pogre's Trailblazer Campaign Notes & Questions

[pogre]

Good suggestions - and so true about the combat reactions! The rogue (Deadsmell) played by Hank is really good at getting those bonuses flowing.

Just a sidenote to Glassjaw - I tried to use some of the treacherous/difficult terrain rules. During the excitement of the combat I forgot about some of it and the PCs made every test I did ask them to take. I'm a little rusty - I'll try to incorporate more terrain features in upcoming adventures.

Another symptom of my underestimating the PCs. I had a monster I thought they would avoid - making it effectively dangerous terrain for the last encounter. The only problem was the barbarian killed it with one swing - oops.

I posted the rest of our first adventure in the story hour. I wished I had taken a picture of our set-up for the last combat - it was pretty darn cool. I'll try to remember my camera this week.

 

[pogre]

QUESTION
Nevermind - figured it out.

 

[Crippler]

True, but in today's adventure the boy fully embraced all power attack, all the time! He said, "Dad, I'm all out power attack unless I say different, which will be NEVER!"

Yes, my son really talks like that. Brian L. would be so proud!

Ahh, that does a heart good

 

[pogre]

I posted the second episode of the story hour tonight/this morning.

Action points were huge in the final encounter. I think 4 out of 5 missed their initial save against the Vargouilles' shriek. They all made it after using an action point. One trick ponies like Vargouilles suck against a party with an abundance of action points.

Again, I had written this adventure a while before we started playing and it was quickly obvious I needed to add more foes to the final encounter.

I'm taking a camera to this week's game - so I should add some pictures to the SH after a couple more episodes.

So far, so good.

 

[GlassJaw]

Action points were huge in the final encounter. I think 4 out of 5 missed their initial save against the Vargouilles' shriek. They all made it after using an action point. One trick ponies like Vargouilles suck against a party with an abundance of action points.

Maybe so, but remember, action points are another resource for you, the DM, to "drain" besides just hit points. If the players have to spend APs against the minions, then they will have fewer to use in the final battle.

I know you mentioned this was the final encounter so sure, a few more baddies with a mix of abilities might have balanced things out a bit. Probably good to have some tanks/strikers alongside the vargouilles.

 

[pogre]

Maybe so, but remember, action points are another resource for you, the DM, to "drain" besides just hit points. If the players have to spend APs against the minions, then they will have fewer to use in the final battle.

Action Points make monsters who remove PCs from combat much less scary. I don't view that is a bad thing. I'm not a big fan of Bodaks and their ilk - so its not a big deal.

 

[BSF]

I don't have Trailblazer, but I have been using action points for a few years now. They do tweak combat a bit more in the player's favor, but that is OK in my book. So long as everybody is having fun and feeling challenged the important parts of the game are covered.

 

[pogre]

I don't have Trailblazer, but I have been using action points for a few years now. They do tweak combat a bit more in the player's favor, but that is OK in my book. So long as everybody is having fun and feeling challenged the important parts of the game are covered.

I'm biased, but you should get it BSF - particularly if you are running or will run a 3.5 style game, Ben has some awesome ideas knocking around in this book. The monster book is going to be a great resource too. My players are having a blast.

 

[pogre]

We have finally gotten past the first five adventures I had prepared before the campaign:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-...campaign-update-12-21-2010-a.html#post5382506

We just played the first adventure, which was created with a better understanding of what the PCs were capable of. I also forced them into consecutive encounters without a rest at one point, making the whole thing a bit more desperate.

We're still enjoying things very much. My main problem is I keep forgetting about Combat Reactions and maneuvers for some of the monsters. I gave the main boss of this adventure a bucketload of AP, making it very frustrating for the PCs. Once they killed it though there was much rejoicing.

 

[GlassJaw]

My main problem is I keep forgetting about Combat Reactions and maneuvers for some of the monsters.

I do remember a conversation Wulf and I had during development about this very thing. For mooks and normal encounters, don't worry too much about them. You can also just use them for important NPCs, elites, and solos only.

I do have a more detailed design note for the monster book as well.