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5 months ago ::
Jan 21, 2013 - 10:18PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Nov 16, 2007
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Just ran this at AL10 for 5 players. First question, where do I report the results for ELTU4-3 and ELTU4-4? The links on the LFR site don't seem to work. I would love to be able to report them if there will be any impact for the BI. Now onto some commentary. Spoiler:
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It took a really long time to prep this mod. I know it's a double length mod, but it felt like it took about 3-4 times as long. Lots of optional stuff, lots of encounters to study that will never happen, lots of maps that won't be used. It's fun to have all these options in the player seat, and love the replayability, but it is rather draining on the DM side.
Damage expressions are ridiculously low for AL10. It was almost like we went back to MM1 expressions. Some brutes were doing 10 less damage than they should. I added an extra die to almost everything, and in some cases increased the static modifiers as well. I already have to do a few tweaks to challenge my group, but even for the average group, I think the challenges look a bit on the easy side, at least on paper.
At the risk of sounding ludicrous, here are some of the changes I made for AL10:
Spoiler:
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Encounter 2: Treason
Gave the grunts an MBA when they die
Increased Jerix's attacks by one to meet the norm, added an extra 1d12 damage.
Gave Jerix +2 AC to bring him closer to the norm (still shy 1 AC of the norm)
Gave Jerix an immediate to shove a grabbed target in front of an attack
Increased Fallen paladin damage by 1d8
Increased Archer damage by 1d10
Gave Archer a double attack on a recharge 6
For my table, used an extra archer.
Encounter 3: In the Ashes
Increased Siren damage by 1d10(m) and 1d6(r)
Increased Conglomeration damage by 1d4 (bite) 1d8 (scimitar)
Increased Biter damage to from 1d6+7 to 3d6+11
Encounter 5: Monster Group B
Increased Murk Wretch attack by 2 (bringing up to norm)
Increased trap damage by 1d6
Increased Dark mage damage by 1d6, vial ongoing damage to 15, other vial damages to 2d6+6
Increased Zealot damage by 1d10
Gave Zealot basic attack when bloodied
Made Mark of Loathing minor
Encounter 8: Almost There
Increased Reeshna's damage by 1d4 (m), 1d10 (R) , and 1d8 (C)
Added 2d6+7 damage to Blinding Bombs
Increased Zombie attack by 1
Increased Zombie damage from 2d6+6 to 2d6+14, and another +5 damage against grabbed target
Added 2d6+14 damage to Zombie's grab attack.
Increased Kobold attack by 1
Changed Rylen's arua so enemies can't take op. attacks in aura period
Increased Rylen's Spark Shot and Stinging Bolt damage by 3
Added Spark Shot against target within 5 to Stinging Bolt
For my table, added Wave 3: 6 Netherese, Wave 4: 6 Kobolds, Wave 5: 2 zombies
There were a few typoes in boxed text that gave me pause here and there, but that's not a huge deal. I kind of wish NPC names were used more often, I kept having to "insert appropriate name". I understand why it's done (since some NPC's might die), but just listing possible names in paranthesis would have saved me some grief.
I like the story, and I like the general moods portrayed in this mod. Encounter 7: Through Ash and Smoke was probably my favorite encounter. I got a few good bursts of roleplaying opportunities in there, and didn't really worry too much about skill checks with the PC's describing what they were doing and how they were helping.
In the last encounter, since they were all fresh, I checked the time, and just threw more and more waves of monsters at them, until I felt they had quenched their thirst for blood. I don't think any of the previous encounters they played through were particularly dangerous, so at least this gave them a story to tell, of how they stopped waves upon waves of enemies.
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4 months ago ::
Mar 10, 2013 - 5:23PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Jul 23, 2005
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This is great information! I am prepping to run this mod for a con in a couple of weeks and am anticipating playing it at APL8 or APL10 because I know most of the players signed up to play. I was looking at the AL10 stat blocks and thinking the damage didn't not seem to scale well at wall. It's +1 damage per APL increase which is incredibly low. The difference between how much damage a 1st or 2nd level PC can take vs a 9th or 10th level PC is a much greater order of magnitude than +4 extra damage.
The mod looks incredibly fun in places but I can already see that it is going to take a lot of prep for many things that will never occur. Also, I see some glaring typos and mistakes which make me feel this did not get a good editing pass. (The Dark Mage from Encounter 5, Group B has the text for Dark Step and Killing Dark switched). Also, I missed that they didn't list the tile sets they used to create the maps. I've become use to seeing this is most LFR adventures and am scratching my head why it wasn't included for this one??
I don't want to come across as too negative and I appreciate that all of this work is done by volunteers but I think there is so much more resources available in the community than the LFR admins take advantage of and it pains me when I see mods released with sloppy editing mistakes and now this one with the poorly scaling damage is like someone wasn't paying attention.
Anyway, I'm glad for your suggestions and will be increasing the damage for whatever APL, except for perhaps 2 that I run this at.
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3 months ago ::
Apr 06, 2013 - 9:15PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Nov 23, 2003
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The map B for encounter 5... anyone know what tile set that is? I don't recognize it.
"Nice assumptions. Completely wrong assumptions, but by jove if being incorrect stopped people from making idiotic statements, we wouldn't have modern internet subculture." Kerrus
Practical gameplay runs by neither RAW or RAI, but rather "A Compromise Between The Gist Of The Rule As I Recall Getting The Impression Of It That One Time I Read It And What Jerry Says He Remembers, Whatever, We'll Look It Up Later If Any Of Us Still Give A Damn." Erachima
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3 months ago ::
Apr 07, 2013 - 3:42AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Aug 30, 2010
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The map B for encounter 5... anyone know what tile set that is? I don't recognize it.
Mostly Dungeon Tiles: The Shadowghast Manor, with some extra bits from other sets
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2 months ago ::
Apr 13, 2013 - 10:51PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Nov 23, 2003
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I'm glad the adventure got published ... but it could use some more editing. Specifically monster stat blocks. Is there any way I can help?
"Nice assumptions. Completely wrong assumptions, but by jove if being incorrect stopped people from making idiotic statements, we wouldn't have modern internet subculture." Kerrus
Practical gameplay runs by neither RAW or RAI, but rather "A Compromise Between The Gist Of The Rule As I Recall Getting The Impression Of It That One Time I Read It And What Jerry Says He Remembers, Whatever, We'll Look It Up Later If Any Of Us Still Give A Damn." Erachima
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