So, lately, my son’s been DMing most of our family campaigns but he wanted a break and asked me to run SKT again: for the 3rd time! We’ve never actually completed it (usually too many other campaign ideas…) and it’s a few years since we last picked it up. So, back to Nightstone for the third time, with a different cast of characters, and we’ll probably head to Triboar this time.
Anyway, this time we’re running it with 2024 rules, which has mostly been fine, until the arrival of the “Ear-Seekers”. The twenty orcs, War Chief and Eye of Gruumsh are now twenty Toughs, a Tough Boss and a Cultist Fanatic. I’ve no problem with the slightly more “generic” feel of not using orc-specific stat blocks, but it has made a big difference to how the encounter runs.
Previously, the party had virtually all the firepower: the orcs were limited to javelins; now they have heavy crossbows. In previous runs, the orcs would try to cross the moat and fail to climb the palisade, under fire from the party; this time, they can provide some nasty suppressive fire (I split the orcs in four teams of five, with two teams trying to cross and two teams shooting). I confess that I had to fudge occasional rolls to avoid the party being wiped out. Even with the crenellations providing 3/4 cover, enough shots will mean that some get through.
In addition, the 2014 Orc had 15 HP; the 2024 Tough has 32, with an AC that’s only one point lower. The party has to focus their fire just to bring down one orc.
It’s taught me that I need to do a little bit more preparation when running a 2014 adventure with 2024 rules: the stat block substitutions can make a significant difference to how encounters work.
Does anyone else have experience with running SKT with 2024 rules? Any other encounters that need particular attention?
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So, lately, my son’s been DMing most of our family campaigns but he wanted a break and asked me to run SKT again: for the 3rd time! We’ve never actually completed it (usually too many other campaign ideas…) and it’s a few years since we last picked it up. So, back to Nightstone for the third time, with a different cast of characters, and we’ll probably head to Triboar this time.
Anyway, this time we’re running it with 2024 rules, which has mostly been fine, until the arrival of the “Ear-Seekers”. The twenty orcs, War Chief and Eye of Gruumsh are now twenty Toughs, a Tough Boss and a Cultist Fanatic. I’ve no problem with the slightly more “generic” feel of not using orc-specific stat blocks, but it has made a big difference to how the encounter runs.
Previously, the party had virtually all the firepower: the orcs were limited to javelins; now they have heavy crossbows. In previous runs, the orcs would try to cross the moat and fail to climb the palisade, under fire from the party; this time, they can provide some nasty suppressive fire (I split the orcs in four teams of five, with two teams trying to cross and two teams shooting). I confess that I had to fudge occasional rolls to avoid the party being wiped out. Even with the crenellations providing 3/4 cover, enough shots will mean that some get through.
In addition, the 2014 Orc had 15 HP; the 2024 Tough has 32, with an AC that’s only one point lower. The party has to focus their fire just to bring down one orc.
It’s taught me that I need to do a little bit more preparation when running a 2014 adventure with 2024 rules: the stat block substitutions can make a significant difference to how encounters work.
Does anyone else have experience with running SKT with 2024 rules? Any other encounters that need particular attention?