Any tips for RttToEE? *SPOILERS*

[Palantir]

Hello all!

Friends, countrymen, veterans of RttToEE, lend my your ears! I come to bury my PCs, not praise them!

Okay, okay, so my Shakespeare isn't so great. But then, I haven't played one of his characters, nor have I run a module this large before either!

So, players and DMs, for my benefit and the benefit of all, can you impart some words of wisdom to help make the session run more smoothly? Do you find yourself saying "If I had only known this BEFORE I started this adventure"? Post it here! Let everyone benefit from your font of wisdom!


Thanks so much!
Palantir

PS: If this is a recap of another thread, just post the url and I'll go quietly, chastised for not searching the forum more thoroughly.

PPS: Edited for spoilers flag.

 

[Davelozzi]

Check the boards at Monte's site there is a whole board dedicated to Return..., you should get all the help that you need there.

www.montecook.com

 

[Dr Midnight]

Two things-

I would shorten the adventure. It took us months and months to complete... which means we got our money's worth, but after a while we just wanted to move on.

Most of the encounters were straight combat... room after room of "Ogres (7)" and similarly boring encounters. Few puzzles. Some traps.

 

[Balsamic Dragon]

I've been running this for about 12 sessions now, and expect to run it for at least another 12! Here are a few DM tips that might help:

(I've tried to make sure there are no spoilers here)

1. Make a map of Hommlett. The map provided is extremely poor, and you'll need one (explained in a bit). If you aren't a good mapmaker, just drawn a bunch of boxes and put names on them "general store" "inn", etc... One problem a lot of parties have is that they fail to explore the town and head straight for the dungeon. In this module, exploring the town is worthwhile and they can prep a little better (which they will need to do). Remember, first rule of Balsamic Dragon's DM school: if you make a map to it, they will go there!

2. Skim through the whole module, but pay special attention to transition points. It is unclear in parts of the game how players are supposed to know where to go next or how to get there. Make sure you know what information they are supposed to get and make sure they understand it. Keep a particular eye out for the various journal entries and notes and print them out (or photocopy the two in the back of the book) to hand out to the players.

3. Many of the encounters here are tough, and they should be run tough! Don't water down the villains. Make sure that you understand all of their special abilities, including the new stuff included with the module. The villains in this module are almost all fairly clever opponents who won't sit around waiting for the PCs to come kill them. At the end of each session, figure out which villains know that the PCs are on their trail, and what they will be doing about that in the near future. Make use of the various information gatherers to get info on the PCs and change their tactics, prepared spells, accordingly.

4. Come up with a policy on player character death and explain it to the players. You will be very likely to lose some characters in this module, and you should have a plan worked out in advance. Also, make sure the players are comfortable with the idea that this is a tough dungeon crawl and won't be too disappointed if their first character doesn't make it through all the way.

And, just so the players don't feel left out, here's a tip for them:

1. Be afraid, be very afraid

Balsamic Dragon

 

[drowdude]

1. Make a map of Hommlett. The map provided is extremely poor, and you'll need one (explained in a bit). If you aren't a good mapmaker, just drawn a bunch of boxes and put names on them "general store" "inn", etc... One problem a lot of parties have is that they fail to explore the town and head straight for the dungeon. In this module, exploring the town is worthwhile and they can prep a little better (which they will need to do). Remember, first rule of Balsamic Dragon's DM school: if you make a map to it, they will go there!

Just a quick note... Dragon # 285 comes with a poster map of Hommeltt.

 

[Balsamic Dragon]

Just a quick note... Dragon # 285 comes with a poster map of Hommeltt.

True, . . . however it is just a larger version of the crappy map that comes with the module. I still suggest making your own. I would go into the details of what I thought the problems were with the map, but it would contain spoilers, so I'll just say it is grey and boring looking and leave it at that.

Balsamic Dragon

 

[Palantir]

Thank you all for posting your tips... they're very helpful and I'm sureful they will make my sessions go much smoother...

Here's a followup question... for five players (and thus, characters) what minimum level would you start them at and what would be the ideal party composition? Heavy on the tanks? Light on arcane? Heavy clerical healing? What would you choose?

Thanks again!
Palantir

 

[Olorin]

Just for comparison, here is the party that we started the Temple with:

Human Rog 1/Ftr 1/Mnk 2
Human Sor 4
Human Bbn 4
Human Clr 4
Drow Clr 1/Psy 1 (ECL +2)

They are almost done with the moathouse. They handled the dragon "ok", the human cleric died. They walked into a nasty ambush involving Chatrilon, Chenasi, Gren and most of the undead in the moathouse dungeon. The barbarian got wasted by Chat's death attack.

So starting at 4 has been pretty good, this is a tough adventure. You definitely want a full cleric and probably someone else who can heal as well. A tank, a mage, and some sort of rogue and you should be in good shape.

Olorin

 

[Akunin]

So starting at 4 has been pretty good, this is a tough adventure. You definitely want a full cleric and probably someone else who can heal as well. A tank, a mage, and some sort of rogue and you should be in good shape.

Olorin

Yep - you'll want someone with good healing and turning abilities (one of my players decided to play a Druid instead of a Cleric, which didn't make the others terribly happy). A Wand of Cure Light Wounds (or better) will be your best friend in those post-combat "recovery sessions".

For four characters, the "iconic" Fighter - Cleric - Wizard - Rogue combo would serve you well. I started my players at level 5 - three took +1 ECL races and played a Druid, Sorcerer, and Rogue, the other was a 3/2 Fighter / Rogue. The difficulty of the Moathouse and Dungeon seemed just right.

 

[Nareau]

Palantir, could you edit your first post...

And tell the rest of the world that there's spoilers here? I'm running the module, and while my players are far beyond the events that Olorin described, I'd hate for others to have the adventure ruined by his revelations.

As for a good DM resource, the montecook message boards are the best I've found.
http://pub58.ezboard.com/fokayyourturnfrm17

We've also got a yahoo group set up for DM's, with loads of other good stuff (pictures, extra handouts, etc.)

Good luck!