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View Full Version : Red Hand of Doom journal...Saviors of Seawell give it a go



desmond1323
2009-10-20, 10:13 PM
Alas, after reading through Saph and kjones' RHoD journals, I've been bitten by the bug to try my own.

Part of it is to hopefully get feedback as my players progress...as kjnoes said, RHoD is a great module....but even better when used as a backbone for a DM to build upon on some of the weaker components.

Another reason is the more journals out there, the more ideas floating around for new DMs running the module in the future to be inspired by or even take for their own use. IMO, this can only benefit the game and lead to a more entertaining run for countless DMs and players. I know I certainly believe I'll run a much better RHoD after reading the runs...still have to go through AslanCross' actually.

So a big point on Saph and kjones' runs....Saph often had a large group, and they both had experienced players who knew how to optimize (or at least play better than your casual or new player). This is why I think I can justify making my own...'cause honestly, I have a feeling my run is not going to be nearly as entertaining. But who knows? In DnD, surprises are plentiful. Back to the point...my group is relatively small (5 only because I forced the creation of a character) and mostly core. Half my players are new, and half are much more experienced.

In the end? I hope to high heaven my run is even half as good as some of the other journals out there, and people just get a kick out of it....some good times can be had during sessions, and I'd like to spread that around.

So without further ado, I'll do a little introduction, with some background on the group, the setup, and the first session we had.

desmond1323
2009-10-20, 10:39 PM
The Saviors of Seawall...humble beginnings.


Once, not so long ago, the adventure started in a medium sized town on the coast known as Seawall. The group were childhood friends, growing up together and steadily readying themselves for a better life outside of the quiet town they had grown up in.

They consisted of Rimble the gnomish Wizard, the eldest...he was in training with a local Wizard, and a very quick study. As such, he started knowing all level one spells, and even could cast another level one a day. (I did this because level one wizards are SO squishy...and I've seen them wracked and destroyed way too easily, and I'm a nice guy who didn't want his party to die)

There was Lucien, the human Monk. Vincente, a human Cleric of Pelor. And a Half-Elven Ranger whose name escape me.

Disaster struck the town when ships stopped coming in to port. The town was surrounded by a very dangerous reef, and as such had a very important lighthouse that told ships when it was safe to turn into port. Obviously, something happened to the lighthouse.

The young group of friends took the call for adventure and made their way to the lighthouse. Turns out a group of pirates had killed the caretaker and his family, and built a false beacon--causing ships to turn too soon, crash on the reef...ripe for the pirates to plunder to their hearts content.

With some hit-and-run techniques, and some clever ambush plans, the heroes stopped the pirates, captured the captain, and even found a deed to a ship...although no ship has been found as of yet.

They reported their findings to the town council, who entrusted the group with finding the last of the caretaker's sons...who had left long ago.

Since then, they have broken into a haunted tor and killed an ancient bugbear champion, broken the curse on a cleric turned ettin, saved another town from a false beacon set up by a lesser barghest teaming up with a hag, won ownership of a keep guarding a gem mine that was overrun by a necromancer and his zombie minions and rescued a young trumphet archon from an ogre mage's diabolical schemes.

They even had a roster change...the cleric and ranger stayed behind at their newly acquired base (Brightstone Keep) to help it get started and reopen the mine. They were joined by a young Rogue for a small while who later gave up adventuring. More permanent members where a young Bard named Kariik and an Aasimar Healer/Favored Soul who (unbeknown to the rest of the party) was granted a holy mission to stop a great evil.

Upon returning the young boy to the village where he was from, the heavens opened and a full grown trumphet archon thanked them, and tasked them with a great quest....a foul shadow was rising to a land far to the west, ready to consume a place known as Elsir Vale.

They were then teleported a vast distance (over the ocean to a new continent, to their lack of knowledge)...to the Vale, and told one thing:
Head to the town of Drellin's Ferry in the west.

And now....The Red Hand of Doom!

desmond1323
2009-10-20, 11:25 PM
Current group:

Level 5...human Monk (Lucian), dwarven Fighter (name forthcoming, will call Axebeard after a joke) (not yet in the party).
Level 4...gnomish Wizard (Rimble, leader of the party), human Bard (Kariik).
Level 4/1...aasimar Healer/Favored Soul (Starts with an E...can't recall, rather complicated)

Let the adventure...commence!

----------------------------------

After an oddly lengthy teleport, the Saviors of Seawall arrived in the Elsir Vale during a very hot summer. With no more instructions save, "Head west to Drellin's Ferry", the group headed west.

After walking on a well traveled road coursing through a thick forest, the party heard battle coming from the road ahead. Preparing themselves for anything, they rushed ahead and beheld an interesting spectacle.

A lone dwarf was fighting off a large party of hobgoblins. There were even a couple hell hounds.

The slightly wounded Fighter took a mighty swing with his waraxe and felled an enemy, prompting the SoS (holy crap I just realized that, *facepalm*) to use their sudden appearance in a surprise round.

The monk ran over to some hobgoblins staying out of melee and using their bows. Alas, they were rather good dodgers, and the monk's flurries proved rather ineffective.

The rest stayed back and attempted to use their spells or bows. The bard successfully bow'ed down some other hobgoblins using the same hide in forest/bow tactics, and then focused on a hobgoblin Cleric who was healing his friends and hurting the monk.

The two hell hounds came after the spellcasters, and horribly failed their breath attack...and barely got any hits in at all. Admirably enough, the healer managed to kill them both with her spear, and healed up any damage they caused easily.

The fighter, meanwhile, was knocking down hobgoblins left and right....then their captain appeared and got a few good hits with his short swords. The healer was free to help though, and they made short work of the captain (with some help from a scorching ray from the wizard) just as the monk and bard finished off the cleric.

The remaining three hobgoblins ran. One provoked an AoO and was taken down. Another escaped. The final avoided an AoO and thought he had escaped, but was magic missile'd and killed.

The party, feeling good about their success, noticed something odd on the armor of the hobgoblins...a large, clawed red hand upon a field of yellow marked every one. Assuming it to be the mark of a particular tribe, the party then turned to the dwarf.

Who was rather angry.

The dwarf was a local who had decided to go out and about searching out evil to destroy. He felt he had the situation under control. Rimble, being the leader of the group, justifiably convinced him elsewise...and argued that without their help, he'd be very dead. He motioned to the healer, who really had allowed the dwarf to live.

Meanwhile, the bard and monk had wandered over to a nearby run down house...inside they found the bodies of a dead farm and a merchant caravan, not to mention their equipment and 355gp.

The dwarf mentioned that Drellin's Ferry was just up the road a ways, and that he was staying there. The group decided to travel back to town together.

Upon reaching the town, some guards came up and questioned the group. The dwarf they knew, so they greeted him warmly. Rimble mentioned they stumbled upon the fighter surrounded by hobgoblins.

"Aye, they have been an ever growing problem as of late," came the guards replied.

"A problem you say?" Rimble chuckled and grinned, knowing the opportunity for wealth and prestige came hand in hand with problems. "Well then, my dear man...I present a solution: us, the Saviors of Seawall!"

The guards had never heard of such a place...embarrassing Rimble greatly...but they recognized adventurers when they saw them and told them to speak to Norro Wiston, the town speaker, about helping the town out. The party agreed and headed on over to the Old Toll House to speak with him.

Upon entering, the group met Norro and Soranna, the town's guard captain. Explaining their plight, that a seemingly large group of hobgoblins had been causing problems...they even had magic beasts with them! Hell hounds and maybe even a manticore!...and requested that the group investigate and end the threat caused by the hobgoblin tribe.

Rimble, as always, negotiated for the group....but being TN as he is, his diplomacy went something like this:

Rimble:Very good then...I see we're in agreement as to us helping...but 500gp seems rather low a reward, don't you think? I mean we ARE putting our lives in danger...

Me: Roll diplomacy.
Rimble: I got a one.

Norro: Hrm...we really are a very small town, and can not afford much...but you're arguments do make sense. I'm afraid I can't go higher than 550 for each of you.

(Sometimes, the rules just need to be fudged...I figured Rimble's argument was good, but didn't really hit into Norro's soft spot...the module calls for no higher than 700gp each if they impress him. So I gave a little for logic's sake, but not as much because of the failed roll.)

Satisfied with their arrangements, the group headed to The Old Bridge Inn for the night...and would head out to the Witchwood the next morning towards an old keep that the monsters might be using as their base of operations.


----------------------------------


I realize this is very dull for it's length....sadly, it was a rather short session. For future reference, I'll be skimping out on a lot of the details and only focusing on the big moments in the future. Being this was our first session, I just went ahead and went through it all. I also wanted to show some of the mechanics of the group as a whole...although overall, the group's relatively simple.


----------------------------------


A few openers about the module...

I didn't change any of the basic monsters. Hobbo regulars were getting cut down in one, two hits...and I really have no problem with that. The captain actually didn't do that bad, though I might ramp up any equals a little better.

The hell hounds suffered from some really bad rolls. I hope this doesn't happen for better things in the future.

I really have to run enemy spell casters better. This isn't the first time I've seen one be relatively useless...though the inflict spell followed by a cure spell led to a lot of jokes--tactically could have been better.

The opening scene is also written as an ambush...I changed it to a battle already in progress, with the party stumbling on it....mostly for the introduction of a new PC...but really, it's a fairly weak ambush. I would suggest figuring out a better way to start it than the module has set up.

I was sort of worried with this group...but the healer is SO good at healing, and the wizard is finally coming into his own...now I'm just worried about the monk and bard, who haven't been all that useful yet. I want everyone to feel like they're being useful...but when the bard's spells always fail, or the monk's flurry misses every time....if the bad luck continues, I may have to do something about it.

I am glad I made them make the fighter. They needed a good meat shield. And he's working fine.



Anyways...I really hope, with the hydra battle and hopefully Vraath Keep tomorrow, the adventure will pick up the pace....I'll feel really silly about keeping a journal otherwise!

I'm not gonna change anything in the module at this point until I see how the group fares against a more powerful opponent...though we'll see how they handle a hydra. Till the next!

Rising Phoenix
2009-10-21, 12:37 AM
Thanks for posting! :smallsmile:

When I started this, I only had three lv 5 PCs and it was quite challenging for them. Your group seems to have all bases covered so they should do well.

Beware of the Hydra, that's where I had my first PC kill....:smallamused:

R.P.

Olo Demonsbane
2009-10-21, 12:40 AM
Nice, good to see someone else is running the module!

I kept the battle of Skull Gorge running for 24 rounds on Sunday...play the monsters intelligently and you can truly scare your players.

desmond1323
2009-10-21, 01:04 AM
I kept the battle of Skull Gorge running for 24 rounds on Sunday...play the monsters intelligently and you can truly scare your players.


I imagine largely, based upon my read of it, the journals I've read, and my playthrough of it in my other group where I'm a PC, that Skull Gorge is where things REALLY get interesting for the first time.

I mean, Vraath keep is nice and all, but it's really planned out how it would logically go....the Gorge is a wide open place, with the module's first dragon. Lots of potential there. Especially if I go ahead and up the dragon's age category by one....will determine THAT based on the Hydra fight. Sadly, when I played, my Druid shot that dragon out of the sky in one go with call lightning because of an incorrect interpretation of the rules. So I have only my journal readings to help determine this choice.

But thanks for reading, posting, and all that jazz....makes me feel a lot less silly about posting to begin with!

desmond1323
2009-10-21, 10:35 PM
Well, another fairly short session sadly...but not all that bad of one, when considering. Will try to be a little more brief this time...

So here we go...

--------------------------------
Where the party goes into the Witchwood chasing Hobgoblins!

Party:
Level Five Dwarf Fighter, Eberk.
Level Five Human Bard, Kariik.
Level Five Gnome Wizard, Rimble.
Level Five Human Monk, Lucian.
Aasimar Favored Soul 4/Healer 1, Esseria.

--------------------------------

After waking up the next morning, the party decided to purchase some horses so that they may reach the keep within the day.

Little did they know it wouldn't be that simple.

Having heard that the keep was near the Dawn Way (and not having heard about Jorr), they decided to stick to the main road.

After a few hours of riding, the Monk noticed something off to the side of the trail. It was a troll!

They were discussing on what to do when Rimble heard something sneaking behind them...another troll!

Whilst the troll's won initiative, and gave the party a few decent scratches...between Eberk's savage axe and Rimble's scorching ray, they didn't stand a chance.

The party continued on...until they came to a swamp-ish area with a causeway crossing it. But off to the side was a ruined wagon.

This caused some debate. Some members wanted to check it out and some just wanted to continue so as to avoid trouble.

Once again, the Monk noticed something odd...a strange snake-like creature was in the swamp near the wagon. This just boosted the members who wanted to go on's desire to move even quicker before something bad happened.

Someone mentioned for Rimble to throw a fireball on it (mental DM cringe). And then Kariik did something interesting.

The trolls were carrying 8000cp. Kariik and Lucian wanted to leave it behind.

Lucian: C'mon, it's like 80gp...it's ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY POUNDS of copper!
Kariik: Yeah, man...let's just leave it.
Me: Y'know I count money weight as negligible, right? Just keep the damn money!

So Kariik takes a copper and throws it at the 'snake'.

Me: *stares* Really? You really wanna do this?
Kariik: Yeah, why not.
Me: OK, sure. You hit it, and a large mass jumps up out of the water...suddenly, six snake-like heads roar out.

And the party cringes in fear!

Most of the party stayed away, letting Lucian and Eberk soak up a lot of hits...though the hydra missed almost as much as he hit. A whirling blades from Kariik did some impressive damage to each head, and Rimble's fireballs worked well too, even if the hydra's fast healing undid most of the damage.

Lucian attempted to jump on top of the hydra but was promptly thrown back down from an attack of opportunity.

The battle was mostly a standstill, with Eberk and Lucian finally starting to wear down....Eseria came in to heal Eberk, and Lucian withdrawed away.

That's when the battle was over...Eberk began sundering a head every round, and with Rimble's spells causing more damage, the Fast Healing couldn't catch up.

Finally, Rimble hit it with his final lesser acid orb, bringing the beast down.

The party found some gold, magic armor, and even a magic helm inside the beast's stomach...and continued on their way after a night's rest for spells.

After a few more miles of travels, the group ran across a manticore that took them forever to finally decide to attack, as it hadn't noticed them yet. After a few strong hits on them, the manticore fled.

And we ended just before the group was headed towards Vraath Keep.


--------------------------------

Once again, another rather dull session...short too. Hopefully, with the changes to Koth's spell list, Vraath Keep will be much more interesting. I also think that once the party gets bogged down in a more confined area, things should be a little more hard pressed for them. The Ghost Lord's lair ought to be REALLY interesting in that regard.

Once again, apologize for the tl;dr nature of all this...

The party is working fairly decent...with the bard and monk still really not feeling like they're being all that useful. Any suggestions on how to fix that?

With how they handled the hydra, I think I am going to up the green dragon an age category...just to see how that goes.

Anyways....Vraath Keep and hopefully the Gorge next week. I'm really gonna push to have a really good session. Most of the group was returning from a break, and so were tired/sick/just not feeling it. Anyways...until next week!

Draz74
2009-10-22, 01:02 AM
The party is working fairly decent...with the bard and monk still really not feeling like they're being all that useful. Any suggestions on how to fix that?

Need to know more about their current builds.

Coidzor
2009-10-22, 01:14 AM
Let's see, the monk has never actually spent money on anything yet, if I recall. ...I think he's taken Combat Reflexes as a feat though, right?

Hmm, the bard... Mostly uses the bow, if I recall and supports with inspire courage.

But he might've switched some things up a bit since I left the game myself.

desmond1323
2009-10-22, 01:48 AM
Both aren't all that experienced, so think along very basic lines.

The Monk goes up and punches things, missing more often than not. I think he mainly suffers from bad luck.


And yeah, Coidzor, he mostly does the same things....though he usually tries a couple spells first, which often fail, before going back to shooting things and Bard Song. I'm tempted to suggest the Storm singer PrC for him...just so he can get some nifty SLAs, though it'd still be a bit...

BooNL
2009-10-22, 01:57 AM
Nice read, it's always fun to see how others tackle the RHoD. I just started myself, in a pbp on these very forums. Though my players have only just entered Drellin's Ferry.

I urge you not the updrade the dragon. They can be deceptively powerful for their CR and if played smartly, he should be a good threat for your relatively unoptimized party. Remember, always be in the air, avoid close combat and do some hit and run style breath attacks. Only the wizard and the bard should be able to touch him while the rest of the party handles the other mobs.

Regarding the marauder attack. I had upgraded my regulars to fighters, which helped a bit. They're supposed to die easy enough though. I upgraded the bladebearer to a Lion Totem Barbarian 4, his initial charge almost killed one of the party members :smallbiggrin:. Though he quickly fell after that. Still, it is a step up from fighter 4, especially if you rework the feats a bit.

Anyway, I'll enjoy reading your progress, so keep it up! Tip: spoiler the events, it makes for a better read.

desmond1323
2009-10-28, 10:52 PM
The adventure continues...where the adventurers take Vraath Keep and slay Wyrmlord Koth!

(Also, I learned how to spoiler things now...simple really, I was just lazy in figuring it out.)

Party= Exactly the same as before.


---------------------------------------

So, last time, the party chased off a manticore, and prepared to assault the keep that supposedly was the base for the hobgoblins.

Rimble used his Raven to scout out, and discovered two pairs of goblin worg riders circling the keep.

The party came up with a skillful, albeit simple plan...a little Invisibility Sphere, and some good timing, and the party snuck into the keep easily.

They heard some deep, rhythmic breathing...the Bard decided to sneak in for a quick kill.

Three lucky Move Silently checks later (damn you nat 20's!), Kariik successfully executed the sleeping manticore.

Having lost his invis, the rest of the party investigated the keep...hearing some voices inside a nearby area. One fireball through a hole later, angry hobbos began to run out...right into the prepared attacks of Eberk and Lucian. The first fell to a fist...causing the unexpecting second to trip over the corpse to be critted and cut down the middle by Eberk's axe.

The melee'ers easily dispatched the hobbos, and Rimble launched spells through the hole at the newly upgraded minotaur (level of fighter, better HP rolls, magical breastplate). Whilst things looked grim for Lucian for a moment, the party felled the minotaur...who called out to his master to flee.

A few rounds of healing later, the party began running up the main tower...hearing footsteps above.

Koth was waiting to blast the first two people who came through the top stairs. (I changed Koth's spells around, giving him only two real changes. More thematical correct IMO, I gave him two rainbow related spells from the Spell Compendium...replacing Lightning Bolt and Detect Thoughts) Lucian evasioned himself to no damage, Eberk took a fair bit.

Let the boss battle begin!

Everything was going quite well for Koth....evading Rimble's spells, dodging Lucian's attacks (thanks to Mage Armor), and even hitting Eberk with a Ray of Enfeeblement for 5 Str damage.

Seemed Koth could do some damage easy and then fly out the opening behind him. Sigh...I, as a DM, had no luck today, obviously.

Eberk critted Koth for 33 damage. 3/5's his HP in one hit...the first hit. Just gone.

The fall behind Koth was only ten feet, so he jumped, taking some minor damage and drinking a healing potion, thinking he'd easily be able to drink his fly potion and flee next round.

Eberk and Lucian both chased after, and Lucian finally got a good hit. Rimble followed up with a Scorching Ray, putting Koth at exactly 0 HP.

Knowing he could not escape, he leaped off the remaining edge, killing himself.

Thinking themselves victorious, Rimble, Lucian and Eberk went to loot his body.

Rimble just barely noticed the four worg riders sneaking up on them.

After some clean up, the party found the map, and Koth's personal journal. Through this, they found the names Saarvith, Kharn, the Ghostlord, and the garrison at the Gorge. Koth mentioned special reinforcements from Saarvith in the north, and also something of a special vault rumored to be found in the keep.

With map in hand, and questions forming which needed answers, the party rested, awaiting their next move...


---------------------------------------
Sigh. I really wanted Koth to live...felt he could come back for some nice times. And he was doing great. Really. I thought the str damage would put Eberk much closer to being out....but the dice were really with my players today, and that bloody crit...

Why didn't Koth already have Fly ready you might ask? Felt that'd just be too much advantage...and I had his small ambush ready and....meh, live and learn.

Dragon is definitely getting up-ped an age category...while this was a decent challenge for the party, and good times were had...and the bard and the monk felt more useful....I want the Gorge to be much more close and feel very dangerous. Lucian's player likes attempting crazy things sometimes, so I half assume he'll figure out a way to get the dragon in melee.

Also, am allowing the monk to flurry after moving. Really helped him out to feel more useful. Also letting him equip gauntlets for damage increase and eventual enchantment.

The two new spells for Koth really felt right for his character and the Red Hand's connection to Tiamat. They were still fairly effective, though a straight up Fireball might've been more hilarious at a moment.

Oh well. I feel like I gave the party much better hints pointing to Saarvith and the bridge than was basically written. It's simple and not very creative, but basically giving Koth a journal with a few important facts (put into a much more difficult language, infernal was my choice...though the Helm of Comprehend Languages they found earlier killed that, :P) is a quick and easy solution to that built in problem.

Anyways...until next time! More danger, possible death, me being mean as a DM for once!

desmond1323
2009-11-05, 12:43 AM
No session today for my own very personal (and very emotionally distressing) reasons. I'm saddened by it....but there's so much more going on past that, you have no idea. I mean, the always nauseous, visibly shaken, on-the-edge-of-tears type of distress.

But a few notes to get my mind off things.



One....the next step is the Gorge. The dragon is going up one age category...I believe that will make this one hell of a fight for this group....perhaps the first true harrowing one they've ever experienced from me as a DM.

Two...the player of Rimble wishes to add in another character, a Lizardfolk druid. I absolutely adore this idea, and using another thread, have decided to introduce him at the Elven encampment at the swamp....this should mean the assault on Saarvith and his dragon should be very interesting, as some wacky hijinks will ensue, I believe.

Three...that brings my party to a total of six PCs, meaning I can scale this adventure much more easily based upon journals such as Saph and kjones.



And that's all for a quick little update...until next week, fellows.

desmond1323
2009-11-12, 12:00 AM
The adventure continues....and effectively doesn't go anywhere!

How might this be possible? Read on to find out!

Party:
Rimble Nickel, the gnome wizard.
Lucian, the human monk.
Eberk, the dwarf fighter.
Kariik, the human bard.
An aasimar healer/favored soul whose name I still can't remember, darn it.

---------------------------------------------



Last time, the party killed Wyrmlord Koth and took Vraath Keep for their own. From the information they gathered, they planned on heading towards Skull Gorge bridge and seeing the true extent of the Red Hand.

Resting the night in the keep, Rimble awoke to a strange setting....it was the keep, yet it was not the keep. Colors seemed muted, it was far too quiet, and just didn't feel right. When he went outside, he found that past the keep's boundaries all was covered in a thick fog. Also, his companions were nowhere to be found.

After a little exploration (the keep is not so large, after all), he went to the top floor and found a figure awaiting him...it was his father, Garook Nickel!

Garook was checking up on his son and his magical progress....the two dueled, with Rimble barely overcoming his father....or at least, it seemed, a shadow of his father. After congratulating his boy, he wished Rimble the best of luck.

Rimble, Lucian, and Kariik then woke....with a curse, Rimble realized he was in the same situation, but his father was nowhere to be found. What the three did find however were the zombified remains of the keep's former inhabitants!

Kariik grabbed a nearby cooking pot and went after the first wave of zombies...hilarity ensued. Needless to say, with the goblins high AC, and the improvised weapon penalty, and the fact it was bludgeoning....the single time he actually hit did no damage at all, much to his disappointment.

After killing the worg rider goblins, Koth, and the manticore (it got to do something after all!), the healer and Eberk showed up as well just in time for the four hobgoblins and the minotaur (all zombies) to show up.

After dispatching the beasts, Rimble's father showed up one more time and told them they passed his test, and that it was time for them to awake.

They did so, and immediately set out for the gorge.

Upon arriving and seeing the dragon, they set up a plan...the healer, the fighter, and the wizard would all enchant themselves with fly. The bard would take care of the hellhounds thanks to combat expertise and his new bastard sword. The healer would use her new powers of flight to keep everyone healthy, the fighter would go after the dragon, and the wizard would also focus on the dragon.

And so the plan was set for next time!


Alrighty, a few details...once, long ago, Rimble's player joked about his character's father...

So, this was a quick dip into what will be further adventures with Garook and the like. No details here though, maybe more in the future!

The reason I did this was the fighter and the healer's player wasn't with us at first...so I needed a bit of a one-shot/time consumer to deal with that. Without the fighter, the party might've been fine...without their healer, the dragon would have torn them to shreds.

It was kind of fun zombie-fying all the keep's guards! I kept the worgs out....Rimble was doing the most damage with his spells, and he was out of spells...the worgs woulda been bad news for the party.

Anyways...up next is the gorge battle, with the dragon upped an age category....with the fighter flying, it might be bad news...but the party is completely ignoring all the hobbos, and I plan on making them regret that.

Till next week (hopefully, as long as no more personal problems pop up....hard to do DnD when life sucks), it was a rather pleasant session, even if nothing really got done, heh.

Later.

Coidzor
2009-11-12, 12:26 AM
How optimized is that fighter anyway?

If I'm recalling correctly the party as a whole isn't very optimized. Especially between Lucian and Karik. Rimble's a bit better but he's still more of compromise between blasting and control.

kjones
2009-11-12, 09:43 AM
First of all, sorry to hear about your personal problems. I find that RPGs are a good way to take my mind off of such things, so hopefully you can take some solace in your game.

Second of all, kudos on the clever idea of having the guards reanimate! Since the module makes a thing out of the fact that the castle isn't actually haunted, it never occurred to me to make it haunted for real. Maybe have this supernatural activity lead them (in some way) to the treasure cache? (Have you tweaked the treasure cache at all?)

Don't feel bad about letting them get Koth. It sounds like he put up a fair fight, and that everyone had fun in the process. There's still three other wyrmlords, and you can always get Koth raised somehow if you really want to.

I think this battle also showcases something important throughout RHoD (and D&D in general, I suppose) - the outcome of a battle can be heavily contingent on surprise. They probably would have had a much harder time of it if they had to fight off the hobgoblins while dealing with the minotaur and Koth at the same time.


The adventure continues....and effectively doesn't go anywhere!

How might this be possible? Read on to find out!

Party:
Rimble Nickel, the gnome wizard.
Lucian, the human monk.
Eberk, the dwarf fighter.
Kariik, the human bard.
An aasimar healer/favored soul whose name I still can't remember, darn it.

---------------------------------------------



Last time, the party killed Wyrmlord Koth and took Vraath Keep for their own. From the information they gathered, they planned on heading towards Skull Gorge bridge and seeing the true extent of the Red Hand.

Resting the night in the keep, Rimble awoke to a strange setting....it was the keep, yet it was not the keep. Colors seemed muted, it was far too quiet, and just didn't feel right. When he went outside, he found that past the keep's boundaries all was covered in a thick fog. Also, his companions were nowhere to be found.

After a little exploration (the keep is not so large, after all), he went to the top floor and found a figure awaiting him...it was his father, Garook Nickel!

Garook was checking up on his son and his magical progress....the two dueled, with Rimble barely overcoming his father....or at least, it seemed, a shadow of his father. After congratulating his boy, he wished Rimble the best of luck.

Rimble, Lucian, and Kariik then woke....with a curse, Rimble realized he was in the same situation, but his father was nowhere to be found. What the three did find however were the zombified remains of the keep's former inhabitants!

Kariik grabbed a nearby cooking pot and went after the first wave of zombies...hilarity ensued. Needless to say, with the goblins high AC, and the improvised weapon penalty, and the fact it was bludgeoning....the single time he actually hit did no damage at all, much to his disappointment.

After killing the worg rider goblins, Koth, and the manticore (it got to do something after all!), the healer and Eberk showed up as well just in time for the four hobgoblins and the minotaur (all zombies) to show up.

After dispatching the beasts, Rimble's father showed up one more time and told them they passed his test, and that it was time for them to awake.

They did so, and immediately set out for the gorge.

Upon arriving and seeing the dragon, they set up a plan...the healer, the fighter, and the wizard would all enchant themselves with fly. The bard would take care of the hellhounds thanks to combat expertise and his new bastard sword. The healer would use her new powers of flight to keep everyone healthy, the fighter would go after the dragon, and the wizard would also focus on the dragon.

And so the plan was set for next time!


Alrighty, a few details...once, long ago, Rimble's player joked about his character's father...

So, this was a quick dip into what will be further adventures with Garook and the like. No details here though, maybe more in the future!

The reason I did this was the fighter and the healer's player wasn't with us at first...so I needed a bit of a one-shot/time consumer to deal with that. Without the fighter, the party might've been fine...without their healer, the dragon would have torn them to shreds.

It was kind of fun zombie-fying all the keep's guards! I kept the worgs out....Rimble was doing the most damage with his spells, and he was out of spells...the worgs woulda been bad news for the party.

Anyways...up next is the gorge battle, with the dragon upped an age category....with the fighter flying, it might be bad news...but the party is completely ignoring all the hobbos, and I plan on making them regret that.

Till next week (hopefully, as long as no more personal problems pop up....hard to do DnD when life sucks), it was a rather pleasant session, even if nothing really got done, heh.

Later.

desmond1323
2009-11-12, 01:17 PM
How optimized is that fighter anyway?

If I'm recalling correctly the party as a whole isn't very optimized. Especially between Lucian and Karik. Rimble's a bit better but he's still more of compromise between blasting and control.


Oh you know, I mean...as much as one can optimize a Fighter at this point, I guess. Power Attack, Cleave, eventual weapon specialization in Dwarven Waraxe...

Rimble actually mostly blasts, hasn't been a whole lot of situations that have called for anything less. Though with his True Neutral persona, I think he'll mostly stick to blasting things....that kind of power seems to be what his character enjoys.

As for Lucian and Kariik...the couple of tweaks to the monk have allowed him to feel much more useful, without going particularly overboard...though I have decided to limit his Flurry after moving to two hits, one for each fist. He can still fully Flurry without moving, so yeah.

Kariik...he's finally been using his Bard song, but he's not optimized for it at all, which I kind of wish I could have changed...not sure how to do that myself. Right now, he's kind of got the idea of being the 'tank' with his combat expertise, and an eventual animated shield. He might not be able to kill things, but if they can't kill him....he seems to be OK with it. That's probably not going to end well...and I think I'll show him why at the gorge.




Second of all, kudos on the clever idea of having the guards reanimate! Since the module makes a thing out of the fact that the castle isn't actually haunted, it never occurred to me to make it haunted for real. Maybe have this supernatural activity lead them (in some way) to the treasure cache? (Have you tweaked the treasure cache at all?)

Haha, thanks...it was a last minute thing I came up with--spent the whole day trying to figure out what I was going to have them do, when it hit me...the keep is supposedly haunted, let's make it ACTUALLY haunted! The excuse was going to be like, the recent battle stirred up the spirits or some such thing...but then I remembered talks about Rimble's IC father, and I started thinking for the future...so I made it his own thing.

Rimble now wants whatever spell his father used to make this little 'Dream world'.

They've actually already found the cache, I had Koth's journal mention tales of a vault somewhere in the keep that he hadn't found yet....after a few hours of searching, they finally managed it. Since the party is without a rogue, it was hilarious watching them try and get into it.

Sadly, I hadn't managed to tweak the treasure yet...my own fault. So, before I remembered that I was going to switch out the bastard sword with a flaming dwarven waraxe, I had already mentioned the sword and....bah. So, now the bard is using the sword...and the waraxe was the only thing I actually added, everything else was the same. For future treasure hoards, I'm going to alter them well in advance of the party finding them.


I think this battle also showcases something important throughout RHoD (and D&D in general, I suppose) - the outcome of a battle can be heavily contingent on surprise. They probably would have had a much harder time of it if they had to fight off the hobgoblins while dealing with the minotaur and Koth at the same time.

Oooooh yes. This has actually been a staple of this party...most often, they figure out good plans before jumping in, and that saves them...the few times that the enemy gets the jump on them, the party typically takes a LOT of punishment. As a DM, I say this a little sadly, their rolls for not being heard and the like also tend to be very good, allowing them to go through with their plans.

But that's the game I suppose, it's still fun...and I do get a few surprises in every now and then, so after everything it works out well.

Makes me itch for the battle with Saarvith...especially now that the party will have a lizardfolk with them for possible sneak attacks/insurgency/etc.

AslanCross
2009-11-12, 05:33 PM
The Marked for Death encounter is quite deadly (one of the deadliest ones in the first half of the game). My party is semi-optimized but the monster tactics completely caught them off guard. The party members were separated from each other and the dwarf crusader got Charmed into grappling the psion.

I took a very different turn with Vraath Keep's story to fit it into Eberron, so good work on making it actually haunted. :D

Ozzyrandion needs a buff if you say your party members are very fastidious in pre-buffing and planning---just keep in mind that Ozzy's senses are really good.
(The same is true for all the dragons in this module anyway.)
My party wanted to attack at night to save time, but after some knowledge checks they realized the dragon could spot them coming from a long way away even in the dark while only one of them had darkvision. Heh.

desmond1323
2009-11-14, 05:36 PM
Ozzyrandion needs a buff if you say your party members are very fastidious in pre-buffing and planning---just keep in mind that Ozzy's senses are really good.


Oh yes, I didn't put the details down here...but the plan they've come up with before fighting Ozzyrandion is full of pre-buffs and the like....I've come up with a small surprise that should even things out a little. Though you always hate ruining the PCs plans...makes them feel sort of like, "What's the point?". But they've been successful far too often....one or two failures isn't uncalled for, I think, heh.

Eldariel
2009-11-14, 05:50 PM
Oh yes, I didn't put the details down here...but the plan they've come up with before fighting Ozzyrandion is full of pre-buffs and the like....I've come up with a small surprise that should even things out a little. Though you always hate ruining the PCs plans...makes them feel sort of like, "What's the point?". But they've been successful far too often....one or two failures isn't uncalled for, I think, heh.

In the end, that's a problem that should take care of itself; enemies aren't statics, but moving patrols and such, and fully capable of spotting the party while they're buffing or getting the surprise on them.

And if the Horde starts to pay more attention to the party specifically (likely if the party keeps foiling them at every turn), they might figure the tactics out, and e.g. ratio out Scrolls of Dispel Magic for even the lower level War Adepts and Casters.


Just few options; the best way to make it interesting while still workable is to have the failures come directly from opponent's strategies and adjustments. I feel there's a lot of versatility built into the horde.

desmond1323
2009-11-16, 11:40 AM
In the end, that's a problem that should take care of itself; enemies aren't statics, but moving patrols and such, and fully capable of spotting the party while they're buffing or getting the surprise on them.

Just few options; the best way to make it interesting while still workable is to have the failures come directly from opponent's strategies and adjustments. I feel there's a lot of versatility built into the horde.

Well, of course...anything less is is uninspired, bordering on cheating, and just plain not fun. That's the nice thing about the Red Hand....they ARE versatile, so it makes perfect sense for them to adapt to this group of adventurers running around saving the day....creating challenges the party will have to be creative to overcome, leading to much more fun sessions all around.

desmond1323
2009-11-19, 03:47 AM
Alright! Tonight was a most EXCELLENT session! Seriously, one of the most fun I've had in a long time.

I also found....I can't be a mean DM. I just can't. *hangs head* I'm waaay too nice...

There were several good potential TPK moments....honestly, if I played as mean as possible, I believe that would be all for the Saviors of Seawell. Now I know our point as a DM is to have the most fun...and in this, I was successful! So, I don't even care that I can't be mean...I CAN be KIND OF mean, and that apparently is a good thing. So, in the immortal words of Quince and his Quincerian method: It's good enough!

Anyways....this time, the party defeats their first dragon and takes back Skull Gorge Bridge from the Horde!

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When last we left the party, they had arrived at the bridge and were developing their attack plan. They had scouted out the bridge with Rimble's familiar, and had stuck to the woods to avoid being seen.

They would buff up, with the healer, wizard, fighter, and monk flying...the wizard and melee'ers would concentrate on the dragon, with the healer keeping everybody up to snuff. The bard would stick to keeping the hell hounds busy with some help from a summoned skeleton.

All in all, a good plan.

In the end? Completely ruined.

For you see, a couple of spare goblin worg riders had made it to Vraath Keep a day behind the party, and had been riding hard to warn the Horde of Koth's defeat. And they spotted the party, raising an alarm. Which the dragon, ol' Ozyrrandian (now upped to a juvenile!), easily heard. But not being able to see the party, he raised the alarm, and then flew down into the Gorge.

The hobbos paraded out, sending another archer to each tower, four lining up on the opposite side of the gorge, and two (with the hell hounds) going to check out the commotion (for a total of 14 hobbo vets). The two sergeants stood guard halfway along the bridge.

Meanwhile, the party had fairly easily dispatched the goblins and worgs, and had managed to get most of their buffs out as well. While they were worried about the missing dragon, they figured they could worry about that after killing the scouts.

When what would appear above them but a large green dragon which proceeded to hit the whole party (save Rimble, though he got a couple of his mirror images) with his breath attack. The dragon had drank his potion of invis while in the gorge and flown above the group.

All this was in a small clearing in the woods....this proved to help our heroes greatly, as they VERY effectively used the woods as cover.

Eberk and Lucian flew up to pound on the dragon, whilst Rimble retreated for a better vantage point. A Bless, some bard song, and Protection from Evil had been handed out, making the party fairly well protected...

After taking a hard hit from Eberk, Ozyyrandion hit him with a Ray of Enfeeblement for 5 Str damage! With the added AC from the Shield he had also cast, Oz was being quite meddlesome.

Lucian landed a good hit, and was responded to by a full attack from Oz. Rimble returned, spells at the ready. It was then that the two hobbos and hell hounds made their way to the clearing, causing havoc for Astrena and Kariik. Lucian retreated, badly wounded, to get some heals from Astena, while Eberk hit Oz for another decent hit...and then got hit with another RoE for the full 7 Str damage!

Seeing most of the party grouped together yet again, and not caring about a few lowly hobbos and hell hounds, Ozyyrandion swooped in with another breathe attack, hitting Astrena, Rimble, Eberk, Kariik, the hobbos and the hell hounds.

The hell hounds and hobbos were vaporized, and Astrena was killed nigh instantaneously. Things looked bad for the party, but they had worn Oz down a fair bit at this point.

That's when Rimble lost it...having developed a bit of a crush on Astrena, he began casting spells like mad, determined to slay this dragon, no matter the cost. As Oz flew away to heal himself with the potion at his roost, Rimble flew after him...shooting arrows once his magic ran effectively dry. His last casting being a Flaming Sphere that missed the dragon but did set fire to the thatch roof of one of the towers.

Finally able to see their quarry, the hobbo vets unleashed wave after wave of arrows into Rimble. Despite being severely weakened, Eberk chased after as well, managing to do a few decent hits with his bow. Lucian quaffed a few potions and chased after the dragon as well, shooting as he flew along. Kariik went for Astrena's corpse, found the staff of life on her person, and--after two tries--managed to fake it enough to raise her.

Though he made it to his roost, in the heat of battle, Oz couldn't find his potion! Finally, he decided to just flee, and started flying away....but Rimble, in his rage (and not knowing she had come back yet!), finally got off one last spell that sent Ozyyrandion crashing to the ground, at last defeated.

However, he had left himself open to very, VERY many hobbo bows. Luckily, as he was about to fall, Astrena made it to him (after drinking her own potion of fly), and healed him. He seemed very shocked, and relieved...but there was no time for kind words!

After seeing the dragon fall, four of the hobbos fled right away. The rest was mostly tedium...with the hobbos doing decent damage, and the party near struggling to finish them off. They were helped by the collapsing of the roof that had caught fire falling and killing two of the hobbos and, after one of the sergeants had been slain, the complete retreat of the rest.

However, three found themselves right next to each other and in a very odd predicament....Astrena would cast a Sound Burst on them, and stun them for one round. This happened for three straight rounds, leading to all three hobbos being killed by many arrows.

On the other side of the gorge, the last remaining hobbo threw down its weapons, surrendered, and was taken prisoner. After a few more heals, Rimble questioned him intensely and--with some help from a Zone of Truth--got a little bit of information about Saarvith, some other dragons, and even about Kharn himself.

Releasing him to send a message to the Red Hand, the party then wondered what to do about this bridge...they had decided to destroy it...but how?

And so they rested.



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Woo! So. Much. FUN.

So much potential for TPK! And even the first real death for the party! Astrena actually died on her first day...but was instantly brought back because she had a holy mission to complete! Seriously, bad luck with energy attacks this girl has.

Eberk...and his 13 Str damage, putting him at 6 total. Hilarious...but as both he and Astrena are played by the same gal, she was a little flustered by both her characters being effectively (even if only shortly) out of commission. She now very strongly wishes for a wand of restoration...so it's a good thing that they'll get some shopping time soon.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how this encounter went...and for the most part, am very glad I changed what I did. The upping an age category was definitely a must have, but it's good the dragon came to them...the dragon AND the hobbos would have been too much.

Those hobbos! And here I thought adding a whole crap ton of them wouldn't be all that much more of a hindrance...such good ranged rolls! If not for all the buffs (and a few fudged rolls on my part), those bows are deadly! Not to mention....my die was on FIRE for good rolls tonight. Crazy. So, if I had known it was gonna be that crazy, I woulda only doubled the number...not made it 14 in total. Thus the retreats and the taking advantage of a flaming roof. Rimble almost killed Oz when he was over another tower...had he done that, I would've had his body crash into the tower roof, crushing the two hobbos below...hilarious, but oh well.

Now the party must decide how to break down the bridge...not so easy without a Druid. Shame they won't be getting theirs for another session at least!

Anyways, I know it's long, but I hope it's enjoyable...we had a blast playing it. Hope you have a blast reading it. It's now VERY late...and my energy is running out quickly....till...wait, not next week, darn you Thanksgiving and Fall break...but the next!

AslanCross
2009-11-19, 07:14 AM
Congratulations on giving them a hard time. :D I have to admit it's not that easy to do. I wouldn't have had the dragon go after them, honestly---I'd have made him stand my ground. However, you still ended up whipping them good. I hope you don't have my awful run of luck with the Regiarix battle, though.

BooNL
2009-11-19, 07:51 AM
That looks like it must have been a very cool battle. You have quite some balls to send an invisible dragon after them.
They're pretty lucky they lost only 1 member.

desmond1323
2009-11-19, 01:28 PM
I wouldn't have had the dragon go after them, honestly---I'd have made him stand my ground.


You have quite some balls to send an invisible dragon after them.
They're pretty lucky they lost only 1 member.


Yeah, this is probably not going to ever happen again...but in this case, I'm actually glad I did it. It made the dragon the star of the show, really put the party on the ropes, and had it been the hobbos AND the dragon, the party would have not made it at all. The party, in their planning, was completely ignoring the hobbo vets....but they were doing some serious damage.

It's also what they got for staying in the woods...and was a bit of a lesson about coming up with plans all the time. So many of my bosses in the past have been rendered fully useless by a good plan...it was nice, for once, to turn the tables on the party.

desmond1323
2009-11-20, 12:07 AM
So.

For starters, any of my players reading this, please stop now until after the battle of Rhest.

Some notes about the next big encounter...the battle at the Ruins of Rhest. Spoilered for potential player appearances.



In this fight, the biggest enemies are Regiarix and (with a few edits), Saarvith, the goblin ranger.

For the most part, I envision myself changing the battle very little....It's been a bit since I've reviewed the particulars, so maybe I'll change my mind after going over the battle again...but for now, the biggest difference? Making Saarvith EARN his Wyrmlord title.

For, as is constantly pointed out, his current build is extreme weak sauce.

My fix? My beloved Spell Compendium. So, Saarvith is no longer going to be a level seven Ranger, he'll be a level seven mystic ranger.

This means he loses one of his favored enemies...for me, I'll switch it up to keeping the +2 against humans and giving him 10 +1 Human bane arrows instead.

Now, because of this, I'm tempted to go ahead and make him level 8, which means he'd get one level four spell....the particular one I'm looking at is Foebane...but this could make him SERIOUSLY deadly against a party of mostly humans. Together with Regiarix, that might be a bad idea....some feedback please? Right now I'm leaning towards keeping him at seven...but I could perhaps be persuaded.

Past that, I'm keeping his build fairly standard...same treasure, same equipment, etc. Just making him an actual threat and more boss-worthy with use from the SC. Anyways, comments, suggestions, etc., be appreciated.