WotBS Running Innenotdar WotBS #2 (spoilers)

Trial by Fire

Today I ran Trial by Fire.

As usual, I modified the monsters and the encounter in several ways:

Flaming Lance:

Changed to a +9 vs Reflex Burst 3 centered on the party member closer to the center of the formation.
Damage at the center is 4d10, and decreases by 1d10 for each square further from the center.

Elemental Stag

Fort 20, Ref 19, Will 18

Hooves: added 2d6 fire damage

Hoof and Antler did 2d8+5 normal damage (not fire), and when bloodied, the antlers burst into flames and this attack deals and additional 2d8 fire damage (this keeps the damage average the same, but makes it's attacks useful against fire immune opponents).
I've also added Slide 2 and prone to the attack.

Elemental Buck

Changed role to Skirmisher.

AC 20, Ref 19, Will 17

Antler Swipe: added 1d6 fire damage

Hooves: removed the "basic attack" propoerty. Changed damage to 1d10+4+1d6 fire damage. The shift can be done whether the attack hits or misses.

Running the Encounter

I suspected that the Moving Fire Curtain wouldn't come up in the encounter. In addition the party couldn't die in this encounter because of narrative reasons (I ruled that the Elementals would knock them, not kill them. And if they loosed the encounter, Indomitable wouldn't offer them to free her).
So I added another Elemental Stag.

The encounter begun with their minis on the road.
I placed Torrent, Crystin and Haddin two squares behind the last party member.

Then I described how the fire intensified at the borders of the road, a fire curtain raised behind them (10 squares from the central party member), how several trees fell ahead making a blockade 20 squareas ahead (from the central party member) and how a swirling cloud of smoke and ash formed above them.

I narrated Crystin's vision and how she shouted to the warlord, at the center of the party formation, to move out.
Then, everyone got a Standard action to do whatever he liked.

This is when it begun to get interesting.

The Fighter, the Warlod and the Rogue moved up to the road.

And the Swordmage and the Shaman backed up close to the NPCs.
Then all NPCs moved, behind the Swordmage and the Shaman, 4 squares from the Fire Curtain.

Only the Swordmage was subject to the attack for 1d10 fire damage, but it was a miss.

After that, I narrated how the cloud dispersed and left four stags in flame.
I put the four large minis on the grid, none of them adjacent to the PCs. But all of them at a 1 square distance from at least 1 party member.

At this point I asked for several checks:

- Arcana for the Elementals Powers, Defenses, Tactics, etc.
- Nature and Insight to let them know that this was product of the spirit of the forest manifestation and that they were in a test

We then proceeded to roll initiative.

The NPCs wouldn't take part in the battle, but would act after all combatants.
At the last initiative count, the Fire Curtain would act.
(I haven't realized that it should roll initiative too. It wouldn't have made any difference, as it turned out, since it would have only damaged the NPCs)

The encounter proceeded normally. The four elementals where a good match for the PCs.
The fire curtain never damaged anyone, and wasn't much of a pressure, just an inconvenience.
I'm glad I didn't count it in the XP budget.

The Stags couldn't charge a lot, but that wan't a problem because they could still Slide enemies with their modified Hoof and Antler power. That was fun, how some PCs were thrown to the fire bushes. Not lethal, but interesting.
Only two PCs were thrown to the bushes in the entire battle.

The Elemental Bucks worked well too, although they didn't have any nasty surprises (except for the teleport)
They were the most prone to use the fire forest as a shield (moving into the fire forest so PCs couldn't melee with them)

The teleport from all the elementals was very useful for the monsters, to keep pressure over the PCs.
And the PCs were happy they forced the elementals to spend their encounter powers.
The teleports were spent:
- Skirmishers: both to escape the fighter's mark
- Brute: 1 to escape a deadly flanking between the swordmage and the warlord
- Brute: 1 when a stag was immobilized, so it could attack on it's turn

The wall moved only 4 squares per turn (the module says 4 squares as a move action, but it's not clear how much it is expected to advance per round: 4 or 8?)
The fact that it didn't move the turn an elemental was dropped was a relief for the players, they were glad about that.

After running this encounter I found that all the modifications I've made where useful.
Specially the addition of a Slide 2 and prone to Hood and Antler and the addition of an extra elemental.

Sounds fun! I'm looking forward to running the Fire Forest when we finally get finished with these holidays...

I forgot to mention that in the previous session Indomitable offered the PCs to free her.

Despite the demanding and unpolite tone of her, the PCs didn't feel the spirit was rude.
As written, the spirit is quite "dumb", she doesn't negotiate or try to convince the PCs. She demands, and that's it.

So I told them that spirits behaved that way (it was getting somewhat unbelievable and frustrating dealing with the spirit). And they understood that.

Anyway, they were glad that the spirit they were sensing from the moment they entered the valley, after the Gnoll encounter in adventure #1, finally showed up and talked to them.

Now that they have the pact with the spirit, the party doesn't have to spend cooling draughts. So I have to introduce another resource that will be spent day after day: rations.
This is vital to make daily resources meaningful.
If they could stay in the forest indefinetely, why not take a long rest after each encounter?

Well, that's for the previous session.

Khazyk's offer

Now, onto the last session:

After they accepted Indomitable's offer, Khazyk showed up and negotiated the truce with the party.

Since they already accepted Indomitable's offer, they thought that makeing the truce with this devil was a free bonus.
But they were worried about dealing with a demon, and the Lawful Good Swordmage also thought about if he wasn't commiting an evil act. Fortunately, he was not and he was free to act.

I was glad on how I ran Khazyk, he was believable, convincing, charming and at the same time intimidating. Not because of his fighting powers, that was already settled the last time they crossed swords with him, but because he was able to deliver his promise of harassing them.

I made a little break on the negotiation to explain the players what was at stake on this conversation.

But first I must tell you how I'm running encounters a little bit differently in this campaign:
Since we don't want the campaign to end due to a not so climatic encounter, or bad luck or whatever reason, I, as the DM, determine the outcome of an encounter if they loose or if they win.
Most of the time, if the PCs loose, they are left unconscious or wounded (but stable) or they simply flee the battle.
Only in some encounters the failure means death, resurrection and the end of the adventure or the end of the campaign.

So every time they have an encounter, they know what's at stake.
Since they can't die, I usually raise the difficulty of encounters by one or two levels. But I must be careful, because that makes them spend more healing surges and that can screw up the math behind encounters per day.

This is what I told them on how I would run Khazyk if he was harassing them:

- before each encounter, they had the chance to get rid of him with opposed bluff or stealth checks
- if they were succesful, they could make the encounter without the devil's intromision
- if they failed, then Khazyk would enter the battle on round 2 or later
- if they "killed" Kazhyk during this encounter, he would teleport out
- if they lost the encounter, even with Khazyk's hindrance, they wouldn't be killed by him. But after that, they and Khazyk (if he's still around) would immediately benefit from a short rest and begun another combat. This time, if they lost, Khazyk could kill them. If Khazyk was killed, he would be out of the adventure. But Khazyk could teleport out before that.

So, basically, having Khazyk on their backs would mean harder encounters and a remote possibility of death and end of the campaign.

They accepted his offer, knowing that it's quite possible that they will have to break both promises if freeing the spirit turned out to be an evil act or something worse than him been kept prisoner.

The bridge-fort

From the moment I read this encounter, I thought it wasn't going to be great.

So I tweaked it.

Even after that, it wasn't great.

But I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
The fact that the traps are almost not threatening, and very easy to bypass, ignore or disarm, makes for a nice, easy encounter that is good for the group's morale.

Anyway, they entered the tower, planning to camp there before heading south to the Seela lake, and found everything.

They were very interested on Bhurisrava's journal and they now know that there's definetely something fishy and big behind all this Fire Forest.
They have to fit all the pieces together.

So now, they are going to investigate Anyariel's shrine before heading south.

They are also concerned with Khadral, back there. Having all this information about the Fire Forest spirit, they think he cuold make a good use of it.

I like how this is going

Dying in the Forest

Here's a handout a I just made up using RW's chapter 4 text. I'll use it if I kill anyone tomorrow... copyright and all that would definitely belong to Ryan Nock.

I sat on a broad, parched shore of dessicated fish bones surrounded by blackened rocks, and a perfectly still lake stretched a mile away in front of me, reflecting a smoky sky and endless fire. Pillars of fire surrounded the lake on all sides, and a song pressed through writhing branches in thin slivers, its rhythm full of longing. Hearing it, I felt heavier, real, even though I knew this had to be a dream.

The surface of the lake parted, and a broad rack of antlers rose up, dripping water for an instant before bursting into flame. An emaciated stag, its shoulders higher than a whole man, emerged from the lake. Two huge wounds pierced its body, at its left front shoulder and its right abdomen, and globules of flaming blood fell and sizzled on the lake’s surface. It stood atop the water, slowly swinging its head from side to side in order to watch me. Wisps of fire burned across its body.

The thing bellowed, but had no voice.

“I am Indomitability. Eternal shall your torment be until you release me.”


Is this thing was a god? Am I dead?

“None can die who have my power,” Indomitability said into my soul. “End the song, or you will forever burn in living torment!”

The embers in its eyes flared, and the surface of the lake burst with steam as the stag began to charge. It swung its head furiously, leaving red and gold trails in the air behind it, and as it bore down upon me, and I cried out…

You had a little pronoun typo in the second to last paragraph. But I think that's a pretty cool way to let a PC know something weird is up. You might want to add something at the end about them awakening, perhaps.

Glad you dig it. After I posted I had a thought I should have asked first...
I'm gonna run Boreus fight and entering the forest in a few hours...

Nice idea, I like it.

I forgot that if they die within the forest, Indomitability revives them.

Hey, how have folks played Khadral? How to characterize a dragonborn sorcerer? An absent minded professor? Coldly alien? Any tips?
I guess he sings songs, and likes to gamble...