hornedturtle
First Post
What if they break the mirror?
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KotS Total-Party-Kill!!
- Thread starter david_annable
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WheelsOnMeals
First Post
hornedturtle said:
This is a good question that I don't really have an answer for. I may have to modify the last encounter depending on whether the mirror is there in one piece or not.
Maybe the mirror isn't absolutely required for Kalarel's ritual, it just makes it easier and faster to perform. The Thing in the Portal could be scaled up or down depending on whether it was there. Or I might look into the feasibility of having that final encounter be a bit of a ticking clock. The Thing starts out as written, but gets a slight increase in power/reach every x rounds. If the mirror's there, it gets a bump every x/2 rounds... something like that. This would be as if the ritual were nearing completion as the battle rages. Although I might have to figure out how that can be the case if Kalarel's busy attacking the PCs. I haven't read anything on rituals yet. Can they not be interrupted? Seems strange that Kalarel would be able to take a break to wipe out the party then go back to opening the portal.
This is all off the top of my head. I'd have to run some sims of that final encounter to see how much of that could work.
That's funny, I was wondering about the mirror too. I'm running the adventure with my kids (ages 8 and 11 plus a 5 year-old who has a character but mostly rolls dice).
As soon as they found the mirror they took it to Valthrun, got the info. that it was some sort of ancient, possibly evil relic, and proceeded to smash it into shards. Then they took the metal frame to the smithy and had him melt it! I offered up, "but you know that this is worth a lot of money... and they said "We don't care!"
I'm thinking I'll have the smithy secretly give the mirror back to the dwarf in the party (he just didn't have the heart to melt it) and they can swap in another mirror if necessary.
As soon as they found the mirror they took it to Valthrun, got the info. that it was some sort of ancient, possibly evil relic, and proceeded to smash it into shards. Then they took the metal frame to the smithy and had him melt it! I offered up, "but you know that this is worth a lot of money... and they said "We don't care!"
I'm thinking I'll have the smithy secretly give the mirror back to the dwarf in the party (he just didn't have the heart to melt it) and they can swap in another mirror if necessary.
silentounce
First Post
Shun said:That's funny, I was wondering about the mirror too. I'm running the adventure with my kids (ages 8 and 11 plus a 5 year-old who has a character but mostly rolls dice).
As soon as they found the mirror they took it to Valthrun, got the info. that it was some sort of ancient, possibly evil relic, and proceeded to smash it into shards. Then they took the metal frame to the smithy and had him melt it! I offered up, "but you know that this is worth a lot of money... and they said "We don't care!"
I'm thinking I'll have the smithy secretly give the mirror back to the dwarf in the party (he just didn't have the heart to melt it) and they can swap in another mirror if necessary.
You've got some good kids there! You can just reward them by adding another piece of valuable treasure in later on. Also, you could have Kalarel(sp) make some kind of angry comment about them stealing "his" mirror during the final confrontation. That'll make them feel good about their decision. I wouldn't do the swapping thing, feels too much like railroading, but that's just me.
silentounce said:
Not bad, I might use that.
About the Irontooth confrontation:
They wanted their own characters so I let them pick races and classes and then helped them with powers, etc. We have a Human Rogue, Elf Ranger, Eladrin Wizard, and Dwarf Cleric.
I also ignored some combat rules for various reasons. For me, the beauty of D&D has always been the ability to pick and choose rules.
They went through all 3 hooks, got most of the XP and went into the encounter at 2nd level. Actually the additional benefits from 2nd level aren't that significant but the HP's help.
They played it smart, had the rogue and ranger take out a lot of the outer foes using stealth and surprise attacks, then the wizard and cleric jumped in and mopped up. Being kids, they used all of their daily powers though so they decided to rest before going on.
They cleaned up the bodies and hid in the woods. During the 6 hour rest, a few kobolds naturally came out and were promptly dispatched without much fuss. Then after the rest the party used stealth and perception to scope out the first 6-8 squares of the lair, undetected.
The wizard teleported into the middle of the remaining minions and used scorching burst. Bye bye minions and the collateral damage was worth it. The party ran in and destroyed most of the other heavies before round 3 ended (I think 1 dragonshield was left). Irontooth was tough but he got smacked by an Acid Arrow early on and didn't make his saves so the ongoing damage helped a lot.
The dwarf went straight after the wyrmpriest and won, but took a lot of damage. He went down when the dragonshields ganged up on him.
But in the end the party won. Most had just a few HP though so it was exciting.
If I had played all of the rules by the book the party most certainly would have lost. But that's not much fun, is it?
Irontooth Bites it
So I DM'd this encounter last night for the first time, and I have to say that my group gave a picture perfect example of how to deal with it. Granted at the end of the fight (and the night I might add) the paladin and the warlord were down, but let's face it, a group of 5 lvl 1's vs a level 6 encounter, that's pretty darn good. The group consists of a dragonborn paladin (2 handed weapon), dragonborn warlord (Inspiring), Halfling Warlock(Fey pact, rogue multi), Human Wizard (Orb of Imposition) and an Elven Ranger (Ranged style). The Rogue and the Warlock stealthed into the cave through the waterfall and set up positions. The other three stood behind the roaring sheet of water until their first round of combat. By the time the first full round was over, there were only 2 of the skirmishers up and one minion of the first wave. The second wave hit like a ton of bricks, the dps played keep away with irontooth (warlock fey daily kept him moving 1 square a turn, and wizard kept him slowed most turns), while they concentrated fire on the wyrmpriest and then the dragonshields whom were held up behind the wall of dragonborn flesh. Bloodied but victorious I told them that they had just defeated the dreaded Irontooth encounter (they had heard the name, but nothing more than that it was a TPK in the making), and then had to dash their hopes when they asked if they had leveled (nope, still level 1 nubs). Overall I was pleased with their tactics, especially given that they did not roll exceptionally well after the second wave hit, but then, such is life.
All of that being said, and I have a real appriciation for the new combat rules in 4e, and, as I told my players on the way to food, that was the sickest encounter I think I have ever run. TPK or not, it scared the pants off of them and me.
So I DM'd this encounter last night for the first time, and I have to say that my group gave a picture perfect example of how to deal with it. Granted at the end of the fight (and the night I might add) the paladin and the warlord were down, but let's face it, a group of 5 lvl 1's vs a level 6 encounter, that's pretty darn good. The group consists of a dragonborn paladin (2 handed weapon), dragonborn warlord (Inspiring), Halfling Warlock(Fey pact, rogue multi), Human Wizard (Orb of Imposition) and an Elven Ranger (Ranged style). The Rogue and the Warlock stealthed into the cave through the waterfall and set up positions. The other three stood behind the roaring sheet of water until their first round of combat. By the time the first full round was over, there were only 2 of the skirmishers up and one minion of the first wave. The second wave hit like a ton of bricks, the dps played keep away with irontooth (warlock fey daily kept him moving 1 square a turn, and wizard kept him slowed most turns), while they concentrated fire on the wyrmpriest and then the dragonshields whom were held up behind the wall of dragonborn flesh. Bloodied but victorious I told them that they had just defeated the dreaded Irontooth encounter (they had heard the name, but nothing more than that it was a TPK in the making), and then had to dash their hopes when they asked if they had leveled (nope, still level 1 nubs). Overall I was pleased with their tactics, especially given that they did not roll exceptionally well after the second wave hit, but then, such is life.
All of that being said, and I have a real appriciation for the new combat rules in 4e, and, as I told my players on the way to food, that was the sickest encounter I think I have ever run. TPK or not, it scared the pants off of them and me.
Obryn
Hero
Looks like this thread has undergone some necromancy. 
Regardless, I just wanted to note that I'm running this combat for my group on Wednesday night. My current plan is to have the kobolds and Irontooth just knock the PCs unconscious instead of killing them. I mean, there's this big subplot with slaves and all, and I think a direct link to the Keep and Kalarel might be a nice little addition.
That's if the PCs lose. I have a strong feeling they will... Maybe not, though. I have 7 players, and have decided not to increase the difficulty of this particular encounter.
-O
Regardless, I just wanted to note that I'm running this combat for my group on Wednesday night. My current plan is to have the kobolds and Irontooth just knock the PCs unconscious instead of killing them. I mean, there's this big subplot with slaves and all, and I think a direct link to the Keep and Kalarel might be a nice little addition.
That's if the PCs lose. I have a strong feeling they will... Maybe not, though. I have 7 players, and have decided not to increase the difficulty of this particular encounter.
-O
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