Kellar's Keep Redux

[mikemacdee]

Another revised version of Kellar's Keep, this time by yours truly, using the ideas discussed in Anderas's thread. Maybe Anderas will give this a go and tell me if anything needs to be tweaked, since I've come up with a lot of this stuff on the fly during my own playthrough of the expansion with friends.

Basically quests have been paired up, and the heroes choose what order to play the quest sets in. Each quest set results in the heroes acquiring a map fragment, and once all four are collected, they enter the final quest, Grin's Crag. The story is simplified to a more coherent and straightforward treasure hunt.

KELLAR'S KEEP REDUX DOWNLOAD!

INTRODUCTION
If it hadn’t been for the riot, you would never have escaped the slave camp, nor taken the slave master hostage in the process. In exchange for his life, he allowed you to take all of his belongings, including a box of mostly useless letters.

Only one letter caught your attention: a correspondence from a friend named Grin. It mentioned a rendezvous in the city of Thale, near the World’s Edge Mountains. Grin was eager to discuss his discoveries about the “vaults of Kellar’s Keep.”

Lost on the other side of the world and forced to start your life over, you found the word “vaults” enticing. It suggested money. Hoards of it. So you used the last of your gold to charter a ship, and set course for Thale.

Grin was not pleased to meet unfamiliar faces in the Thale tavern, but a company of former adventurers was just what he needed. Grin was a dwarf, descendant of the dwarves who once lorded over the now decrepit Halls of Belorn, a vast sprawl of subterranean cities and tunnels beneath the mountains. On the far east side of the mountains was Kellar’s Keep, the stronghold of Grin’s ancestors, where untold riches supposedly sat waiting to be claimed.

Many had sought the treasures of Kellar’s Keep, but none had returned. All had fallen victim to the perils of Grin’s Crag -- the only way in or out of Kellar’s Keep, a gauntlet constructed by Grin’s ancestors.

But Grin was not deterred by legends of ancient peril. He had discovered hieroglyphs in the Halls of Belorn, at the cost of the lives of many friends. His ancestors had constructed a stone map safely navigating Grin’s Crag, which was broken into four pieces and hidden throughout the ancient Halls. Grin discovered the location of each piece, but exhausted his resources acquiring these priceless clues.

After much bartering and many ales, you came to an agreement: to brave the perils of the Halls of Belorn, reassemble Grin’s Map, and lead the way to Kellar’s Keep. In exchange, Grin promised a bountiful share in the treasure of his ancestors -- more wealth that you could ever imagine...if the treasure indeed exists...

[Anderas]

Nice! I will have to take a closer look today evening. I always shifted that project to a week later when I was almost restarting it.
Now I am eager to see the ideas that you had to make it more interesting.

[Anderas]

It makes a great impression already.

I will have to check your idea of exchangeable monster in the coming days.

I like what you did to grins Crag!

One thing came to my eyes:
Quest 1B has 5 of the same henchmen in the north hallway - if you want to play with a HQ set of mercenaries, that's one too many.

[mikemacdee]

One thing came to my eyes:
Quest 1B has 5 of the same henchmen in the north hallway - if you want to play with a HQ set of mercenaries, that's one too many.

Ahh, that's a good point. It's still a work in progress of course, so post any suggestions you have!

[Anderas]

Okay, I start with the first quest and will give a difficulty estimation with all three sets of monsters.

That can be fun if it works as you imagine. And if it changes the difficulty a little bit, then it is not a problem but rather a tool one can use to better accommodate someone's hero group.

The Gargoyle in the Room marked C has it's secret door revealed the normal way right? Ah, yes he is stoned anyway so no difference.
Same question for the center room. It might be great to have that secret door opened by Zargon, too.

I like what you did to the boulders. First, your boulders follow around the corners, second they disappear and leave no trace that could possibly destroy your adventure.

Ok, your first quest is perfect for a three-dice-group; no matter skaven or greens. No surprise here, your giant rat and clanrat are near-exact copies of goblins and orcs. In other quests with more Fimirs and Chaos Warriors it might change something.

With Helmsmen it got a little bit easier and it becomes playable by a beginner's group: The scout is stronger than a Goblin, but the Crossbowman and Swordsman are a little bit weaker than their counterparts.

[mikemacdee]

I like what you did to the boulders. First, your boulders follow around the corners, second they disappear and leave no trace that could possibly destroy your adventure.

I improvised that when I realized how many long dead ends there were during my first playthrough with friends. So I added them on the fly, and suddenly the quest was WAY more fun.

I was sure the humans would be deadlier given one has a nasty ranged attack. Maybe I should have them defend on white shields to balance it?

[Anderas]

Yes, it was surprising me too. Maybe I did something foolish today morning at 5:00. I will double check later.

[Anderas]

Ok, I found the error.
Man that I did not see it earlier!
Now the results are what they are supposed to be.

Ok, the first quest with:
Helmsman - 4 Dice Group (and it is nicely hard)
Skaven - also fit for a 4 Dice group, but it is a little easier. (I would say... balanced)
Original - Can be played with a 4 dice group in easy mode, or with a 3 dice group in "hard" mode.

Depends on the mood of your players

[Anderas]

Got Quest 1-B in the questimator today.
It is difficult for a group having 4-dice-equipment without help. The potions of healings that they can find are placed at the right spot, so to say. They make the quest okay.

I changed over to skaven, it is a tiny bit more difficult, but not much. However, I can't really predict the spells of the White Seer, so there might be a little death trap hidden than I can't simulate.

Then I used Orcs. It is easier. For 4 Dice it is right in the sweet spot, if you have 3 attack and 4 defense (like many have), then it is difficult but doable.

[Anderas]

02 A the Warrior Halls:

3 dice: A hard quest.
4 dice: it is in the sweet spot.

I guess from monster point of view it would be best played with heroes having 3 dice in attack and 4 or 5 in defense.

BUT: They get yet another 15 BP from traps into the face, most of which are in rooms with monsters so they can't be discovered until it is too late.... so I would say this one's as it should be, when you are playing with a fully equipped hero group. Hiring a scout wouldn't be a too bad idea, though. At least he can step on the traps.


I did not switch out monsters as there are nearly no orcs to switch from. Could be interesting to do this with undead too, right? It's difficult, though... the skeletons and zombies are both quite lightweight compared to an orc, additionally the spirit blade works better against undead... so with what could one replace them.
In total, undead quests are normally a little bit easier than green quests.
I am all for inventing two or three zombie types if one has the models.


02 B: The Dwarven Forge

That's strange, in terms of difficulty I would rate it 3.5, like the one before.
only, here you have not a quarter of the traps...
I guess, there should be some more difficult and some less difficult.

Skaven variant: It is a little bit more difficult; 4 instead of a 3.5
Helmsman variant: a solid 4 here and even a little bit more dangerous than the skaven variant. Maybe the 4-dice-group should even take a scout with them; if only for the two BP he brings.

03 A The Spiral Passage

First, there is a little bug:
Remarks B and C are not on the map.
In the lower left and right corner, there is a possibility that heroes get trapped on one side of the boulder and can't get to the other side.

Difficulty (monsters): This quest has a solid 3. If you like a good trial, you can even try it with a beginner's group. That's okay; this quest draws not from the monsters but from the rolling boulders.
Orc variant: Is a little bit easier. It's 3 on the low side, or beginner's group on the tough side.
Helmsmen variant: Is definitely harder. I would give a 3.5 as difficulty.