banewarrens(no spoilers) (no offense to my close personal friend monte cook)
- Thread starter alsih2o
- Start date
Numion
First Post
alsih2o said:
I played through it. Generally the adventure rocked. We had about 5 deaths in the party. Good advice is to go in with protective spells cast and only adventure as long as the 10 min / level spells last. Pack the group with clerics and one rogue.
So I'd say it isn't too difficult. Much easier than Montes RttToEE.
GruTheWanderer
First Post
darkbard said:
darkbard is absolutely right. The Banewarrens forum enhances the value of the adventure tenfold. There are at least ten useful campaign reports of different groups going through it, most of them written by DMs (although a few have player journals as well).
I love the adventure and look forward to running it again, but I doubt I would put new players through it, unless they were willing to make new characters frequently, able to think tactically, or mature enough to learn on their feet.
Numion's advice is also good. As DM you control the pacing. Encourage your party to take breaks, craft items, return to the city to rest. Don't have the other power groups make swift progress in their explorations (which would tempt the party to take dangerous risks).
SnowDog
First Post
I'll second the comments on the Banewarrens forum. I would be having a much tougher time there without the ability to "borrow" all sorts of great tips from my fellow DMs (and thanks for the kind words about my own story hour there!).
My players are an unusual group -- there are only two of them, one a longtime RPG vetertan, the other a relative newbie to the game. Let's just say that without the veteran around to make tactical suggestions, I think the characters wouldn't have made it as far as they've come. If you're playing with newbie players, you should make some decisions on how to handle PC deaths and talk it over with them first, as it will come up
.
I find it interesting that folks say to make sure you allow your PCs time to make items and such. My own PCs have had very little downtime, because the adventure is written in such a way to keep the PCs on their toes (unless the PCs prevent it somehow, the other groups are making progress while the PCs rest, give or take a few choke points). Having given the players this feeling of intense drive, it would be tough to ease it up without it seeming obviously contrived.
My players are having fun, but because it's taking us so long in real-life time to get through it (having taken a couple breaks for extended times away from the game, etc), it's starting to feel like it's never going to end. I guess that would be an issue with any epic mega-adventure, though.
My players are an unusual group -- there are only two of them, one a longtime RPG vetertan, the other a relative newbie to the game. Let's just say that without the veteran around to make tactical suggestions, I think the characters wouldn't have made it as far as they've come. If you're playing with newbie players, you should make some decisions on how to handle PC deaths and talk it over with them first, as it will come up
.I find it interesting that folks say to make sure you allow your PCs time to make items and such. My own PCs have had very little downtime, because the adventure is written in such a way to keep the PCs on their toes (unless the PCs prevent it somehow, the other groups are making progress while the PCs rest, give or take a few choke points). Having given the players this feeling of intense drive, it would be tough to ease it up without it seeming obviously contrived.
My players are having fun, but because it's taking us so long in real-life time to get through it (having taken a couple breaks for extended times away from the game, etc), it's starting to feel like it's never going to end. I guess that would be an issue with any epic mega-adventure, though.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
Our group is already in the fourth or fifth Banewarrens session, and it is great fun, but also a great headache. All the factions and groups involved there (and we did probably miss a few until now ) really require you to use your brain
I am not sure if it is extremely deadly (we had some losses, I admit, but nothing permanent), but it is probably one of the most difficult and challening adventures I ever had. (It becomes a bit harder for us since we don`t play Banewarrens in one row of sessions, but change masters and thus campaigns and adventures at least after three sessions).
I wish I would have the time, motivation and talent to make such a great adventure ...
Mustrum Ridcully
) really require you to use your brain I am not sure if it is extremely deadly (we had some losses, I admit, but nothing permanent), but it is probably one of the most difficult and challening adventures I ever had. (It becomes a bit harder for us since we don`t play Banewarrens in one row of sessions, but change masters and thus campaigns and adventures at least after three sessions).
I wish I would have the time, motivation and talent to make such a great adventure
...Mustrum Ridcully
Waylander the Slayer
Explorer
Spoilers!!!!!
I Ran my group through a modified version of the Warrens. The Warrens can be deadly especially for the lower end of the levels recommended. It can also get a bit tedious later on in the adventure.
Feel free to ask any other questions.
I Ran my group through a modified version of the Warrens. The Warrens can be deadly especially for the lower end of the levels recommended. It can also get a bit tedious later on in the adventure.
The adventure has good versimilitude and flows well as long as you are an experienced DM and know when to pull punches. For example, I had the Church of the sun god help out the PCs a lot more, especially after the corruption within the church was revealed (it also states that the Delvers will potentially knock down every door to find the sword of lies - considering the fact that most of what is in the warrens are powerful and evil, this did not make sense either- so i changed it- and the NPCs would end up dead within quickly as written).I just have a personal dislike for NPC's that can't help even though the world around them is about to collapse.
If you do run the kidnapping section, make sure to pick a player who won't mind his character being abducted and "killed". There are railroading issues here which i am not too fond of.
The Betrayed is perhaps one of the toughest and most fun encounters out there. Play this NPC to the hilt, question the Clerics about who they are and their faith instead of engaging them in direct combat.
I also altered the encounter with the Vrock, where even though the creature was evil, it wanted to go home! It traded info. with the party in exchange for a return trip.
The final encounter is VERY COMPLEX to run. Make sure to do the homework on all the NPCs involved. You could potentially end up running 3 seperate combats at the same time.
If you do run the kidnapping section, make sure to pick a player who won't mind his character being abducted and "killed". There are railroading issues here which i am not too fond of.
The Betrayed is perhaps one of the toughest and most fun encounters out there. Play this NPC to the hilt, question the Clerics about who they are and their faith instead of engaging them in direct combat.
I also altered the encounter with the Vrock, where even though the creature was evil, it wanted to go home! It traded info. with the party in exchange for a return trip.
The final encounter is VERY COMPLEX to run. Make sure to do the homework on all the NPCs involved. You could potentially end up running 3 seperate combats at the same time.
Feel free to ask any other questions.
Last edited:
yangnome
First Post
I ran this with my old group last year, we finished it in January. My group had a mix of new and long time gamers. It was pretty tough on them, but I think everyone for the most part had a lot of fun. We played once a week for 10-12 hour sessions plus some extra sessions thrown in and were barely able to finish the adventure before I had to move. Part of this was due to teh fact I really extended alot of the roleplay outside of the warrens though.
I would suggest (especially if the group is all new) that you work your way up to 6th level, even if you accelerate it a bit. That's what I did with my group and it worked out pretty well.
I would suggest (especially if the group is all new) that you work your way up to 6th level, even if you accelerate it a bit. That's what I did with my group and it worked out pretty well.
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