Well, my party managed to survive the adventure The Gauntlet and just barely too! One player died, another was brought into the negatives (he was found having his legs chewed upon while he was alive, in short he was being eaten alive, most grim), one was brought to 1hp and the other two were trying to stave off a siege. Dare I say magical rolls from the dice? In the end, they will stop an invasion by the Scarlet Brotherhood (unbknownst to the players) by freeing the Keep of Alderweg.
The surviving players were given title of Thane and land as a reward. They were given a choice, keep the titles and land or exchange the lands to pay for the raising of the dead player-character. Of course they felt that raising a third level PC was worth the sacrifice of 10 square miles of land! Anywho, they will be travelling to the city of Gradsul in Keoland via the Hool River and some overland travel. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be wandering around in the southern part of Keoland? Many thanks! Oh, and for all those who are interested in the player that was voicing his concerns about how I was running the game incorrectly? Well, he changed over to a fighter and is very happy now. His alignment says Chaotic Good, but he's already hedging towards that Neutral Evil!
They've chosen what is probably some of the most lethal terrain around.
The Hool Marsh is swarming with various reptilian monsters, including demon worshipping lizard men.
The Dreadwood is no better, featuring spiders and related aberrations, as well as some rather anti-social elves who feel it is safer to kill all trespassers than let them live. And then there are the extra-planar portals.
Without a very good guide, lots of power, lots of luck, and preferably all three, crossing the Hool Marsh and Dreadwood is generally an exercise in suicide.
If they have to travel overland, they would be much better off heading into the mountains, skirting past the alleged site of Melkot, heading up into the Yeomanry, and then into Keoland.
IF they survive the Hool Marshes, they could stick to the coast and leap-frog along various coastal towns up to Gradsul.
Saltmarsh, Seaton, Anglar, Sanduchar, then Gradsul.
Setting ashore at any of those, they could trek overland up the coast. Significantly less dangerous than cutting through the Dreadwood, but by no means safe.
One of my Parties (4th level) are traveling extensively in the area, and I play up the danger and ambiance of the Dreadwood. Shadows that are too deep, reaching out for the players as the sun sets in the west...
Good stuff. _________________ There is no problem that cannot be resolved with the application of more firepower.
IMC, I have it planned to run the module U3, The Final Enemy, located just off the mouth of the Javan, directly after UK3. Although U3 was designed to be run directly after U2, it was also designed only as a reconnaissance mission, which is to me a doubtful proposition. I have added airy water to Cwslyclgh’s Hurricane Bow of the Sea Princes and placed it in UK3 for the purpose of making a full assault on the Sahuagin lair of U3 something that can be survived.
If your party takes the Hool River to the Javan, you could easily incorporate it by say an attack on their ship. They would be in the right area. Loss of a ship could also provide a justification for some overland travel too, if that is what you wanted.
As Samwise and Firepower implied, no one in their right mind would want to make the land journey ... so it is your amoral obligation to make them do it.
Module I2 - Tomb of the Lizard King is set in the Eor province of Keoland, the one just east of Saltmarsh. It was a pretty good one, dealing with crazy undead lizardmen and an underground tomb in the swamp.
Baltron's Beacon has be retrofit to the Hools by the Keoland LG triad. I have never played it, so I don't know how good it is as an adventure, but it's topical.
U1-U3 are great modules and worth a shot if you are passing through that area.
Finally, I wrote up an article here on CF dealing with the lands of the Sea Princes, but also included a mixed bag of critters from the Hools. Here's a link:
Thanks for the input. What kinds of wandering monsters do you think would be appropriate in the narrow strip of land between the northern tip of the Hool Marsh and the southern tip of the Dreadwood? I think the kids are going to go that route. They will travel down the Hool river to the Javan River, go up river to Kimberton and then do some overland travel.
I've thrown lizardmen, Sea Prince/Brotherhood pirates, and handfuls of smaller humanoids at the party if they're along the coast.
Inland a little, I turn to ogres, bugbears, and hobgoblins. IMC there aren't a lot of orcs in that area, mainly because of the human and elf populations. But there are also some of the more fantastic creatures in the inland areas. A juvenile Green Dragon, calling for it's mother as it attacked, can still make my players sweat. Granted, mother wasn't around, and the Green was just smart like that...
Inside the woods, I've got owlbears, ogres, ettercaps, giant spiders, dryads, elves, and sprites at them. _________________ There is no problem that cannot be resolved with the application of more firepower.
Sweet! I did a small side adventure for a few of the party envoving a single ettercap. To this day, they harbor fear, loathing and resentment towards all spiders! Yes, a pair of ettercaps and their bugbear bandit allies will do quite nicely. Eeeeexcellent.
Dwarf from Nyrond
PS- I'll run them through the U series when I get a chance too.
The U series might to too low of level for them by now. That is why I only suggested U3. It is the last and toughest, 3rd-5th lvl, I think, but potentially harder than that. I think U1 is 1-2 and U2 2-4.
Going up river then east, Tomb of the Lizard king would be in the right area but that would likely be too high of level.
It may be too low for them now, but that's what level sucking undead are for Oooops, did I say that with my inner voice? No, you're right, that may be too easy for them. Maybe if they all bite it, I'll use Saltmarsh. I'll just have to tough it out and make a homemade adventure using my noodle. Woe is me.
One that I'm planning to drop on my players, since they're "in the neighborhood", is UK1.
The time-distortion effect of the garden will really mess their minds up. Plus the fact that my party isn't designed for heavy combat makes a combat-light module very attractive.
And with all of the Sea Prince/Brotherhood ships prowling the area, it opens up the swashbuckling element.
Of course, if they don't take that bait, they're probably heading into the Pomarj. <insert evil laugh here> _________________ There is no problem that cannot be resolved with the application of more firepower.
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