D&D 5E Princes of the Apocalypse campaign recaps

Rabbitbait said:

Interesting. And that means Serena will need to keep up the bluff of being an air prophet. How long can you bluff something like that before it comes true? After all, if she is not holding Windvane then questions will be asked. IMO.

And the monastery seems reasonably defensible. Lots of entrances and windows, but they are all high. They'll need to come up with a good plan.

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Excellent points. Brey's player just said this in our emails:



I think we are all on the same page. It makes sense to finish up the immediate dungeon area, but I definitely think we take it to the earth cult next. We have lots of free soldiers on our side with the added benefit that we don't care if they die and actually even prefer it. The longer we wait, the greater the chance we do something that makes them suspicious and screw the whole thing up.

I don't know anything about the monastery, i have not read that chapter, so I have my work cut out before (gulp) tomorrow night. :/

I have no clue how they'll get in, but they're creative sorts, they'll think of something.

The more immediate problem is that Hadrian is supposed to be DEAD - so how's he going to be all chummy with Queen Serena all of a sudden? The players are also aware of this hiccup in their plan. And yeah, Serena doesn't want to hold the spear now that it forced a Wisdom save on her. That could be a problem, but one that a minor illusion might rectify?

And yes, if the air genasi keeps effing around with an evil artifact designed by an evil elemental deity, she's going to get possessed or something and then things are going to head south.

A couple random thoughts I was having today: What if the four prophets were friends once? What if they were an adventuring party that came down to the Fane of the Eye together... and only there did they sunder their bonds?

Starting from that assumption, I actually got into the notion of maybe telling more of the prophets backstory when the party starts clearing out the nodes. Maybe some ghostly echoes of each of the prophets own stories. Just a little something to try to add some meaning to what the party is doing... and with my game at least... lead into why the party might be driven against one another.

Creamsteak said:

A couple random thoughts I was having today: What if the four prophets were friends once? What if they were an adventuring party that came down to the Fane of the Eye together... and only there did they sunder their bonds?

Starting from that assumption, I actually got into the notion of maybe telling more of the prophets backstory when the party starts clearing out the nodes. Maybe some ghostly echoes of each of the prophets own stories. Just a little something to try to add some meaning to what the party is doing... and with my game at least... lead into why the party might be driven against one another.

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Damn you Creamstake for a good idea. No, really, i do like that. One advantage of running this massive campaign in 2 hour spurts, I can direct it slowly, no need for an "end game" as I can change the end game. And so many Enworlders have given me neat ideas already. No really Creamstake, post that same idea again to remind me, it might not come up for multiple sessions, but i like it.

Rabbitbait said:

And the monastery seems reasonably defensible. Lots of entrances and windows, but they are all high. They'll need to come up with a good plan.

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I'm reading the scenario closer. There's the main doors with 2 guards behind it. There are two other side entrances, and these are unlocked during the day, per the adventure anyway. The windows are too narrow to enter, but there are many windows that can be barred from behind with wooden shutters. Anyone shape changed into a small animal could slip inside an open window. Area M8 is open to the sky and accessible from the roof.

If the monks are not anticipating anyone attacking then it looks like multiple entries could be breached in one coordinated assault. This of course would result in, oh, I can't even imagine how many combatants. It would be one hell of a long fight.

Nebulous said:

If the monks are not anticipating anyone attacking then it looks like multiple entries could be breached in one coordinated assault. This of course would result in, oh, I can't even imagine how many combatants. It would be one hell of a long fight.

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They'd have to do very well to bring a small army to their doorstep without anyone noticing. Also, I'd play up the statues in the walled garden being obviously real people who have been turned to stone - Too realistic and shocked or fearful expressions on their faces. For no other reason than to make them scared. Do you think the inhabitants of the temple underneath will come up to help? If so, then the characters have a very good chance of losing.

As for a long combat - I ran the bit the players were involved with as a normal combat, but didn't track hitpoints for the mooks but just had a certain amount die from area attacks etc. All the things that happened out of sight of the characters I just made up. Otherwise there would be too much going on and the combat would be a boring grind. The key is speed - take shortcuts wherever you can. Otherwise you are looking at one combat taking several sessions.

[MENTION=31465]Nebulous[/MENTION] I know how much you like your imagery. The approach to Sacred Stone Monestary...

Thanks so much for the write up @Nebulous. I am thinking of running PotA next after Lost Mines and this write up has really helped me. I have a few questions:

1) Given the amount of wrangling you had to do to make a purpose for the delegation, wouldn't it have been OK to just leave them out entirely? Why are they needed at all? Where do they lead the PCs to that is needed?

- I am thinking of including them but making it clear early on that they are not involved at all, but the cult maybe though that they were. As far as I can see, their only purpose is to be a catalyst for Mirabar and Neverwinter to take this threat seriously and send troops if the PCs call them.
- If the do need to be involved, maybe the Paladin they are burying is an Oath of the Ancients guy and was very powerful. The seeds are from a super duper elder tree and will stabilize the nature in the area. Burying that saint and putting those seeds on top of his grave would soon make it very difficult for any unnatural forces to come into play. This makes the actual burial and seeds relevant to the plot, not a distraction.

2) Why did the cult use an Orb of Destruction? What have they made them for? What does the book say they are for? I loved the scene, but I don't know why they would use it on a town when the cults could use it on each other.

- I was thinking that the storm elemental thing briefly summoned is actually Tharzidun or whatever his name is and he feeds on those killed in the storm, so basically he is hungry and that is a the motivation. Its a sacrifice thing. The 'bomb' just allows for a brief break in the prison that holds him.

3) If the PCs get their hands on an Orb at the auction, I know that mine will just sneak it into an enemy base and set it off. You were looking at ways to speed up the game, are you PCs the sort to use a WMD if they get their hands on it?

4) As written, what are the cults trying to do? why haven't they succeeded yet? I want them to be active participants, but other than recruiting I don't know what they are actually waiting for or looking for.

5) I want my players to be able to carry on PCs from LMoP to PotP. Would it change to much to allow 5th level guys to play this adventure? It seems that many of the issues are with people wandering into places that are too tough, maybe higher levels could alleviate this somewhat. Given bounded accuracy, would simply adding more of what each place has work well enough? e.g. 5 wind knights rather than the 3 it says are in a room. I am not too experienced with this in 5e.

Unwise said:

Thanks so much for the write up @Nebulous. I am thinking of running PotA next after Lost Mines and this write up has really helped me. I have a few questions:

1) Given the amount of wrangling you had to do to make a purpose for the delegation, wouldn't it have been OK to just leave them out entirely? Why are they needed at all? Where do they lead the PCs to that is needed?

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I'm not Nebulous, but I could try and answer some of these questions.

The Delegation is there as the initial hook, the thing that makes the PCs wander around the Sumber Hills and find the cults. If you can think of a different way of getting the players involved in the cults' business, then you could happily remove the delegation. I personally just ran the delegation as presented in the book, and my players (other than slight confusion over who was in the delegation) seem reasonably engaged with it as a directive. I also made them pick factions, so that their characters are here to do a job ('find the delegation'), which helps to make the delegation hook a little more important to them.

The biggest problem that I foresee is that the players will notice how the Delegation just drops off the radar as an important element as the campaign progresses, but that isn't necessarily a huge problem - the cults should rapidly become obviously the biggest issue in town.

2) Why did the cult use an Orb of Destruction? What have they made them for? What does the book say they are for? I loved the scene, but I don't know why they would use it on a town when the cults could use it on each other.

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They use the Orbs for three main reasons, I think: to spread chaos (generic bad guy stuff, you know), to help upset the elements as part of summoning the Princes (though obviously they only succeed at that task at a dramatically appropriate moment), and to try and make the players piss off. They don't want adventurers snooping around, so they blow up a settlement to distract/scare off anyone nearby. Probably not the best plan, but then they are not exactly top-drawer in the sanity stakes anyway.

4) As written, what are the cults trying to do? why haven't they succeeded yet? I want them to be active participants, but other than recruiting I don't know what they are actually waiting for or looking for.

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They want to summon the Princes of Elemental Evil to Faerun. They are mostly unaware of the Elder Eye stuff, I think, at least at levels below the Prophets. Their plan is essentially:

1) Start cult
2) Cause elemental disturbances to make a breach easier
3) Summon the Prince of their own element
4) ???
5) Profit

They are somewhat vague on steps four and five, but then the cults are stocked with madmen and monsters, who can convince themselves that elemental chaos washing over civilisation will only benefit them directly in the long run.

5) I want my players to be able to carry on PCs from LMoP to PotP. Would it change to much to allow 5th level guys to play this adventure? It seems that many of the issues are with people wandering into places that are too tough, maybe higher levels could alleviate this somewhat. Given bounded accuracy, would simply adding more of what each place has work well enough? e.g. 5 wind knights rather than the 3 it says are in a room. I am not too experienced with this in 5e.

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Honestly, it would be the easiest thing in the world. What will happen is that your guys will be really hard at the start of the campaign, and easily overwhelm the enemies that the book suggests. You could beef up the combats without trouble though - as you say, just add a guy or two to each combat. But even if you don't, what will happen is that - since they are only getting the exp from combats appropriate for 3rd level - they will quickly catch pace with the adventure. Where a group of 3rd level adventurers would get enough exp to hit 4th and then 5th, your 5th level characters will get enough to take them... partway to 6th. And this will happen sometime during the first part of the campaign.

So my advice is simply to run the campaign without changes, and not worry about the initial discrepancy in player ability.