Running CotSQ (Spoilers)

[mmu1]

I've just started running CotSQ, and was wondering how people are handling certain things... That, and felt like griping a little bit - I like it quite a bit so far, but certain things annoyed me a little.

The one thing that's bugged me so far is the Dordrien Catacomb level... Now, I haven't ran very many modules, but isn't the encounter density in this thing just a little high?

I found myself adding extra space between the Roper and the entrance to the Spider Kisser hideout, re-designing the Spider Kisser caverns (getting rid of the Aranea rangers, who seemed really superflous after the two Bebiliths, and making the entrance to the hideout proper a little bit harder to reach), putting the Mauzrehi lair in a less painfully obvious spot, and throwing in a little section of winding tunnels and grottos between the crypts and the Sith Morcane guard post for the Driders to prowl, instead of having them stuck behind a wall right on top of everything else...

So what I'd like to know is how other people who've been running it dealt with it - did you run it strictly by the book? Did you feel, as I did, that some changes were needed? Were there any other "problem" areas? Are there any bare patches you found needed spicing up?

Also... How's everyone handling the fact that the adventure is in complete darkness, for the most part, and that the characters are essentially walking into ambush after ambush? How did your parties handle light sources / darkvision? My guys so far seem reluctant to use up the spell slots to provide everyone with it, which means they've been getting hit pretty hard... One death so far, and I'm fully expecting things to get worse.

 

[Daredevill]

I'm prepping my group now for it. They're in the silver marches (Sundabar area) and I've been dropping hints about the recent Drow raids.

I expected to have to make changes, but you've listed a bunch already!

It did seem somewhat of a meat grinder when I read through it though.

Perhaps I'll look at it again more carefully...

 

[Timothy]

I think the level isn't quite right. The cripts are a bit too hard, while the first city (maerihmdra or something like that) can de done very easily if played correctly. (and even when everyone was alerted I had to make things a bit harder.) Also, I would add some extra roleplying in, because as soon as the party is discovered everything quicjly waters down to fighting.

 

[mmu1]

I think the level isn't quite right. The cripts are a bit too hard, while the first city (maerihmdra or something like that) can de done very easily if played correctly. (and even when everyone was alerted I had to make things a bit harder.) Also, I would add some extra roleplying in, because as soon as the party is discovered everything quicjly waters down to fighting.

Heh... Let's just say that the chances of my players doing things "correctly" probably aren't very high.

That, and I've been considering making Sith Morcane a little more challenging - for one thing, changing the completely brain-dead spell selections for the various spellguards, for another, after the initial encounter with the party I'll definitely have someone cast Protection from Elements: Fire on as many of the tougher Drow combatants as possible (one they get an idea for the party Sorcerer's modus operandi.)

 

[Latency]

What level is your party. I am currently a player that is going through the adventure and from a PC's Point of view this crypt was way to powerful for the recommended 10th level. We are a 10th level party Cleric, Monk,Wizard, Paladin and Rouge and this is our second party. We had a TPK in the first encounter.

To overcome the constant darkness the wizard has been using mass dark vision on the party and myself the cleric I always have one Blind sight (MoF) at the ready just in case. I have also found that over half of my spells per day go into Just buffing the party and myself before going into the crypt. This is a great adventure but it is a meat grinder on the PC's. Best of luck to all that enter.

 

[mmu1]

The party is 10th level, created with a 36 point buy - Dwarven Barbarian7/Rogue3, Human Cleric10, Human Sorcerer10, Human Druid10 with an awakened animal cohort (6th level panther Psi-Warrior), Elven Ranger 10, and an NPC Halfling Rogue 10.

The first enounter scared the crap out of them - by the end of the second round, the Improved Invisible vampire had cast three lightning bolts, the Sorcerer was at 4hp and couldn't use any of his high-end blasting spells in a 20' square room anyway, the Druid was somewhere in the teens, the cleric was down to 35 from 70+, and someone else took some minor damage... They managed to live through it, though. The fact that the vampire spawn got turned probably helped, because no one got energy drained...

 

[mmu1]

Bump?

 

[Tom Cashel]

I'm starting this module with my group tomorrow. So I'll let you know how it goes...they've got a Rgr3/Rog3/Clr4, a Clr10, a Drd11, a Wiz(Illusionist)11, and a Rog7/Shd2. The link in my sig goes to a page with full descriptions, photos of their minis, stat blocks, etc. Look under dramatis personae.

Mostly I've been reading the Dordrien and Szith Morcane sections over and over, and painting a whole boatload of miniatures for the session. 71 in the past six weeks. No wonder my neck is stiff!

I agree that the Dordrien section is kind of small...seems those tunnels could be much longer. Since when is the "Underdark" proper a couple hundred feet underground? So I'm just using the map as a guide for building dwarven forge set-ups...the set-ups will most likely be on a larger scale than the maps call for.

Like I say...we'll see how it goes.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Wow...this thread kind of died, eh?

My PCs got through the first 9 encounters in a seven-hour session.

Yep, that's right...D1-D9 in seven hours' time. It seemed pretty slow to me, but the guys were having a grand old time looting all the tombs (heh...I can't help having my NPCs give the good-aligned clerics a hard time about that) on their way down into the crypts. They had an easy time of it...they tried to bash down Lady Quallem's door three times, making saves all the while, before finally stone-shaping it out of their way. They were genuinely surprised to learn that they'd been saving against slay living.

Nobody noticed, or really looked for, the maurezhi.

Finally the party rogue/shadowdancer got about three faces full of yellow mold, leaving him at CON 1 with a max hp of 9 and a current hp of 5. The roper, whom I've named Zaggoplyxxinnill, surrendered once fire was applied, and has been telling the PCs about the drow in white and the drow in black that often pass by.

Next time (April 5) I'll be using those RPGA Initiative Cards, and we're looking to get things into action mode rather than overcautious tactical mode (e.g. they checked every five feet of hallway for traps on the way into the tombs; granted, the pile of drow bodies just inside the entrance tends to make one paranoid, but...).

We ended just as Zaggo pointed out the illusory wall...next session will begin with the spider-kisser hideout, it seems. With the party rogue nearly dead, the maurezhi on the hunt for stragglers, and the rest of them about to leap through the wall to capture the "drow spy" they've decided is back there (I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when the bebiliths get done with the armor)...it should be an interesting game.

 

[Tom Cashel]

How did your parties handle light sources / darkvision? My guys so far seem reluctant to use up the spell slots to provide everyone with it, which means they've been getting hit pretty hard...

Party wizard put a permanent darkvision on himself, and is casting it twice a day to cover the other PCs. There is also a pair of goggles of night in the group somewhere.

Their new idea is to use veil to disguise themselves as a group of drow. I'll be interested to see whether they pick drow in white, drow in black with spiderweb designs, or a mixture of both.