Logistic Advice for Red Hand of Doom

[Lord Zardoz]

Well, its been nicely forshadowed, and for the last 3 games, my players have been heading nortwards towards a large goblin uprising. Just today, the players entered the area where the uprising has originated. So the time has come for me to bust out the Red hand of Doom.

Now, I am sure that I will read adventure text plenty of times. I have a good idea of how I would like things to go, and what elements I will be modifying. And I have the kind of ego that tells me that I am probably going to be fine. On the other hand, there is no harm in getting free advice / ideas.

What I need now is some logistic advice. For the time being, chapter 1 is where I could use the most advice.

- What things are most useful to have stat blocked out on loose paper?
- Which NPCs are going are likely to recur the most?
- Which encounters are most likely to result in TPK?
- Which are the points where the players are possibly going to go off on an tangent?
- Which obscure rules are likely to come in handy?
- Are there any areas that I ought to map out myself?
- How long does it take a typical party to run through chapter 1?

There are also some elements particular to my game I could use some advice on. My group consists of 2 Clerics, 1 Sorcerer, and 1 Fighter. One cleric goes for support and hold person. The other cleric tends to like to buff up and enter Melee. The Fighter has mounted combat feats. And the Sorcerer has focused on enchantment and summons. However, being a bunch of working adults, Stuff Happens. For any given game, it is very likley that at least one player will end up having to cancel on me. Normally, I just go on ahead with 3 players. But, this is a published adventure balanced for 4 players.

- How forgiving is this adventure likely to be if someone needs to flake out.
- How much will the lack of a good Skill Monkey hurt?
- What sort of NPC help should I try to provide (I am guessing a Ranger with Goblins for a favored enemy wont hurt).
- What level should the NPC help be?

That about covers my questions for now.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Mark CMG]

Grab the web enhancement from here (stat blocks of enemies and NPCs) -

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060217a

And the extra encounter from here -

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ub/20060224a

There some useful stuff here, too -

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=162236

The hydra encounter can be particularly harrowing. Brush up on the Sunder rules for that one.

 

[Ry]

From reports, be careful with the dragons. This is just generally good advice but it's especially important when you could hit a dragon when depleted.

 

[Peni Griffin]

My group is constituted so differently from yours (paladin, fighter, rogue, bard, cleric) and I'm modifying so wildly that my experience is not likely to translate well. They took 5 or 6 sessions plus some bluebooking to get through chapter one, but that's partly because we have a dilatory playstyle and were doing heavy roleplaying.

The two NPCs who have gotten the most use so far have been Jorr, the ranger in the woods, and Avarthel the druid minding the sacred grove outside Drellin's Ferry, because between them they know the woods like the backs of their hands. I made them friends based on their shared involvement in the forest and fondness for animals. Under my altered backstory, Jorr was the sole survivor of the Massacre at Vraath's Keep. He was the dog boy and had hidden in the kennel with the puppies instead of participating; thus, he was afraid that the ghost haunting the keep would have it in for him and knew all the stealthy ways around it, but hadn't checked it out himself. Avarthel's wild shape, animal companions, and ability to talk to animals and plants make him ideally suited for supplying intelligence about enemy movements, and since he speaks druidic and can't evacuate with the rest of Drellin's Ferry, he's also been available to communicate secretly with the Ghost Lord as my players go straight to Chapter 3.

My "skill monkey," Gerik the World's Bravest Rogue, was indeed vital to the assault on Vraath Keep, as he insisted on scouting it solo, invisibly, and between his current intel and Jorr's specalist knowledge of the interior they were able to devise a fantastically effective plan with known objectives (Koth's filing system). You also want someone who can find that vault, which contains the largest treasure in the entire module and which also has a number of potential uses - prisoner holding cell, hiding place, supply cache - for later game play. However, your players are accustomed to running rogueless and have techniques to compensate. The module assumes a party strolling blindly into the Keep, and the objectives can be met on that basis - although I think people fulfilling this expectation is one reason so many people find this module so lethal.

Also, remember that NPCs don't have to be passive. If, for example, past experience causes you to fear a TPK if your PCs enter the keep blind, your Jorr can be better-informed than mine was, maybe have been spying on it for days figuring out how best to deal with the inhabitants. After my Avarthel flew back to town to report to Wiston, he sent work parties out to the keep to retrieve Koth's supplies and deny the use of them to the invaders. Had Gerik not located the vault, Kellin Shadowbanks could have, though this would have changed how treasure distribution went, and the captured Koth wouldn't have been safely hidden away underground when Ozyrrandion came by.

I would stat up the NPCs who fill gaps in your party's arsenal - in your case, Kellin Shadowbanks and Delorra - and anyone who strikes you as the type that they usually hook up with.

If there's a participation problem, collect everybody's sheets at the end of each session and tell them to either designate another player to run them or give you a couple of simple guidelines for running them as NPCs. They'll get through this module on teamwork or not at all, and there won't be any in-game good reasons or good places for individuals to sit out most sessions.

 

[Ry]

Bluebooking? Like, making citations?

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Unless I am mistaken, blue booking refers to using e-mail or message boards or what ever to describe character actions taken outside of normal game sessions.

It allows players to add to the game experience on their own time.

Not really my thing, but it has its uses.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Lord Zardoz]

However, your players are accustomed to running rogueless and have techniques to compensate..

Not as much as you might think. Mostly, they end up discovering traps by getting hurt. No one has ranks in Spot, Listen, Hide, or Move Silently. Probably no search ranks either. Lots of skills for NPC interaction though.

If there's a participation problem, collect everybody's sheets at the end of each session and tell them to either designate another player to run them or give you a couple of simple guidelines for running them as NPCs. They'll get through this module on teamwork or not at all, and there won't be any in-game good reasons or good places for individuals to sit out most sessions.

The only participation problem is the sort you get among any group of 5 adults with jobs and girlfriends / wives. If I insisted on all players being present at every game, I would not be able to run a campaign. At least each player has managed to miss 1 game, so its not one chronic flaker. I deal with it by turning a blind eye to players dropping off the radar for the duration of a game, and then conveniently showing up again when the player is around. I prefer not to run a PC as an NPC, so usually we just run the game with 3 players. My current plan is to let the players have the services of at least 1 NPC to fill the skill gap, and maybe act as a marginally effective meat shield. Unlike Startrek's Red Shirts, this NPC will always be able to recover from negative HP if healed.

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[Peni Griffin]

The hobgoblin ambush shouldn't be a big problem, but if your PCs don't have advance intel on Vraath Keep, the manticore has a good chance of surprising them, and that could be lethal. Jorr's dogs could save their butts here. Jorr and the dogs are also murder on worg riders and hobgoblins, which should allow your PCs to focus on the big guns of Koth, the minotaur, and the manticore.

Yes, bluebooking is OOG written play. The term comes from the late 70s/early 80s, when college students (lacking e-mail) found it convenient to purchase blue books at the college bookstore and pass them around as needed. A HUGE timesaver for the transitional stuff, people who like to play deep background that doesn't involve the other players, and groups like mine who only see eachother at the game and can't stay on-topic. Also useful if you have one player who needs extra attention for whatever reason, and you don't want to play favorites at the table. Also can be done between players, allowing them to surprise the snot out of the DM, as when my wizard and a friend's cavalier started marriage negotiations at the same time that the DM had decided to give us possible love interests as adventure hooks. Depending on your players and your own tolerance for drama you might want to introduce restrictions on that sort of thing! The great advantage of bluebooking things like magic item purchases, negotiations with NPCs, and downtime activities is that these are all things that are likely to be forgotten or confused if you don't have a written record.

We bluebooked the entire setup for the adventure, the trek from home base to the Elsir Vale, many of the NPC interactions in town, the evacuation of Drellin's Ferry, and some transitional material as convenient. Gerik's scouting mission to the keep was done solo with me between games when the player was at our house for some other purpose, and he wrote up a report, posted it to the gaming group yahoo list, and the other players bluebooked what they did while waiting for him and the planning session based on his information, so when we got together next time everyone was on the same page and we were able to go into action immediately.

Well, immediately after lunch, complaining about work, double-checking that they'd leveled their character sheets (HOW can people dedicated enough to carry on detailed planning sessions over email not remember to level their character sheets immediately?), saying hello to the cats, discussing the latests OOTS, and all that stuff. I've cut out two chapters of this module, and I bet it takes a year to play the whole thing. Thank goodness for email!

 

[Wrathamon]

I have used minotaurs a lot before this adventure and i was wondering what would be a good replacement for the minotaur at the keep that would provide a similiar challenge?

 

[Lord Zardoz]

If your looking to swap out the Minotaur, you have a few options that are viable, but none that fill the same niche with the same CR. I assume you want a Large humanoid melee tank.

An Ogre is not a bad fit, especially if you improve its gear and / or advance its HD so that it has the same BAB as the Minotaur. A Troll is also a decent fit, but that is increasing the CR instead. Also, adding a creature with regeneration to a fight like the one the minotaur probably shows up in is probably going to be pushing things a bit.

Outside of that, the rest of the Large melee tanks don't quite fit. Consider just using a Hobgoblin Bladebearer in its place (Same CR, but lacks the reach).

Getting back to my players capabilities right now, I would describe their capabilities as follows (and with the wishful presumption that everyone manages to show up).

Assets:
- Plenty of Healing with 2 clerics on hand.
- Can blast through Undead (again 2 clerics, though I do use 'turning does damage').
- Great at incapacitating enemies with crap will saves (Sorcerer has Hideous Laughter, Sleep. Both clerics like to toss out Hold Person).
- Strong melee (They buff up the fighter and the Melee Cleric).
- Good NPC interaction skills (lots of ranks spent on Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate)
- Very decent AC for all characters except Sorcerer
- Plenty of Spell power available (2 Clerics + 1 Sorcerer)

Weaknesses:
- Despite being level 5, no Fireball type blasting on hand.
- No one has Cleave. If mobbed, they are screwed.
- No one has a good Reflex save
- Sorcerer can be easily neutralized by ranged attackers using readied actions
- No spot or listen makes the party a target for ambushes
- They are all trap bait.
- No one has infravision / darkvision, so night ambush will ravage them.

If I really want to TPK them, I could just throw them against six 2 HD archers with decent Dex, plus a Wizard or Sorcerer with Grease spell at night, and stay out of Melee. With the crappy spot checks, they wont be able to find the archers before they drop somoene. And I imagine that the party fighter can be well screwed if is horse charges across the Grease spell.

Still, I dont expect to bother with exploiting their weaknesses untl later in the adventure. Early on they should do fine.

END COMMUNICATION