Modifying "The Standing Stone"

[isotunknown]

I'm trying to get my act together ahead of time, for a change. I'm going to be running a party of 5 or 6 through WotC's "The Standing Stone" in a few weeks. I'm pretty excited about it, because I think this particular adventure makes for good role-playing. (I went through it as a player, years ago and now I bought a copy off of ebay.) I've got a fairly long story arc for these players and one crucial element involves a paladin, which this story includes in just the right way. My problem is that I want to take the players from level 3 to 6 using this adventure. Right now, the adventure is set to take players from 7 to 9. I'd like, with your help, to accomplish several goals.

1) Keep the general outline of the adventure.
2) Lower the EL of the adventure by 4 or so.
3) Add a few encounters elsewhere in the woods surrounding Ossington.

I would really appreciate your help, imagination, and ideas. Even if it's just that you want to point out some errors int he adventure or parts you think should be changes, I would be quite thankful.

The part I'm most concerned about is how to accurately lower the EL and I would especially like suggestions about how to do this.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by isotunknown
3) Add a few encounters elsewhere in the woods surrounding Ossington.

What kinds of encounters were you looking for? Relevant to the region but not necessarily to the module's plot, or something you wanted to integrate into the storyline?

[isotunknown]

I'm open to both small encounters that feed the plot and some that are more happenstance or circumstantial. For instance, I considered some encounters when players are wondering in the forest where the players might happen upon some event with Hobyas or, perhaps, they encounter a hive of giant bees. Since, I'm hoping for the adventure to take them from 3-6, a few more encounters may round things out.

All that said, I'm struggling with how to lower the EL of the current encounters.

[Rostenoc]

Would it be right to assume you're keeping it in the original 3rd edition? Or will you want encounters based on 3.5? It shouldn't make much of a difference, but a few monsters change between the two; I updated the whole line of adventures once, and some encounters changed dramatically (osyluth in Speaker in Dreams is a great example). And if you're keeping it in 3rd, are the PCs restricted to 3rd-only? I've found that 3.5/PF characters absolutely steamroll these things without tweaks.
I'd go so far as to say a 3.5/PF party of 3rd level (especially with 5-6 PCs) could manage it as written, depending on group composition. The only troublesome encounters are at the tail end of the adventure, so if you plan on adding encounters up until then, they should be able to handle them almost as is. I'd suggest lowering Saithnar's level by 2 or 3 so the duel scenario is more evenly matched; if the PCs take him and the wights on, as a group they should be fine. The other change to make might be reducing the levels of each Fey Skirmisher by 1, and removing Gnarlroot's Animate Tree ability. You could explain this as a result of the trees in the area not mature enough from Ashardalon's rampage, or the treant being reluctant to involve more "innocents" in the bloodshed, considering the girded dryad's tree.

As an aside, great taste in adventures.

[isotunknown]

I had in mind a conversion to 3.5.

These are helpful suggestions. I think the wights may be a bigger problem for them, as well, especially, because I don't think they'll have a cleric with them. I'm a little worried about doing the burial mound well. Not only does the map stink, but it could be frustrating as an adventure. But I think the reword of the final encounter therein is well worth preserving.

I agree with you about this adventure; it was one of the best I went through as a player, especially because our party was divided about whether the elves were actually the bad guys. It required a lot of careful role-playing.

[droppedbutnot]

I loved this adventure!!

I think you'd have to town down the Vrock and Dyson's team as a whole. You'll have to be careful that the Ghost doesn't kill the party by accident. Also, I agree that the wights may be too hard for third level characters.

As for extra forest adventures, consider using vermin which would not be affected by the druid spell: spiders, giant bees, and the like. Also, perhaps an encounter with some kind of woods hermit or tasloi or something that might add to the intrigue.