Den of the Destroyer: Thorn's Attack - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Den of the Destroyer: Thorn's Attack

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
jlewis501
Apr 30, 2010 14:34:34 I'm confused if this is a mistake or if I'm missing something.

In the "Thorn's Attack" encounter of Den of the Destroyer, Thorn has 2 falcons and 2 hounds. Why? Doesn't he only drop one figurine for each? And each figurine only conjures one animal, right?
#2
gargs454
Apr 30, 2010 16:24:40 I'm guessing the idea is that he has two of each, but only activates 1 of each. Then, presumably the activated ones are destroyed. I would have to reread it again to make sure, but I'm guessing that's the logic there.
#3
exiton
Apr 30, 2010 16:32:38 If you look at the Exp of the encounter and the discription of the fight i think all 4 animals are to be out at the same time. As for why he has 2 of each and the PC's only get one, my explination is, that's how the encounter is intended to be. Monsters use different rules and have different abilities than PC's, also, he is a solo. Basicly he gets to do things PC's cant cause that's how it's written. If your annoyed at it you can just give him some special monster abilit that allows him to summon 2 monsters instead of 1. Write it into his desctiption, say it's an achient ranger technique lost in the annals of time.
#4
307Ale
Apr 30, 2010 17:11:44 This has bugged me too. I'm treating it as if Thorn has some special feat or something that let him summon 2 creatures from each figurine. Also, the figurines in the encounter don't follow the usual rules for figurines. They're treated as regular creatures instead. So I'm assuming that Thorn has some special feats that cover that as well.
#5
graht
May 06, 2010 14:26:03 I decided that the two hounds and two falcons weren't from the figurines, but that they were monsters that he summoned using the figurines as non-consumable components as part of a ritual he knows (and won't share with the party if he lives and they won't be able to loot if he dies).
#6
rachweded
May 06, 2010 15:49:34 i did not worry about it and neither did my group, there was a query when they found only one of each but when they asked i got them to do arcana checks and only a 20 was rolled so i just said you do not know.
#7
arymetore
May 10, 2010 16:23:07 I originally replaced one pair of the constructs with Shadow Panthers (or mastiffs... can't remember) because they are the same role and level as the constructs. Also, they have been faced before being used by some of the Shadar-kai in Umbraforge. This gives only two figurines to worry about and fits in better without having to put in the "It's a monster and so it doesn't have to play by the rules for PCs" which really bugged me (ranted about it elsewhere).

However, I am scrapping the whole Thorn fight. Especially as the Shadar-Kai weaponmaster escaped the Den area when the party snuck around and hit the training room from the secret passages. In this scenario, Thorn catches the weaponmaster in one of his snares and questions him as to what's really going on (Thorn moving around like a ghost in the monastery was hokey too) and he figures out what the party is trying to do in there. So instead of a big fight, I'm going to move it out into a skill challenge to convince Thorn to side more with the party's view (and eventually return as one of the 100) and actually help out. Plus, this way he can also point out the occasional need for prisoners (setting up the interrogation in Temple Between as my party is prone to kill all) and information can be shared as to some of the overall scope. Can also foreshadow the General and hopefully build that fight up some more when it comes. Had the idea to script out a cut-scene, then let some of the players read it out... we'll see if that happens.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 jlewis501 Apr 30, 2010 14:34:34	I'm confused if this is a mistake or if I'm missing something. In the "Thorn's Attack" encounter of Den of the Destroyer, Thorn has 2 falcons and 2 hounds. Why? Doesn't he only drop one figurine for each? And each figurine only conjures one animal, right?
#2 gargs454 Apr 30, 2010 16:24:40	I'm guessing the idea is that he has two of each, but only activates 1 of each. Then, presumably the activated ones are destroyed. I would have to reread it again to make sure, but I'm guessing that's the logic there.
#3 exiton Apr 30, 2010 16:32:38	If you look at the Exp of the encounter and the discription of the fight i think all 4 animals are to be out at the same time. As for why he has 2 of each and the PC's only get one, my explination is, that's how the encounter is intended to be. Monsters use different rules and have different abilities than PC's, also, he is a solo. Basicly he gets to do things PC's cant cause that's how it's written. If your annoyed at it you can just give him some special monster abilit that allows him to summon 2 monsters instead of 1. Write it into his desctiption, say it's an achient ranger technique lost in the annals of time.
#4 307Ale Apr 30, 2010 17:11:44	This has bugged me too. I'm treating it as if Thorn has some special feat or something that let him summon 2 creatures from each figurine. Also, the figurines in the encounter don't follow the usual rules for figurines. They're treated as regular creatures instead. So I'm assuming that Thorn has some special feats that cover that as well.
#5 graht May 06, 2010 14:26:03	I decided that the two hounds and two falcons weren't from the figurines, but that they were monsters that he summoned using the figurines as non-consumable components as part of a ritual he knows (and won't share with the party if he lives and they won't be able to loot if he dies).
#6 rachweded May 06, 2010 15:49:34	i did not worry about it and neither did my group, there was a query when they found only one of each but when they asked i got them to do arcana checks and only a 20 was rolled so i just said you do not know.
#7 arymetore May 10, 2010 16:23:07	I originally replaced one pair of the constructs with Shadow Panthers (or mastiffs... can't remember) because they are the same role and level as the constructs. Also, they have been faced before being used by some of the Shadar-kai in Umbraforge. This gives only two figurines to worry about and fits in better without having to put in the "It's a monster and so it doesn't have to play by the rules for PCs" which really bugged me (ranted about it elsewhere). However, I am scrapping the whole Thorn fight. Especially as the Shadar-Kai weaponmaster escaped the Den area when the party snuck around and hit the training room from the secret passages. In this scenario, Thorn catches the weaponmaster in one of his snares and questions him as to what's really going on (Thorn moving around like a ghost in the monastery was hokey too) and he figures out what the party is trying to do in there. So instead of a big fight, I'm going to move it out into a skill challenge to convince Thorn to side more with the party's view (and eventually return as one of the 100) and actually help out. Plus, this way he can also point out the occasional need for prisoners (setting up the interrogation in Temple Between as my party is prone to kill all) and information can be shared as to some of the overall scope. Can also foreshadow the General and hopefully build that fight up some more when it comes. Had the idea to script out a cut-scene, then let some of the players read it out... we'll see if that happens.