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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 6091677" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>The 'Cave of Carnage' post-match analysis</strong></p><p></p><p>Okay, so Rumdoom's player needed some time off, and just having Rumdoom stay in Trekhom to hang out with Vlendam Heid (my initial idea) was totally out of character for him - committed as he is to the unit, and to Korrigan in particular.</p><p></p><p>So I decided to extract as much sympathy for Damata Griento as possible and stress the pseudo-religious nature of his side-quest for Rumdoom, since it had been cemented by the intervention of Heid.</p><p></p><p>Then all I needed to do was put the hideout of Sly Fomazelli out of central Nalaam (several hours' travel in winter), and Rumdoom would have to go it alone, or force the unit to abandon their mission.</p><p></p><p>So far so good...</p><p></p><p>I then had to decide what to do with the encounter. I decided it would be weaksauce to dilute the threat level, and left it as it is. I have often commented on these boards that I find some of the Zeitgeist encounters to be a little on the easy side and I felt that this encounter was particularly weak. (Fine if that is intentional, but it does say 'level 9'. With one full-strength monster and 10 minions that didn't seem likely to me.) But I also realised that if Fomazelli managed to render his men invisible for the best part of two rounds, things were likely to go against our doughty dwarven maniac. And in any case, even if this was a weak encounter for five PCs, it must surely present a serious challenge for one. Needless to say, I had a cool back-up plan for what would happen when he inevitably went down. (As an eschatologist he would automatically pass his first death save in any event.)</p><p></p><p>As it turned out, I needn't have troubled myself.</p><p></p><p>Funnily enough, this encounter led to the rest of the players spending almost all of their Plot Twist roleplaying rewards: </p><p></p><p>First off, when Uru shot the Family intermediary before he even had a chance to say where Fomazelli was, one of them played a 'Success from Failure' card to have the information on his person (where I probably would have put it anyway). Uru's premature strike was a great moment: When the NPC started being an ass hole (as all of these criminal types tend to be) his player just shrugged and made a shooting action before I had even finished my sentence. I paused and said, 'Is that what you are doing?'</p><p></p><p>He responded with a 'hell yeah' kind of gesture, while the rest of the party cried 'No!' simultaneously. I decided to hold the player to his action and he made the shot...</p><p></p><p>Then, unhappy at sending Rumdoom off to die, Malthusius played 'A Shot from the Dark' (and spent one of Sly Marbo's '20-20 Hindsight Tokens' as well) to have a rival gang agree to follow Rumdoom and Damata at a distance. He would then try to take out Fomazelli (or one of his gang) when the opportunity presented itself.</p><p></p><p>I decided that the shot was a very difficult one and imposed a -5 penalty; when it missed, another player played 'An Unexpected Outcome' and I allowed that Rumdoom would get the equivalent of a surprise round as a result, as the only person who leapt into action when the shot rang out.</p><p></p><p>So there we were: One PC and a level 1 ally (albeit with pretty cool leader power) against a Level 9 bad guy and 10 minions.</p><p></p><p>Here's how the combat went:</p><p></p><p><u>Surprise round:</u></p><p><u></u></p><p>Rumdoom uses <strong>Come and Get It</strong> to draw Sly and three of the impetuous gangsters adjacent to him. He wounds Sly and kills three minions. This sets off their <strong>Part of the Family</strong> power, causing three more to dash forward and make attacks on Rumdoom, crying, "Hey, you killed Vespuccio! Hey, you killed Fromagi!" etc</p><p></p><p><u>Round One:</u></p><p></p><p>Fomazelli uses <strong>Knife to Throat </strong>to cause some serious ongoing damage to Rumdoom. (He is holding off using Sudden Disappearance until his minions move forward as he has been drawn out of range of four of them. This turns out to be a mistake.)</p><p></p><p>The minions mostly hit Rumdoom, but he is still not bloodied.</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom uses <strong>Bonecrusher</strong> against Sly, but Sly uses his <strong>Disappear in a Crowd</strong> trait to have his huge daily land on a minion. Then Rumdoom sets of <strong>Rain of Blows</strong> and uses an action point to make another major attack against Sly (who again deflects it at the cost of another minion, but is now left with no one else adjacent to him). NB: The death of these minions causes other minions to rush in adjacent to Rumdoom...</p><p></p><p>Damata boosts Rumdoom's next attack.</p><p><u></u></p><p><u>Round Two:</u></p><p></p><p>Fomazelli renders himself and the rest of his minions invisible. He shifts but takes damage from Rain of Blows.</p><p></p><p>The remaining minions around Rumdoom (which is every minion except one) die as a result of Rain of Blows, causing the remaining minion to rush in...</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom uses second wind and then lashes out at the square where he hopes to find Fomazelli (with a -5 to hit, partly ameliorated by Damata's bonus). He hits, taking Sly within 15HP of death!</p><p></p><p>Damata eggs Rumdoom on, granting more bonuses. </p><p></p><p><u>Round Three:</u></p><p></p><p>Sly hits Rumdoom again, but is seriously hurt by Rain of Blows and unable to get away (as he is marked).</p><p></p><p>The remaining minion pops thanks to the same incredible power.</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom makes another 'shot in the dark' against Sly and kills him.</p><p></p><p><u>End of Combat</u></p><p><u></u></p><p><u></u>Three rounds later, and Rumdoom has won.</p><p></p><p>What was particularly cool was that I ran this encounter with the full attention and enthusiasm of the rest of the group, even though they had no role in the combat. (I let them role the attack dice for the minions, but still...)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 6091677, member: 79141"] [b]The 'Cave of Carnage' post-match analysis[/b] Okay, so Rumdoom's player needed some time off, and just having Rumdoom stay in Trekhom to hang out with Vlendam Heid (my initial idea) was totally out of character for him - committed as he is to the unit, and to Korrigan in particular. So I decided to extract as much sympathy for Damata Griento as possible and stress the pseudo-religious nature of his side-quest for Rumdoom, since it had been cemented by the intervention of Heid. Then all I needed to do was put the hideout of Sly Fomazelli out of central Nalaam (several hours' travel in winter), and Rumdoom would have to go it alone, or force the unit to abandon their mission. So far so good... I then had to decide what to do with the encounter. I decided it would be weaksauce to dilute the threat level, and left it as it is. I have often commented on these boards that I find some of the Zeitgeist encounters to be a little on the easy side and I felt that this encounter was particularly weak. (Fine if that is intentional, but it does say 'level 9'. With one full-strength monster and 10 minions that didn't seem likely to me.) But I also realised that if Fomazelli managed to render his men invisible for the best part of two rounds, things were likely to go against our doughty dwarven maniac. And in any case, even if this was a weak encounter for five PCs, it must surely present a serious challenge for one. Needless to say, I had a cool back-up plan for what would happen when he inevitably went down. (As an eschatologist he would automatically pass his first death save in any event.) As it turned out, I needn't have troubled myself. Funnily enough, this encounter led to the rest of the players spending almost all of their Plot Twist roleplaying rewards: First off, when Uru shot the Family intermediary before he even had a chance to say where Fomazelli was, one of them played a 'Success from Failure' card to have the information on his person (where I probably would have put it anyway). Uru's premature strike was a great moment: When the NPC started being an ass hole (as all of these criminal types tend to be) his player just shrugged and made a shooting action before I had even finished my sentence. I paused and said, 'Is that what you are doing?' He responded with a 'hell yeah' kind of gesture, while the rest of the party cried 'No!' simultaneously. I decided to hold the player to his action and he made the shot... Then, unhappy at sending Rumdoom off to die, Malthusius played 'A Shot from the Dark' (and spent one of Sly Marbo's '20-20 Hindsight Tokens' as well) to have a rival gang agree to follow Rumdoom and Damata at a distance. He would then try to take out Fomazelli (or one of his gang) when the opportunity presented itself. I decided that the shot was a very difficult one and imposed a -5 penalty; when it missed, another player played 'An Unexpected Outcome' and I allowed that Rumdoom would get the equivalent of a surprise round as a result, as the only person who leapt into action when the shot rang out. So there we were: One PC and a level 1 ally (albeit with pretty cool leader power) against a Level 9 bad guy and 10 minions. Here's how the combat went: [U]Surprise round: [/U] Rumdoom uses [B]Come and Get It[/B] to draw Sly and three of the impetuous gangsters adjacent to him. He wounds Sly and kills three minions. This sets off their [B]Part of the Family[/B] power, causing three more to dash forward and make attacks on Rumdoom, crying, "Hey, you killed Vespuccio! Hey, you killed Fromagi!" etc [U]Round One:[/U] Fomazelli uses [B]Knife to Throat [/B]to cause some serious ongoing damage to Rumdoom. (He is holding off using Sudden Disappearance until his minions move forward as he has been drawn out of range of four of them. This turns out to be a mistake.) The minions mostly hit Rumdoom, but he is still not bloodied. Rumdoom uses [B]Bonecrusher[/B] against Sly, but Sly uses his [B]Disappear in a Crowd[/B] trait to have his huge daily land on a minion. Then Rumdoom sets of [B]Rain of Blows[/B] and uses an action point to make another major attack against Sly (who again deflects it at the cost of another minion, but is now left with no one else adjacent to him). NB: The death of these minions causes other minions to rush in adjacent to Rumdoom... Damata boosts Rumdoom's next attack. [U] Round Two:[/U] Fomazelli renders himself and the rest of his minions invisible. He shifts but takes damage from Rain of Blows. The remaining minions around Rumdoom (which is every minion except one) die as a result of Rain of Blows, causing the remaining minion to rush in... Rumdoom uses second wind and then lashes out at the square where he hopes to find Fomazelli (with a -5 to hit, partly ameliorated by Damata's bonus). He hits, taking Sly within 15HP of death! Damata eggs Rumdoom on, granting more bonuses. [U]Round Three:[/U] Sly hits Rumdoom again, but is seriously hurt by Rain of Blows and unable to get away (as he is marked). The remaining minion pops thanks to the same incredible power. Rumdoom makes another 'shot in the dark' against Sly and kills him. [U]End of Combat [/U]Three rounds later, and Rumdoom has won. What was particularly cool was that I ran this encounter with the full attention and enthusiasm of the rest of the group, even though they had no role in the combat. (I let them role the attack dice for the minions, but still...) [/QUOTE]
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