|
Author
|
Comment
|
Eltern
Looking around
(12/22/02 3:45:07 pm)
Reply
|
Housekeeping questions
Alrighty, the party did the moathouse thing, uncovered the cult, got Master Dunrat behind bars in the keep in Hommlet, went off to Rastor, got in a fight with Tal, checked out the ToAC, sneaking through the main gate, accidentaly ending up in the earth temple with their subterfuge, got in a big ol' fight there, then ran away to the main gate. Killed most peeps there, then ran away to Hommlet.
Here's the questions:
1. The party ran out of the earth temple, leaving Uskathoth, Snearak, and 3 xorn in the main temple room. I know 3 xorn isn't standard, but there was a situation involving them entering, leaving, then pissing off everyone, so there ends up being 3 xorn, why isn't really important. My question is, would the xorn turn and attack Uskathoth and Snearak? They didn't get their hearts. They're hungry and mad, I could see it happening.
2. I'm going to say that do to not being able to sleep for 8 hours on end and such, Master Dunrat would not be able to get spells while in prison. Is there problems with this?
3. How far is it from Rastor to Hommlet, in both distance and time? They're on horseback. During that time, what will most likely happen to the now empty main gate and earth temple areas? I'm thinking the earth temple at least would remain barren for possibly up to a month. Main gate, not so sure.
4. How much does the Sage in Hommlet know? He told them some very minor stuff about the ToAC which they already knew, and they left the sword of earth and the a torch of revealing (along with the bead of force and scroll from the moathouse as test items) with him for him to figure out what they were. I've portrayed him as having a LARGE amount of disorganized books, notes, and scrolls in his little house/store, so he has a wealth of info. So how much can he tell them about these things, if anything?
5. How long before Big T blows up everything? A year? A decade? Next month?
Eltern
|
Zenon
Here for a while
(12/23/02 6:03:40 am)
Reply
|
Re: Housekeeping questions
Whew, let's see what I can answer:
1) Their are prisoners in the little room of the Earth Temple (Tenaris and some commoners). Give them to the Xorns.
2) No, but if they didn't find the doppleganger "Jaroo", Dunrat will probably be sprung from jail.
3) IIRC, it's about 200 miles from Hommlet to Rastor, which I have listed as about a week travel (one way), two weeks round trip. Restock the first time by using the guidelines in the module for replacement forces. I have found not to do this too much, otherwise the party is fighting over the same piece of ground endlessly.
4) Hommlet might not know much about it. Verbobonc is a better location to get info simply due to the size to the towns. The DMG gives NPC level distribution for the town/city sizes, check it out, it may help.
5) No date is defined in the module. You have two choices, either you can keep it as a floating date until later in the module (which gives you the most latitude), or you can set everything down right now when things will go boom. I used the floating date, but their was another thread recently about creating a timeline.
|
smetzger
Here for a while
(12/23/02 6:42:26 am)
Reply
|
Re: Housekeeping questions
2. I'm going to say that do to not being able to sleep for 8 hours on end and such, Master Dunrat would not be able to get spells while in prison. Is there problems with this?
Well, Clerics don't need to 'rest' before praying to get their spells, so its a rule change. Taking his holy symbol, gagging him, and chaining him to a wall should be good enough.
|
Eltern
Here for a while
(12/23/02 8:09:20 am)
Reply
|
k....
1. They've already killed all the prisoners. The one from the initial encounter as written in the book, leaving 3 in the prison room. Then the characters interrupted a 3 xorn ritual, with the three remaining prisoners being sacrificed. So the hearts are there, but they got kinda roasted do to some alchemist's fire. Do xorn appreciate good cooking? 
2. Forgot about Jaroo. How hard do you think it would be for Jaroo to spring him from jail? Oh, and Dunrat is chained and usually gagged, sans meal time, because they know he's a spellcaster of some sort.
3. Sorry, but where are these restocking rules in the book?
4. So it isn't likely that the Sage could tell them anything of the torch or the sword? Other than "they looks like they're magic."
|
 Infiniti2000
Here for a while
(12/23/02 11:20:11 am)
Reply
ezSupporter
|
Re: k....
1. I don't think it would matter if the hearts were cooked. Ideally, xorn like gems and stuff, so these sacrifices are sufficient, cooked or not.
2. Jaroo could shift into almost anyone's form, say Elmo, to spring Dunrat pretty easily. Even better would be to use the form of one of the PC's. That's leads to some interesting roleplaying possibilities. "I'm, er, taking him to be questioned. No, that's okay, I don't need any assistance." Also, the rest is not required for Dunrat to regain his clerical spells, though he likely needs the holy symbol to cast many of them. Rest is required for him to regain his few sorcerer spell slots, but I wager he didn't use them all anyway? I bet he has a charm person handy...
3. Page 38, Reinforcements and Reactions.
4. Todariche Nem (the Sage, not Skip) is an expert on history, nature, geography, and arcana. It does not restrict his knowledge to the ToEE and environs, any more than you would restrict your PC's knowledge skills to their home towns, though perhaps that was the intent. I don't have the ToEE handy with me here at work; don't ask me why I have RttToEE though  . I would give him a roll to determine anything about the torch or sword. For each though, perhaps a DC 25-30. He has +10, so he has a chance. Make it automatic if it helps the plot and/or campaign, though. Note, he is an Expert, not a wizard and does not have detect magic so he likely cannot say that are magical for sure.
|
Eltern
Here for a while
(12/23/02 11:43:06 am)
Reply
|
Hmm..
1. Shoot, looks like the Earth Temple will live on, then. Tough luck for the PCs 
2. In the event of Jaroo busting out Dunrat, I'm thinking that Jaroo would remain undercover, and that Dunrat would head back to the ToAC, probably reporting to Hedrack about a very troublesome group. Is there any logic for him going to ToEE instead?
3. That R&R section in the book, I'm presuming, refers to wear and tear on the temples. But what if the PCs just come in and kill everyone?  The main gate is -gone- now, everyone died. Suggestions on how long it takes the Fanes to figure out what happened and send in a full replacement? There would be something to said for just sealing the main gate and solely usingthe South one, since that is the far more used one. I'm guessing Uskathoth and Snearak are going to be pretty po'ed, either going to the air bridge area for help or maybe even all the way to the earth bridge to go right to Hedrack. Methinks they could get there ok. If they ran 
Eltern
|
ZansForCans 
Here for a while
(12/23/02 12:01:57 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Hmm..
2. I can't see why Dunrat would go to ToEE. With the timeline the module sets, nothing is going on there yet and he probably wouldn't have any idea that it was. IMC, I did put a small bit in his note from Naquent about having someone (not him though) scout out the Temple to see what state it is in. But even then, I doubt he would go there. Going to the ToAC is plausible, but high-tailing it to the high hills might not be a bad option either because I can't see his superiors being too happy with him in any case.  Then again, if you know the party is headed back to Hommlet soon, you could make up some reason for him to stick around so he can spy/trail them.
3. I think two weeks is long enough for them to have at least secured the main gate. And sealing/barring it up is a tactic I've seen a few other GM's use here. It certainly makes sense to me. What you'll have to decide is how much the other forces would spread out versus having brought in new forces in that short time. I doubt many temples would hesitate at taking ground vacated, but (meta-gaming) you probably want to be careful not to spread things out too thin without adding new forces or else the PC's might continue to waltz right through...
Group Editing & Authoring Support
flexible campaign management for the web
info :: demo
|
Infiniti2000
Here for a while
(12/23/02 12:38:43 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter
|
Re: Hmm..
2. I don't think Dunrat is in on the plans at the ToEE yet. If he goes to the ToAC, it is unlikely he will even mention the PC's not thinking that they will follow, unless he has good evidence otherwise. Understand, he doesn't want to go back to the ToAC bringing trouble with him. He certainly wouldn't go back if he failed to bring the last load of relics. I imagine Naquent would be highly irritated if Dunrat couldn't clean up his own mess. Perhaps, he could just stay in the grove and lay low for a while with Jaroo. Did the PC's sell any of the relics? If they sold some to Todariche Nem, for instance, perhaps Dunrat would kill him for it, and replace him occasionally with Jaroo. Difficult, but not impossible, especially considering how few customers Todariche must have.
3. The Fanes won't give a rat's ass about the CRM. They only notice it when two or more temples disappear. The replacements arrive in the CRM according to the R&R section, but where thye go is up to you. You can spread them out or not. Others have let the main gate close down, having the earth temple seal it up, with a sign pointing to the South Gate. I'm thinking that controlling a gate is important and someone should want to move in, perhaps D'Gran. The only choices I see are the earth, water, or air temples, or D'Gran with help from the fire temple. The water temple has nothing, so perhaps they overrun the earth temple (in their weakened state) and spread out too thin, attempting to maintain control on the water temple, earth temple, and main gate. They could then strike a deal with D'Gran, givin him tons of cool stuff to help out (a couple of trolls at the main gate would help).
|
Eltern
Here for a while
(12/23/02 1:53:46 pm)
Reply
|
yes
2. Well, the lilac mask was kinda eaten with the character who was wearing it by the grell in the obelisk chamber. Dunrat doesn't know of this, of course. Since the characters have been gone for 2 weeks, with the remaining relics, mayhaps Dunrat would be trying to follow them? But he wouldn't have any idea where they would be, they didn't leave a note or anything. Checking in on Tal is feasible, but he is a week away. I think that running back to ToAC is not too bad, given that all of his helpers, except Jaroo, Chatrilon, and Maridosen (sp?), were killed. That may be enough to try to find the party..... hmmm... Would they expect to hear from Tal by now? The party took the note...
3. Good gosh that bit with the water temple is good. I officially am stealing it  Except for Uskathoth and Snearak, what to do about them. When they were going through the water temple to get to the Earth bridge the water temple learned of their plight and killed them. Mwuahaha!
|
|
Okay -- Your Turn
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands