One does not simply walk into the Caves of Chaos

[soulcatcher78]

Some ideas for altering the playtest adventure to give it a different feel (especially for players who have been there/done that already). This scenario is based on the assumption that the original Keep or at least a fortified settlement is being used as a starting point or base for the characters.

Defending the Keep from a humanoid force drawn from the Caves of Chaos is where the palyers start (as either people who live or are visiting the Keep). While the attackers are repelled (at least for the time being) the forces occupying the Keep are unable to give chase with a force that might defeat them all in open combat.

Interrogation of surviving attackers shows that the monsters were brought under the banner of the Temple of Chaos (going with Orcus personally in case I want to tie in Rappan Athuk down the road) and driven into a frenzy to attack the outpost of civilization. The prisoners can give some details about the location of the Temple and how to access it without knocking on the front door (since the humanoid forces control the surrounding valley at this time). To keep things simple I am using the two cave sections (I and G) and connecting area 44 to 51 to provide a "back door" into the temple complex.

Some of the information that the PCs are given will be false (told that either cave complex will eventually connect to the underground temple) and that the Priests rely on their skeleton servants to protect the entrance (partially false as it leaves out the Minotaur and Owlbear).

Rather than slogging through cave after cave of humanoids I am placing them in a fortified encampment on the top of the valley. The main entrance to the temple is inside the encampment (yes I know it's railroady to only give the PCs one option but they could always try to talk their way into the front door I suppose).

Given the level of difficulty of the cave sections I'm thinking that starting that portion of the adventure should be at 2nd level.

Thoughts or suggestions on tuning this idea up?

 

[howandwhy99]

I like it. Something the playtest is missing in terms of adventure design is not having the Keep available to the PC or the wilderness as the zone between.

"Always in Enemy Territory" gets old really, really fast. And I think it carries with it certain presumptive playstyles that lead to quick resource turn around (or no resources) and loss of the sense of danger due to rule assumptions.

Definitely redraw the caves, if you have seasoned players who know B2 already.

If you start out with an attack on the keep, ensure any outcome is possible - win or lose. Then make the PCs actions what tips the balance.

If you remove the "bunch of caves with different humanoids" aspect of the Chaos Caves, you're losing most of the module. Mass combat on plains is a different adventure and isn't supported in the current playtest rules either.

Starting the PCs at level 2 for the caves isn't a bad idea, but you'll probably want smarter NPCs. My experience so far is the stat numbers are vastly in favor of the PCs, so implement difficulty by ear in case you go too far. The feel of the numbers in relation to the predetermined encounters is something I expect they want feedback on. Add better tactics is just gravy.

 

[soulcatcher78]

Resource availability from the Keep definitely depends on the outcome of the initial attack. Failing to stop the waves of humanoids from pouring through the gap could lead to the destruction of the chapel/blacksmith/equipment store/etc. Have to work out how bad the effects are based on the outcome of the battle. Using the waves as swarms might help eliminate dice rolling issues so that's definitely an option.

The overnight full healing mechanic will come up as a problem (all the remaining defenders are suddenly at full strength the next morning) so I might have to handwave a % of them getting killed to set the proper tone. You (the PC's) have to find the source of the horde and eliminate the leadership before they mount another assault which we don't have the man power to resist.

Failure to complete the mission would trigger another assualt and if the inhabitants survive they would likely have to abandon the Keep and retreat as the monsters pick them off a few at a time.

 

[Connorsrpg]

In our 5 Session Playtest I certainly altered the size of individual caves and the valley overall. It was much larger, like the painting on the cover.

I also predetermined all the relationships between the tribes and indicated whether or not they had joined the cultists, and under what circumstances.

Anyway, this sounds interesting. (If you are after any of the stuff from ours I have attached several sheets to our playtest report - here on the boards).