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3 years ago ::
Jan 22, 2010 - 1:53PM
#11
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Thanks for all the helpful advice.
I have reviewed the adventure (Core 2-2 Rising Of the Dark) and have some comments and questions.
Spoiler:
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* Overall, the adventure shows signs of hasty editing. There are several (nonessential) typos and grammatical mistakes. This doesn't really impact the functioning of the adventure, but it does make it seem unprofessional.
* My favorite is the following on page 26: "The best rams into the ship, which halts in its rising and surfers to close." I have no idea what that means, but I plan to use it at every opportunity. For example, next time I'm preparing to dunk on someone in a basketball game: "Step back, Jack, 'cuz I'm about to surfer to close!"
* No, I can't really dunk.
* This isn't the adventure's fault, but the ritual Waterborn (level 14), which the PCs can gain as a magic item bundle, is inferior to the ritual Water's Gift (level 10) in one important respect. Both rituals allow you to breath underwater, but only Water's Gift actually negates the penalty for fighting underwater. That seems strange considering it's 4 levels lower!
* For that matter, it would greatly simplify the adventure to have the Chiangs pay for Water's Gift to be cast on the PCs instead of Water Breathing (level 8) -- see page 8. The only downside is that Water's Gift only lasts for 12 hours max, while Water Breathing lasts for 24 hours max. Water's Gift does cost 265 GP more in components, but as the cost of Water Breathing is being handwaved away by the adventure, why not upgrade to Water's Gift and spare the PCs from the underwater combat penalty? (I'll probably suggest to the players that their PCs scrounge up the 265 GP to pay the difference.)
* In several places the adventure implies that it is dark -- e.g., page 12 where there is dim illumination around the ship, but no other light sources. This begs the question... do sunrods work underwater? I'll probably rule yes, simply to avoid annoying the players.
* None of the underwater combat encounters mention the water's state (calm, rough, stormy), which affects the Athletics DC that the PCs need to make in order to Swim. I'm going to assume everywhere is calm (DC 10).
* This is a minor annoyance, but Encounter 3 calls for 2 sets of Ruins of the Wild (Dungeon Tiles) and Encounter 4 calls for 4 (!) sets of Arcane Corridors. That seems a little crazy given how old those sets are, and how few people have 2 of a given set, let alone 4. Yes, yes, you can use different tiles or just hand-draw the maps, but it's still annoying.
* Encounter 6, page 27 mentions that the "servitors" will sacrifice themselves to dominate a PC. Presumably this refers to some monsters that were removed -- maybe aboleth servitors? -- although aboleth servitors can't "sacrifice themselves" to dominate anyone.
* The aboleth behemoth (p. 28 & p. 30) should have the acquatic keyword. This is important, because acquatic creatures gain a +2 attack bonus against nonacquatic creatures.
* The kuo-toa (p. 28 & p. 30) do properly have the acquatic keyword, so if you're DMing this, don't forget to add their +2 attack bonus against the PCs.
* The sea shambler (p. 29 & p. 31) has one of its attacks messed up. Vicious Bite should not have the "+12 vs ; 2d6+5 damage" [sic]. That mistake comes directly from the DDI Compendium's warped grick alpha, which is what the sea shambler is based upon.
* The conclusion mentions that Panahq offers the PCs his versatile armor +3 because "being undead, he can no longer use it." But nothing about this armor restricts its use to living beings.
* The XP when added up is more than the Total Possible Experience (2260 / 3200), and unlike some adventures this isn't called out. (Some adventures say something like, "Even though the XP totals up to A, the PCs can only earn B because that is the maximum.")
* Added straight up, the XP is [1] 2540 / 3680 or [2] 2660 / 3840, depending upon how much XP the PCs gain from Encounter 6.
* But, to get the higher XP amount in Encounter 6, you must have failed Encounter 2 and only gain half XP from it (or 120 / 160). That would change the total "added up" amounts for [2] to 2540 / 3680, making it the same as [1].
* Bottom line, can the PCs earn more than the 2260 / 3200 that is specified, or not?
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3 years ago ::
Jan 22, 2010 - 3:36PM
#12
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- Dragon Slayer
- If only he would apply himself
- Dammit Jim, this is Star Trek, not D&D!
Date Joined:
Jan 31, 2006
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My suggestion is to edit out those spoilers and ask on the DDXP Judges Yahoo list. Even with a spoiler warning, I would avoid posting any advance info on an unreleased adventure. (I haven't taken a look, as I have not read that adventure).
Follow my blog and Twitter feed with Dark Sun campaign design and DM tips! Dark Sun's Ashes of Athas Campaign is now available for home play (PM me with your e-mail to order the campaign adventures).
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3 years ago ::
Jan 23, 2010 - 4:37AM
#13
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You can never earn more then the standard XP for normal core adventures.
The water is calm unless specified otherwise (you need to make Athletic checks in the skill challenge which are against ~ DC 15 and hence are clearly not calm water.
Rituals were changed in a very late phase of the editing proces. The author had missed the better ritual and one of the later playtesters noted it. Sorry for having missed it on some spots. Feel free to replace it with the better ritual.
When a tactic section makes no sense for the monsters, it is a clear sign something changed at one point or another with the creatures. This particular encounter was more or less rewritten after the first two playtests. Just ignore the text that makes no sense.
As for hasty editing, the adventure has been reviewed by 4 different people. It is rather easy to miss a typo or two, especially when your are focussing more on game mechanical and story inconsistencies. We are working on a sollution to get spelling, writing style and gramar a bit more attention, although, to be honest, I never let a spelling mistake ruin my fun in an adventure or book.
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3 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2010 - 2:38AM
#14
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Date Joined:
May 11, 2005
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A few comments on the notes above: - We were a bit in a hurry with this due to DDXP, so editing may have been done in haste. We went through a few interations with some encounters, and had multiple playtests. A lot of comments are due to that. I hope a brief edit after DDXP is possible to take away the confusion (though I am unsure if there will be time). regarding the rituals: Spoiler:
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- Unlike what Pieter said, I did not miss the better ritual. I actually considered offering Water's Gift or Waterborn being cast, and decided against it.
The reason the ship's mage casts Waterbreathing is because while I wanted to provide means for PCs that didn't have their own rituals, I felt it was not up to the adventure to automatically offset the inherent penalties in underwater combat. PCs should use their own resources for it.
Also, I did not want to make the ship's mage higher level than strictly necessary. 8th was about the highest level I wanted to make a generic NPC whose only function is to allow the PCs to get underwater. Besides, the Chiangs are rich but they are not philanthropists. They pay the PCs well - they feel they are already going out of their way to provide a ship and Water Breathing...
- Waterborn was offered as the bundle because it's level fitted better for the tier. Possibly those who wrote Waterborn thought the swim speed would negate the combat penalty - or maybe Water's Gift is overpowered for its level.
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3 years ago ::
Jan 25, 2010 - 7:11AM
#15
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regarding the rituals
Spoiler:
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So do you think it would be reasonable for me to do the following when DMing:
* Tell the PCs the bulk of the adventure will be underwater. (Pensu can certainly tell them this if they didn't already figure it out.)
* Tell the PCs they can provide for their own underwater rituals _or_ that the Chiangs will provide Water Breathing (only) for free.
* If the PCs have an appropriate level ritual caster, then is it fair to assume that somewhere in Westgate they can buy a scroll or book of Waterborn or Water's Gift?
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3 years ago ::
Jan 25, 2010 - 10:52PM
#16
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Date Joined:
May 11, 2005
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Yes, that would be reasonable.
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