Broccli_Head
Explorer
I'll have to find my copy of the module 1st, I presume. Or track down a used version for super-cheap!
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Return to the Dungeons of the Slave Lords - One Shot Adventure Guest Starring Old One
- Thread starter Rel
- Start date
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Slave Lords
Excellent adventure Rel, and well logged. I really liked the initial concept when you posted it under "Plots & Places", and it came off great. I suspected that the Grimlock battle would have to be dropped, and am glad that you had sufficient time for the Pirates.
I don't know if you've had a chance to read it yet, but I think that you would enjoy my "Chinese Take-out" Story Hour. It's set in the Forgotten Realms Orient. I've been posting a few chapters each day, and am now about half way done.
Isaiah
Excellent adventure Rel, and well logged. I really liked the initial concept when you posted it under "Plots & Places", and it came off great. I suspected that the Grimlock battle would have to be dropped, and am glad that you had sufficient time for the Pirates.
I don't know if you've had a chance to read it yet, but I think that you would enjoy my "Chinese Take-out" Story Hour. It's set in the Forgotten Realms Orient. I've been posting a few chapters each day, and am now about half way done.
Isaiah
Rel
Liquid Awesome
As promised, I have a few followup thoughts about the adventure and I thought I'd share them.
First, I want to make it clear that this wasn't a 1E-3E conversion of the module. It wasn't even really an adaptation. It was more like a whole new take on the idea with some strong similarities in many areas to the original (kind of like Tim Burton's version of Planet of the Apes, but without all the sucking). Some of the ideas (the Myconids, the Desperate Kobolds and the general idea of Pirate Slavers) were pulled directly from the old module and others were more of my original creation.
I played the original around 15 years ago and remember thinking it was really neat. But I don't have a full copy of the module. What I do have (and frankly I don't know when or how I got it) is the page from the module that contained a map of the docks, the Water Dragon, the pregenerated PC's and the tournament scoring guide. From that I took the names of four pregen PC's that I made but I made no attempt to recreate them precisely.
So, when I mention that I could send the documents I have, they comprise a description of the adventure setup and a list of the encounters and notes about them. I didn't even make a whole bunch of maps. Instead I had a basic idea of what each encounter area would look like and I simply sketched them on our big battlemat when the party got there. The one exception to this is that I did sketch a map of the sea cave where the Water Dragon was moored in advance.
Now a few thoughts about how the adventure played out and some things I would change:
First of all, kudos to everybody in my game group as well as Old One for their excellent job of roleplaying. Considering that I handed them these characters that night, they did a remarkable job of getting into playing them not just tactically well but breathing life into their personalities too. I also think that the fact that the group of players worked so well together is a testament to what welcoming guys my regular group of players are along with what a nice, friendly and easy to get along with guy that Old One is. I'm not just saying this to be nice. 5 minutes into the game, the casual observer would swear that we had all been playing together for years.
They all did a good job of staying on task and the fact that I had to toss out the Grimlock encounter was not because they dithered, but was because I had planned too much (which I still contend is better than too little) for a single session of that length.
Their tactics were largely very good. It would have helped if the Cleric had gotten involved and turned the undead in that first encounter more quickly. But he more than made up for it with the sheer brilliance of the idea of Waterwalking across the lava later on. That also directly contributed to how easily they defeated the Pirates at the end too. If they had had to fight their way into the sea cave via the Minehead, they would have encountered far more resistance because the Pirates were anticipating attack from that direction.
I'd also point out that using the Stone Shape to get a battleaxe in the hands of Elwita right from the outset was a big help. I had considered the possibility that they would do that, but didn't think it likely (which is one of the reasons that I included the Grimlock encounter later in order to assure that Elwita had a stone battleaxe before the climactic fight with the Pirates).
I actually thought that Delgath's Mage Armor would have been more often used than it was. But the party got around this by strapping every bit of armor they could find on Elwita and trying to assure that the rest of them stayed out of the heavy fighting.
I want to offer one word of regret to Blodgett the Rogue. I wish I had more fully considered the character's strengths and weaknesses when designing the adventure and made a few more accomodations. As designed, the character was really good at the roles of scouting and using ranged attacks. But the Halfling lack of Darkvision or Low Light vision really hurt his scouting capabilities underground. As far as ranged attacks go, he couldn't use the javelins (not a Rogue proficiency) and the rocks he was throwing only did 1d3 damage. If he had rolled better on initiative, he could have done a few more sneak attacks on his flat footed opponents but that didn't happen. Another possible role for him due to his having the best AC in the party was to go into melee and flank Elwita's opponents to gain sneak attacks. With the lowest HP in the party and an 8 Strength, that was a somewhat questionable call, but I think the risk would have been worth it. But as it turned out, there just wasn't that much straight up melee. Delgath was always casting Web which meant keeping some distance from their opponents except in the lava lake and there it was really more of a dash for the exit than an out and out battle.
The long story short is that if I ran this again, I would either redesign the PC somewhat or try and toss in at least one decent missile weapon (probably a short bow used by one of the Kobolds). Regardless, the player running Blodgett did the best he could and was a good sport about the whole thing. I'm really glad that he got a chance to shine in the final battle.
I think that Karraway and Elwita came off just the way I wanted them to. As far as Delgath goes, there is no question that he was played in an inspired fashion and the constant use of Web along with setting the Web on fire on a couple of occasions was really pretty funny. My only slight regret was that it tended to cut down on the presence of any straight out fighting where Elwita and Blodgett could really show their stuff. Perhaps selecting a different 2nd level spell for that slot and providing a Web or two on scrolls would have been better. Then again, if the Grimlock encounter had gone off as planned, I might not feel this way. Oh well, no use second guessing too much.
Regardless of any minor misgivings after the fact, the atmosphere at the game table seemed to be one of just plain fun. And that's what it's all about.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed reading the Story Hour write up and I look forward to any further comments or questions you might have. And the offer for me to send you the documents I have on the setup and encounters is still open if you want them.
First, I want to make it clear that this wasn't a 1E-3E conversion of the module. It wasn't even really an adaptation. It was more like a whole new take on the idea with some strong similarities in many areas to the original (kind of like Tim Burton's version of Planet of the Apes, but without all the sucking). Some of the ideas (the Myconids, the Desperate Kobolds and the general idea of Pirate Slavers) were pulled directly from the old module and others were more of my original creation.
I played the original around 15 years ago and remember thinking it was really neat. But I don't have a full copy of the module. What I do have (and frankly I don't know when or how I got it) is the page from the module that contained a map of the docks, the Water Dragon, the pregenerated PC's and the tournament scoring guide. From that I took the names of four pregen PC's that I made but I made no attempt to recreate them precisely.
So, when I mention that I could send the documents I have, they comprise a description of the adventure setup and a list of the encounters and notes about them. I didn't even make a whole bunch of maps. Instead I had a basic idea of what each encounter area would look like and I simply sketched them on our big battlemat when the party got there. The one exception to this is that I did sketch a map of the sea cave where the Water Dragon was moored in advance.
Now a few thoughts about how the adventure played out and some things I would change:
First of all, kudos to everybody in my game group as well as Old One for their excellent job of roleplaying. Considering that I handed them these characters that night, they did a remarkable job of getting into playing them not just tactically well but breathing life into their personalities too. I also think that the fact that the group of players worked so well together is a testament to what welcoming guys my regular group of players are along with what a nice, friendly and easy to get along with guy that Old One is. I'm not just saying this to be nice. 5 minutes into the game, the casual observer would swear that we had all been playing together for years.
They all did a good job of staying on task and the fact that I had to toss out the Grimlock encounter was not because they dithered, but was because I had planned too much (which I still contend is better than too little) for a single session of that length.
Their tactics were largely very good. It would have helped if the Cleric had gotten involved and turned the undead in that first encounter more quickly. But he more than made up for it with the sheer brilliance of the idea of Waterwalking across the lava later on. That also directly contributed to how easily they defeated the Pirates at the end too. If they had had to fight their way into the sea cave via the Minehead, they would have encountered far more resistance because the Pirates were anticipating attack from that direction.
I'd also point out that using the Stone Shape to get a battleaxe in the hands of Elwita right from the outset was a big help. I had considered the possibility that they would do that, but didn't think it likely (which is one of the reasons that I included the Grimlock encounter later in order to assure that Elwita had a stone battleaxe before the climactic fight with the Pirates).
I actually thought that Delgath's Mage Armor would have been more often used than it was. But the party got around this by strapping every bit of armor they could find on Elwita and trying to assure that the rest of them stayed out of the heavy fighting.
I want to offer one word of regret to Blodgett the Rogue. I wish I had more fully considered the character's strengths and weaknesses when designing the adventure and made a few more accomodations. As designed, the character was really good at the roles of scouting and using ranged attacks. But the Halfling lack of Darkvision or Low Light vision really hurt his scouting capabilities underground. As far as ranged attacks go, he couldn't use the javelins (not a Rogue proficiency) and the rocks he was throwing only did 1d3 damage. If he had rolled better on initiative, he could have done a few more sneak attacks on his flat footed opponents but that didn't happen. Another possible role for him due to his having the best AC in the party was to go into melee and flank Elwita's opponents to gain sneak attacks. With the lowest HP in the party and an 8 Strength, that was a somewhat questionable call, but I think the risk would have been worth it. But as it turned out, there just wasn't that much straight up melee. Delgath was always casting Web which meant keeping some distance from their opponents except in the lava lake and there it was really more of a dash for the exit than an out and out battle.
The long story short is that if I ran this again, I would either redesign the PC somewhat or try and toss in at least one decent missile weapon (probably a short bow used by one of the Kobolds). Regardless, the player running Blodgett did the best he could and was a good sport about the whole thing. I'm really glad that he got a chance to shine in the final battle.
I think that Karraway and Elwita came off just the way I wanted them to. As far as Delgath goes, there is no question that he was played in an inspired fashion and the constant use of Web along with setting the Web on fire on a couple of occasions was really pretty funny. My only slight regret was that it tended to cut down on the presence of any straight out fighting where Elwita and Blodgett could really show their stuff. Perhaps selecting a different 2nd level spell for that slot and providing a Web or two on scrolls would have been better. Then again, if the Grimlock encounter had gone off as planned, I might not feel this way. Oh well, no use second guessing too much.
Regardless of any minor misgivings after the fact, the atmosphere at the game table seemed to be one of just plain fun. And that's what it's all about.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed reading the Story Hour write up and I look forward to any further comments or questions you might have. And the offer for me to send you the documents I have on the setup and encounters is still open if you want them.
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Re: Slave Lords
I went over and checked it out, Isaiah. I'm very intrigued by what I've read so far, but it's a bit intimidating! You've got yourself a novella there already and you're only half way through. I'll have to chip away at it here and there when I have the time, but what I've read so far is really good.
Keep up the good work and thanks again for the compliment.
Isaiah said:
I went over and checked it out, Isaiah. I'm very intrigued by what I've read so far, but it's a bit intimidating! You've got yourself a novella there already and you're only half way through. I'll have to chip away at it here and there when I have the time, but what I've read so far is really good.
Keep up the good work and thanks again for the compliment.
Old One Checking In...
Greetings All!
Just finished the 7.25 hour drive back from Charlotte, NC...
As posted in Rel's SH, I had a great time with he and his crew. He (and his better half and better quarter) was a very gracious host and the other player's made me feel right at home. Numerous a$$ jokes were bandied about, which made Elwita's air-conditioned derrier that much funnier.
I was pleased that we actually finished to module and quite happy that we escaped with hardly a scratch from the final encounter. I will post a couple of other thoughts tomorrow when I can think coherently
!
~ Old One
Greetings All!
Just finished the 7.25 hour drive back from Charlotte, NC...
As posted in Rel's SH, I had a great time with he and his crew. He (and his better half and better quarter) was a very gracious host and the other player's made me feel right at home. Numerous a$$ jokes were bandied about, which made Elwita's air-conditioned derrier that much funnier.
I was pleased that we actually finished to module and quite happy that we escaped with hardly a scratch from the final encounter. I will post a couple of other thoughts tomorrow when I can think coherently
!~ Old One
Rel
Liquid Awesome
I'm glad you made it home safely, Old One. Those long hours on the road can make one a bit bleary eyed.
We really enjoyed hosting your visit and it was a thorough pleasure having you here. Oh, and "Raven" drank your last Guiness last night at our game session and he said it was fantastic.
Thanks again for coming to game with us.
We really enjoyed hosting your visit and it was a thorough pleasure having you here. Oh, and "Raven" drank your last Guiness last night at our game session and he said it was fantastic.
Thanks again for coming to game with us.
Thorntangle
First Post
Great one-shot adventure, Rel. Thanks for posting it. It sounds like everybody had a great time.
Did you look at the already-converted Slavelords modules at all (posted in the converted section on ENWorld) for ideas when you were putting this together?
Did you look at the already-converted Slavelords modules at all (posted in the converted section on ENWorld) for ideas when you were putting this together?
Rel
Liquid Awesome
I did look at those, Thorntangle, but I didn't use them directly. They were more of a source of inspiration than anything else.
The thing that I most strongly considered yanking directly from the conversions were the stats for the Pirates. But the adventure as printed was designed for characters a bit tougher (and more numerous) than the four 5th level characters I had in mind. So I just used Jamis Buck's NPC generator to create the NPC's instead of trying to "backwards level" the characters from the original module conversion.
One reason for doing all of this was that I didn't want the adventure to be a straight conversion from the old one (although I think it could have been fun if it was) so much as my own creation with a very similar theme to the original. Furthermore, like I mentioned above, I don't have a complete old copy of the original A4 and so I lacked the maps that would be necessary to run it as a conversion. Lastly, the original has a LOT of encounters in it and I had serious doubts that it could be completed in the time we had.
And besides, I promised Old One's players that I would attack him with Giant Fire Breathing Rats and Pits of Lava, and those weren't in the original.
The thing that I most strongly considered yanking directly from the conversions were the stats for the Pirates. But the adventure as printed was designed for characters a bit tougher (and more numerous) than the four 5th level characters I had in mind. So I just used Jamis Buck's NPC generator to create the NPC's instead of trying to "backwards level" the characters from the original module conversion.
One reason for doing all of this was that I didn't want the adventure to be a straight conversion from the old one (although I think it could have been fun if it was) so much as my own creation with a very similar theme to the original. Furthermore, like I mentioned above, I don't have a complete old copy of the original A4 and so I lacked the maps that would be necessary to run it as a conversion. Lastly, the original has a LOT of encounters in it and I had serious doubts that it could be completed in the time we had.
And besides, I promised Old One's players that I would attack him with Giant Fire Breathing Rats and Pits of Lava, and those weren't in the original.
