You see Yursil reach into the sarcophagus. The Iron Lich warns, "I have watched your gods die. You cannot possibly defeat me!" and begins to intone another Power Word Kill.The Iron Lich will never get the chance. Yursil destroys the phylactery, the Iron Lich's wife. The Iron Lich begins to melt... then explodes in a shower of bone and metal!
You have prevailed; the Iron Lich is no more! You return the way you entered... and eventually to your home, to a grand hero's welcome.
Congratulations. You EARNED this victory. Only a very select few have ever done so well! The best I've ever seen in running this game is downing the Necrolith before time ran out. But to find the Occulus and actually destroy the phylactery... man, whomever says fourthcore is without story and drama is FULL OF IT!
Score
Special Thanks
I would like to thank Sersa Victory and Jerry LeNeave for not only creating this very fun adventure, but then updating it again for its anniversary!
Feedback
If you have a few moments, I'd love to pick your brain about what you liked and disliked about the Revenge of the Iron Lich run. This feedback is open to lurkers to post to as well, not just players.
Feedback
If you have a few moments, I'd love to pick your brain about what you liked and disliked about the Revenge of the Iron Lich run. This feedback is open to lurkers to post to as well, not just players.
What did you like the most about the game?
What did you like the least about the game?
What one thing would you change if you could?
What one thing can I change to make myself a better DM?
Special Question: For those of you who have played in both pbp versions of Crucible of the Gods AND Revenge of the Iron Lich, any comments/comparisons?
What's next?
Generations pass. Your faces have long been carved into monuments. Your names are forever remembered, immortalized. Your spirits have long passed on to the immortal realms.
But the memory of your names and the icons of your faces will not avail the people, when a most horrific thing comes down from the bleeding stars on a great serpent, hurling bolts of obsidian lightning that shatters the monuments and capitols of every nation.
Look for an announcement in late August for NEW crusaders daring to take on the... Fane of the Heresiarch!
Since I posted the above, I was thinking about the events of the game. Can you imagine if you guys had gone straight for the final chamber once you got to the Spectral Stair? (If Hanrar hadn't bypassed the locked door.)
ReplyDeleteMy money would have been on the Iron Lich handing you your collective asses on a mithril platter.
And FYI, you did not find ALL the secrets.
The epic feel of the game was probably what I liked most. The puzzles were devious and the monsters were deadly. Makes me think of a really awesome video game!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest annoyance was trying to keep track of my APs. Iplay4e didn't have a good way to keep track of them, so I had to rely on my memory (which was quite fallible most of the time).
One thing I could change: Probably try to act faster during puzzles. I had a tendency to not keep on top of all the posts.
Better DM? Keep doing what you're doing! I love your work.
Special question: Both of them felt quite epic. The one comparison I can draw is that I only died once and never had to roll up a new character. In the last one I died twice...or was it three times? I think I'm getting another 4e game mixed up with this one.
A Word of Thanks
ReplyDeleteIn the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I was playing Vesten and was a alternate that got called up after a disaster in one of the earliest chambers. I feel like the dead weight of the team, but hopefully I was able to contribute both mechanically and story-wise.
Kudos to my fellow crusaders for their herculean efforts. You were all a blast to play with, and I'd happily storm a castle (or other appropriate stronghold) with any of you!
To Sersa and Jerry, this was an amazing adventure! Well done to both of you! The professional work you guys produce continue to amaze me. It's got a great design sensibility, and even more importantly, it's fun!
To Joe, you were an excellent DM. Thanks for running this! I appreciate the time and effort and would love to run with you again.
What did you like the most about the game?
I think I liked the game itself the most. Seeing the screenshots as we entered new rooms for a blast.
What did you like the least about the game?
I thought I was prepared for playing in a PbP, but my expectations were different from the reality. These involved the asynchronous nature of PbP. I found myself either struggling to get a post in before the time period (after seeing a flurry of posts occuring in a short period of time) or getting in a decent post only to be overtaken later. Note: I am NOT blaming anyone for this. It's just something I wasn't expecting and didn't handle very well.
What one thing would you change if you could?
There's actually two, but I'll list them by priority (first one is thing I'd change most).
1. Increase my posting frequency and quality.
2. Rebuild character slightly: (skill selection, a few more ranged attacks, different equipment).
What one thing can I change to make myself a better DM?
From what I saw, you did an excellent job, Joe. I can't really think of anything that I would want you to change. If I had to pick something, I would say update the Vitals tab and the Plot Summary more often and maybe find a different solution for the OOC posts.
For those of you who have played in both pbp versions of Crucible of the Gods AND Revenge of the Iron Lich, any comments/comparisons?
This one's not applicable to me, so I'll abstain.
There's no way we could have made it through that battle if we hadn't found our way back through the tomb.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you like the most about the game?
The addition of more puzzles really made the game for me compared to CoG. I’ve got a special place in my heart for brain scratchers and trying to find my way around problems instead of bull-rushing them head first, and this really made the game for me. Trying to eke our way through some rather merciless conundrums really made this game pop.
What did you like the least about the game?
While I know that we bypassed at least one major combat, the game felt as if while we were almost always in constant peril, there wasn’t a whole lot of fighting for our lives happening. Perhaps it was just luck of the draw, or we just happened to make the cautious choices, but the stress level of this adventure was rather subdued compared to CoG. Plus, of course, we were all level 16, so that adds some swing to your gait as an adventurer.
What one thing would you change if you could?
Honestly, more combat. That seemed to be where Hanrar really shined, and we only got to fight a few battles. I wasn’t looking for trouble, but a couple random encounters would have added to the tension level I think. Like I completely expected to fight up some skeletal warriors in the sarcophagus room if we opened the wrong one. And in those close quarters most of Hanrar’s spells would have been useless without crushing my companions as well. It really would have put us at odds. The sudden appearance of the ‘Dark Bishops’ is exactly what I was looking for, so maybe more of those. It just felt odd that the Lich didn’t have more defenses set up against interloping adventurers is all.
What one thing can I change to make myself a better DM?
Your storytelling, your pacing and your intensity all made this game as awesome as it was. I would sit here at my desk and damn near pant and drool for the new post. I understand that you have to abide by the rules of the game you are running and I think that’s the only thing that limits you. I can tell you’re a great DM and if ever I get the chance I’d love to play a game of your own design so you can really play from the cuff like I’m sure you’d like to sometimes.
Special Question: For those of you who have played in both pbp versions of Crucible of the Gods AND Revenge of the Iron Lich, any comments/comparisons?
There’s no question that CoG was MUCH more intense than RotIL, being low-leveled and trying to best a terrifying, world-ending cataclysm was a stress-inducing roller coaster of terror. RotIL, by comparison was a delve into dark and dangerous waters when you’ve spent the past few years exploring the Mariana Trench. You know it’s going to be rough, but you’ve seen bad before. While this game seriously embodied fourthcore where you had to fight for your life at every turn and make sure you really thought about your actions before you took them, the addition of the power, experience and equipment of a 16th level character took a lot of the edge off. Had we been running this game at 14th level it would have been a terrifying hair-puller, even with all the extra goodies we found. All in all, RotIL is a perfect example of a great fourthcore delve that more than fed my hardcore gamer side.
I want to thank you, Joe, for running this game for us. Sticking with us through bad connections and slow updates, and providing us with an amusing, stressful, and altogether satisfying adventure that I will never forget.
Woooooooo! We did it!
ReplyDelete"man, whomever says fourthcore is without story and drama is FULL OF IT!"
I completely agree. I found I was able to inject a lot of flavor and personality into Teryn in this game, which I was really happy about. Interestingly, I think the pbp format has a lot to do with this. At a physical table, the time limit is very pressing and I can see players putting aside roleplay and colorful description in favor of speed. But when you have as much time as you want to compose your post and describe your actions, there is plenty of room for story, drama, and character development. I love this format for fourthcore because it scratches my itch for challenging tactical encounters and puzzles and lets my character be more than a husk.
What did you like the most about the game?
I loved the risk and the uncertainty of so many of our actions. Touching the skull vs. not, going through the portal vs. not, taking down the plague catapults vs. bursting down the souldriver golem, etc. I loved the powerful rewards we obtained and got to use. I loved coming up with fun interactions between my character and the rest of the party, and coming up with fun descriptions of my actions. I loved sitting there trying to figure out the cipher puzzle. I loved loved loved Joe's descriptions of the rooms, and monsters, and the general flavor he injected, a perfect example being the detail he used in the ornate hallway that was a sort of shrine to the Lich's wife.
What did you like the least about the game?
It's hard to come up with anything for this question! I suppose one thing I wondered about was: how on earth are you supposed to get everything you need to get to the silver maw of battle? It felt like we really lucked out in being able to bypass the incredibly difficult arcane lock to the room with the Steelsun Pyramid. Once you defeat the souldriver and choose to go left, it seems like you're kind of screwed unless you do something like we did, since you can't return through the Wraith Phalanx room. But if you go right after the souldriver, you can backtrack after getting the Steelsun amulet. What do other groups who go left end up doing?
What one thing would you change if you could?
I agree with Hanrar that I could have had more combat, but that's because I really enjoy the tactics of difficult encounters and built Teryn to really shine in them. On the other hand, I would not have traded more combat for fewer puzzles, because I really enjoyed those. Although to be honest, we bypassed TWO major fights in the Death Giants and in the Wraith Phalanx captain. AND Brathu totally dominated the necrolith before he really had a chance to hurt us. So I guess another run might have gone totally different and had more combat.
What one thing can I change to make myself a better DM?
Hah, good one. No, seriously, I think you were so great in this adventure. Being someone who really really appreciates the presentation and visual appeal of an adventure, I was floored by the production values on display here. The crusader reveals, the tactical maps, the treasure cards, and last but not least, the picture accompanying each post. I also really appreciated your availability to answer small rules or tactical questions via IM or email. Finally, I think your flavorful descriptions brought a lot to the adventure and encouraged me to up my game in my own descriptions. If pressed, I would say that I could have used more rules about what was ok in the character creation phase. Do we get level-appropriate gold? Other than feats, what setting-specific stuff is off-limits? Races? Classes? Items? I'm kind of reaching here, though. :P
Joe, the game was so much fun. Thanks for doing it an including me. I'll be eager to see what you do next!
Thank you everyone for your kind words. I do want to say on the topic of flavorful descriptions, much of the text I wrote was lifted nearly verbatim from the module itself. I simply did some slight rewording, added some names and/or connectors and posted.
ReplyDeleteSo hats of to the module writers! They even include flavor text for when a creature DIES.
That's actually one of my favorite things about fourthcore, the death descriptions. It's always my instinct to have a neat/unique death description in normal games, but Sersa takes the work out of it for the DM!
DeleteI also want to add that you (players) have been fantastic in keeping in touch with the game, posting when needed, and not getting down when things didn't go your way (i.e., the failed Iron Gallery puzzle).
ReplyDeleteYour posts were the right style for me. Just enough to give descriptive flavor, but not too much as to overload me and/or other players.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteThanks for running this, it was a grand experience! I agree with pretty much everyone elses comments, so I'll throw my two cents in and keep it short.
What did you like the most about the game?
You can get crazy combat is plenty of places, what draws me to fourthcore is the puzzles. Some are straight forward and brillant, while others left us scratching our heads for a little while (or until the next room). I really like that most encounters don't NEED to be combat, there are alot of outs with combat basically being a punishment for failing to figure out the puzzles.
I also really loved the Vorpal Runes, and the fact that they made a huge difference in the game. Would we have been so lucky when the lich popped out if the necrolith had drained us further? I kinda doubt it.
Finally, because Sersa and Jerry and Dan put so much effort into sculpting the environment, with the rumors and tying the story together, makes it a great experience. Seriously don't think I have read through or played a better set of modules (looking at you Monte!).
What did you like the least about the game?
The silent clock in the iron gallery. In a live match, I feel we would have gotten it done in a flash. We stalled thinking we had plenty of time because it was pbp. Lost two good PCs, the only ones until I died against the Lich himself. And having 1 healing surge made me feel as if I was walking around on eggshells, a dead man until we found the lady in the box. It totally got me down, I made three different backups that night to be ready for when Brathu died.
Getting locked into the spectral stair path before we were ready sucked, but that was an inadvertent choice we made. Luckily we did get out of that. Otherwise, we'd have gone from godlike to mortal to lich dust in a few minutes. We all could tell based on that image you created we were at the end game. And we all KNEW we weren't prepared!
Finally, nether damage. The necrolith then iron lich combat sequence gives you 0 chance if you try to slog through it w/o everything going your way anyways, and then you need the occulus or there is no stopping the iron lich. Is there really even a need to prevent any sort of healing?
What one thing would you change if you could?
Nothing besides my ability to post. But hey, someone has to get work done during the day. ;)
What one thing can I change to make myself a better DM?
You could upload your consciousness to a neural net, and covert this pbp into a real-time game. Other than that, your golden. Wish I was going to GenCon this year, just to shake your hand and say thanks for taking the time to do this.
I guess that wasn't so SHORT...ooops.
ReplyDeleteSpecial Question: For those of you who have played in both pbp versions of Crucible of the Gods AND Revenge of the Iron Lich, any comments/comparisons?
I will echo the thought that C1 seemed deadlier, but that was also the first time I played an SVD module. Both were edge of your seat affairs, but I had more confidence at the start of RotIL, being lvl 16. I think the challenge level was the same, and C1 was more straight-forward, just had deadlier consequences (see trial of Kotaresh). You only had a select few abilities to help you. I built my paladin to deal with a whole slew of possible undead problems and to buff the party as needed. The addition of magical items also helps soften the blows as well. Turns out I couldn't stop a power word kill, but what can you do.