Red Hand of Doom--my players stay out!!

[Barendd Nobeard]

Fair point. But, did Ozzy take any damage, and did the party give any indication they could deal with repeated flyby and ariel breath weapon attacks? The party may have sent Koth packing, but Ozzy is a dragon, and not likely to be at all humble. He also has enough HP that he could afford to stick it out for a while without being significantly endangered. He is not fragile enough to be dropped by a single attack. He also moves pretty fast, and should be able to retreat if he starts to get into trouble.

Well, the dwarven tank was flying, and two of the characters had bows. Ozy did get nicked by the wizard (I think only one spell hit him, but the player rolled poorly for damage and Ozy made his Reflex save to take only 1/2 damage). So (to the dragon anyway), it looked like at least four out of five party members could handle aeriel combat to some degree. He is only Medium sized at this point; not quite the 'large and in charge' baddie some might expect a dragon to be.

As for a more metagame comment, I would avoid bumping him up in any way for the time being. Koth is unusually sturdy for a spell caster, and the two of them together end up making for a much harsher challenge than CR alone would suggest.

END COMMUNICATION

True that! I guess if he truly trashes the party, maybe I'll advance him a little for that final encounter toward the end in the mountains. But I suspect the next time they tangle, it will be to the death.


I'm having a lot of fun with this group in this module. I can't wait to see what they decide to do--whatever they decide will be fun to play out. The players are all very sharp; they pick up on little clues (like a goblin saying something in Draconic instead of Goblin) and generally have good tactics (except for sending a dwarven tank on a recon mission).


Thanks for all the input!

 

[Klaus]

He is only Medium sized at this point; not quite the 'large and in charge' baddie some might expect a dragon to be.

... which is why, if I ever get a chance to run this (oh, how I doubt it), I'll be bumping all dragons by one size category. Won't change anything but space/reach, but dragons ought to be DRAGONS, y'know?

 

[Lord Zardoz]

... which is why, if I ever get a chance to run this (oh, how I doubt it), I'll be bumping all dragons by one size category. Won't change anything but space/reach, but dragons ought to be DRAGONS, y'know?

Not that I could comment on a game you have yet to run, but I am not sure that is such a good idea. Assuming your characters are at about the right level at any given step in the adventure, the dragons are all pretty dangerous, and typically are not solo encounters.

I suppose though, it depends on how the characters your players use are outfitted. My own results so far are a bit skewed since I tend to be a bit lean on the treasure, and my players are a bit higher in level then might be intended by the module, as a result of me integrating events not related to the adventure.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

... which is why, if I ever get a chance to run this (oh, how I doubt it), I'll be bumping all dragons by one size category. Won't change anything but space/reach, but dragons ought to be DRAGONS, y'know?

I hope you get a chance to run it some day. It was great fun to play, and it's been a lot of fun to run so far. Of course, that is in large part due to my players (who will never see this praise, since they're supposed to stay out of this thread).

I even considered bumping up the dragon's size without any other adjustments, just so they'd look more menacing. Like the picture of Skullgorge Bridge in the book--there's no way Ozyrrandion is medium in that picture!

 

[Moon-Lancer]

I am running this game right now. So far the party has been kicking ass and taking names. I'm a new dm and perhaps thats why they are doing so well. They capture at least one baddie a session and are pretty smart, however the hord has alot of info on them right now, and the party is not very subtle in how they go about things.

Each party member has dropped below 0 more times then I can count, But it was not until the fight with the black dragon that one of the pcs finely fell because he combined too many of the encounters into a single large cluster of a combat and was perused by a armored ogre with a tower shield (I changed the 6 ogres to 4, 3 of them in breast plate and 1 in full plate and tower).

I also asked the party if they wanted gritty realism and given that 3 or so rounds went by with the party member bleeding to death, and with the harrowblade standing over him without contestion, and an easy target. I had it 'dine out' as it were. I felt pritty bad, but the player was glad I did it rather then going easy on him.

I don't think its exactly written this way but lately if the party lets a few guys escape or are very loud about their combat, I have a few hord members (instead of rushing out and getting fireballed) wait in the room they are designated to or a good place to hide and give give them all readied actions and when the party member(s) turn the corner, they are bombarded with these attacks. It tends to make the fights much more challenging giving the hord those extra precious attacks.

In fact I took a pc from full health (a dusk blade) down to bellow zero in one action by the pc. This was in the road barricade. They had killed most of the creatures inside with a fireball and only two veterans and a Sargent left, the party member assumed they fled or whatnot. Well they were in fact waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs (they were inactive for 2 rounds or so) as he slid down the ladder (without looking mind you), he got 6 attacks (3 from from attacks of opportunity and 3 with readied actions). If it hadn't been for the the sorcerer that had cast hast, and the cleric who had the healing wand from the keep, and if the cleric's initiative wasen't as high as it was, that would have been 1 dead/captured pc. Before hand I had put arrow slits in the road block and the pc was downed on the other side of the wall right next to the slit, so the cleric poked him with the healing stick through the arrow slot. it was a pritty tense moment

Barendd Nobeard, I wish i could help, but the party I group with has been pretty much by the book, except for a few things. Like i couldn't figure out How to get them to go north to the elves so I had the harrowblade fight happen as they were returning from the roadblock, and The party thought that the leader of Brindol was the Ghostlord because of a mistake of words on my part. Now i know why they call him the Ghostlord and not the Lionlord. (well in my game I changed both of them to wolves...)

 

[Klaus]

Not that I could comment on a game you have yet to run, but I am not sure that is such a good idea. Assuming your characters are at about the right level at any given step in the adventure, the dragons are all pretty dangerous, and typically are not solo encounters.

I suppose though, it depends on how the characters your players use are outfitted. My own results so far are a bit skewed since I tend to be a bit lean on the treasure, and my players are a bit higher in level then might be intended by the module, as a result of me integrating events not related to the adventure.

END COMMUNICATION

Mind you, I would't change anything else in their stats, just make them look cooler.

And Tiamat's aspect? Colossal. There's no other way.

And I'd make Koth a hexblade.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I am running this game right now. So far the party has been kicking ass and taking names. I'm a new dm and perhaps thats why they are doing so well.

I sounds like you're doing just fine, Moon-Lancer. It can be intimidating when you first DM. But if you just play the bad guys appropriately (and it sounds like you are!), then all will be fun.

<snip>

Barendd Nobeard, I wish i could help, but the party I group with has been pretty much by the book, except for a few things. Like i couldn't figure out How to get them to go north to the elves so I had the harrowblade fight happen as they were returning from the roadblock, and The party thought that the leader of Brindol was the Ghostlord because of a mistake of words on my part. Now i know why they call him the Ghostlord and not the Lionlord. (well in my game I changed both of them to wolves...)

I can't wait til Chapter 3; I think the Ghostlord chapter is awesome. I remember when I played it and we found the phylactery. I just thought, "Oh, crap!" and was very nervous for the entire time we played that part of RHoD.

It is kind of funny that there are the "Lions of Brindol" and then the Ghostlord's lions. Hmmmm, I may have to attempt some mis-direction on my players. ("Oh, lions, they're probably allies....")

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Mind you, I would't change anything else in their stats, just make them look cooler.

And Tiamat's aspect? Colossal. There's no other way.

Exactly.

And I'd make Koth a hexblade.

Hmmm, too late for me to do that.

But we play with a house rule of a "feat every level (except stat bump levels)." It was quite fun to alter all the bad guys and add extra feats to them. I gave Koth Two Weapon Fighting, Craft Wand, and Double Wand Wielder. For dragons, I add feats like Adroit Flyby Attack, Imp. Speed, and Imp. Maneuverability. Yowsa!

 

[Klaus]

I sounds like you're doing just fine, Moon-Lancer. It can be intimidating when you first DM. But if you just play the bad guys appropriately (and it sounds like you are!), then all will be fun.







I can't wait til Chapter 3; I think the Ghostlord chapter is awesome. I remember when I played it and we found the phylactery. I just thought, "Oh, crap!" and was very nervous for the entire time we played that part of RHoD.

It is kind of funny that there are the "Lions of Brindol" and then the Ghostlord's lions. Hmmmm, I may have to attempt some mis-direction on my players. ("Oh, lions, they're probably allies....")

Read the backstory on the Kingdom of Rhestilor. Lions were the big symbol for the kingdom, and the Lions of Brindol are a descendant of the Rhestilorian army.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Read the backstory on the Kingdom of Rhestilor. Lions were the big symbol for the kingdom, and the Lions of Brindol are a descendant of the Rhestilorian army.

I will have to read up on Rhestilor. I didn't know / remember that the Lions of Brindol were descendants of the Rhestilorian army. (It might be in the mod, but there's a lot of info. in there and I am too old to retain all of it. ) Thank Pelor for Google! Now, I'm off to read up on Rhestilor.