D&D 5E Age of Worms Adventure Path
smbakeresq
Explorer
You don’t need Rakanian, but Warlord seems appropriate.
I am going to use magic weapons to up the challenge. I will give the players the equipment from Pitch Blade if they demand it as compensation for blatant rules violation if the RP well.
Instead of badger I will use a dire tiger or something.
Give them all the mounted combat feature from Cavalier should work.
I am going to use magic weapons to up the challenge. I will give the players the equipment from Pitch Blade if they demand it as compensation for blatant rules violation if the RP well.
Instead of badger I will use a dire tiger or something.
Give them all the mounted combat feature from Cavalier should work.
1. I would use a veteran and an assassin if you need them in the end. Most of Loris and Okoral's activity takes place off camera. Loris is getting old and worrying about losing his strength hence the deal he enters into in the first place.
2. This is the one chapter that has the conversion in an unfinished state. It essentially only has the custom monsters and NPCs needed.
3. I didn't bother because most of the time they are not using them. Rennida for instance will just as likely be using a spell as using her longbow, but you could easily drop an attack and add the cold damage to the remaining two. Even with the heroes only fighting 1 team at first (and the other two keeping each other occupied), there are a lot of moving parts here, so I kept it simple in my play through with less magic equipment running around.
4. Only the dire wolf survived the transition to 5e. All the other dire creatures are now "giant creatures". So the giant badger would be the closest analog. You might want to boost its hit points, give it armor, or something else. I just used the giant badger as is.
6. I used 1 gnoll pack lord. Here are the various teams for parties of 4 PCs. These are from my original play through and have not been reexamined for balance.
Arcane Auriga
Rennida
4 Arcane Auriga Archers
Badland's Revenge
Joren
Gnoll Pack Lord
Giant Badger
Sapphire Squad
Korush
2(? my notes don't say how many, just plural) Korush Mercenaries
Warhorses for each
Auric's Warband
Auric
Khellek
Flesh Golem
Beast Cages
Just the regular versions of the animals
Wine Cellar
Glyph of Warding with Blight
Guardroom
6 veterans
Ghastly Convention
8 ghasts
Sewage Grotto
8 ochre jellies
Coffin Storage
5 Spawns of Kyuss
Training Hall
Mohrg
6 Spawns of Kyuss
Altar Room
Bozal Zahol
Kyuss' Visage
Symbol of Fear
Alkilith
Ulgurstata Chamber
Ulgurstata
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smbakeresq
Explorer
The Alkilith is MTF now
Had the first battle last night.
The biggest issue was the 100' between each starting team. The PCs cast Fireball repeatedly and decimated everyone else. The melee enemies slowly run across the field and get destroyed by conjured/summoned creatures as Fireballs and range weapons hit them.
The archers were deadly, but not for the spells. Rennida get +10 to hit, 3 attacks a round, 150' range for d8 + 5. That was a lot scarier than Magic Missile or Melf's Acid Arrow.
I used Dire Wolf for the badger, but it failed its save on the first Fireball and died without an action. I used two Gnoll Fangs but they move 30' and have only melee attacks, so they never actually got to a PC. The riders were able to do cool things only because I bent the rules to allow their mounts to move and dash at the same time as the riders so they could ride up, attack, and move past, which is how they're intended to work. PCs were a bit peeved that enemies could move 120' as well as attack but they were the ones cast 6 Fireballs between the wizard and bard (using "Additional Magical Secrets")!
Fireball really destroys the battles. The next round is the two dwarf barbarians who move 30' with no range attack and only 95hp. Two free range attacks by the PCs before they can melee, assuming no one moves. At least the Dwarves can stay 45' apart so Fireball can't hit them both.
The finals has 3 Flesh Golems, who are especially vulnerable to fire! The Froghemoth conversion moves only 20', though it does get to move as a legendary action (good thinking). I'm pretty sure I'm just going to switch it for an Efreeti though. Immune to fire, super fast, and it can summon a fire elemental as assistance.
The battle wasn't a challenge at all - it felt like it was intended for lower level characters. It felt like Joren needed the raging ability - the conversion has him just as a druid but he needs the toughness. And I didn't know what a "janni" was (though I do happen to own Dragon #66 where they first appeared) so it threw me off when a PC asked what race he was. The conversion lists him as "elemental" which tricky. Maybe he should be a genasi?
There's also a discrepancy in the adventure. On page 36 the prize for the first round is 2,000gp, but on page 45 it says the price is 1,500 gp. And the Thieves' Guild offer from Tirra doesn't make any sense:
"For the final round, the bookmakers have offered the Thieves’ Guild special odds for wagers against Auric’s Warband. Tirra informs the PCs that if they can defeat Auric, Khellek, and their leatherworks (flesh golems), the Guild is willing to split a portion of their winnings amounting to 7,500 gp to the group if they’re willing to part with 2,500 gp of their own up front."
They meet Tirra at the dinner - are they supposed to put 2500gp up that they will win the whole thing? That seems a bit early to be throwing that kind of money away.
I did end up going with the conversion as written. I had planned on adding frost damage and some more +1 items to increase ACs, but as you said - there was a lot of moving parts so it was much easier to just check the sheet and go with it.
They really enjoyed the battle. They want more of a challenge next time, but they definitely got into it!
The biggest issue was the 100' between each starting team. The PCs cast Fireball repeatedly and decimated everyone else. The melee enemies slowly run across the field and get destroyed by conjured/summoned creatures as Fireballs and range weapons hit them.
The archers were deadly, but not for the spells. Rennida get +10 to hit, 3 attacks a round, 150' range for d8 + 5. That was a lot scarier than Magic Missile or Melf's Acid Arrow.
I used Dire Wolf for the badger, but it failed its save on the first Fireball and died without an action. I used two Gnoll Fangs but they move 30' and have only melee attacks, so they never actually got to a PC. The riders were able to do cool things only because I bent the rules to allow their mounts to move and dash at the same time as the riders so they could ride up, attack, and move past, which is how they're intended to work. PCs were a bit peeved that enemies could move 120' as well as attack but they were the ones cast 6 Fireballs between the wizard and bard (using "Additional Magical Secrets")!
Fireball really destroys the battles. The next round is the two dwarf barbarians who move 30' with no range attack and only 95hp. Two free range attacks by the PCs before they can melee, assuming no one moves. At least the Dwarves can stay 45' apart so Fireball can't hit them both.
The finals has 3 Flesh Golems, who are especially vulnerable to fire! The Froghemoth conversion moves only 20', though it does get to move as a legendary action (good thinking). I'm pretty sure I'm just going to switch it for an Efreeti though. Immune to fire, super fast, and it can summon a fire elemental as assistance.
The battle wasn't a challenge at all - it felt like it was intended for lower level characters. It felt like Joren needed the raging ability - the conversion has him just as a druid but he needs the toughness. And I didn't know what a "janni" was (though I do happen to own Dragon #66 where they first appeared) so it threw me off when a PC asked what race he was. The conversion lists him as "elemental" which tricky. Maybe he should be a genasi?
There's also a discrepancy in the adventure. On page 36 the prize for the first round is 2,000gp, but on page 45 it says the price is 1,500 gp. And the Thieves' Guild offer from Tirra doesn't make any sense:
"For the final round, the bookmakers have offered the Thieves’ Guild special odds for wagers against Auric’s Warband. Tirra informs the PCs that if they can defeat Auric, Khellek, and their leatherworks (flesh golems), the Guild is willing to split a portion of their winnings amounting to 7,500 gp to the group if they’re willing to part with 2,500 gp of their own up front."
They meet Tirra at the dinner - are they supposed to put 2500gp up that they will win the whole thing? That seems a bit early to be throwing that kind of money away.
I did end up going with the conversion as written. I had planned on adding frost damage and some more +1 items to increase ACs, but as you said - there was a lot of moving parts so it was much easier to just check the sheet and go with it.
They really enjoyed the battle. They want more of a challenge next time, but they definitely got into it!
smbakeresq
Explorer
Hah, I played it different. I had everybody apart and then Badlands revenge charge the PCs (double move for 60’) and the dervishes charge them also, on horses they get there in one turn. This creates a fur ball, with the elves shooting into it.
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The barbarians will probably go down quickly, but have them quaff the potions of fly (60 foot fly speed), rage for damage resistance (all damage - bear totem, relentless rage) and fly with a double move. Keep them apart enough that the fireballs can only hit one at a time. Then have Loris (through a proxy) let them back in at night and try to kill the PCs in their sleep.
In the end, it isn't a bad thing for the PCs to do well in the arena matches. They have 3 days to stop the ulgurstata, and there is a lot of difficult stuff in their way in the ruins. They need enough left over in the tank to actually survive their nightly escapades.
If you swap out the froghemoth for an efreeti, make sure to have the misinformation be that the monster is going to be a froghemoth.
And yes, Tirra's proposal is a high risk/high reward offering the night of the welcome dinner. My group pooled their money together for that and managed to bluff their way to the bottom of the betting odds before betting on themselves through a proxy. The best part was the Strength 8 Tiefling wizard proudly declaring, "And I'm the tank!" and convincing all the oddsmakers around that he was serious. They were quite well off after the tournament.
I made the janni a djinni. Djinni are elementals in 5e.
If you use the flesh golems in the final battle , Khellek could have a few illusions (major image)of flesh golems on the battle field. Just make sure everyone is at least 40 feet from each other. I had Khellek maze the Oath of the Ancients paladin at the beginning of combat in my game (the group would huddle under him for protection from AoE spells).
ParanoydStyle
Peace Among Worlds
Tormyr, I haven't looked it over yet but it's excellent that you did this. Age of Worms is one of the best campaigns/"adventure paths" I've ever seen, and it's great to see it available for what seems like the only edition of D&D 99% of people are actually playing.
The barbarians will probably go down quickly, but have them quaff the potions of fly (60 foot fly speed), rage for damage resistance (all damage - bear totem, relentless rage) and fly with a double move. Keep them apart enough that the fireballs can only hit one at a time. Then have Loris (through a proxy) let them back in at night and try to kill the PCs in their sleep.
In the end, it isn't a bad thing for the PCs to do well in the arena matches. They have 3 days to stop the ulgurstata, and there is a lot of difficult stuff in their way in the ruins. They need enough left over in the tank to actually survive their nightly escapades.
If you swap out the froghemoth for an efreeti, make sure to have the misinformation be that the monster is going to be a froghemoth.
And yes, Tirra's proposal is a high risk/high reward offering the night of the welcome dinner. My group pooled their money together for that and managed to bluff their way to the bottom of the betting odds before betting on themselves through a proxy. The best part was the Strength 8 Tiefling wizard proudly declaring, "And I'm the tank!" and convincing all the oddsmakers around that he was serious. They were quite well off after the tournament.
I made the janni a djinni. Djinni are elementals in 5e.
If you use the flesh golems in the final battle , Khellek could have a few illusions (major image)of flesh golems on the battle field. Just make sure everyone is at least 40 feet from each other. I had Khellek maze the Oath of the Ancients paladin at the beginning of combat in my game (the group would huddle under him for protection from AoE spells).
Just noticed - shouldn't the Pitch Blade barbarians have a speed of 35'? 25' for dwarves plus Fast Movement for barbarians?
I hadn't paid much attention to their gear because it's not in the conversion. Fly potion is interesting. But it only gives speed equal to walking speed, so it's still just 35'. I'm tempted to go with a potion of speed though, +2AC and an extra attack, though if they're in a frenzy, that's 4 attacks a turn, which is a lot (though not if the PCs summons mephits or swarms of bats again). Maybe one has Fly (very rare potion) and one has Speed (rare). And of course, resistance (fire) for the Fireballs.
You make a good point about nightly escapades. At this point, their mindset is "one encounter today, use everything we've got" so they really let loose.
My tentative plan is to have the rumours be about a white dragon, since I added a separate plot point about a white dragon that they chose not to fight, but Auric went and defeated. So it's believable. And a big surprise!
My group didn't really believe Tirra. They were pretty sure it was a Thieves' Guild scam. Which is actually a pretty good idea unless the Guild doesn't want to make enemies of them. I just had it as way to go over betting limits and now they're all quite wealthy.
Now that I read the djinn description, I see that it's a djinn. I kind of wish it was an actual djinn with the whirlwind and summoning an air elemental. *That* would have been a challenge!
I like your idea of illusions of more flesh golems. Force them to waste Fireballs! But Khellek doesn't have Major Illusion...
Also, it's a 20' cube and just one Golem. And it's Concentration. Versus Maze, which just takes out a PC on the first round! (followed by Chain Lightning...)I like your idea of illusions of more flesh golems. Force them to waste Fireballs! But Khellek doesn't have Major Illusion...
Khellek has whatever spells you give him; he doesn't have to have what is listed, and the major illusion could be a cluster of 2 or 3 golems. I would be partial to having them march forward, get nuked by fireballs and fall over, and then get up when the front line fighters got closer.
Another tactic that would work well against your group would be a wall of force cast about 30 feet in front of them. Gives Auric and the golem(s) plenty of time to close the distance.
How many adventurers are in your group?
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