Durn's War of Fire and Ice Campaign Discussion

[Daern]

Hi, I am about to begin a new 4e campaign and I have decided to try running WotBS. I will post write-ups here as I do them. I would also like to discuss various modifications people have done to iron out the kinks/shine a light on the best parts. For instance, I understand the Restless Dead encounter is problematic so I am thinking of dropping that. (I am running a prologue session to introduce the setting and characters, which will give me leeway to drop extraneous encounters.)
Since I won't start "Scouring" for another week or two, I thought I'd post a version of Torrent I made with the DMG2 companion rules. I think I'll make simplified versions like this of all the NPCs.
Any input is welcome!
Cheers

Ahleena of the Torrents
Level 2 Controller (Leader) Initiative +1; Senses Perception +4 Speed 5
HP 30 Bloodied 15 AC 17; Fortitude 15, Reflex 15, Will 15 Healing Surges: 9 at 7hp

Mace: (std; at-will) +8 vs. AC; 1d8+3 damage.
Tidal Force (std; at-will) Divine, Force, Ranged 10; +7 vs. Reflex; 1d8+5 force damage
·one ally Torrent can see may shift 3 squares as a free action.
Crashing Wave (std; enc) * Divine, Mace +8 vs. AC; 1d8+3 damage
·the target is dazed until the end of Torrent’s next turn.
Ocean Shield (std; daily) * Divine Close Burst 5;
·all allies in burst gain a +2 power bonus to AC until the end of the encounter.
Healing Word (minor; 2/enc [1/rd]) * Divine, Healing Ranged 5;
·the target spends a healing surge +3 hp.

Alignment Good; Languages Common; Skills Athletics +7, Diplomacy +7, Heal +9, Religion +6
Str 15 (+3) Dex 10 (+1) Wis 16 (+4) Con 13 (+2) Int 11 (+1) Cha 13 (+2)
Equipment: mace, small shield, chainmail armor, +2 Amulet of the Lady of the Lake (The Kraken)

 

[John Doom]

My group just finished The Scouring of Gate Pass and from what they tell me they really enjoyed it. I kept most everything the same as it was recommended in the adventure, although they skipped a few fights by making good role-play and skill challenge choices, but they'll never know.

Regarding that Dead Rising encounter, it does seem somewhat out of place there. If you do run it, drop the burst damage to 2d6 rather than 3d6+infinity or whatever it was. If you choose not to, I would add another encounter with the Black Horse guys while you're still in the city to really push that group as pursuing the heroes and causing trouble where they can.

Hopefully that helps a bit. I hope your group enjoys the game as much as mine has! Good luck!

 

[talarei07]

i had to bump up boreas a lot at the end but other than that there wasnt much i had to change although i had add a black horse encounter after the white wyrms killed all but one pc

 

[EugeneZ]

I wish I had bumped boreas, too... hm. Oh well, I'll just have to make future inquisitors harder to make up for it.

 

[Daern]

Boreas is the final encounter outside the farmhouse? What about the encounter could be improved?
About the White Wyrm encounter, what do y'all think about reflavoring that as a "Black Horse" encounter to push that story thread?
Otherwise, yeah, reading these boards has me excited about the adventure and the series.

 

[talarei07]

yes the final encounter. i made him an elite. the only problem with making it black horse is the current bad guys are very thematically different, the black horse dont use arcanists for obvious reasons. it can be a difficult encounter with the flyer and the potential for getting bottle-necked between the boxes. if you were gonna change it to black horse i would suggest turning the wizard into some sort of archer to keep the ranged threat there

 

[EugeneZ]

And also, the White Wyrm terrorists make a return in future adventures.

Regarding Boreas, the encounter can be improved by making him much, much harder -- an elite at least, with an extra power or two (close burst 2?) He's far too easy and his presence didn't make nearly the impact it should have with the players. The encounter with Boreas should instill the players with a fear, a fear which drivers them into the forest. As it was, they only really went in there passively because Torrent was pushing them.

 

[Daern]

Ah, the White Wyrms return. That's good to know.
I'll definitely make Boreas an elite. Maybe make his Rebuke an immediate reaction against arcane powers. Looking at it, I could probably re-do alot of those powers. More skeletons would help to.

That's a good point about making them flee into the forest. I'll emphasize "there's more of us where i came from".
Similarly I think the Flaganus Mortus encounter should put the fear into them to get out of the city.

One thing I'm wondering about is the plan to go through the Burning Forest. Why don't they want to Shahalesti through the Singing Chasm? Is it because the Eladrin are still allied to the Ragesians?

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[talarei07]

gate pass wants remain free siding with the shahalesti doesnt accomplish that. i think

 

[Morrus]

One thing I'm wondering about is the plan to go through the Burning Forest. Why don't they want to Shahalesti through the Singing Chasm?

Because Shahalesti is in the opposite direction! They'd then have to turn around and go back through Gate Pass to get to Seaquen!