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RTGoodman
2008-12-30, 10:39 PM
In the used book store yesterday, I (as usual) managed to snag up quite a few cheap, but still in-good-shape, D&D books, and among those was an old adventure from 3.0 called, "Heart of the Nightfang Spire" for $2. I've looked through it, even though I don't think I'll be using it any time soon, but I've got a couple of questions.

First, does anyone know if the Mooncalf has been updated to 3.5? It doesn't seem like it'd be hard to just use as-is (just changing DR and stuff), but I thought I'd seen it somewhere else before where it was pretty different and I'm not sure if I should use that either.

Second, if anyone's played the adventure, how deadly is it, exactly? To me, without much high level experience anyway, it seems like you'd have to expect at least a handful of deaths in a single run-through, and that's even with the PCs doing stupid stuff to actively get themselves killed. There's two traps that could drop you through a chute (1d4 razors, 1d4 + 5 damage each) plus 12-15d6 falling damage(average 60-70 damage or so, at 10th-11th level), SEVERAL monsters with Con drain or damage (PLUS level drain occasionally), and, IIRC, at least one or two traps that slay PCs outright. That just seems like a LOT to me, but maybe I'm wrong.

Finally, as an aside, what do you think the easiest way would be to fit the thing into the Eberron setting (since that's likely the next IRL game I'll be running)? I was thinking of the area being somewhere in the outskirts of the Mournlands, a remnant of years way before even the Last War, but I'm not sure. Thematically it fits in that one country with the vampire king (I can't remember the name), but I don't know if that's too hokey. Any suggestions?

Prometheus
2008-12-31, 03:08 AM
First, does anyone know if the Mooncalf has been updated to 3.5? It doesn't seem like it'd be hard to just use as-is (just changing DR and stuff), but I thought I'd seen it somewhere else before where it was pretty different and I'm not sure if I should use that either.
Mooncalf appears on page 150 of the Fiend Folio and there are no erratas listed on the Wizards website (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a) to convert from 3.0 to 3.5.

Iku Rex
2008-12-31, 05:25 AM
The mooncalf is from the Monster Manual II, and there's a 3.5 update here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a).





Mooncalf: Magical Beast; 10 ft./10 ft. (30 ft. with tentacle rake);
10/magic; Concentration +25, Hide +17, Knowledge (arcana) +23,
Knowledge (histor) +23, Listen +25, Spellcraft +25, Spot +25; Alertness,
Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (tentacle rake),
Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Iron WillB, Lightning ReflexesB,
ToughnessB; LA —; Add the following text to the Combat section: An
opponent can attack a mooncalf's tentacles as if they were weapons—
see Sunder, in Chapter 8 of the Player's Handbook. A mooncalf's tentacles
have 20 hit points. If the mooncalf is currently grappling a target
with that tentacle, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of
opportunity against the sunder attempt. Severing a mooncalf's tentacles
deals damage to the creature equal to half the limb's hit points. A mooncalf
regrows severed limbs in 1d10+10 days.

tyfon
2008-12-31, 05:44 AM
Hello.
I've been playing this module, party consisted of about 5 characters (sometimes six)
-wizard/incantatrix
-barbarian
-druid
-cleric
-fighter
-rogue/wizard

Edition was 3.0, we were all about 9th level at the adventure's beginning


Second, if anyone's played the adventure, how deadly is it, exactly?
IMO - quite deadly - we had highest "dead per game session" indicator in this module, while campaign was from 1 to 20 lvl. Giralions are mess, traps are quite bad, final encounter also can be tough.

herrhauptmann
2008-12-31, 09:40 AM
The mooncalf fight itself can be murder.
Climbing up a cliff while a monster with reach solos each of you in turn? Ouch. Need invisibility+fly.
I think the best way to get in, is to use a disintegrate on the wall. So what if that accidentally puts you two rooms away from the boss and without all the XP you'd have gained through the tower. It stops you fromhaving your stats drained before getting mobbed by a thousand skeletons and zombies.

ken-do-nim
2008-12-31, 12:47 PM
I played through this using 3.0. A grinder of a module; we continually found ourselves teleporting/dimension dooring out of the Tower, resting, and coming back in. We only had one permanent character death however (Edit: yup, in the Mooncalf fight)

My favorite part was destroying the Heart of Ashardalon while the party ranger was below, and the entire dead organ dropped down on him. Talk about being covered in goop! Reminded me of the end of Ghostbusters.