* * * Wizards Community Thread * * * -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thread : XSOLO LAnthan's Gold Started at 03-01-04 10:12 AM by WizzyBlackmore Visit at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=192050 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 1] Author : WizzyBlackmore Date : 03-01-04 10:12 AM Thread Title : XSOLO LAnthan's Gold Just about to start this, w/ some tweaks in the format....using my own character, my own NPC's, the trad. D&D combat matrix and not using the ships' crew for battle......has anyone played this mod.....I don't get how the mass combat tables are designed for a character to acquire experience......I'll go the long route and play out individual attacks.......:D -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 2] Author : Edgewaters Date : 03-01-04 07:39 PM I would just consider the crew the "party" for any battles they participated in, and divide XP up between everyone. So if you got 1500 xp in an encounter with the assistance of 29 crew members you should only get about 50xp yourself. There is alot of gold in the adventure to round up your own personal experience, plus, there are a number of encounters where you do not have the assistance of the crew. The other thing you could do is use experience guidelines from the mass combat rules in the Companion set or Rules Cyclopedia (part of the same line for which Lathan's Gold was designed), but you wouldn't get very much; 1 XP for each enemy in a battle where you lead and win, 1/3 if you lose. So if you led a battle against 50 pirates you'd get 50xp for winning. I don't think the adventure assumes that any DM is going to allow you to bring your character over from a solo adventure into the campaign, so experience is largely irrelevant. Too I think the way the adventure is written it is just assumed that the treasure you capture forms part of your xp award for the part you take in leading the battles. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 3] Author : WizzyBlackmore Date : 03-01-04 11:00 PM Thanks for your reply....what, then, is the incentive to play the mod w/out your own character that you're trying to develop? Just a one off for fun?? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 4] Author : Edgewaters Date : 03-02-04 02:01 AM Originally posted by WizzyBlackmore Thanks for your reply....what, then, is the incentive to play the mod w/out your own character that you're trying to develop? Just a one off for fun?? I guess so, yeah. I know as a DM I wouldn't let a player "count" a solo adventure really. There might be exceptional circumstances where I would allow it though, if one player maybe had to catch up to the others or if one of the prerolled characters was used and run through after the player's regular character died and everyone else was at 6th or 8th levels or so. The problem for me with solos is that it's too much of a freebie, the player is probably going to fudge some results to increase his "take" and likely won't respect a result of death in the adventure. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 5] Author : WizzyBlackmore Date : 03-14-04 11:27 AM I found the XSOLO to be a waste of time.......it is very repetitive in many places (mainly island hopping) then all of a sudden your ship gets smashed and everyone dies......I was actually happy.....I used my own character and 5 npcs, fought battles the trad. way instead of the combat system provided.......maybe I'll play again.......down the road....also they don't give you enough days to complete the task......:sad: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 6] Author : Edgewaters Date : 03-14-04 11:40 AM Agreed. It is by a long shot the worst of the solo modules. IMHO the only really good one was Maze of the Riddling Minotaur, that one was actually interesting. Ghost of Lion Castle ... the encounters were too tough for a lone magic-user with a dagger. And the treasure you'd get was ridiculous. Totally unbalanced. Blizzard Pass ... well-written, really enjoyable, but much too short for a $10 module, kind of a blatant rip-off. Lathan's Gold ... what can I say ... repetitive. boring. There's not one single thing in the whole book that happens that I remember saying "wow, cool" about. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 7] Author : WizzyBlackmore Date : 03-14-04 11:59 AM Cool, I thought I was going crazy......nothing cool at all about it...alot of holes too, like when you hire a captain/ship.....it never syas meet at the dock, you just assume that when you get to the dcoks and leave port it's the guy you hired....not very organized, 4/6 of my party got killed by 2 cyclops then we split and got detstroyed in whirlpool.......whatever...was the quickest way I ended a campaign.... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 8] Author : Edgewaters Date : 03-14-04 12:22 PM If you can find it, try Maze of the Riddling Minotaur instead. That one is actually really cool. The dungeon is big, there's no repetition, art isn't too shabby for the most part, the encounters are fairly balanced as are the rewards, plus, it has a section on running it as a group adventure. It's an invisible ink module though, so if you buy it make sure it is shrink wrapped and still includes the pen, or all the entries have been revealed. If it is available in pdf I'd also contact them to make sure that they have scanned a copy whose entries have been revealed. I'd grab Blizzard Pass too, if i saw it a yard sale for 50 cents or something. There isn't anything wrong with it, it's actually quite well done, but it is waaaay too short to be a book on its own, really. I was really ticked with Lathan's Gold, because even if the solo wasn't fun I was hoping it would expand a bit on the small islands in the Sea of Dread etc, it was fairly useless for that as well. I think there were about 4 sentences of description of places of interest, like "You find a temple shaped like a spider on the island. It looks old." Really disappointed, I was really hoping for some material on this region when I bought the module. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 9] Author : WizzyBlackmore Date : 03-14-04 11:25 PM The other solo mods I have are Midnight on Dagger Alley and Blizzard Pass...will check them out....the magic pens mods are hard to find sealed........I have the pen (can get one at any stat. store) w/ some of the entries revealed....will have to find a way to deal w/ it....... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Downloaded from Wizards Community (http://forums.gleemax.com) at 05-10-08 08:21 AM.