Thunderspire Labyrinth

[LostSoul]

I think that the module as written relies somewhat too much on a railroad between the main encounter areas, which is a shame - it would have been stronger if it had been written so that the three main areas could be tackled in any order IMO, and if there were stronger links between BBEG's.

I agree that the links between the module areas are weak, and that the main bad guy appears out of nowhere. That's why I made him the uncle of one of the PCs and had the duergar offer to employ the PCs.

But a railroad? How are you running the random encounters? I've used a lot of them, and they all have links to more adventures. We've been playing Thunderspire since the beginning of October (every other week) and the PCs just now got to the Horned Hold because of the open nature of the module.

(The PCs just got their asses handed to them by Murkelmor, even though they went through the back entrance - where they were not expected. It was an interesting choice they made; head to the back entrance and face a greater chance of random encounters, or take the quick route where they are expecting you but run a lower chance of random encounters. It turned out that the random encounter they ran into sapped them of too many resources to handle the Horned Hold.)

 

[Plane Sailing]

But a railroad? How are you running the random encounters? I've used a lot of them, and they all have links to more adventures. We've bee

That's why I said "railroad between the main encounter areas". Not "the whole thing is a railroad".

The random encounters and the side trek NPCs are the saving grace for the module IMO. Watch out for the gelatinous cube plus wraiths one though - that is a killer!

 

[ExploderWizard]

That's because to the Ordinators, everyone is a minion!

And what sweet power that would be!

Overlords Proclamation
Standard Action
Daily Level ?? Close burst 10
Int vs Will

Hit: Targets hit by the overlords proclamation are reduced to minion status in relation to you. The effect lasts a number of rounds equal to your CHA modifier (save ends).

Miss: The target finds a "kick me" sign plastered to its back, otherwise no effect.

 

[Chaldfont]

Last night's game was great. We finished up the last encounter in the Chamber of Eyes. Our ranger used Thunder Tusk Boar Strike on a table the bad guys were using for cover and flipped it over their heads. I had some bad guys shove a table at the warforged fighter only to have the fighter hack it in two with his greataxe in one round (he used an action point to hit it again).

Here's how they dealt with the trading post. The wizard went in and conned the duergar into thinking she was looking to buy a slave or two for, as she put it, certain physical exertions. She got them to give her a map and a letter of introduction to take to the Horned Hold. She then dressed up the ranger as a slave with a dog collar and managed to talk her way into the first stronghold before the heroes drew their weapons and attacked.

As far as railroading and such: I always modify published adventures to fit into my campaign. The player characters had already been pursuing an evil wizard and I just slotted him right into Paldemar's role.

 

[Nebulous]

I had planned to run this right after KotS, but i started doing a homebrew instead. I haven't read the module very closely, but in general i hear very good things about it. I will definitely need to link it to KotS better. Having Kalarel in allegiance with the bad guys in the labyrinth (maybe some demon god thing) would work well. I'll just keep scouring these threads until i see someone's idea that works for me.

 

[LostSoul]

That's why I said "railroad between the main encounter areas". Not "the whole thing is a railroad".

I misread you! Sorry about that!

The random encounters and the side trek NPCs are the saving grace for the module IMO. Watch out for the gelatinous cube plus wraiths one though - that is a killer!

That is a very cool encounter. I like the fact that the wraiths are hanging around the cube - since they are insubstantial the cube can't really hurt them, doing at most 5 damage, and they Regenerate 5 each turn anyway.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I just picked it up and gave it a quick scan today. It looks promising -- the general Labyrinth setting and the Seven-Pillared Hall look to be great fodder for linking to a range of other adventures (For example ... a band of beaten-down dwarves arrive from a long way off, revealing that their home has been overrun by

Spoiler

duergar

. Cue internal strife and politics, and the party can head out on a side trek to my favorite 3E adventure, Forge of Fury)! Then there's the political potential inherent in the Mages ...). Some of the random encounters are pretty clever, too.

The final encounter looks like a real biatch for five 6th-levels, though.

Anyone find it odd that the adventure introduces monsters that should be in the MM

Spoiler

(duergar)

? Wonder if they'll show up in MMII?

 

[MacMathan]

Has anyone had trouble with the Murklemor fight in the Horned Hold?

It is turning out pretty grim since the two rooms easily get combined into one encounter.

 

[Obryn]

Has anyone had trouble with the Murklemor fight in the Horned Hold?

It is turning out pretty grim since the two rooms easily get combined into one encounter.

That whole citadel basically turned into one big encounter in my game.

-O

 

[Skallgrim]

I just started running it, but I'm very excited about how it is slotting into my own version of Fallcrest and the PC's backstory:

The Tiefling Wizard is a member of House Naerumar, and was asked by his father, Orest Naerumar, to deliver the tiefling blade to Gendar the drow. He became an "adventurer" to encourage people to view the tieflings as more heroic and less sinister, and now he's discovering that his father has business relations with drow?


The tiefling also doesn't know that his former girlfriend, the younger sister of the female Tiefling running the Azaer business in Fallcrest is now running the Azaer business in the Seven Pillared Hall. The other party members have been there, but none of them know her. He knows her, but hasn't entered the business. He broke off their relationship abruptly after a disconcerting arcane experience caused him to question his life, and she resents it (as he never shared this with her). This is also a source of friction between him and his father, and between him and House Azaer, as they had hoped for a closer mercantile relationship as a result of a marriage.


The elf is adamantly opposed to any dealings with the drow, as he feels they are all slavers and evil. Of course, the drow they are dealing with is actually not evil (just unaligned).

The elf is also the only survivor of a small village razed by goblins and hobgoblins. He still doesn't realize that the goblins of the area were egged on and assisted by the Bloodreavers to gain more slaves. His older brother was one of the slaves captured, and he will discover his signet ring in one of the "random" encounters (as his brother escaped captivity, but did so on his own, and perished in the dark of the Labyrinth). This could embitter the elf against the hobgoblins and duergar further, or possibly help him to become more open and trusting with his own companions (as his brother would have survived if he had not struck out on his own, possibly).

The tiefling wizard was also originally secretly training to be a warlock, but was frightened by what he encountered, which is why he was a wizard multiclassing a warlock power, and not a warlock. He still doesn't realize that what he encountered was an avatar of Vecna, and until he can overcome his shame and secrecy and share his "sordid" beginnings with his friends, Vecna still has a hold on his soul (despite retraining out of the Warlock power). If he hasn't done this by the final encounters, he will actually begin having the dreams about seeking out the Pyramid of Power.

The halfing rogue, a member of the Swiftwater clan in Fallcrest, is the only unaligned party member. She is going to have a great deal of opportunity to make decisions about her "unalignment" in the Seven Pillared Hall. Will she steadfastly support her friends (moving her more toward the Good Alignment), or make decisions and allegiances based on her own self interest (which might cause conflict with the party)?

The elf will also have opportunities for both revenge againt Torog and the slavers who captured his kinfolk, and a chance to see how the mighty minotaur empire fell through their own embrace of their darker nature and emotions. He can see how the minotaurs turned away from their greatness to embrace their bestial side.

I also really, really like how many of the adventures are more open-ended. Do you find the Horned Hold by entering the duergar trading post and attacking, or do you negotiate, or do you let your rogue sneak in and rifle the desk? Maybe you just bribe Gendar to help you, or wander around the Labyrinth hoping for the best.