* * * Wizards Community Thread * * * -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thread : Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? Started at 02-21-08 05:24 PM by RealmsRunner Visit at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=994476 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 1] Author : RealmsRunner Date : 02-21-08 05:24 PM Thread Title : Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? I'm curious as to whether or not anyone 'round these parts has ever been all the way through the 2nd edition mega-adventure, Night Below, as a DM or a player. I would love to hear opinions on Night Below(you love it or hate it), highlights of the campaign from players or DMs, or advice from DMs on running it. My group is currently beginning Night Below for the 3rd time in 10 years, and we are all committed to finishing the damn thing this time. The first time through, we failed due to players not showing up, and then eventually quitting altogether, which crippled the party(but hey, we were 13 years old, so I don't have hard feelings). The second time through, a lot of the party lost interest, and the ones who didn't lose interest decided to press on(being high-level and all), but one was slain, and the other hightailed it. These two abortions have caused me to have to destroy two entire probabilities, because as you may know, the aboleth savants will dominate the world unless they are stopped, and they were not stopped, so.....:weep: This time the aboleths will be destroyed! I hope.....;) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 2] Author : realmaster Date : 02-21-08 11:46 PM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? I am running it but only just finished the first book. so far very enjoyable. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 3] Author : RealmsRunner Date : 02-22-08 01:25 AM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? I am running it but only just finished the first book. so far very enjoyable. Ah, I remember the first book so well, having read through it so many times. haha. How did your players like it, and how are they doing so far? And if ya don' mind, i'd like to know what classes you have represented in the party. It's been my experience that the suggestions at the first of book 1 about party requirements are pretty accurate. It's a tough adventure. Thanks for the reply, and good luck with that. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 4] Author : realmaster Date : 02-22-08 01:44 AM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? all of the players are having fun. we started out with eight characters but are down to six when a player quit. they almost died with a run in of baddies from the forest but everything turned out ok. we have two fighters, two thieves, one monk and one cleric. we used to have a wizard and a ranger. we have taken a hiatus after the first book because one of our dm's and his wife wanted to learn 3.0 so we are going through the dungeon magazine saga "age of worms" but everyone agrees that we will return to the deadly night below before too long. :devil: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 5] Author : RealmsRunner Date : 02-22-08 03:29 PM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? Aha. Sounds like a good party mix. That second book is really tough though, and I don't know if one priest and no spell caster is gonna cut it. Seriously. Not trying to p*ss on your parade, i'm just telling it like it is. I wish you guys the best of luck with it though, and I would like to hear more about how they fare once you guys start it again. Thanks for the reply. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 6] Author : True_Atlantean Date : 02-26-08 03:28 AM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? I started it a few times, but never once managed to finish it (as a DM). However, the same can be said for most of the larger boxed sets - I have found that few parties have a dedicated core that will sit out the long modules. Inevitably something happens and the party starts to drift apart over time, or the thought of playing one adventure over the course of that length of time makes some of the players disinterested from the start. I've had the same trouble with Dragon Mountain (whihc I really, really want to finish - I brought the Collosal Red Dragon mini just to show size comparisons), and would like to return to the original Undermountain boxed set soon. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 7] Author : RealmsRunner Date : 02-26-08 04:01 AM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? Ah. Thought it was just my group. Good to know it's not. We have completely exploited Undermountain's deep levels though. We are hardcore Waterdhaivens, so there aren't many places in or connected to the city we haven't plundered thoroughly. Everyone is devoted to finishing Night Below though. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 8] Author : Tarl_Doyern Date : 02-27-08 12:04 AM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? Hi! I started playing Night Below on the year 2000. We finished book 1, book 2 and a couple of years ago, we almost finish all book 3.We stopped just before entering the tower of domination for the final encounter (as i am a player and still havent read the module, i imagine there is a huge aboleth waiting there). I really was ****** off with not finishing it being so close after 6 years of playing. (with long pauses), but my dm got married and moved to the states. (I am from Peru). Then all the party dismantled, 3 players moved to europe and it was all over. We even tried to play the final encounter by mail! but it was to difficult make everyone answer quickly enough to keep playing in rounds that didnt last for ever. I only have to say that, as the last adventure i have played, it is one of the best ones i have been thorugh. It really takes the best of your roleplaying and tactics abilitires to make it to the end. I still think someday we can reunite and finish it! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 9] Author : realmaster Date : 02-27-08 12:06 AM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? I started it a few times, but never once managed to finish it (as a DM). However, the same can be said for most of the larger boxed sets - I have found that few parties have a dedicated core that will sit out the long modules. Inevitably something happens and the party starts to drift apart over time, or the thought of playing one adventure over the course of that length of time makes some of the players disinterested from the start. I've had the same trouble with Dragon Mountain (whihc I really, really want to finish - I brought the Collosal Red Dragon mini just to show size comparisons), and would like to return to the original Undermountain boxed set soon. I also have all of these big box sets, they are just waiting to fall upon some unsuspecting characters. :) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 10] Author : rubermavors Date : 02-29-08 09:48 AM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? I dm'ed a party consisting of an elven bladesinger, a half-orc weaponmaster, an elf thief, dwarven cleric, elven ranger, a human paladin, and human fighter. We made it to about the end of the 2nd book where we were to assault the city of the kuo-toa (i think, it's been a few years). After much wholesale slaughter they were finally surrounded by the visiting mindflayers and half of the army. Our fighter felt that the best way to handle this was to put the Leomands secure shelter into his bag of holding and take as many of the enemy with them as they could. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 11] Author : NPC Dave Date : 03-03-08 05:54 PM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? I dm'ed a party consisting of an elven bladesinger, a half-orc weaponmaster, an elf thief, dwarven cleric, elven ranger, a human paladin, and human fighter. We made it to about the end of the 2nd book where we were to assault the city of the kuo-toa (i think, it's been a few years). After much wholesale slaughter they were finally surrounded by the visiting mindflayers and half of the army. Our fighter felt that the best way to handle this was to put the Leomands secure shelter into his bag of holding and take as many of the enemy with them as they could. That is an awesome ending. Your players deserve credit for finishing the box set. I am dming this for the first time, but am only partially through book 1. Night Below is only part of this campaign however, I have worked it into a much larger framework of adventures. Advantages- The players will be much higher level for the challenges, which means mind flayers are less likely to result in TPK. Disadvantages- I may have increased the chances of not finishing it. I say may because the players don't know Night Below is included in this campaign, most of them aren't familiar with the box set. The area of book 1 is only one region they visit, and I hope to arrange the feel of them working on several different projects rather than slogging through just one. The intent is for them to defeat an enemy and leave thinking the culprits behind the kidnappings have been stopped. Then while doing other things, they hear the kidnappings are continuing, so they come back, find the next layer, and put a stop to that. Eventually, they will decide that they need to stick around and try and find more layers, but hopefully that won't happen until the end of book 2. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 12] Author : RealmsRunner Date : 03-04-08 05:29 PM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? That is an awesome ending. Your players deserve credit for finishing the box set. I am dming this for the first time, but am only partially through book 1. Night Below is only part of this campaign however, I have worked it into a much larger framework of adventures. Advantages- The players will be much higher level for the challenges, which means mind flayers are less likely to result in TPK. Disadvantages- I may have increased the chances of not finishing it. I say may because the players don't know Night Below is included in this campaign, most of them aren't familiar with the box set. The area of book 1 is only one region they visit, and I hope to arrange the feel of them working on several different projects rather than slogging through just one. The intent is for them to defeat an enemy and leave thinking the culprits behind the kidnappings have been stopped. Then while doing other things, they hear the kidnappings are continuing, so they come back, find the next layer, and put a stop to that. Eventually, they will decide that they need to stick around and try and find more layers, but hopefully that won't happen until the end of book 2. Sounds great! I think I might try and integrate other stuff into Night Below as well. That seems to be the advice i'm getting from everyone. Hopefully you can keep them interested. Good luck with that. Thanks for the reply. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 13] Author : EaterOfTheDead Date : 03-04-08 06:07 PM Thread Title : Re: Anyone ever made it all the way through Night Below? However, the same can be said for most of the larger boxed sets - I have found that few parties have a dedicated core that will sit out the long modules. Inevitably something happens and the party starts to drift apart over time, or the thought of playing one adventure over the course of that length of time makes some of the players disinterested from the start. I've had the same trouble with Dragon Mountain (which I really, really want to finish - I brought the Colossal Red Dragon mini just to show size comparisons), and would like to return to the original Undermountain boxed set soon. My group is quite the opposite. They pounce on the chance to play a single storyline over a longer period of time. They are positively chomping at the bit for Shackled City. I ran Dragon Mountain in 3.0 and it was a freaken blast. I changed a bit, like integrating the Ravenloft box Bleak House and an old 2nd Ed Dungeon article to replace parts of searching for the amulet and map that I thought were a little weak, so I guess you could say we played 2 boxed adventures. I also added a whole extra-planar invasion lead by the dragon. The dragon had been training steampunk orcs and was invading the Realms via the mountain. It was great because the party worked their way through the whole epic campaign, right up to the dragon. The book states that the dragon's lead general type guy is polymorphed into a dragon to serve as a guardian. So the party whoops his ass, still feeling tough at about 18-19th level. The the dragon swoops into the cavern at CR 24 or so and the party fails their fear saves and run for the hills. They teleport out of there back to Waterdeep, right off the little campaign map. They contented themselves in knowing that the dragon may not have been killed but at least the invasion was stopped. It was an extremely amusing ending. That was kind of off topic, I apologize. I never played Night Below but it caught my eye a couple of times. I was on my way out of D&D at the time it was released so i never bothered with it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Downloaded from Wizards Community (http://forums.gleemax.com) at 05-10-08 08:22 AM.