Advice from anyone having DM'd "Age of Worms" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Advice from anyone having DM'd "Age of Worms" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sanmateo
08-07-07, 01:20 PM My 3-player group is calling for an Age of Worms campaign and submitted characters recently in the hopes that would encourage me to get off my duff and get with it already. Now, we followed one campaign up to level 12, which included about half of the Shackled City adventure path. That campaign is currently "on hold" and has been for some time. Interestingly, that campaign featured all Halflings and was our first foray into 3.5 D&D.
Since then we've played a full homebrew campaign (up to level 12, if I recall) before getting sidetracked by some other game systems. Now they're ready to drag out the D&D books again with the Age of Worms path. In fact, we're in the process of collecting the various Savage Tide adventures, too (just need the last two).
The problem is....they were so proud of their performance with an all Halfling group that they've decided to challenge themselves again. This time with Gnomes. Evil Gnomes, in fact (which would also make this our first ever "evil" campaign).

Here's what they've submitted:

"Ashhand" Uraniheddal Chiklen (CE Male Chaos Gnome Duskblade, with EWP feat: Bastard Sword)
"Sunsly" Barwannchik Erf (NE Female Whisper Gnome Rogue, will be aiming for Assassin)
"Wildfoot" Mikkflanoaen Ennchikuran (NE Female Chaos Gnome Druid, who is seriously considering taking Blighter PrC later and "really, really gotsta have" a Dire Hyena companion at lvl 7)
[You notice we recently got the "Races of the Wild" book :) ]

Now, I have some reservations about the evil campaign to begin with but these a pretty good players and we have a long history, so I think it will probably work out alright. From what they've said so far we're looking at just a standard greedy/merciless/ruthless kinda of evil party rather than a bunch of homicidal maniacs.
Can anyone who's DM'd the Age of Worms offer advice on what difficulties to expect here? We have reduced melee damage output from small size and only three PCs. That will certainly effect things. The evil alignment will probably cause some difficulties (still reading the adventures themselves, so I can't say for sure).
Anything that jumps out at you? I'm sure most of it they/we/I can work around easily enough but I'd be remiss in my duties as a DM not to take advantage of the great advice that can be found around here. :D
Karui_Kage
08-07-07, 01:25 PM I highly recommend checking out these (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/ageOfWorms) boards for information on the Age of Worms.

Of my own experience, I've been running it for a month or two now, and my party is on the third chapter/module. The biggest thing I see, is that if you do want to allow Evil, make sure you are prepared to heavily alter the module. The entire campaign relies a lot on the party doing good/neutral acts (plot-hooks, not siding with certain cults, etc.), and having an Evil group could throw a wrench in multiple sections of each module.

Try the same post on the Age of Worms boards I linked and see if you can get more help there. Personally, I'd recommend against an Evil campaign in the Age of Worms, it just doesn't seem meant for it.
zorgling25
08-07-07, 02:27 PM How experienced are your players at building characters? If they have low- or mid- level experience, I would recommend using Action Points (if you don't do so already). For an inexperienced party, the combats can be TOUGH (EX: The Whispering Cairn, the 1st adventure, has NO encounters with EL lower than 2). Even Dungeon/Dragon's own playtest group had a party death and a near TPK in their first session IIRC.
Karui_Kage
08-07-07, 02:31 PM Yeah. If there's only 3 players, you either are going to need to beef them up, or scale the adventure down. I have 4-5 at various points, and it's still tough. Multiple near TPKs, and if I hadn't been using my Fate Point variant (on the message boards from the link in my sig), there'd be six party deaths so far, and they just got to the third mission (as it is, with fate points, there's only been one party death).
Sanmateo
08-07-07, 02:39 PM Yeah. If there's only 3 players, you either are going to need to beef them up, or scale the adventure down. I have 4-5 at various points, and it's still tough. Multiple near TPKs, and if I hadn't been using my Fate Point variant (on the message boards from the link in my sig), there'd be six party deaths so far, and they just got to the third mission (as it is, with fate points, there's only been one party death).

I have the Scourge of the Howling Horde adventure which I have, oddly enough, never used. I had the perverse idea of altering it to an evil scenario to kick the campaign off. Should be easy to tie into the Whispering Cairn, too. That should boost them up to lvl 2 easy enough.
Karui_Kage
08-07-07, 02:49 PM I ran a small encounter before Whispering Cairn as well, a small scenario involving goblins having infested the mine office the players can start with. It's at those Age of Worms boards if you look around, and was a good way to give them enough exp to get close to 2, and attach them to a base of operations. Allustan's apprentice, Indri (one of the PCs in my game) was the instigator and it also helped tie the party together.
danielinthewolvesden
08-07-07, 03:53 PM Evil does not work in AoW. Sorry. Let them play this one out as Good, then promise you will let them be evil next time. Trust me on this.

For 3 players, some serious buffs will be needed. I suggest: 36 point buys, and gestalt to level 5. The party also gets a free warrior Cohort. Maybe two.
Morwen
08-07-07, 07:24 PM First, I'd suggest to the Rogue that he should not try for Assassin, or indeed full Rogue. The Age of Worms campaign is, in the beginning, fine for a Rogue, but as the campaign progresses you're facing more and more Undead creatures, and the amount of traps and secret doors drops to nearly non-existing levels (after A Gathering of Winds). So, some levels of Rogue will be fine, but he should probably multiclass into some other class relatively soon.

As others have said, the campaign can be pretty deadly. Some encounters are cakewalks (I'm looking at you, Blackwall Keep!), but most of them are pretty tough. I would suggest using the gestalt rules, or having a permanent NPC cohort.

An evil party doesn't really lend itself well to the campaign. The characters will have trouble getting aid from the major NPCs (Allustan, Eligos, Manzorian), and they'll have little cause to actually want to stop the major plot from happening. They might even be interested in joining the bad guys..
danielinthewolvesden
08-07-07, 08:21 PM First, I'd suggest to the Rogue that he should not try for Assassin, or indeed full Rogue. The Age of Worms campaign is, in the beginning, fine for a Rogue, but as the campaign progresses you're facing more and more Undead creatures, and the amount of traps and secret doors drops to nearly non-existing levels (after A Gathering of Winds). So, some levels of Rogue will be fine, but he should probably multiclass into some other class relatively soon.

An evil party doesn't really lend itself well to the campaign. The characters will have trouble getting aid from the major NPCs (Allustan, Eligos, Manzorian), and they'll have little cause to actually want to stop the major plot from happening. They might even be interested in joining the bad guys..

SkullClanHunter is a great PrC for AoW. (Mini Handbook)

I agree about Evil. Just will not work for AoW.
Sanmateo
08-08-07, 01:17 AM Thanks for the advice, folks. Greatly appreciated. Clearly my folks are just looking for a really challenging (read: keep two or three spare PC sheets handy) campaign, so I think I can put the kibosh on the evil thing without denying them much. They still talk about the all Halfling campaign from way back and I gather they're just trying to top it.
I'll just toss out a general idea of what they'll be facing (a lot of undead, I understand) and let them hash it out. If they're dead set on a "hardcore" campaign run then I don't think they'll be worried about taking a little pain. They're a pretty resourceful group of players anyway.
One of them was over here tonight and they're pretty focused on getting the others to agree to all go Kobold (!), if only so they can say they finished the Age of Worms with Kobold PCs. I admit I'm intrigued as heck to see how far they can get. If they hold true to form they'll go with some more traditional PCs in our next campaign (which, tentatively, is to be the Savage Tide path).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sanmateo 08-07-07, 01:20 PM	My 3-player group is calling for an Age of Worms campaign and submitted characters recently in the hopes that would encourage me to get off my duff and get with it already. Now, we followed one campaign up to level 12, which included about half of the Shackled City adventure path. That campaign is currently "on hold" and has been for some time. Interestingly, that campaign featured all Halflings and was our first foray into 3.5 D&D. Since then we've played a full homebrew campaign (up to level 12, if I recall) before getting sidetracked by some other game systems. Now they're ready to drag out the D&D books again with the Age of Worms path. In fact, we're in the process of collecting the various Savage Tide adventures, too (just need the last two). The problem is....they were so proud of their performance with an all Halfling group that they've decided to challenge themselves again. This time with Gnomes. Evil Gnomes, in fact (which would also make this our first ever "evil" campaign). Here's what they've submitted: "Ashhand" Uraniheddal Chiklen (CE Male Chaos Gnome Duskblade, with EWP feat: Bastard Sword) "Sunsly" Barwannchik Erf (NE Female Whisper Gnome Rogue, will be aiming for Assassin) "Wildfoot" Mikkflanoaen Ennchikuran (NE Female Chaos Gnome Druid, who is seriously considering taking Blighter PrC later and "really, really gotsta have" a Dire Hyena companion at lvl 7) [You notice we recently got the "Races of the Wild" book :) ] Now, I have some reservations about the evil campaign to begin with but these a pretty good players and we have a long history, so I think it will probably work out alright. From what they've said so far we're looking at just a standard greedy/merciless/ruthless kinda of evil party rather than a bunch of homicidal maniacs. Can anyone who's DM'd the Age of Worms offer advice on what difficulties to expect here? We have reduced melee damage output from small size and only three PCs. That will certainly effect things. The evil alignment will probably cause some difficulties (still reading the adventures themselves, so I can't say for sure). Anything that jumps out at you? I'm sure most of it they/we/I can work around easily enough but I'd be remiss in my duties as a DM not to take advantage of the great advice that can be found around here. :D
Karui_Kage 08-07-07, 01:25 PM	I highly recommend checking out these (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/ageOfWorms) boards for information on the Age of Worms. Of my own experience, I've been running it for a month or two now, and my party is on the third chapter/module. The biggest thing I see, is that if you do want to allow Evil, make sure you are prepared to heavily alter the module. The entire campaign relies a lot on the party doing good/neutral acts (plot-hooks, not siding with certain cults, etc.), and having an Evil group could throw a wrench in multiple sections of each module. Try the same post on the Age of Worms boards I linked and see if you can get more help there. Personally, I'd recommend against an Evil campaign in the Age of Worms, it just doesn't seem meant for it.
zorgling25 08-07-07, 02:27 PM	How experienced are your players at building characters? If they have low- or mid- level experience, I would recommend using Action Points (if you don't do so already). For an inexperienced party, the combats can be TOUGH (EX: The Whispering Cairn, the 1st adventure, has NO encounters with EL lower than 2). Even Dungeon/Dragon's own playtest group had a party death and a near TPK in their first session IIRC.
Karui_Kage 08-07-07, 02:31 PM	Yeah. If there's only 3 players, you either are going to need to beef them up, or scale the adventure down. I have 4-5 at various points, and it's still tough. Multiple near TPKs, and if I hadn't been using my Fate Point variant (on the message boards from the link in my sig), there'd be six party deaths so far, and they just got to the third mission (as it is, with fate points, there's only been one party death).
Sanmateo 08-07-07, 02:39 PM	Yeah. If there's only 3 players, you either are going to need to beef them up, or scale the adventure down. I have 4-5 at various points, and it's still tough. Multiple near TPKs, and if I hadn't been using my Fate Point variant (on the message boards from the link in my sig), there'd be six party deaths so far, and they just got to the third mission (as it is, with fate points, there's only been one party death). I have the Scourge of the Howling Horde adventure which I have, oddly enough, never used. I had the perverse idea of altering it to an evil scenario to kick the campaign off. Should be easy to tie into the Whispering Cairn, too. That should boost them up to lvl 2 easy enough.
Karui_Kage 08-07-07, 02:49 PM	I ran a small encounter before Whispering Cairn as well, a small scenario involving goblins having infested the mine office the players can start with. It's at those Age of Worms boards if you look around, and was a good way to give them enough exp to get close to 2, and attach them to a base of operations. Allustan's apprentice, Indri (one of the PCs in my game) was the instigator and it also helped tie the party together.
danielinthewolvesden 08-07-07, 03:53 PM	Evil does not work in AoW. Sorry. Let them play this one out as Good, then promise you will let them be evil next time. Trust me on this. For 3 players, some serious buffs will be needed. I suggest: 36 point buys, and gestalt to level 5. The party also gets a free warrior Cohort. Maybe two.
Morwen 08-07-07, 07:24 PM	First, I'd suggest to the Rogue that he should not try for Assassin, or indeed full Rogue. The Age of Worms campaign is, in the beginning, fine for a Rogue, but as the campaign progresses you're facing more and more Undead creatures, and the amount of traps and secret doors drops to nearly non-existing levels (after A Gathering of Winds). So, some levels of Rogue will be fine, but he should probably multiclass into some other class relatively soon. As others have said, the campaign can be pretty deadly. Some encounters are cakewalks (I'm looking at you, Blackwall Keep!), but most of them are pretty tough. I would suggest using the gestalt rules, or having a permanent NPC cohort. An evil party doesn't really lend itself well to the campaign. The characters will have trouble getting aid from the major NPCs (Allustan, Eligos, Manzorian), and they'll have little cause to actually want to stop the major plot from happening. They might even be interested in joining the bad guys..
danielinthewolvesden 08-07-07, 08:21 PM	First, I'd suggest to the Rogue that he should not try for Assassin, or indeed full Rogue. The Age of Worms campaign is, in the beginning, fine for a Rogue, but as the campaign progresses you're facing more and more Undead creatures, and the amount of traps and secret doors drops to nearly non-existing levels (after A Gathering of Winds). So, some levels of Rogue will be fine, but he should probably multiclass into some other class relatively soon. An evil party doesn't really lend itself well to the campaign. The characters will have trouble getting aid from the major NPCs (Allustan, Eligos, Manzorian), and they'll have little cause to actually want to stop the major plot from happening. They might even be interested in joining the bad guys.. SkullClanHunter is a great PrC for AoW. (Mini Handbook) I agree about Evil. Just will not work for AoW.
Sanmateo 08-08-07, 01:17 AM	Thanks for the advice, folks. Greatly appreciated. Clearly my folks are just looking for a really challenging (read: keep two or three spare PC sheets handy) campaign, so I think I can put the kibosh on the evil thing without denying them much. They still talk about the all Halfling campaign from way back and I gather they're just trying to top it. I'll just toss out a general idea of what they'll be facing (a lot of undead, I understand) and let them hash it out. If they're dead set on a "hardcore" campaign run then I don't think they'll be worried about taking a little pain. They're a pretty resourceful group of players anyway. One of them was over here tonight and they're pretty focused on getting the others to agree to all go Kobold (!), if only so they can say they finished the Age of Worms with Kobold PCs. I admit I'm intrigued as heck to see how far they can get. If they hold true to form they'll go with some more traditional PCs in our next campaign (which, tentatively, is to be the Savage Tide path).