Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 960719" data-attributes="member: 743">We're looking at a powergamer setup with quite a bit of roleplaying thrown in.I try to keep challenges at or around the party's strength, but my players know that there are things out there that they can't possibly face down. They're usually smart enough to run when that happens.Thanks for the heads up though, I probably would have just looked at the CRs and gone form there.My players are generally too lazy to devise epic spells. However, if the do, I'll be sure to keep them in check. I've already devised quite a few of my own to use against them at some point.</blockquote>[/B]2) Custom item creation. Make sure you vet all non-standard (DMG) items created by PCs or "purchased" by them during character generation. 'Nuff said.[/quote][/B]We're just using straight from the book gear at character creation.[/quote][/B]Fourth, planning adventures: Keep in mind that epic-level adventures tend to resemble The Authority or Justice League more than they do LotR. Teleportation, infallible divinations, instant healing, and six-second combats are ubiquitous. Plan accordingly; unless you install specific conditions that nullify teleportation and divination, the party will always be able to find and reach any place they need to (one reason why epic adventures so frequently are set on other planes). Also, death is not nearly so big a deal at these levels; as the ELH says, it's usually just a 10-minute time-out thanks to true resurrection.[/quote][/B]The same holds true for high-level (16+) adventuring, so I think I'm pretty set for those angles. Of course, the advent of the epic eschew components makes death even less of a setback. My players have met true death before though, and know that its out there. They also know better than to let the last standing party member try to keep fighting. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />21st. I'll boost some stuff up, and leave some stuff as it is. After all, not everything in that region of the world should be a match for an epic party, otherwise nothing else would be able to survive for long in the area.I'll be running it pretty much as written, except that each battle will have some element thrown in that will prevent the party from joining too much in the wars. This will usually be comprised of some sort of foe that would obviously decimate the party's troops if it were allowed near them. All it has to do is keep the party busy for 12+ rounds of face to face combat to keep them out of 4+ rounds of warfare.Good suggestion! I've already incorporated some elements from that adventure (the pools) into my campaign in the past. I hadn't thought of yanking the NPCs though. There was also an epic adventure about giants that could be stolen from to provide NPC material.My Bloodstone lands lie in Greyhawk, where the Valley of the Mage meets the larger portion of the world. H2 will be partially replaced with Valley of the Mage info, although it will mostly remain intact.My players are no strangers to failure. If he arrives, odds are they'll flee in utter terror and an entirely different spin on the campaign will occur. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I've updated Battlesystem rules to 3E, and will be using that conversion. I've checked out a few mass combat systems for 3E that are out there, and none of them seemed better than what I came up with. Of course, I may be biased. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />[/quote][/B]Also, the Assassin's Run is a surprisingly weak challenge, with the exception of having the Grandfather running around ; I'd drop in some high-level assassins with rings of blinking and those nice epic poisons featured in the BoVD Epic Insights web column to shake things up a bit.[/quote][/B]I'm debating removing the "Dread Pirate Roberts" stuff about a new Grandfather being appointed when the old one dies. It'll be replace with a truly immortal Grandfather (a Gloom). I will definitely be upgrading the Run itself as well. Things that were dangerous to 1st edition parties were that way because hit points didn't scale for crap after 9th level. Nowadays you can throw 10d6 save for half traps at high level parties with little fear of killing them outright.[/quote][/B]H4: This module needs to be seriously retooled, as U_K suggested. Most elements aren't actually that bad; upgrade Arctigis to a great white wyrm, Zhengyi can probably stay at 30th level, and Klavikus needs to be very substantially advanced. Some of the random encounters could be upgraded; the higher-CR undead from MM2 or FF are potentially OK choices, given that Orcus is involved.[/quote][/B]I also like to throw in random things from non Core books. In other words, everything I run tends to get upgraded, or at least changed. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I'm also hoping that the new MM will provide a decent upgrade for demons in general.[/quote][/B]I'd also skip the silly St. Sollars crap and force the PCs to use their magic (and brains!) to figure out where they need to go. As for the actual mission: Well, they should be able to use a plane shift or similar spell to reach Orcus's layer directly, or a find the path to discern the correct portal location, meaning that most of the text on other Abyssal layers is probably unnecessary. [/quote][/B]I may keep him around if the party doesn't manage to stay on track, but he certainly won't talk like John Wayne! Also, the point of the end of the trail is for the party to be able to step up to godhood if they want. There will have to be some bit of coaching from the gods in order to let them know they're chosen for greatness. Not too much though, because the Gods want replacements that are capable of solving problems on their own.[/quote][/B]As for Orcus's layer: Have the PCs sneak into the fortress, brave the traps, and grab the wand, as suggested in the module. Make it pretty clear that powerful as they are, taking on Orcus directly is tantamount to suicide. I'd assume that the removal of the wand cripples Orcus's army sufficiently that the actual destruction of the artifact isn't required. The PCs then are stuck with the Demon Prince's wand, and must decide whether to pursue its destruction or stay on the run, forever fearful of subjecting themselves and their loved ones to Orcus's enmity. (A great epic-level plot hook if I ever heard one!) Hand-walking them to Tiamat's lair and having them kill her (sheesh!) is just too silly, IMHO. [/B][/QUOTE]My players don't generally have loved ones. Although I've never used them against them, only as plot hooks, they still seem to think that I'd happily kill off their families for fun and profit. They're also terrified of Wishes, even though they've only tried two in my game. Of the two (both from an evil Efreet) one was twisted because it was greedy, and the other was granted because it furthered the Efreet's goals. I think they're still gunshy from their last DM though. He was the kind of DM who made you play monks all the time, because if you started with any kind of gear it'd be destroyed by the end of the first adventure. I once made a character in his Vampire campaign that put a lot of starting resources into wealth. Before I knew what had happened, most of it had been destroyed. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" />Thanks for the input folks! Keep it coming![/QUOTE]

Verification