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The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:27 am
by Luke Johnson
Hey gents!

Luke Johnson here; I wrote DCC #19: The Volcano Caves. If anyone has any questions/comments/slander about the adventure, this is the place for them.

Thanks!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:14 am
by Deogolf
Aye, Aye, Cap'n!! 8)

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:27 pm
by Uratoh
Funny, was just about to post about DCC #19. My party's gonna be going into it a few levels higher than it's for (about 9-10ish) and I was wondering if you had any suggestions for buffinf things? One that occured to me, was, Immy grants Ziz 3 wishes a day. 3 wishes = +3 inherent to a stat. so assume Ziz and Immy had a week to give Ziz +3 inherent bonuses to all his stats, changing as followes:

Str: 19
Dex: 17
Con: 18
Int: 18
Wis: 21
Cha: 12

But asside from that, any tips on doing some buffing to compensate for a very resourceful party of higher lv?

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:25 pm
by Luke Johnson
That sounds like a good plan, so far. I'd also recommend increasing all the classed NPCs by 3 levels or so. You might also add some HD or fighter/warrior levels to the klaklin, or doubling their numbers. Same with the salamanders and elementals. You might allow Ziz a wish or two to quicken spells like hold person, and perhaps also to grant him a permanent blur or displacement effect; 10th-level fighter types can probably take him out fairly quick. Spell resistance wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, either.

Ah, wish. It allows us to make up so much stuff!

Have fun! I'd love to hear how it turns out.

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 8:26 pm
by Uratoh
I don't suppose you could give me MORE background on Immolus and whatnot? One of my PCs is a fire-aholic so in preparation to run this module in a few months I gave him a prophetic dream of basixcally immolus asking him if he wanted power then him waking up...

Well, now he DOES want power, after fighting Devils and monsters etc, and is actively trying to seek out his dream visitor...its gonna make the module VERY interesting if nothing else.

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:35 pm
by Luke Johnson
Sounds awesome.

Honestly, I didn't think much in detail aside from what's in the adventure. Immolius was a relatively important noble on the Plane of Fire, but ended up on the wrong side of a political rival, so he fled to the Material Plane to let the situation "cool off." (Ha!) He doesn't have any specific plans at the moment, aside from causing mayhem and, perhaps, striking at the old wizard with whom he fought back in the day, if she's still around.

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:21 pm
by kensanata
Going to enter the caves tomorrow... Yay for the plane of fire!

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 11:00 am
by Losloris8
I just used #19 in my campaign; well, the first floor really.

Our story line is based upon the Egg of the Phoenix, which I think has many neat ideas, but do not like most of how it is designed. So, the counsel of Elders at Northending told the party they had to find the portal gate to retrieve the Egg from Sepulcher. Again, I do not like most of how EotP is designed. So, I used the first level as the entry way. The monsters gave a good fight. I had mused prior to the session on how it would actually be a great affect if one of the party members died at any/some point. My thinking was the pyrohydra would do it. I thought that encounter was really well designed, with the low ceiling and hanging stalactites. And, the doorway to the second level was in fact totally secret and would only open if the correct yoga moves were done at the alter. As it is, the party pulled out a Quail's Feather Token Boat in order to cross the lava (I had no idea the still had that bit of loot from two years previous).

That whole floor played out very well.

LG

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:56 am
by Losloris8
Say Luke;

I am looking now at floors 2 & 3 for my own nefarious purposes and have pause to wonder. What was the thinking involved for the little hatch at the bottom of 2-6? It is a neat little feature that I think encourages DMs to think a little outside of the comfort zone into the realm of 'hmm, what could I do with this?'

Was this to go somewhere but what cut on the editorial board by the additional word count?

LG

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 1:30 pm
by GnomeBoy
Losloris8 wrote:Say Luke;...
I think it's cool that you're making use of these older modules. I have many of them myself, some of which I've never gotten a chance to run (but I'd still like to sometime, in some form...).

But you do realize that you're posting in threads that haven't been active for 5 years or more sometimes? Luke Johnson (according to his profile) hasn't logged on here since 2009... Sorry to say it, but it seems unlikely he's going to see that the question has been posed... :|

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:21 pm
by Losloris8
You are totally right GB and, yah, noticed that mos of these posting have dust on them.

Two things; first, it amazed me to see how one module could produce totally different results. The best example was the sinister secret of saltmarsh where the outcomes and resulting affects on the campaign could not have been more radical. DCC are really well constructed and offer plenty of options and opportunity, at least to my way of thinking. I do not need the latest and greatest, just a good idea and some thought out mechanics. The hope is to find similar experiences.

Second, my campaign is now mostly done playing with DCC so i figured this must be the best place to find info on wherever we are going next. So, some of the posts egg me to respond, or the situation warrants, such as today's on 2-6. Have you used #19?

Rest assured , if time passes and no one feels like chatting it up then i will most certainly stop.

LG

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 6:50 pm
by GnomeBoy
I have to totally agree that the things are very well written, almost like you couldn't run them badly if you tried. They hold up to punishment really well.

Don't own a copy of the Volcano Caves, so I can't comment on it one way or another. :?

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 4:13 am
by Losloris8
(Picking up from the Eye of the anight thread, with Khalil, Dorminder, Calori and Strombolini in pursuit of the EotN underneath the city of Blackhelm - so, starting at level 2 on the mines)

After descending thru Darius' pantry the party descended into the underdark and were quick to note how it was certainly hotter here. Down and about in a roughly hewn tunnel they came to a large passage and a side room; perhaps this is best described as a room of worship , for temple or such is too great a word. Therein was a fire beast offering his praise to Immolous. As battle started Khalil did not hesitate to whip out his Rod of Hiirward (found in Hiirwards school of magic (dungeon magazine) and now also containing a xorn (sunless garden) and a vapor demon (dunerian mines)). So laden with 28 of 36 max hd of elementals, Khalil opted to store the now heavy rod in his pack.

Further in Khalil entered a room with what was clearly a portal to some fiery domain, he having seen the room of portals in the chambers not far from NorthEnding (egg of the pheonix ). It was not clear why three salemandes were so intent on guarding this portal so he left that for Strombolini to address. S did by jumping into attack , blasting the lizards with lightning annd nailing the portal with an ice strom.

The next passage lead to a broad cavern, always lit by the occaisional torch , always going down. The darkness was disturbed by the kavetching of the mountain that actually burst with a bit of a volcanic eruption. A splattering of magma seared Ks arm as it flew past .

Onward , to a finely made doorway and passage fame, here lay a distinct border between finely crafted and savage hinterland. The lock was old and uniquely crafted but Khalil was deft and the experience of negotiating that lock forever improved his skill. This portal lead on to an odd large room that had only one passage off on the left which looked freshly crumbled in, a cloud of dust still hanging in the air.

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 4:14 pm
by Losloris8
sorry for the delay. house chores and such get in the way..

I like thinking that our world, that where each of us play, is magical. It is really a chance to let aside the rules of reality, and just let magic rule the day.

Inroom 2-5 I decided to make the portal for the plane of fire always square with the viewer. That, as khalil moved around, his perspective was always square.

And so, we got the the ancient lock. The new room was totally alit with only a new buried passage off on the left. It all seemed strange . Dorminder noticed the floor seemed odd; a door was discovered in the floor. Once this was openned we were magically sucked in. Gravity still worked perfectly though we were now walking directly towards the center of the planet , at 90 degrees from where we had been. This was a well made passage that ultimately lead to a worship room that as populated by these blobs of flame. hmm. a dead end.

Back the way we came lead directly to the fire zombies . Back along the hallway with a touch of desparation, secret doors were found. Right and to the crypt , the moments where Calori went balistic, and ended the night bound, gagged, and at 3 hp; of Bezentaine providing information , context, Immolix the effreti , of allegiances pledged and accepted.

Down Calori, it was surprising to see khalil rush into the bath room and fall through the pit!

Through on the left the private apartment and then down the stairs. In the back of the big chamber that is your welcome to the third floor, thecway the pattern was described made me think of Corwin walking the pattern in Amber. As the module suggested three different elemntals i opted for there to be three individual lines, patterns on the floor. Instantly Bezentain was drawn in, magically induced to alk a pattern. He arrived at other end, said, oh now don 't i feel funny and promptly morphed into a

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 6:32 am
by losloris
(for reasons that defy my limited understanding I was completely kicked off of the system; hence, this counts as my first post! I would appreciate any indication on how to create a new, more appropriate for my memory, password)

Bezentaine turned into a good sized fire elemental and was promptly destroyed. After destroying a few fire zombies we decided to make a stand in the private rooms (hidden by the secret door) on the second floor.

This poses an interesting situation. The party completely walked away from the portal, leaving it open for a countless amount of fire zombies to pour thru. I had not thought too much on this, but now see there was no alternative, of course the party was going to take out the Salamanders and move on at some point.

How did you handle this?

Losloris

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 10:57 am
by GnomeBoy
losloris wrote:(for reasons that defy my limited understanding I was completely kicked off of the system; hence, this counts as my first post! I would appreciate any indication on how to create a new, more appropriate for my memory, password)
I used to just stay logged in, until once time I got logged out, couldn't remember my password, AND didn't have access to the e-mail address I'd signed up under. I contacted the fine folks at info@ and they re-set my password, which allowed me to get back into the account, update the e-mail and all that... If you want to get back to your original account, I'm sure it can be done.

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 7:43 am
by losloris
I'm thinking how odd it would be to leave a portal to the plane of fire open and unguarded. The campaign is based in an environment that is rife with elementals (the Egg of the Phoenix is the basis for this - I have just expanded on the whole archomental theme). Blackhelm is in the NorthEast of NorthEnding. The Underdark is home to the worship of Immolous, who is the right hand man of Imix. Imix' temple is really not that far to the further east.

It may prove neat to have this event, this freeing of the portal, be another hole in the damn that is staving off the evilness; the on set of first the evil fire elemental, but soon, all evil elementals.

How did playing Immolous in this module affect your campaign?

Losloris

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 6:08 pm
by losloris
Okay, we play tomorrow and I have actually read ahead. Gotta say , Soranna 's ice golem sound like melarkey, or, completely out of context to a tempple dedicated to a fire guy. I will run it but object on the point of arbitrariness. I do not think it wise to be just putting stuff that makes no sense.

Anywho, Khalil has been aching for a chance to be evil and perhaps Immolous ' offer to sell out the party may also serve to reunite our wishywashy time lines.

I will certainly report what transpires

Losloris

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 5:42 am
by GnomeBoy
losloris wrote:...I do not think it wise to be just putting stuff that makes no sense....
I'd think the challenge would be to dream up a reason it's there. If you found a polar bear in the Sahara, that'd make no sense... No, wait! it's escaped from a sultan's menagerie! And you say there's a reward for it's safe return....?

I don't have this module, but I've never found other DCC modules to be 'arbitrary'. The author may've had something in mind, even if he forgot to say what it was... I don't know who Soranna is, but maybe they've got a plan of some sort afoot...?

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 4:56 am
by losloris
(information on Soronna was slight, which gave me leeway)

We gathered our gear, collected Calori (which cost us another third level spell - remove curse, checked the large cavern and picked thru Bezantaine's kit. Another secret door was found, Calori was delighted by the new set of armour and, strangely, Strombolini took the sword.

Khalil opted to try the newer door and we decided to give him a 3 round lead and he would drop coppers on the floor to indicate where he was going. This way there was less of a chance of him being caught behind enemy lines. Down a winding corridor to an odd room; a landing with some type of fountain device, a pool of water and a landing on the other side. He opted to dive, two stroke across to check what was an alter of sorts. The party followed along to the initial landing which was when the glyph of warding exploded launching the three into the water with the fiery fish.

I like to have the characteristics count as much as possible. Increasingly I ask the players to roll things like; intelligence + wisdom + level on percentiles to see if they notice something. In this case, with Calori in the water with a new suit of plate mail there was strength (fail) and then dex (fail) and then str again to stay afloat while being struck by the fish (fail) and down he went into the hot churning water to his end. We did manage to hook fish him out to get some of his kit but most was lost he Calori was a goner.

Down the initial secret door, all the while wondering on no sight of Vauldra (who had been said to have the Heart of the Sunrise), Father Darius, leader of Blackhelm who had been seduced and then controlled by Vauldra, and now there was this Orb of Soronna, a magic weapon that assumed a form seemingly of it own determination; who was Soronna. What did we find in Ziz Kaseer's papers? A fresh invite from Vauldra saying come to Blackhelm to help search for the HotS, while combing thru what really was a temple for Immolous. Aha! VAuldra did not have the HotS either!

Losloris

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 7:48 am
by losloris
We went back to the first secret door that led to a passage, an elbow with a very cool cold door, almost numbing to the touch. The passage had an open trap taking out most of the hallway. Khalil opted to scale across failed his Dex check right in the middle, fell and then poofed into nothingness. Or, he ended up in a cell in a cold area.

All this time he has been carrying, using the Rod of Hiirward which can trap elementals. This is how the initial fire elemental was sucked away at the start of level 2. Khalil picked the lock of his cell (with ease) and made his way for the door. Out came one then the other Ice Golem. The first was sucked away. For the second Khalil opted to use the Rod and call forth that initial fire elemental. A steam bath ensued. A search for papers identified this as all part of Soronna’s rooms, that she was here trying to revive this temple when it became apparent this was not just an empty temple but one dedicated to Immolous, hence the cold in the room was to beat off the heat, that she sensed some strange but powerful magic (the HotS) but could not figure where it was.

Out from the doorway came Khalil with his subservient (tho pissed) fire elemental for Dorminder and Strombolinni to find. Down the trap floor hallway into another cavern type room. Large room, with several people (for lack of a better term) crucified in offering to Immolous. Out comes Immolous looking for an explanation from the control fire elemental. None coming. “Are you looking to join us”? Still nothing, but a chance for the party to prepare. A nice battle ensued, including Khalil’s Dust of Disappearance enhanced backstab for 152 hp of damage. Boom, Immolous is dead. Just as we started to pick over the body to see what’s what, Immolous appeared. It seems my party has not learned from this the third time I have hit them with an Illusional opponent, the first starting way back at Castle Hydell. I am convinced that if you buy into the illusion you are sold, completely. As it is, the second Immolous did not fare any better than the first. While Khalil was still dusted he decided now was this time to off Strombolinni, who had magic mirrored four other versions of him. But Khalil guessed and struck and took down the Magic User, leaving just he and Dorminder. “We’re still good, right” asked the Cleric? “Yup”. The fire elemental disappeared. We poked thru and found some interesting stuff but no HotS.

After another int + wis + level check we figured out there was a correlation between the sword Strombolinni took and the alter for Immolous. Inserted the sword into the appropriate slot and heard the distinct sound of a star trek door opening. It took bit to find but this lead to another passage way that ended in a cross section room, as if we were walking into the 4th & 5th floors of a building: empty space with a ceiling-ish up there, a floor-ish down there, and, in between, thick heavy spider webs. We tried a molotov cocktail that was quickly extinguished by a web. Indeed, this monstrous spider ducked out and spat a web that nearly hit Dorminder. There we stopped with Khalil aching to go in and Dorminder cowering. We could go back to find men in Darkhelm but this may rankle Clyrrik the Halt, leader of the local thieve’s guild that has little to no patience for anyone from a rival guild. We could go back to Khalil’s guild but that would be empty handed and without Strombolinni and Calori (I have indicated to Khalil that this would be highly problematic and will likely go down badly. I can foresee the guild using a truth serum to extract some finer details). We could go back to our party, thus reuniting timelines, and explain the situation to them. This would not be bad as we could take the sword with us so that the passage remains secret. Knowing there whereabouts of Immolous’ temple, its proximity to Imix’ temple would likely advance our yardsticks against the elementals.

Losloris


Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 6:45 am
by losloris
Dorminder and Khalil sat for a while to discuss the options. Strombolinni's body was picked through, loot divided. Nothing special that would help with the here and now.

Tharaxis had to be dealt with and clearly the Heart of the Sunrise was here, there, with it.

The very short of it: hard to beat hot dice. Plans were laid, Dorminder was cast Prayer and then Divine Power, and, they would charge in with some flaming wood in order to burn through the easy webs and create access to the giant spider. On approach Khalil decided to launch two arrows, even tho he was informed that he needed to roll a 20 to hit. 20! And, using a newly found critical hits chart (I am now trying this one; http://www.angelfire.com/dragon3/vinife ... ble_2e.pdf) he managed to affect triple damage with his modified bow that incorporates his strength. A follow up shot rolled a 19; good enough under the conditions.

With that as an augur they charged in, continuously rolled really well and within a few rounds Tharaxis was a ruddy pool of ick.

Now with the HotS in hand, whose touched provided instant DarkVision, Khalil had to be regularly reminded that this must be returned to his Guild. Khalil was not happy with this but Dorminder adamant. And, D was less interested in going to meet anyone in Charwood lest they ask him exactly how it was that Strombolinni came to an end. Calori would be easy to explain, Strombo less so. It was only then that Khalil realised there would probably be a cross examination involving a detect lie or some such.

The evening stopped on a debate of those points.

Re: The DCC #19 Thread

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 12:42 pm
by losloris
I have been keeping track of how many reads these threads get and must say, there is massive, constant interest in this Module. We played it in two completely separate parts; the first floor up to the secret door that lets on to the below, as I needed a gateway to something else; and now most recently, the bottom two floors which fit in very well with what else we had going on.

Must say, this package was very well put together as a whole and provided loads of entertainment and intrigue.

If DCC were going to start a reissue service or were looking for something to build off of, say something connected to the temple of Immolous, have at 'er.

As a side note, there was that gateway to the plane of fire. Adventuring there may actually happen in my main campaign (against the archomentals) but was not something I was ready for. That is why I was happy with how things ended. We wiped out Immoloous and then Tharaxis the monstrous spider, and then tried to take our leave. Of course we had to cross the portal, whose guards had been eliminated by us and was pumping out various fire p[lane denizens. We used the want of Hiirward to suck in one fire elemental, our fire resistance potions and three great/timely die rolls. Once out, we opted not to tell anyone at Blackhelm, the city where we were located, of what was going on - again, another great new story line.

I would be curious to learn what your experience was after the fire plane portal guards were offed. How did that work out once your group was coming back from Tharaxis?

Losloris