Tips for Barrow of the Forgotten King

[carborundum]

I'm running BOTFG this weekend - has anyone any tips for keeping the story going?
I was thinking of having the first lot of summoned zombies and skeletons having messages written on them - "Back off, losers" and so on.

I want to try and keep some sort of chase feel alive, and not just a dungeon crawl (though it kind of .. is). We'll be playing a 12 hour session on the Saturday, so a modicum of story that's obvious to the players is important.

I want them looking forward to the Savage Spire, not passing the quarterly weekend Dm cap to someone else.

 

[Grymar]

I get what you are saying, but I don't think those first skeletons should have any sort of taunt. They are a diversion...they should get the party to think that it is just a standard haunted tomb. It isn't until they go deeper and find that someone has left watchers and traps behind (the frayed rope bridge, etc) that they realize that they are on to something bigger. It is that depth which makes the module fun, if you ask me.

 

[carborundum]

So, basically, it'll take care of itself. The players will have all sorts of conspiracy theories which I can play with and I should relax.

It's always the few days before a game with an unfamiliar group that get to me

 

[kensanata]

From my blog: "There was a door with an Arcane Lock on it. As low-level characters, it required battering down the door (or going back to town and organize a scroll of Knock). That was disappointing, specially since the very same door has a hint for the riddle in the next room. Obviously my players thought for the longest time that the hint was in fact a riddle and that solving it would open the door in question. It took a lot of prodding and hinting to move things along at this point." (rest of the review)

 

[Grymar]

From my blog: "There was a door with an Arcane Lock on it. As low-level characters, it required battering down the door (or going back to town and organize a scroll of Knock). That was disappointing, specially since the very same door has a hint for the riddle in the next room. Obviously my players thought for the longest time that the hint was in fact a riddle and that solving it would open the door in question. It took a lot of prodding and hinting to move things along at this point." (rest of the review)

Good point. When I ran it I just made it hidden latch that they had to search for to open the door. The arcane lock was a bad design choice, I feel.

 

[Mark]

Make the deceased people relatives of someone in the party, preferably someone who tends to be a leader in the group.

Cut the maze. Now that I have said so, some will post that mazes are good. They can be but cut the maze anyway.

Have captured enemies pretty much spill their guts. They only know so much, anyway, and it will help to keep things moving more quickly.

Be generous with knowledge check results regarding local lore and the various examples of artwork.

Combats take longer than people think they do. Add in a couple of secret passages that bypass encounters you do not feel are integral to the game you want to run on Saturday. If the players are not moving quickly enough to finish in time, allow them to discover the a secret passage or two. Better to finish an hour too early than to end with a couple of encounters to finish.

Some players agonize over leveling up but you will need to do so at some point during the game so get the players thinking about that today.

Have fun, of course.

 

[DM_Jeff]

There's a ton of talk on this module on this old EN World thread here:

http://www.enworld.org/archive/index.php/t-188241.html

Hope it helps.

-DM Jeff

 

[carborundum]

Thanks very much! Just what I was looking for!

I've been thinking about cutting the maze and the arcane lock too. Having the bad guys spill their guts is a good idea, getting the story in there early and keeping it going. I'll go check that other thread now

Sob! Boohoo!
Quote from DM_Jeff in that thread: ""Dungeon Magazine is the best value in gaming today". I don't see that changing anytime soon."

EDIT: Great pdfs too - thanks!


Thanks for all your tips!

Jeff (yes, I'm a jeff too)