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

[rvalle]

Perhaps use dynamic terrain to make things interesting - the defeat of the World Eater shakes the structural integrity of the dungeon - freeing Tyrus, where the magical ice from his prison hits the lava and causes the entire Pyrefaust to be one big sauna - steam everywhere obscuring vision, lightning bolts turn in to electrical fireballs, limits effectiveness of cold based spells (but causes sleet and snow), limits effectiveness of fire spells (reduce range perhaps) ... you get the picture
And for Region O perhaps have the roof start collapsing - after all it wasn't part of the original dungeon - you could use that as a way of preventing them from going back / retreating and recovering.

Thats a cool idea but more for J then the fight with the World Eater. I'm looking for how to run the World Eater fight. They have been working towards this for months. I'd like it to be a big, knock down, 'who is going to win?', 'use everything we have' fight.

I'm afraid having them fight the World Eater and the 2 remaining Bosses might be too much but just the Bosses (mostly stripped of their magic items now) will be too easy.

From what I remember of ... ummm... blueblackred? redblueblack? it didn't really fight. The other Bosses showed up and fought against the party along with masses of undead. The Wraiths flew around the World Eater forming a kind of shield.

And it all went South when the lich removed the barbarian's sword and characters started dying.



I was thinking... maybe as the party starts moving towards the middle they will see the undead starting to reform. Bones moving back together, shadows pulling together to form wraiths so they know what is coming. A few fights outside the center tomb as they unlock the doors with formed undead and they can see more undead heading to the center.

When they get in the WE (World Eater) starts up and digging and more undead burst though.

After a bit the Bosses show up... too.... fight the undead or help fight the party?

If vs the party it would defiantly be a 'us against the world' type of fight. If with the party it would be an interesting twist though I might have to add the 300 hp's they suggest to the WE to make it a harder fight. The two fighter types in the party deal out a stupid amount of damage.

 

[rvalle]

Scrolls.

First... I didn't have the scrolls turn to dust when removed from the room. This gives them some time to figure out what is going on instead of doing it while in the undead region.

With the 2 scrolls they had 4 options:

1. Do nothing with them
2. Destroy 1
3. Destroy 2
4. Destroy both.

The main problem with the scrolls is that the party tries to figure out how to USE them. Even with the hints of it being a test they were thinking of how to best use the scrolls.

What could really help is that story in the room just to the North of the scrolls. Really push the idea that this is a 'coming of age' for all the mortal races. That by 'cleaning/fixing' the WLD they are showing they no longer need as much help from the Gods.

Then allow the Garrison to tell them they think the scrolls are a test from the Gods. That they are symbolic rather then practical.

That should at least get them thinking in the right way about the scrolls and hopefully can work it out from there.

BTW, even though they removed the scrolls from the room with no problems if they decided to 'keep the scrolls' or do nothing with them then they would have turned to dust at that point.

 

[erucsbo]

Scrolls.

First... I didn't have the scrolls turn to dust when removed from the room. This gives them some time to figure out what is going on instead of doing it while in the undead region.

perhaps I'll have them inscribed on the wall instead of looking like normal scrolls

The main problem with the scrolls is that the party tries to figure out how to USE them. Even with the hints of it being a test they were thinking of how to best use the scrolls.

but what was their rationale for using/reading both?

What could really help is that story in the room just to the North of the scrolls. Really push the idea that this is a 'coming of age' for all the mortal races. That by 'cleaning/fixing' the WLD they are showing they no longer need as much help from the Gods.

Then allow the Garrison to tell them they think the scrolls are a test from the Gods. That they are symbolic rather then practical.

That should at least get them thinking in the right way about the scrolls and hopefully can work it out from there.

thanks for that - will definitely play up that angle if they get there.

 

[erucsbo]

Thats a cool idea but more for J then the fight with the World Eater. I'm looking for how to run the World Eater fight. They have been working towards this for months. I'd like it to be a big, knock down, 'who is going to win?', 'use everything we have' fight.

I was under the impression that the major undead (Vinnara, Kasteficiss and Invistis) would fight the undead hordes leaving the party to tackle the World Eater.

Trouble with a single massive opponent is that if the party can find a weakness they can end the fight ridiculously easily (like mine did against Tyrus).

Remember that the major undead have different ideas of what is in the centre vault and may well come in with the intention of beating up on the party, but once they realise that there is something in there more powerful than them and it is not their god then they will fight against it (otherwise they move down the pecking order).

You know your party's capabilities, but they don't know what the environment is like in the central vault. Perhaps there is a negative energy burst that regenerates all undead every round (including the World Eater) and the party not only has to finish the World Eater but then stop it coming back. Perhaps have area effect spells from Invistis and Kasteoficiss also hit party members as they deal with the undead hordes (they could shrug and say "sorry" - obviously not all that sorry).
After all - the major undead want the party OUT of the tomb, not dying to perhaps rise as major undead themselves.
If the party is going really well then have collapsing ceilings or cracks in the floor or tremors causing them to make saving throws or limit their movements.
If the party is all flying then use the WE's greater dispel magic to knock them down.
If the party is doing badly then perhaps the major undead can be the focus of the WE for a round - giving the party a little respite or time to regroup.

 

[rvalle]

but what was their rationale for using/reading both?

Basicly 'screw the Gods, we're doing this on our own'/ 'this is a "self-actuation moment by destroying both scrolls".

Except for the Sorc who wanted to destroy both on general principal.


rv

 

[rvalle]

I was under the impression that the major undead (Vinnara, Kasteficiss and Invistis) would fight the undead hordes leaving the party to tackle the World Eater.

That is how it is per the book yes. I wasn't sure if I should run it that way or mix it up a little. I'm not sure how the party is going to do against the WE. They can deal out a huge amount of damage in a round from pure melee. That grab and swallow is only going to work once before anyone getting close will have a Freedom of Movement cast on them negating this trick.

The hordes of undead could be a moot point as well unless the bad guys fight on their side.... 4 walls of force across the door ways will stop them cold leaving the party to fight the WE unmolested.

If the major bad guys fight for the WE they could disintegrate the walls letting the undead in.

Maybe I'll just wait for a few rounds letting the fight develop and see how it goes. If they are trouncing the WE the bad guys help him, if the party is having a hard time with the fight they join the party. Keep it flexible.


Thanks for the input.

rv

 

[erucsbo]

The hordes of undead could be a moot point as well unless the bad guys fight on their side.... 4 walls of force across the door ways will stop them cold leaving the party to fight the WE unmolested.

remember that WoF require uninterrupted space.
Having chains or even spiderwebs across the space will stop a WoF going up.
The WE has DR that they might not automatically overcome.
And remember that it has Power Attack. With its + to hit it could potentially knock off a character a round if it uses PA.
That should all reduce the amount of damage that it takes while the party raises or otherwise deals with characters that have been taken out of action.
If you can stop them from being able to focus all of their attention on the WE (other threats, environmental conditions, healing, buffing) then the smackdown could last quite a while.

 

[rvalle]

Hah, I did forget about Power Attack. Want to know what was truly nasty though? Haste. The WE Hasted himself and was getting two bite attacks and one sting attack per round. At 50ish per bite and 30ish per sting he was close to taking down a character per round.

Once the players saw the size of the WE the first thing they did was cast Freedom of Movement onto the two fighter types. After attacking and trying to grab them and then seeing all the damage he did healed by the cleric she became the new target. One round of attacks dropped her to -5 and she was grappled. The players were able to d-door her away and the Bard cast a mass Cure Lite Wounds to get her up. She then cast a Mass Cure... Crit or Mod to heal her and everyone else. The bard player suggested she Heal herself but she declined.

And so... The WE attacked her again. With the damage she had left over and the new round of attacks she dropped dead. This time the bard had to use his Wish to bring her back.

We left the fight in round 14 with the WE having the Sorcerer damaged and grappled. He had been casting Chain Lightning spells every round a few of which got though the SR.

The WE has about 270 points of damage. The other 3 big bad guys showed up and are attacking the 'minor' dead that are roaming around. The players have gotten the idea that they need to concentrate on the Worm and are trying to having to deal with the massive amounts of damage it puts out per round is stopping them from just concentrating on dealing out damage.

rv

 

[erucsbo]

and then there were three

the party had heard Kasteoficiss' proposition and, thinking that it sounded more reasonable than Vinnara's, headed north to tackle the Lich. I gave them another level - so they are now 15th.

after resting they invoked a plan that had been discussed between sessions. Buff up the Arcane Trickster(/Assassin/Sorcerer/Rogue) and he was going to try and locate a way through to find either the lich or one of his golems.

First door to the north - unlock and proceed at haste due to time limitations on the buffing - therefore he neglected to search for traps and set off the Storm of Vengence - 3 party members deafened and bludgeoning damage at the end but due to resistances to acid, fire and electrical, the rest didn't have too much effect.
North heads the Arcane Trickster while the rest fall back behind a door to try and limit the effect of the Storm.
The scouting Arcane Trickster then finds the room with the dead elves.
Notes the glowing ring but as he believes he is pressed for time just tries to unlock the door to the north, and fails, thereby getting caught in the Wail of the Banshee - and rolls a 1 on his save.
The rest of the party know what is going on because of the telepathic link they had up so they head north to get the body (using a silence spell to defeat the wail), and set off the Storm of Vengence again.
Retrieving the body they pull back (taking damage again from the Storm and ressurrect the Trickster, asking him why he didn't search for traps.
Time pressures he responded.
You have minutes, not just rounds they reply.
Oh ....
More buffing and let's try again but this time we will search for traps and stay closer together.
Through the Wail room and head east whereupon the Scarab of Golembane gives an indication of something close.
A battle with the golem (who is toppled by a Grease) lasts about 3 rounds before they defeat it - and put the plan in to action.
Casting Discern Location to find the owner of the golem (Invistis) and Find the Path (cast on the Arcane Trickster) to get there. I check the character sheet - he can't open DC50 locks, but he does have a single scroll of knock so they are away.
Bypassing a few more traps and heading alone in to the lich's throne room the Arcane Trickster was supposed to note the location and bug back out, but instead gets in to a conversation with Invistis.
End result?
Invistis will provide them with one of his keys in exchange for the party throwing ALL the levers and giving him the advantage in timing to get to the central vault. Or show them the way out plus half his treasure and all of Kasteoficiss' treasure for her dead body

It will be 6 weeks before the next session.
Plenty of time for them to discuss "options"

 

[rvalle]

Looks like you are getting into more conversations with the major bad guys that I was able to pull off. My group quickly adopted the idea of 'We're going to have to kill you eventually so might as well do it now'. It didn't always work so well like when the Sorc tried to hit Invistis with a lightning bolt as he was talking. It failed to do any damage but the return Chain Lighting dropped the Sorc dead.

6 weeks until the next game! Wow, long break. I'm thinking/hoping in 6 weeks we'll BE DONE WITH THE WLD!

1 more night of fighting the World Eater.
1-2 nights fighting the Red Dragon.
1-3 nights fighting the Frost Giants.

And that will end my first ever campaign. I thought about trying to run one more module at 20th level so that the players could enjoy that level a bit but the few modules I found were all plane hopping things that I didn't have an interest in. A friend (and one of the current players in my game) is going to start up a 4.0 game after this is done so my dm'ing days will be done for a while.

rv