Hi,
(Please note if you are a player in expeditions, this thread is not for you)
I was waiting for Tyranthraxus to make more threads for more Expeditions modules, but then it occurred to me I could just do it.
This thread is for discussion of the fifth Expeditions adventure, The Courting of Fire. I see it as a forum topic for us to talk what has gone right and wrong within the adventure, the combat tactics we use, the embelishments we made, the props we use and so on.
If you find links to maps, diagrams etc that you found useful when preparing to run this, please share them.
Please keep in mind this thread isn't for players' tales (unless one of your players broke open the scenario for you). They are purely for DM inspiration and discussion.
The reason they are in here, and not in the Dungeon Masters' area of the forum is that, we really just want discussion here from AL DMs as we have a certain toolkit to work with which other Dungeon Masters do not.
For my games, I like to make props. The module opening mentions a wanted poster that says "Wanted for Thievery Most Cunning," mentions his crimes, and has "a caricature of a young male human... [with] protruding, rat-like ears and beady eyes." I'd love to make the poster, but I can't find a good caricature drawing to put on it. Anyone find something appropriate?
I note that, in the description of Spernik and Tibeem's room, it says "one of the dressers has a false panel." This seems bizarre since it's likely the furniture either came with the job, or was purchased in Phlan with the assumedly limited funds the two scribes had. When I ran this, I changed it so that the hidden stuff was sewn into the mattress of the lower bunk; a DC15 Investigate check revealed the strangely-lumpy nature of the mattress, leading to the items' discovery.
I suggest doing an image search for Dominic Monaghan, Nicolas Cage or Steve Buscemi. I also found this:
Here's something I whipped up real quick from that:
HeresyDM wrote:
HeresyDM wrote:
Nice wanted poster, thanks, I'll definitely use that.
Anyone done any maps? I used to be great at maps but ever since my Mac died and I've been forced to use a PC, I haven't the capability of making them... because PC's suck 
Is it just me or is this adventure really badly written?
The section on Sperkik (6 Circle of the Circle... which is a stupid title as well), for instance, contradicts itself constantly. He'll attack but he won't attack. He'll surrender but he won't surrender. It's like... bloody hell, make up your mind Mr. Writer!
Then there's some of the silly language he uses as if trying to impress and failing. He even manages to use "surpassing" incorrectly. Guh, I wish I'd chosen Dues or Scroll Thief to run :/
Thank_Dog wrote:
Also, please note that there is a public google doc we have posted with spots for errors that you catch (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g6wYyw972Thm0J2_wvOTDcdzmE02VLW6vfz7ttNIH_A/edit?pli=1). Every so often, we download the doc, check the comments that people think are errors and update the adventure accordingly. It also means that if you have the ability to redownload an adventure for when you run it, its a good idea to do so. We also post the changes we know of to that document so that if you cannot redownload the adventure (or it hasn't been updated yet), you can always just go get the document. Now the changes are normally just grammar or other typos, so you can run it with an old copy, but a new one might flow a bit better when you read that boxed text!
In the Crypt room there are 2 ghouls and a skeleton, there is however no box to either weaken or strengthen this encounter? Is this on purpose?
The first part of this adventure is an investigation however you have to improvise in order to get the PC's to the only clue that matters: the map to the stone circle. If you don't, then there is virtually no reason for the players to go to the store where it's found. The only clue is a very vague scribbled supplies list and some vague mentions that they were stocking up for a trip. All the other avenues of investigation are pointless dead-ends.
I had to mention Cockburn's several times before they finally decided that they had no other leads and so they thought they'd check it out. And I don't blame them in the slightest because as a player I'm quite certain I'd not consider the supplies store as a place to determine the whereabouts of the cultist.
The Lord Sage also gives info about the druid circle (it is part of the information that was changed in the forged books), they could get directions to the circle from there too. The map at Cockburn's is just a much more obvious bread crumb trail.
HeresyDM wrote:
Thank_Dog wrote:
The implication is that Tibeem created the map from references in Lex Geographica and The History of the North -- not that either book itself contains a map. (Note the cartographic compass found at Tibeem's desk in the Scribe's Hall.)
A PC who is proficient with cartographer's tools could likely re-create Tibeem's map from the references in the actual books, though.
--
Pauper
My players found the place where Tibeem put his map together, and just used a pencil to get one of their own.
Skerrit wrote:
As a side note, Cockburns is a terrible name for a grocery store. Totally destroys immersion.
My players felt it should have been a brothel, for example.
It's actually pronounced 'COA-burns' (like the singer/songwriter for 'Last Night of the World'). I imagine the writer has a Coborn's near where he/she lives and wanted to put in a homage.
I have a problem. My party killed Spernik and returned his head to the Lord Sage, which is causing conflict with "Tyranny in Phlan" in that Spernik is dead and therefore cannot possibly stand trial. I am also lead to believe that Spernik makes an appearance in other adventures which is problematic.
I am wondering whether I should simply have Spernik be resurrected, or simply replace him with another character of a different name.
Kalani wrote:
Kalani wrote:
As I did not want to undermine the PCs victory, and felt that resurrection was a cop-out, I ended up going with the following solution.
- The players killed another cultist who was masquarading as Spernik (acting as a double), most likely to throw the Blackfist off his trail. As nobody within the Blackfist knew what the real Spernik looked like (or if any did, they had been recruited to the Cult), they assumed the PCs had killed the "real" Spernik and had closed the case, relying on the testimony of the PCs to confirm his identity. Nobody within the Blackfist followed up or confirmed the identity of Spernik with the Lord Sage or anyone from the Library.
- Having heard through his contacts that the Blackfist believed Spernik to be dead (and had physical proof to validate this), Spernik grew overconfident, and sloppy. This resulted in him being captured several days after the PCs returned to Phlan following their victory in Courting with Fire. Cocky, and self-righteous, the real Spernik gloated about how he had fooled the Blackfist into believing him dead. This prompted the Blackfist to speak directly with the Lord Sage, who confirmed his identity.
By going this route, Spernik was captured as a direct result of the PCs actions (as he would not have gotten sloppy/overconfident had his double not been slain), thereby rewarding them for their efforts without requiring me to introduce a new NPC in place of Spernik, nor having Spernik somehow survive/resurrect from an obvious beheading.
Kalani wrote:
What time of day/night did everyone use for the arrival time at The Standing Stones? This greatly affects the encounter as the Kobolds will have disadvantage during the day.
I'm planning on day for weak party, night for strong party but still up in the air on average party.
tjf wrote:
Anyone figure out a substitute reference for the "red scale" that's suppose to be in the notebook (per page 8)? Or did you just leave it out?
I just got home from playing this and we ran into an issue. We convinced the Half-Orc Fighter in our party to see what those puddles in the floor were, and up popped 3 gray oozes. He had metal armor and a metal sword, so he took some damage on both and we cannot find rules on how to repair the item. Does anyone know if there are rules for this?
Thanks for the help. I really enjoyed the adventure.
Yokel
Repairing costs half of the item price at the blacksmith. Destroyed item cannot be repaired.
janosicek wrote:
I saw it in some adventure, but cannot find where... Might be unofficial 
As I'm about to run this myself tomorrow, the cost/mechanic of repair is something that may come up. I can't find any mundane means of repairing damaged items. However, one potential workaround that has some foundation by RAW would be one casting of Mending (a cantrip that has gained popularity at my tables ever since the infinite mundane ammo trick* was discovered) per -1 penalty. Since the penalties accrue via multiple contacts, it would be fair to rule each penalty as a separate break in the affected item. It's an easy ruling to go by that doesn't require rulings on mundane repair costs and how penalties reflect upon resale value, making it the option that has the least potential to create table-to-table economic variation.
*Players recover all expended ammo after combat, both broken and intact. Mending is cast on broken ammo in between encounters and during rests. Unless every arrow and bolt is splitting most of the way down the shaft, it's unlikely that the breaks in the arrows are bigger than one foot in any dimension. Rather than make a decision that discourages creative interaction with the game, I congratulated my players of finding a rules-legal means of reducing their upkeep costs and bookkeeping time. Even without this trick, X amount of ammo can last for X-1 encounters by RAW if only 2 shots are fired each encounter. The 50% back rule created a loophole that allows for 20 arrows to be fired 39 times before every arrow is broken, causing the price per use to be a little over half of the market price per arrow (0.256 sp vs 0.5 sp). Since it can observed that the ammo rules is a luxury tax scam that see diminishing returns based on frequency of use, there's nothing more American than using an even better loophole.