Jeff Wilder
First Post
SPOILERS! This is gonna be an odd thread. I'm a player in the Shackled City adventure path, so there are definitely going to be spoilers. On the other hand, my group and I have only gotten so far as Bhal-Hamatugn in "Zenith Trajectory" (see below), so I'm trying to avoid spoilers of anything in our future. Please help out by being cautious in what you reveal.
BACKGROUND: Until recently, we were four, all 7th-level: a non-spellcasting paladin, a dwarf fighter, a drow rogue/sorcerer (3/2), and me, a cloistered cleric/necromancer/mystic theurge (3/3/1). We worked our way through Jzadirune and the Malachite Fortress pretty well, and actually did very well fighting Triel and her band and recovering the wands of control water.
Because the drow and my theurge are multi-classed, and because we're probably under-equipped for our level (both my DM and I prefer lower-magic games), IMO we've always been less powerful than our levels would indicate. (For instance, until defeating the menace at the Pit of Seven Jaws and attaining 8th-level, my theurge had been limited to 2nd-level spells for four levels.)
Nevertheless, we've so far beat an umber hulk, a young red dragon(!), and a 7-headed cryo-hydra. Either of the latter two, IMO, would be TPK's in the hands of a ruthless DM. But ours is kind, and we survived, albeit barely.
Following the fight at the Pit, our paladin retired to his home, his quest having already been accomplished. (The player took a great job in Seattle, and since the commute would be a bitch, he actually moved up the coast.) So now, until we recruit a fourth player and PC, we are three 8th-level PCs.
THE LEAD-IN: At my suggestion, the drow disguised herself as a kuo-toan cleric and the dwarf and my theurge pretended to be her captives. (We call that "pulling a Chewbacca.") It worked to get the ferryman to let us across the lake, but apparently her disguise (26!) wasn't good enough to fool the guard in the fish-eyes, as we drew fire heading up the stairs. We fought and slew eight kuo-toan soldiers with little trouble.
My theurge interrogated one of the dead fish, and determined that Splintershield was "upstairs" somewhere, so after checking the guard-post in the fish-eyes, we began looking for another way up.
We entered the main shrine to Blibdoolpoolp, which had stairs up, but were driven back by four fish-priests tossing lightning, and four other fish fighting normally. Our only fighter was having some serious problems with the fishes' adhesive shields. So we staged a fighting retreat, and I suggested we deliberately foul the shields with discarded weaponry, to keep the dwarf's axe from being taken from the fight. That worked pretty well and we took out the soldiers. After a rest to heal, we went back to tackle the priests. This time, ready for them, we took them out pretty handily. We took one alive and intimidated him into giving us some information.
THE OTHER SHOE: Yeah ... that's when the erinyes showed up, apparently called by either the statue or actually by Blibdoolpoolp herself. My theurge knows the erinyes was called, not summoned, and therefore has her full abilities. And that's where we left off, with her appearance. None of us are damaged, but I am nearly out of spells, and the drow has few worthwhile spells.
QUESTIONS:
How the hell are we supposed to beat this thing? I dunno exactly, but I know erinyes' are at least CR 8, with probably around 100 hp. My theurge, getting a 30 on his Knowledge (the planes) knows they have good SR, greater teleport, and plenty of immunities.
Not only do I not understand how we're supposed to beat the erinyes after the resource-draining fight against the kuo-toa, but my DM tells me that the adventure is actually designed for 6th-level characters.
So, aside from the question of how do we beat it (as I said, IMO we're weaker and less well-equipped than our levels indicate), how in the world is a 6th-level group supposed to beat it? (It's not as if you can run from something with the ability to go anywhere it wants, at will.) For that matter, how was a 6th-level group supposed to beat an EL 9 red dragon? And an EL 8 7-headed, 21d6-breathing hydra?
I've enjoyed the Shackled City up to this point, but whoever wrote this adventure is on some serious crack. From everything I can tell, unless you've got a very soft-hearted DM, this adventure is an inevitable TPK. It's even reflected in the EL ... if the kuo-toa are EL 9 and the erinyes is EL 9, that's an EL 11 encounter ... five higher than the party, who is supposed to be 6th (or perhaps 7th, by that point in the adventure). By the EL guidelines, that's party death. Why would an adventure writer "script" more or less inevitable character death like that?
Has anyone been through this adventure as a player? What were your experiences? How did you handle these crazy encounters, if you did? Did you get TPKed? Did your DM go easy on you?
What about DMs? Is there information I don't have as a player that mitigates the craziness I do know? (Be careful sharing too much.) Did you take it easy on your players? If not, did they survive? If so, how?
BACKGROUND: Until recently, we were four, all 7th-level: a non-spellcasting paladin, a dwarf fighter, a drow rogue/sorcerer (3/2), and me, a cloistered cleric/necromancer/mystic theurge (3/3/1). We worked our way through Jzadirune and the Malachite Fortress pretty well, and actually did very well fighting Triel and her band and recovering the wands of control water.
Because the drow and my theurge are multi-classed, and because we're probably under-equipped for our level (both my DM and I prefer lower-magic games), IMO we've always been less powerful than our levels would indicate. (For instance, until defeating the menace at the Pit of Seven Jaws and attaining 8th-level, my theurge had been limited to 2nd-level spells for four levels.)
Nevertheless, we've so far beat an umber hulk, a young red dragon(!), and a 7-headed cryo-hydra. Either of the latter two, IMO, would be TPK's in the hands of a ruthless DM. But ours is kind, and we survived, albeit barely.
Following the fight at the Pit, our paladin retired to his home, his quest having already been accomplished. (The player took a great job in Seattle, and since the commute would be a bitch, he actually moved up the coast.) So now, until we recruit a fourth player and PC, we are three 8th-level PCs.
THE LEAD-IN: At my suggestion, the drow disguised herself as a kuo-toan cleric and the dwarf and my theurge pretended to be her captives. (We call that "pulling a Chewbacca.") It worked to get the ferryman to let us across the lake, but apparently her disguise (26!) wasn't good enough to fool the guard in the fish-eyes, as we drew fire heading up the stairs. We fought and slew eight kuo-toan soldiers with little trouble.
My theurge interrogated one of the dead fish, and determined that Splintershield was "upstairs" somewhere, so after checking the guard-post in the fish-eyes, we began looking for another way up.
We entered the main shrine to Blibdoolpoolp, which had stairs up, but were driven back by four fish-priests tossing lightning, and four other fish fighting normally. Our only fighter was having some serious problems with the fishes' adhesive shields. So we staged a fighting retreat, and I suggested we deliberately foul the shields with discarded weaponry, to keep the dwarf's axe from being taken from the fight. That worked pretty well and we took out the soldiers. After a rest to heal, we went back to tackle the priests. This time, ready for them, we took them out pretty handily. We took one alive and intimidated him into giving us some information.
THE OTHER SHOE: Yeah ... that's when the erinyes showed up, apparently called by either the statue or actually by Blibdoolpoolp herself. My theurge knows the erinyes was called, not summoned, and therefore has her full abilities. And that's where we left off, with her appearance. None of us are damaged, but I am nearly out of spells, and the drow has few worthwhile spells.
QUESTIONS:
How the hell are we supposed to beat this thing? I dunno exactly, but I know erinyes' are at least CR 8, with probably around 100 hp. My theurge, getting a 30 on his Knowledge (the planes) knows they have good SR, greater teleport, and plenty of immunities.
Not only do I not understand how we're supposed to beat the erinyes after the resource-draining fight against the kuo-toa, but my DM tells me that the adventure is actually designed for 6th-level characters.
So, aside from the question of how do we beat it (as I said, IMO we're weaker and less well-equipped than our levels indicate), how in the world is a 6th-level group supposed to beat it? (It's not as if you can run from something with the ability to go anywhere it wants, at will.) For that matter, how was a 6th-level group supposed to beat an EL 9 red dragon? And an EL 8 7-headed, 21d6-breathing hydra?
I've enjoyed the Shackled City up to this point, but whoever wrote this adventure is on some serious crack. From everything I can tell, unless you've got a very soft-hearted DM, this adventure is an inevitable TPK. It's even reflected in the EL ... if the kuo-toa are EL 9 and the erinyes is EL 9, that's an EL 11 encounter ... five higher than the party, who is supposed to be 6th (or perhaps 7th, by that point in the adventure). By the EL guidelines, that's party death. Why would an adventure writer "script" more or less inevitable character death like that?
Has anyone been through this adventure as a player? What were your experiences? How did you handle these crazy encounters, if you did? Did you get TPKed? Did your DM go easy on you?
What about DMs? Is there information I don't have as a player that mitigates the craziness I do know? (Be careful sharing too much.) Did you take it easy on your players? If not, did they survive? If so, how?
