Wednesday, December 13, 2006
RHoD Introduction
Thanks to Desmond for this introductionary post.
Red Hand of Doom (RhoD), a 51 TU super adventure adapted for Living Greyhawk. Set in Elsir Vale.
RHoD Art Gallery
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ag/20060208a
Introduction to RHoD
An exciting super-adventure that pits heroes against an army bent on domination.
Rampaging hobgoblins and their allies threaten to destroy the realm and all who stand before them. Characters who dare confront the horde soon discover that these particular hobgoblins worship Tiamat, the evil queen of dragons, and eventually come face-to-face with her draconic minions.
The Brave Adventurers
Weihan (L) Leoric Human Cleric The unwilling tank, buffer & healer
Malcolm (A) Istellios Gray Elf Wizard Haste and Battlefield control.
Guangyang Bodaran Dwarven Fighter Tank pursuing after the exotic High Sword, Low Axe specialisation
Yongkai Goldfish Human Druid Zoo-keeper + elemental mastery
Yixiong Wudi Wood Elf Monk Very bloodseeking monk (reminds me of that nwn2 monk wannabe)
Desmond Nighthawk Wood Elf Ranger Reserved nature lover seeking any training to excel in archery
Leoric (L): The cleric's wisdom and charisma makes him a natural leader in a group lacking any.
Istellios (A): The wizard's breadth and depth of knowledge, especially of the arcane arts, ensures that he is consulted as the party's advisor in most major decisions.
DM: Jeff
Game Info
Part One 8 TU APL 6
Part Two 12 TU APL 6
Part Three 9 TU APL 7
Part Four 6 TU APL 8
Part Five 16 TU APL 9
Encounter Levels: Red Hand of Doom is designed for a party of four characters who begin the adventure at 5th level. Over the course of the adventure they should accumulate enough experience to reach 10th level before the climactic encounters at the end of the adventure.
Quote about RhoD from CreepDM:
"My group is half way through this mega adventure, two PC deaths so far...
The enemy is intelligent and well-organised, so good luck to you guys!"
Wizard Product Spotlight (Q&A with developers Richard Baker & James Jacob):
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ps/20060210a
Wizards: Getting down to the adversaries: Who exactly is the namesake Red Hand?
Rich: OK, here's a little spoiler: The Red Hand is a symbol for the cult of Tiamat. Five taloned digits represent five dragon heads. The army of Azarr Kull carries the emblem of the Red Hand as their battle-standard... hence the name Red Hand of Doom.
Richard Baker: We designed it to play out in about 20 to 25 sessions
Richard Baker: One other bit of advice: We frankly assume that your party includes a spellcaster with good area-of-effect spells. If you're going to play this adventure without a lightning bolt or fireball available (maybe your arcane spellcaster is a warlock, or an enchanter, or a necromancer), you may want to invest in the appropriate wands or scrolls.
Richard Baker: I wanted to create an adventure that cast the heroes in the role of "captains of good," doing things that directly affected the course of the war. So, the heroes face crucial tests in rallying allies, helping the local rulers to determine strategy, spying on the Red Hand horde and scouting its movements, and directly confronting the bad guys on the battlefield. Some of that involves old-fashioned dungeon-delving, but a lot of the adventure takes the heroes back and forth across the landscape, doing a hundred different things to stop the Red Hand march.
James: The primary monster you'll face in the adventure are goblinoids; hobgoblins mostly. Most of them have quite a few class levels too, including some prestige classes from sources like Frostburn and Complete Arcane. Whenever we had a chance, we mixed things up by adding non-humanoid foes. We've also introduced a new type of monster: the spawn of Tiamat. (Des: This adventure sounds too draconic to not be fighting dragons, imho)
Wizards: Aside from larger issues of geography, what terrain types will PCs adventure through?
James: The Elsir Vale is temperate, although the adventure takes place during a hot, muggy summer. The PCs will find themselves in small towns and sprawling cities at either end of the adventure, and in between they'll visit pastoral valleys, tangled forests, rugged mountains, and monster-infested swamps.
Excerpt from RHoD (Introduction and Backstory)
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060202a (the latter part may contain some spoilers)
The dry hilltops danced with fire.
Throughout the heart of the wild badlands the humans called the Wyrmsmokes, great bonfires had been kindled atop the ridges overlooking Elsir Vale. There thousands of warriors had gathered -- hobgoblins in armor dyed scarlet, thick-thewed bugbear berserkers, goblin worg riders and skirmishers and archers, and the scaled ones as well, who often towered over the rest. For so long they had fought each other, tribe against tribe, race against race, engaged in the endless test of battle, feud, and betrayal. But tonight . . . tonight they stood together, hated enemies shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting together as brothers. And they saw that they were strong, and together they danced and sang and shook their blades at the smoke-hidden stars overhead.
"We are the Kulkor Zhul!" they shouted, and the hills shook with the thunder of their voices. "We are the People of the Dragon! Uighulth na Hargai! None can stand before us!"
....
Adventure Background
For centuries, the dry and dusty Wyrmsmoke Mountains have been home to dozens of goblinoid tribes. Travelers skirted the goblin-infested hills by a generous margin, but the Wyrmsmoke tribes posed no significant threat to the nearby human townlands and settlements other than the occasional bloody raid. Yet deep within the mountains lay hidden something that would spell doom -- an ancient temple dedicated to Tiamat, the Queen of Evil Dragons.
Built hundreds of years ago to serve as the hidden redoubt of a despicable cult of dragon-worshipers, the temple was eventually cleansed by a band of heroes from the human city of Rhest. For several centuries the complex lay empty. Then, thirty years ago, the young half-dragon hobgoblin warrior Azarr Kul discovered the abandoned temple and was awed by the teachings of Tiamat he read on the walls therein. He abandoned Maglubiyet, the traditional deity of his people, and dedicated himself to leading the rest of his nation to Tiamat's worship.
Over the next twenty years, Azarr Kul grew into a powerful warlord and a mighty priest of Tiamat. Early in his rise to power he struck up an alliance with the blue dragon Tyrgarun, his own sire. Aided by this powerful ally, Azarr Kul converted his entire tribe into fanatical worshipers of Tiamat. He renamed the tribes that had fallen under his wing the Kulkor Zhul and began to lay his plans for the conquest of Elsir Vale.
Dedicating themselves to the Queen of Evil Dragons with the fanaticism of the recently converted, the members of the Kulkor Zhul grew strong, stronger than any Wyrmsmoke tribe before them. Adopting the standard of the Red Hand, an ancient symbol of Tiamat's cult, Azarr Kul created an elite caste of warpriests, monks, and dragon-favored champions to lead the Kulkor Zhul.
Late last year, Azarr Kul and his dragon-worshiping zealots destroyed the last opposition to his supremacy over the Wyrmsmoke tribes, slaughtering the Black Knife Goblins and the tribes allied to them in a ferocious onslaught. The survivors accepted his suzerainty and were absorbed into his realm. Azarr Kul named his new kingdom Harg Kulkor, or "Land of the Dragon."
After a long season of rebuilding his strength, offering bribes to many of the intelligent monsters in the region, and reinforcing the power of his Red Hand warpriests over the disparate tribes he ruled, Azarr Kul finally turned his attention to the lands beyond the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. What he saw whetted his ambition for power; no city or state within hundreds of miles could field an army as strong as his. The High Wyrmlord dreams of carving out a hobgoblin empire stretching from the Sunset Sea to the Golden Plains -- and the first step is to crush the human towns of Elsir Vale.
Adventure Outline
Red Hand of Doom casts the player characters in the role of heroes fighting to stem the advance of Azarr Kul's horde. There are far too many enemy warriors for the PCs to deal with them all personally. Instead, the heroes undertake vital missions that influence the outcome of the war. These missions include the following.
* Spying out the movements of Azarr Kul's army.
* Defeating roving bands of marauders.
* Leading the effort to rally an elf army to meet the Red Hand horde.
* Disrupting an alliance between the Red Hand and a powerful lich.
* Killing important enemy commanders, champions, and monsters.
* And, finally....
The adventure is divided into five parts, describing five key locations the PCs are likely to explore in the course of the adventure. Event-triggered encounters are also woven into each of the five parts. The adventure locales and events are designed to interact: Events will steer the heroes toward adventure locales, and things the heroes do in the locales will trigger events. (Des: I suspect that LG adaptation will moot all these stuff)
Red Hand of Doom (RhoD), a 51 TU super adventure adapted for Living Greyhawk. Set in Elsir Vale.
RHoD Art Gallery
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ag/20060208a
Introduction to RHoD
An exciting super-adventure that pits heroes against an army bent on domination.
Rampaging hobgoblins and their allies threaten to destroy the realm and all who stand before them. Characters who dare confront the horde soon discover that these particular hobgoblins worship Tiamat, the evil queen of dragons, and eventually come face-to-face with her draconic minions.
The Brave Adventurers
Weihan (L) Leoric Human Cleric The unwilling tank, buffer & healer
Malcolm (A) Istellios Gray Elf Wizard Haste and Battlefield control.
Guangyang Bodaran Dwarven Fighter Tank pursuing after the exotic High Sword, Low Axe specialisation
Yongkai Goldfish Human Druid Zoo-keeper + elemental mastery
Yixiong Wudi Wood Elf Monk Very bloodseeking monk (reminds me of that nwn2 monk wannabe)
Desmond Nighthawk Wood Elf Ranger Reserved nature lover seeking any training to excel in archery
Leoric (L): The cleric's wisdom and charisma makes him a natural leader in a group lacking any.
Istellios (A): The wizard's breadth and depth of knowledge, especially of the arcane arts, ensures that he is consulted as the party's advisor in most major decisions.
DM: Jeff
Game Info
Part One 8 TU APL 6
Part Two 12 TU APL 6
Part Three 9 TU APL 7
Part Four 6 TU APL 8
Part Five 16 TU APL 9
Encounter Levels: Red Hand of Doom is designed for a party of four characters who begin the adventure at 5th level. Over the course of the adventure they should accumulate enough experience to reach 10th level before the climactic encounters at the end of the adventure.
Quote about RhoD from CreepDM:
"My group is half way through this mega adventure, two PC deaths so far...
The enemy is intelligent and well-organised, so good luck to you guys!"
Wizard Product Spotlight (Q&A with developers Richard Baker & James Jacob):
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ps/20060210a
Wizards: Getting down to the adversaries: Who exactly is the namesake Red Hand?
Rich: OK, here's a little spoiler: The Red Hand is a symbol for the cult of Tiamat. Five taloned digits represent five dragon heads. The army of Azarr Kull carries the emblem of the Red Hand as their battle-standard... hence the name Red Hand of Doom.
Richard Baker: We designed it to play out in about 20 to 25 sessions
Richard Baker: One other bit of advice: We frankly assume that your party includes a spellcaster with good area-of-effect spells. If you're going to play this adventure without a lightning bolt or fireball available (maybe your arcane spellcaster is a warlock, or an enchanter, or a necromancer), you may want to invest in the appropriate wands or scrolls.
Richard Baker: I wanted to create an adventure that cast the heroes in the role of "captains of good," doing things that directly affected the course of the war. So, the heroes face crucial tests in rallying allies, helping the local rulers to determine strategy, spying on the Red Hand horde and scouting its movements, and directly confronting the bad guys on the battlefield. Some of that involves old-fashioned dungeon-delving, but a lot of the adventure takes the heroes back and forth across the landscape, doing a hundred different things to stop the Red Hand march.
James: The primary monster you'll face in the adventure are goblinoids; hobgoblins mostly. Most of them have quite a few class levels too, including some prestige classes from sources like Frostburn and Complete Arcane. Whenever we had a chance, we mixed things up by adding non-humanoid foes. We've also introduced a new type of monster: the spawn of Tiamat. (Des: This adventure sounds too draconic to not be fighting dragons, imho)
Wizards: Aside from larger issues of geography, what terrain types will PCs adventure through?
James: The Elsir Vale is temperate, although the adventure takes place during a hot, muggy summer. The PCs will find themselves in small towns and sprawling cities at either end of the adventure, and in between they'll visit pastoral valleys, tangled forests, rugged mountains, and monster-infested swamps.
Excerpt from RHoD (Introduction and Backstory)
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060202a (the latter part may contain some spoilers)
The dry hilltops danced with fire.
Throughout the heart of the wild badlands the humans called the Wyrmsmokes, great bonfires had been kindled atop the ridges overlooking Elsir Vale. There thousands of warriors had gathered -- hobgoblins in armor dyed scarlet, thick-thewed bugbear berserkers, goblin worg riders and skirmishers and archers, and the scaled ones as well, who often towered over the rest. For so long they had fought each other, tribe against tribe, race against race, engaged in the endless test of battle, feud, and betrayal. But tonight . . . tonight they stood together, hated enemies shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting together as brothers. And they saw that they were strong, and together they danced and sang and shook their blades at the smoke-hidden stars overhead.
"We are the Kulkor Zhul!" they shouted, and the hills shook with the thunder of their voices. "We are the People of the Dragon! Uighulth na Hargai! None can stand before us!"
....
Adventure Background
For centuries, the dry and dusty Wyrmsmoke Mountains have been home to dozens of goblinoid tribes. Travelers skirted the goblin-infested hills by a generous margin, but the Wyrmsmoke tribes posed no significant threat to the nearby human townlands and settlements other than the occasional bloody raid. Yet deep within the mountains lay hidden something that would spell doom -- an ancient temple dedicated to Tiamat, the Queen of Evil Dragons.
Built hundreds of years ago to serve as the hidden redoubt of a despicable cult of dragon-worshipers, the temple was eventually cleansed by a band of heroes from the human city of Rhest. For several centuries the complex lay empty. Then, thirty years ago, the young half-dragon hobgoblin warrior Azarr Kul discovered the abandoned temple and was awed by the teachings of Tiamat he read on the walls therein. He abandoned Maglubiyet, the traditional deity of his people, and dedicated himself to leading the rest of his nation to Tiamat's worship.
Over the next twenty years, Azarr Kul grew into a powerful warlord and a mighty priest of Tiamat. Early in his rise to power he struck up an alliance with the blue dragon Tyrgarun, his own sire. Aided by this powerful ally, Azarr Kul converted his entire tribe into fanatical worshipers of Tiamat. He renamed the tribes that had fallen under his wing the Kulkor Zhul and began to lay his plans for the conquest of Elsir Vale.
Dedicating themselves to the Queen of Evil Dragons with the fanaticism of the recently converted, the members of the Kulkor Zhul grew strong, stronger than any Wyrmsmoke tribe before them. Adopting the standard of the Red Hand, an ancient symbol of Tiamat's cult, Azarr Kul created an elite caste of warpriests, monks, and dragon-favored champions to lead the Kulkor Zhul.
Late last year, Azarr Kul and his dragon-worshiping zealots destroyed the last opposition to his supremacy over the Wyrmsmoke tribes, slaughtering the Black Knife Goblins and the tribes allied to them in a ferocious onslaught. The survivors accepted his suzerainty and were absorbed into his realm. Azarr Kul named his new kingdom Harg Kulkor, or "Land of the Dragon."
After a long season of rebuilding his strength, offering bribes to many of the intelligent monsters in the region, and reinforcing the power of his Red Hand warpriests over the disparate tribes he ruled, Azarr Kul finally turned his attention to the lands beyond the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. What he saw whetted his ambition for power; no city or state within hundreds of miles could field an army as strong as his. The High Wyrmlord dreams of carving out a hobgoblin empire stretching from the Sunset Sea to the Golden Plains -- and the first step is to crush the human towns of Elsir Vale.
Adventure Outline
Red Hand of Doom casts the player characters in the role of heroes fighting to stem the advance of Azarr Kul's horde. There are far too many enemy warriors for the PCs to deal with them all personally. Instead, the heroes undertake vital missions that influence the outcome of the war. These missions include the following.
* Spying out the movements of Azarr Kul's army.
* Defeating roving bands of marauders.
* Leading the effort to rally an elf army to meet the Red Hand horde.
* Disrupting an alliance between the Red Hand and a powerful lich.
* Killing important enemy commanders, champions, and monsters.
* And, finally....
The adventure is divided into five parts, describing five key locations the PCs are likely to explore in the course of the adventure. Event-triggered encounters are also woven into each of the five parts. The adventure locales and events are designed to interact: Events will steer the heroes toward adventure locales, and things the heroes do in the locales will trigger events. (Des: I suspect that LG adaptation will moot all these stuff)
