MeklorIlavator
2008-05-02, 05:07 PM
I will(hopefully) be running a PBP version of Red Hand of Doom on the forums, but I have a tiny bit of a problem. Two of the guys planning on playing it have gotten to the end of the first boss battle. To everyone who doesn't want spoilers, stop reading now. And that goes double for you, Zach, Jeremy, and anyone else who wants in the game.
Now then, what I want is to restructure several of the events that happen in the first section of the game. To those of you unfamilar of what happens, I'll list the major events that they played through:
1. Ambush by Hobgoblins(Starts the Champaign, details found here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060202a&page=2))
2. Met/find ranger, persuade to help
3. Attacks by Hydra
4 Vaarth Keep
I think I can use the same layout for the first encounter, as they can't really plan/metagame out of it due to the fact that it literally is the first thing that happens in the campaign. Also, the encounter with the ranger should be non-violent, and should go alright. My main problems are the Hydra and the Vaarth Keep encounter(which is really several encounters happening at once). When they met the hydra in my previous run, they metagamed quite a bit, somewhat justified to the way it was set up, though even then they assumed correctly that because I described something, there was an encounter involved.
The Hydra encounter begins by describing a bridge over water. As the players cross, a hydra comes up to the bridge and begins to attack the party. Unfortunately, the players realized this and were able to prepare for it, and pretty much annihilated the hydra on the first round. Now, I've decided that I will describe the same situation, but it will not involve a hydra. My initial thought is to have the bridge be hard to cross(slippery or something), or have some other monster in its place. So, what other monsters would work in such a situation? The PC's have to go across in this manner, so something non-destructive in regards to the bridge would be appreciated. The challenge should be appropriate for 4-6 5th level characters as a Cr 6 encounter.
Vaarth keep involves several encounters, which are as follows:
A) A cr 2 trap, this involves a building that will easily collapse. I was thinking of switching this with another room, which should solve the problem.
B) Manticore(EL 5)- I would like to find a possible substitute for this one, so suggestions would be welcome
C)Barracks+Leaders-This one is fine, as I really didn't run it well last time, so it should work well.
Edit: This is for people who have run it before; Is 5 a good starting level? The books seems to switch between 5 and 6 as starting levels, so I'm a bit unsure. Also, do you think changing clerics to the cloistered version and making druids take the shapeshift variant be too big a nerf for this campaign?
Now then, what I want is to restructure several of the events that happen in the first section of the game. To those of you unfamilar of what happens, I'll list the major events that they played through:
1. Ambush by Hobgoblins(Starts the Champaign, details found here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060202a&page=2))
2. Met/find ranger, persuade to help
3. Attacks by Hydra
4 Vaarth Keep
I think I can use the same layout for the first encounter, as they can't really plan/metagame out of it due to the fact that it literally is the first thing that happens in the campaign. Also, the encounter with the ranger should be non-violent, and should go alright. My main problems are the Hydra and the Vaarth Keep encounter(which is really several encounters happening at once). When they met the hydra in my previous run, they metagamed quite a bit, somewhat justified to the way it was set up, though even then they assumed correctly that because I described something, there was an encounter involved.
The Hydra encounter begins by describing a bridge over water. As the players cross, a hydra comes up to the bridge and begins to attack the party. Unfortunately, the players realized this and were able to prepare for it, and pretty much annihilated the hydra on the first round. Now, I've decided that I will describe the same situation, but it will not involve a hydra. My initial thought is to have the bridge be hard to cross(slippery or something), or have some other monster in its place. So, what other monsters would work in such a situation? The PC's have to go across in this manner, so something non-destructive in regards to the bridge would be appreciated. The challenge should be appropriate for 4-6 5th level characters as a Cr 6 encounter.
Vaarth keep involves several encounters, which are as follows:
A) A cr 2 trap, this involves a building that will easily collapse. I was thinking of switching this with another room, which should solve the problem.
B) Manticore(EL 5)- I would like to find a possible substitute for this one, so suggestions would be welcome
C)Barracks+Leaders-This one is fine, as I really didn't run it well last time, so it should work well.
Edit: This is for people who have run it before; Is 5 a good starting level? The books seems to switch between 5 and 6 as starting levels, so I'm a bit unsure. Also, do you think changing clerics to the cloistered version and making druids take the shapeshift variant be too big a nerf for this campaign?