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Magnus_Samma
2007-02-28, 08:23 PM
This doesn't really fit into any existing thread, so I figured I'd just tell the story here. I can't imagine anyone not getting a chuckle or two out of this.

I currently have five players. Jesse plays Bob #7, a human cleric of some obscure death god. Adam plays Bob #9 (they're not putting a huge amount of thought into their characters, really), a human barbarian who abuses Power Attack as much as possible. Mike is Dorn, an elven monk who is marginally less useless than the other elf, Donny, a fighter played by Zach who, even after some pretty significant weapon upgrades, still can't manage to hit anything. My last player is little DJ, who plays a human wizard who up until tonight didn't have a name and I can't remember what it is now. They're all roughly level 6, and show every sign of reaching level 7 after the next session.

They're levelling pretty fast because I've been throwing some pretty high-level nasties at them, mostly in an attempt to challenge them because they're tearing right through anything at their CR. Part of the problem is that I've also been overgenerous with loot, and they all have really nice magic equipment. I'm not exactly complaining here- I did give this stuff to them, but I would like them to have a little more of a challenge now and then.

At first I was kind of drawing a blank on what to do with these guys, so I decided to go with an old standby and start the adventure with a fight with a dragon. From there, a peasant woman thanked them and led them to the cave where it laired. The cave system was, as a private joke, shaped like a crude dragon. The first inkling I got that something was going to go wrong here was when Bob #7 gave the peasant woman a gold piece to hold a torch for them, then proceeded to bully her into doing anything that seemed relatively dangerous in the place, eventually culminating into having her taste gelatinous cube gelatin to see if it had any halucinagenic properties. She fled.

Later they ran across an altar that housed the first plot hook: The Eye of Argon. Actually, while it was a red spherical crystal, it had a rune inside it that roughly translated from infernal to "Crustacean." They had no idea what it did, so they took it with them. A discussion about religion ensued, and after the party decided that, despite being nominally neutral, most of them worshipped evil gods, they desecrated the altar with the images of their horrific deities. Bob #7 then began to animate corpses to use as foot soldiers, and Jesse asked me to bring in my copy of the Book of Vile Darkness to the next game.

That should have been -plenty- of warning, but I decided to go with my initial plan anyway- not having come up with any original ideas for a plot, I decided to rip off Final Fantasy Tactics. The dungeon they were in led to a sewer which opened up beneath a street in the capital of the church of Pelor. Through sheer plot contrivance, the PCs happened upon the sewer opening in the middle of a kidnapping attempt being made on Sarai, the young Pontiff of the Pelorian religion. The PCs promptly nabbed her, beat the crap out of a blackguard I had intended to be a boss-level encounter for them, and high-tailed it out of there, undead in tow. They then briefly considered sacrificing the popette on the altar dedicated to their treble dark gods, but decided that ultimately they could get more profit from taking her to the castle of a Cardinal of the Pelorian church that she trusted. Though they were sure to cast a spell to ensure that she didn't remember everything that went on while they travelled, which was good because the first thing Bob #7 did in the next village was to trick four peasants into following him out into the woods where he proceeded to kill all of them and reanimate their corpses.

Jesse, meanwhile, is asking about the Thrall of Orcus prestige class. He's not crazy about it initially because the Lichloved feat is a prerequisite. His last remaining spark of humanity dissapears when everybody else in the party starts painting a picture of hot female zombies galore, and Bob #7 as an undead pimp. He then considers using Sarai (the fourteen year-old religous figure) as a sacrifice to his god, and then animating her corpse for lukewarm undead loving afterwards so he can qualify for the feat.

I began to despair. At this point it was clear that expecting the PCs to save the world because it was the right thing to do was a dog's egg of a plan, so I decided that the bad guys would hire them to do their dirty work for them, since they all seemed to be very interested in shiny cash.

The PCs head for the cardinal's castle, and along the way they find three drinking skeletons who recognize the "Eye of Argon" and refer to it as one of the twelve holy demon-slaying stones. This was my first really overt reference to FFT, and I was rather gratified when nobody seemed to notice it. Though I wouldn't have minded if someone had spotted the Hellboy reference. The skeletons also gave them a black ring which, when magic detected, nearly blinded the wizard. I'm going to be milking that plot device for months.

The PCs made their way through some woods and the Tunnel of Horrific Death (recently renamed the Bunny Cave), where Donny proved to be absolutely useless as he got raped by a wraith to the tune of 16 Con drain. I hadn't realized the wraith's touch was that potent, so I let Bob #7 and Sarai repair his damage, because a fighter with 1 Con is even more useless than a fighter who can't hit the broad side of a barn.

A troop of soldiers coming to "rescue" the pontiff then met their end to a single fireball and got reanimated as zombies, to which the returning blackguard, again intended as a boss-type encounter, peed herself and fled. I began to get the impression that I was underestimating my players' abilities somewhat.

The PCs arrived at the cardinal's castle, and I got Sarai away from them as quickly as was feasible to avoid her getting killed and reanimated and molested. The Cardinal quickly determined that the pontiff's rescuers were evil jerks, so he took them into his private chambers and offered them a job. He handed over a couple thousand GP for saving the Pontiff, and promised double that amount if they'll go a fetch a certain item for him, one of the twelve demon-slaying stones.

Of course, then they decide to sell the stone they've already found to him, because they want more money and they figure they can always kill him to get it back later. So now I've got a bunch of freshly 6th level characters running around with 18,000 GP each for supplies. A sensation of dread set in, especially when Bob #7 proceeded to acquire a Rod of Wonder, and then purchase the materials for and build a clay golem, which he proceeded to craft in the likeness of a nine foot naked anatomically correct humanoid woman. Named Sally. I asked him if he was at least going to get clothes for it, and he said he would, but only for when the party wasn't alone with it.

...

Along the way I brielfy introduced two characters who are going to turn out to be the campaign's BBEGs, Celia and Leo. I wanted them to underestimate Celia, so she didn't get much description, but I made a point of saying that Leo was wearing golden plate armor and carrying a greatsword that made Bob #9's greatsword look like something a wussy would use. After some conversation, the PCs learn that Leo is in fact wearing armor made out of gold dragonscale. They go on to have a short adventure in a hidden temple underneath the castle, and discover a devil that tells them that the twelve demon-slaying stones are actually evil devil crystals. The PCs are now getting very suspicious, especially because the black ring they found put an NPC wizard into hysterics a little while ago. Said ring then proceeds to freak the devil out so it runs away, and when they ask the Cardinal to look at it, he starts laughing hysterically, then tells them he was no idea what it is.

They decide that they need to kill the Cardinal, who is clearly evil and planning on releasing tons of demons into the world. I'm a little irked by this, because they're arguably just as evil, and while I intend for them to eventually kill this guy, I hadn't had a chance to create stats for him yet. Then Jesse brings up the valid point that the Cardinal seems to have two bodyguards, one of which has reportedly slain a dragon singlehandedly.

So they decide that they need to kill Leo. The plan is to wait until he takes a poop and ambush him. I'm laughing hysterically at this point because I haven't had a chance to stat Leo either, but even in the planning stages he's easily an epic level encounter. Donny, though, who at least knows when he's about to get killed, argues strongly against fighting the dude with the six foot greatsword. Finally, the others decide they can always kill the Cardinal after he pays them another 18,000 gp for retrieving the other crystal, so they'll just go south to meet their contact for now.

[plot scrubbed]

It's my first time GMing an actual tabletop game, and I think it's turning out pretty well. You know, except for the whole necrophilia thing.

Maxymiuk
2007-02-28, 08:57 PM
And you don't mind giving away your plot just like that? :smallamused:

Cause I know for a fact that at least two of your players frequent this forum.

Black Swan
2007-02-28, 09:00 PM
Hmm.

Impressions:

It seems like you're planning some great epic quest of heroic heroism and stuff, and your players have the kind of sense of humor that fits in really well in Kingdom of Loathing.

Bob #7 has more than qualified for picking up an evil alignment, imo.

Dropping an MDJ on them at level 6 is extremely, indeed overly, heavy-handed. There are other ways to make a fight intimidating. I'm reminded of a segment from Gundam Wing. There's a part where one character takes his mobile suit against three of the Gundams at once, and only takes three Mobile Dolls with him. By using the Mobile Dolls perfectly, he's able to distract them and keep them out of the larger fight going on around them. Point is, minions and tactics can make the fight a lot harder. Low-level spearmen to watch his flanks, a cleric to heal him, perhaps a sorceror with annoying save-or-suck spells like Glitterdust and Grease, and maybe a 2-handed flail and the feats to disarm their melee fighters. Don't throw the blackguard at them alone.

Of course, that doesn't answer a larger question. They're working for an evil dude, so why would the blackguard be trying to stop them?

Jade_Tarem
2007-02-28, 09:05 PM
Jesse asked me to bring in my copy of the Book of Vile Darkness to the next game.

See, this is the definitive point where you went wrong. The textbook DM answer to a player asking for the Book of Vile darkness is to hit that player upside the head as hard as you possibly can, preferably with a large fish. When he comes to, tell him that the BoVD has a rule in it requiring the DM to hit a player that asks to see it. When the player wants to see the proof, hit him again.

And female zombies are not "hot" no matter how much their clothing has deteriorated. They're room temperature. Plus, pieces keep falling off, which is a real downer.

That Lanky Bugger
2007-02-28, 09:06 PM
the returning blackguard, again intended as a boss-type encounter, peed herself and fled. I began to get the impression that I was underestimating my players' abilities somewhat.

Best. Words. Ever.

PaladinBoy
2007-02-28, 09:15 PM
Well...... that's an interesting story. ("Interesting" is the word I use when I'm trying to avoid saying "horrifying".)

I'd say they probably deserve evil alignments by now.

That might not mean much from me, however, as I generally run rather Good-oriented campaigns, where the PCs are the heroes, and probably would be thinking about trying some variant of the "Rocks fall, everyone dies" scenarios with those players right now. (Maybe army of paladins? :smallbiggrin: )

I generally try to put my characters in situations where they do good things and are the heroes, but the worst I've had to deal with is Neutral. I would definitely be getting tired of their blatant evil by now. The last time I had a character perform a blatantly evil act (destroying an elf village), I let him do it, but he never mentioned any sort of defense that would protect against the understandably annoyed elf archmage and his divinations. At the time, the players were seeing a lot of this archmage, as they were doing missions for him.

That player rolled a new character for our next adventure.

darkzucchini
2007-02-28, 10:43 PM
And female zombies are not "hot" no matter how much their clothing has deteriorated. They're room temperature. Plus, pieces keep falling off, which is a real downer.

Ever seen Return of the Living Dead 3? Now thats a hot zombie.

Might want to start charging those players for all the Animated Dead spells that they are casting. Its at least 25g a pop and onyx doesn't exactly grow on trees.

If you don't have a problem with the characters being evil, you might consider shifting the game to more of an evil slant. I've played in a number of evil campaigns and they can be fun as well.

Kind of sounds like some of your players are pretty new to the game, so some of your role playing problems and such might become less of a problem the more they play.

But as long as everyone is having fun it doesn't really sound like theres much of a problem. Every DM has to deal with PCs doing wildly unexpected things. It comes with the job.

oriong
2007-02-28, 11:08 PM
First, are you playing things right? in all honesty it sounds like you may be a bit shakey on some of the rules your players are taking advantage of.

For instance a Clay Golem is a CL 11 magical item, requires three spells your players almost certainly don't have acess to and more gold than the entire party has at their disposal. Oh, and 3 feats that I doubt he has. So why is one of your party members trying to make one?

Are you remembering that the zombie maker can only have 12 HD of undead under his command at a time? That's 6 zombies minimum, or 12 skeletons. They should really prove no contest.

And why does one of your PCs have a Rod of Wonder? That's a 33,000 gp magical item right there, from what you told me the party (the whole party) only got 18,000 gp or so. Did he have an additional 28,000 gp stashed away already? If so why?

EDIT: As far as things like the blackguard getting beat up, remember that big, single, simple encounters tend to be cakewalks. Even if he's individually powerful a blackguard is going to be pretty straightforward and on top of that if he fights the party by himself he's losing a lot of his advantages (he certainly can't smite good, without a flanker he can't sneak attack, and his spells aren't good enough to play the 'caster' role). It sounds to me like it's just a suboptimal enemy.

Rigeld2
2007-02-28, 11:52 PM
For instance a Clay Golem is a CL 11 magical item, requires three spells your players almost certainly don't have acess to and more gold than the entire party has at their disposal. Oh, and 3 feats that I doubt he has. So why is one of your party members trying to make one?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#clayGolemManual

oriong
2007-02-28, 11:56 PM
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#clayGolemManual


Check what the golem manual does: it doesn't make a golem for you, it provides the spells and the XP, and increases your caster level by two for the purposes of making the creature. The guy is still 3 levels short and the two together would cost 52,000 gp.

Toliudar
2007-03-01, 12:26 AM
Without dwelling on how things have gone so far, you get to make a fairly significant choice:

1) An evil-dominant campaign is just fine.
Following this, you chuck most of the standard plot hooks. You also increase the intelligence of law enforcement, the aggressiveness of good-aligned outsiders in the region (wouldn't celestials be working to overcome a plot to bring legions of devils into the world?), and perhaps try sending a more powerful group of adventurers (who aren't gear-dependent, or who use gear that isn't likely to be of use to the PC's) after the holy, um, girl.

2) An evil aligned campaign is not so much fun for me.
Carrots: nifty items that only work for good-aligned creatures. The forces of good have more money than the forces of evil.
Sticks: the forces of evil occasionally get their butts handed to them by powerful representatives of the forces of good. The forces of evil decide that they don't need the competition from these upstarts, and double-cross them as often as not. Law enforcement exists, and liaises with military strike teams set up to deal with marauding monsters and people who, you know, take groups of commoners into the woods and kill them.

Just a few random thoughts. These guys - they ARE guys, aren't they? - are definitely not into character development, but powergaming and wish-fulfillment. And, as has been pointed out, probably having fun with that. If you're having fun DM'ing this, and aren't driven too mental by the unexected and sadistic player actions, then go forth!

Dausuul
2007-03-01, 12:49 AM
See, this is the definitive point where you went wrong. The textbook DM answer to a player asking for the Book of Vile darkness is to hit that player upside the head as hard as you possibly can, preferably with a large fish. When he comes to, tell him that the BoVD has a rule in it requiring the DM to hit a player that asks to see it. When the player wants to see the proof, hit him again.

QFT.

As far as the players' abilities are concerned, you should definitely be keeping a close eye on them, because it sounds like they're playing very very fast and loose with the rules. I suggest that whenever they purchase a magic item, confirm the price of the item in question and read the rules to be sure it does what they say it does. Particularly if they say it does something that seems way too cool for what it costs them. You may wish to do the same thing with spells. Also, pre-emptively ban candles of invocation.

Where challenging them in battle is concerned... I'd suggest sending stronger and stronger monsters at them relative to their level, until they start having trouble. This should give you an idea of how tough to make the opposition.

And, uh, while I'm not going to say you should cheat in combat... well, let's just say that if a monster seems like it's about to die too easily, you might suddenly discover that it has more hit points than it says in the book. :)

Rigeld2
2007-03-01, 06:57 AM
Check what the golem manual does: it doesn't make a golem for you, it provides the spells and the XP, and increases your caster level by two for the purposes of making the creature. The guy is still 3 levels short and the two together would cost 52,000 gp.
I misread the Clay Golem entry =x
The manual also provides the Craft Construct feat, btw.

Tormsskull
2007-03-01, 07:03 AM
Where's BWL with a picture of the "PWNED" kitty when you need him?

Saph
2007-03-01, 07:05 AM
Regarding Clay Golems, you know about that 'berserk' feature, right?

From the SRD:


Berserk (Ex)

When a clay golem enters combat, there is a cumulative 1% chance each round that its elemental spirit breaks free and the golem goes berserk. The uncontrolled golem goes on a rampage, attacking the nearest living creature or smashing some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach, then moving on to spread more destruction. Once a clay golem goes berserk, no known method can reestablish control.

As for the actual campaign, I'd be looking at 'Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies' options by now. Still, it's up to you, and if everyone's having fun, I guess that's what matters. But I'd still say that any player who actually asks to look at the BoVD deserves to have something horrible happen to them. Maybe you could kill off just one or two or something?

- Saph

Rigeld2
2007-03-01, 07:07 AM
Thats why Flesh Golems are so much better than Clay. Thier berserk is resettable, and they have a much lower creation cost.

Gorbash
2007-03-01, 07:08 AM
Umm, they have 18,000g EACH at 6th level? Dude, huge mistake... Even if they found equipment worth that much, alyways remember that they can sell it only for half price... Ever heard of improved sunder feat? Rust ray? Rust monster? Destroy their weapons in the middle of a fight (not all, of course...), have a thief steal it from them, that'll teach them some humility, and it will solve your problems regarding killing everything you throw at them... My party is level 6, I think we have about 16 000g worth of equipment all together...

lumberofdabeast
2007-03-01, 07:14 AM
Only one thing to do in this sort of situation, if you don't want to DM an evil campaign.

Tarrasque them and start over, with a new rule that any PC with an evil alignment becomes an NPC. If they don't like it, find a new playgroup. The game is every bit as much about your enjoyment as it is theirs.

Although, frankly, you really should have been at least somewhat prepared. I have stat blocks for every character in my campaign that gets named in advance, as well as unnamed characters that are likely to do a bit of fighting.

Dausuul
2007-03-01, 08:37 AM
Only one thing to do in this sort of situation, if you don't want to DM an evil campaign.

Tarrasque them and start over, with a new rule that any PC with an evil alignment becomes an NPC. If they don't like it, find a new playgroup. The game is every bit as much about your enjoyment as it is theirs.

Although, frankly, you really should have been at least somewhat prepared. I have stat blocks for every character in my campaign that gets named in advance, as well as unnamed characters that are likely to do a bit of fighting.

Wow. Either you do a WHOLE lot of preparation, or your players aren't as randomly nosy as mine.

I seldom bother statting out creatures in advance unless I'm specifically intending them for a fight. If the PCs attack someone I didn't expect them to attack, I'll just make up some stats on the fly. I pick a weapon, add some damage and attack bonuses, pick an AC, maybe a few special abilities, and then let the opponent fight until I think s/he has had enough and needs to die (or, if I've deemed this opponent Too Tough To Beat, until the PCs are all unconscious or fled). Alternatively, I grab a suitable monster from the Monster Manual and use its stats.

lumberofdabeast
2007-03-01, 09:19 AM
I make games the day before we play. I don't do planning in advance because my characters poke into everything, and thus it becomes all but impossible to predict exactly where they'll be next.

It's like those Choose Your Own Adventure books no one reads anymore because reading is for people who don't have the internet.

jjpickar
2007-03-01, 09:44 AM
Without dwelling on how things have gone so far, you get to make a fairly significant choice:

1) An evil-dominant campaign is just fine.
Following this, you chuck most of the standard plot hooks. You also increase the intelligence of law enforcement, the aggressiveness of good-aligned outsiders in the region (wouldn't celestials be working to overcome a plot to bring legions of devils into the world?), and perhaps try sending a more powerful group of adventurers (who aren't gear-dependent, or who use gear that isn't likely to be of use to the PC's) after the holy, um, girl.

2) An evil aligned campaign is not so much fun for me.
Carrots: nifty items that only work for good-aligned creatures. The forces of good have more money than the forces of evil.
Sticks: the forces of evil occasionally get their butts handed to them by powerful representatives of the forces of good. The forces of evil decide that they don't need the competition from these upstarts, and double-cross them as often as not. Law enforcement exists, and liaises with military strike teams set up to deal with marauding monsters and people who, you know, take groups of commoners into the woods and kill them.

Just a few random thoughts. These guys - they ARE guys, aren't they? - are definitely not into character development, but powergaming and wish-fulfillment. And, as has been pointed out, probably having fun with that. If you're having fun DM'ing this, and aren't driven too mental by the unexected and sadistic player actions, then go forth!

I think this about sums it up nicely. Either you go with the evil campaign and have fun with it or you make the player pay the price for being evil.

Magnus_Samma
2007-03-01, 10:21 AM
And you don't mind giving away your plot just like that? :smallamused:

Cause I know for a fact that at least two of your players frequent this forum.

Really? That's... interesting.

I'm not really -complaining- about my group... they surprise me, but I think I'm learning some valuable lessons, and as much as my brain bleeds whenever Bob #7 breaks out a new and interesting way to horrify me. I don't have anything in principle against running evil campaigns, and this is shaping up to be an interesting one, I was just a little blindsided by the sheer depths to which my players have sunk this quickly. Seriously, naked clay golems?

Which, for the record, I'll have to do something about- didn't realize there was a caster level requirement. For the record, I don't get the impression that my players are trying to put one over on me- Jesse realized we'd been using Animate Dead wrong around the same time I did, and he's been fairly up front about everything else he's done, so I think it's just the case that he hasn't played in a while and didn't remember all the rules. In any case, as time goes on I think I'll be able to even things out- they're certainly not finding a lot of treasure in the next couple of dungeons, I'll tell you that much.

hewhosaysfish
2007-03-01, 11:19 AM
... and then purchase the materials for and build a clay golem, which he proceeded to craft in the likeness of a nine foot naked anatomically correct humanoid woman. Named Sally. I asked him if he was at least going to get clothes for it, and he said he would, but only for when the party wasn't alone with it.

...
This doesn't seem like a party that has a lot of ranks in Craft(Sculpture). Declare the golem looks like a well-chewed jelly-baby.

Lilivati
2007-03-01, 12:49 PM
The hardest part of DMing an unruly party is remaining the DM without making them feel railroaded. True story.

Start looking for things that will let you take control of your game back. Money is a problem? Lead them into a moment of stupidity...like, say, the charming barmaids who seduce them and then rob them blind while they sleep. Your party is making a lot of undead and dealing with religious figures...where is the turn undead? And I'm not even going to start on the diseases a zombie is likely to be carrying. Think of ways to counter them/adjust the situation to something more manageable.

All in all, for your first attempt at DMing I don't think you're doing that badly. ;)

And on the book of vile darkness- no. Just...no.

Quietus
2007-03-01, 12:54 PM
Easy solution to the book of vile darkness; If they want to use anything in it, make them find one in-game. Then just don't put one in there.

Magnus_Samma
2007-03-01, 01:45 PM
This doesn't seem like a party that has a lot of ranks in Craft(Sculpture). Declare the golem looks like a well-chewed jelly-baby.

He rolled a natural 20 on an untrained Craft check. >_>

This isn't all my fault! I swear! Just... mostly my fault. :P

Krellen
2007-03-01, 01:56 PM
He rolled a natural 20 on an untrained Craft check. >_>
That's okay. It takes more than one roll to complete a craft check. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/craft.htm) His 20 doesn't make him capable of a Masterwork work; he'll have to continually be able to make a DC 20 without getting a 15 or worse to complete that sculpture.

oriong
2007-03-01, 02:06 PM
How about the rod of wonder? Make sure you're checking the item prices, because it's not like caster level was the only thing the player is missing on the clay golem (it does still cost 20,000 gold pieces, and 3 feats.)

As far as the 18,000 gold pieces are concerned, that's not actually a big deal (assuming the party got 18,000 gp, not each of them got 18,000 gp). Divided 4 ways that's only 4,500 gp each. The standard wealth by level puts PCs at 13,000 to begin with and assumes they should have 19,000 by 7th, so it doesn't actually sound like they're over-cashed unless you've been giving them a lot more insane rewards.

Gamebird
2007-03-01, 02:31 PM
If your foes are being consistently spanked by the PCs, then get a copy of the PC's character sheets. Change the names and a few identifying bits (weapon, armor type, hair color, etc.) Make these the guys who have been sent to whip the PCs into line because the high cleric's latest Commune (or Plane Shift trip to his deity's plane) informed him the PCs are a direct threat to him. Or make it some other guy the PCs haven't even run into, who was just sort of randomly informed by the gods when he was visiting that these guys need to go down. Say there's a great prophecy that the world will be rent asunder by dudes matching the PC's description. Whatever - invent a reason why more powerful foes would be sent against them.

Give the foes as much money as the PCs have had. Have them spend it differently (and preferably on things that won't be of much use to the PCs).

Another idea is to have a powerful thieve's guild (say, leadership 10th to 15th level) decide that the PCs are both weak and rich and then procede to rob them blind. The next arc of the campaign involves the enraged PCs struggling to chase down the thieves and get their stuff back. Again, make sure the thieves don't have a lot of useful gear. By the time the PCs recover their stuff (which they should after 2 or 3 levels), it won't be so level-inappropriate.

You could even have the thieve's guild be in possession of one or more of these other demon-crystals.

daggaz
2007-03-01, 02:48 PM
Whats the problem here? Sounds to me like a hillarious (albeit evil) game, with lots of whacky wierdness and crazy **** going on all the time. In short, exciting and fun. Your only real problem (lets skip the fact that the rules are bent and the players have too much cash, thats part of the fast action fun side of this) here is your fights are too easy. And you are going to correct this by overcorrecting and TPKing them, ending the adventure. Just get smarter, send your bad guys after them with cohorts, minions, and most of all, a PLAN.

spotmarkedx
2007-03-01, 03:28 PM
Daggaz has the right of it here. I'd get a better grasp of the rules (especially crafting and the like), but it seems like its a fun game all around. If you're worried about wealth, make a lot of their enemies for the next few levels monster-types to limit the amount of treasure they gain from the battles. Or have them be celestial/infernal/abyssal, and when they "die", the bodies and their equipment dissapate to be reformed in the plane of choice.

Just be sure to keep at least some cash/magic flow into the party, even if it is a trickle.

Mewtarthio
2007-03-01, 05:04 PM
Well, the OP doesn't seem particularly unhappy; it's just a few misinterpreted rules and way too much money. Easy enough to rectify:

For the undead thing, you can just retcon the player's power. Give the player's character a dream in which he is visited by some powerful undead (a demilich, an Atropal, Vecna, a creepy little seven-year-old girl, etc) who takes credit for giving the player the ability to control extra undead and demands some sort of sacrifice that the player won't want to give (unressurectable death, become an NPC, etc). When the player refuses, have all the undead turn on him.

The Clay Golem's okay: It'll just go berserk eventually. If it gets out of hand, throw them into a series of several long combats until it fails the d% roll.

The Blackguard won't pose much of a threat to such evil characters. Try a Paladin.

Lower the amount of money they get. Gradually, WBL will even out once again.

oriong
2007-03-01, 05:17 PM
The problem with the clay golem is that while it's under their control it'll make combat a breeze and make it pretty much impossible to set up simple, CR appropraite encounters, and when it does go berserk it'll probably wipe the party out.

Magnus_Samma
2007-03-01, 07:02 PM
Daggaz: You hit the nail right on the head there. I am having a blast with this game, I just feel like it's spinning out of my control. I think I have a much better handle of how to deal with it now, though. *Thanks everyone for the advice.*

Fawsto
2007-03-01, 10:58 PM
Lets end all your problems at once:

Number one: a High Leve arcane trickster appears and steal most of the party's money.

Number two: get the same trickster to use a earthquake that will hold the PCs and destroy the golem.

Number three: Get a powerful undead entity to be mad with the PCs for using that many undeads without her permission. She would subscribe a powerful Mark of Justice into the cleric making impossible for him to raise more than a limited number of undeads, and also impossible to remove the mark.

Number four: Not only 1 Paladin, But 4! One for each Party member to confrontate.


Gosh... I hate Sarcastic Evil PCs...

Logos7
2007-03-01, 11:21 PM
First of all,

If i was playing and some high level dude of awesomeness summon a Tarrask to pwn me i'd be pissed off.

First of all Rod of Wonder and Clay Golem, not a problem because of random side effects ( especially the clay golem, roll the number of rounds of combat it has ( at 1% chance it has at most statistically speaking, 100 rounds of combat pick a number and once they get to it have it berserk)

Randomness is the Enemy of PC's.

For the Zombies's Let them Have em and just Rip em Apart with Turn/Destoy undead. or Command Rebuke for lols

I think the biggest secret to runnign a really evil campeign is letting the players have their wish fuffilment, with the note that Wish's especially evil wishes tend to be much worst than any punishment.

I want to be that Big Bad Ass Necro Summoner Wizard , and I want to be that Feared and Fearsome Fighter, Let them, Give em a bit of Rope and Pc's practically hang themselves i find.

As for making the fights last longer, try temporary magic items ( Potions of Aid, mage armour, and cure lights go a long way to making a fight tougher if used at the begining rather than not at all during a fight)

Tactics also go a long way, Melee don't do squat if theirs abunch of Kobolds up in the tree's

Logos