Talons of the Horned King questions

[ssheets]

Hey all - longtime lurker & first time poster here. I'm an old time gamer, though not as old as some, I first started with D&D around 1980-81. As adults gaming fell more and more by the wayside but recently we've got a group of 6 together and we've been playing consistently on Wednesday nights for 4-5 weeks now. I love DCC and have been collecting them even though we weren't playing. So far they've been through "The Eye of The Night", Castle Churo", and a few quick side adventures.

Quick note about the game we're running. I pulled a bait-and-switch on the PCs and told them to prepare d20 Modern characters - specifically "fresh out of bootcamp military". Long story short they were "volunteered" to test a routine transportation technology. Explosion, fire, and they wake up in a smelly and dirty village being ministered to by folks trying to decide whether or not to burn them as witches. They've got modern gear and weapons but limited ammo supplies / batteries. Even so they've been buzzsawing through things due to their rifles so I don't feel bad about throwing then at "Talons of the Horned King" at level 2-3. I also figure they should burn up the rest of their ammo in there and have to start integrating with their new world.

I am altering to probe to be some sort of an Air Force probe which the military sent to look for them. This should get them really excited as characters since they are very motivated to get home.

Questions for folks who have run this -

The initial Iron Spider encounter. I am opting for it to be in "research mode" when it finds my PCs. I am assuming they won't all succumb to the paralyzing gas.... so I am picturing the non-paralyzed PCs chasing after the spider as it skedaddles to the airlock... following it into the airlock... and then following it to the cell whilst pounding on it the whole way. Is this how you played it out? I was thinking of having the spider move faster than them so that it can get into the airlock first... I was just wondering how it worked out for you.

Also (I'm at work so I don't have the module in front of me) the encounter "Beware the Drift Men" (1.9?) doesn't seem to appear on the map. I am assuming that it occurs at the entrance to the Talons area?

That's all I can think of for now. Sorry for the rambling post... This looks like it's going to be an awesome adventure for my group!

[Harley Stroh]

I *love* these sorts of games. Some of my longest running campaigns have been "guns & goblins."

And the retrofitted Talons is a *brilliant* choice. Keep us posted.

//H

[Mike_Ferguson]

Welcome to the boards! And I hope your group enjoys "Talons".

The initial Iron Spider encounter. I am opting for it to be in "research mode" when it finds my PCs. I am assuming they won't all succumb to the paralyzing gas.... so I am picturing the non-paralyzed PCs chasing after the spider as it skedaddles to the airlock... following it into the airlock... and then following it to the cell whilst pounding on it the whole way. Is this how you played it out? I was thinking of having the spider move faster than them so that it can get into the airlock first... I was just wondering how it worked out for you.

The playtesting of the module involved trying out this scenario twice. The first try played out pretty much as you indicated - the spider snatched up the party's rogue, then the rest of the party fought it the entire way to the airlock. That's pretty much where the fight ended, so they still got to experience the fun of trying to open the airlock without encountering any nasty surprises. (During the second try, all but one member of the party failed their saving throw ... which is why I inserted what happens to characters captured by the iron spider. The lone successful character watched in horror - as did most of his paralyzed companions - as the tough fighter of the group got dragged away into the airlock.)

Also (I'm at work so I don't have the module in front of me) the encounter "Beware the Drift Men" (1.9?) doesn't seem to appear on the map. I am assuming that it occurs at the entrance to the Talons area?

That's correct - area 1-9 should be located at the end of the canyon, right at the entrance to the Talons area. I hadn't noticed it wasn't on the map of the published module until I looked at it last night - apologies!

Let us know how your adventures through the Talons turn out! Using d20 Modern characters for it is a great idea.

[Pierce Randall]

That's easily one of my favorite modules from DCC. Good idea melding it with "modern" characters.