jasper
Rotten DM
I ran mission 1-3 twice and mission 4-6 once. The first group of first 3 mission were more stealthy, the second group was fireball formation aka charge. I also played in mission 1 thru 3.
Mission 1 was a cake walk for both groups. It is a cute adventure. I was surprise when the kobold pc begged and cowered in front of goblins which allow the party some good hits on the goblins. I also allowed the sentinel with pole arm mastery multiple reactions on the fleeing goblins. After the game I did review the pole arm master feat, sentinel feat, and Reactions rule. But in this case it was no harm no foul. The interesting thing was how the first group were able to trigger the runaway option from mostly stealth, the charge group took more damage before they triggered the run away.
Mission 2 is a standard monster hunt with a bonus of being a high act for the pcs. I made the pcs do a dc Dex saving throw on the bridges or fall. The ones who would have fell were saved by the trees and lost their attack. I played a firbolg and decided an 8 foot pc had no business climbing trees.
Mission 3 I love and hate both as a player and a dm. As player no one could remember the answer to the riddle before the math and the dm let us waste 20 minutes trying to figure it out. As dm the riddle goes back to the old school of challenge the players which is great but has the fault of a player may not know the answer. The two headed doggy was a toss between the three groups. 2 groups had a little combat before they said the magic words, the fireball formation just beat up the critters.
The hag’s house was amusing and frustrating as dm. The hag is serious nerfed. Nerfing high level CR for story purposes (in the opening chapter) appear to be the go to thing in AL modules I have gamed or read. The teleporting is fun for a first couple of times then all depends on how much fun the players are having.
Mission 4 You have been toad. The whole set up reeks. Great powerful wizard needs help saving towns people. The group did enjoy me placing wooden dowel rods as the columns but this just play the game adventure. If I would redo this mission, I would do some major rewriting.
Mission 5 I don’t mind then monsters don’t matter. Again most of the monsters appear to be nerfed due to story and I think mind flayers were thrown it due to being in Volo’s. I will not discuss what one of the map looks like but there were some naughty minds at my table.
Mission 6 “WHAT ANOTHER STOP THE MADDNESS MISSION?” I added two names to my skull and nearly had a tpk. The group had no trouble hitting monsters but they had bad luck with saving throws. I rolled the spell effect first for gazer and beholder then choose the target. The gazer charmed everyone at least once during the combat but thankfully not all at the same time.
The beholder and I was running the weak one was a difficult battle. Even if I did not flub up on the fear ray. The first KO (then 1 fail death and natural 1 death save) was on the most damage pc. The second fail was on a fighter who then failed his saving throw 7 times in a roll. We figured he ran away 400 feet and left the dungeon. Yes this was a mistake the fighter should have gotten a save as soon as he broke line of sight. But since he did not have any bows he would not be able to get into combat range due being frightened. The second death was due a bad save dropping the barbarian to 0. Then me being evil. The round I dropped the barbarian the paladin failed his save versus Paralyzed. So I asked the group should I be evil/ smart. They replied played the monster as evil. So the beholder started eating the barbarian. The beholder started eating on the paladin when he made his save. Then if it was not for his half orc endurance and a nat 20 he would been killed too due failing his save vs the damaging ray.
No one had problems with the deaths. But since I caught my mistake the next day. I gave everyone max xp for the mission.
As DM or player I would not take “In Volo’s Wake” serious. It just a weird collection of adventures thrown together to support and highlight the book.
Mission 1 was a cake walk for both groups. It is a cute adventure. I was surprise when the kobold pc begged and cowered in front of goblins which allow the party some good hits on the goblins. I also allowed the sentinel with pole arm mastery multiple reactions on the fleeing goblins. After the game I did review the pole arm master feat, sentinel feat, and Reactions rule. But in this case it was no harm no foul. The interesting thing was how the first group were able to trigger the runaway option from mostly stealth, the charge group took more damage before they triggered the run away.
Mission 2 is a standard monster hunt with a bonus of being a high act for the pcs. I made the pcs do a dc Dex saving throw on the bridges or fall. The ones who would have fell were saved by the trees and lost their attack. I played a firbolg and decided an 8 foot pc had no business climbing trees.
Mission 3 I love and hate both as a player and a dm. As player no one could remember the answer to the riddle before the math and the dm let us waste 20 minutes trying to figure it out. As dm the riddle goes back to the old school of challenge the players which is great but has the fault of a player may not know the answer. The two headed doggy was a toss between the three groups. 2 groups had a little combat before they said the magic words, the fireball formation just beat up the critters.
The hag’s house was amusing and frustrating as dm. The hag is serious nerfed. Nerfing high level CR for story purposes (in the opening chapter) appear to be the go to thing in AL modules I have gamed or read. The teleporting is fun for a first couple of times then all depends on how much fun the players are having.
Mission 4 You have been toad. The whole set up reeks. Great powerful wizard needs help saving towns people. The group did enjoy me placing wooden dowel rods as the columns but this just play the game adventure. If I would redo this mission, I would do some major rewriting.
Mission 5 I don’t mind then monsters don’t matter. Again most of the monsters appear to be nerfed due to story and I think mind flayers were thrown it due to being in Volo’s. I will not discuss what one of the map looks like but there were some naughty minds at my table.
Mission 6 “WHAT ANOTHER STOP THE MADDNESS MISSION?” I added two names to my skull and nearly had a tpk. The group had no trouble hitting monsters but they had bad luck with saving throws. I rolled the spell effect first for gazer and beholder then choose the target. The gazer charmed everyone at least once during the combat but thankfully not all at the same time.
The beholder and I was running the weak one was a difficult battle. Even if I did not flub up on the fear ray. The first KO (then 1 fail death and natural 1 death save) was on the most damage pc. The second fail was on a fighter who then failed his saving throw 7 times in a roll. We figured he ran away 400 feet and left the dungeon. Yes this was a mistake the fighter should have gotten a save as soon as he broke line of sight. But since he did not have any bows he would not be able to get into combat range due being frightened. The second death was due a bad save dropping the barbarian to 0. Then me being evil. The round I dropped the barbarian the paladin failed his save versus Paralyzed. So I asked the group should I be evil/ smart. They replied played the monster as evil. So the beholder started eating the barbarian. The beholder started eating on the paladin when he made his save. Then if it was not for his half orc endurance and a nat 20 he would been killed too due failing his save vs the damaging ray.
No one had problems with the deaths. But since I caught my mistake the next day. I gave everyone max xp for the mission.
As DM or player I would not take “In Volo’s Wake” serious. It just a weird collection of adventures thrown together to support and highlight the book.
