Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 KippleSnacks Oct 05, 2014 19:09:47	I ran into a few issues while running Courting of Fire, though was able to run with it sufficiently enough that the group enjoyed the session (which is what matters), but would love some assistance for if/when I run it again.   1)  Within the XP rewards section, there is a list for a "Spy" and an enemy, as well as a rather burly Bandit Captain that does not appear to be used anywhere.    2)  My players got super interested with that "Third person" Markoth saw Tibeem and Spirnik with, and without any further explanation for me in the adventure, had to adlib it.   3) As for finding the map to the circle of scales, the adventure states that if they have issues finding the map, the Lord Sage can tell them the way.  I see this as likely just upsetting players in a "Why didn't he just tell us?" sort of way.  My players didn't even think of scouring grocery stores (and seriously, we wouldent know how many there could possibly be in Phlan).  In the end, I let them combine an Investigation and a Cartography check between two characters to create their own map from the two books that got left behind, which wound up pleasing my players greatly.   4)  One of (though not the only) the most logical things for a good party to do with the scale at the end (especially believing it to be an artifact rather than a measely 300 gp art piece) would be to let the undead druid remain as a guardian and reseal the temple, however that is rough screwing the party out of 300 gp (as the adventure doesn't give very much otherwise)  for doing a right/logical thing (as they didn't trust the Lord Sage to keep it because he was dumped by the idiot that is Spirnik).   Otherwise, great fun, we had a warlock, a wizard, a sorcerer, two bards, and a cleric, so interesting to see problems get solved without any super brute force (well, at least after they decided to Leroy Jenkins the first zombie room...).
#2 Skerrit Oct 06, 2014 5:52:19	KippleSnacks wrote:
(Reply to #2) KippleSnacks	Skerrit wrote:
#4 OrganicDoom Oct 06, 2014 10:54:01	Were there any magic items gained from this mod. One 300gp scale split between th party seems pretty low?
#5 Skerrit Oct 06, 2014 11:26:19	There is other gp and items beyond the scale.
(Reply to #5) KippleSnacks	Skerrit wrote:
#7 AlHazred Oct 08, 2014 5:21:25	Skerrit wrote:
#8 Skerrit Oct 08, 2014 8:51:53	Its doable either way, but in general, the adventures often reference each other (and so occur in a rough chronilogical order that occurs in the same order as their release). The references are small and matter really only if you are very invested (which of course we encourage) or if you are not good at suspending your disbelief since an event is occuring out of order.
(Reply to #7) Pauper	AlHazred wrote:
#10 Uthrac Nov 03, 2014 14:53:38	We had fun with this adventure, however ...   1. Specific observation: My PCs felt bad for the escaped thief. He offered to return the books, turned over his treasure ... but it's pretty clear that returning him for his crime of theft (and guilt by association) is death ... so the PCs have the moral dilema of returning a 19-year-old thief to be executed and claim their reward or let him go and get nothing. We hate it when mechanical rewards are tied to roleplaying decisions. (i.e. If he could offer them a tip to a secreted stash worth the same as the reward, that would shift the focus away from getting paid.) What really dragged the adventure down was that, after going through the RP with the thief, the PCs meet the guardian ... and are immediately faced with another choice ... leave the undead guardians of a thing they didn't even know about, or kill him and take it back for cash. The two encounters were interesting, but being similar and back-to-back was overkill.    2. General observation: Expedition adventures are becoming formulaic. Do some investigation, then dungeon crawl. It would be nice to see more variety (as in DDEX1-1).
#11 akaddk Nov 04, 2014 1:10:27	I had two assassins in the party. They hung back out of the light's radius. Door that Spernik was hiding behind was opened. Dialogue started. Then... thunk, thunk. Two assassin's arrows with surprise came out of the darkness.   Sigh.
#12 Pauper Nov 04, 2014 9:34:22	@Uthrac -- It does seem like many of the early adventures have a similar setup, but many of the Year 1 adventures in LFR were pretty formulaic as well, which is one reason they didn't get a lot of replay (at least in our area). Heck, I recall one 1-1 level LFR mod (IMPI 1-1) where the initial encounter had pretty much nothing to do with the rest of the adventure!   Still, I wouldn't mind seeing an AL module constructed along the lines of BALD 1-2 "The Night I Let the Undead Out" or CORM 1-1 "The Black Knight of Arabel" Even DALE 1-1 "The Prospect" got some replay, despite being a pretty simple module, because it led into an interesting story series.   Part of the problem might well be that we've basically only got one 'story area' right now, so the adventures for that story area are going to seem pretty same-y until the bigger plot becomes more apparent. After all 'investigating in Westgate' has a different feel from 'investigating in Waterdeep' or 'investigating in Baldur's Gate'; right now, pretty much all the investigations are in or around Phlan, which helps make the investigations feel same-y, because the same spots (the Stojanow Gate, the Laughing Goblin, Valhingen Graveyard) keep coming up. Some players may appreciate the familiarity and 'getting to know the area', but others may find it less interesting.   -- Pauper
(Reply to #10) TheDireOne	Uthrac wrote:
#14 Alphastream Nov 20, 2014 8:40:15	When I read this adventure I was a bit worried with the investigations. In play, however, they actually work very well. The scenes are generally interesting to players and there are a lot of bits the DM can use to make the scenes fun. Several of the scenes can be used to short-cut the investigation if time is running low, or to lead to other scenes if things are going too quickly. I've ran the adventure about 5 times and really ended up liking it.    There are some places where players can get dissatisfied. The map is one, but I think that's easy - if you need for them to just be able to get there, it is far better to have an action the PCs take trigger this. Any of the scenes could produce the actual map. Or, information that is just enough for the sage to be able to create a map. You never want the players to feel they wasted their time (and I don't think the adventure is meaning to suggest that happen. I think it is suggesting that the DM improvise if needed.).    The ending is another. Here I again ended up liking that it is in my hands. Sometimes they want to murder the guy... and if that's great then I facilitate it. Sometimes I have him do some fast-talking, and then the kobolds turn against him... which is a cool choice for the PCs whether to now save him or continue the original plan. You can get some nice morals/alignment moments from this. I like to think of the scene having an invisible throttle on how much I let the PCs know that he might be saved/redeemed and it is a lot of fun. The very end is similar. Sometimes players don't want to open the door. If that will be satisfying to them, no problem, done. If they seem really hesitant and aren't enjoying that decision (but think they have to make it), that's where I'll provide some information or encourage checks that tell them some additional bits and make the decision more fun. For example, that someone seems to be involved other than the players here and will probably come looking. That the factions may want whatever is inside. I adjust to taste and keep the scene from being a disappointment. So far, every run has been fun even though the tables have made very different choices.