Newbie (to 3.0 +) DM - Advice for Sunless Citadel

[Orichin]

I had a group that tried unsuccessfuly with sunless 3 times with various DM's.
The first time we got bored and started trucking townsfolk over to the citadel site and tossing them off a cliff as a sacrifice.
The second time, inter-party fighting broke out in the middle of an actual fight, resulting in tpk.
The third time, we were dead set to finally get this stupid thing done with so nobody would ever try to run it again, and ended off side-tracking to a different string of adventures.


I don't know why, but Altamont Ravenard's anecdote about the half-elf sorcerer that the party hated reminded me of a gnome sorcerer that was made as a cohort later in the campaign that tried SC round 3. The dwarven fighter broke both of her legs and nicknamed her 'wheelchair barbie'. No wheelchairs had been invented yet, so he dragged her around in a cage. We got issues with nomes where I come from.

 

[Ry]

Hmm... I have a confession about killing off some fairly innocent PCs in this one. My guys weren't levelled yet, but they _had_ accumulated a good deal of equipment for first levelers. So I didn't hold any punches... and then... well...

I didn't think it was fair that the troll couldn't rend, but still was CR 5 for exp... so I let him rend. At one point, the party faced the troll in a small corridor, with the half-orc fighter in the party using a reach weapon to attack over the dwarf paladin's head. The troll tried for one round to hit the dwarf, completely missed...

then reached over, sank both claws into the half-orc, rended, and sent the top bit to, and the bottom bit ... fro. After seeing their strongest member eviscerated, the rest of the party booked it for the exit... never to return.

 

[redkobold]

Well, we played this past Saturday and things went a lot easier for the pc's than I had imagined and some of you had reported for your players.

I let the players generate their characters with the 4d6 drop method. Get 7 rolls and drop the lowest also then arrange. Two of the three players had really high rolls. The half-orc fighter ended up with a 20 Strength and the kobold rogue had a 20 Dexterity. The other character was a human druid. If they won initiative, the half-orc made the party nigh unstoppable.

They roleplayed and negotiated with the kobolds incredibly, passed into the back of the goblin held portion of the dungeon and proceeded to rout the goblins. I began doubling the number of goblins and hobgoblins encountered to slow them down. They were repelled from the goblin kings throne room and a little awed at the number of opponents (since I had double them). Without the doubling the opponents, I think they would have had Belaks head on a stick by the end of the evening. Even with the doubling, I think they had a better than average chance of taking out the goblin king.

Their actions have led to some interesting options for the second session. With the kobold PC and Meepo in tow, the goblins see this as an attack by the kobolds. The half-orc just looked like a mercenary. The druid will raise Belak interest and get him on board to fully assist the goblins in driving out the kobolds.

I am seeing Belak and the goblins having the twig blights and skeletons attack in waves with goblins and hobgoblins shoot/throw missile weapons before any of them engage in melee with the deadly party. The questions is where this will occur. It needs to be a large space, perhaps one of the halls. The goblins still control the bypassed front route to the goblin enclave and may also attack from the rear with Balsag the hunter leading. The old hammer and anvil strategy. Moo Haaa Haaa.

I am also condisering the goblins promising Erky Timers his freedom if he fights with them (on or near the front lines of course) against the kobolds. Any thoughts on that? I will also make him entirely an illusionist magic user.

I probably need to key out the path to underdark that the kobolds used to enter the Sunless Citadel in case everyone retreats that way (as the kobolds will almost surely do automatically).

Any comments or suggestions welcome.