AA2.3 Insect Valhalla

[Solomoriah]

Post your comments here for J.D. Neal's Insect Valhalla adventure.

[dymondy2k]

Hey JD.. do you have the map as a separate image for this module? Thinking about taking my players through this one next. I was thinking of an artifact rescue of some sort as an adventure hook.

Also a couple of things while I am going through the adventure.

1. When you have multiple creatures of the same type, you should be rolling the hit points for each creature. I noticed that you rolled once and then gave each creature the same amount of hit points.

2. Room 11: You don't give any kind of worth to the Silver Axes. I didn't find anything in the Core Rules for worth so I guesstimated at about 50gp each.

3. Guard Fern. The thorn attack, is that a basic attack against each of the characters AC or were you thinking of it being a Saving Throw Save type attack? I used it as an Attack against AC. Also It didn't really say it had any issues with arrows so I allowed full damage from them during combat.

4. The Giant Mosquitos: I couldn't find them in the core rules or field guide so I'm assuming they are something you created? I went ahead and gave them the Stirges ability to latch on suck your blood if they make a successful attack.

[jdn2006]

Hey JD.. do you have the map as a separate image for this module? Thinking about taking my players through this one next. I was thinking of an artifact rescue of some sort as an adventure hook.

Not with me; it'll be a week before I can get to it (I don't have access to the internet very often...) If Solomoriah wanted to e-mail it to you, that would be fine with me.

Also a couple of things while I am going through the adventure.

1. When you have multiple creatures of the same type, you should be rolling the hit points for each creature. I noticed that you rolled once and then gave each creature the same amount of hit points.

I did this way back when and gave the same hit points for each to save time, influenced by B2 Keep on the Borderlands and such where critters often had the same HP. But, yes, having individual totals is handy and adds variety. I'll try to do an update with randomly rolled HP, but it'll be a week or so (in case Solomoriah reads this: downloading the file from the web site.)

2. Room 11: You don't give any kind of worth to the Silver Axes. I didn't find anything in the Core Rules for worth so I guesstimated at about 50gp each.

I don't want to suggest economics to individual Game Masters (some may not even want to have silver bladed axes.) My own comparisons (hand axe to dagger) make 50 gp reasonable, but someone else might want a different price...

3. Guard Fern. The thorn attack, is that a basic attack against each of the characters AC or were you thinking of it being a Saving Throw Save type attack? I used it as an Attack against AC. Also It didn't really say it had any issues with arrows so I allowed full damage from them during combat.

I was thinking the Manticore's tail spikes and I would do a missile attack; but a save might also work. I personally prefer the “each GM handling it how he/she wants” idea.

4. The Giant Mosquitos: I couldn't find them in the core rules or field guide so I'm assuming they are something you created? I went ahead and gave them the Stirges ability to latch on suck your blood if they make a successful attack.

That’s about what I intended - an insect version of the stirge. I thought I suggested them for the Monster Supplement but I guess not.

Thanks for the comments. I put this together when I was playing with map making. It isn't exactly the sort of thing I'd personally want to play as-is, more in the way of materials to use as desired and for a sand-box.

If you want to suggest any material (like plot hooks), have at it. More material is better.

[jdn2006]

[quoted by own post by accident...]

[dymondy2k]

JD

Well I was able to do an image grab out of the PDF so the map is covered. I'm about half way done with this one with my players and I gotta be honest, they've been having a blast with it. That Guard Fern was tough SOB and they'll still have one left to take care of.

[dymondy2k]

My players second day did not go so well. The first encounter they got jumped by the Tiger Beetle, The ranger and the thief were out front and both didn't see it, giving it a full surprise round, on top of that it rolled great initiative. So first round it bites the thief, second round it bites the thief again, killing her. Luckily I established the negative HP rule so they were able to bring her back before she really died, but had to use 3 of their 4 healing spells to do so.


Also the Trap Door Spider: I couldn't find any reference to its poison so I went online to see what I could find out. I didn't find much there either, just that its not considered poisonous to humans. But what I did find out is that when they spring, they will grab their victim and pull them back inside their den. So I used the BFRPG wrestling rules to establish that if the spider made its first attack roll it would use that to grab its prey and pull it back inside the door. Then on the subsequent rounds it automatically bites its target until it can make a save. It made for quite a funny encounter because the last guy in the party (the druid) was the only one that triggered the spider to attack. So it pulled him inside and nobody else knew what happened. So the poor guy had 3 rounds alone with the monster before the rest of the party was able to see the door and enter. He made his save the second round and was able to kill the spider just as the rest of the party found him.. Good times!

[Solomoriah]

Generally, if a poisonous monster has no other description than "poison," it's fatal unless a save vs. Poison is made. Of course, there is an optional rule that might apply also.

[dymondy2k]

Generally, if a poisonous monster has no other description than "poison," it's fatal unless a save vs. Poison is made. Of course, there is an optional rule that might apply also.

I ended up doing that very thing, luckily the druid made both of his saves V Poison. But I am glad I went online and did a bit of research, it made for a very interesting encounter.

[dymondy2k]

Note to JD:


Room 2: Tree of Woe: Are the trip wires set in this room to signal the Black Widow that somebody is coming or to actually trip the party or both. It doesn't really say what they do, other than they can be spotted by a Find Trap.

[jdn2006]

My players second day did not go so well. The first encounter they got jumped by the Tiger Beetle, The ranger and the thief were out front and both didn't see it, giving it a full surprise round, on top of that it rolled great initiative. So first round it bites the thief, second round it bites the thief again, killing her. Luckily I established the negative HP rule so they were able to bring her back before she really died, but had to use 3 of their 4 healing spells to do so.


Also the Trap Door Spider: I couldn't find any reference to its poison so I went online to see what I could find out. I didn't find much there either, just that its not considered poisonous to humans. But what I did find out is that when they spring, they will grab their victim and pull them back inside their den. So I used the BFRPG wrestling rules to establish that if the spider made its first attack roll it would use that to grab its prey and pull it back inside the door. Then on the subsequent rounds it automatically bites its target until it can make a save. It made for quite a funny encounter because the last guy in the party (the druid) was the only one that triggered the spider to attack. So it pulled him inside and nobody else knew what happened. So the poor guy had 3 rounds alone with the monster before the rest of the party was able to see the door and enter. He made his save the second round and was able to kill the spider just as the rest of the party found him.. Good times!

Sounds like you're having fun using your own creativity, which is my preferred style of play. I added a minor note to the New Monster description for the latest edit.

I attached maps in jpg format (one blue for those who like colors) just in case.