WotBS WotBS 2: Fire Forest Q&A

[kumagroo]

Hi there,

Been loving the adventures so far; as you'll see later in Torrent's View of a Campaign this week, we're nearly done with the Scouring of Gate Pass.

I'm not going to use this thread for errata; the occasional typos I've seen are easily figured out. I just had a couple questions.

First of all, as I look at Vohl and Indomitability himself, I see that both have the ability to "possess" their enemies, but that they can only occupy one host at a time. Therefore, is it likely that both will only use this power when it's clear their form is about to die?

Second of all, I do not understand Indomitability's Embodied Composition. What is the benefit for the trillith to use this? What does it do?

So long as one loyal Seela is singing, neither Vohl nor Indomitability is insubstantial, right? (They are both substantial, I assume).

With Indomitability's Death Boon, the text reads that "the target gains

Indomitability’s boon (below) until it is used or until the end of the next extended rest." How does one USE the boon? I thought it provided static effects.
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Finally, for now, I'm confused why Deception's statistics are given. Doesn't Deception=Vohl? When the heroes confront Indomitability, does Deception abandon her seela host?

 

[merchantsteve]

1) The power is more important if the heroes are exposed to a trillith for an extended period of time, and who knows? That may happen sometime. If the heroes dally in the seela village, Vuhl could certainly consider possessing a hero. There is some sandbox room here.

2) Embodied composition is just spooky; it also allows the trillith to do things in the material world that its insubstantial body could not, like pick up a boulder and throw it. It's more flavor for the academic types who like their t's crossed and their i's dotted.

3) As long as the song is sung, the principals are substantial. Vuhl is given two statistics because one is while the song is on and he inhabits Vuhl's husk, and the other is after the song is stopped. You don't want to see that happen. It isn't pretty. The heroes will not be able to hit him since his defenses are so high. Indomitability is in a substantial form for the encounters he is in, so his insubstantial stats aren't shown. You might see them later.

4) I'll have to ask the editor about the boilerplate text I put in on Indomitability's death boon and how it got missed in the final review! Seriously, I really did a stupid cut-n-paste job in my monster-maker program. I think I should be trampled by fiery hooves for that!

 

[kumagroo]

Hey, no problem with #4. I just want to know: should the whole thing be removed then? If not, how would you write it?

So with Embodied Composition, it allows a ghost/insubstantial to effect physical objects, kinda like that really cheezy scene in "Ghost" where Patrick Swayze moves a penny through the air and later learns how to push the bad guy around in the end, right?


Thanks again for the snappy answers!

 

[merchantsteve]

Indomitability's Death Boon should have the 'until is used' part eliminated. A similar thing should be done with Deception's boon.

Close Burst 10 (ignore concealment and cover); targets all creatures; +10 vs. Will;
1d10 psychic damage, and the target gains Indomitability’s boon (below) until the end of the next extended rest.

As this adventure goes, the effects of Indomitability's boon will not be useful (the adventure is over after all), but I would say that a mysterious event occurs in adventure 3 if the heroes defeat indomitability. Somehow, the boon reappears for a temporary period of time at a critical juncture in the story... or not. It's up to you. This is your game after all.

 

[GenLang]

Indomitability's Death Boon should have the 'until is used' part eliminated. A similar thing should be done with Deception's boon.

Close Burst 10 (ignore concealment and cover); targets all creatures; +10 vs. Will;
1d10 psychic damage, and the target gains Indomitability’s boon (below) until the end of the next extended rest.

As this adventure goes, the effects of Indomitability's boon will not be useful (the adventure is over after all), but I would say that a mysterious event occurs in adventure 3 if the heroes defeat indomitability. Somehow, the boon reappears for a temporary period of time at a critical juncture in the story... or not.

Hm. Could I get a second opinion on that, because from the Conclusion text for the 4e version, the boon sounds pretty permanent, and various aspects of it are quite useful for the rest of the campaign!

Once Indomitability is dealt with and the fire is extinguished, the major issues in the fire forest are resolved, for better or for worse. The party should have acquired the Song of Forms, Indomitability’s boon, and the Living Blade, and they are now left with a largely clear shot toward Seaquen.

The song is a permanent 'item', as is the blade, so it sure /seems/ like the Boon would be permanent too.

 

[RangerWickett]

It was definitely my intent in the 3e version for the party to keep the boon throughout the campaign. They might have changed it in 4e because PCs don't randomly die quite as easily. But it's still handy in the Seaquen hurricane.

Still, we include the Tidereaver's Tears in that adventure as a substitute for groups playing the adventure independently, or for GMs who don't want the boon sticking around.