Orcs of Stongfang Pass

[Grimmjow]

IS the adventure "Orcs of Stonefang Pass" worth running? By that i mean i haunt got it yet but my party came into contact with some orcs and i could use these orcs hopefully for the same thing. Will my players enjoy it if i were to run it, (i know you guys don't know much about my players but I'm asking an average on what your players thought).

Also what does the HS2 mean in the name of the adventure?

 

[Grimmjow]

oops silly me its a 4th level adventure, my players are 6 almost seven. lol now i feel dumb

 

[Aoirorentsu]

The HS2 refers to the series it was in (HS) and its number in the series (2). The first adventure in the series HS1 the Slaying Stone, was quite good. The two adventures are VERY loosely tied together, but there's absolutely no need to play Slaying Stone before you can get full enjoyment from Orcs of Stonefang Pass.

I haven't run a group through Orcs of Stonefang Pass yet, but I do own it and I've read it thoroughly. It's mostly a dungeon crawl. Or more precisely, it's mostly combat. However, many of the combats have very tricky elements to them, so while it is a long string of fights they are varied and for the most part interesting. I might cut a couple of them down (or out entirely), but the basic plot line is pretty cool.

If they're still first level, I'd recommend Slaying Stone. Though if you're contemplating Orcs they're probably higher level.

EDIT: also, if you like, I'm happy to briefly answer a few questions.

Hope that helps.
Aoi

 

[Bold or Stupid]

Shame the level is wrong (Mine says 5) it's a damn good adventure. The final fight is probably the best climax to a pre-written I have seen. You could level the whole adventure up. Maybe add an orc of two to each fight.

 

[S'mon]

I have it and have just started running it, first real session tomorrow. It looks pretty good to me despite the inevitably linear nature of the tunnel, but I never really know until I've actually run the adventure. It certainly fits into my Loudwater campaign very nicely.

Edit: I'm running it with 6th level PCs.

 

[S'mon]

However, many of the combats have very tricky elements to them, so while it is a long string of fights they are varied and for the most part interesting. I might cut a couple of them down (or out entirely)

Thanks for that advice. A good technique I've seen with over-fighty adventures is to only have around half the fights trigger on first entry, and keep the rest to trigger later (possibly randomly) when the PCs retrace their steps.

 

[GreyICE]

You can level monsters up fairly easily. I'll go drag out the power cards. Fourth to Seventh is not to big of a jump.

 

[S'mon]

It's designed for PCs starting at 5th, if his start at 6th it's only 1 level, really minimal changes needed if any. It's 'new style' post-MM3 monsters so they deliver a good wallop!

 

[Feeroper]

My group really had a blast with this adventure. The final "boss" fight was really fun.

I made a couple of the fights into a minion fest with boosted damaging powers and the like. It was dangerous, felt different and it was fast. Certainly an idea to consider.

As far as it's linearity, the adventures story line supports this, and it is easy to roll it into something else if your players go off the path somehow. It doesn't feel like an open dungeon or environment that you must force the pc's through one particular route. The environment itself is linear in nature as it is essentially a tunnel, so it makes sense in context.

We got alot of great Role Play situations out of this adventure as well. I recommend it.

 

[S'mon]

We played the first three encounters today! (spoilers)

#1 - The players treated it as a puzzle. They saved a henchman who had been knocked into the water, by throwing in the body of a dead hippogriff. The blood from the hippogriff attracted the archer fish and saved him. This cut short the fight, but IMO the players well deserved their XP.

# 2 and #3 were vermin battles, of moderate interest. #2 was complicated IMC by a fight breaking out between the NPCs accompanying the PCs. In both cases the battles started with the PCs at the limit of glowstick light, 20 squares down the tunnel from the monsters, so the terrain didn't really get used.

With fight #3 coming right after fight #2, it felt a bit grindy. I think a single more dangerous encounter might have been better than 2 back-to-back encounters.