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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 4493679" data-attributes="member: 386">We got on to Thunderspire Labyrinth last night.The guy who was most invested in taking over Winterhaven was away last night, so we decided (as a group) to put off the "a knight rides into town and asks what the hell Padraig is doing in jail" encounter.  I did stat up an encounter, though, making up a new monster.  It's easy to do - took no time at all.  I just asked myself what kinds of things this guy could do, and what level of adversity he would pose.  Here are his stats if you're interested:[sblock=Knight of Nerath]Knight of Nerath Level 8 Elite SoldierLarge humanoid, human XP 700Initiative +9 Senses Perception +7HP 184; Bloodied 92AC 25; Fortitude 23, Reflex 20, Will 22Saving Throws +1Speed 5Action Points 1m Spear (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon+15 vs. AC; 2d6+5 damage, and the target is marked until the end of the knight's next turn.M Hoof Smash (standard; at-will )Requires warhorse; +13 vs. Ref; 1d8+5 damage, and the target is pushed one square and falls prone.  The knight may shift into the space.Brutal Charge (standard; at-will; on charge only)Requires warhorse; the knight charges and makes a spear and hoof smash attack.Shield Block (immediate interrupt, when hit by a melee attack; encounter)The knight forces a re-roll, taking the second value, and gains a +2 to AC and Reflex until the end of his next turn.Grim Determination (immediate reaction, when first bloodied; encounter)The knight gains a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls.MountedRequires warhorse; the knight gains a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls, a +2 bonus to Athletics and Endurance, and his speed is increased to 8.Alignment Unaligned Languages CommonSkills Athletics +14, Endurance +14, Intimidate +12Str +9 Dex +7 Wis +7Con +9 Int +7 Cha +7Equipment plate mail, spear, shield, warhorse[/sblock]So I went around the table, asking each player what his PC was doing.  We ran a short scene for each PC:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Wizard (Armok) was surveying the graveyard for a future location for his tower.  Now that all the corpses have risen and been blasted, it's not much of a graveyard.  He got the aid of Thain Coalstriker, who said, "I'm not an engineer, but if I were, this is what I would do..." and rattled off some engineering jargon.  He also wanted to build down, not up, and couldn't understand why someone would build up - it's defenseless!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Fighter (Wexley) was busy getting drunk and tending to his wounds, practicing with his sword.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Rogue (Bren the Bold) was out in the fields training his Entourage how to fight better.  He's in a Skill Challenge to turn these guys from Minions into "real" monsters. The halflings were doing fine, shooting with their slings, but the human wasn't doing so well.  The Rogue, a halfling himself, tried to show him how to fight, but he only knows halfling stances, and not human ones.  The human couldn't get it, and gave up in disgust, heading off to drink with the Fighter.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Warlock (Jace) went to the temple to talk with Sister Linora.  He wanted to find out some information about the devil with whom he made his pact.  Sister Linora said that she could find out about him, but she'd need the heart of a devil or the pinfeathers of an angel.  (Instead of the 400 gp for Consult Mystic Sages.) She also told him that he should just accept it and not go off and get himself into more trouble.  "I see pain and death along this path."  "Yeah, that's anyone who gets in my way."</li> </ul>All the PCs eventually crossed paths in the graveyard.  And they spotted some hobgoblins lurking around.  What I'm going to do is introduce most plot points through combat scenes.  It's D&D after all.The hobgoblins were Bloodreaver slavers from Thunderspire who were looking for their brothers.  There was a short, brutal fight (and two of the Entourage went down, but were brought up into fighting form with some Heal checks after the fight) and the PCs won.  They tried to get the commander to talk, but he told them to... erm, "get lost", and Wexley the Fighter snapped his neck.Luckily he had a note on him.  So off to Thunderspire.  As an added hook, one of the Entourage said his pa was taken by slavers and he wants to go and rescue him.Into Thunderspire.  I described the main passage using imagery from the movie version of Lord of the Rings - the Moria scene.  The PCs decided not to head down the main passage, and they wandered around the minotaur-made passages.And soon they got lost (15 on the Dungeoneering check).  Armok knew a thing or two about minotaur construction, but the route he took them along was caved in.  So they decided to wait until a "guide" came by.That guide came in the form of some (randomly-generated) Crusaders of Torog - a bunch of stinky troglodytes and an angel of valour.  I described the angel of valour as a lump of flesh, covered in green bile, open sores, and maggots, eyes and mouths popping open and bursting at random.The Warlock Jace gave them a nice line about being a worshipper of Torog himself, and they needed his help because he was sick.  They believed his lies but were confused - why didn't he give off the aura of Torog (the trog stench), why did he need help if he was gifted by Torog (the illness), etc.He bluffed again (no roll needed, same original successful roll), saying that he wanted help to spread the gift and infect others.And then the wizard cast his daily on them and the fight took off.And what a fight!  It was great.  The fighter moved out in front, got beaten down, came back, got beaten again.  But through some nice tactics and effects, the PCs prevailed.I did have one trog try to trip the Warlock who was shifting - casting, the bastard! even though it wasn't on his statblock, but he failed.  Other than that, it was pretty much by-the-numbers.  Good fight, though.They tried to intimidate the last two trogs, but only got one (the other they killed right away).  The captured trog's small brain couldn't understand why they were attacked - weren't they all worshippers of Torog?  (The original bluff roll, still in effect.)  The PCs gave him a line about this whole thing being a test.  The trog was happy he was found worthy and asked when the maggots on the genitals - the standard rite of Torog - would begin."Um, later."They took the map tattooed on the arm of the curse chanter - well, they took the skin - and went back into the dungeon with a guide.That's where we ended.  I talked with one player about random encounters, resource management, and how hard it is to take down a PC with access to all his healing surges.  I like the fact that this module has random encounters which makes resting more difficult.The players asked about clearing out sections so they could rest safely... I'm not sure how I will handle that.  Any ideas?</blockquote>

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