What the hell happened? RHoD (spoilers)

[mikebr99]

The goblin didn't get away. The black dragon did.

<snip>

Ulwai and her troops in the lair were a serious fight for them; ultimately they persevered, though Ulwai got away.

Well then... have fun with Brindol... she'll help (give her a level for her troubles)!

The party has 3 clerics and a lot of potions, so if an encounter doesn't kill them, they can reasonably heal back to close to full after many combats.

The party of 4 has 3 clerics? kewl.


Mike

 

[theemrys]

Well, I made things a bit more difficult for my players at the bridge. Since one of the two players had been through that encounter before, i changed it up some. When they arrived, they found the hobgoblins interogating some dwarven prisoners on the other side of the gorge... and getting ready to throw one over the edge since he wouldn't talk. Basically, I gave them no time to buff. This REALLY threw off the guy who had played it before. To balance it some, I had the dragon 2 rounds away, so they got a bit of time to fight first. It turned out great and no PC deaths because they did a good job... but made it much more challenging for them.

So far they haven't made it to Rhest, but the did manage to have the halfling rogue take out almost the ENTIRE roadblock alone while "scouting" with his amazing hide, some very good coup de gras attacks and a lot of luck...

I have gotten a lot of good ideas for the ghostlord from here. I rebuilt him a little to make him a bit more challenging in case they do attack him... I think it would be a tough fight. I kept his level the same, but tweaked the feats and classes some so we'll see how it goes. Odds are they'll negotate anyway. The party is primarily neutral so not too worried about leaving an undead menace in the area.

 

[GreatLemur]

Ah, yes. True. I was equating the elven immunity to ghouls to all paralysis. My bad.

Actually, elves aren't immune to any kind of paralysis--ghoul or otherwise--these days. Hell, I think the ghoul description specifically says that elves are affected by their touch.

 

[Nebulous]

I really want to run this adventure, we just don't have time right now. It looks fantastic though.

 

[klofft]

Actually, elves aren't immune to any kind of paralysis--ghoul or otherwise--these days. Hell, I think the ghoul description specifically says that elves are affected by their touch.

Nope. Just double-checked. Those pesky elves are still immune to ghouls!

 

[Peni Griffin]

The party is primarily neutral so not too worried about leaving an undead menace in the area.

My party is crammed with lawful goodness, and they still negotiated. After all, the GL has gone without bothering the Vale for so long that everybody thinks he's a fairy tale. Just because you're evil doesn't make you a menace. It bothers them, and they plan to come back and take him out later (and he expects them to - he knows a paladin when he sees one), but just at the moment all those hobgoblins and dragons and things are more urgent.

By the time they get back to him, they'll be higher level, and he'll be tougher than the module assumes because he'll have hunkered down for a paladinic assault force. Which means I have to figure out how to make some of the nastier undead...But not just now, thank goodness.

 

[klofft]

The party of 4 has 3 clerics? kewl.

Actually, it's a party of 6. And one of the 3 is a multiclassed variant barbarian from UA with undead as a favored enemy.

The WEIRD guy in the party is the halfling conjurer/sorcerer/bonded summoner/dragonheart mage - a barely 2 1/2 foot tall guy with a 7-foot earth elemental and who vomits acid all the time.

 

[klofft]

My party is crammed with lawful goodness, and they still negotiated. After all, the GL has gone without bothering the Vale for so long that everybody thinks he's a fairy tale. Just because you're evil doesn't make you a menace. It bothers them, and they plan to come back and take him out later (and he expects them to - he knows a paladin when he sees one), but just at the moment all those hobgoblins and dragons and things are more urgent.

By the time they get back to him, they'll be higher level, and he'll be tougher than the module assumes because he'll have hunkered down for a paladinic assault force. Which means I have to figure out how to make some of the nastier undead...But not just now, thank goodness.

That's all pretty cool - your players approached this very rationally. My party is entirely good also, but the undead hate of the barbarian wouldn't permit a delayed confrontation!

 

[jontherev]

Nope. Just double-checked. Those pesky elves are still immune to ghouls!

It's ghasts that can still paralyze elves.

 

[jontherev]

My party is crammed with lawful goodness, and they still negotiated. After all, the GL has gone without bothering the Vale for so long that everybody thinks he's a fairy tale. Just because you're evil doesn't make you a menace. It bothers them, and they plan to come back and take him out later (and he expects them to - he knows a paladin when he sees one), but just at the moment all those hobgoblins and dragons and things are more urgent.

By the time they get back to him, they'll be higher level, and he'll be tougher than the module assumes because he'll have hunkered down for a paladinic assault force. Which means I have to figure out how to make some of the nastier undead...But not just now, thank goodness.

Well, I've completely changed the GhostLord, origins and all, to become the complete BBEG for the entire campaign. I intentionally beefed him up to scare the p!ss out of my players. From memory, he is now about a cr25 unholy scion drow wizard/cleric/necromancer with the mohrg's tongue undead graft. I plan to rewrite the Tomb of Horrors when the PCs get high enough level to come back and deal with the Lich. There's a reason why he doesn't trash the PCs, as he needs them for something later (or rather, the powerful intelligent items they each have). Being this powerful will make for a really funny and quick encounter if the PCs are too eager to fight him...although he's not interested in killing them at the moment. I plan to make it obvious to the players through flavor text that they should be really scared and wary of trying to fight him, but if they wind up attacking him, I guess I will kill one of the players as an example. It's in the Lich's best interests though to not kill them, since it drains the player and item of a level...I will stop now, although I don't think any of my players frequent this forum...but just in case!

By the way, the undead grafts are really cool and an interesting way to beef up his living minions.