|
| Halls of the Mountain King - session write-ups & queries |
« View previous topic :: View next topic » |
| Author |
Message
|
| richgreen01 |
 Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:05 am Post subject: |
 |
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Not sure if I've mentioned this or not, but after a gladiatorial adventure set in Parsantium's Hippodrome featuring the dastardly Heinsoo, Courts of the Shadow Fey will be up next. Going to relocate to Parsantium from Zobeck and will try and combine with some stuff from the excellent Shadowfell boxed set!
Rich |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 10:12 pm Post subject: Final session! |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Hi,
Here's what happened in our last ever session of Halls of the Mountain King. I have to say this one of the most enjoyable campaigns/mega-adventures I've run and a great advert for the creativity of Open Design!
As you will see below, the PCs made short work of the Shard and Mammon's Will - my advice to anyone running the 4e version of the adventure is to beef up the attacks and defenses of the Mountain King, the Shard and Mammon's Will as the PCs had a pretty easy time of it.
Looking back over the whole adventure, we agreed our favourite encounter was the one where Vianna has the molten gold poured down her throat, closely followed by the fight with the scaffolding monster at the end of Deeper Darkness. Oh, and Rabscuttle will be the most remembered NPC, for his crazy antics and annoying voice.
For those interested in what this group of PCs get up to next, their ongoing adventures will be chronicled here.
The gold statue of the Mountain King has split into two separate entities - the Shard, a twisted, elemental giant, and Mammon's Will, a rough humanoid formed of gold, gems, jewellery and forge tools, which appears right next to Bolval. Saethus conjures a flaming sphere to attack the Shard while Khuma goes to help Bolval. Krivinn boldly steps up to the Shard, hits the elemental once, and then again with a critical, doing 132 points of damage – enough to destroy it! The others gang up on Mammon's Will who strikes back, embezzling Bolval's holy symbol when he attacks with flame strike. Despite this, the cleric’s attacks prove deadly as the infernal construct implodes and is dragged back to the Hells! Even Masterstroke admits he is quite impressed with the dwarf’s prowess.
As Mammon vanishes, his voice echoes throughout the forge:
“Do not think that you have seen the last of me, mortals. Steal but one copper, scorn one beggar’s plea, plunder a single tomb for naught but greed, and we shall meet again. My eye is upon you and Mammon does not forget!”
The battle over, the PCs search the chamber – Saethus finds a +3 controller’s wand on one of the tieflings but there is little else in here. Heading back into the main corridor running round the Prime Forge, the party find and open a secret door in the wall opposite the doors Grajava’s statue smashed open. Beyond is a chamber with four carved pillars and the base of a fifth (which the PCs reckon used to hold the pillar in Bartholomeus’ room above), as well as the corpse of a dead Illuminated Brother clutching a sprig of acacia and a bunch of keys. Unsure what to make of this, the party continue to explore the rest of the level. Krivinn persuades them to leave Bragollach’s hoard untouched, they wipe out the goldveined chokers hanging in cages from the ceiling of a smelter, and investigate a library, taking a huge ledger of accounts of the Cult of Mammon which may contain valuable clues. Finally, the PCs plunder the lab and living quarters of the vampire countess, defeating her guardian jackal effigies. There is no sign, though, of the vampiress herself.
Returning up the Great Stair to the halls above, the PCs are hailed as heroes for ridding the citadel of Mammon and his cult. Over the coming days, they are showered with gifts and offers of marriage, and their faces are added to the frescoes in Heartsblood Forge once the refugees reclaim the lower halls.
The dwarves dig themselves out from under the earthquake and free up the entrance. Outside, the cold weather is over and the snow is starting to melt when they open the main doors. A couple of weeks later, dwarven reinforcements arrive from the cantons of St Mischau and Hammerfell. A cleric of Korak is able to restore both Brave Ella and Sharden to full health, as well as removing the ghoul curse on Bolval and Krivinn that has hung over them so long.
Bolval is inducted into the Illuminated Brotherhood, and he and Saethus study with the canton’s mystics and learn new rituals. He is politely asked to return Masterstroke, however.
Before heading back to Parsantium, Bolval goes with Krivinn to visit his family in Juralt where his grandmother, Therhildvin Runewise, and his parents, Norgyth and Duerif Dwomalk urge him to track down Heinsoo and find out why he is stealing religious texts. Sharden elects to return home to Grisal.
The overland journey to Parsantium takes the PCs just over six weeks. The party run into some minor trouble en route – bandits, orcs and the like – but nothing serious, and they are able to get back to the city safely.
Cheers
Richard |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| ldw |
| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:00 pm Post subject: Cupidity |
|
|
Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 2
|
| I'm looking to run this adventure in a few months, so I'm doing my background reading now. On page 7 of the adventure it refers to the Domain Cupidity and references the Dwarves of Ironcrags Gazetteer, but I cannot find any mention of Cupidity in the Gazetteer. I noticed earlier in this thread that some of the spells were left out of the Gazetteer, is this what happened with Cupidity? If that is the case, is there anyway I can find out information about Cupidity? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| ldw |
| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:33 pm Post subject: I posted too soon |
|
|
Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 2
|
Just glanced through the adventure from cover to cover and noticed the Cupidity domain at the back of the adventure on page 164, so false alarm on my part.
I'm looking forward to running this. I'm going to be playing with at least 2 people who have never role played that much. Are there any tips about things in this adventure that might prove difficult to introduce novices to? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 8:07 pm Post subject: Re: I posted too soon |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
| ldw wrote: |
I'm looking forward to running this. I'm going to be playing with at least 2 people who have never role played that much. Are there any tips about things in this adventure that might prove difficult to introduce novices to? |
There are quite a few NPCs and the plot is fairly complex so my main recommendation would be to do a recap at the start of each session, and check the players are following what's going on.
Have fun - it's a great adventure!
Rich |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Afet |
| Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 4:10 pm Post subject: Halls of the Mountain King |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 12
|
Hi, all.
I'm preparing the 4E version of the Halls of the Mountain King, using the DnD Next playtest rules and setting it in the Mines of Tethyamar in the Forgotten Realms.
I have a question that I'm hoping someone, perhaps Wolfgang or others, might be able to resolve for me.
It appears that the Hearthforge and the Heartsblood forge are only accessible via the great Clockwork gate, which gives access to the great stair.
When the PCs arrive in the Golden Citadel, the clockwork gate is still sealed. But the description of the Dwarven Miners (p. 37) clearly indicates that Mammonites have lost "control of Heartsblood Forge
to a growing faction of cultists" and that the dwarves have 50 guards "stationed near the Heartsblood Forge, where they
fi ght sporadic battles to reclaim the territory controlled by
the traitorous Mammonites".
How is this possible if there is no access to the Heartsblood Forge until the clockwork gate is broken? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 11:40 pm Post subject: Re: Halls of the Mountain King |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
| Afet wrote: |
It appears that the Hearthforge and the Heartsblood forge are only accessible via the great Clockwork gate, which gives access to the great stair.
When the PCs arrive in the Golden Citadel, the clockwork gate is still sealed. But the description of the Dwarven Miners (p. 37) clearly indicates that Mammonites have lost "control of Heartsblood Forge
to a growing faction of cultists" and that the dwarves have 50 guards "stationed near the Heartsblood Forge, where they
fight sporadic battles to reclaim the territory controlled by
the traitorous Mammonites".
How is this possible if there is no access to the Heartsblood Forge until the clockwork gate is broken? |
Yeah, this is confusing. I asked this question too and I don't think I got an answer to it. My assumption was that some of the cultists – the mysterious Journeyman for example – know how to open the clockwork gate and went through the door ahead of Bragollach smashing it open. There is also a staircase in area 41 of the Dwarven Camp (see map on p.34) which I assumed leads to the Great Stair.
I think I said this upthread but the adventure really could do with an overall map showing how all the dungeon levels connect up to make it easier for the DM.
Hope this helps
Rich
_________________
@richgreen01 on Twitter
Co-author of the Midgard Bestiary for 4th Edition D&D
At the Sign of the Green Man |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Afet |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 6:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 12
|
Thanks, Rich. It's unfortunate that you've never received an answer.
According to the background material the purpose of the clockwork gate was to seal off the lower Halls. In fact, it mentions tha, once the gate was in place and sealed, the Forsaken had to tunnel to the surface.
One solution is to assume that when the forsaken tunneled to the surface, they left passages that are now being used by the mammonites. But this is not accounted for in the text or the maps.
But even if you accept this premise, one has to explain how Abelard the Fire Shepherd and "cadre of devotees" are clearly able to move back and forth between the Hearthforges and the Golden Citadel. Or how the dwarves of the Golden Citadel are able to post guards at the Heartforge.
It strikes me that there must be a relatively simple explanation for this apparent problem. But I feel I'm missing it. It would really be helpful if the desighers could offer their insight. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 12:35 pm Post subject: Guards Under the Mountains |
|
|
Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 5008
Location: The Mines
|
It's been a few years since this adventure shipped, but I don't think you are missing anything. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but I think the original error was simply a flat-out mistake. I know several groups playtested it, and everyone reviewed for story logic, but everyone missed it. So, there's that.
That said, I agree that it's easy to add an explanation. An unmarked secret passage around the clockwork gates for Abelard. I think the Forsaken passages make some sense. The other option is that the recent earthquakes have opened additional passages that were not available previously.
The easiest option is just to say that Abelard and his cadre move back and forth via magical means (ethereally might make sense for elemental types...). Also, the dwarves simply don't post guards at the Heartforge until after the gate is opened.
I think that works. I'll ask a couple of the designers to weigh in.
_________________
Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Afet |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 1:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 12
|
Thanks for the explanation and the ideas, Wolfgang.
I hadn't thought of using magical means for Abelard.
I think the idea of a secret alternate route to the Hearthforge makes good sense. The location of this route could be one of the many secrets protected by the Illuminated Brotherhood and revealed only to successive generations of Fire Shepherds.
The Mammonites could likewise keep secret the location of a tunnel made by the Forsaken when the Clockwork gate was sealed. The secret is kept because the Mammonites know that if the Brotherhood were to discover it, they would make every effort to seal it off. The poisoned tunnel might actually give access to the tunnel of the Forsaken. The poison, which the Mammonites could know how to bypass, would serve as a deterrent to the curious.
However, all of this begs another question: if there is a perfectly good alternate route to the deeper halls, why would the Mammonites force Bragollach to sunder the clockwork gates? Opening an easier way to the halls below arguably imperils their plans, by exposing them to interference from the Golden Citadel.
On the other hand one could argue that they are confident that the time for Mammon's manifestation is at hand. The clockwork gate is symbolic of the Brotherhood's attempts to foil their plans. The destruction of the gate, then, represents a symbolic assertion that victory is imminent for the Mammonites. Also, opening the gate looses the gold maddened Forsaken on the unsuspecting refugees.
Cheers,
Afet |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| nmilasich |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 2:43 pm Post subject: HOMK - the clockwork gate and other egress |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Posts: 86
|
Hi,
I dealt with this issue when I ran HOMK about two years ago. My way to deal with it was to suggest that while the common human and kobold miners were limited to the upper halls and mineworks by the clockwork gate, both the dwarves and the cultists had secret, hidden means for accessing the deeper parts of the citadel. These routes were narrow and difficult, so large amounts of ore or supplies cannot be easily moved by them, but they allowed the two groups access, the cultist up, and the dwarves down.
This resolved this issue pretty well in my mind.
Thanks,
Nick |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| nmilasich |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 2:47 pm Post subject: so, why do the mammonites destroy the gate? |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Posts: 86
|
Well, Perhaps the cultists do not wish to endanger their secret passage by sending so many sick miners through it, or the passage has collapsed. Also, this sabotage may be done simple out of malice, but more likely, it is to allow the miners and the derro to weaken each other so that the cultists can pick up the pieces.
The distruction of the gate is, I think, a demonstration of the cult's power. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| terraleon |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 2:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Contributor
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 2032
Location: upstate NY
|
| Afet wrote: |
Hi, all.
It appears that the Hearthforge and the Heartsblood forge are only accessible via the great Clockwork gate, which gives access to the great stair.
When the PCs arrive in the Golden Citadel, the clockwork gate is still sealed. But the description of the Dwarven Miners (p. 37) clearly indicates that Mammonites have lost "control of Heartsblood Forge
to a growing faction of cultists" and that the dwarves have 50 guards "stationed near the Heartsblood Forge, where they
fi ght sporadic battles to reclaim the territory controlled by
the traitorous Mammonites".
How is this possible if there is no access to the Heartsblood Forge until the clockwork gate is broken? |
What seems to be missing in the discussion about the sealing of the Clockwork Gate is the phrase "to miners." But I think this was discussed in design, so most patron playtesters probably didn't think too hard on it (or subconsciously realized it).
But let's go back a bit to the set up here...
So previously, when the miners returned, the Clockwork Gate was opened and mining operations resumed in the lower levels. Everyone went up and down the Great Stair. Things like the Heartsblood Forge became active again (Although Abelard had never left and welcomed the returning dwarves). Mining commenced. Tainted gold flowed. Things progressed this way for several weeks.
Then the Gold Greed Fever set in again, the Mammonites infiltrated the miners, and there was a riot/mutiny. The Many-Bearded Elder was murdered (Page 3, who committed the deed is left open). The mines became a battleground. A group of untainted dwarven survivors held out in the Hearthforges and near the Heartsblood Forge, trying to reclaim the territory.
The Clockwork Gate was sealed in an attempt to limit the spread of the sickness and to prevent whatever insurrection was below from further tainting the camps/upper halls. All of this is relatively recent, given the magical message from the introduction background. (page 3)
There's "no access" for anyone not involved in that recovery effort-- such as miners and prospectors, those people looking to get more gold, rather than restore the Golden Citadel. The gate itself is controlled by the dwarves, but the Mammonites want more tainted gold in the world to bring an Aspect of Mammon to Midgard, so they're trying to subvert that access, and so they've begun other, hidden tunnels-- which is where they sneak off to and hide/ferry gold when they can. The infected camp mentions this as well (Area 26, right column, page 36) at least the part about sneaking off to enter the lower caverns. You are correct in noting these hidden tunnels are not on the map. I can't remember if that was intentional or not. However, the characters don't interact much with Mammonites at this point, making the tunnels are less important, given the events in part 4.
So that when the characters arrive, the Clockwork Gate is sealed (as are the lower halls) to prospectors (Which the adventurers are considered), but the dwarves are trying to reclaim the lower halls, and the Hearthforges have recently gone cold. Vianna is allowed into the dwarven camp because she's a dwarf, and has the connections to go down there. Yes, there are some Mammonites amongst the dwarves, but the Gate is an obstacle.
Then the gate is sundered, and the dwarves have to try holding the broken Clockwork gate as you go into Part 2, but there's no longer absolute control over who passes through. There are arguments about who should go to the Hearthforges because of the obvious conflict going on and the fact that no one is sure who is a Mammonite and who is not.
The characters have just arrived, and have no specific alliances, which is why they're asked to make the trip.
Now regarding Abelard and his cadre of devotees? They *don't* move back and forth between the Hearthforges and the upper halls of the Golden Citadel. They live at the Hearthforges. The area has storage, cisterns, residences. It's not meant to be left unless it has to be.
And...
| Quote: |
| I think I said this upthread but the adventure really could do with an overall map showing how all the dungeon levels connect up to make it easier for the DM. |
If you make a map showing how the levels are all connected, then you need to fully define the Golden Citadel. We didn't want to do that, because then it's fully defined. What if I want the Citadel to be a vast, Moria-like warren? What if you want it to be a very focused set of mines? We tried to make it clear that it takes a long time to travel in the Halls (the trip to the Hearthforges is about a day), that they were expansive, and that the Great Stair connected the whole shebang in some way-- so everything could be connected off the Great Stair as we did later development, and that would be enough.
We had some serious conversations about the extent of the Halls we should detail. Fully defining the Citadel means creating huge maps of spaces that don't need to be used necessarily. That sort of design was way beyond what we could effectively do. Sure, OD projects tend to over-deliver, but that wasn't something that was feasible, even for us-- and trust me, Brandon Hodge was an absolute machine on this project, springing fully formed from the ether. In the end, we realized the best bet was to only define what we needed, and leave the rest to the GM's preference.
As a side note (which got cut for space) if you cut the lid off a soda can and speak into it, I found it worked pretty well for emulating the way Abelard might sound while trapped.
-Ben.
_________________
progressio sine timore aut praejudica - Spectemur agendo
Last edited by terraleon on Sat May 25, 2013 4:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| terraleon |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 2:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Contributor
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 2032
Location: upstate NY
|
| Afet wrote: |
I think the idea of a secret alternate route to the Hearthforge makes good sense. The location of this route could be one of the many secrets protected by the Illuminated Brotherhood and revealed only to successive generations of Fire Shepherds. |
There are no successive generations of Fire Shepherds. Abelard, by his nature, does not age. He is the same guy who was there when the place was set up. This is mentioned in Appendix A to some extent.
Additionally, going through the Hearthforges section, there's this:
| Page 49 wrote: |
| Smooth hexagonal paving stones cover the floor, inlaid with silvery dwarven runes. The runes spell names of previous Hearthforge workers. In the center of the room’s floor is a symbol-engraved silver circle for a Linked Portal ritual. A DC 14 Arcana check indicates that a blank portion of the circle allows the ritual to transport between a number of different locations. |
This is then complimented with:
| Page 68 wrote: |
| Before departing, Abelard recommends sealing off the Hearthforges. He will teleport back in later with a group of dwarves to clear the cave-ins and collect any supplies. |
and
| Page 69 wrote: |
| Barring complete failure by the PCs, Abelard returns with them and speaks highly of their actions, assuming they don’t release the elementals. Using Linked Portal, he returns to the Hearthforge periodically to check on its status. |
So a Linked Portal ritual allows Abelard to move quickly between area in the Halls, but the eliminated glyph in the Hearthforges prevents it from being opened without Abelard fixing it.
-Ben.
_________________
progressio sine timore aut praejudica - Spectemur agendo
Last edited by terraleon on Sat May 25, 2013 4:11 pm; edited 3 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| terraleon |
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 2:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Contributor
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 2032
Location: upstate NY
|
| Afet wrote: |
However, all of this begs another question: if there is a perfectly good alternate route to the deeper halls, why would the Mammonites force Bragollach to sunder the clockwork gates? Opening an easier way to the halls below arguably imperils their plans, by exposing them to interference from the Golden Citadel. |
When the Mammonites sunder the Clockwork Gate, they force the dwarves to deal with the Forsaken, who just want to killkillkill. This divides the dwarves' attention and gives more leeway to the Mammonites.
-Ben.
_________________
progressio sine timore aut praejudica - Spectemur agendo |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
|
