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PCs defeat Miska, but relinquish the Crystal of the Ebon Flame
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6188166" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Thanks.</p><p></p><p>And thanks.</p><p></p><p>I've attached my write-up to this post (though it was 23rd rather than 24th, as they went their earlier than I had anticipated; and the stats for the demon swarms aren't on there, as they were handwritten on another page). It was heavily derived from the P2 one I mentioned, and so emphasised endurance, and steps to help with that, with a series of vignette-style encoutners along the way.</p><p></p><p>The one with the giant Abyssal dragon bones was fine - the invoker/wizard broke off a shard of bone for future use - and the one with the tombstones was OK too, reinforcing the idea of Abyssal emnity towards the PCs.</p><p></p><p>The one with the three Abyssal skirmishers was easy as a combat encounter, and was more interesting for the fall down the pit, which triggered the encounter with the oublietted Elidyr (which I worked out on the spot, and which I mentioned in the Ometh writeup).</p><p></p><p>The castle one led to the Ometh encounter, plus recovery of a sealed box that they haven't opened yet due to between-sessions forgetfullness.</p><p></p><p>The avoidance ones, with a demon horde and the dragon flying overhead, were fairly quick to resolve but didn't really add anything, I don't think. In retrospect the whole thing would have been better done as a single group Endurance check for a larger amount of damage at stake (max damage on fail, half damage on Easy, no damage on Moderate, with group failure leading to double damage, or something like that) - and then I could have just dropped in some of the vignettes. Though in that case no one would have been down surges during the Ometh fight, and that was relevant for the situation of the invoker/wizard, who was doing the worst with Endurance checks.</p><p></p><p>Yes, I was happy with all of this. The gauntlet of blasters, which I was worried might be a bit tedious in resolution due to lack of dynamism, actually worked pretty well, with just enough in it to require some thought about how to get through, but not so much to bog down once the teleport strategy had been implemented.</p><p></p><p>The dealing with the altar was also fine - the riddle, which again I had been worried might bog down, was easily solved but in a way that brought out different outlooks among the PCs as to which values are pre-eminent; the Object Reading gave me an opportunity to download some more backstory, which the players need as they are moving towards the resolution of the cosmological conflicts in which they are embroiled; the fight with Miska, though not as vicious as I had been aiming for, reinforced some key story elements, incuding that beating Miska back into submission would, at least for the moment, eliminate the chaotic forces; and the Make Whole at the end was basically set-dressing, and so as soon as the players were able to nominate a source of components strong enough to make it work (the altar) I was happy for it to work.</p><p></p><p>When I was writing up, I realised that the write-up very much emphasised the priority of the invoker/wizard in the events, and that is probably accurate, but the other players and PCs - especially but not only the Corellon-worshipping demonskin-wearing chaos drow - were heavily involved in making choices and shaping the direction of events. I've posted before that I'm worried that the party might implode before they get to 30th level due to all the inherent tensions, and I felt the whole reliquary/Miska/Ebon Flame episode allowed those tensions to be further elaborated and developed while the party still maintained a (perhaps fragile) truce, based in this case on the Leomund's Chest compromise.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6188166, member: 42582"] Thanks. And thanks. I've attached my write-up to this post (though it was 23rd rather than 24th, as they went their earlier than I had anticipated; and the stats for the demon swarms aren't on there, as they were handwritten on another page). It was heavily derived from the P2 one I mentioned, and so emphasised endurance, and steps to help with that, with a series of vignette-style encoutners along the way. The one with the giant Abyssal dragon bones was fine - the invoker/wizard broke off a shard of bone for future use - and the one with the tombstones was OK too, reinforcing the idea of Abyssal emnity towards the PCs. The one with the three Abyssal skirmishers was easy as a combat encounter, and was more interesting for the fall down the pit, which triggered the encounter with the oublietted Elidyr (which I worked out on the spot, and which I mentioned in the Ometh writeup). The castle one led to the Ometh encounter, plus recovery of a sealed box that they haven't opened yet due to between-sessions forgetfullness. The avoidance ones, with a demon horde and the dragon flying overhead, were fairly quick to resolve but didn't really add anything, I don't think. In retrospect the whole thing would have been better done as a single group Endurance check for a larger amount of damage at stake (max damage on fail, half damage on Easy, no damage on Moderate, with group failure leading to double damage, or something like that) - and then I could have just dropped in some of the vignettes. Though in that case no one would have been down surges during the Ometh fight, and that was relevant for the situation of the invoker/wizard, who was doing the worst with Endurance checks. Yes, I was happy with all of this. The gauntlet of blasters, which I was worried might be a bit tedious in resolution due to lack of dynamism, actually worked pretty well, with just enough in it to require some thought about how to get through, but not so much to bog down once the teleport strategy had been implemented. The dealing with the altar was also fine - the riddle, which again I had been worried might bog down, was easily solved but in a way that brought out different outlooks among the PCs as to which values are pre-eminent; the Object Reading gave me an opportunity to download some more backstory, which the players need as they are moving towards the resolution of the cosmological conflicts in which they are embroiled; the fight with Miska, though not as vicious as I had been aiming for, reinforced some key story elements, incuding that beating Miska back into submission would, at least for the moment, eliminate the chaotic forces; and the Make Whole at the end was basically set-dressing, and so as soon as the players were able to nominate a source of components strong enough to make it work (the altar) I was happy for it to work. When I was writing up, I realised that the write-up very much emphasised the priority of the invoker/wizard in the events, and that is probably accurate, but the other players and PCs - especially but not only the Corellon-worshipping demonskin-wearing chaos drow - were heavily involved in making choices and shaping the direction of events. I've posted before that I'm worried that the party might implode before they get to 30th level due to all the inherent tensions, and I felt the whole reliquary/Miska/Ebon Flame episode allowed those tensions to be further elaborated and developed while the party still maintained a (perhaps fragile) truce, based in this case on the Leomund's Chest compromise. [/QUOTE]
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