JollyDoc's Rise of the Runelords...Updated 12/22

[WarEagleMage]

I think this had been brewing for a couple of weeks. For whatever reason, we the players were experiencing an erosion of our suspension of disbelief. One of Paizo's tried and true tactics (kill the BBEG, then find his journal/library/scribblings with all his evil plans neatly laid out along with a roadmap to the next encounter) was so over-used that it became a joke around the gaming table. Frankly, none of us were "in to" the Runforge module. As for the final few encounters, JD played for keeps as he always does. We did not approach this with the same level of tactical interest as usual because we just wanted to finish the Runeforge and move on. The mummies were rough, but doable. Then we wandered around for a long, long time. The mist/fish incident was kind of funny, but ultimately just wound up wasting resources. I don't think JD even mentioned the magic pool debacle, but it was just plain stupid - as veteran gamers we should have just ignored the pool, but we tried to play along and got burned by a dumb encouter. One mirror of opposition is tough, but to have two there was brutal. It didn't help that Adso was the one who got cloned. Then the runelord simulacrae (or whatever) just beat our init rolls or maybe it was a surpise round. We were lined up in the doorway when they hit us with six empowered fireballs at I think 9d6 x 1.5. Even if all the squishies made their saves they would be dead. After that, we all just kind of stared at each other. Within a couple of minutes, we reached a concensus to give it up and move on to CotCT.

 

[Joachim]

That's about the best way to put it.

 

[JollyDoc]

I did enjoy RotRL's as a whole, though there was a bit of a disjointedness to it. One adventure did not neccessarily lead seemlessly into the next one. This was especially true with Sins of the Saviors. It really felt like a railroad, without any clear-cut reason for the PC's to be there. In reading Spires of Xin-Shalast, it does not even seem as if SotS's was required for them to attempt it, except as a means of leveling up. There was also a lot of aimless wandering around in the Runeforge. Perhaps some players and DM's enjoy "flavor text" rooms, but it gets old, repetitive and boring very quickly. For instance, the halls of necromancy had something like 17-20 numbered rooms, and only four were actually encounter areas. The BBEG in that area was hidden in room behind a secret door...in a room identical to every other room. So, were the players supposed to check every single room, tediously, for the one secret door in the whole place? It was very Tomb of Horrors-like, which for us is not a good thing. So, like I said earlier, we may return to conclude this, but for now we're going to ride CotCT for awhile.

 

[humble minion]

Sins of the Saviors struck me as the big weak point of RotRL as well, just based on my read-through. I think Paizo tries to include a bit something suitable for all possible game styles in every AP, and 'Big Marginally Logical Killer Dungeon' is right there on their checklist...

(I hadn't noticed the BBEG's Revealing Notes issue myself, though. And none of the players have commented on it, about half way through the Savage Tide...)

 

[Dr Simon]

I'll be interested to see how you get on with Crimson Throne, as I'm running it at the moment over in Playing the Game. I'd advise sandboxing it quite a lot and allowing a more organic feel, at least for the first few adventures before the true nature of the campaign reveals itself. Otherwise a lot of the hooks are quite weak as written, depending on your group.

The Harrow Point system is a nice flavour addition though.

 

[Neverwinter Knight]

What an ending...this last encounter...well, enough said.

Well, CotCT is deadly to no end, so this should be fun.

 

[carborundum]

Say, JD, I've got a weekend game coming up and I'm thinking of running Fortress of the Stone Giants - was it a good one or a "bit too much"?

 

[JollyDoc]

Say, JD, I've got a weekend game coming up and I'm thinking of running Fortress of the Stone Giants - was it a good one or a "bit too much"?

I actually liked this one. Kind of a throw back to 1st edition and Against the Giants. It's pure dungeon crawl at its finest.