New module: Treason in Traynia

Ok man, 

I gave your module a shot, but there is no one who is going to make it through it currently. You way overshot your levels. Did you playtest this?

Ok those Bandit Captains you are using are Double attacking Fighters of 5th-6th level. The Veteran you were using is also of similar level. The Spies you are using are also of similar level. 

When you throw those things all at once against a party of 3rd level characters, they're not going to make it. This is not a module you're going to make it through with a party of 3rd level characters. 

Secondly you forgot to add Rations to you Chest, so while its possible to use tactics to beat the first two encounters, generally because you can't short rest you're going to have to expend enormous amount of resources to beat them... which isn't a problem... IF you could either short rest or long rest. 

You can do neither... 

I don't generally recommend an encounter right outside the initial area, but at least your story plays it out well. Still again we have a double attacking Bandit Captain (5th level), 2 Thugs (4th level), and 2 Bandits (1st level).... which is a pretty strong encounter for a 3rd level party... but doable. 

Still I would say the party is at a disadvantage in this encounter and most would not make it unless they're experienced. 

Your next encounter, is 8 Ghouls and an Evil Priest. 

Again a pretty strong encounter for a 3rd level party... and its right in the next room so there's no breather. At this point any 3rd level party... assuming they beat both is going to be out of resources and because they can neither short rest or long rest they're pretty much screwed after the first two encounters... BUT I went and added Rations to your chest using the DM thinking... well ok maybe if he just tweeks it a little it might work out... 

Wrong... 

Your next encounter (all of these are to the right)... is ANOTHER Bandit Captain (5th level), a Veteran (5th Level), Two spies (4th level)... ok man.. at this point you're still talking a 3rd level party here... 

I had to quit out at that point and go... 

Ummm this guy needs to adjust his recommended levels up to at least level 4... probably level 5 for other people not me. 

So before we can even go any further... you're going to either have to completely remove and change your encounters... or upgrade your module to levels 4-5. And definitely add some Rations to your chest... or move your encounters a few rooms back so your players can Short Rest.  

Hi Silverquick!

Thanks for giving it a try and for your extensive comments. I really didn't think beating this module would be so hard, since doors can be easily used as choke points to deal with the enemies two by two. During my playthroughs I only had to long rest one time, that's why I didn't add any extra rations at the beginning (the bandits and captains you find throughout the dungeon use to drop 5 or 6 in total, this allows you to long-rest before the two final battles, the one with the goblins, that should be quite easy and the last and toughest one). In fact, the armors you get at the beginning let me start with a 20 AC paladin (plate + shield) and a 18 AC cleric (half plate + dex); in my playthroughs this made for a couple nice tanks. There are also some greater healing potions as well as some nice weapons and armor throhghout the dungeon that should make things easier.

But it is true that knowing what comes next may have played in my favour, since I used my spells very carefully... Anyway, it's good to get feedback from someone with your experience in modding (this was my first try), so I'll have to check everything again next weekend. I think I will first try to allow for 3rd-5th level. I'm quite positive this should do it.

By the way, I noticed you've commented on the level of the enemies. Is there a way to know that? I'm only getting hints that say they are easy/moderate/deadly.

Thanks!

Ok here's how you know what your enemies levels are... 

Any Human/Demi-Human character that can attack more than once per round... is a 5th level or higher fighter, 

The Veteran has 50+ HP... so he's 5th level Fighter

The Bandit Captain has 60+ HP... so he's 6th level Fighter

The "Spy" is a Thief with 27 HP... so he's 3rd level Thief with Constitution bonus. 

The Thug is unknown, but with 32 HP... he's either a 3rd level Fighter or a 4th level Thief. 

So your first encounter was... 

6th level Fighter

2 either 3rd level Fighers or 4th level thieves (most likely this)

Plus 2 1st level Fighters. 

The third encounter was this... 

5th level Figher

6th level Fighter

2 3rd level Thieves. 

You were putting these up against a 3rd level party.

EDIT: Oh... the 2nd Encounter is this... 

8 2nd level monsters that can paralyze

3rd level Cleric with Oblivion Domain.(ie casts Acid Arrow)

Ergo another encounter that is a pretty strong encounter vs a 3rd level party.  The Evil Priest is a jacked up Cleric too... they were able to hit my Paladin (Plate + Two Handed Sword) on a roll of 12 with Acid Arrow. So armor does you no good against this specific opponent. Actually One shotted him once on a Crit. 

Played it. Took two long rests, but very tough battles. Used a point buy party. Pally, Battle Cleric, Ranger, SA. Somehow, my ranger lost her lockpicks and so missed out on some good treasure. Knock doesn't work to unlock the virtual chests. Nice storytelling. On the final lore, you might say "The End." Spent a few minutes looking for a crack to crawl through. Also, your lore works best if you go straight first and then right from the entrance. I went right and came back later to do the spiders. Incidentally, those straight-ahead encounters were more level appropriate (the zombs/acols and spiders). If you do them first (and don't lose your lockpicks), you're better set up for the encounters to the right. But if a player goes right (like I did), it's tougher. (Incidentally, going right or left in this sort of set up is cultural.)

Incidentally, the only encounter that seriously worried me was the goblins. The Shaman busts out the lightning bolt pdq, and the cutthroats get +15 to attack and basically do 12-17 points of damage every round even again AC 21.

Honestly that's only ONE of the problem encounters. 

That 3rd Encounter I'm talking about basically puts your two 3rd Level Melees, in my case Paladin and Fighter Mountaineer against a 6th level Fighter and a 5th level Fighter one on one to plug the Doorway gap. That's not a winable situation for either of the two. And your tanks are going to get slaughtered and won't be able to hold the point of attack even in a Chokepoint like that.   

The Veteran as an example attacked my Paladin 3 times and took him out in one round. Leaving only the 3rd level Fighter against a 6th level fighter and a 5th level Fighter. 

That would be ok IF it was only those two so you could use your Back liners for support. But its also two 3rd level thieves firing arrows at them and hitting a lot. 

And because your mage is only 3rd level they are not good single target damagers, they also don't have any Fireballs at that point so you couldn't even have fireballed the room to weaken them. 

So after the 2nd front line fighter goes down to 5 attacks per round from a 5th and 6th level figher they're basically going to slaughter your backliners without issue. 

Again we're talking 3rd level characters here. If they were 5th level characters going against say 7th level Fighters it wouldn't be as much of a problem because you have more tactical options with 5th level Fighters. 

In the first encounter as an example the 6th level Fighter I was able to take out with a Hold Person While I took out the 4th level Thugs. And even so he broke it pretty fast, and at that level he's going to hit a lot even on a high AC. So he tends to do a lot of damage to your guys. 

If it was a boss encounter like an ending encounter that would be different, but this is the "common" and consistent encounter in here. 

So this module is actually about a 4th level Module with 5th level option. . 

If others want to play this one... just go into the Dungeon Maker and select the settings for the module and adjust the levels with minimum 4th and maximum 5th. And you should be alright. Also add Rations to the chest as you'll need them. 

Hi Acadiantri!

Thanks for giving this a try and for your feedback! You're absolutely right, going straight makes everything easier due to the loot you can get. After the first battle, I added a chest in the door in front of the entry in order to "guide" the players in that direction, but I don't know if this works (I tend to go straight and left first, this might be cultural, as you said, Spaniard here ;)). Since I already assumed that some lockpicks would be missed (even though most are around DC12), I added 5 or 6 items scattered throughout the whole dungeon, both to drive exploration and give some boost to the players for the tougher battles. Also, going straight first lets you short-rest in the upper left corner (when you have to track back your steps after defeating the spiders).

Also, going stealthy and trying to surprise the enemies is almost a must. Today I increased level range to 3rd - 5th level as per Silverquicks recommendation. I'll give this a try to check if it's easier that way. Anyway, next weekend I'll recheck the encounters and perhaps some of the lore, maybe hinting to go stealthy from the beginning and to go straight in the first place.

The storytelling has been thought to be continued in another dungeon. The captain was blackmailed to leave the watch unattended or his daughter would be turned into a vampire. I don't know if that's clear enough at the end, but using the lore tiles was the only way I could figure out to add some narrative. I hope there are more options when version 1.0 of the Dungeon Maker is released.

Ok man, 

As promised I got back to it, and can give you a rundown now after the changes you made, I will even recommend your module. 

1. Outstanding design of the interior of the dungeon itself. Good job especially on the abandoned portion of the Crypt. Your "war zones" so to speak are filled with cover and chokepoints, the interiors are anything but barren. This really does look like an old tight compact crypt. Good job on a custom designing the level. 

2. After raising the level a bit on the module. 4th level is about appropriate, though that Brood can be a bit nasty at that level. It's a good final encounter, As long as everyone remembers to keep the light spells or torches up, they'll be in good shape. Good job on correcting the Min/Max levels for the dungeon 

3. Storyline is actually very well done. This I saw from the beginning even yesterday. You work things into the storyline really well, and it was a good use of Lore Triggers. The ending brought home the message you were trying to convey and even though this was a very short module. Its a good one. 

Your initial chest has a good mix of items, though many are not needed but good choices in the ones that are there and good job in remembering enough arrows and bolts, even I forget those on occasion. You forgot Thieves tools though so you might need to add those or some parties will not be able to open chests and locks. 

I still recommend putting in One 5 Ration block. Reason being, when players are dropped into these they will have default spells, which are completely inappropriate for a player dungeon so they will have to Long Rest right away to get their spells set correctly. Most often they have 4 total, but if something goes wrong, its good to have a backup plan. 

Oh there's one more thing Lockhy, 

I recommend you putting more screenshots out, and a really good banner that gives your module the look of an old module cover. You know like when you used to go pick one up at the store and it looked so cool you couldn't wait to get it home and crack it open?

So go through and take some screenshots on your module and post them up. It will dress it up well.

Right now your page looks kinda plain, and its a better module than that. 

Thanks for your comments and suggestions, Silverquick! I will definitely implement them.