D&D_4th_-_Dungeon_Magazine__164_-_March_2009.pdf

ISSUE 164 | March 2009

A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ® ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT

Contents

4 Worse then death

By Robert J. Schwalb

When a powerful aristocrat is

kidnapped from his caravan, it’s up to

the adventurers to discover what has

happened to him. But there might be

more to his disappearance than the

characters know. An adventure for 12th-

level PCs.

36 haven of the Bitter

glass

By Kevin Kulp

The next installment in the Scales of War

Adventure Path is here! The characters

meet a new ally as a f lying ship crashes

outside Overlook, setting off a chain of

events that take them to the scholarly city

of Sayre. There, they meet an old friend and

have a chance to shape the defense of the

world against the growing githyanki threat.

Meanwhile, some dark force in Sayre seems

responsible for guiding the githyanki’s

war effort. As the PCs rub

shoulders with the city’s

elite, they must also

find a way to halt the

githyanki’s uncanny

ability to share

information, even

over immense

distances. An

adventure for

12th-level PCs.

on the Cover

Illustration by Ben Thompson

26 dungeon delve: return of the

Poisoned shadoWs

By Greg Marks

Continuing where the Poisoned

Shadows delve from the Dungeon Delve

supplement left off comes Return of the

Poisoned Shadows! After the PCs dealt

with the Poisoned Shadows guild, the

PCs learn that they’ve been targeted by

more deadly killers. A Dungeon Delve

adventure for 8th-level PCs.

3 editorial

119 ruling skill

Challenges

By Mike Mearls

Mike continues to educate on the

nature of skill challenges, with

unique applications and examples.

124 save My gaMe

By Stephen Radney-MacFarland

A DM’s best friend? Stephen

Radney-MacFarland, back with

more advice and letters from the

mailbag.

128 dungeonCraft

By James Wyatt

James discusses the latest changes

to his f ledgling campaign.

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164

eDiTORiAl

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR

Dungeon

March 2009

PARTY JUMPS THE SHARK

Editor-in-Chief

chris Youngs

Senior Art Director

Jon Schindehette

Web Specialist

chris Sims

Boy, am i gonna catch f lak for this editorial. But recent

events have inspired—no, compelled—me to talk about

something that every DM has to contend with: party

suckitude.

First off, no offense to my party or any other that’s

had a rough day at the dungeon. The best groups have off

sessions. Sometimes they forget they haven’t used their

encounter or daily powers at inopportune moments.

Sometimes they forget to focus their fire (dungeon crawl-

ing 101). Sometimes they run around an encounter area

like poodles on a 24-hour caffeine bender.

Sometimes, they do all of the above, and then some.

Clearly, you know where this is going, if the title of the

editorial didn’t tell you everything. But it’s an important

issue. What do you do when your group just shanks it.

Sucks rocks. Just plain old can’t pull it together. The dice

aren’t failing them (although that might be the icing on

your mess-of-an-encounter cake). They’re just not coor-

dinating, talking, and thinking tactically. And when it

comes down to brass tacks, a D&D combat is a tactical

experience.

This happened to me recently. i’m running my group

through “ The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge ” from Dungeon

#158 , and my group just made it to the third encounter

under The Happy Beggar, the one with all the wraiths.

This is a tough encounter, i’ll be the first to admit. The

one right before, against the shadar-kai witch, dark creep-

ers, and shadow hounds isn’t a walk in the park, either.

The wraith fight is tougher. They’re insubstantial, which

means they’re taking half damage, and they regenerate 5

hp a round.

So my group starts the fight, and the mistakes start to

pile up immediately. One defender charges the middle

wraith in the group clustered around the portal. The

second defender charges … a different target. And the

rogue charges a third. if you do the math on expected

damage for a 4th-level PC, you’ll note that half damage is

around 5 or 6 points. So each wraith, on the first round,

takes enough damage to regenerate nearly to full on

its turn. When you’re fighting regenerating monsters,

focusing fire is a top priority. if they’re regenerating and

insubstantial? it’s mandatory.

it doesn’t stop there. Over the next several rounds,

the group continued to spread the damage around. The

hit point total of all the wraiths continued to inch down

almost equally. On top of that, the party striker became

distracted by a dark creeper in the corner (who i made

effectively a noncombatant in the fight, since he was after

something the PCs had and wanted to know who was

carrying it), so one of the prime sources of single target

damage wasn’t attacking the wraiths.

So what’s a DM to do? i mean, some might “punish”

their players by letting the dice fall where they may. But

that’s not my style, and i don’t encourage that type of play,

especially when the group is having a bad night. i think

it’s a DM’s first job to make the game fun for everyone,

so i started to compensate for the players. That’s right, i

cheated. in their favor. i dropped the wraiths’ regenera-

tion to 2. Then i put a secret button on the portal that

creates a radiant energy zone in the room that kills their

regeneration altogether. i made some gentle tactical sug-

gestions. And finally, i left a clear line of escape open.

But my point is that it’s important to keep some con-

tingency plans for these occasions in your DMing back

pocket for when things go south—really south. A TPK, as

much as we toss the event around in gloating terms, isn’t

really good for anyone. You lose campaign story continu-

ity. everyone is bummed. Worst case scenario, you might

lose players.

We’ll see what happens. We left the session mid-fight

last time, with lots of anxious and frustrated faces. i hope

that next month i’m not writing about how to jump start

a campaign after a TPK. i hope they pull it out, and at

the least, run away to try the encounter again later. What

about your campaigns? Got any stories of encounters gone

horribly awry? Send them in to dndinsider@wizards.com .

Web Production

Bart carroll, Steve Winter

Contributing Authors

Kevin Kulp, Greg Marks,

Mike Mearls, Stephen radney-

MacFarland, robert J. Schwalb,

James Wyatt

Developers

Stephen radney-MacFarland,

Peter Schaefer, chris Sims,

rodney Thompson

Editor

Miranda horner

Cover Artist

Ben Thompson

Contributing Artists

Steve argyle, Eric Deschamps,

raven Mimura, William O’connor,

Jim Pavlec, Sam Wood

Cartographers

Kyle hunter, Mike Schley,

christopher West

Publishing Production Specialists angelika Lokotz, Erin Dorries,

christopher Tardiff

Web Development

Mark a. Jindra

D&D Creative Manager

christopher Perkins

Executive Producer,

D&D Insider

Ken Troop

Director of RPG R&D

Bill Slavicsek

Special Thanks

richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Logan Bonner, Michele carter,

Jennifer clarke Wilkes, andy collins, Bruce r. cordell, Jeremy

crawford, rob heinsoo, Peter Lee, Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, cal

Moore, Stephen radney-MacFarland, Peter Schaefer, Stephen

Schubert, Matthew Sernett, chris Sims, rodney Thompson,

rob Watkins, James Wyatt

THAN

DEATH

by Robert J. Schwalb

A powerful dilettante goes missing in

the wilderness, so it falls to a capable

adventuring band to come to the rescue.

“Worse Than Death” is a 4th Edition

D u n g e o n s & D r a g o n s ® adventure for

ive characters of 12th level. This

adventure takes place in the wilderness,

far from any communities or

settlements, so you can drop it into any

campaign setting with little work.

illustrations by Jim Pavelec, Sam Wood

cartography by Kyle Hunter

March 2009 | Dungeon 164

WORSE

WORSE THAN DEATH

BACKGROUND

Amala has been at her task long enough to make a

few enemies, and though vigilant about eliminating

hidden threats, she’s not naïve; there are always ene-

mies, created from lives she has broken, people she

has betrayed, and those who suspect that something

foul lurks beneath the pleasant features of an idle

youth. Periodically, Amala cleans house, slipping into

a new guise to gain the confidence of those arrayed

against her, and then she destroys them. it has been

a decade since she last wiped out her enemies, and

whispers lead her to believe the time for action has

come once more.

Tantalroy, a fop, simply coveted Festuad’s coin. Amala

let the conspirators concoct the plan, nudging them

as needed, until they settled on kidnapping the aris-

tocrat and ransoming him back to his household to

extort his fortunes and then kill him once the gold

changed hands. They would hold il’Sook at an aban-

doned ruin said to lay within a forest a few days to the

south and would communicate with their conspira-

tors by Tantalroy, who would remain behind to carry

their demands back to the city.

What the conspirators didn’t know, and what

Amala knew all too well, was that the ruined tower

Festuad il’Sook is known throughout his city as a dec-

adent and effete aristocrat—a man who has no interest

beyond his hedonistic escapades and squandering his

fortunes on drink, drugs, and excess. From his great

estate piled on top of a hill overlooking his native city,

he delights in his distractions, opening his doors to

young men and women of his community to share in

the revelry and sample the wonders only he can offer.

Talk fills taprooms, winesinks, and brothels, as the

curious and jealous speculate about what happens

behind his rose-colored walls while thirsting for their

own taste of the forbidden fruit il’Sook offers.

Such a character is bound to attract unwanted

attention. Priests, politicians, and even his peers have

come out against him, but most change their songs

soon enough, switching from moral indignation to

some of his staunchest supporters after but a single

visit to his grand house on the hill. Those who aren’t

won over retreat, horrified by what they see and expe-

rience, while the rest vanish into the estate, never to

be seen again.

Festuad’s success and power transcend what any

mortal could ever hope to attain. His funds are with-

out limit and his expenses dwarf those of any in the

city. Many explain away his good fortune as being the

result of business acumen or perhaps a large inheri-

tance, perhaps from an adventuring uncle or aunt, but

the fact of the matter is that Festuad receives funding

from a much greater benefactor: Fernia, the duchess

of Phlegethos, archdevil of the Nine Hells. indeed,

Festuad doesn’t even exist. He’s nothing more than a

mask worn by a succubus named Amala, a cruel devil

loosed onto the mortal world to corrupt and harvest

souls for her mistress.

From Festuad il'Sook's great estate at the top of a hill overlooking his city,

he invites young men and women to share in the revelry and sample the wonders

only he can ofer. He receives his funding from a great benefactor:

Fernia, archdevil of the Nine Hells. . . .

Assuming the likeness of a young manservant

named Micah, she moved through il’Sook’s holdings,

listening to rumors and treasonous talk, picking out

the orchestrators and uncovering each and every

individual with an axe to grind. it took time, but in

Micah’s guise, Amala gained their confidence, win-

ning them over to her cause by feeding them lies

about cruel treatment, worship of demons, and any

other fabrication she could concoct to convince her

fellow conspirators to help “kill Festuad.”

Of those she recruited, she found Tyster Drent,

a disaffected dwarf caravan master who despised

il’Sook for using and shaming his sister. There’s also

Cara Toyden, Festuad’s household guard captain who

blames the master for the horrific scars on her face

and for destroying her life. Ayn, an insane half ling

maid, suspected il’Sook’s true nature, while Joaquin

was not as empty as believed, for it housed a mad

eladrin, whom Amala corrupted nearly a century ago,

and who now abducts travelers that pass through his

wood. He would take care of the kidnappers who took

her, but Amala still needed someone to deal with the

ones left behind. To this end, she has arranged for

lady Marissa Dunderly to hire a band of adventurers

to rescue her soon after she is kidnapped. The reward

she is offering is enough to secure a talented group

certain to both succeed and ferret out the conspira-

tors, thus dealing with the lot in one fell swoop.

it’s an insane and convoluted plan, but Amala

orchestrates the entire affair not for its logic, but

because it suits her. Moreover, it puts her in the path

of fresh servants she can corrupt and destroy at

her leisure.

March 2009 | Dungeon 164

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