Post/Author/DateTime	Post
themadlibrarian 12-14-07, 12:40 PM	Greetings one and all, it has been a while since I posted so I thought I would try to recap my groups attempt on this module. I wasn't going to do it at first till one of my players said without a doubt one of the funnies things I have ever heard in a campaign and I just had to share it. We've been playing now for about 5 sessions and there have been a few close calls and all in all it has been a very good module. We have a very knowledgeable group of players, three of them have been at one time or another dms so if there is a rule that there is the slightest bit of wiggle room they are there to exploit it and to help with rulings. So without further introduction here is how it went.
silvergamgee 12-17-07, 11:09 PM	I eagerly await the recap, as I often forget anything I do within 3 minutes of actually having done it. I mean...uh...false???
pukunui 12-18-07, 07:39 PM	I, too, would like to know how it went.
Caligula 12-19-07, 01:41 AM	Interesting module. I bought it as soon as it was published. Looking forward to your recap! :)
themadlibrarian 12-22-07, 10:21 PM	Well best ot start at the beginning, I am startin gthis adventure with 4 level two characters, all of the pcs have a had some experience ranging from beginning to expert level. They were as follows Gord Half-oc fighter 2 Jack Human Rogue 2 Mina Elf Druid 2 Denello Animal Companion St. Bernard Q'rion Elf Wizard 2 The party was drawn to the small town of Kingsholm for reasons unknown but as visitors they attracted not a small amount of attention and are soon aproached by Ian Turband to deal with a problem of missing guards and townsfolk. So without a moment to waste the group agreed upon a price and set off for the cementary to take care off the situation. It was late afternoon as they arrived at the cemetary and as they neared the mausoleum they were horrified to see two guardsmen in pieces atop the stairs, as Mina rushed forward to check out the bodies the 2 wolves attack the party from behind and battle was joined, combat was fierce and after the worg joined it appeared dire for a moment. The party came through and a combination of magic, sword, and arrows ended the threat with only Jack taking major damage. To the party's dismay the druid had not prepared any healing spells:(. Unfazed the group continued into the mausoleum and down into the crypt below. With all of the ample light provided by the everlit torches the group was disenharted to see the two bodies belonging to the missing townsfolk, as Q'rion moved in closer to get a better look. A short discussion later. "How close do you want to get" "I wnat ot be right next to" "Okay I just wanted to know" The wizard found himself on the receiving end of a zombie haymaker and staggered backawards after a near devestating blow. As the party struggled against the two zombies, Jack was extremely mad, he had hid the first moment that the party entered the tomb, but in the end the zombies proved no match for the party, but the victory came with a cost as Mina was knocked unconscious and then three skeletal archers moved into view and began taking potshots at the party. Q'rion lead a hasty retreat back to town taking the now not so animated undead with them.
Prom 12-22-07, 11:01 PM	Posted by themadlibrarian, To the party's dismay the druid had not prepared any healing spells. It didn't take long for the party to get messed up, I remember those encounter being easier with a cleric who could turn the undead and heal. I hope the party has a wand of cure light wounds, they will really need a lot of healing for this adventure. Looking forward to what happen's next. Prom
themadlibrarian 12-22-07, 11:40 PM	Session 2 The party was now skulking through the darkness with 1 unconsious druid and 2 dead bodies. They eventually found their way to the back of the inn and thanks to some hide checks were not discovered by wandering townsfolk, a short conversation with Ian Turband brought them to local cleric for some much needed helaing and a few pickpocket attempts that fortunately did not succeed...both done by the cleric. The party resolved to go back but only after healing and to find the last missing townie, morning came and rushed back to the mausoleum. Gord in true fighter style rushed headfirst into combat and after a balance check was able to clear the rubble aided by Jack the duo quickly took down the skeletons and a quick search by Q'rion turned up some very unique arrows that he knew were magical but now what kind. It was then after several more searches the group realized that all of the crypts had been broken open and their contents dragged out..all save one which they were able to force upon to reveal a terrified young girl who after a few moments of trying to calm her let sent her back to town to see Ian. With the girls information that there was in fact a large group of robbers loose in the tomb and the tracks that were now easily visible on the floor the group set off to the next chamber. As Jack, Q'rion and Gord searched out the rest of the hallway, while Mina was drawn to the only unbroken tomb and after some pushing was able to make her way inward, for some reason Denallo did not want to go in, undaunted Mina pressed on and a short jump later she was in the seeminly empty crypt....
themadlibrarian 01-15-08, 04:41 PM	Wow sorry for the long delay, my group has just made it out of hte maze and i'll be posting several enteries tonite to catch up.
pukunui 01-15-08, 04:48 PM	Wow sorry for the long delay, my group has just made it out of hte maze and i'll be posting several enteries tonite to catch up. :w00t: It's about time! ;)
themadlibrarian 01-16-08, 10:33 PM	Session 3, wow a really long time ago. So with Mina, and Denello inside the tomb and their comrades Q'rion, Jack, and Gord were farther down the hallway watching out for anything that could resemble a soon to rise skeleton and or zombie. Just as Mina was about to start walking towards the statue in the side crypt she was dive bombed by 4 clockwork menders, fortunately they all missed..barely. However their annoying pattern of diving in and out was driving Mina crazy, Gord chose this moment to charge into the crypt as Denello ran out and the pair sent several turns trying to damage the menders with no success at all. With as much dignity as they could muster the pair got the hell out of there as the menders floated mockingly just inside of the tomb as the door slid shut. jack used his knowledge of architecture to determine that they were moving into a much older part of the tomb. The passageway to the beholder room was very interesting since the only "good" person in the group is Q'rion who is CG, the rest of the group was staring at a mindless image on the wall till the wizard saw the carved image of the beholder. DM note, I made a photocopy of the picture out of the module for my players, it made the next part much easier to run. Jack used his knowledge of architecture one more and determined that this entire room was a gigantic trigger to open a passageway further down. Q'rion and Mina determined that the images on the floor had to relate to the engravings on the door, jack provided one last piece of incite by strongly suggesting not to step on any of the tiles. I made the pcs that carried the movable tiles to make concentration checks to see if they accidentally dropped or stepped on them. The group pulled it off without a hitch, and the secret passageway opened up leading deeper and deeper into the complex. The group now found themselves in a narrow staircase and pressed onward with Gord in the lead, but he did not see the pile of bones that soon reformed and charged at him. Gord was more then content to fight them and Q'rion aided him as best he could with his "confiscated flaming arrows" and in two rounds the wolves were dead..again. It was at this time that the Ogre zombie joined the fray..by missing horrible nearly hitting himself with his readied action:weep: . Gord, Denello, and Mina charged for close combat, while the rest of the party shot down from the landing with Q'rion's flaming arrows. Between all of the mêlée assaults, and the magical ranged attacks the poor undead ogre just could not catch a break and was done after only 3 rounds:(. At this point the party was feeling very good about themselves and decided to press on for just one more room before calling it a night. This was by far one of my favorite encounters and I got some much needed payback:D The group easily saw the condition that the bridge was in so they decided to go one person first with a rope tied to them and the group would then follow one at a time. Mina with a rope tied across her waist was the first across and thanks to a great spot from Q'rion she was able to stop before she got to the "trapped area", so with the additional support of a guide rope Q'rion was next and made it across without a problem, then came Denello...wo wasn't as lucky since he had no way to grab the rope and into the pool did he fall:D . This was not a source of concern as Denello made light of the situation by doing the doggy paddle:). I thought this would be the perfect time to begin a grapple check and they watched in horror as Denello was dragged under the water. Cue panic. Mina handed off the rope to Q'rion, Jack was doing frantic spot checks trying to find what was pulling Denello down and every time he thought he had a beed, the arrows just seemed unable to find the target. At this point Mina had jumped into the pool to save her dog, Jack was getting very vexed at his inability to hit the target and was using very course language after being told his arrows continued to miss, he stowed his bow and grabbed his rapier and with the rope in hand jumped into the pool as well. meanwhile Denello was able to break out of the Ooze's grapple only to be dragged back down the next round. At this point Q'rion, was yelling at Gord to cross so he could cast some spells, the half-orc was eager to obey and ever so gently began to cross the bridge, only to critically fumble on his balance check and bring himself an the bridge tumbling down into the pool.:eek:. Somehow Q'rion was able to pull of a strength check to keep himself from being pulled into the pool, and the party in the pool pulled off some impressive reflex saves to dodge the incoming debris. Over the next several rounds all hell breaks loose as the party just is unable to determine what and where their foe is. To spice it up I gave the pcs the chance to picks the odds of hitting vs the miss chance so it was a classic game of high vs low, but the odds were in the Ooze's favor as it went through even more rounds without a scratch till finally jack was able to score a hit with his rapier, and the Ooze finally gave up in trying to drag the St. Bernard underwater and escaped through the vents. :( Soaked, upset, and now trapped in the pool the group tried to get out, with a great grunt Q'rion said he would hold the rope and let them climb out, and backed up his boast with some amazing strength checks to pull the party out and then even put Gord in a "judo hold" to demonstrate his strength. With their successful escape from the pool the party called it a night to get some well deserved rest. Oncemore sorry for the delay and tomorrow we get back into combat.
Prom 01-17-08, 01:42 AM	That bridge encounter was very eventful for my old party too. We didn't fall in the drink, but the roleplay by characters was really funny. Looking forward to the next installment. Prom
Zarith 01-17-08, 08:54 AM	Hmmm, no mention of the Arcane Lock on the beholder door. I was wondering how it would be handled. Did they have a way to get through the door, or did you just ignore that aspect? I ended up giving the party a little "extra treasure" in one of the sarcophagi since they had no way through the door. Can't wait for the next installment.
themadlibrarian 01-17-08, 09:42 AM	I took the easy way out for this one by having the spell disabled by the robbers. The deck was stacked against the party with having only one "good" member and I wanted to keep things going so it was a call I made.
pukunui 01-17-08, 01:35 PM	I took the easy way out for this one by having the spell disabled by the robbers. The deck was stacked against the party with having only one "good" member and I wanted to keep things going so it was a call I made. I'd say it was a good call, too. Since there's no way 2nd level adventurers could disable an arcane lock, and since having it there makes it difficult to explain how the robbers got in and out, it's best just to pretend it isn't there. I ignored it and had instead a well-hidden keyhole that one of the PCs was fortunate enough to be able to find and pick.
themadlibrarian 01-23-08, 04:05 PM	Sorry for the lateness its been a couple of crazy days, after the group had been pulled out of the underground pool they were out for blood. After some excellent listen checks the group thought they heard snoring from one room and a loud whistling from another. At this point the druid was low on spells and drastically wanted to get out of the complex in order to get some meditation and did not want another fight. the party choose the door with the whistling sound and entered with weapons drawn soon found themselves in a dark cave with a ladder leading up wards. All seemed quiet to quiet, he party knew something was up after their spot checks revealed nothing and since many of them had low spot checks they "knew" something was up. In this case literally as the choker went for the druid. It quickly turned into an all out mêlée as the choker was just unable to score a hit, and neither was the party till the wizard blasted it with a scorching ray for enough damage to send it running away for afety...unfortunately the fighter was in its way and with a massive swing dropped it into the negatives. A short party discussion later the group surmised that the monster was guarding this passageway into the complex and the ladder should lead outside. The druid was overjoyed and set out to pray while the rest of the party stayed below.:evillaugh As Mina was walking about the surface an preparing to begin her trance I gave her a spot check to appraise the area, she rolled really well and I went on and on about the marvelous immaculate statue, and oh yes there's a pair of glowing eyes looking right at you and whatever it is is right between you and the ladder:plotting: One frantic knowledge of nature check later revealed this was not natural and not good just as it let lose a howl and a flying ball of something spat past her. Mina doing what any good druid would do when faced by this type of beast, she ran and climbed a tree:D. Meanwhile back in the complex the rest f the party was patching their wounds as best as they could and thought they heard something but passed it off as being nothing:( Back up top the Rune Hound was alternating between attempting jump attacks and spitting globs at Mina. (DM note I had rolled up that the Rune Hound could use its spit attack every two rounds but only acid and not the sticky stuff.) Mina was holding her own, making slashes at the druid every chance she got and was relatively unharmed till the rune hound got lucky and got her with an acid ball, and the next round Mina fumbled dropping her spear to the ground:(. She then went for the sling but now she saw that the wounds on the beast were actually healing as she fought it. That lead to some frantic screaming for assistence....which was thankfully heard and the group began to climb the ladder with Jack in the lead, followed by Q'rion, and last came Gord caring Denello. Much hilarity ensued as they tried to speed climb the ladder and two near fumbles nearly brought the rouge and wizard tumbling down upon the poor fighter who was silently climbing with a huge St. Bernard lashed to his back. Several rounds later the party emerged from the hole only to see the Druid frantically pointing and yelling at them that the thing was behind them. Q'rion with a quick knowledge of arcane surmised what the beast was and let loose a pessimistic, "Oh Crap." Meanwhile the fighter was all set to tear into it and the feeling was mutual between it and the Rune Hound. I soon had the three party members dropped down to single digits and Mina was frantically lobbing away with her sling to do some damage...just not permanent. Gord moved away from the trio and drew the Rune Hound toward him, and this finally free up the wizard and Rouge to switch to ranged weapons and began to pepper the beast with flaming arrows, Denello was especially good at tearing off chunks of the beast, Gord dealt the death blow that finally killed it and then went about dismembering its corpse as per Q'rion's instructions:D . The DR and FH kept the Rune Hound in the fight much longer then I thought as the party dealt it a whopping 71 points of damage before it finally went down. It was a long drawn out fight where every resource was used. The group had used up the last of their healing potions and good berries to recover and were in desperate need of more healing and choose to stay above ground rather then head back down till they were better off. After the druid cast her spells they returned down the ladder back into the depths. The party soon found themselves back at the door they left unopened and heard the sound of footsteps grow close and then fade away. With Gord in the lead they quickly burst into the room and found a very big zombie and two goblinoids. Jack moved into the room while the rest of the party opened fire upon the zombie as it moved towards them, between the three party members the zombie quickly went down but Jack was now fighting against two opponents that seemed just as agile an skilled as he was. "They're monsters with class levels, just great."Unfortunately, tumbling was all they seemed to be able to do as they were soon flanked by the rest of the party and though I did get a few good hits in on Jack, Krusis was dead after the third round and Sargusus only lasted two more rounds. After a few moments of looting the corpses the party settled in to rest up and level up before going any further.
pukunui 01-23-08, 04:29 PM	All seemed quiet to quiet, he party knew something was up after their spot checks revealed nothing and since many of them had low spot checks they "knew" something was up. In this case literally as the choker went for the druid.The method I devised to avoid this sort of situation is to assume that the PCs are always taking 10 on their Listen and Spot checks. This way, I can reveal things they notice or have things truly surprise them without giving it away with an obviously failed check. Just to clarify, though, I do actually allow them to roll Spot and Listen checks. They just have to tell me they want to do it. I just don't ever ask them to make one anymore. On a different note, I'm kind of surprised that you left the rune hound in the adventure. I looked at it and decided it was way too overpowered for 2nd level PCs. I'm glad your group managed to kill it without it killing any of them, though. As I may have mentioned before, the tomb spider is also hideously overpowered, and it's actually worse than the rune hound because the PCs have no choice but to face it and if they can't beat it, then they can't really continue with the adventure because there's no way around it (whereas the rune hound, at least, is out of the way and could potentially be missed entirely). I suppose if the party has a wizard who can cast invisibility on everyone, then the party could possibly sneak past the spider, but still ... it's got a higher CR than any of the BBEG and having it be "wounded" really doesn't help. :nonono:
themadlibrarian 01-23-08, 04:49 PM	I wasn't sure about leaving the rune hound in there but after i had determined how it would attack I was fairly certain that the party could take care of it, I just didn't think tha druid would be all by her elonesome up there for the better part of 7 rounds.
Elsord0 01-23-08, 04:49 PM	I'm just about to run this campaign with a group of three PCs. I just want to say that this thread has been insightful and helped a lot. I have one question maybe you could help me with. I love visuals for my PCs and since there are no references of where these monsters came from I am having a hard time finding an image of the Harrier, Assaulter and Distracters that are in encounters 16 "maze's end". I think I might swap them with Hammerers (MM2) instead but was wondering what you guys did/are going to do? Any idea of what book to find these automatons in? And while we are on the subject, what book are stygian leeches found in?
Zarith 01-23-08, 06:33 PM	On a different note, I'm kind of surprised that you left the rune hound in the adventure. I looked at it and decided it was way too overpowered for 2nd level PCs. I'm glad your group managed to kill it without it killing any of them, though. My players were also able to kill the rune hound, even after 2 of them were dropped into the negatives after facing the room with the zombie & goblinoids and the choker. The partys resources were sapped. "Hey look, an easy way back to town. Better scout it out." Only two went up, so I was a little nervous (as I'm sure you were with only one going up) but they were very creative and managed to kill it quickly (suprise round for the hound, +2 more rounds and it was over). It was very close, but no one died. This is as far as my group has gone as well, interesting to see how things are going with another group.
Rizzen_Xiltyn 02-09-08, 07:25 AM	Hi all, just wnna say this was extremely helpful! Although i do have one problem! Which side does the support ropes break in the sabotaged bridge encounter? i might just be missing the obvious, but they get a spot check (+1 Per 10 FT). So in theory it cant be the side they are trying to reach, its got to be the side they started on, but then how the hell would the robbers have sabotaged it without walking across it themselves? could somone clear this up for me!?
Zarith 02-09-08, 10:27 AM	Hi all, just wnna say this was extremely helpful! Although i do have one problem! Which side does the support ropes break in the sabotaged bridge encounter? i might just be missing the obvious, but they get a spot check (+1 Per 10 FT). So in theory it cant be the side they are trying to reach, its got to be the side they started on, but then how the hell would the robbers have sabotaged it without walking across it themselves? could somone clear this up for me!? Why can't it be the side they are trying to reach? In the module it says the ropes break "on the far side". I assume this to mean the far side from where they started. If the players are taking their time (pausing after stepping on) and moving at 1/2 speed they may notice the ropes on the far side unraveling DC 20 +1/10' (+1 to the DC, not the spot check).
Prom 02-11-08, 12:36 AM	Posted by themadlibrarian, Mina doing what any good druid would do when faced by this type of beast, she ran and climbed a tree That Rune hound sounds like it gave your group a few surprises. I never faced the Rune hound myself when I played this module as it got taken out and no-one went up the ladder. Prom
pukunui 02-11-08, 01:44 AM	no-one went up the ladder. No but Nick's new PC and Kethra came down the ladder ...
Blarghy 02-14-08, 12:33 AM	Any idea of what book to find these automatons in? And while we are on the subject, what book are stygian leeches found in? Most of the monsters (including the automatons) in the adventure come from the MM3/MM4. The leeches look like they were created using the leech stats in Stormwrack and adding a bit of flavor to make them "stygian".
pukunui 02-14-08, 01:49 AM	Most of the monsters (including the automatons) in the adventure come from the MM3/MM4. The leeches look like they were created using the leech stats in Stormwrack and adding a bit of flavor to make them "stygian". I think the Stygian Leech is actually from a book. Fiend Folio maybe? That's where the two weird undead creatures are from (the plague walker and the huecuva). The only truly made-up creature in the module, that I'm aware of, is the Betrayer himself.
themadlibrarian 02-14-08, 11:25 PM	Well the best laid plans of mice and men often fall astray, sorry for the to long delay. To get back into the thick of it the party entered into the hallway after beating the stuffing out of the goblinoids after Jack wanted to be very paranoid about the door, and soon the group found themselves facing two doors. Faced with this dilema over which door to take they split up with Mina and jack taking the door to the right and Gord and the wizard taking the left. While Jack and Mina followed the hallway they were in and the daring duo of Jack and Q'rion were amazed and worried to spot the shattered remains of two freshly slain goblinoids. Meanwhile Jack, Mina, and Denello were advancing without a care in the world, save for Jack who was checking almost every spot for traps, and were just about to the door yelling at their party members to hurry up. All was silent till Gord approached the bridge and from the depths of the water sprang a serpent made of water, before I could even ask for a diplomacy check the wizard was dragging the fighter away from the bridge as best as he could not even wanting to have the possibility of a combat take place. Q'rion watched with a sigh of relief as the weird did not show signs of pursuing them. The two didn't sop running till they had reached the rest of the party by taking the long way of course. This time they inched ever so closely with their backs to the wall till they were almost to the door when the weird appeared again, and before they made a mad dash for the door I was able to have a diplomacy check done, and the weird was willing ot let them pass without threat of harm, though the check wasn't good enough to learn anything else about the tomb. As the group entered the next room they immediately inspected the statues a quick knowledge of dungeonoring made it sure that there were tombs behind them and that they were still sealed. Jack searched the door to make sure that it was safe to open and that done, Jack and Gord entered into the chamber...making lots of noise along the way. So with Q'rion examining the statues and Mina with Denello outside as well things kicked off with the wererat pulling off a sneak attack on Gord as battle was joined. Sadly I rolled abysmally and got only minimal damage but what happened next more then made up for it. Jack was fighting off Garjunk as Gord got ready to charge in and smash when instead he rolled double ones and his sword went airborne, I rolled a d4 to see where it would go and unfortunately his sword went right into Jacks rump. I had Gord roll a ranged attack and although his bonuses were lousy he still connected nearly dropping poor Jack. Mina made here triumphant return and quickly rushed to jacks aid while Gord tried to pull his sword out of jack. Things were getting pretty crowded in the tomb and once Gord his sword out of Jack things started to get ugly as the were rate was hit again and again by a combination of melee and ranged arrows as Q'rion arrived. I gambled that his combat expertise would let him get out alive as he scrambled up the stairway, but eve with the bonus to his ac it wasn't enough. I was sad that I didn't get to even bite anyone. It was after the battle that Q'rion arrived in the tomb and was able to read the inscription upon the statue and thus enlightened began to figure out the riddle with the parties help of course. A few minutes later the party was able to follow the instructions though they had no idea what these items were, nor who to ask about them. With no options left to them the party pressed onward into a much grander room and once-more chose to split up with Jack and Gord moving up the right side while Denello, Mina, and Q'rion went up the right. Although jack moved with nary a whisper Gord was not so stealthy and his presence was easily detected by the evil cleric Krootad who used the time to cast shield of faith upon himself and quicken his word on raising the dead. The trio were working their way up the right side and to their horror saw the opened crypts and the much larger crypt that had been broken into as well as leaving no bones.
Zarith 02-18-08, 11:58 AM	My players didn't get bitten by the were-rat either. Oh well. Krootad also heard them coming, his buff spells and all the undead made for a tough battle...
pukunui 02-18-08, 02:12 PM	My players didn't get bitten by the were-rat either. Oh well. Krootad also heard them coming, his buff spells and all the undead made for a tough battle... My guys had a ridiculously easy time with Krootad. One of them managed to knock him over somehow (can't remember how) and then they all just pounced on him and one of them critted and that was that.
Prom 02-18-08, 02:56 PM	Posted by Pukunui, My guys had a ridiculously easy time with Krootad. One of them managed to knock him over somehow (can't remember how) and then they all just pounced on him and one of them critted and that was that. That was a trip attack from the half-giant. That was the only easy battle we had in that adventure, had a lot of luck. themadlibrarian, hope your band of players manage this battle alright. Prom
pukunui 02-18-08, 03:14 PM	That was a trip attack from the half-giant. That was the only easy battle we had in that adventure, had a lot of luck. themadlibrarian, hope your band of players manage this battle alright. Prom That's right. I knew it was something like that.
Zarith 02-18-08, 03:35 PM	If you'll pardon the blatant plug themadlibrarian, you're all welcome to come and read our ongoing adventure over here. http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=215736 Waiting for more of your adventures as well.
themadlibrarian 02-22-08, 04:36 PM	So tonight we reap up the module and I will not be content until I achieve at least one PC death. In the meanwhile I will attempt to get through as much of the recap as possible. As the two groups made their way along the hallway with Gord and Q'rion leading the way on the right, and Jack, Mina, and Denello taking the right. The group on the right were following the trail of foot prints that lead from the busted in tombs slowly making their way and growing more and more worried at the fact the tombs were empty. A few moments later both group reached the flavor text and cue the initiative The evil Cleric Krootad with the extra time that he had was ready and waiting with two of the skeletons already raised and working on the third when the party arrived. Q'rion quickly voiced his concerns, crap he's got armor, crap he's a spell cast. and crap there are lots of skeletons. Gord immediately charged in, only to charge back out as he fell victim to a fear spell and the party was hesitant to move back in at the moment but with the sight of a third skeleton now rising they moved back in and quickly began engaging the now 4 skeletons. (On a DM note I moved the minotaur skeleton from the left side of the chamber to the right) Mina, Jack, Gord, and Denello were trying to fight their way through the undead wall without much luck as the odd skeletal limb was chopped off but the skeletons kept them at bay. Q'rion drew a bead and fired away with one of his last flaming arrows and scored a beautiful hit upon Krotad....only to find himself being smacked back by a mysterious floating flail that appeared out of nowhere that nearly dropped him in one hit:eek: The other skeletons fell in the next round of combat but they held off the party long enough for Krootad to get to the huge pile of bones and raise the last skeleton despite being hit with a scorching ray he was able to concentrate enough to cast the spell and now the minotaur was ready to engage, and unfortunately Death Knell failed miserably but I was content with the way things were going:D Then things tuned around rather quickly as the spiritual weapon was unable to connect with Q'rion for the rest of its summoned time and remove the final few points of life and the minotaur was slowly dropping and the party members were only taking the odd hit, although for Gord who got gored for minimal damage grrr:rant: Krootad was engaging with mêlée with Denello, Jack and Mina and was dropping in hp as well. A quick cure moderate did little to help the situation as I rolled the absolute minimum for it:raincloud I used the Minotaur to clear a hole for Krootad to make a run for it and thanks to the shield of faith was able to ward of attacks of opportunity and make a run for it through the shattered remains of the minotaur. The only thing in his way was Q'rion who was looking pretty grim and I had saved the perfect spell but somehow Q'rion was able to make the save and avoided contagion but was unable to strike the killing blow. Cue the scooby doo chase music With the entire party moving after him through the hallway and the shield of faith keeping Krootad just barely safe from the rain of arrows, daggers, stones, and sword strikes from striking his retreating form as he fled down the Hall of the Honored and made it all the way to the canal. By now the PCs were screaming at me, their dice, their miniatures, and making threats of unimaginable pain to the poor poor piece of graph paper that was serving as the map. The end came a few seconds later as the death blow was finally dealt and the corpse was soon being chopped to pieces to prevent anything from happening that might make it rise up. With the party battered and bruised they camped in the vault cursing all hobgoblins, clerics, and especially hobgoblin clerics.
pukunui 02-22-08, 05:10 PM	and I will not be content until I achieve at least one PC death.Please tell me you're just being facetious ... With the entire party moving after him through the hallway and the shield of faith keeping Krootad just barely safe from the rain of arrows, daggers, stones, and sword strikes from striking his retreating form as he fled down the Hall of the Honored and made it all the way to the canal. By now the PCs were screaming at me, their dice, their miniatures, and making threats of unimaginable pain to the poor poor piece of graph paper that was serving as the map. The end came a few seconds later as the death blow was finally dealt and the corpse was soon being chopped to pieces to prevent anything from happening that might make it rise up. With the party battered and bruised they camped in the vault cursing all hobgoblins, clerics, and especially hobgoblin clerics.:rofl:
Zarith 02-22-08, 05:17 PM	Yeah, that Sheild of Faith made a difference in my game too. They were definetly cursing Krootad and his undead. Didn't get to cast Contagion, though it was next on the list. Good thing he didn't get away, sounds like your players might have... become unpleasant.
Prom 02-23-08, 05:59 PM	Now that was funny, good ending. Posted by themadlibrarian, So tonight we reap up the module and I will not be content until I achieve at least one PC death. Don't you worry there are more problems the PC's have to get past, and death comes swiftly. Still if a PC dies you have to work the new PC into the story and check the new stat block, lots of work. You might get your wish, if you aren't careful. Prom
solbergb 02-24-08, 11:45 AM	Heh..we fought that battle mostly in an obscuring mist to cut down on undead reach options and to interfere with the cleric's ability to target spells and direct the undead. I remember it being challenging, confusing and tricky, with the PC's rotating less injured melees into the kill zones and rotating out the badly injured to heal. By then all of our "cheap win" tricks were used up and we had settled down for careful, longerm slugfests, unbuffed melee + wands of clw vs whatever the Barrow had to throw at us. We had a handful of consumables that would power us up for one big fight or series of close-together fights but we decided this wasn't the battle for that. The very fine armor on that hobgoblin cleric helped my character out a lot in the rest of the module....
themadlibrarian 02-24-08, 05:12 PM	What madness is this, two updates in less then a week? This session we were short Jack who was unable to game with us, but thankfully I had the perfect solution. After a truly exhausting battle with the cleric Krootad that party had stopped to recover their strength before going any further into the unknown depths. This took some time as the druid only seemed to be able to roll ones on her cure light wound spells. So vexed was she with this that she started to refer to herself as, "The Papercut Princess." With the party healed as much as was possible they ventured down the rope ladder into the unknown and emerged into a cavern....well most of them did. I was running Jack and rolled a few natural ones on climb checks and reflex saves so he was caught upside down, backwards, and heavily tangled up in the rope. He told hte party to press on and that he would be only a few moments behind. Periodically listen checks by the party would reveal curses condeming all hemp to the abyss. As the trio and dog pressed on through the cavern and slowly made progress moving from rock mound ot rock mound. All the while the fighter pulled off amazing will saves to avoid the effects of the Lurking Strangler and Q'rion quickly sent it to its doom with two arrows. At about this time I thought that nothing could stop the group till they got to the second ot last column and were trying ot think of a way to get to the exit when Mina came up with the idea of having Gord throw here the last ten feet to the exit. The party rapidly agreed and soon a rope was tied to her and Gord was ready to toss her across. It's at this point that things got interesting Instead of a triumphant toss what happened was more like a push as Gord rolled a 1 and sent Mina over the edge, he followed this up with another natural 1 to grab the rope as Mina went over the edge. SO with Gord lying flat on his back Denello lunged forward and was able to grab the rope in his mouth, but failed miserably on his strenght check, even when Q'rion grabbed onto him to help and they both went over the edge following hte druid. It's at this time that Gord managed to stop the rope from going any further and unfortuntely Denello was unable to make a concentration check to hold onto the rope as it jerked to a stop and it slipped out of his mouth, much to Q'rion's horror. As I recapped to Mina, "Okay you're not falling anymore but as you look up you see your animal companion and Q'rion falling right at you. Any thoughts as to what you want ot do?:confused: " Her response, "I kick of the rockface ot get out of their way and let them fall. My dog will forgive me.:eek: " A few seconds later it was all over but the crying as animal companion and wizard hit the floor with a resounding crash and suprisingly only minimal damage. A few climb checks later and a lot of apologetic looks later the party was all set to continue onward. Except for Jack who was still stick in the rope ladder:D
silvergamgee 02-25-08, 11:32 PM	Actually, Q'rion failed his save. That was the first of several diseases he contracted in a pretty short period of time. But that whole thing was pretty freaking hilarious.
themadlibrarian 03-12-08, 11:09 PM	All right then back to the thick of it. After the struggle to cross the cavern the group was very happy to be back in a room and they were soon joined by Jack who had finally been able to release himself from the rope ladder that I had oh so evilly had him trapped in. Originally I started the maze with using the predawn maze that was included in the adventure but changed at the start of the next session because it was just to darn difficult to keep drawing it as the party progressed a few feet at a time and having the entire maze predrawn would have been a complete mess. Instead I followed the suggestions in the adventure I randomly rolled up a maze. Which was much easier then it sounds. I rolled a d3+1 to find out how many exits a room would have and another d3+1 to find out which one of the exits would be the right one. The others I made out to be dead ends, broom closets, or complete rooms with multiple dead ends. I also expanded on the number of trapped tiles but changed it so that there was a 50% chance of them going off no matter what your orientation was upon stepping on one. Everyone had leveled up prior to the last session with everyone advancing a level in their same classes with the exception of Jack who outclassed to Monk. Thanks to the borrowed ever burning torch there was light enough for all to see as the party advanced through the maze so with Gord in the lead backed up by Q'rion, followed up by Mina & Denello, leaving Jack in the back as they entered the first room to find it barren with 5 exits. Gord & Q'rion went off to check out passage way 2 with the remainder of the party searched the empty chamber. At this point Gord discover the pretty shapes on the floor and before Q'rion could stop him he walked right for them and after a quick game of high or low nothing happened...until Gord decided to try another tile and a pair of fiendish wolverines appeared as if out of nowhere and attacked although not to successfully as the duo dispatched them with a combination of magic and sword play and some timely assistance from Jack and Mina but Q'rion did take a hit that took out a nice chunk of the wizard. While this was happening Mina & Jack had discovered 1 empty room, I dead end, I broom closet, and the passage to the next room. This had a pretty tile right as you entered the room. After they heard the wizard screaming don't touch it they pulled off a quick reflex save to stop themselves and easily jumped over it. Q'rion was right behind them and even Gord was able to jump over the symbol and they were relieved to find only one other way out of this room that lead to an eerily familiar room with a tile blocking their path but unlike the first room this one only had three exits and it was at this point that the party decided to separate to cover more ground faster, cue cackling laughter. Gord & Q'rion took one exit while Mina and Jack took the other heading into opposite directions what happened next was a comedy at its best. Gord would seem to have uncanny luck when it would come to having summoned monsters appear and Q'rion was just unlucky as hell since he was the one that usually triggered the tile. The pair followed a series of passageways and rooms that eventually lead them to another room where they faced dire weasels and wolverines in short succession though not at the same time. Gord was pretty happy at being able to swing through his enemies but Q'rion was just getting more and more upset at the unfairness of the universe. By this time Jack and Mina had discovered the exit after following a trail of broken tiles that left a trail like bread crumbs. Gord and jack soon reached the end of their journey only to find a dead end and what looked like a war zone as it appeared that someone had taken a maul to the tiles in the final room that they were in. The duo back tracked and were able to fin the remainder of the party...but Gord wouldn't resist stepping on one more tile...only to have nothing happen. I highly recommend that you make our own maze and not the copy the one from the book, its just much easier, I kept rolling up weasels and wolverines on the encounter chart so the party spent a lot of time trying to find their way through the maze. It was at the point where I was going to reroll in hopes of an archon but knowing my luck it probably would have been the dire scorpion.
pukunui 03-13-08, 03:17 PM	You're not supposed to use the one from the book anyway. It specifically says it's just there to "fill the space". You're supposed to do exactly what you did. Glad it worked out fine and I think the trail of broken tiles was a nice touch. Wish I'd thoughta that! ;) My guys just tried the age-old cliched method of always following the left wall. :rolleyes: At one point they summoned up two dire weasels, both of which got the jump on the party ranger. They both critted, as well. The poor guy died before he even really knew what hit him (I said the weasels had gone for his throat and had ripped out his jugular vein).
Zarith 03-13-08, 05:09 PM	I used the one in the book for the start and the finish. The rest went well using preprinted rooms. That was probably the only part where I wasn't sure how it would go. We just finished barrow last night. On to part 2!
Prom 03-14-08, 08:34 PM	Posted by Pukunui, My guys just tried the age-old cliched method of always following the left wall. That maze was very memorable and funny. But when a character dies with no chance to hit back, it's time to get out, so follow the left wall (all hands say "I"). Posted by themadlibrarian, it was at this point that the party decided to separate to cover more ground faster, cue cackling laughter. They are so luck they made it out, seperating a party in a Maze, oh my, lol. Prom
themadlibrarian 03-19-08, 10:41 PM	Wow, I am the thousandth person to view this recap, I guess that I better make this memorable and finish this before we start the Sinister Spire. Without further adieu. "What not to have your Animal Companion Do" The party had entered into the final chamber of the maze and was eagerly pressing onward and after a few moments of traveling down the hallway they found a large lake awaiting them. After the group reached the shore they spotted a mysterious item in the water and were very curious yet cautious. After a short discussion Mina volunteered to have her animal companion Denello take a look at it and with the rest of the group providing cover fire. After a few doggy paddle checks, Denello was making great progress and was about to investigate when something tried to grab him :eek: Mina not wasting anytime ordered her dog to climb onto the island and wait for help. "What’s your dog's alignment?" "Neutral. Why do you ask?" "Well as Denello scrambles onto land he looks down and between his oversized paws he sees a rune growing very brightly." "Oh crap, he's gonna be eaten!!" "Not exactly, everyone roll a swim check as a surge of water appears from nowhere and sweeps you all off in different directions." Surprisingly enough it was only the wizard that got swept into the water and the rest were pushed along on dry land before the water receded, leaving the wizard all alone in the dark, in the water, surrounded by the screeching eels. Sorry I couldn't help that last part. Unfortunately, Q’rion was by himself and soon he was being swarmed by leaches of all sorts and soon found himself being the proud recipient of Demons Fever as well as being completely flanked by squirmy leaches. Thankfully before he was completely screwed the party came to his rescue and they were able to make their escape. Gord nearly was the death of Q'rion as he rolled several 1's, thankfully he was able to recover on the reflex before chopping off something important of Q'rion's. Jack and mina played support healing ands sniping at the additional leaches but I was amazed at how effective the water trap was it forced Q'rion into a position where he was outnumbered and in the worst possible situation with no escape route. Did anyone have any combination water trap going off more than once? ?
themadlibrarian 03-19-08, 11:15 PM	"When all else fails smash it" Despite Q'rion having caught another disease the party was quite happy with how they were doing and were very glad to be out of the maze and in what they thought was the final room and found a pit and after a successful heal check by Mina, they were pretty sure that she was still alive and not some sort of zombie or other undead lying in wait for prey. Oh, the ideas I had after hearing that:D They learned that her name was Leera and that she was desperately in over her head and wanted out of this place right away. Leera revealed what she knew about the robbers but the party didn't ask anything about the tomb or the king:( After a few more moments and a few cure paper cuts Leera was let go and away she went. While Mina and Q'rion were tending to Leera, Jack and Gord were moving up ahead and thanks to a last minute save by Jack the hidden pit was discovered and the duo kept advancing into the next room just as Leera was leaving and suddenly Gord was being bitten by something that had jumped out of a statue and Jack was getting gored by a spike. As Mina, Denello, and Q'rion rushed to aid them Jack did what rouges have done for centuries, he tumbled away and ran away from combat:D , leaving Gord all by himself:eek: :eek:, which surprisingly made Gord happier? As the Assaulter and Gord were taking turns tearing into each other, the harrierer was chasing after Jack and poking him with his very big spike for major damage and just in the knick of time the rest of group arrived to save Jacks player from having to roll up a new character. Between the four of them they were able to take care of the harrier and arrive just in time to steal Gord's kill, and also put Gord back together after the slugfest he was in. I played Leera as being forgetful and not sure of what was further ahead, if the party had lead her with questions I would have supplied more info but since they did not I played her strictly as someone who had to get out of there.
Zarith 03-20-08, 07:51 AM	Not the Shrieking Eels!!! When I read that I wasn't afraid. I might have been a little concerned, but not afraid. No one set off the water trap in my group. The only one who could saw the runes on the beach and they were too smart to just go swimming.
mrfoobz322 03-20-08, 08:55 PM	Ah, mad librarian...to think poor Mina only has her St. Bernard riding dog to save her. Just a note, I shall be nicer to poor Danello (note spelling) for next time as he does carry a good bulk of the party treasure. On a side note, would our DM allow us to use more of the expansion Druid spells??? Your druid is growing bored as the party healer...brewing good berries on a regular basis; however, in noting we may be going deeper underground, how would you rule on my ability to revere nature and become one with her in accordance with my spell preparation? These comments and more to follow. By the way...should we have asked more questions regarding the king??:confused:
themadlibrarian 03-27-08, 12:05 AM	“How not to sneak up an enemy encampment” After demolishing the animated statues that had attacked them and after recovering some much needed hp they stepped through the rubble and down the stairs only to find a barricade of broken masonry and with Gord in the lead they opt for the quick path and push the barricade down with a tremendous crash and the group advances inside to find a pair of goblinoids with bows drawn and using the statue on the straw piles for cover and combat is joined as the pair open up with bows. Jack goes first and tries to get into a position behind the pair only to have caltrops stick to him twice, meanwhile Gord who is running joyfully along the same path unfazed and unaffected much to the rouge’s chagrin. It’s at this point that Magruug enters the fray and just before he is getting ready to bring the hurt upon the invaders, Q'rion opens up with a scorching ray and nearly drops the scout, who would then spend the next 2 rounds healing and trying to get into a position to strike. Surprisingly the pair of archers kept Jack and Gord occupied by filling them with arrows and narrowly avoiding damage, they lasted much longer then I would have thought compared to the previous battles. Meanwhile back to the scout and the wizard. Q'rion feeling adventurous attempts to jump over the chasm and move in for the kill…only to horrifically fail his jump check and fall into the chasm before throwing his arms out to brace against the opposite side. Mina and Danello rush to fish the wizard out of the hole while Magruug is downing a potion and moving from the bedrolls to the statue by the wall. After a quick strength check Q'rion was pulled out of the hole and once he safely standing promptly received an arrow to the gut courtesy of Magruug and drops to the ground unconscious. On a dm note I do love skirmish, my favorite class is the scout and most of the players in my group know this and once they found out what Magruug was they were worried. Mina was quick to act using a quick forced feeding of good berries to bring the wizard back, including the forced chewing and swallowing. Unfortunately, it was only enough to stabilize him at 0, meanwhile as the pair was occupied Magruug cut a path and jumped into one of the open sarcophagi. Back to the duo of Jack and Gord who were finally able to hit the goblins and were promptly cursing them as they backed away to drink their potions and renew the fight. Cue an irate Jack and Gord, “Stop drinking our loot!!” It was truly a vengeance driven pair that descended upon the goblins to avenge their lost loot caltrops be damned. Mina was trading shots with Magruug but was unable to put the evil scout down, cue Q'rion who rises up and takes his partial action to fire off a spell taking care of Magruug and then promptly dropped unconscious as he failed his fortitude save and was now down to -2 but was happy with his actions. A few moments later he was again force-fed good berries to bring him back this time by Gord and the battered party with their wounds healed as best as possible set off following the stairs into the next cavern. “A much needed Helping Hand” The group was a little hesitant about pushing onward and even more so when I wanted a diplomacy check from each of them, I wasn’t shocked by the results which had a combined roll of almost 40 counting the +2 for having an Elven female, +2 slaving the varags, +2 for Mina’s upbeat conversational skills, and not to mention her cha bonus soon the aquatic cleric was putty in her hands and was constantly complimenting her about all manner of things about her. He eagerly healed the party of their wounds and gave them insight about what awaits them in the next chamber and his hatred of the spider. Jack wanting to get in on the fun challenged Sigur to a diving contest which had him jumping over the edge with Sigur keeping pace the whole way and plucking the plunging rouge out of harms way and carrying him back up to the path, where he dropped him to then pick up and carry Mina the rest of the way to exit. It was great tension breaker after the last few combats and I had a blast role-playing as Sigur and the pcs. “I’m glad I didn’t pick arachnophobia as a character flaw” With Gord once more in the lead the party entered into an incredibly dusty and web filled chamber. Jack immediately went to examine the web covered statue and Gord was transfixed by the sight of boxes and promptly sprinted over to examine them. As jack was examining the statue and Mina and Q'rion were wondering where all the webs came from and a quick nature of knowledge revealed “Big Spider” and as they realized that Jack was pounded by the resident web mummy and would spend the next few rounds trying to strike the slippery rouge that scrambled out of its way. Gord was still mesmerized by the thought of what treasures might be inside the boxes and yelled back, “The mummy just wants a hug and I’ve got boxes to worry about.” This upon realizing they were empty of all loot became enraged and charged the mummy. Mina was hesitant to send in Danello and sniped at it with her sling while Q'rion readied a spell that knocked it down just as it was closing on Jack to give him another hug. DM note: This is where I changed things up, I thought about having the brood swarm be separate but the imagery of having the swarm explode out of the slain mummy was just to much of a visual in my mind for me to follow the original plan. With the mummy falling just in front of a battered jack he breathed a sigh of relief only to see the swarm burst forth to continue to harass Jack though despite its higher ac it lasted not nearly as long as the mummy and was disposed before I could do anything interesting. With the threat gone Jack and Gord set of to investigate the tracks that lead towards the balcony and as the duo entered into the even dustier chamber, after a few short steps and one failed spot check later the spider was right on top of them and promptly began flinging a web at its new snack. Mina and Danello sprinted up to help their comrades while Q'rion feeling lucky took out a flaming arrow and aimed in the general direction of where he thought the threat was. The flaming arrow promptly threaded between jack, Gord, and the spider before mounting into the wall and fizzling out, but leaving behind a good sized burned hole through the webbing revealing the massive spider to Q'rion, and with a yell of sorry Q'rion prepared his next action. Jack and Gord were taking damage from the spider but thankfully not poison, and just as Mina and Danello were about to enter the fray Q'rion fired off a spell that I never had heard of. It was called Black Karma Curse and one very bad saving throw later the spider was forced to use its most powerful attack against itself and the fight was pretty much over after it took 19 points of damage plus poison. Danello was able to deal the killing blow ripping away a leg that dropped it. After the mummy and the various spiders the party didn’t even bother searching the room and promptly went through the door revealed by the spider’s death throes. DM note: If it wasn’t for the Black karma Curse I was pretty sure that the fight would have ended with at least one pc death, it’s a very challenging encounter if confined to the balcony. IF the spider emerges into the main room to fight the party I really think that the spider is at the disadvantage with their being so much room to move around in. I did have Siguir ready to step in if things were looking grim but it never came to that
themadlibrarian 03-30-08, 09:20 PM	As the party pressed onward into the room of visions, as I like to call it, they separated to search the different rooms, Mina and Danello were drawn to the different rooms watching the story play out. Q'rion was content to wait in the middle and keep an eye out for oncoming threats, and the duo of Gord and Jack went about looking for anything that wasn't nailed down. Right about the time that Mina was learning of the tragic fate of the forgotten king, Jack and Gord had reached a pair of open sarcophagi and were positive that there might be something of value left inside and at that moment tow undead things rose up and assaulted them. Jack was hit heavily by the rotting bag of flesh and the undead knight failed to strike Gord. Hearing the sounds of combat Q'rion rushed to join but upon seeing the harsh melee condition decided he was better off casting magic from a distance and fired away with a deadly scorchign ray at the undead knight that was nearly a critical and drew the undeads attention towards him. However, before it could close the distance Q'rion blasted him again and down he went. Jack and Gord were tearing into the other undead and dropped it before i was even able to blow it up. :( Mina arrived only to find the broken remains of the opposition and her somewhat wounded comrades and a large mysterious mirror, what happened next was a truly unfortunate series of events. Mina started into the mirror and felt great, the few wounds she had were immediately healed and she felt just perfect...like lemmings her comrades each took a turn and each felt worse then the previous as images of horror and gigantic disappointment awaited them each. The remainder of the group wondered what was it that mad their druid comrade take joy from seeing such misery and promptly backed away from the acursed mirror. Mina tried to share the tale of forgotten king, but after seeing their own personal demons brought back screaming at them the party paid her little heed, "That's really nice but right now I have images of my spells exploding in my face and my hands falling off."
Zarith 03-31-08, 07:13 AM	Jack and Gord were tearing into the other undead and dropped it before i was even able to blow it up. Yeah, same thing happened to me, very disappointing. Our group avoided the mirror all together. Too many 1st ed. veterans.