Crucible of the Kids: The Next Generation (SPOILERS)

LOTS OF SPOILERS ON CRUCIBLE OF THE GODS. DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO PLAY!

Last night I ran Crucible of the Gods for my brother and his kids, and his kids' cousins. It was a blast! Most were new to D&D and 4E, but had poured over the books already. My nephew's ability to quickly look up a rule in the hardcover was incredible. Only one was well versed in the adventure, and she was sworn to secrecy.

Game Highlights
In the Puzzle of Faces chamber, they were sooo close to getting it right. Down to a 50/50 chance between Insect and Lizard... and they picked the wrong one. That killed four of them right there. The last crusader limped out with 1 hp left!

In the Kishar battle, one crusader was petrified. His cousin turns to me and asks, "Now that he's a statue, can I pick him up and throw him like a weapon at the Dracolisk?" I think he was joking, but I quickly look at him and go, "Why yes, of course! Roll those dice!" 

His face lit up as he saw the potential of a table-top RPG. This is Dungeons & Dragons!

In the Lyth chamber, they failed the quiz on Catoblepas... Even though they had the rumor about it and I had recently said what a Catoblepas was. They also missed Owlbear, and then realized there's an Owlbear on the cover of the Essentials book! D'oh! However, after the battle against the Mummy Naga, they returned and I allowed them to figure a way past the slimy portcullis, but at great risk. It made for a great RP scene.

They breezed through the Asar-Segt chamber pretty easily. They had their third skull.

They were defeated via TPK in the final chamber by the Ruach (Kishar). Total of 10 deaths overall. Let's just say that despite a negative score, they still found the game to be great fun.
  

Kudos to DrDavyJones
My brother gave big compliments to the pregens created by @DrDavyJones at dungeonoracle.com. He said the one-page crusaders looked great, and it was easy to get to the information quickly. He played Facetaker, which he renamed "Face T'Kar".

Kudos to Sersa Victory
Many said that the Puzzle of Faces was their favorite, having to figure it which button was the right one with the clues at hand. No rolls to save them there! All in all, they really liked the adventure. The mix of combat, puzzles and mental challenges is fantastic.


How I Adapt Crucible of the Gods for Kids

I thought I would detail how I adapt the adventure for kids. There are a few elements that are a little too dark for my liking, and others I change up for adventure flow. I wouldn't do this for adults, as they can handle more of these elements.

• In the Kishar battle, I find the thought of carving into a chest to get a black heart a little too grisly for the kind of D&D I want to run for their age. Each guardian wears a black-heart amulet instead.
• In the Puzzle of Faces, I switch up the trapped humanoids to be snarling beasts instead.
• I remove the Exarch encounter if it will kill the flow of the adventure.
• In the battle against the Mummy Naga, I removed the stirges. The players were excited to take her down... having the stirges there would have simply killed the mood and wasted the time.
• I allow Action Points to be used to reroll anything. Takes the edge off of missing with a Daily power, or a Saving Throw vs Death. If you roll bad twice, well, tough luck!