Age of Worms, Module #1 (SPOILERS)

[Patlin]

One last chance for those who haven't played the module to avoid spoliers...

[sblock]Last night, my group got to the end of the first module in the adventure path, and the wind warriors mopped the floor with them. The group was composed of 5 2nd level characters, and the battle wasn't even close. We ran it twice, in fact, as I discovered I had made an error in the wind warrior stats the first time -- same result.

Did other groups find this a horribly difficult encounter? Were you 2nd level when you got there, or had you made 3rd?

I'm wondering if its the encounter, whether I should have given the xp reward prior to the end of the module, or if its just the wacky party makeup I have that made it so difficult.

The group consists of:

2 Monks
an Artificer
a Favored Soul
a Rogue/Divine Mind.

Feedback apreciated![/sblock]

 

[Qualidar]

Well, I haven't run it, but the person that I know that actually played in it said the only reason they survived is that they

Spoiler:

Spoiler

animated the owlbear corpse from earlier in the adventure to help out.

That said, you have a party with no real fighters, so it's not too surprising that they lost. I've heard that the adventure paths are aimed for groups of 6, and it's assumed that by the end of this particular adventure they would have advanced to 2nd, so you're also a character shy of what they're expecting you to have.

Also, it's no secret that this fight is very difficult. It might help to wander on down to the Paizo Dungeon forums and check out how others have reacted to the adventures before you run them. I think it helps that a lot of people have run the adventures by now. When I get around to running them I'm planning to see what's caused trouble for those who came before.

~Qualidar~

 

[Old_Man_Fish]

From our campaign logs:

Session 5 (11/29/2005) The Whispering Cairn 5:
PC:
Grolf Dwarvern Barbarian 3
Dante Human Rogue 3
Fabio Human Sorcerer 3
Dunstan Human Cleric 3

NPC:
Mélinde Human Paladin 3

...

They enter the next chamber and advance along the eastern edge of the circle noting the different bas-relief carvings. They reach the first broken off portion and step out to examine it at which point the wind warriors float down from above. The wind warriors swoop down and blast the party (except for Dante) with their sonic blasts, effectively ruining the numerous potions and glass vials which the party is keeping (including the undead worms jar). After a fairly drawn out battle the warriors are dealt with (a charge from the shatter wand was used).

...

 

[Patlin]

I've heard that the adventure paths are aimed for groups of 6

I had heard that at some point, but the module itself says it is "designed for four 1st-level characters." Should I add an NPC to bring the team up to 6, then?

 

[wayne62682]

Just want to add.. AFAIK Shackled City is the only one that is intended for six.. both Age of Worms and now Savage Tide are designed for four.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Actually, what has so far caused the largest number of character deaths was the

Spoiler

mad slasher plus acid beetle swarm. I upgraded them for a higher-than-recommended average party level, by adding one more slasher. The party did, however, split up just before the slasher/swarm attack.

I've run Three Faces of Evil, and the party still hasn't completed the last task in the first module. They've done everything except go back and complete the encounter you mention. I think I might beef it up a bit, considering they're now all about level 6.

 

[Gundark]

AoW is designed for a balanced group (fighter, arcane, sneaky, healer). My group had a of a time until they added a cleric to the party. Also I think you are supposed to be 3rd level by the end of the module (maybe make them 3rd level to face the Wind Warriors).

 

[James Jacobs]

Yup; althoguh the design of the dungeon allows (un)lucky characters to reach the wind warriors soon if they opt for that route, the story and plot of the adventure encourages exploration not only of the rest of the dungeon, but the encounters beyond the dungeon in Diamond Lake. The PCs should thus be 3rd (or maybe even 4th) level before they reach the wind warriors, and even then, it's a tough battle. Silence is a strong tactic against them (blocks their sonic attacks), as is shatter (which can damage them quite easilly, since their "bodies" are made partially of ceramic armor). Of course, if the PCs aren't 3rd level, it's harder for them to use these tactics against them...

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

What's with all the blacked out text?

 

[Patlin]

What's with all the blacked out text?

To hide spoilers from the eyes of the unwary. If you want to see how to do it, hit quote on the one that interests you, and you'll see all the encoding stuff in the edit window. Just don't hit submit unless you really want to reply to te thread.