M2 DM Questions-I am starting the game 4-25-09 please help

[JesterOC]

First of all I must say that M2 appears to be the best Adventure I have purchased for Dungeons and Dragons in the last 10 years. I believe that I can run the adventure as is without any major issues. That said, I do have a few questions concerning the overarching plot structure. Let me just list the issues.

Players please stay away - here there be spoilers. ( although I am trying to be vague just stay away please.)






1) The sweetmeats at the mill, there is a mention about the repercussions (domination?) if the players eat them it references another encounter. However I can not find any other reference to the sweetmeats anywhere else.
2) There are hints that there is a plot against all of the north in the intro, but I can not find any other reference to the plot (meaning I can't find it in any encounter I have read (and I think I read them all)).
3) The players get to “the other side” it is the 3rd hour. If the clock resets, do they start at the 3rd hour, or do they show up in the 1st hour, and if so, where do they show up.
4) On its surface, the political section seems pretty straight forward. I imagine the PCs will jump at the chance to help one of the main characters, and after that point it seems the political aspect of the adventure is done, or is there something I am missing. The way I read it, if the party gets to the Crow King, they will says OK, and they get escorted to the lower levels. After that I don’t see the time aspect of the situation showing up at all, unless we get a TPK.
5) In the section that describes what the Crow king asks the players to do, it mentions that he gets them to the lower levels, and then hides in ambush at the stairs (no map indicator given), but as far as I can tell once the PC’s get within 500 feet of the balcony (with a certain item in hand), that is it. No confrontation, no nothing just bam game over. Is there something I am missing

[Harley Stroh]

Jester,

I'll tackle the easy ones early, and come back once I've had the chance to re-read my original notes.

3) The players get to “the other side” it is the 3rd hour. If the clock resets, do they start at the 3rd hour, or do they show up in the 1st hour, and if so, where do they show up.

They return in hour 0 each time, appearing atop the balcony. Essentially it is "player beginning" all over again each time.

4) On its surface, the political section seems pretty straight forward. I imagine the PCs will jump at the chance to help one of the main characters, and after that point it seems the political aspect of the adventure is done, or is there something I am missing. The way I read it, if the party gets to the Crow King, they will says OK, and they get escorted to the lower levels. After that I don’t see the time aspect of the situation showing up at all, unless we get a TPK.

Even if the PCs side with one of the regents right away, that isn't the end of the fun. The other two go after the PCs, either trying to win them over with lies and offers of treasure, or by assassination (and making the others regents appear responsible). The regents know that they have once chance to escape --- an opportunity like the PCs simply will not come around again. Thu they pull out all the stops, beginning with tricks and lies, and progressing to outright violence.

5) In the section that describes what the Crow king asks the players to do, it mentions that he gets them to the lower levels, and then hides in ambush at the stairs (no map indicator given), but as far as I can tell once the PC’s get within 500 feet of the balcony (with a certain item in hand), that is it. No confrontation, no nothing just bam game over. Is there something I am missing

Hmm. This might have been missed in editing. The text I have indicates that the heroes need to bring the item to the upper levels of the Kingspire to end the curse. The regents and their minions would wait across the bridge, demanding the PCs hand over the item.

Now if you really want to amp up the tension, have the creature that guards the item able to "worm" its way up through the spire. That way the heroes have to fight/dodge it all the way up, and end up caught between the Crow King and the creature at the end.

//H

[JesterOC]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Jester,

They return in hour 0 each time, appearing atop the balcony. Essentially it is "player beginning" all over again each time.

OK cool, just so I understand fully I will paraphrase. The PC's start at zero hour, and thus if/when they die they restart at zero hour. What threw me off was the first line after the flavor text, says "Though it is the 3rd hour of the Worm cycle..." But no prob, they start in the begining (makes sense).

Even if the PCs side with one of the regents right away, that isn't the end of the fun. The other two go after the PCs, either trying to win them over with lies and offers of treasure, or by assassination (and making the others regents appear responsible). The regents know that they have once chance to escape --- an opportunity like the PCs simply will not come around again. Thu they pull out all the stops, beginning with tricks and lies, and progressing to outright violence.

Good point, I was thinking too simplistically. Also I failed to consider that through the entire adventure the PC's are getting clues that these guys are completely evil. I doubt any PC will just pop in and accept what these completely evil guys are saying at face value.

Hmm. This might have been missed in editing. The text I have indicates that the heroes need to bring the item to the upper levels of the Kingspire to end the curse. The regents and their minions would wait across the bridge, demanding the PCs hand over the item.

No this is my bad, when I read upper levels I was thinking relative to the lowest levels (which is where the item is found). I also read the description of the item and it said it had a radius of 500 feet. So I figured that the initial level was within 500 feet of the original ritual.

Now if you really want to amp up the tension, have the creature that guards the item able to "worm" its way up through the spire. That way the heroes have to fight/dodge it all the way up, and end up caught between the Crow King and the creature at the end.

//H

Brilliant! That will scare the living heck out of them (if they live that long .

Thank you for your time,

JesterOC

[JesterOC]

Thanks for the info, the game when great. Although they only made it past the guards, that fight was pretty spectacular.


minor spoiler alert

I loved the encounter description for the guards. It described two ways in which it could flow, one where the PC's where tricked, and another if the guards were picked. Of course my group choose option 3. While still outside of the gates, the party cleric told the guards that he was going to kill them all. So... instead of a fight inside the gates, the fight started with the PC's outside the gates. Then a shadar-kai wizard decided to teleport next to the captain of the guard before anyone else had made it over the 15 foot gate! But it is amazing what a determined wizard who does not mind blowing all his dailies can do when when death is on the line. Luckily the Goliath Barbarian was able to leap over the fence (with Tigers leap) to assist. The others took nearly the entire encounter to climb over the fence. It was very very memorable, I thank you for the great encounter.

JesterOC

[Harley Stroh]

Jester,

I'm glad it was a good encounter. It's always amusing/interesting when the wizard decides to say, "Screw it! I'm going in." Carnage is sure to ensue.

//H