I really like the module (see the map-orientation work I just did for the errata) Im looking forward to the intrigue and counter-plotting in this story. Ive had it sitting on my shelf for several years, and Ive started running it this year. I've just scratched the surface so far, and I've added a fair amount of local color -- we spent 3 sessions just at the two shrines.
I'm thinking this may wind up in the same universe as Monte Cook's Ptolus; I have some ideas on how the Black Monolith might tie into the cosmological background of Ptolus, and I have a second (more advanced) set of PCs going through the Banewarrens.
Weve played through the Wizard's Amulet and the Crucible, placing the Tomb about five days to the north of Fairhill, which in turn is four days from Reme and seven days (the opposite direction) from Ptolus.
The universe thus constructed is clearly a bit of a mishmash, since the PC cleric follows Cuthbert, who fits neither with the Norsesque gods of Abysthor nor the gods of Ptolus. I've decided that the worship of Thyr and Muir is not merely uncommon but extinct, and the background here is that Orcus is angling to upgrade himself from a demon prince to a god; he is attempting to steal power from these dormant gods, and was practicing with Freya (which the PCs have foiled).
My players are still 3rd level -- six PCs, modified from those created for the Wizard's Amulet. (Annoyingly, the party contains no paladin, nor even a single Lawful Good character. But Freya, of the same pantheon, is around and active, and she owes the PCs a debt, and Cuthbert in this incarnation was a LN justicar of Thyr when he was a mortal.)
The intelligent spiders in the ruined keep near Fairhill gave me an idea: there are more intelligent spiders in the forest and near the Tomb, and these spiders, instead of being allies of Orcus, are (naturally) Natasha's friends. The PCs have learned these are intelligent; they organize and use potions of CLW, and use strategy beyond that of animals. (Some of the leaders are fiendish giant spiders, making a good tough fight for these low-level PCs en route from Fairhill to the Valley of Shrines.)
Crystal Lake was once home to a nymph, but she has been polluted and corrupted and is now a sea hag -- with inner conflicts and memories of her former existence. The PCs have seen her; she still cares for the inhabitants of the lake, including the dire and fiendish dire frogs.
And fiendish frogs. The PCs first encounter in the valley of the shrines was with a fiendish frog. Not dire frog, not giant frog, just a fiendish frog. CR 1/10, capable of biting for a single point of damage, glowing red eyes, 5 points of cold/fire resistance, a small bit of SR, and the ability to smite good.
A single tsathar has been sighted by the PCs, at night, with a dire frog as a pet. Also, an expedition came to re-desecrate one of the shrines.
Rather than use the blood skeletons as written, I applied the Fiendish template to human skeletons, and I like the result, particularly the SR this gives them.
A map at the wizards keep ruins has sent Corian and his friends to the north, seeking shrines of two dead gods and a rumor of treasure beneath them. They found the treasure decoding the clues fairly easily, reaching the areas below but both shrine vault sealed themselves for ten minutes when their treasures were looted, and the players heard an unfamiliar language chanted over and over in the background.
Flail the Great, the last Justicar of Thyr, has an unfinished quest. He lies trapped within the greater Tombs. Abysthor, the last lawgiver of Muir, protects a great power from the evil priests of Orcus.
In game terms, the players have been geased, though only one of these two geases still has any power (the first), and it will expire long before they have any hope of fulfilling it. And the geas was delivered in an unfamiliar language, yet still had power to hurt the PCs if they ignored it, even before they had translated the message and understood what they were expected to do. These geases were performed more for the plot hook and sense of faded divinity (and difficulty of communication with these dead gods) than to lead the characters by their noses.
Nevertheless, a map found within the shrine of Thyr led them up the valley, into the foothills, and to the entrance.
They found and carefully disarmed the glyph at the entrance, and on finding the secret door was similarly trapped they elected to avoid it and press on... until they reached the Font of Bones.
Four rounds of combat with fiendish skeletons convinced them they should retreat and regroup.
Being PCs, they experimented. Half the party is Good, the other half Neutral. The neutral characters could approach the Font without triggering skeletons, and examined it carefully.
The party had a Hewards Haversack. They reasonably determined that the Font should contain only about ten times the volume of the Haversacks insides, and they considered trying to drain the Fount by immersing the Haversack, filling it, then pouring it out outside.
Fortunately they tried first with a waterskin. They found that although a neutral character would not trigger a summons just by being near the Font, touching the blood was still a bad idea; four skeletal hands grappled the monk and nearly dragged him in before he escaped. The waterskin didnt make it.
We left the session with the PCs convinced to try the secret door instead of passing the Font. Our next session should be Saturday; I'll try to update this thread at intervals as the game proceeds.
(minor clarity edits)
I'm thinking this may wind up in the same universe as Monte Cook's Ptolus; I have some ideas on how the Black Monolith might tie into the cosmological background of Ptolus, and I have a second (more advanced) set of PCs going through the Banewarrens.
Weve played through the Wizard's Amulet and the Crucible, placing the Tomb about five days to the north of Fairhill, which in turn is four days from Reme and seven days (the opposite direction) from Ptolus.
The universe thus constructed is clearly a bit of a mishmash, since the PC cleric follows Cuthbert, who fits neither with the Norsesque gods of Abysthor nor the gods of Ptolus. I've decided that the worship of Thyr and Muir is not merely uncommon but extinct, and the background here is that Orcus is angling to upgrade himself from a demon prince to a god; he is attempting to steal power from these dormant gods, and was practicing with Freya (which the PCs have foiled).
My players are still 3rd level -- six PCs, modified from those created for the Wizard's Amulet. (Annoyingly, the party contains no paladin, nor even a single Lawful Good character. But Freya, of the same pantheon, is around and active, and she owes the PCs a debt, and Cuthbert in this incarnation was a LN justicar of Thyr when he was a mortal.)
The intelligent spiders in the ruined keep near Fairhill gave me an idea: there are more intelligent spiders in the forest and near the Tomb, and these spiders, instead of being allies of Orcus, are (naturally) Natasha's friends. The PCs have learned these are intelligent; they organize and use potions of CLW, and use strategy beyond that of animals. (Some of the leaders are fiendish giant spiders, making a good tough fight for these low-level PCs en route from Fairhill to the Valley of Shrines.)
Crystal Lake was once home to a nymph, but she has been polluted and corrupted and is now a sea hag -- with inner conflicts and memories of her former existence. The PCs have seen her; she still cares for the inhabitants of the lake, including the dire and fiendish dire frogs.
And fiendish frogs. The PCs first encounter in the valley of the shrines was with a fiendish frog. Not dire frog, not giant frog, just a fiendish frog. CR 1/10, capable of biting for a single point of damage, glowing red eyes, 5 points of cold/fire resistance, a small bit of SR, and the ability to smite good.
A single tsathar has been sighted by the PCs, at night, with a dire frog as a pet. Also, an expedition came to re-desecrate one of the shrines.
Rather than use the blood skeletons as written, I applied the Fiendish template to human skeletons, and I like the result, particularly the SR this gives them.
A map at the wizards keep ruins has sent Corian and his friends to the north, seeking shrines of two dead gods and a rumor of treasure beneath them. They found the treasure decoding the clues fairly easily, reaching the areas below but both shrine vault sealed themselves for ten minutes when their treasures were looted, and the players heard an unfamiliar language chanted over and over in the background.
Flail the Great, the last Justicar of Thyr, has an unfinished quest. He lies trapped within the greater Tombs. Abysthor, the last lawgiver of Muir, protects a great power from the evil priests of Orcus.
In game terms, the players have been geased, though only one of these two geases still has any power (the first), and it will expire long before they have any hope of fulfilling it. And the geas was delivered in an unfamiliar language, yet still had power to hurt the PCs if they ignored it, even before they had translated the message and understood what they were expected to do. These geases were performed more for the plot hook and sense of faded divinity (and difficulty of communication with these dead gods) than to lead the characters by their noses.
Nevertheless, a map found within the shrine of Thyr led them up the valley, into the foothills, and to the entrance.
They found and carefully disarmed the glyph at the entrance, and on finding the secret door was similarly trapped they elected to avoid it and press on... until they reached the Font of Bones.
Four rounds of combat with fiendish skeletons convinced them they should retreat and regroup.
Being PCs, they experimented. Half the party is Good, the other half Neutral. The neutral characters could approach the Font without triggering skeletons, and examined it carefully.
The party had a Hewards Haversack. They reasonably determined that the Font should contain only about ten times the volume of the Haversacks insides, and they considered trying to drain the Fount by immersing the Haversack, filling it, then pouring it out outside.
Fortunately they tried first with a waterskin. They found that although a neutral character would not trigger a summons just by being near the Font, touching the blood was still a bad idea; four skeletal hands grappled the monk and nearly dragged him in before he escaped. The waterskin didnt make it.
We left the session with the PCs convinced to try the secret door instead of passing the Font. Our next session should be Saturday; I'll try to update this thread at intervals as the game proceeds.
(minor clarity edits)
