2) This question sort of ties with the first. I have seen people talking about how the swarm and slasher thing (the results of the elevator trap) have managed to destroy the main part of their party. We have been putting a lot into the PC's backrounds, and the last thing I want to do is wipe them off the face of the earth. I decided that I may change certain elements of the beetles, but I also wanted to give the PC's a little XP before the encounter. I decided that the abandoned building wasn't so abandoned, rather it was occupied by a goblin or sumsuch. This is were my question finally comes in, what would be a good monster to put here? I like the idea of a goblin, but I'm not sure it fits with the rest of the setting. This probably depends on what I populate the hills with, so suggestions are again welcome.
3)...and lastly, I was wondering what swarm, in your experience, proved the easiest for the PC's to defeat. I want to populate the 2nd story of the PC's hq with a small weak swarm so they would have some experience before facing it off with the beetles. I was originally thinking spiders, but I'm not sure if this is the best way to go.
Any suggestions are welcome, as I am new at this and want to provide a fun experience for my players.
edit: The reason I'm putting this on this board is because I am running it in Greyhawk, in case that wasn't clear.
2. Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins and Human Bandits are all known to populate the hills surrounding Diamond Lake. Any of these would make a great experience booster.
3. I have yet to use a swarm of any kind in my game so i can't give you much advise on that. I am hoping to start my own AoW campaign within the next two months and will have to try my first go at a swarm then.
Hope this helps.
1) Just what is in the hills surrounding Diamond Lake? ...
The surrounding hills are the Cairn Hills. They are filled with dozens (maybe hundreds) more cairns like the one the PCs explore. Many are cairns of the Wind Dukes. Others are similes made by cultures emulating the Wind Dukes. Dwarves and Gnomes are friendly demi-humans in the area known to mine and forge in their own communities. Orc and goblinkind are hostile humanoids known to populate the area, and they are mostly raiders, looters, and pillagers who don't create their own civilized culture centers.
2) This question sort of ties with the first. I have seen people talking about how the swarm and slasher thing (the results of the elevator trap) have managed to destroy the main part of their party...
I would say this depends highly upon the composition of your party and the experience of your players. If your party includes wizards and/or sorcerers with spells like burning hands, then they'll be fine. Likewise if they are packing lots of acid and alchemist's fire, they will be equally able to deal with the threat. However, if they don't have these things and they are not experienced D&D players, they will get slaughtered. In this situation, rather than remove the swarm from the encounter, I suggest letting them slug it for a round or two before gently suggesting they run. It's relatively easy to out-run a swarm and it's not intelligent enough to pursue very far. If your party includes at least a couple experienced players, they will recognize if they have the inability to fight a swarm and persuade the others to run (likely by simply running themselves).
3)...and lastly, I was wondering what swarm, in your experience, proved the easiest for the PC's to defeat...
Any swarms they can damage with weapons will be roughly equivalent to each other. Make sure someone in the party is packing a good bludgeoning weapon. Suggest they all pick up a club or quarterstaff before heading out (it is free after all).
I finally picked up a copy of Dragon 333, so know I can begain constructing the small adventure I'm going to have in the PC's base of operations.