tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post1693393258993815724..comments2024-03-23T05:46:31.832-07:00Comments on Power Score: Princes of the Apocalypse - Knights of SamularSeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-49586088439509577572015-07-13T15:38:25.732-07:002015-07-13T15:38:25.732-07:00Malcolm Coleman: I used a giant poster map of a gr...Malcolm Coleman: I used a giant poster map of a grassy field, and used building tiles to create the compound. One tricky thing was that the fence is not well described in the book. You should figure out what type of fence it is - I decided it was made of vertical logs lashed together with rope. If you end up with your player spread out, just roll initiative as normal (roll once for all your bad guys) and go from there. <br /><br />That's a little scary that hey might be out there alone, 4 orcs might rush a single PC! It seems like your group would likely have to flee and run back to the compound as javelins rained down on them, which could be an awesome scene.<br /><br />Haha sheesh I should take a trip to england! Thanks! The store was fun but ultimately it starts to feel like a chore when you can't pick who is at your table.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-70751230022760664212015-07-09T01:54:48.992-07:002015-07-09T01:54:48.992-07:00Awesome tips, thanks. Good to remember that NPCs ...Awesome tips, thanks. Good to remember that NPCs are (in this case at least) trying to help! Did you use a battlegrid and miniatures for your fight, and how did you handle the orcs? My concern is that my group will decide to station themselves at strategic points around the perimeter, meaning that I'll effectively be running 5 fights at once. I can't very well hand-wave the PC fights.<br /><br />After posting the above I read your later posts about your difficulties at the store. Real sorry to read about that, it seems some people just don't know what they've got! As another commenter said, if you were over in England you would be very welcome in our group! Anyway, I wanted to say, from this 1st-time DM, that your posts have been really helpful to me :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06058849783142325826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-26422592847512212272015-07-08T07:52:40.291-07:002015-07-08T07:52:40.291-07:00Malcolm Coleman: Thanks! I handled the NPCs in han...Malcolm Coleman: Thanks! I handled the NPCs in hand-waving fashion. Rolling for all of them would slow things to a crawl and everyone would be bored out of their minds. Just find out what the PCs are doing and think logically from there. If the heroes send the NPCs off on a mission, you can either decide what you want to happen, or roll a d20... high means they did well, low means disaster. <br /><br />That "roll and see" method works well in other situations. Say an NPC is in the open and a bunch of orcs chuck javelins at him/her. Do some quick d20 rolls and eyeball it - it should be obvious whether they missed the NPC, wounded them, or killed them (critical hit). <br /><br />The NPCs can be used to add some drama - an NPC might be in danger in the middle of a battle, and a hero may have to run over to help. Also, NPCs can assist heroes... if a PC was nice to a certain NPC, maybe that NPC saves the PC or flanks a foe, or drops a barrel of hay on the bad guy. Also, if the pcs have a crazy idea that might doom them, you can have an NPC warn them (you can advise your players through the NPC). In the end though, the players might want to try it anyway. Hey, you warned them.<br /><br />Make sure not to use the NPCs solely in negative ways, otherwise your players will resent them and become trained to think that you only us NPCs to "screw" with them. Te NPCs should help them and be kind to them most of the time.<br /><br />In general, remember that the NPCs are the "supporting cast". Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-17692182457468454672015-07-08T02:55:19.629-07:002015-07-08T02:55:19.629-07:00Hi Sean,
Thanks for your posts on Princes, I'...Hi Sean,<br /><br />Thanks for your posts on Princes, I'm enjoying reading them. I'm running it for my group, and your posts have been very useful, including this mention of the Black Earth priest tactics, which I used in the tomb of moving stones to good effect :)<br /><br />I'm posting because I'm planning on using Iceshield Orcs soon, and I was wondering how you handled an encounter that has so many PCs, NPCs and monsters? Did you group the monsters together for initiative purposes? Who controlled the NPCs, or did they just get hand-waved? Would be interested in your experience, to help me make my play sessions fun.<br /><br />Thanks in advance for any tips you can give me!<br />MalcolmAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06058849783142325826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-59557762311108281872015-06-04T09:22:39.197-07:002015-06-04T09:22:39.197-07:00Daniel Davis: Awesome... I am going to add this li...Daniel Davis: Awesome... I am going to add this link to my guide to elemental evil. Everyone running the temple of moving stones should see this.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-61697445880638631692015-06-02T22:12:57.024-07:002015-06-02T22:12:57.024-07:00*Slow* is a bad spell to use for the black earth p...*Slow* is a bad spell to use for the black earth priests most of the time. Wrote a post about how to use those guys here: http://detectmagic.blogspot.com/2015/05/princes-of-apocalypse-tactics-black.html. <br /><br />In general: *spider climb* to get out of the way, then unload *shatter*s until you run out, then *expeditious retreat*. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11933547162135717778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-37643187899244710422015-05-11T20:41:01.496-07:002015-05-11T20:41:01.496-07:00Jake: Yeah I like the limited release schedule too...Jake: Yeah I like the limited release schedule too. 4e really blew through books at an alarming rate. You might want to just skip Elemental Evil entirely, as I am finding it to be quite dull. Out of the Abyss looks really cool.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-15918123683724283572015-05-09T01:32:33.608-07:002015-05-09T01:32:33.608-07:00I think the temple itself and the various details ...I think the temple itself and the various details added to the cults is what really saves this adventure for me.<br /><br />I will have to wait a while before running it for any of my groups though, I think everyone is a bit cultisted out at the moment. (Silly me I ran phandelver for my two introductory groups with a lovecraftian cult focus and nezznar (bbeg) being one of the villagers and the redbrand being set up to trick non cultist villagers into joining their safe cult)<br /><br />Drizzt worries me because of how big he is, the marketing division is unlikely to allow anything too drastic to occur with him in a negative sense, and at the same time limiting his interactions will be cheap. <br />Still excited, their limited release schedule has me excited regardless of what book they release.<br /><br />Wish a couple of my long standing players would stop complaining about lack of character options, I had to point out to one recently that pathfinder had less character creation options in the core book than 5e does. <br /><br />Really looking forward to reading about the parties adventures through the temple though. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09040459878413195167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-48171991599291810122015-05-08T20:41:31.899-07:002015-05-08T20:41:31.899-07:00Jake: Yeah, I don't understand how they plan o...Jake: Yeah, I don't understand how they plan on using Drizzt. Will he join the heroes for a session, or send them on quests? It might be cool if the bad guys brainwash him and the heroes have to fight him!<br /><br />As for the group, I tried to split them into two groups of four but they didn't like the idea. I could be wrong - maybe they'll all stick around. But I'm getting a vibe. What might save it is that soon we'll be getting into the temple of elemental evil itself, and it is pretty awesome.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-33159693004538166952015-05-07T22:22:47.146-07:002015-05-07T22:22:47.146-07:00Two topics today :P
I know there has been a rathe...Two topics today :P<br /><br />I know there has been a rather loud bunch of people decrying the newly announced adventure because drizzt was mentioned so heavily.<br /><br />I have to say it has me worried too, not because I expect him to be directly involved in the tabletop story so much. But because if he plays such a large role in the other (canonical as far as WotC is concerned) stories then he will be mentioned.<br /><br />As we discussed with PotA one of the core reasons to pick up a prewritten adventure is to make life as a GM easier. I am worried that to keep the new adventure interesting/meaningful I am going to have to go through the entire thing and scrub all mention of another more powerful/influential hero doing all the background work from it -sighs- <br />Still going to buy the book, if people don't then hasbro are less likely to be happy with the tabletop division of the brand. <br /><br />I think people expecting him not to be in the story at all are overly optimistic and being a one time quest giver is highly unlikely.<br /><br /><br />Nooowwww onto your game itself, shame to read about the possibility of player loss. I know you wanted fewer players, but the ideal is always to shift a player to another group while moral is still high. <br />By the time even one player has left in this maner it tends to have a knockon effect for other players.<br /><br />Luckily you have some people who have been there since the Tyranny story line. But I am so invested in wanting growth in the hobby, no matter where it is -laughs-<br /><br />On a side note, very cool article on planescape, or rather sigil a while back. I had forgotten quite how evocative the setting was. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09040459878413195167noreply@blogger.com