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Good adventures for players level 12+

Grunker

First Post
Hi. I would like suggestions for the next adventure I'm going to run with my current group. Starting levels for characters can be anywhere from 12-16, but preferably not lower or higher than that. We are playing 3.5.

I'd much prefer long adventures/megaadventures that span at least a few levels. The more opportunity for roleplaying the better.

Thanks in advance :)
 
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Grunker

First Post
A good suggestion, except:

1) It's for level 9 characters
2) It's not really stocked with roleplaying opportunities
3) I think some of my players have already read/played it

Hmm. I'll ask them. Maybe find a way to bump the powerlevel of the adventure.
 

Dandu

First Post
A good suggestion, except:

1) It's for level 9 characters
2) It's not really stocked with roleplaying opportunities
3) I think some of my players have already read/played it

Hmm. I'll ask them. Maybe find a way to bump the powerlevel of the adventure.

What about this list?
 

Grunker

First Post
Thanks, I'll check it out.

EDIT: Surprisingly, only one has played Tomb of Horrors, and he is travelling right now so he's not in the game for a while. Tomb of Horrors it is. Will have to beef the strength of everything up though. Anyone know any Tomb of Horror-resources that are good?

EDIT2: Which Return to the Tomb of Horrors conversion is generally thought of as the best?
 
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Asha'man

First Post
A bit of advice from my own experience with the Tomb of Horrors:

The most critical thing you should do to make the Tomb a fun adventure is to place harsh time pressure on the PCs' expedition. If they are able to take the time to search and prod every 5-ft. square, let alone retreat and recuperate several times, they'll "brute-force" much of the adventure and it will just be a boring slog.

The dungeon doesn't have many combat encounters, and I'd advise you not to change that -it would really change the tone of the Tomb, and not for the better, IMO. There are four instances of monsters that you should make sure provide the proper level of danger, but the rest are mostly detritus and serve only to deplete party resources.

Those four important challenges are:
- The Four-Armed Gargoyle near the entrance to the dungeon, which should be a real slobberknocker, such that its presence encourages the PCs to try another route

- The "false Acererak" (the least important of the four, but it should really be a serious fight in order for the misdirection to be convincing)

- The ethereal demons around and throughout the Tomb which discourage ethereal exploration/bypassing the dungeon (A brilliant idea which I'm surprised not to see more often in modules, but the demons need to be appropriately scary for the deterrent to work)

- and of course Acererak himself. (The 2e demilich stats are horribly arbitrary, decide whether you want it to be feasible to fight Acererak or if he's just a horror that the PCs should avoid/weather while they loot the final chamber, then make proper stats accordingly.)

Some of the traps in the Tomb you will probably find to be goofy or inappropriate. I won't call any out, since it's all in the eye of the beholder, but be aware that you might have to modify or replace some material beyond simply deepening the pits and increasing the save DC on the poisons.

Remember, when you're scaling up the tomb, not to overdo it, since the time pressure will force the characters to continue against their better judgement, and even traps which aren't lethal dangers in themselves will wear down the group for what lies ahead.

If you want more opportunities for roleplaying, take a look at Return to the Tomb of Horrors. I wouldn't run "Return" itself in its entirety, but the idea of Skull City, that the tomb of Acererak became a site of pilgrimage for various undead and necromancers, is a good one. That provides opportunities for the PCs to negotiate their way and learn information about the Tomb before they go in, or face dangerous and intelligent enemies if they're not careful. If they have to sneak their way into the Tomb, leaving might not be safe, and if they fight their way in they might have vengeful necromancers on their heels or trying to sabotage their expedition.

Edit: The conversion made by Justin Alexander, of the Alexandrian, is an excellent starting point.
http://www.thealexandrian.net/archive/archive2005-11.html#20051115
 
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Grunker

First Post
Wow, great post, thanks!

A bit of advice from my own experience with the Tomb of Horrors:

The most critical thing you should do to make the Tomb a fun adventure is to place harsh time pressure on the PCs' expedition. If they are able to take the time to search and prod every 5-ft. square, let alone retreat and recuperate several times, they'll "brute-force" much of the adventure and it will just be a boring slog.

In the frame of my campaign, the Tomb of Horrors is actually the former tomb of their main antagonist, a mummy (who has risen and left the tomb). The demilich is a guardian guarding an item the party needs to wrest control of or destroy the mummy's army of sand soldiers.

So a time limit isn't hard to install - the mummy and his army are strong enough to take over a new city for each hour that passes or something similar.

What specific time limit do you suggest?

The dungeon doesn't have many combat encounters, and I'd advise you not to change that -it would really change the tone of the Tomb, and not for the better, IMO. There are four instances of monsters that you should make sure provide the proper level of danger, but the rest are mostly detritus and serve only to deplete party resources.

Well, right now the encounters won't even deplete resources from this party, so I will buff even the minor encounters. But I get what you're saying - they shouldn't be lethal.

Those four important challenges are:
- The Four-Armed Gargoyle near the entrance to the dungeon, which should be a real slobberknocker, such that its presence encourages the PCs to try another route

- The "false Acererak" (the least important of the four, but it should really be a serious fight in order for the misdirection to be convincing)

- The ethereal demons around and throughout the Tomb which discourage ethereal exploration/bypassing the dungeon (A brilliant idea which I'm surprised not to see more often in modules, but the demons need to be appropriately scary for the deterrent to work)

- and of course Acererak himself. (The 2e demilich stats are horribly arbitrary, decide whether you want it to be feasible to fight Acererak or if he's just a horror that the PCs should avoid/weather while they loot the final chamber, then make proper stats accordingly.)

I will revamp Acererak completely, I think. A simple save-or-die each turn and almost nothing else isn't that interesting. I'll give it some spell-powers probs.

Some of the traps in the Tomb you will probably find to be goofy or inappropriate. I won't call any out, since it's all in the eye of the beholder, but be aware that you might have to modify or replace some material beyond simply deepening the pits and increasing the save DC on the poisons.

My PCs will not be changing gender, if that's what you're implying ;)

Remember, when you're scaling up the tomb, not to overdo it, since the time pressure will force the characters to continue against their better judgement, and even traps which aren't lethal dangers in themselves will wear down the group for what lies ahead.

Right now my plan is: Buff skill DCs, save DCs, and monsters. In other words: touch as little as possible.

I also plan to do house-rule that all healing is reduced by 5 "per proc" within the tomb (preventing their lesser vigor wands and healing devotion tricks - they tend to make HP as a resource redundant except during encounters), and I won't let them take 10 or 20.

If you want more opportunities for roleplaying, take a look at Return to the Tomb of Horrors. I wouldn't run "Return" itself in its entirety, but the idea of Skull City, that the tomb of Acererak became a site of pilgrimage for various undead and necromancers, is a good one. That provides opportunities for the PCs to negotiate their way and learn information about the Tomb before they go in, or face dangerous and intelligent enemies if they're not careful. If they have to sneak their way into the Tomb, leaving might not be safe, and if they fight their way in they might have vengeful necromancers on their heels or trying to sabotage their expedition.

I plan to run Return some time in the future, with the same group but with other characters :)

Edit: The conversion made by Justin Alexander, of the Alexandrian, is an excellent starting point.
The Alexandrian - Archive

Thanks!
 
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MrFaust

First Post
Best bet is to use the Wizards 3.5 conversion. I think it is very well done. If you dont think the trap DC's are high enough then just bump them up a bit. Same goes for the few encounters found with in.

As for a time limit, personally I just wouldnt let em take 20 or even 10 for that matter and stop them from searching every five feet because that not only bogs the game down its stupid.
 
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