How many PCs does Forgotten Forge need? [Archive] - Wizards Community

How many PCs does Forgotten Forge need? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Fraction Jackson
05-22-05, 11:14 AM I was wondering on how many PCs does "The Forgotten Forge" need? I understand that it is built for the standard adventuring party of 4, but one of my players will not be attending. The characters are all level 1, and include a Human Paladin, Elf Druid, and Human Artificer. Thanks for ant kind of help.
Luni
05-22-05, 11:51 AM They should be able to go through the adventure with a little bit of difficulty. I think the only fight they would have a problem with is the 2 Iron Defenders and Saber at the end.

As for how to fix it. If they are having a tough time going down, remove one of the Iron Defenders, and make Saber a level 2 Fighter instead of level 3.

I ran the module once, but my players couldn't roll dice to save them, and I couldn't roll anything under a 17. So my opinion is probably biased.
Alextroy
05-22-05, 11:58 AM Forgotten Forge is a tough, but managable adventure for 4 PCs. It could get brutal for 3.

Things to keep in mind:

The Swarm can be very dangerous if the PCs are not smart. Otherwise, it is not that hard to kill or avoid.

The Horrid Rats are easily the most dangerous encounter in the adventure. Between AC 20 and doing 2d6 Points of damage, these can easily overwhelm the party. I would reduce the encounter to 1 Rat if there are only 3 PCs.

Saber is one tough customer with his Adamantine Plating. My PCs beat him rather soundly, but only because the Artificer Baned his Crossbow and then promptly rolled a natural 20 to hit. Knocked off half his Hit Points before he even got into Melee.

Alextroy
Dryder
05-23-05, 04:06 AM ...The Horrid Rats are easily the most dangerous encounter in the adventure. Between AC 20 and doing 2d6 Points of damage, these can easily overwhelm the party. I would reduce the encounter to 1 Rat if there are only 3 PCs. Alextroy

I started an Eberron Campaign two weeks ago with two players only. I allowed them to start at third level and played through FF.
These rats where horrid indeed! Granted, they only have 7 hp, but even for my two third level players it was hard to land a hit on them... So be careful with those rats. Reducing them to 1 seems a good idea, if you play with only 3 first level pcs!
Save-vs-DM
05-23-05, 05:08 AM Instead of reducing the rats, you could have the rats have had a little "accident" They got into some alchemical goo that produce an effect similar to bestow curse. Treat their dex as 6 points lower, reducing thier attack bonus and AC by three points apiece. That should even things up a little. I think that the horrid template tends to get a little brutal with lower CR animals.

Cheers,
SvD
Straylight
05-23-05, 05:42 AM By the time my PCs (Human Fighter, 'Forged Ranger, Human Arti) got all the way down to the rats encounter, they were so beat up that I just skipped it entirely.

The encounter doesn't add a lot to the action, and I've always been of the opinion that Eberron games work like a bad action movie or a good FPS game: all the goons are there for is to get mowed down by the PCs while they work their way toward the Boss Fight, which is the REAL challenge/moment to shine of the game.

The swarm was bad enough and it might have been very deadly had the Arti not happened to have a scroll of Burning Hands on him (though it took him a couple of rounds to remember it).

After that, I started toning things down a bit, including dropping the rats entirely, as I was a little worried that the Iron Defenders and/or Saber would eat the party alive.

...Of course, all that became a rather humorously moot point when the Arti critted Saber with a Bane'd crossbow on round one of the fight and rolls max possible damage. Ever seen what happens when you skewer a Mobile Suit with a beam weapon? Same idea.

And actually OT here: I did it with three PCs sans nuke or rogue, and they got trashed pretty hard. The Warforged ended up tanking most of the time rather than the Fighter because she's just that freakin' tough and all those special traits are a lifesaver when you've got nowhere to run. I would reccomend 4 PCs at 1st or 2nd level.
buggritall
05-27-05, 09:45 AM I myself just ran through the adventure, and we didn't have much troube, although we did have 5 1/2 PCs (I believe the druid's wolf counts). The earlier battles were the most fun for us.

Druid: *misses hit against Cutter*
Barbarian: *misses* (We were shocked at that. He can kill something VERY easily)
Sorceror (me): I cast Color Spray!
DM:...OK. What do I need to get to save?
Me: 15.
Him: Damn. 13.

End of Cutter.

Next fight, our group was wary of the confined space. Me and the druid didn't have the opportunity to use good spells. Luckily, our monk got a critical hit. After much encouraging, we got our druid to actually use his animal companion. It killed a shifter right away.

Happy days.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Fraction Jackson 05-22-05, 11:14 AM	I was wondering on how many PCs does "The Forgotten Forge" need? I understand that it is built for the standard adventuring party of 4, but one of my players will not be attending. The characters are all level 1, and include a Human Paladin, Elf Druid, and Human Artificer. Thanks for ant kind of help.
Luni 05-22-05, 11:51 AM	They should be able to go through the adventure with a little bit of difficulty. I think the only fight they would have a problem with is the 2 Iron Defenders and Saber at the end. As for how to fix it. If they are having a tough time going down, remove one of the Iron Defenders, and make Saber a level 2 Fighter instead of level 3. I ran the module once, but my players couldn't roll dice to save them, and I couldn't roll anything under a 17. So my opinion is probably biased.
Alextroy 05-22-05, 11:58 AM	Forgotten Forge is a tough, but managable adventure for 4 PCs. It could get brutal for 3. Things to keep in mind: The Swarm can be very dangerous if the PCs are not smart. Otherwise, it is not that hard to kill or avoid. The Horrid Rats are easily the most dangerous encounter in the adventure. Between AC 20 and doing 2d6 Points of damage, these can easily overwhelm the party. I would reduce the encounter to 1 Rat if there are only 3 PCs. Saber is one tough customer with his Adamantine Plating. My PCs beat him rather soundly, but only because the Artificer Baned his Crossbow and then promptly rolled a natural 20 to hit. Knocked off half his Hit Points before he even got into Melee. Alextroy
Dryder 05-23-05, 04:06 AM	...The Horrid Rats are easily the most dangerous encounter in the adventure. Between AC 20 and doing 2d6 Points of damage, these can easily overwhelm the party. I would reduce the encounter to 1 Rat if there are only 3 PCs. Alextroy I started an Eberron Campaign two weeks ago with two players only. I allowed them to start at third level and played through FF. These rats where horrid indeed! Granted, they only have 7 hp, but even for my two third level players it was hard to land a hit on them... So be careful with those rats. Reducing them to 1 seems a good idea, if you play with only 3 first level pcs!
Save-vs-DM 05-23-05, 05:08 AM	Instead of reducing the rats, you could have the rats have had a little "accident" They got into some alchemical goo that produce an effect similar to bestow curse. Treat their dex as 6 points lower, reducing thier attack bonus and AC by three points apiece. That should even things up a little. I think that the horrid template tends to get a little brutal with lower CR animals. Cheers, SvD
Straylight 05-23-05, 05:42 AM	By the time my PCs (Human Fighter, 'Forged Ranger, Human Arti) got all the way down to the rats encounter, they were so beat up that I just skipped it entirely. The encounter doesn't add a lot to the action, and I've always been of the opinion that Eberron games work like a bad action movie or a good FPS game: all the goons are there for is to get mowed down by the PCs while they work their way toward the Boss Fight, which is the REAL challenge/moment to shine of the game. The swarm was bad enough and it might have been very deadly had the Arti not happened to have a scroll of Burning Hands on him (though it took him a couple of rounds to remember it). After that, I started toning things down a bit, including dropping the rats entirely, as I was a little worried that the Iron Defenders and/or Saber would eat the party alive. ...Of course, all that became a rather humorously moot point when the Arti critted Saber with a Bane'd crossbow on round one of the fight and rolls max possible damage. Ever seen what happens when you skewer a Mobile Suit with a beam weapon? Same idea. And actually OT here: I did it with three PCs sans nuke or rogue, and they got trashed pretty hard. The Warforged ended up tanking most of the time rather than the Fighter because she's just that freakin' tough and all those special traits are a lifesaver when you've got nowhere to run. I would reccomend 4 PCs at 1st or 2nd level.
buggritall 05-27-05, 09:45 AM	I myself just ran through the adventure, and we didn't have much troube, although we did have 5 1/2 PCs (I believe the druid's wolf counts). The earlier battles were the most fun for us. Druid: misses hit against Cutter Barbarian: misses (We were shocked at that. He can kill something VERY easily) Sorceror (me): I cast Color Spray! DM:...OK. What do I need to get to save? Me: 15. Him: Damn. 13. End of Cutter. Next fight, our group was wary of the confined space. Me and the druid didn't have the opportunity to use good spells. Luckily, our monk got a critical hit. After much encouraging, we got our druid to actually use his animal companion. It killed a shifter right away. Happy days.