KotS A TPK turned Capture (Advice, Spoilers)

[Enoch]

My group had a TPK with this encounter too. I decided to go with the capture route because I thought the encounter was NASTY! They were handling the first part very well, but the appearance of Irontooth and the wyrmpriest did them in (I had 4 players at this point so cut the two Dragonshields).

[sblock]Kobolds are probably the most difficult low level monsters I have seen so far. The fight with the gnome at the dragon's tomb flew by without a hitch.[/sblock]

We'll see how it goes this Saturday.

-Joshua

 

[hong]

[Barbie]
Kobolds are HARD!
[/Barbie]

 

[hong]

[Barbie]
Kobolds are HARD!
[/Barbie]

If you know what I mean.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Looks like my thread got Hong'd.

Fitz

 

[edhel]

I got TPK and capture too

My players didn't fare too well either, they constantly got beaten up by the kobolds in the ambush encounters. In the inner cave they managed to kill Irontooth, the skirmishers and some minions but the dragonshields and the priest cut them down.

I made the priest stabilize them and send them to the torturer's prison.

Dunno how I'm going to be able to continue the adventure in the next session. Maybe they'll manage to escape and run naked back to the Lord Padraig (Buttrage?) and beg for some equipment.

The group consisted of human wizard, tiefling warlord, human rogue (halfling->human) & half-elf warlock (from ddxp). The lord of Winterhaven sent a ranger (eladrin ranger from ddxp) to accompany them in the cave assault.

 

[Voss]

That's essentially what I had planned in the event of a TPK at kobold hands as well, though I hadn't thought about the skill challenge idea - which seems natural now that I think about it!

So how much total XP was that encounter worth for your group - 1550? I'm still worried about springing this on my 4 level 1 PCs, and I've dropped the XP value for the whole encounter total down to 975. I fear it might be too much regardless...

This particular encounter seems like too much to begin with. Played reasonably intelligently, there doesn't seem any way for the kobolds inside not to have warning, and the two waves combined would be a bit much for a level one party even without the elite.

I'd seriously recommend dialing it back for a 5 man party, let alone 4. In general, that whole area doesn't seem well constructed. Even though its split between two separate encounters, I don't see why they'd wait for the party to take a short rest and recover from the first fight. And the second fight as a whole is worth twice as much XP as the other fights outside the keep... it seems a bit much to spring on the players.

 

[ZetaStriker]

I'm not entirely sure that that isn't the point. PCs can win, but they need excellent tactics backed by excellent rolls. Far more likely, they should be forced to retreat, using the waterfall as cover before scattering into the forest. If my group hasn't absolutely decimated the first wave before the others arrive, I'm going to strongly suggest that the fight might be too much for them, and brief them on the idea of running away before we even begin.

 

[elawai]

I'm not running this adventure for a couple weeks, so I want to ask a question for those that ran this encounter. How did you run the second wave shows up 3 rounds later? I'm just wondering if that if the second wave starts after the 3rd round in their designated starting spot that it could cause the second wave to come in a little slower, making it easier for the group to handle.

 

[Voss]

I'm not entirely sure that that isn't the point. PCs can win, but they need excellent tactics backed by excellent rolls. Far more likely, they should be forced to retreat, using the waterfall as cover before scattering into the forest. If my group hasn't absolutely decimated the first wave before the others arrive, I'm going to strongly suggest that the fight might be too much for them, and brief them on the idea of running away before we even begin.

Possibly. But, honestly, taking out the slinger outside so they get 3 rounds alone with the first wave inside is more or less a matter of luck. Its a target rich environment, and if he doesn't die quickly, the party is SoL inside. Plus I can't see that the one of the others wouldn't warn them instead.

The difficulty may be the point, but it seems a little out of place in a intro adventure, at least without a warning tag, particularly on the goblin. After wading through everything else in the encounter, he's going to be rough... and the others in the second wave aren't exactly pushovers. Twice the size of a normal encounter on level 1 characters, many of whom might be new? It just seems like a bad idea- and it stands out in difficulty, much like the final battle (and if they screw up in a certain other place in the keep)

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Dunno how I'm going to be able to continue the adventure in the next session. Maybe they'll manage to escape and run naked back to the Lord Padraig (Buttrage?) and beg for some equipment..

That's essentially my plan. I'm giving Splug (or whatever his name is) a dagger he somehow got into the cell with him (which the party can bribe/intimidate out of him to give to the rogue, and I'm putting a door between the cells and the torture chamber with the idea that enough of the right kind of successes will set the party free of the cells without alerting the torturers. Then it's a quick rush for the firepit and alot of swinging hot pokers I expect.

If they can make it out of the Keep and back to the town, I'll have Padraig get his guard captain to arm them.

Fitz