Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

A forum for DCC RPG judges. This forum covers adventure design, monsters, judges' advice, campaign building, and all other such things.

Moderators: DJ LaBoss, finarvyn, michaelcurtis, Harley Stroh

Post Reply
fadinginterest
Ill-Fated Peasant
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 10:51 am
FLGS: Battleground
Location: Boston, MA

Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by fadinginterest »

I ran a late night One Who Watches From Below last weekend. It went off the rails shortly after the curse manifested.

I think the main issue was I didn't adjudicate domination correctly the first time the cursed player jumped into the spider. Then, after the encounter, the cursed player roamed forward a few rooms, dominated a rat, and came back to the party. Frustrated with trying to communicate, he jumped out of the rat and into the wizard.

I had them contest wills and the wizard (chaotic) completely botched it. (He wasn't willing and wasn't restrained -- my mistake)

The cursed player had some back and forth with the party then hopped out. The wizard *immediately* spellburned a massive magic missile. Annihilating the rat and almost killing the comatose body of the cursed player.

Surprised, I called for an initiative. The cleric went first (lawful), and seeing the kinda crazy and chaotic wizard hellbent to murder a party member, stuck him with his magic longsword and put him down permanently.

At that point it was late and we all had a good laugh about how off the rails everything went and called it a game.

So ... for anyone who has run The One Who Watches From Below, could you give me some advice on how to run the curse better? What worked for you, what didn't? Problems you avoided or overcame?

Thanks.
User avatar
GnomeBoy
Tyrant Master (Administrator)
Posts: 4126
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:46 pm
FLGS: Bizarro World
Location: Left Coast, USA
Contact:

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by GnomeBoy »

I haven't experienced that module yet.

But I am wondering how many different answers you'd get if this was posted in the G+ DCC community...

Are you on that, too? If not, would you like me to post this there and report back with the chatter that happens?
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
fadinginterest
Ill-Fated Peasant
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 10:51 am
FLGS: Battleground
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by fadinginterest »

I don't think I have touched G+ in years. I would appreciate any signal boost. Thank you.
User avatar
GnomeBoy
Tyrant Master (Administrator)
Posts: 4126
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:46 pm
FLGS: Bizarro World
Location: Left Coast, USA
Contact:

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by GnomeBoy »

Done.

I'll round up the posts and set them here in a day or two...
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
User avatar
GnomeBoy
Tyrant Master (Administrator)
Posts: 4126
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:46 pm
FLGS: Bizarro World
Location: Left Coast, USA
Contact:

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by GnomeBoy »

Faster replying than I expected, because once the author chimes in.... :wink:

____________

I've run it and stuck by Jobe Bittman​'s advice- the player who is cursed has to communicate using only their eyes. I cut the cover off and chopped out the hole (yeah, I did!) and Jody, the player, was essentially helpless. I allowed him to text me but kept it between the two of us. He was mildly frustrated during the first session but quickly grew into enjoying playing as eyes.

As far as the PvP aspect that you ran into, that doesn't sound like anything that happened due to the module- it sounds like players pushing boundaries ;)
____________

Jobe Bittman:
The domination effect says it only works non-intelligent creatures. In playtesting, people either bypassed the curse too easily by using another character to speak, or took over another PC and forced to the character to do things that irked the player.
____________

PvP is generally a mess - use at your own discretion. Allowing a player to murder another player for this kind of thing is odd and likely to screw the group. I would probably have to find another group as a player.

For module specific advice, to dominate an intelligent creature, give a saving throw every round or turn, at which point the person is immune. Also, feel free to cause stat damage to people who are dominated or the cursed player after a psychic tussle.
____________

If there are more replies, I'll add those in down the line.
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
User avatar
GnomeBoy
Tyrant Master (Administrator)
Posts: 4126
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:46 pm
FLGS: Bizarro World
Location: Left Coast, USA
Contact:

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by GnomeBoy »

More discussion:

------------

yeah, PvP isn't for everyone, but it works for the group I play with. I also allow it- nay, encourage it- during Funnels, specifically the tournament Funnels. It's all about goals of play.

------------

I think allowing him the ability to possess the Wizard threw it off track. It can be frustrating for the cursed player at times though. 

------------

Jobe Bittman:
Pg 4: "Cursed eyes also gain the ability to dominate unintelligent creatures, such as the beasts in the kennel." It's the first line of the paragraph about the domination ability.

------------

Spoilers after the jump:
.
.
.
.
Though that does rule out interesting possibilities like possessing the hobbits or the giant.

------------

Jobe Bittman:
No it doesn't. The halfling hybrids are the one race that is specifically called out as being unintelligent. (pg 5: "The hybrids are uniintelligent and vocalize in long hisses.") I'm not sure which monster you are referring to as a giant, but I leave it up to the game master to judge which other creatures have intelligence. I would say none besides Whately and the finale creatures, but that's up the the judge.

------------
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
fadinginterest
Ill-Fated Peasant
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 10:51 am
FLGS: Battleground
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by fadinginterest »

Thanks. I think I really just dropped the ball on it. Fortunately we all had a good laugh about it (everyone involved are decades old friends). I am going to attempt the module again at some point and be more hard and fast with the curse application. (I appreciate your help in getting responses, thank you.)
User avatar
GnomeBoy
Tyrant Master (Administrator)
Posts: 4126
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:46 pm
FLGS: Bizarro World
Location: Left Coast, USA
Contact:

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by GnomeBoy »

You're welcome. :)
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
losloris
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 5:23 am
FLGS: trig

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by losloris »

Here's some advice, re-imagine the module to fit your needs. A motto our game thrives by. Can't argue with those who want to be able to open the package and play. However, that suggestion is difficult to apply in an on going campaign. Our's is 3.5 years and has now evolved into a battle against Tharizdun. The campaign is currently in DCC 30, should you care to be acquainted.

As it is, Tharizdun is identified as an Elder Elemental Eye, which I have chosen to interpret loosely. The One Who Watches From Below fits well as an ancient temple of worship for Tharizdun. Trouv Tou, Wasabi and I are going camping Thursday night at a cabin in the woods, and, this module will be the main attraction. To make things fun and interesting, Whateley will be met and killed at the next to last room at which point he will dissolve into a beholder kin. Some of the monsters will be bumped up in hit points. Also, Robert Asprin's Thieve's World had a neat story (never to be found again, drat) that involves our hero, an expert in his trade, being caught in a back alley by a boat load of petty thieves in a swarm attack. I plan to use the halfpints in that way, as a rolling swarm looking for their chance to jump the party.

(bonus points if anyone can tell me exactly which story that was)

This is set up to be a one night stand and this module looks totally perfect.

more as she goes

Losloris
losloris
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 5:23 am
FLGS: trig

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by losloris »

What a delightful setting that was. Tell you right out, I did not use the curse aspect. Did, however, use the eyes all over the place to make this a real spooky encounter. Trouv Tou thoroughly enjoyed it, up to and including the tremendous pile if loot from which he extracted nothing.

Tomorrow I will post the images I used for Whateley. Which reminds me to praise DCC again for making a point of having eye candy.

The evening was rather straight forward. Whateley was not immediately evident in room 2, which ultimately spooked TT into an attack, which W disappeared from. Gaze attacks made them nauseous, I suggested the short guys were like the little people from the first star wars, the ones who stole robots (which really helped to place them). The totem bonking eyes worked real well, they got nailed on the electric floor, the pair of six legged goats almost got them, too. And the eyes, everywhere the eyes: a wave from them blinking.

Down. We were running out of real people time. To the overview room just by the loot and out pops Whatley with twenty shorties. Great fight, great image of W with his body changing, oozes everywhere. The call of the loot was a perfect distraction, and then back to W who was no longer there. I chose an appropriate sized beholder kin, and, a last spell from Wasabi.

Back to the loot, out comes the eye stalks image from the module, down comes the roof, out run the party.

Very fun

Losloris
losloris
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 5:23 am
FLGS: trig

Re: Advice on The One Who Watches From Below

Post by losloris »

Decided to use this one for this summer's camping trip. Last year it was the burrow downs (#43?).

We will be four; one is the Rhiannon girl, a fellow who has not played in years and never with me, his girlfriend who has never played (but she is artsy enough to get the game).

I am thinking as this is a one shot deal I will have them as prisoners of some nasty Duke, none of the party knows the other. The Duke will haul them from his prison, "Go get me that which I desire," the party will be quested. Say, if you and I are quested together do I necessarily not try to kill you because of the 'quest'?

Anywho, that which is desired will be down in the last pit, sitting on the pile, and there is that snake from the Star Wars trash compactor.

Losloris
Post Reply

Return to “Judges' Forum”