Necromancer Games: Tough Adventures

[S'mon]

Of course at 1st and 2nd level sheer bad luck can really knock back a party as we found with an encounter with one Orc barbarian and two wardogs. So RIP Gren and we find ourselves having to look for another meat shield. Just a pity I didn't do just a little better with the dice as if Cam (the cleric) had something like a high enough strength to get positive to hit and damage modifiers it'd help speed up melee combat a bit and make him more suitable as a front rank fighter.

Hi Dave - yup, again it took a Fate Point to avoid losing your PC. Our experience so far has only confirmed that Necromancer modules are indeed tough - although we have 6 PCs, only 2 (Michael the Fighter & Loren the Wizard) are as min-maxed on combat power as a Nec module assumes, going from what Clark said, so with 3 'utility' PCs (the Rogues Nip & Armando, the Monk Kai) and your mediocre-physical-stat Cleric, the group is a bit short on smackdown. On the bright side this means the scenario should stay challenging even if you reach ca 8th level before the end, which would probably take about a year's play.

 

[Gentlegamer]

In the old days, magic-users could use Charm Person on dungeon inhabitants to gain more sword-fodder, and the Sleep spell could knock down masses of low hit dice opponents. From what I recall of the d20 versions, they have been a bit "nerfed" in this respect.

 

[S'mon]

I did some calculating & guesstimating and I think the Barakus dungeon levels are roughly suitable for the following PC levels, assuming a typical group of D&D PCs, moderately skilled players with not very min-maxed PCs. Each Barakus level equates both to a level within the dungeon, and to a single charcter level for a Necromancer-style D&D party (6 PCs, skilled, heavy combat focus, skilled players), so this might be usable for all low-level Nec modules.

Level 1: 1-3
Level 2: 3-5
Level 3: 5-6
Level 4: 6-7
Level 5: 7-8

So eg a Necromancer 'Level 3' module equates roughly to 'Level 5-6' for a more typical group.
I'm thinking my own group will thus likely be able to play through the Barakus campaign from 1st to 8th at pretty much standard XP, with 2 games/month that's about a year's play! When I say a 'typical group', I mean competent but not the smackdown gang Clark & co assume. Eg my own 6-PC group is:

2 Nec-standard-power PCs:
Wizard - min-maxed (except he's an elf)
Fighter - min-maxed (& really good stat rolls)

Regular PCs:
Cleric - mediocre physical stats, high INT
Rogue - going for Houri prestige class, ST 8
Monk - decent Monk, cross-the-board stats
Rogue/Fighter - going for Assassin prestige class

I think the scenario, which suggests PCs level 1-5 and 1/2 XP should stay challenging for these guys playing 1st to 8th level with regular XP.

 

[Morpheus]

Looking back at this, I now agree that Necro modules are balanced for 6 PCs of the appropriate levels. Unfortunately, I have, at most, 4 Pcs at any one time, so if I were to run another Necro module, there would have to be some NPCs along for the ride. 6 PCs would have definitely done a lot better...