(04) The Cathedral

[sully]

Thanis says, Well done, both of you. Perhaps we throw a torch down there first and see what we're getting into?

He withdraws a torch and his tinderbox from his pack in anticipation of the task.

[waysoftheearth]

This effectively concludes the cathedral section folks.

Let's take a moment to take stock and review how it went. I've posted a draft version of the map so you can get a sense of where you've been. (More maps in this style are currently in the works...)

From my perspective: the players bee-lined to the prize, avoiding a couple of un-necessary fights with a) the EHP in the Cathedral, b) the Harpies in the tower, and c) undead in the tombs.

Avoiding combat is "optimal" play in terms of conserving resources, albeit you may have missed out on a wee bit of intelligence and some treasure.
So, overall, the difficulty in this section was about as low as it could get.

The Wyrmspear vision (aka treasure map) and access to the dungeon is the main prize in this section, which you achieved.
DL aficionados may have noticed that the Wyrmspear fills the roles of both the DragonLance and the Blue Crystal Staff in the alternate storyline here.

Happy to hear any thoughts you may have on the design/experience of this area (esp. the stair puzzle), or the map or whatever else, before we proceed to the Underworld...

[sully]

I am dumb in that I didn't make the connection between the stairs and the harpies. I think perhaps if I had, I might have been more interested in going up and seeing what sort of treasure they had. I also wasn't in full "murderhobo" mode because I didn't think about doubling back and trying to ambush the EHP after we got by him. I guess I was focused on the railroad to the dungeon!

I did have trouble visualizing things inside once we got past the EHP. And I think some sort of handout would help players solve the riddle of how to get access to the dungeon. I was struggling with ideas there and felt a little hamstrung because I felt the player who had gotten the vision had more info than I did.

I still have no idea where the undead or the tombs are.

The map is very cool but it looks like only the GM will be able to enjoy it. Will there be a player version?

[waysoftheearth]

Three harpies could have been a serious combat problem without adequate preparation/protection from their song

The undead are in the coffin/sarcophagi rooms to either side of the tower base.
DL#1 has a bunch of encounters with "Spectral Minions" who are basically spirits of the former occupants of the ruined city.
They are mostly harmless, unless provoked, and generally more a story telling element than a combat threat. I decided to compress a bunch of these into the two tombs area in the cathedral, and to make them more of a real combat encounter (mummies), with the story element being part of the reward for investigating/beating them.

Yeah, it is the ref who gets most out of the maps. I'm trying to get a map section and all related notes onto each page, so the whole thing will be a series of one-pagers. Will see how that goes.
Some player art would be a good addition. Hmm

[mgtremaine]

Yes no way I was going up into the Harpy nest. I think it went very well, we were after all pretty careful and did try to avoid having to slaughter all the workers, engineers and Monks in our path. Over all I thought it had great vibe, plus a mad-capped chase through the sewers for the Hobbit was just pure gold.

[rredmond]

Definitely feel what Sully is saying. I'm glad you wrote that, because I'm thinking I don't know enough about DL to be playing

Map is definitely neato!

[mushgnome]

Oh yeah--Tass is alive somehow! How did that happen?? I'll have to go back and re-read the parts I missed.

Stern isn't a coward, but he was terrified of those harpies for some reason. He's always had a premonition that someday a flying creature will be the end of him. From Stern's perspective we totally made the right call, getting underground as quickly as possible.

I'm loving the game! The "quick start" style of play is really fun. I'm sorry I missed a big chunk and I will be posting more regularly going forward.

[waysoftheearth]

@Rredmond: Wyrmspear is only inspired by DL, so nobody really needs to know any DL lore to enjoy it. DL is merely a topic of comparison, if one happens to recall it.
On the other hand, it is equally valuable ---if not moreso!--- to have a fresh perspective on it all. So, in short: it's great to have you along!

@All: yeah, I really enjoyed the Tass scouting and pursuit episode. That was neato. I suspect, deep down, that I am prolly a bit over-lenient with thief stuff because that's how I wish other refs would call it when I play thieves myself. The main difference is the level of abstraction: I am prepared to "roll up" a whole bunch of thiefy stuff into a single roll for a collection of actions, rather than dice for every tiny little step individually. The end result is that thieves are more effective sneaks (compared to rolling a zillion times for every little detail). More rolling = more work, and ultimately more opportunities to eventually fail.

But hey, I enjoy the results produced this way. What do others think?

[zygarti]

Nice to look back at old sections with the map now and see where we were for all of it.

Agree with Sully that would be nice to have a few player handouts occasionally.

Flin missed the entirety of the Statue puzzle mostly as I was just about as stumped as the rest of you, hopefully I'm a bit more useful in the dungeon

But hey, I enjoy the results produced this way. What do others think?

I think the approach to Tass' theify stuff has been good and created some interesting scenarios

[waysoftheearth]

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Everybody over to The Underworld Topic please...