[Tome] Classic Run

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

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angelfromanotherpin
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[Tome] Classic Run

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

So, I sold one of my gaming groups on Tome material and I'm running them through my 3.x conversion of the classic module medley - Temple of Elemental Evil > Scourge of the Slave Lords > Against the Giants > The Underdark Trilogy > Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

No idea if we'll manage the lot, but the first session moved pretty quickly. First half was gathering info and intrigue in town, second half was wilderness travel and fighting brigand ambush groups and patrols. Their first skirmish was a bit rough, but they learned quickly.

Party is two dwarves (Tome Fighter, Cleric) and two halflings (Rogue, Fire Mage). Also two untrustworthy allies they picked up in town whom no-one has managed to Sense Motive on. Good times.

Adaptation has so far mostly meant dialing the NPCs back, because Hommlet as written has a bunch of high-levels in it who, if they behaved as they logically would, would render the PCs irrelevant. Not having that, naturally.
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Maxus
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Post by Maxus »

Sounds interesting!

Keep us posted.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
Rejakor
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Post by Rejakor »

Sigh, the poor rogue.

Tome feats help, but not enough.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

So far, the Rogue's scouting and social skills have been the biggest assets to the party.

Also, due to Boston being geek convention central for three weekends in a row, the group will not be meeting again until the 10th. Annoying.
Rejakor
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Post by Rejakor »

Yeah, but having nothing to do in combat sucks ass. Sneak attack isn't something you get off every round and the damage potential compared to even a non leap attack barbarian is low without master thrower cheese.
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Post by Dominicius »

Rejakor wrote:Yeah, but having nothing to do in combat sucks ass. Sneak attack isn't something you get off every round and the damage potential compared to even a non leap attack barbarian is low without master thrower cheese.
Ring of blink and colossal acid flasks.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Dominicius wrote:Ring of blink and colossal acid flasks.
The party we're talking about is level 1, guy.
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Post by Dominicius »

angelfromanotherpin wrote:
Dominicius wrote:Ring of blink and colossal acid flasks.
The party we're talking about is level 1, guy.
I know. I was assuming that Rej was talking about later levels because at first level even the Core NPC classes are not that much weaker than tome PC classes.
Last edited by Dominicius on Fri Apr 02, 2010 4:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
SunTzuWarmaster
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Post by SunTzuWarmaster »

When you say Ring of Blink and colossal acid flasks, I think that you really mean "high initiative roll", "Tumble-Flanking", "Smokestick-hiding", and using the cleric to cast "tracer" spells like Sound Burst and Hold Person.

Due to people moving, getting deployed, and general nonsense, we started our Eberron campaign with me (Cleric Archer of the Silver Flame), my fiancé (Changeling Rogue), and the DM's girlfriend (Halfing Hurler). I'm not going to lie, level 1-3 were tough. After that we picked up a Beguiler, and he took over tracing.

Side Note: Worst boss fight ever (level 3):
Warforged that shouts "Lord of Blades" all the time enters the fight with 4 nobodies.
Round 1 - Beguiler casts his LEVEL ZERO Daze spell, boss guy is dazed
Cleric Archer kills 2 dudes (rapidshot FTW!)
Rogues move to flank the boss, one stabs for nothing, the other stabs for +2d6 SA.

Round 2 - Beguiler casts LEVEL ZERO Daze AGAIN (boss fails).
Cleric Archer kills a dude, and is in melee with dude number 2
Rogues absolutely destroy the boss (the both have TWF and flanking to negate the penalties).

Round 3 - Beguiler casts LEVEL ZERO Daze AGAIN
Cleric Archer melee dispatches his dude by 5' stepping back.
Rogues kill the boss (another +6d6 SA from each rogue).

Crappy rolls were the only reason the boss didn't go down in round 2, Beguilers only contribution to combat was to cast Daze over and over and over again (which to his credit won the day).
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Post by Rejakor »

At most levels pre-blinkring/cloak of displacement+Hide, you as a rogue are going to at best spend your 1st round tumbling into position to flank. Smart enemies are going to want to avoid being flanked. So, you're not going to be able to sneak attack full attack every round, while a half intelligently played barbarian can pouncecharge every round(and how!).

Even when you do get to full SA, you're generally going to be doing less damage than a barbarian who isn't even using power attack, much less a damage wizard/sorcerer or cleric/druid. The only way to do 'care about' damage is to go master thrower for rapidshot/palmthrow and then yes, good ol' frakking shrinked acid (hurp durp, wizard is providing half your damage, hurp).

I'm currently playing a duelist who makes people care about his sneak attack damage. Rogue1/UnarmedSwordSage4/sorc1/unseen seer2. Count those rogue levels. Count'em. Ascetic Monk = 1d6, rogue = 1d6, unseen seer = 1d6, grand total 4d6. Assassin's Stance gives another 2d6, and Hunter's Eye(advanced learning) + div caster level benefits = 2d6. So, +8d6 sneak attack at level 8. With TWF that's 2 attacks at +8d6, one with rapier, one with main gauche. Next level is Fighter 1, with Improved TWF and Snap Kick, for a 5 attack full attack (6, if I can get my hands on some boots of haste). I do as much damage, at this level with 2 attacks, as the barbarian without leap attack (he's invested in the Mage Slayer chain for Occult Slayer). Let's let that sink in for a moment. Barbarian without leap attack. Next level I turn into a bladed whirling dervish of doom, but even with all that crap, a leap attack shock trooper barbarian outdamages the shit out of me.

You know what fixes rogues? Change their sneak attack die into 1d6+3. Or 1d12. Or give them 1d6/level SA. Ideally rogues would have a plethora of Dirty Tricks to mess the shit out of enemies, but allowing them to do as much damage as an evocation wizard makes them effective caster hunters, which is pretty much all they wanted in the first place.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Please take the Rogue discussion elsewhere.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

We had session two on Saturday. Went really well. I'm not sure spoiler warnings are warranted on decades-old classic modules, but hey, my group hadn't played them, so read ahead at your own peril.

So, the team is the four PCs plus two totally untrustworthy half-orcs. The PCs knew that something was up with the half-orcs, but not that they had a plan to hang back in combat and rob the party when everyone's low on hp.

That plan never came together. The PCs did a really good job of sneaking past and ambushing the enemies, and then the whole party is deep in hostile territory and the half-orcs can't use the Rogue scout ploy to avoid patrols on their way back to town if they murder and loot the Rogue. So despite their natures, they buckled up and joined the team.

The PCs used Diplomacy to trade one of their captives his life for some information. He didn't know much because the guy he works for is a big fan of information sequestration, but he gives them a tip that avoids a dire toad ambush; and a rough estimate of the garrison size.

The Ruined Moathouse is the forward base of operations for the bandits in the area, as well as the dungeon for the first chapter, and the PCs come at it from an unconventional angle, discovering the small garrison's escape route, and spotting their sentries from the roof. Although they covered the escape route, they did not manage to prevent the garrison from making a getaway, as was apparently the standard procedure when confronted.

The PCs then roamed around the upper level, destroying the enemy's supply stockpiles and meeting the various giant animals that lair in the ruin. I added a thing where the cleric end boss had basically adopted them and made offerings to them as symbols of various dark gods - the big spider for Lolth, the dire toad for [Giant Frog], the big snake for (god of lies) and so on. There were hidden symbols that the Rogue could find and the Cleric could identify, and I thought it added some nice atmosphere and some clues to what to expect.

On the lower level, they flat punk'd a bunch of zombies, then played a nervous game of hide-and-seek with an ogre. The ogre nearly killed the fighter with a hit (-8 hp), but was taken down with a mass readied-action ambush, and the fighter salvaged. Two of the ogre's three captives were rescued, but the gnome did not make it. No gnome-friend ring for this group.

At that point, low on reserves and nerve-wracked from dealing with the big guy, the party withdrew. Between the dwarf fighter and the two half-orcs, they managed to haul off a huge amount of stuff. There were a few close calls as the Rogue scout led them home past enemy patrols, but they managed it free and clear. The half-orcs took their shares and got the hell out of dodge.

The only thing I had to put any thought into was making sure the treasure was more-or-less appropriate. I made a few tweaks, like substituting potions of healing for some +1 arrows.
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