World's Largest Dungeon in actual play [Spoilers!]

[pokedigimaniac]

Just thought I'd cast Resurrect on this thread by announcing that I have taken up the mantle of GMing this monster. For nine college freshmen, no less. Ought to be fun indeed.

I'll tell you, though, I'm incredibly glad for all the ideas and suggestions I got from this thread, down to the Text-to-speech program for the Lantern Archons. I can't wait for the party to run into one of those... But I digress. Sadly, the party is a bit unbalanced. It runs as follows:

Xeph Soulknife - Cyrus
Halfling Rogue - Sirius (pronounced Serious)
Dwarven Barbarian - Oskar (Took an oath to die in the biggest way possible)
Human Barbarian - Hoji (Who ever heard of a japanese pirate?)
Human Cleric - Zhalon
Gnome Sorcerer - Formock
Gnome Paladin of Garl Glittergold - Stumbleduck
Human Monk - Xoth
Dwarven Fighter - Thorin

1 mage, 1 rogue, 1 cleric, and six fighter-types. Granted, the paladin's already useful because he's discovered the magic of 'paladar' (sweeps with Detect Evil in a 60-foot radius! Complete with 'ping' sound effects!) and the 'small people' have formed their own little warband - the rogue, the paladin, and the sorceror.

Now, granted, I'm probably going to split the party into two because GMing for nine people is bad enough to start, but when you add in that I'm still sort of a novice at this thing and hard-of-hearing (wear hearing aids, talk with what sounds like a bit of an accent, and rely a good deal on lipreading) AND dealing with all sorts of accents and mumblers, it's bad. So, yeah.

If you're interested, one of my players is blogging about the experience. I intend to poke him into keeping it updated, so you can find the blog at: http://wldweil.blogspot.com/ (start from the bottom!)

Thanks again for all the help - I almost broke down in happy tears when I found a site that actually worked and had nearly all the WLD maps hosted. Sadly, I'm not sure what other information (especially the 'cut') was on the now-defunct WLD fansite, and I would certainly like to have access to whatever was handed around back in the day. If you're feeling generous, feel free to forward anything on to me, at weilc[swirly a]rpi.edu.

Have a good one!

 

[DaveMage]

Now, granted, I'm probably going to split the party into two because GMing for nine people is bad enough to start, but when you add in that I'm still sort of a novice at this thing and hard-of-hearing (wear hearing aids, talk with what sounds like a bit of an accent, and rely a good deal on lipreading) AND dealing with all sorts of accents and mumblers, it's bad.

If there's only 1 rogue and you split up the party, the group without the rogue will be most...unhappy.

 

[just__al]

If there's only 1 rogue and you split up the party, the group without the rogue will be most...unhappy.

I'm running two different groups through this. In the second group the elven rogue is a bit of a selfish scumbag and keeps letting the dwarf go first. The dwarf is making quite the "polish mine detector". They've just started so maybe the group will wise up.

 

[rvalle]

The group I'm going to be taking though is:

Dwarven Barbarian
Gnome Bard
Elven Ranger
Half Elf Druid/Rogue
Human Monk (maybe)

I'm worried by their lack of a cleric or dedicated rogue but I don't want to tack on a zombie npc bandaid cleric either.

rv

 

[Hussar]

I'd be worried too. A lack of any primary spellcasters, other than the druid who is going to be strongly handicapped in the WLD, is going to really, really hurt this party. Plus, a lack of dedicated rogue is going to hurt as well. This is perhaps a less than optimal party composition IMHO.

 

[rvalle]

I'd be worried too. A lack of any primary spellcasters, other than the druid who is going to be strongly handicapped in the WLD, is going to really, really hurt this party. Plus, a lack of dedicated rogue is going to hurt as well. This is perhaps a less than optimal party composition IMHO.

Sigh... mine too. But I don't want to force them to play a class. Those are the characters they desided they wanted to play. They are all old time players and smart people so they'll have to figure out a way to play around their handicaps.

rv

 

[Hussar]

Or, start balancing the party a tad after you whack half of them with the bloody demonic octopi in region A. Those things can be death on wheels if you do it right. Sixteen points of damage in a single round with a couple of lucky rolls (and not all that lucky either) and you're looking for some new PC's fairly often. My bunch recruited the orcs after a brillian critical hit on the chieftain from the half orc barbarian pumped 50ish points of damage into him in the first (and only) hit. Of the 9 they started with, only 2 remain after they met the darkmantles. Those blighters are TOUGH!

 

[pokedigimaniac]

Wait, wait, wait. I've been reading the darkmantles as that if they hit with the Slam attack, they attach and can constrict the NEXT round. Did I read that wrong? Can they constrict the round they grapple via Improved Grab?

If so... damn. Party death possibilities just jumped drastically.

(Also another request for clarification. Successful grapple check as per Constrict means successful grapple check used like an attack roll vs opponent's flatfooted AC, or succesful opposed grapple check?)

 

[Hussar]

When you grapple, upon a successful grapple check, you get a hold. Darkmantles make a grapple check whenever they hit, they do not need to make grapple attacks. They do need to make a successful grapple check to get a hold. Grapple checks are an opposed grapple roll. Check your PHB under the grapple section for the rules. They are a little different from straight attack rules, so, brushing up before the game is a must.

From the SRD:

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a darkmantle must hit a Large or smaller creature with its slam attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.

If it wins the grapple check, it attaches to the opponent’s head and can constrict.

Constrict (Ex): A darkmantle deals 1d4+4 points of damage with a successful grapple check.

So, yup, hit, grapple, squeeze. Bloody nasty critter.

 

[pokedigimaniac]

Holy monkeys. Thanks - the party is not going to be happy tomorrow if they end up running into one of those.