An old AD&D DM seeks advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

An old AD&D DM seeks advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Gandalf the White
03-07-08, 10:24 AM I DM'd back in the heyday of AD&D the late 70s through the mid 1980s. I stopped playing in 1995, and began again in 3.5 as a player about a year ago.

I am preparing to run Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as the backbone of an Eberron Campaign. I have seven players so all of the base classes will be covered along with some more exotic, one PC wants to make an elven beguiler.

I was wondering if the community had any advice for someone about to do this dangerous thing?

I have the errata and FAQ from the zanforcans website, but what do you all think of moving this to Eberron, who might be the best Eberronian equivalent of Tharzidun?

Thanks all,

Gandalf
iserith
03-07-08, 11:34 AM If I remember correctly, he was all about madness and whatnot. You can easily use the daelkyr lords of Xoriat in his stead.
Hihiuloa
03-07-08, 11:41 AM GtW,

I actually have no advice on the Eberron placement, but wanted to say: Welcome Back and Good Luck!

3.5 is different but enjoyable. I am running the Tomb of Horrors, in memory of... :( , this weekend. :cool:

Small snippets of advice: IMO 3.5 combat, especially at higher levels, gets s...l...o...w... Begin to train everyone, you too, to know their character(s) and to pay attention one to two initiative points before their own. At 10th level, our combat rounds often took 1 hour a round! So, it is reasonable those not on the current initiative might have their eyes slip from the battle mat...

Investigate and find ways to speed up combat -BUT- watch out for the speed being the all. We added in very colourful descriptions of what or how our characters were enacting whatever it was they were doing. This added to the role-playing and helped immensely with keeping the combat from just being a several hour (sometimes all day) dice roll - which we found rather boring (actually had peeps taking naps... :eek: ) Many, many smiles, rounds of laughter and memorable words or remarks came from those sentences of descriptions. (It gets so easy to get caught up in the rules and forget the immersion into the game.)

Spend about 30 minutes before each session with the group gaining CONSENSUS on the different rules, feats, strange spells, etc. that the group and DM will be utilizing. This includes just understanding them - and not *understanding* them from just one view point... (ouch). Things like: grapple, sunder, attacks of opportunity, dominate, ranged combat into melee, hide skill, etc. I cannot stress it enough: Get everyone on the same page, even if not everyone agrees BEFORE it comes up - if/when possible. It will save table time and potentially feelings (especially if any of the peeps at the table take things personally when it does not go their way...).

Those are probably the two or three (know your character) most problematic points we encountered, though things may be different for you. :)

The Temple is a combat fest. We (I was a player) were paladins. After about our third trip back to Hommlet (healing was an issue - and for some reason, the Temple was not to conducive to our resting... haha) and third trip back through that cesspool of Nulb, we stopped on our journey back to the Temple and CLEANED OUT all the evil that was within Nulb. That was a nice added bonus to our adventure! Now, we had a healthy spot in which to retreat to that was not so far away. What I am wordily saying is: Give them a spot NEAR to rest up - however you manage it. That long trip just got old. AND you have a nice non-written in adventure chapter to share with them!

Well, have fun. Maybe post an update of how things progress (somewhere... I don't know the boards well enough to say where, but I would be interested in reading it.). I hope my remarks are helpful.

Once again, Welcome back to the DM seat of the Round Table and Good Luck!

- H
Lincoln Hills
03-07-08, 03:40 PM Three bits of advice:

1. In the dungeon-as-written, there is a mine-cart track which PCs can board. Unfortunately, that cart (which starts in a level-appropriate area) can (and probably will) be ridden all the way to an area suited for characters about 3 levels higher... and it will alert every monster along its path, some of whom would be inclined to follow along and attack. Best way to prevent this from dooming your PCs is to remove all the mine-carts.

2. When the PCs first get into the interior of the Crater Ridge, or when their PCs attempt to fly into the central caldera, there are hideous lightning-towers waiting to kill intruders. Give them some warning - don't just blast away as the text clumsily implies. Fliers might notice a ring of blasted and blackened bird-corpses atop Crater Ridge - a perfect ring surrounding that central citadel. Those entering from ground level might witness a flock of migratory geese blasted into fragments as they pass overhead. Whatever the clue is, make sure there is one.

3. Return to the Temple... is 3.0, and you're probably holding 3.5 books in your other hand. The differences are minor, but make sure that you're aware of them. Check potential adversaries for spells that aren't on the 3.5 list and don't be afraid to substitute better ones if you need to. Oh, and as a 2nd Ed veteran, you should be aware of areas where 3.5 is most different - in particular, attacks of opportunity and special actions (such as disarming and tripping) are worth reading up on.
pedro2112
03-08-08, 02:28 AM 3. Return to the Temple... is 3.0, and you're probably holding 3.5 books in your other hand. The differences are minor, but make sure that you're aware of them. Check potential adversaries for spells that aren't on the 3.5 list and don't be afraid to substitute better ones if you need to. Oh, and as a 2nd Ed veteran, you should be aware of areas where 3.5 is most different - in particular, attacks of opportunity and special actions (such as disarming and tripping) are worth reading up on.

I would recommend that the OP go to Monte Cook's message board. There is a link to an extensive (100pg) conversion .pdf file to 3.5ed. It's excellent.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gandalf the White 03-07-08, 10:24 AM	I DM'd back in the heyday of AD&D the late 70s through the mid 1980s. I stopped playing in 1995, and began again in 3.5 as a player about a year ago. I am preparing to run Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as the backbone of an Eberron Campaign. I have seven players so all of the base classes will be covered along with some more exotic, one PC wants to make an elven beguiler. I was wondering if the community had any advice for someone about to do this dangerous thing? I have the errata and FAQ from the zanforcans website, but what do you all think of moving this to Eberron, who might be the best Eberronian equivalent of Tharzidun? Thanks all, Gandalf
iserith 03-07-08, 11:34 AM	If I remember correctly, he was all about madness and whatnot. You can easily use the daelkyr lords of Xoriat in his stead.
Hihiuloa 03-07-08, 11:41 AM	GtW, I actually have no advice on the Eberron placement, but wanted to say: Welcome Back and Good Luck! 3.5 is different but enjoyable. I am running the Tomb of Horrors, in memory of... :( , this weekend. :cool: Small snippets of advice: IMO 3.5 combat, especially at higher levels, gets s...l...o...w... Begin to train everyone, you too, to know their character(s) and to pay attention one to two initiative points before their own. At 10th level, our combat rounds often took 1 hour a round! So, it is reasonable those not on the current initiative might have their eyes slip from the battle mat... Investigate and find ways to speed up combat -BUT- watch out for the speed being the all. We added in very colourful descriptions of what or how our characters were enacting whatever it was they were doing. This added to the role-playing and helped immensely with keeping the combat from just being a several hour (sometimes all day) dice roll - which we found rather boring (actually had peeps taking naps... :eek: ) Many, many smiles, rounds of laughter and memorable words or remarks came from those sentences of descriptions. (It gets so easy to get caught up in the rules and forget the immersion into the game.) Spend about 30 minutes before each session with the group gaining CONSENSUS on the different rules, feats, strange spells, etc. that the group and DM will be utilizing. This includes just understanding them - and not understanding them from just one view point... (ouch). Things like: grapple, sunder, attacks of opportunity, dominate, ranged combat into melee, hide skill, etc. I cannot stress it enough: Get everyone on the same page, even if not everyone agrees BEFORE it comes up - if/when possible. It will save table time and potentially feelings (especially if any of the peeps at the table take things personally when it does not go their way...). Those are probably the two or three (know your character) most problematic points we encountered, though things may be different for you. :) The Temple is a combat fest. We (I was a player) were paladins. After about our third trip back to Hommlet (healing was an issue - and for some reason, the Temple was not to conducive to our resting... haha) and third trip back through that cesspool of Nulb, we stopped on our journey back to the Temple and CLEANED OUT all the evil that was within Nulb. That was a nice added bonus to our adventure! Now, we had a healthy spot in which to retreat to that was not so far away. What I am wordily saying is: Give them a spot NEAR to rest up - however you manage it. That long trip just got old. AND you have a nice non-written in adventure chapter to share with them! Well, have fun. Maybe post an update of how things progress (somewhere... I don't know the boards well enough to say where, but I would be interested in reading it.). I hope my remarks are helpful. Once again, Welcome back to the DM seat of the Round Table and Good Luck! - H
Lincoln Hills 03-07-08, 03:40 PM	Three bits of advice: 1. In the dungeon-as-written, there is a mine-cart track which PCs can board. Unfortunately, that cart (which starts in a level-appropriate area) can (and probably will) be ridden all the way to an area suited for characters about 3 levels higher... and it will alert every monster along its path, some of whom would be inclined to follow along and attack. Best way to prevent this from dooming your PCs is to remove all the mine-carts. 2. When the PCs first get into the interior of the Crater Ridge, or when their PCs attempt to fly into the central caldera, there are hideous lightning-towers waiting to kill intruders. Give them some warning - don't just blast away as the text clumsily implies. Fliers might notice a ring of blasted and blackened bird-corpses atop Crater Ridge - a perfect ring surrounding that central citadel. Those entering from ground level might witness a flock of migratory geese blasted into fragments as they pass overhead. Whatever the clue is, make sure there is one. 3. Return to the Temple... is 3.0, and you're probably holding 3.5 books in your other hand. The differences are minor, but make sure that you're aware of them. Check potential adversaries for spells that aren't on the 3.5 list and don't be afraid to substitute better ones if you need to. Oh, and as a 2nd Ed veteran, you should be aware of areas where 3.5 is most different - in particular, attacks of opportunity and special actions (such as disarming and tripping) are worth reading up on.
pedro2112 03-08-08, 02:28 AM	3. Return to the Temple... is 3.0, and you're probably holding 3.5 books in your other hand. The differences are minor, but make sure that you're aware of them. Check potential adversaries for spells that aren't on the 3.5 list and don't be afraid to substitute better ones if you need to. Oh, and as a 2nd Ed veteran, you should be aware of areas where 3.5 is most different - in particular, attacks of opportunity and special actions (such as disarming and tripping) are worth reading up on. I would recommend that the OP go to Monte Cook's message board. There is a link to an extensive (100pg) conversion .pdf file to 3.5ed. It's excellent.