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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bowbe" data-source="post: 3761212" data-attributes="member: 6328">Gangs of the Freeman's TowerAs you can see, I sort of mixed things up a bit from the description in the book (if you have it). But that is fine. Remember in these sessions I am playing it just like you do. Changing things to suit my party and their needs. After resting and leveling up (because the Pyramid ALMOST had them leveled, the Dinosaur Druid combo pushed the scales and now most of the party is 14th level and feeling fine!The levels with the gangs, had human thugs (took random stats from other necro products, or stuff I had worked on for other people) with efreeti Overseers for 2 gangs. For a third gang I brought in some Duerger. I sorta scribbled a map out so that it is set up where the 3 floors are all contested and each floor has blockades and barricaded doorways, or doors sealed with magic to prevent members of the other gangs from getting into their territory. These setups worked nicely as all three gangs had access to their own 3 levels, with the largest gang, (the Duerger Slavers) having the bottom set of the middle floors to themselves. There is a reason for this that will become apparent later. So the PCs battle an advanced corpse orgy from Tome of Horrors 3 in the stairwell thats glutted with bodies from their various combats which takes the PCs a bit of time to clean out. I'll be honest I forget what I called the gangs back then, it was so long ago, but lets say i called them the Headsmen (efreeti/human), the Outlaws (efreeti/human) and the Chain Gang (Duerger and Giants). The first section that the PCs enter is run by the Outlaws, who assume the PCs are members of the Headsmen and prepare to attack. The PCs say, naw, we're rent collectors from upstairs, where's this months payment. Hey It worked in the Tower of Jhedophar, why not here right?Seeing the heavily armed party out-classes them in every way, the Headsmen back down a bit and take them to see their leader, an Efreeti fighter who makes the PCs a deal.. because efreeti like deals. How about you guys help us beat the Headsmen and Chain Gang, and you can take part of their loot as our "rent". Sounds good so they are led to a door that Ard takes down with a knock spell and the PCs burst the gap and its on like Kong, with the members of the Outlaws filling in cleared rooms behind the PCs.This battle went up and down flights of stairs, with the party taking on armbands of captured or defeated enemies to appear as "allies" of other gang and spread around/thru and over rooms with the PCs sometimes splitting up to chase down gang members. All goes pretty well till they break into the enclave of the Chain Gang.On kicking down one door Glandril finds himself in a rather large chamber, and face to face with a Jack in Chains (from Tome of Horrors 3). It gets reach on him and clobbers the dwarf to the deck, stunning him with its massive blow. Of course, when he tries to get up, it gets an aoo, and he's on the deck again. Ouch. Rhy is right there with him and tries to get in for an attack but the doorway isnt big enough between the dwarf and the giant for rhy to get past. He stands over Glandril and Pound... he's on the deck too!... This is looking a lot like being eaten by a dinosaur all over again, but a lot worse because the Jack in Chains does a PILE of damage and happens to be able to easily hit Rhy's incredible armor class WITH power attack. Double Ouch!Our friend Sam Q2 fires arrows... because thats his role in the party, aside from finding traps and taking out doors and evading pretty much any damage... unill the next round!Elandrin Makes to jog around as he remembers passing a door that must lead to the same chamber on the way here! He comes face to face with Six Duerger. Bah! Crap, so he charges up a flamestrike spell and blasts them. Oddly 3 of the Duerger seem un-moved by this... as if they took no damage at all! Hmm must be fire resistant?Jack in Chains picks up the Glandril, with his mountain plate, and Woomp... Hurls him at the archer as a "rock" i add a little extra damage from his 320 lbs of weight and Konn, who was planning on helping out at the doorway says screw this and bolts around the corner following Elandrin. His quick movement gets him where he needs to be for the next round. Rhy Gets up and the AOO misses him this time, so he takes a swing, dealing some decent damage to the Jack. Glandril gets up but he's too far away to get an attack, and excuses himself from crushing SamQ2. Rages!Rawr!The Duerger charge Elandrin, with 3 rushing past him...towards Konn and 2 of them "hit" each. Elandrin's AOO hits... but he seems to do no damage to the one that ran by. Damage resistance? Curses! Glandril Rushes the Giant, and gets Wolloped and Dropped again with another AOO from reach. It takes a slam on Rhy, dropping him again too! SamQ uses magical device with a wand of healing to try and help these guys out... Glandril is ok with his rage points but Rhy is beginning to show signs of wear, having gotten blasted for over 100 pts of damage in 3 rounds. I forgot about Ard. Ard's been using some magic missiles against the giant, and lighning but after Glandril got tossed through the doorway he decides he cant handle that kind of damage, He was going to head off and follow the elf and Konn, but does so a bit later... turning the corner he sees down the T intersection that more Chain Gang members are down there. He ends up getting tied in to fighting them from a distance, also noting that about half of their number seem to take no damage! What the scallop?Konn goes ginsu with his sword on the Duerger he faces, but is dismayed that his critical hits and big damage are doing ZERO to the ones he is fighting! What poppycock is this?Elandril drops one of his duerger. Subsequently one of the Duerger on Konn vanishes! Illusions! These tricky buggers!the shout goes out, ard uses Evards Tentacles to tie up the dwarves that are about to get him. SamQheals, Glandril Gets up, hits, goes back down and the theme repeats itself. Finishing the Duerger they kick in the back door to the chamber. Rhy is down below zero again, the sword animates again and does its etheral sword dance routine with the elf girl... which he misses again. Thing is, keeping him alive is now a priority. He DOES have the black mark of set on him afterall and no way to get the curse removed! It is no normal curse afterall...Elandrin has had enough of this nonsense and uses a mess of turning checks to heighten up some kinda holy bammy spell out of the Complete Divine or Spell Compendium. Its a broken spell, but I dont care remember? Failed save (or is there a save in any of those Complete Compendium products?) Save or die spells are great if your the player using them against the DM, but evidently suck if your the DM using them on players. Have to look into that further.Jack in chains is a mudhole! Hooray. A few rooms later the PCs take out the Duerger boss and turn to the Efreeti boss who has managed to show up with his whole outlaw gang and goes, ok, time to pay the rent. Efreeti and his gang laugh... knowing the PCs have depleted a lot of HP, healing, and bam spells taking out the jack and the duerger and plan to butcher the PCs. Bad plan. Its like Beerfest "We aren't that Drunk". And the PCs annhilate most of the gang in about 5 rounds. A few escape. The PCs head down to the black scorpion gangs lair after healing up some more.Once there, they find the place deserted. Once word got to the Black Scorpions that powerful heroes had whiped out the gangs of the mid levels, the Black Scorpions have decided to move their base somewhere less hostile. Heading back upstairs, the elves greet the PCs as "Landlords" and pay the PCs their first months rent. They see the writing on the walls and the PCs now have their own base of operations that they took by their own hands! Nothing like a stronghold for High level guys to make it oldschool fun!Decent loot and Decent XPs. Nobody died. A few more days pass. The fire giant guards in the city kill off most of the vipers of set by strapping tower shields to their shoes and squishing them. The plagues end and the rain stops. Martial law is lifted, as the Sultans cronies declare that the prince of the Bayt Al Joom was responsible not only for the assassination of he Fire Giant dignitary, but also for the attack on the pyramid of set! Rejoice as he will be punished for eternity in the Minaret of Screams!Tarbish arrives and gives the PCs some more news. Basically there is a way to weaken the Sultan greatly. The team of burning dervishes that had been sent to capture Sulymon before the Ascendency never returned. Somehow they were ambushed and the power of Anumon blocks the Sultan's ability to locate the flask! Although the Sultan is powerful, he is not yet Anumon's equal. A great scrying bell within the Great Repository shows whatever the viewer would seek, so perhaps the flask may be found before the Sultan's forces can locate it! Problem: The Repository is only accessed by switching bodies with one of the librarians, and the bell is off limits even to they. Likewise switching has its own problems. Solution: The prince of the Bayt al Joom's Father is a well known scholar, and none too popular with the Sultan PRIOR to the son being framed for crimes against the Throne of Brass.Rescuing the son, would put the father in the PCs debt. He may know an alternative path into the repository that would not require switching bodies!Problem: The prince of the Bayt al Joom is in the Minaret of Screams, a place so feared that its guards are said to be deafened to avoid madness from its gurgling cry! Those who tarry too close to its walls have been known to perish at the sound of its screams, so it is heavily avoided!Decisions decisions.Until next time.Case</blockquote>

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