Cadriel
First Post
I ran my first session of Princes of the Apocalypse starting at level 1 in Red Larch yesterday. We used new PCs: initially a half-orc barbarian, half-orc monk, Earth Genasi Druid, dwarf Druid, human bard, and human ranger. The Druids and barbarian are Emerald Enclave, and the ranger is secretly Zhentarim. The players decided to have been with a caravan up to this point, and gotten off in Red Larch to switch with fresh guards who would take it the final distance to Waterdeep.
They found themselves at the Helm, where I'll list some items under tips, and it was rather dry as they didn't bribe the halfling carpenter. I did give them a lead on the ghost seen by Minny Mhandiver's granddaughter, which set the tone. Then they lodged at the Swinging Sword and Kaylessa told them her suspicions about Lance Rock. The ranger also came into contact with the baker, who told them there might be goblins involved in the ghost mission. They went to sleep after that.
Come next morning, they interviewed Pell (Minny's granddaughter) and got he directions to the Hidden Tomb. It was annoying that there was no map, but the PCs totally missed the goblin and half-ogre outside. They found the ghost inside and tried negotiating with him, but to no effect. They decided not to chance a fight but got one anyway right outside the tomb. The monk got out in front, which was a mistake; he landed a lot of damage on the half-ogre but the half-ogre hit back and killed him in one shot. The other PCs won handily but it was a fast, significant loss of a PC.
Back in Red Larch, the PCs rested and recuperated. The next day they got more rumors, including the details from the Tarnlar children about Lance Rock. The new PC, a fire Genasi sorcerer, also showed up during this period. There was a brief oddity where I had a strong warm wind blow through the town, as in some of the descriptions. (This was off the "something happens" table in the DM's screen, but I decided to play up a link to Elemental Evil as a whole.) They set out the following day after more rumor-gathering.
They got the trail quickly to the Necromancer's Cave once at Lance Rock. There had been only intimations of plague prior to this, and the barbarian was assaulted by the first zombie, who was only wearing leather pants - a weird detail. (It also brought up a weakness in the MM Zombie, which really should have an unarmed attack.) He also got hit by trap rocks entering the room beyond, and the PCs then went into the encounter with the zombies dressed as a bear, a jester and a lady. That one I think will stand out in their minds.
They picked the path straight to the huge room, and avoided the chest trap. Oreioth threatened them and let his minions do the fighting. The Earth Genasi druid Entangled the four skeletons here, which really helped given the short ow attack that skeletons have. Oereioth himself was tough, because he used His wand and Crown of Madness to turn the barbarian against the others. They managed to beat him, though, and the spell ended. The PCs got his bit of treasure and went home. (I had decided that the Necromancer's Cave was the milestone for reaching level 2, so they wound up leveling in the first session.)
The town parts were interesting, but I'd suggest that a DM running this adventure really needs to have a map of who's friendly with whom in Red Larch, and figure out where the different people in the town socialize. Both the Sword and the Helm are really empty of description of who is where. Since those are natural PC gravitation points, I'd suggest picking some NPCs to be there on any given day.
The tomb side-adventure is a weird one. The one thing I think got missed in it was any treasure that the goblin and his half-ogre friend might have - I was going to roll something quickly if the PCs had found their hiding spot, which they didn't.
I really enjoyed the Necromancer's Cave, as a design. Both the traps that were triggered, and the "rockfall" trap they avoided, were clever in design. The huge room where the skeletons were advancing toward the PC, and fighting Oreioth himself, were two really great combats. With the skeleton fight, the sorcerer got to show off the range on his Fire Bolt and the Entangle spell really was a big deal for the PCs. Oreioth's spells and abilities made his encounter quite a bit more tense; the barbarian literally rolled 1 under what he would have needed to knock the ranger unconscious. But it was definitely doable for a first level party. I really enjoyed Oreioth as a minor, first-dungeon villain.
The adventure was a lot of fun. I'm thinking before the next session I want to come up with a couple more "something weird happens in Red Larch" to spring when it feels right dramatically so that it's evident things are not normal in the town. It would've benefited from a table of elemental happenings to spice things up and frighten players. My guess is that the next session should take them to the sinkhole and the quarry. I'm really looking forward to getting more from this module, it's starting with a lot of promise.
They found themselves at the Helm, where I'll list some items under tips, and it was rather dry as they didn't bribe the halfling carpenter. I did give them a lead on the ghost seen by Minny Mhandiver's granddaughter, which set the tone. Then they lodged at the Swinging Sword and Kaylessa told them her suspicions about Lance Rock. The ranger also came into contact with the baker, who told them there might be goblins involved in the ghost mission. They went to sleep after that.
Come next morning, they interviewed Pell (Minny's granddaughter) and got he directions to the Hidden Tomb. It was annoying that there was no map, but the PCs totally missed the goblin and half-ogre outside. They found the ghost inside and tried negotiating with him, but to no effect. They decided not to chance a fight but got one anyway right outside the tomb. The monk got out in front, which was a mistake; he landed a lot of damage on the half-ogre but the half-ogre hit back and killed him in one shot. The other PCs won handily but it was a fast, significant loss of a PC.
Back in Red Larch, the PCs rested and recuperated. The next day they got more rumors, including the details from the Tarnlar children about Lance Rock. The new PC, a fire Genasi sorcerer, also showed up during this period. There was a brief oddity where I had a strong warm wind blow through the town, as in some of the descriptions. (This was off the "something happens" table in the DM's screen, but I decided to play up a link to Elemental Evil as a whole.) They set out the following day after more rumor-gathering.
They got the trail quickly to the Necromancer's Cave once at Lance Rock. There had been only intimations of plague prior to this, and the barbarian was assaulted by the first zombie, who was only wearing leather pants - a weird detail. (It also brought up a weakness in the MM Zombie, which really should have an unarmed attack.) He also got hit by trap rocks entering the room beyond, and the PCs then went into the encounter with the zombies dressed as a bear, a jester and a lady. That one I think will stand out in their minds.
They picked the path straight to the huge room, and avoided the chest trap. Oreioth threatened them and let his minions do the fighting. The Earth Genasi druid Entangled the four skeletons here, which really helped given the short ow attack that skeletons have. Oereioth himself was tough, because he used His wand and Crown of Madness to turn the barbarian against the others. They managed to beat him, though, and the spell ended. The PCs got his bit of treasure and went home. (I had decided that the Necromancer's Cave was the milestone for reaching level 2, so they wound up leveling in the first session.)
The town parts were interesting, but I'd suggest that a DM running this adventure really needs to have a map of who's friendly with whom in Red Larch, and figure out where the different people in the town socialize. Both the Sword and the Helm are really empty of description of who is where. Since those are natural PC gravitation points, I'd suggest picking some NPCs to be there on any given day.
The tomb side-adventure is a weird one. The one thing I think got missed in it was any treasure that the goblin and his half-ogre friend might have - I was going to roll something quickly if the PCs had found their hiding spot, which they didn't.
I really enjoyed the Necromancer's Cave, as a design. Both the traps that were triggered, and the "rockfall" trap they avoided, were clever in design. The huge room where the skeletons were advancing toward the PC, and fighting Oreioth himself, were two really great combats. With the skeleton fight, the sorcerer got to show off the range on his Fire Bolt and the Entangle spell really was a big deal for the PCs. Oreioth's spells and abilities made his encounter quite a bit more tense; the barbarian literally rolled 1 under what he would have needed to knock the ranger unconscious. But it was definitely doable for a first level party. I really enjoyed Oreioth as a minor, first-dungeon villain.
The adventure was a lot of fun. I'm thinking before the next session I want to come up with a couple more "something weird happens in Red Larch" to spring when it feels right dramatically so that it's evident things are not normal in the town. It would've benefited from a table of elemental happenings to spice things up and frighten players. My guess is that the next session should take them to the sinkhole and the quarry. I'm really looking forward to getting more from this module, it's starting with a lot of promise.
