Sinister Spire Question

[Shadeydm]

I guess this question could be considered a spoiler so....
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*************SPOILER ALERT******************



I just finished reading John Cooper's review of the Sinister Spire and I have a question I am hoping a certain undead mouse who was involved with the project might be able to answer.

My question is regarding the undead information broker. The make up of my party will absolutly prevent any peaceful encounter with any type or form of undead. My question then is how important is it to the adventure that this information broker is undead and could you recomend what other race/creature could best be integrated into the adventure in place of undead? Is it intended that the PCs simply get smacked down if they can't deal with undeadness?

 

[Mouseferatu]

Looking back over it (I had to refresh my memory, since that wasn't one of my sections originally), I see no inherent reason you couldn't make Sarch something other than undead. (It makes some of his background fit together a bit less well, but that's as easily changed--or even ignored, if you prefer, since it's not anything the PCs are ever likely to learn.) Of course, if your PCs are that anti-undead, you'll need to change Sarch's workers/minions as well.

All that said, you'll still want to make him something icky that the PCs wouldn't normally work with. For both this module and a few events in Fortress of the Yuan-Ti, you really want to get them in the habit of at least considering alliances with questionable beings against greater threats.

 

[Shadeydm]

Hi Mouse,

Thanks for the reply!

So far I only have the first adventure in the series. I have been waiting to read a review to try and decide if I will get this one or not.
My biggest problem is that one of the PCs is a cleric of a god of the dead who considers undead a personal insult and instructs his followers to destroy undead and those that make them on sight. I would prefer not to put the PCs in a no win situation by making them deal with the undead. From your post it sounds like this might be a bigger problem that I had originally hoped (thinking it was an isolated information broker). How prevealent through out the adventure are undead which the PCs need to tolerate ot cooperate with? Will I be making a significant amout of work for myself by trying to adapt the adventure to be PC friendly in my game?

 

[DM_Jeff]

For those watching and listening...I as a customer appreciate additional "Weapons of Legacy" in new WotC product and so do my players. Yes, even with the table's header tabs off a bit. Glad to see another one in here. *thumbs up*

-DM Jeff

 

[Mouseferatu]

Thanks for the reply!

You're quite welcome.

From your post it sounds like this might be a bigger problem that I had originally hoped (thinking it was an isolated information broker). How prevealent through out the adventure are undead which the PCs need to tolerate ot cooperate with? Will I be making a significant amout of work for myself by trying to adapt the adventure to be PC friendly in my game?

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that it would be a major problem. Es Sarch, and his minions, only appear at a certain location (albeit one the PCs visit more than once). If you make him and his servants something other than undead, it should solve your problems.

The other alliances the PCs can/should make (or at least consider) are, IIRC, not with undead.

 

[Shadeydm]

Cool,
Thanks for your help Mouse. I just got back from my LGS witha copy.

Cheers,

 

[Zaukrie]

Reads pretty nice, though that is on one skim so far. The encounters are varied, but again, why do we keep getting so many monsters not in mini form? I don't think all creatures in adventures should be released as minis, but it is frustrating.

 

[Jhaelen]

Having just bought and read the adventure I thought it was time for a little thread necromancy

First of all: Has anyone already played the adventure, yet? If so, I'd really like to know, how it went!

I think the adventure is pretty neat, all in all. There's just two things I didn't like about it, both connected with entering the Sinister Spire. The first is probably a minor thing (but one of my pet peeves: traps in d&d) but the second is really giving me headaches:

Spoiler

1. The known entrance is trapped with 'hundreds' of (modified) destruction traps. The cost of creating something like this would be absolutely prohibitive - and then it can be bypassed by carrying some kind of token? I don't think so. Inside the spire there's another trap that's doing 2d8 damage because 'Maroe didn't want anyone [...] to proceed farther'. Fat chance! I guess at this point he could no longer afford any worthwhile traps

Spoiler

2. The secret entrance can be found with a DC30 Search check. Since it's the entrance Fadheela used to enter the spike it will also be possible to follow her tracks (which might or might not be easier to do). If the players somehow manage to find this, the whole adventure will be bypassed! And I know for certain that a DC30 is perfectly doable for my group.

So for anyone who's read the adventure: Would you change anything about these things? Or is there actually no reason to worry?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Sinister Spire is a great adventure. I meant to do a full review when I got it, and got lazy.

Two minor gripes:

1. Why

Spoiler

the node requires 2d level spells to activate, meaning that a party with a non-traditional mix, or perhaps multi-classed casters, will get stuck

-- though it will probably come up seldom and can easily be handwaved by a good DM.

2. When will WOTC learn to include what book the monsters come from in the stat blocks? At least the descriptions were provided this time, which is a great improvement to running the adventure ... but I'd still like to look monsters up in the original source from time to time.

Great mix of types of adventures & encounters, though -- I like the inclusion of a city and some dedicated RP encounters.

 

[Mouseferatu]

2. When will WOTC learn to include what book the monsters come from in the stat blocks? At least the descriptions were provided this time, which is a great improvement to running the adventure ... but I'd still like to look monsters up in the original source from time to time.

Right after Sinister Spire, as it turns out.

Or rather, I can't speak for WotC, but I think SS was the last product I worked on where I, personally, did not think to include such info.