Age of Worms 4E Campaign Recap (Spoilers)

This thread is to follow our groups run through the Age of Worms adventure path converted to 4th edition.

We’re picking up the AP where we left it in third edition with ‘A Gathering of Winds’ adventure.

The group has converted the characters they were using in 3.5 to the new rule-set and this is what we’re running with.

The Characters:
Durmindin an level 10 Orc Druid/Wizard hybrid
Schnog level 9 Revenant Paladin/Wizard hybrid
Greggory Shadowrunnner level 9 Human Fighter/Ranger hybrid
Crandal Hayley level 10 Human Psion
Zorn Zodel, level 10 Dwarf Fighter


The rules we’re using are attached.

Just a note on our set-up. We use a projector for all the maps and we run them on map-tools. Combined with that we everyone uses a laptop and we run all our characters and the combats through fantasy grounds. I would liked to have used fantasy grounds for everything as I absolutely love the targetting system in FG, but a few of the players really like the light system of maptools so we went with the combination. It works very smoothly, and I'd recomend to anyone who's thinking about switching to give FG a try. I don't think I'd ever run 4E again without FG.

Session: #1

In 3.5 the group had actually ventured one session into the dungeon and had made it as far as the ‘Silent Gallery’ but for this I reset the group to just outside the portal at ‘the Black Seal’ Also, originally the group fled from Ilthane and left her waiting by the entrance.

1. The Black Seal: For this I used an Abyssal ghoul straight from the compendium but used the monster builder to de-level it to 10th level.

Worked well, it was a pretty easy encounter, easier then intended in the original adventure I would say, the resist and concealment granted by the portal helped make it more challenging.

[sblock=Portal Guardian]
Level 10 Skrimisher
Medium natural humanoid (undead)
Iniatiative: +12 XP 500
Perception: +7, darkvision
HP: 92; Bloodied 46
AC: 27 Fort: 27 Ref: 26 Will: 22
Immune disease, poison; Resist 10 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant
Speed 8, climb 4
Acrobatics +13, Athletics +17, Stealth +13
Str 25, Con 20, Dex 16, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 18
Languages: Abyssal
Sepulcheral Stench aura 3, enemies in the aura takea -2 penalty to all defenses.

Bite (Basic): At-Will
+16 vs AC; 1d6+12 damage, and the target is immobilized (save ends). If the target is a living creature that is already immobilized, stunned, or unconscious, the bite deals an extra 2d6 damage.

Dead Blood (when reduced to 0 hit points) – Necrotic
Close burst 1; all enemies in burst take 10 necrotic damage.
[/sblock]



2. The Howling Gallery: For this I made up Belker’s, I used a 4th ed. creature to base them off of, but for the life of me I can’t remember which one. This encounter was fun, not a big challenge but it did use up some resources.

If I did it again I would probably have made the Belker’s medium, it got very cramped in there with large creatures in that hallway. And it limited their smoke form ability because of how cramped it was.

[sblock=Belker]Level 6 Lurker
Large elemental magical beat (air)
Initiative +8 XP 250
Perception +10, darkvision
41; Bloodied 20
AC 22; Fort 18; Ref 21; Will 15
Resist insubstantial
Speed 6, fly 10 (hover)
Stealth +9
Str 14; Con 13; Dex 21; Int 6; Wis 11; Cha 11
Primordial

Smoke Claw(Basic) – At-Will
Standard
Melee 1; +1 vs. AC; 1d3 + 5 damage.

Smoke Form – Recharge 5
Move Action
The belker shifts up to 10 squares moving through any creatures's spaces; +6 vs. Fortitude; against each enemy whose space it enters. Hit: the target takes 10 ongoing damage (save ends). A belker can pass through a single creature's space only once when using smoke form.[/sblock]




3. The Hall of Poison Winds: For this I pretty much kept the traps exactly as they were. I’m not a big fan of skill challenges or traps that you just smash like creatures. Therefore I kept the traps pretty much the same. I based their attack rolls off their old CR’s and made that their levels and used the updated damage rules in the July 2010 update to give them damage and attack values for creatures of those levels.

This was probably the funniest part of the session, the same character, Durmindin, found both of these traps the hardway and was critted by both. He also found the trap on the urn in the Courtesen’s Tomb the hardway and was critted by it too. It was pretty funny.

[sblock=Windspike Trap]Level 5
XP 200
Preception DC 22; Thiever DC 22
Blast of Wind:
+10 vs. Fortitude; Hit: Slides target 1 square into spikes and deals 2d6 + 6 damage.[/sblock]


[sblock=Poison Gas Trap]Level 10
XP 500
Perception DC 26; Thievery DC 26
Targets all creatures adjacent to the walls.
+15 vs. Fortitude; Hit: 2d6 + 6 poison damage and ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends).[/sblock]



The group then headed south, skipping the collapsing Pillar hall for the time being.

5. The Earl of Coalchester: For this encounter I de-leveled a noble salamander down to level 10 and made it elite. Likewise I de-leveled a Fire Elemental from Monster Manual 3 down to 7th level but increased its size. (Note on elite and Solo hit points. I only give elites 1.5x’s the normal hit points and solo’s 2x’s the normal hit points as I find these creatures hit points seem to contribute more then I like to grind).

[sblock=Antyress Redpike, Earl of Coalchester]
Level 10 Elite Controller (Leader)
Large elemental humanoid (fire, reptile)
[/sblock]

[sblock=Smoughed]
Level 7 Elite Skirmisher
Huge elemental magical beast (fire)
[/sblock]

The group played this encounter strangely. Perhaps it’s how I portrayed Antyress, but the group immediately assumed they were outmatched. But instead of retreating north back the way they’d come they retreated west into the silent gallery where they just about backed onto the hiding elder black pudding. They also rolled very poorly to interact Antyress which may have contributed to their decisions. This is where the encounter really got interesting, after realizing their mistake the group effectively split up. One member the Druid/Wizard summoner retreated up the stairs in the silent gallery room and hid in the courtesan’s chamber while his summoned creatures kept the ooze somewhat busy. The rest of the group quickly shut the doors to the silent gallery and focused on the Earl and his bodyguard eventually killing both of them. Just in time to watch the Druid Wizard use one of his summoned creatures to draw the ooze’s OA then flee from the room.. But not before getting criticalled by the urn trap in the Courtesan’s room. The ooze probably could have and should have pursued but it looked like that would have been a sure TPK so it resumed hiding as the group withdrew.


6. The Sword of Law: I deleted this trap from the adventure, just didn’t like it.

7. The Silent Gallery: For the black pudding in this room I leveled up a standard Black pudding from Monster Manual 2 and made it a solo. Also increasing its size to gargantuan, the same as it is listed in the 3.5 AP.

[sblock=Elder Black Pudding]
Level 12 Solo Brute
Gargantuan aberrant beast (blind, ooze)
[/sblock]

8. The Courtesans’s Tome: The group laughed pretty hard at this point. The Druid/Wizard fled into this room in an attempt to escape the pudding and started fiddling with things in an attempt to find an escape and promptly took his 3rd trap critical in a row.

[sblock=Energy Drain Trap]
Level 10
XP 500
Perception DC 26; Thievery DC 26
Energy Drain
Close burst 3; +13 vs. Fortitude; 4d6 + 6 necrotic damage, and the target is weakened (save ends).
[/sblock]

This is where we left off week 1.

Session #2

SESSION #2

The group retreated from the Elder Black Pudding, and took a short rest. I actually expected them to take an extended rest, but they decided against it.

During the short rest they pilfered the loot from Antyress and the fire elemental.

They returned to the silent gallery and took on the ooze again. Once the group learned about the split ability they settled into a fairly easy victory, easier then I thought it was going to be.

That’s when the group decided on an extended rest.

During the extended rest I made flycatcher attack. Flycatcher only stuck around until he took damage and then he fled.

For flycatcher I took a ghost spider, leveled it up to 12th level and applied the sorcerer template to it. I also bumped him up to Huge as that’s what he is in the 3.5 adventure. Which I’m thinking I shouldn’t have as large would allow for a more mobile battle. From my experience using wratih’s (insubstantial creatures who weaken) I decided to remove its insubstantial, but give it as part of its phasing web attack so that when he uses that power he’s insubstantial until the end of his next turn.


[sblock=Flycatcher]
Level 13 Solo Lurker
Huge shadow magical beast (spider)
Initiative: +12 XP 4000
Senses Perception +11, darkvision, tremorsense 10
HP: 254; Bloodied 127
AC: 23; Fort 28; Ref 24; Will 25
Saving Throws: +5
Speed 6, climb 6 (spider climb), phasing
Athletics +19, Bluff +13, Stealth +21
Str 26; Con 22; Dex 15; Int 8; Wis 10; Cha 14
Languages Common

Ghost Claw (Basic) – At-Will
Standard
Reach 2; +16 vs. Reflex; 3d6+11 damage, and the target takes ongoing 5 necrotic damage and is weakened (save ends both)

Phasing Attack – At-Will
Standard
Effect: The ghost spider makes two ghost claw attacks. The ghost spider can shift 6 squares between the attacks.

Phasing Web
Recharge 4
Move Action
Attack: The ghost spider shifts 6 squares, phasing through enemies. It attacks each enemy it phases through; +16 vs. Fortitude Hit: Target is immobilized (Save ends). Also, Flycatcher becomes Insubstantial until the end of its next turn.[/sblock]

This was all that was accomplished during session 2. We got a late start and some people had to leave early so we left it right after the group finished the extended rest.

Session #3

The group finished their extended rest in room number 5 and then proceeded.

The group searched room 5, then moved into the hallway, searched it and the false doors at the south end, and then proceeded into room 7 The Silent Gallery and searched it. For some reason at this point they kind of split up. One person entered room 8 The Courtesan’s Tomb and searched the urn. They already new it was trapped as one character had been criticaled by it in session one while hiding from the pudding. Since the urn trap had been a repair reset in 3.5, I just made it a single shot trap now.

Two things kind of occurred simultaneously, the person who searched the urnrealized there was no remaining trap on it, while the rest of the group deduced the only real way out of the room was the southern doors leading to area 9. For some reason this made them miss all the treasure. They simply all left the room, the person in room 8 didn’t even look inside the urn.

The group then proceeded into room 9 The Shadow Web. I made flycatcher emerge from the stairs and present his offer.

I didn’t follow the adventures advice and have him attempt to abduct any of the characters. I simply portrayed him as having ‘tested’ the group, and since they had successfully made it this far he had a deal for them. Basically if they left out the north doors (towards the xorns) and followed the river and killed the Marquis of the River he’d let them return and proceed through the east doors and explore the rest of the tomb.

The group accepted without really any objections.

The then moved north into 11 The River of Blood.

Experience: So far I’ve been tweaking this as it’s gone a long, but to ensure things to workout they should I think I’m going to try the following setup from here forward. In 3.5 it was said that about 13.33 encounters of your level equaled a level. In 4E it says about 10 encounters. So for experience I’ve taken the 3E EL’s and have been making the new encounters give roughly 75% of what an encounter of the same level.

11: The River of Blood

Following the above experience calculations, I figured about 2000 xp for this room. So that worked out to 5 Xorns.

I deviated from the adventure slightly here. The magazine calls for the first Xorn approached to erupt and then all the rest to join the fight. But this tactic very quickly evolved into a standoff at the door. So, after 1 xorn had fallen I made the rest retreat and ambush the group when they had fully entered the room. It made for a much more dynamic encounter that as far as I could tell the players enjoyed much more, as everyone could be involved.

This fight really wasn’t much of a challenge, it looked a little close at the start but the tide quickly turned in the group’s favor.

I kept the Acrobatics DC for the bridge 15 as printed, and the Athletics DC for the riverbanks 20 as printed. The bridge was only really a concern for one PC and he just stayed clear of it. In the end the bridge added a bit to the encounter but probably wouldn't change much if it was simply left as a flat with no check to move accross.

The group then decided to enter the river and investigate. One of the better swimmers swam to the point of discovering the water fall and then swam back. The group then decided to investigate the shallows of area 16

16: Under the River

I figured this encounter should have a about 2250 xp so I put in 3 blood amniotes instead of just 1. Remembering that for elites I reduce hit points down to 1.5 of what a standard monster gets instead of double.

I would definitely do something different, this encounter ground very very quickly. Essentially this encounter just ensured the group will be taking an extended rest without really adding any excitement as I believe pretty much everyone is out of healing surges.. I think it was partly do to the cramped space. If I did it over I would have left only one Amniote, but made it a solo instead of an elite, that might have made it run differently.

And that’s where the session ended.

Session #4

The group just finished defeating the blood amniotes in area 16, and discovered the ice ‘trap-door’ leading into room #17.

The group then decided it should take an extended rest before continuing on, so they retreated into room 11/12 and took a full rest.

The group then proceeded back through room 16 and burst their way into room #17.

Room #17: Hall of Ice

This room is essentially an ice encrusted hallway and difficult terrain throughout.

For the two Ice Golems, I thought I based these guys off an existing 4E creature but just looking back through the compendium I can’t figure out which one it was.

This fight was quite enjoyable, only because the controller and the striker went up first, and the defender and the leader had to wait until after the golems acted before they got a chance to move into the room.

I think if the group had entered the room from the southern entrance it would have been a fairly different encounter as they wouldn’t have been surrounded which probably would have made it quite a bit more predictable.

As it was, there was a little uncertainty at the beginning of the encounter, but once the group got organized it quickly swung in their favor.

[sblock=Ice Golem] Level 9 Elite Brute
Large natural animate (construct)
Initiative +4 XP 800
Perception +9; Darkvision
HP: 196; Bloodied 98
AC: 22; Fort: 26; Ref 17; Will 17
Immune disease, poison, sleep; Resist 10 cold
Saving throws +2
Speed 6 (ice walk), can’t shift
Action Points 1
Str: 25; Con 24; Dex 19; Int 1; Wis 10; Cha 1

Slam (Standard –At-Will)
Reach 2; +14 vs. AC; 2d8 + 12 damage and ongoing 5 cold damage (save ends).

Ice Shards (Standard – Recharge 6)
Close burst 2
+13 vs. Reflex; 2d6 + 9 damage plus 1d6 cold damage, and blinded (save ends).[/sblock]

When this fight ended the group essentially walked right into #19.

Room #19 The Passage of Honor

This encounter was fun for a solo, not overly challenging, but fun all the same.

As I said before the group walked right into this fight after completing the encounter with the ice golems, so quick in fact that they still had a flaming sphere with them from the golem fight. So, I managed to trap the defender and the flaming sphere alone with the Kolyarut.

Eventually the defender managed to throw the switch getting the rest of the group into the fight and from there it was a pretty quick victory for the group.

[sblock=Kolyarut] Level 12 Solo Lurker
Medium immortal humanoid (living construct)
Initiative: +11 XP: 3500
Perception +16; Darkvision
HP: 148; Bloodied 74
AC: 27; Fort: 23; Ref: 23; Will: 25
Immune disease, poison, sleep; Regeneration 5
Saving Throws +5
Speed 6
Action Points 2
Skills: Diplomacy +14, Insight +14, Nature +14, Streetwise +14
Str: 14; Con: 14; Dex 13; Int: 10; Wis 17; Cha 16
Languages: Common, Supernal
Equipment: Longsword +2

Longsword(Basic) (Standard – At-Will)
+17 vs. AC; 1d8 + 5 damage

Vampiric Touch (Standard – At-Will) Necrotic
+15 vs. Will; 3d6 + 6 necrotic damage, and the Kolyarut gains 10 temporary hit points.

Enervating Ray (Minor – At-Will)
Ranged 10; +15 vs. Fortitude; Target is weakened (save ends)

Invisibility (Standard – At-Will, Illusion)
The Kolyarut becomes invisible until the end of its next turn.[/sblock]

After this encounter the group decided again to attempt an extended rest. I debated to add an encounter in to give them a sense of urgency, but since the adventure doesn’t seem to stress any kind of timeline I decided against it and let them have the extended rest.

After they rested the group took some time to explore.

Room #18: Sionsiar’s Tomb

Basically for this room I kept the description the same but I removed all of the game effects from it as I’ve essentially removed aligment. So, most things that triggered off alignment I’ve removed as well. Basically the same reason I removed the Word of Law traps from earlier in the dungeon.

The group spent some time searching the slush before moving to the stairs overlooking 20.

Room #20: The Falling River

The group spent a long time deciding on their best course of action and even contemplating jumping in, before I called for some dungeoneering checks and discouraged that idea.

Eventually they decided on a flying descent with those that couldn’t fly hanging on to those that could. It worked until the first ambush at The Lake

[sblock=Advanced Wind Warriors (6)]
Level 8 Soldier
Medium elemental humanoids (air)
Initiative: +10 XP 350
Senses +4; Darkvision
AC: 22; Fort: 21; Ref 24; Will 16
Resist 5 lighting, thunder
Speed 6 Fly 10 (hover)
Acrobatics +15, Athletics +12
Str: 16; Con: 14; Dex 22; Int: 8; Wis: 11; Cha: 11
Languages: Primordial
Equipment: 2 Longswords

Longsword (Basic) Standard – At-Will
+12 vs. AC; 1d8 + 5 damage and the target is marked until the end of the Wind Warrior’s next turn.

Double Attack Standard – At-Will
The wind warrior makes two longsword attacks.

Sonic Blast Standard – At-Will, Thunder
Close blast 3
+8 vs. Reflex; 2d6 + 4 thunder damage; Miss: Half damage.

Body Suffusion
If disarmed the weapon crumbles instantly and the Wind Warrior can create another as a minor action.[/sblock]

This encounter was by far the most challenging thus far. The group made it’s way down to the level of the lake without incident. And then from the high ceiling above I had the Wind Warriors emerge.

It went ok, until the player sustaining the flight power was knocked unconscious and then everyone was knocked into the river. With two of the players unconscious the group finally succeeded in driving off the Wind Warriors by killing 2 of them. The rest retreated to prepare their second ambush.

This is where we concluded the evening.