Dungeon #125 "Pit of the Fire Lord" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Dungeon #125 "Pit of the Fire Lord" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
talion09
07-10-05, 02:01 PM Hey, has anyone played through this adventure yet? I ran my party through the first two parts of the trilogy, but now I have a problem... I was a little off in my pacing, and my party is finished the 2nd part, complete with the cliffhanger ending during the return to Sharn.

Problem is, the issue doesn't hit newstands until the day that we have our next session.

So either I

A) Quickly read and run the adventure pretty much immediately after I pick it up, or;

B) Make up my own version of it. I have some good visions of the final battle in the cogs, with lava erupting everywhere and the roof collapsing, etc.

Anyways, I'm just looking for some feedback on this adventure, because if I decide to go with option B, I should plan out the adventure today.

Thanks
ILL34GL3
07-10-05, 05:29 PM Though I haven't seen the second adventure in the trilogy, I'd say that judging by the first adventure that I saw, the next one will be fairly elementary. You should be able to run it with just an hour or two of exposure.
talion09
07-10-05, 10:52 PM Has anyone else played this adventure yet? Or even just flipped through their copy of Dungeon and glanced at it?

I looked at the downloadable supplement stuff from Paizo's website, and the pics show the following monsters:

A red dragon ?! scorching some adventurers

A salamander peering through a portal, presumably to Fernia

---
Ok, is there really a red dragon in this adventure, or was that pic artistic license? It seems a little out of place to find one below sharn working for Lamishal. I mean, the one in the Scorpion Temple made sense, but another dragon immediately after? It seems a little too much unless there is a good plot reason.
drunkenewok
07-11-05, 10:34 AM If you are not a DM, you are on your honor not to read the following. Don't be a loser, the game is much more fun when you don't know exactly what's going to happen.

1) Yes there is a red dragon. No, I don't recall recall it having any particularly meaningful reason for being there, but that could be a factor of my memory rather than a factor of the adventure.

2) Other creatures involved (as near as I can recall) include: 2 Azers, 4 Medium Fire Elementals, 4 Salamanders, Lamishal himself, a couple Hell Hounds, and a Druid with a really oddly named animal companion (I remember laughing at the name, but I can't remember what it was)

The adventure actually starts with Tophran in hiding, and his errand-runner finding the PCs at the Airship dock and sending them to his hiding place in Lower Dura. When they arrive, they find him murdered, and a clue leading to an information broker (changeling). The changeling is a negotiation encounter, and they can get the location of Lamishal's hideout (an abandoned silver refinery in the Cogs)

Once there, they face the Druid, the Azers, and a pair of Hell Hounds. Then a narrow passage is trapped with a spear trap, followed by a room with the Elementals and the Dragon (though the dragon is hidden down a shaft to the lower level at the start).

After following the shaft, they come across a bridge over a river of lava, which is inhabited by two salamanders fighting from the lava. They try to grapple and pull the PCs in.

The final battle I'm a little more fuzzy about, I remember more salamander(s), Lamishal himself, and I think one or two more creatures I can't recall. Using the Heart of the Scorpion (the dragonshard from Xen'drik) is key to closing the gate (at least long enough to prevent the destruction of the city). The gate is a round hole leading to Fernia (like the picture you saw), and the room on the Eberron side is filled with flowing lava (with a few ledges around the edge)

Also might want to read up on the effects of Fernia being coterminous (since it is), and I think the effects of Fernia being coterminous AND near the gate may make some effects (notably fire spells) more powerful. (I think fire spells are automatically empowered, while cold spells have reduced effect)

There's also a section that says if the PCs don't hurry, the gate gets covered in lava after 24 hrs, and after a few days, all of Sharn is reduced to a melty pool of slag.

Hopefully that's enough to give you some ideas of what's in the mag. That should be enough to let you run from the mag on short prep, or give you enough detail to prep your own.
talion09
07-11-05, 12:37 PM Thanks for the info.

I had fun reading and running the first two adventures in the trilogy, and I thought it was pretty well thought out to have the Chamber Dragon and his agent in the Temple of the Scorpion God (although I disliked having to borrow the MiniHandbook for the agent, but whatever). I was a little worried that they were throwing in a Red Dragon for the coolness of fighting a red dragon, and kinda ignoring the continuity issues of tossing dragon fights haphazardly across Khorvaire.

Also, does the fight at the end in and among the lava remind anyone else of the end of certain movies involving Jedi and Sith, lol? I know the adventure came out first, but still, the first thing I thought was "Cool, Star Wars!"
cmanos
07-12-05, 08:52 AM fun adventure

Characters get back to Sharn to find their employer is dead. Track the killer to a changeling in the ghetto, from whom they can find out that the ir employer from Crimson Stars is held up in the cogs. They may also discover he is planning on opening a gate to Ferni and sinking Sharn in a lake of magma. Crawl through the caves, full of fire creatures, (I don't remember a redd dragon, but I could have missed that), until they meet the final confrontation in a chamber almost full of magma that is pouring through the Fernian gate. PC's have to use the Heart of the Scorpion to close the gate, fight off salamanders and the Crimson Stars employer as well.
cmanos
07-12-05, 08:53 AM Also, does the fight at the end in and among the lava remind anyone else of the end of certain movies involving Jedi and Sith, lol? I know the adventure came out first, but still, the first thing I thought was "Cool, Star Wars!"

Oh and I had a prelim script to Sith back in 1993 that had the lava lightsaber due in. I'd be intersted in going back and seeing just how far they deviated from it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
talion09 07-10-05, 02:01 PM	Hey, has anyone played through this adventure yet? I ran my party through the first two parts of the trilogy, but now I have a problem... I was a little off in my pacing, and my party is finished the 2nd part, complete with the cliffhanger ending during the return to Sharn. Problem is, the issue doesn't hit newstands until the day that we have our next session. So either I A) Quickly read and run the adventure pretty much immediately after I pick it up, or; B) Make up my own version of it. I have some good visions of the final battle in the cogs, with lava erupting everywhere and the roof collapsing, etc. Anyways, I'm just looking for some feedback on this adventure, because if I decide to go with option B, I should plan out the adventure today. Thanks
ILL34GL3 07-10-05, 05:29 PM	Though I haven't seen the second adventure in the trilogy, I'd say that judging by the first adventure that I saw, the next one will be fairly elementary. You should be able to run it with just an hour or two of exposure.
talion09 07-10-05, 10:52 PM	Has anyone else played this adventure yet? Or even just flipped through their copy of Dungeon and glanced at it? I looked at the downloadable supplement stuff from Paizo's website, and the pics show the following monsters: A red dragon ?! scorching some adventurers A salamander peering through a portal, presumably to Fernia --- Ok, is there really a red dragon in this adventure, or was that pic artistic license? It seems a little out of place to find one below sharn working for Lamishal. I mean, the one in the Scorpion Temple made sense, but another dragon immediately after? It seems a little too much unless there is a good plot reason.
drunkenewok 07-11-05, 10:34 AM	If you are not a DM, you are on your honor not to read the following. Don't be a loser, the game is much more fun when you don't know exactly what's going to happen. 1) Yes there is a red dragon. No, I don't recall recall it having any particularly meaningful reason for being there, but that could be a factor of my memory rather than a factor of the adventure. 2) Other creatures involved (as near as I can recall) include: 2 Azers, 4 Medium Fire Elementals, 4 Salamanders, Lamishal himself, a couple Hell Hounds, and a Druid with a really oddly named animal companion (I remember laughing at the name, but I can't remember what it was) The adventure actually starts with Tophran in hiding, and his errand-runner finding the PCs at the Airship dock and sending them to his hiding place in Lower Dura. When they arrive, they find him murdered, and a clue leading to an information broker (changeling). The changeling is a negotiation encounter, and they can get the location of Lamishal's hideout (an abandoned silver refinery in the Cogs) Once there, they face the Druid, the Azers, and a pair of Hell Hounds. Then a narrow passage is trapped with a spear trap, followed by a room with the Elementals and the Dragon (though the dragon is hidden down a shaft to the lower level at the start). After following the shaft, they come across a bridge over a river of lava, which is inhabited by two salamanders fighting from the lava. They try to grapple and pull the PCs in. The final battle I'm a little more fuzzy about, I remember more salamander(s), Lamishal himself, and I think one or two more creatures I can't recall. Using the Heart of the Scorpion (the dragonshard from Xen'drik) is key to closing the gate (at least long enough to prevent the destruction of the city). The gate is a round hole leading to Fernia (like the picture you saw), and the room on the Eberron side is filled with flowing lava (with a few ledges around the edge) Also might want to read up on the effects of Fernia being coterminous (since it is), and I think the effects of Fernia being coterminous AND near the gate may make some effects (notably fire spells) more powerful. (I think fire spells are automatically empowered, while cold spells have reduced effect) There's also a section that says if the PCs don't hurry, the gate gets covered in lava after 24 hrs, and after a few days, all of Sharn is reduced to a melty pool of slag. Hopefully that's enough to give you some ideas of what's in the mag. That should be enough to let you run from the mag on short prep, or give you enough detail to prep your own.
talion09 07-11-05, 12:37 PM	Thanks for the info. I had fun reading and running the first two adventures in the trilogy, and I thought it was pretty well thought out to have the Chamber Dragon and his agent in the Temple of the Scorpion God (although I disliked having to borrow the MiniHandbook for the agent, but whatever). I was a little worried that they were throwing in a Red Dragon for the coolness of fighting a red dragon, and kinda ignoring the continuity issues of tossing dragon fights haphazardly across Khorvaire. Also, does the fight at the end in and among the lava remind anyone else of the end of certain movies involving Jedi and Sith, lol? I know the adventure came out first, but still, the first thing I thought was "Cool, Star Wars!"
cmanos 07-12-05, 08:52 AM	fun adventure Characters get back to Sharn to find their employer is dead. Track the killer to a changeling in the ghetto, from whom they can find out that the ir employer from Crimson Stars is held up in the cogs. They may also discover he is planning on opening a gate to Ferni and sinking Sharn in a lake of magma. Crawl through the caves, full of fire creatures, (I don't remember a redd dragon, but I could have missed that), until they meet the final confrontation in a chamber almost full of magma that is pouring through the Fernian gate. PC's have to use the Heart of the Scorpion to close the gate, fight off salamanders and the Crimson Stars employer as well.
cmanos 07-12-05, 08:53 AM	Also, does the fight at the end in and among the lava remind anyone else of the end of certain movies involving Jedi and Sith, lol? I know the adventure came out first, but still, the first thing I thought was "Cool, Star Wars!" Oh and I had a prelim script to Sith back in 1993 that had the lava lightsaber due in. I'd be intersted in going back and seeing just how far they deviated from it.