| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Wenin |
Posted - 25 Dec 2013 : 08:00:34
I'm looking through this 3.5 adventure provided for free by WotC and am wondering just how hard this riddle would be to solve from a player's vantage point.
Has anyone had the experience the running of or play out this adventure? I'd like to know how hard/easy your group had with this module. |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Fendrikor |
Posted - 30 Dec 2013 : 14:56:27
Yep i Ran this one :)
My party was heading overland to do 'Sunless Citidel'. Along the way, they found the small village of Newkeep with its Bridge out over the River - and ofcourse the Ettin tromping off into the Trees.
They initially thought 'How the hell are we meant to kill that thing...' and went to talk to the towns folk and see if they were alright.
My party had a Cleric of Weejas, an Elf wizard, a female Barbarian and some other character i have forgotten.
Initially they decided they were going to prepare the town defences for the Giants return but they cottoned on pretty quickly something was not right about the Giant, having two personalities by day and night.
They decided that Stondylus must be behind it, Still alive within his tower in Oldkeep in an undead state and some enchantment was driving the Ettin to attack the town - So they went to see Stondylus.
On the Road, they encountered the Orcs in the Woods - who i tied into some Forshadowing for the 'Zargath Humanbane' Villain in the Exemplars of Evil Handbook. So my Orcs wore Red capes, and were waiting on some Smugglers (who they found dead on the road earlier - killed by two Ogre Bandits called Gnarl and Hairtooth).
The party arrived and decided to talk their way past the Orcs to gether some information, saying they hid the Cart someway in the underbrush of the forest off the dirt path as insurance as not to be killed once they made the trade. The Orcs paid them some Coin and (all 20 of them) shuffled off down the path to find the cart.
They found the Tower by around nightfall, And as they approached knocked on the Door - Kyrnyn came out and explained to them his curse - He believed he had used his Bodys new prowess for the Cause of righteousness in ridding the wood of bandits. but he was blind to the idea he was actually being punished for it. Just as they convinced him of this, the sound of battle rang out in the woods - as the Orcs ran into the Peasant militia.
Muck woke up and the players tripped him with some Clever use of a Rope. They then tried to batter him unconcious but doing this to an Ettin is hard work. So they decided to just Run for it, come back the next night and fix him by bringing him a Holy Symbol so he could cast again.
But Muck got out and came after them catching up shortly after they got to the Fight between the Militia and the Orcs (which ended in the Orcs running away). The Peasants wanted to make a Stand against the Ettin, but the Wizard Charmed the Sherrif's Son (Rabble rouser guy) into talking it out in town.
But the Ettin caught them and they had to fight it. Most of the peasants got Smooshed. Two players got smacked out. But finally the Ettin was laid low.
During the Fight, they convinced Kyrnyns apprentice that it was Kyrnyn trapped within the Ettin. So when the Ettin went down, he ran over with his holy symbol, healed Kyrnyn and together dispelled the Curse.
In the end, Kyrnyn joined the party and became an Epic and Memorable NPC - somewhat like a Good hearted, Glory seeking, Slightly unhinged, larger than life Noble warrior hero.
He actually changed the parties perspectives from sinking into the depths of neutrality/the slip towards evil - to realising that good characters could be badass too.
I named his sword 'Hwyldwyr' (Hh-whill-dweer) and gave him a couple Heironeous Specific spells from Dragon Magazine.
Probably one of the most memorable points of that campaign was this little mission :) and the sunless citidel that followed.
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| Wenin |
Posted - 29 Dec 2013 : 23:50:40
I went with Tyr vs Cyric
My timeline is taking place just prior to the return of Bane. |
| Diffan |
Posted - 29 Dec 2013 : 19:20:43
quote:
Originally posted by Wenin
Awesome suggestions, I failed to even realize that I need to change the riddle to more FR cosmology.
Why did you go with Torm, rather than Tyr? Did you run it in a 4E timeline, where Tyr is gone?
Well you don't technically need to change the rhyme, but it helps make it a little more custom to the setting. And your correct, I used Torm because it was placed in the Post-Spellplague Realms, even though the campaign was v3.5 rules (E6 actually, but thats neither here nor there). I guess you could use the Rhyme as-is and just change the god to Tyr as he is the "Even Handed". Might want to think about an alternative to Hexor though. |
| Wenin |
Posted - 27 Dec 2013 : 19:10:33
Awesome suggestions, I failed to even realize that I need to change the riddle to more FR cosmology.
Why did you go with Torm, rather than Tyr? Did you run it in a 4E timeline, where Tyr is gone? |
| Diffan |
Posted - 27 Dec 2013 : 01:06:17
I actually re-wrote the riddle to make sense in the Forgotten Realms. Here's what I came up with.
THE ETTEN’S RIDDLE
“Two heads have we, but born with one.”
(This identifies “we” as Kyrnyn, and indicates that he was born with only one head—thus, he was not always an ettin.)
“We avenged, healed, and protected.”
(This is almost directly quoted from the description of good clerics in the Player’s Handbook. It is a clue that the speaker was once a good cleric.)
“Our master was the Loyal Fury,”
(Torm’s title is “the Loyal Fury,” indicating that the cleric was devoted to Torm.)
“But punished we all who objected.”
(This is a bit more obscure. It relates how Kyrnyn abused his power as a cleric to exact vengeance, rather than justice. The adventurers are only likely to learn this if they convince Kyrnyn to tell them about his past.)
“Heeded we the Black-Handed king,”
(This is a reference to Bane, Torm’s arch-enemy—a deity with the symbol of a black gauntlet or claw or some other demonic hand. Bane is the god of tyranny — a trap into which Kyrnyn had started to fall.)
“And so by our god were rejected.”
(This part Kyrnyn has already deciphered: Because he transgressed against Torm by behaving contrary to his alignment, he has fallen from Torm’s favor—as evidenced by the choice of divine spells Torm has allowed Kyrnyn.)
“Thus, this is our fate:
One head twice bisected.”
(And so, Kyrnyn, who was already of two minds—one that served Torm, and one that felt it was acceptable to punish anyone with differing views—was cursed with two heads: one that serves Torm, and one that is more self-centered and tyrannical.)"
So anyone who has ranks in Knowledge (Religion) might get the references to "the Loyal Fury" as well as the "Black Handed King", probably a moderate DC check, like 10 for Torm, maybe 15 for Bane. They would also know about the person once being a cleric since its description was pulled from the PHB.
The reports from the farmers and other villagers would elude to the creature being large in size, maybe a troll, ogre, or even hill giant. If the players can't come to the conclusion of an Ettin then perhaps a Knowledge (nature) check (DC 12 perhaps) might help fill them in OR even a Knowledge (local) or (geography) might as it pertains to large, two-headed creatures that roam the area (DC 15 or 17).
The players were approx 4th level when we did it and it was a lot of fun. The conclusion was pretty fun as the PCs had to not only struggle with the Ettin who was mad and raging but also the populace who wanted to kill him. I believe the other 3 PCs did their part to subdue the Ettin while the Cleric in our group kept the mob mostly contained. I there was a Sorceress in the group who Fascinated the group with a spell, biding her companions more time to deal with the Ettin. In the end the cleric was able to use the Dispel Magic spell and revert back to his state. I think his character even ended up being a DMPC that was used mostly to heal the group when they were between other combats. |
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