Q4 Den of Thieves

[j_dean80]

On Note B,
it might be nice to present it with a treasure chest, no?

I was thinking more along the lines of the basilisk sitting on a pile of whatever including the sword.

[Anderas]

Ah... a stone statues holding the sword while having this look on their face:

[Anderas]

Questimated it.
Assumptions: 2-dice-group
3 wandering Monsters as always


Traps:
17.5 BP

Monsters:
Basilisk room 2 BP
Kobold sixpack 1.6 BP
Kobold four-Groups each 0.8 BP
lone Fimir 0.6
Wandering monsters 1.2 BP
Kobold Fimir Table Room 2.7 BP
4 BP from the Swamp Spell Monster
That and change makes roughly 14 BP damage.

All in all: Spells and Monsters are right in the middle of "good" area,
plus if they spring all traps = total party kill.

BUT: I guess that the heroes become intelligent as soon as the first traps is sprung. Also you placed them so that the heroes are free to search for them. That makes me believing that we can safely assume that they find a way to avoid most of the traps.
And then it is just perfect for a group fighting with 2 dice.

Same simulation for having 2 Attack and 3 Defense (which is reasonable in Quest 4 of a pack):
Monsters go down from 14 to 10 damage; still reasonable; maybe a bit low.

Same simulation for having 2 Attack except Barbara has 3 Attack, everybody has 3 defense:
Monsters do 8.8 damage (but still the traps are enough for TPK if they're stupid )

[j_dean80]

Questimated it.
Assumptions: 2-dice-group
3 wandering Monsters as always


Traps:
17.5 BP

Monsters:
Basilisk room 2 BP
Kobold sixpack 1.6 BP
Kobold four-Groups each 0.8 BP
lone Fimir 0.6
Wandering monsters 1.2 BP
Kobold Fimir Table Room 2.7 BP
4 BP from the Swamp Spell Monster
That and change makes roughly 14 BP damage.

All in all: Spells and Monsters are right in the middle of "good" area,
plus if they spring all traps = total party kill.

BUT: I guess that the heroes become intelligent as soon as the first traps is sprung. Also you placed them so that the heroes are free to search for them. That makes me believing that we can safely assume that they find a way to avoid most of the traps.
And then it is just perfect for a group fighting with 2 dice.

Same simulation for having 2 Attack and 3 Defense (which is reasonable in Quest 4 of a pack):
Monsters go down from 14 to 10 damage; still reasonable; maybe a bit low.

Same simulation for having 2 Attack except Barbara has 3 Attack, everybody has 3 defense:
Monsters do 8.8 damage (but still the traps are enough for TPK if they're stupid )

That factored in the Kobold's 2 dice attacks as a group? You saying I should add a few more monsters?

[Anderas]

wait no. Thanks - no I forgot the special ability of the kobolds. I be back in five minutes. Thanks for the heads up.

--> The Barbara 3/3 and rest 2/3 group has 13 BP from kobolds with that special rule,
--> The Barbara 3/2 and rest 2/2 has 17 BP from kobolds. That's quite where we want to land.

It's reasonable to assume that the group has 2/3 and Barbara 3/3, so yes, I'd add some. Not too many. For example Wandering Monster = 2 Kobolds would quite nicely do the trick.

[j_dean80]

wait no. Thanks - no I forgot the special ability of the kobolds. I be back in five minutes. Thanks for the heads up.

--> The Barbara 3/3 and rest 2/3 group has 13 BP from kobolds with that special rule,
--> The Barbara 3/2 and rest 2/2 has 17 BP from kobolds. That's quite where we want to land.

It's reasonable to assume that the group has 2/3 and Barbara 3/3, so yes, I'd add some. Not too many. For example Wandering Monster = 2 Kobolds would quite nicely do the trick.

Maybe leave it as is then. In the original quest book some are easier than others, kind of like a breather for the Heroes.

[wallydubbs]

I like the idea of incorporating a basilisk, but you may wish to rethink the story. It shouldn't be farmers complaining. Forgive me for being thematically accurate, but a Basilisk is deathly vulnerable to a rooster's crow, so this snake would stay away from farms.

I do feel there should be a Basilisk though, that was a great idea, but it should also have specific ability, maybe to turn heroes into stone... or the heroes will have to face it with a handicap, being blindfolded. Perhaps roll 2 less combat dice when attacking to a minimum of 1, as they cannot look and thus sacrifice accuracy.

Or perhaps the Basilisk should appear in a later quest, but the heroes need a magical artifact that will allow them to look upon a Basilisk without dying.

[Count Mohawk]

We've discussed the mechanical nuances of the Basilisk monster, and it indeed has a stone-glare power! Take a look at the relevant thread.

As to the Heroes having difficulty fighting one... well, in Quest 2 the Heroes walk into a room with 2 of the monsters and are promptly stoned, which is the intended end for that Quest. So when (if) they find the one in this Quest, it's not the first time they fight one, so they know to be careful not to look directly into its eyes, etc.

I wouldn't know about the roosters vs Basilisk thing though; it may well be historically accurate to certain legends about the basilisk, but I only know the rather more main-stream version of the story which becomes a plot point in Harry Potter.

[wallydubbs]

I wouldn't know about the roosters vs Basilisk thing though; it may well be historically accurate to certain legends about the basilisk, but I only know the rather more main-stream version of the story which becomes a plot point in Harry Potter.

Lol, this is a glaring plothole that some people, paying serious attention to detail in the movie, have picked up on. In the scene where Harry is reading off some parchment on how to kill a Basilisk, if paused and given enough time to read it, this parchment does indeed mention the rooster's crow can kill it. But it's convenient to the plot to not include this little tidbit.