Bayonet_Chris
First Post
I ran KOTS today for six players - we played for 4.5 hours and got through four combat before calling it quits due to time constraints. I changed a little of the fluff here and there and modified 3 of the 4 encounters for the extra player.
I used the Ruin of Empire hook and had the PCs looking for the Keep off the bat. Three of the four encounters were increased to account for the extra player (all except the Kobold Lair attack). Several players were bloodied at various times and many close to dropping down, but the warlord and cleric never let it get to that point. The players were even able to cover for their allies when they needed to take a second wind. Three of the six players have played together often in the past; the other three are new to the group. All of them are pretty experienced with 3.5.
The players were rolling a bit cold early, got some hot streaks late, but nothing was really aberrant about their rolls - they consistently had problems hitting the Dragonshields, for instance. The monsters were effective enough - the Dragonshields were especially tough on the fighter (seemingly always getting max damage).
The party was well balanced and very effective. The warlord and the wizard had the most obvious role in victory, to me and to my players. Here's a blow-by-blow breakdown:
Encounter 1
[sblock]I modified this a little bit, both in presentation and number of enemies. I upped it to a 575XP encounter by adding a slinger and had two minions blocking the road at the rocks, demanding payment to pass. The PCs tried to negotiate and intimidate their way through it, but it ended in combat anyway. The funniest part was one of the slingers climbing the rock and the halfling unsuccessfully trying to get up there and get to him. He finally did and used his Positioning Strike to kill the kobold and knock him off the rock.[/sblock]
Winterhaven
[sblock]I modified most of the fluff to make the introduction to the town a bit more rich. The PCs helped some tradesmen get their car unstuck from the market and joined them for a drink. They eventually talked to Valthrun, Lord Padraig, Salvana, Barwin, and Ninaran. I played Ninaran a little more subtle than presented, so the PCs have tried to enlist her help. They took the commission from Lord Padraig to exterminate the kobolds. Ninaran gave them directions with the expectation that they'd be wiped out.[/sblock]
Encounter 2
[sblock]I upped the ambush to 750XP by adding a Dragonshield. This was a close thing and the Wyrmpriest surprised them with his magic. The Dragonshields were consistently a problem all day. After the initial shock of the ambush (the fighter was hurt badly), they rallied and beat the kobolds back. The warlord and the wizard proved to be the keys to the turnaround. The skirmisher tried to make a run for it, but the Warlord ran him down and killed him.[/sblock]
Encounter 3
[sblock]Upped to 675 by adding a slinger. It didn't really matter - the PCs, after the first two encounters, had a good idea of what each other could do and were starting to click. They discovered the kobolds before being spotted, so were able to set up an ambush. The wizard used his cantrips to create a distraction in the stream - sounds coming from the water. The minions crept closer to investigate and he hit them all with a sleep spell. The fighter and rogue rushed through the trees and hit the Dragonshield hard. He was down before getting off a shot. The paladin and warlord took the flank while the cleric supported where necessary. One of the minions got to the edge of the waterfall, intending to warn the rest, before the wizard killed it with a Ray of Frost.[/sblock]
Encounter 4
[sblock]The rogue scouted beneath the waterfall and saw the large group of kobolds before backing off. He looked for another way in and, rolling a 1 on stealth, was spotted by a minion at the north entrance. Surprise gone and only the fighter behind him, he threw a dagger and killed the minion. The rest of the minions went after the rogue in initiative order and rushed over to meet the intruder. The rest of the group, seeing something up, burst through the waterfall. The wizard dropped Burning Hands on a large group of the minions, spent an action point, then cast scorching blast on another group. Let me point out that when spending the action point, the wizard had a +5 to hit and +4 damage. +2 from the warlord, +3 from his feat, and +4 to damage from the warlord. Ugly. In one fell swoop, the wizard had knocked out the majority of the kobolds in the room. The "first wave" of the fight was over so quickly that I had to introduce the second wave a round early.
The fighter was a bit overextended and soon became surrounded by the dragonshields, wyrmpriest, and Irontooth. This is where the rest of the party came to his rescue. The warlord rushed in and unleashed Lead the Attack on Irontooth, then used his action point to perform Leaf on the Wind to get the fighter out of trouble. He also unleashed a heal to help him out. The Rogue followed up with his daily and the fighter finished him off with his. Considering they all had a +5 against Irontooth in addition to everything else they were throwing, Irontooth never got to use his bloodied ability. That's how quickly it was over. The Dragonshields and Wyrmpriest were worn down and taken out.[/sblock]
I used the Ruin of Empire hook and had the PCs looking for the Keep off the bat. Three of the four encounters were increased to account for the extra player (all except the Kobold Lair attack). Several players were bloodied at various times and many close to dropping down, but the warlord and cleric never let it get to that point. The players were even able to cover for their allies when they needed to take a second wind. Three of the six players have played together often in the past; the other three are new to the group. All of them are pretty experienced with 3.5.
The players were rolling a bit cold early, got some hot streaks late, but nothing was really aberrant about their rolls - they consistently had problems hitting the Dragonshields, for instance. The monsters were effective enough - the Dragonshields were especially tough on the fighter (seemingly always getting max damage).
The party was well balanced and very effective. The warlord and the wizard had the most obvious role in victory, to me and to my players. Here's a blow-by-blow breakdown:
Encounter 1
[sblock]I modified this a little bit, both in presentation and number of enemies. I upped it to a 575XP encounter by adding a slinger and had two minions blocking the road at the rocks, demanding payment to pass. The PCs tried to negotiate and intimidate their way through it, but it ended in combat anyway. The funniest part was one of the slingers climbing the rock and the halfling unsuccessfully trying to get up there and get to him. He finally did and used his Positioning Strike to kill the kobold and knock him off the rock.[/sblock]
Winterhaven
[sblock]I modified most of the fluff to make the introduction to the town a bit more rich. The PCs helped some tradesmen get their car unstuck from the market and joined them for a drink. They eventually talked to Valthrun, Lord Padraig, Salvana, Barwin, and Ninaran. I played Ninaran a little more subtle than presented, so the PCs have tried to enlist her help. They took the commission from Lord Padraig to exterminate the kobolds. Ninaran gave them directions with the expectation that they'd be wiped out.[/sblock]
Encounter 2
[sblock]I upped the ambush to 750XP by adding a Dragonshield. This was a close thing and the Wyrmpriest surprised them with his magic. The Dragonshields were consistently a problem all day. After the initial shock of the ambush (the fighter was hurt badly), they rallied and beat the kobolds back. The warlord and the wizard proved to be the keys to the turnaround. The skirmisher tried to make a run for it, but the Warlord ran him down and killed him.[/sblock]
Encounter 3
[sblock]Upped to 675 by adding a slinger. It didn't really matter - the PCs, after the first two encounters, had a good idea of what each other could do and were starting to click. They discovered the kobolds before being spotted, so were able to set up an ambush. The wizard used his cantrips to create a distraction in the stream - sounds coming from the water. The minions crept closer to investigate and he hit them all with a sleep spell. The fighter and rogue rushed through the trees and hit the Dragonshield hard. He was down before getting off a shot. The paladin and warlord took the flank while the cleric supported where necessary. One of the minions got to the edge of the waterfall, intending to warn the rest, before the wizard killed it with a Ray of Frost.[/sblock]
Encounter 4
[sblock]The rogue scouted beneath the waterfall and saw the large group of kobolds before backing off. He looked for another way in and, rolling a 1 on stealth, was spotted by a minion at the north entrance. Surprise gone and only the fighter behind him, he threw a dagger and killed the minion. The rest of the minions went after the rogue in initiative order and rushed over to meet the intruder. The rest of the group, seeing something up, burst through the waterfall. The wizard dropped Burning Hands on a large group of the minions, spent an action point, then cast scorching blast on another group. Let me point out that when spending the action point, the wizard had a +5 to hit and +4 damage. +2 from the warlord, +3 from his feat, and +4 to damage from the warlord. Ugly. In one fell swoop, the wizard had knocked out the majority of the kobolds in the room. The "first wave" of the fight was over so quickly that I had to introduce the second wave a round early.
The fighter was a bit overextended and soon became surrounded by the dragonshields, wyrmpriest, and Irontooth. This is where the rest of the party came to his rescue. The warlord rushed in and unleashed Lead the Attack on Irontooth, then used his action point to perform Leaf on the Wind to get the fighter out of trouble. He also unleashed a heal to help him out. The Rogue followed up with his daily and the fighter finished him off with his. Considering they all had a +5 against Irontooth in addition to everything else they were throwing, Irontooth never got to use his bloodied ability. That's how quickly it was over. The Dragonshields and Wyrmpriest were worn down and taken out.[/sblock]
