brindol's archives. I think it's really good. Myself, I am got too good with unresolved threads, at least not planning them. When I manage to put one in, it's usually spur of the moment or because I'm thinking ahead (or when i'm not thinking ... that's actually where most of the good stuff comes from). I'll have to leave more loose threads hanging (but not too many, don't want to confuse everyone) Prom, Thaks for yout input - the jousting tournament and mentioning the gambling den of the Laughing Manticore made me think of an organized fight with gambling, thanks! The PCs have not yet gotten to that "darn spider" in BotFK, but will probably reach it next session. I don't think I will remove or replace it but I will drop the tombtainted thing - it's weird (outside the normal/expected rules) and strange and deadly. Gone. But maybe it does something more insidious, will have to think about that. Note: Danish TV just showed "Lost in Space" which features some insidious space spiders. Hmmm... Regarding pukunui's other warning, I remember him warning against the runehound in E8. Im my game, the PCs didn't climb the shaft but I had planned to to tome it down a bit if it had come to a fight. I agree it's deadly to level 2 characters. Either the CR 3 is wrong or something in the monster writeup is wrong. I still expect they will go back and take a look at the statue, they're with Keethra after all (and the cleric could use some decent armor :)) If they return as level 5s at full health, there will be no mercy :D Anyway, I'd like to attach some handouts i have fabricated, can anyone tell me how to do that?
BartD 10-27-07, 03:41 PM	We have played twice since my last report, the first mostly took place in Brindol and reached a bit into Barrow of the Forgotten King, the second went deeper into the BotFK. Here is some comments from the first of those sessions. Session: 4½ hours, 4 PCs. 2 full days in Brindol, start of Barrow of the Forgotten King in Marthton. The heroes were lodged at the Laughing Manticore (loud and expensive, but easy to find and the mead was good). When they arrived, wet, ill and tired, they managed to get the landlord to help them identify some items from ADaSK - the piratey Rillnor Paln was happy to oblige (nice to keep abreast of magical stuff flowing into town - nothing interesting this time) On the first day in Brindol the almost-full party (Heron the cleric, Arakil the rogue, Charlie the beguiler and Kna'ack the barbarian) went to see Eldramma Axenhaft at Axenhaft Security to get in touch with Kethra Timms as Heron had been asked to by his father. Eldramma told them than Kethra would be dining at the Craven Raven that evening. She also noted that that they might need new clothes before going there. Finally, she also suggested that they check in with her if they ever need employment. While clothes-shopping at the market, the party encountered Lady Varessa Kaal who was on her monthly double-price shopping-spree. Charlie (country-girl-halfelf-beguiler) had a discussion with Lady Kaal regarding a dress they both wanted and the discussion could have developed badly. But instead Lady Kaal bought the dress for Charlie who was very grateful and offered to return the favor sometime (“just let me know if I can do something for you sometime” :D) … Lady Kaal was quick to accept. The men-folk also found suitable clothes and had them altered to fit (Kna’ack). During the day, the heroes tried to discover some information regarding the goblin-notes they have found, especially concerning this “Wyrmlord Koth” and that “Queen” of his. They didn’t have much luck – nobody had heard of anyone called Koth, the only queens anyone could think of were from Rhest and long dead and not very significant. In one of the temples, a priest mentioned that “Wyrm” could be related to “worm” or dragon. That caused a bit of speculation :D At the Craven Raven, the heroes were seated with Kethra Timms, who recognized Heron (“Oh Little Heron, how big you have become! I remember when…” – she’s a friend of his mother’s) and told them about the job. She has researched the large king statue in Marthton and wants to find and explore the tomb she believes to be underneath it. She will take care of equipment and supplies but cannot offer any pay. “But something valuable is bound to turn up – it is a king’s tomb after all…” She wants to leave asap but can’t miss tomorrow’s opening night of "The Tragic Story of Vraath Keep" at Velorian’s playhouse. Why don’t you all join me and then we can leave the next morning? The second evening at the Laughing Manticore was the weekly fight-night. Kna’ack won some money fighting unarmed (against a W2 and a M1/F1!) and Arakil won even more money gambling. The next morning, Kna’ack was invited to have breakfast with the helpful proprietor Rillnor Paln who invited him to come and fight whenever he was in town and then proceeded to pumped him for information regarding the party and their plans. During the second day, the heroes explored the town some more. They went to "Red Magic and Sundries" to see what they could get for their gold. It wasn’t much but at least they now know where they can spend their money. The magic shop was competently managed by Alandri who didn’t seem to have any trouble finding things in the many drawers and cupboards. The following morning the party left for Marthton with Kethra Timms.