JollyDoc's Shackled City: FINAL POST [Updated 11/2!!]

[R-Hero]

Bah, the most important thing is that the portal could not open - Cauldron be damned!!!

That statement was heard 'round the table many times. (Especially from mayor-elect Rusty)
NPCs are notoriously ignorant and ungratefull. Let them sleep in a smoking crater.

The party chose the wrong strategy by not focusing on Dyr'Ryd. Had they all concentrated on the fiend, they should have been able to defeat him fairly quickly!!

It wasn't from a lack of trying..Several well placed acid fogs made it near impossable to move around. It was almost the end of Ike as well. From the far side of the Tree as it toppled, Ike went sprint, acid fog, Dyr'ryd AoO, acid fog, demodand AoO, acid fog, demodand AoO, into acid fog groping for Dalthon...


Officially, Ike wasn't happy about missing the fight with the dragon.
Unofficially, If he happens to run into him away from the lava pits, so much the better.

 

[beer_motor]

And what of Househang? I had expected that his fate ended here with this episode, but now, I guess, the wizard will die elsewhere.


Great updates, JollyDoc. Looks like the heros left several dangerous Cagewrights alive to haunt them another day, making us all look very much forward to Strike on Shatterhorn. Of course, I'm curious as well, what effects the ending of this episode will have.

He's (er, was) LN, you jerk!

 

[Neverwinter Knight]

He's (er, was) LN, you jerk!

What did I do?

The way I understood all the hints about Househang's death was that his demise took place at the end of Thirteen Cages. I'm acutally greatful that he is going to hang around longer.

 

[Neverwinter Knight]

That statement was heard 'round the table many times. (Especially from mayor-elect Rusty) NPCs are notoriously ignorant and ungratefull. Let them sleep in a smoking crater.

I guess we will hear about that in the next update.

It wasn't from a lack of trying..Several well placed acid fogs made it near impossable to move around. It was almost the end of Ike as well. From the far side of the Tree as it toppled, Ike went sprint, acid fog, Dyr'ryd AoO, acid fog, demodand AoO, acid fog, demodand AoO, into acid fog groping for Dalthon...

Officially, Ike wasn't happy about missing the fight with the dragon.
Unofficially, If he happens to run into him away from the lava pits, so much the better.

Of course - you couldn't tell from the story. Would magic (especially disintegration) have had a chance of affecting Dyr'ryd? Would the three demodands have vanished after his death?

I hold the group in the highest regard, when it comes to minmaxing and strategy & was just surprised the group had such troubles with this fight. Have to check up on the magazine.,,

 

[Morrow]

He was wrong. The monk of Ilmater was still well over a mile from Cauldron when the long dormant volcano finally unleashed all of its pent up fury, burying the city and everything in it and beneath it in a lake of fire.

I love it. More campaigns should wrap-up like this. "We defended the city for the last 18 levels, but in the end we just decided to blow it up." I think that's a problem with "Strike on Shatterhorn" and "Asylum." If you saved Cauldron in "Thirteen Cages," there isn't a real compellng reason to continue. On the other hand, if Cauldron was destroyed in "Thirteen Cages," it's not like a good showing in the last two episodes is going to make you feel like a winner.

Morrow

 

[Joachim]

I hold the group in the highest regard, when it comes to minmaxing and strategy & was just surprised the group had such troubles with this fight.

Trust me, Dyr'ryd was a tough nut in that fight. He had 20 foot reach, Combat Reflexes, Improved Trip, extremely high to-hit with a lot of attacks, improved uncanny dodge, good AC, SR, DR, triple-digit hps, natural freedom of movement, evasion, and he was old-school (3.0 Ed.) hasted with great spell-like abilities. And Grimm failed his Will save with a natural "1", otherwise it would have been a fair fight.

When we ran into him later, he got punk'd.

 

[R-Hero]

When we ran into him later, he got punk'd.

Thats the same time Ike's trophy colletion started getting gruesome....

 

[gfunk]

I love it. More campaigns should wrap-up like this. "We defended the city for the last 18 levels, but in the end we just decided to blow it up."

Well, the truth of the matter is that they didn't exactly decide to blow it up. Understandably, they though thtat Dyr'ryd was pulling their leg when he said that if the Tree goes, Cauldron goes with it. You know, just a last minute plea by the BBEG to buy a round or two of extra buffing.

However, it did make the rationale for Strike on Shatterhorn on Asylum a bit more compelling -- revenge for Cauldron's annihilation.

 

[JollyDoc]

Looks to me like Kiko survived--he Dimension Doored to safety with Gunther's corpse.

Great battle, and great writing to go with it--nice strategic use of antimagic.

Kiko thought he'd survived as well...until he realized the D. Door ain't the same as Teleport, and he still had a long way to run to make it to the surface. I calculated out the distance he could cover in the time before the explosion, and there was no way to make the numbers work. He was still a good mile or so from safety when everything went KABOOM.

 

[JollyDoc]

Gunther's just a Cohort, There's always another one right around the corner.

Just a cohort??!! Was Robin just a sidekick?? Chewbacca just a co-pilot?? Ryd just a little malformed thing hanging off the side of Dyr's head??

Ahh...the ignomy of it all!! How soon they forget the underdog!! Attica!! Attica!!