So our 3.5 group just met up last night and our DM didn't show up, as we're most of us are married and were excited to get out for the night =P we decided to play anyway. So one of our guys pulled up the free adventure website and chose House of Harpies by Owen K.C. Stephens (this module in our experience requires a good read through prior and some sorely needed DM tweaks - there were some very confusing parts as written) to run us through - he just played his own PC as a party NPC for the night.
So the adventure is set for a level-6 party, and all our guys are level 4 but we tear through things like crazy. We have a human warmage 4, strongheart halfling warlock 4, lesser teifling rogue 2/swashy 2, and a half-giant barb 1(pounce)/ranger 2/scout 1. We followed the adventure layout with a few random encounters en route, but once we got to the harpies we nearly had a TPK fighting the first 2. Everyone but the warmage failed their Will save vs. the harpies song so we mindlessly followed after them and had to let them attack us without retaliation OR a new save - as per the MM entry on harpies. IF it'd not been for the warmage forcing the singing harpy to roll a concentration check from damage we'd have all been dead. CR 4 creature the darkest part of my lilly white arse!
No bard, so no countersong... after another encounter with 4 of the fugly things we decided as a group that you were only mezzed by the one you failed a save on - so if another one attacked you, you could roll a new save (like if the one that mezzed you made you walk through fire or towards a cliff like the MM entry says). If we hadn't decided this in the middle of a fight it would have been a TPK right there, but you still had to just stand there and take the attacks from the one that did mezz you. The warlock had two or three fey heritage feats so his DR 4/- saved his butt but the rogue and ranger took beatings because of their weak Wills and the warmage could only do so much. Later, when the ranger finally decided to deafen himself and take a -4 initiative penalty he tore them up pretty badly, but that was at the end of the adventure. Overall though it was bad.
So curious how other people deal with harpies in their campaign??
as a note, the NPC that "hired" us to clear out the tree house could only describe the creatures as winged beast (apparently he failed his own knowledge check or something...) so we had no idea we were going to be dealing with harpies to take any kind of preparations against.
So the adventure is set for a level-6 party, and all our guys are level 4 but we tear through things like crazy. We have a human warmage 4, strongheart halfling warlock 4, lesser teifling rogue 2/swashy 2, and a half-giant barb 1(pounce)/ranger 2/scout 1. We followed the adventure layout with a few random encounters en route, but once we got to the harpies we nearly had a TPK fighting the first 2. Everyone but the warmage failed their Will save vs. the harpies song so we mindlessly followed after them and had to let them attack us without retaliation OR a new save - as per the MM entry on harpies. IF it'd not been for the warmage forcing the singing harpy to roll a concentration check from damage we'd have all been dead. CR 4 creature the darkest part of my lilly white arse!
No bard, so no countersong... after another encounter with 4 of the fugly things we decided as a group that you were only mezzed by the one you failed a save on - so if another one attacked you, you could roll a new save (like if the one that mezzed you made you walk through fire or towards a cliff like the MM entry says). If we hadn't decided this in the middle of a fight it would have been a TPK right there, but you still had to just stand there and take the attacks from the one that did mezz you. The warlock had two or three fey heritage feats so his DR 4/- saved his butt but the rogue and ranger took beatings because of their weak Wills and the warmage could only do so much. Later, when the ranger finally decided to deafen himself and take a -4 initiative penalty he tore them up pretty badly, but that was at the end of the adventure. Overall though it was bad.
So curious how other people deal with harpies in their campaign??
as a note, the NPC that "hired" us to clear out the tree house could only describe the creatures as winged beast (apparently he failed his own knowledge check or something...) so we had no idea we were going to be dealing with harpies to take any kind of preparations against.
(Yes I are a rat bastard DM)
