Tweaks to KotS and a solo monk

As mentioned in one of my previous blogs, my players are rapidly approaching the mysterious Danar Hold mentioned on the ancient dwarven tablets that they found in the dwarven crypt during the first session of our campaign.

Danar Hold is (drumroll) nothing other than Keep on the Shadowfell.

Since they have just reached level 2, there will obviously have to be some tweaking when it comes to the encounters (not to mention that I have 6-7 players most of the time, although this is luckily only during the summer. As soon as soccer practice begins, one of our players drops out, as his private life doesn't leave room for both).

Anyway, I was looking at the burial site encounter, and I decided that the party will stumble upon it on their way through the Silent Forest, and find some clue that hints about what goes on in Danar Hold.

So what does go on in Danar Hold, and how does it tie in with Castle Whiterock and the kidnapping of the players in session one?

Mr Jacoby has through a thieves guild called the Dark Finders made contact with the kobolds of the Green Lizard tribe. Together they have set up a slavery "ring", where Jacoby sets up adventurers (by poisoning food that he gives them when they accept their "mission") to be kidnapped by the kobolds. The kobolds drags them to Castle Whiterock, where some other associates of the Dark Finders and Mr Jacoby have set up camp. Those same associates further sells the slaves to the orcs (this might change though) in the deeper levels, who uses them to dig for an artifact that they are looking for.

The kobolds, who are supposed to deliver all prisoners to Castle Whiterock, are also involved with the Orcus Priest who is buying some of their prisoners, since he needs an awful lot of blood for the ritual that opens the rift to the Shadowfell.

Both Danar Hold and Castle Whiterock (both ancient keeps) both holds a portal to a forgotten keep in Qu'orath, although the one in Danar Hold is damaged and doesn't work. However there will be clues that there is a similar portal in Castle Whiterock, and where it leads. Neither the Orcus priest of Danar Hold, nor the Dark Finders at Castle Whiterock have any clue that their are literally sitting on a portal connected to an unexplored area of the new world.

Anyway. Back to the first encounter, at the burial site. The gnome skulk struck me as kinda boring, even though he has a nifty racial ability. So I decided to give him a slightly more old-school feel, by leveling him to level 4, and making him a wizard (illusionist) instead. I guess I could just have used the gnome arcanist from the MM instead, but I had completely forgotten that it was there..

Gnome Wizard (Illusionist) Level 4 Controller
Small fey humanoid XP 175
Initiative +2 Perception +1; low-light vision
HP 38; Bloodied 19
AC 18; Fortitude 15, Reflex 18, Will 16; Speed 5

m Dagger (standard; at-will) Weapon; +6 vs. AC; 1d4+1 damage.

R Illusory Ambush (standard; at-will) Arcane, Illusion, Implement, Psychic; Ranged 10, +8 vs Will, 1d6+6 psychic damage, target takes -2 to attack rolls to the end of your next turn.

R Grasping Shadows (standard, encounter) arcane, illusion, implement, Psychic; Area burst 1 within 10 squares. Target: Each creature in burst; +8 vs Will, 1d8+6 psychic damage, and target is slowed until the end of your next turn. Effect: Any creature that enters the area of the grasping shadows takes 5 damage and is slowed until the end of its next turn.

R Phantom Chasm (standard, daily) arcane, illusion, implement, psychic; Area burst 1 within 20 squares. Target: Each creature in burst; +8 vs Will, 2d6+6 psychic damage, and target is prone and immobilized until the end of it's next turn. Miss: The target is immobilized until the end of it's next turn.

Fade Away (immediate reaction, when the gnome wizard takes damage; encounter) Illusion. The gnome wizard turns invisible until it attacks or until the end of its next turn.

Reactive Stealth If a gnome has cover or concealment when it makes an initiative check at the start of an encounter, it can take a Stealth check to escape notice.

Alignment Unaligned Languages Common, Elven

Skills Arcana +14, Bluff +10 Stealth +9
Str 10 (+2) Dex 11 (+2) Wis 12 (+3)
Con 14 (+4) Int 19 (+7) Cha 16 (+5)
Equipment robes, dagger

After having made the gnome, I must admit I am not too happy about him, but for now, I will keep him to harass the party, while they deal with the other "monsters" at the burial site. But I guess I should really let go of the old ways of "stating up" full NPC's and instead just go the monster route. In this case, I should probably go with the arcanist and modify his powers a bit. Hmmm..

Let's see if we can't whip up another NPC that we will need, by using the monster building blocks instead. I am thinking of Melchin, the guy in charge of the Dark Finders at Castle Whiterock. I am thinking he will be the first solo the party will meet. (Yes, that means there is a monster or two from Keep that will be removed.

Melchin, Level 4 Solo Controller
Medium natural humanoid
Initiative +5; Perception +10
HP 216; AC 21, Fortitude 20, Reflex 18, Will 18; Speed 7;
+5 to saves; Action Points 2

Unarmed Attack (standard; at-will) +9 vs AC, 1d10+4 damage

Monk’s Surge (usable only while bloodied; encounter) Melchin makes a basic attack and heals 54 hps.

Flurry of Blows (standard; at-will) Melchin makes two basic attacks against one or two targets

Stunning Fist (standard; recharge 5, 6) +7 vs Fortitude, 1d10+4 damage and target is stunned (save ends)

Circle Kick (standard; recharge 4, 5, 6) +9 vs AC, 3d10+4 damage. Target is pushed 3 and knocked prone.

Whirling Kick (standard, burst 1, recharge 6) +7 vs AC, 3d6+4 damage

Deflect Arrow (Immediate Interrupt, at-will) Melchin deflects an arrow, bolt, dagger or other ranged weapon that will hit him (I have a bit of trouble formulating this one, but the intend should be clear enough - am a bit uncertain about this one though, as it will only affect the ranger and possibly the rogue, but it will hurt them a lot)

Str 18 Con 14 Dex 15 Int 10 Wis 15 Cha 11