Bailing characters out A3 slight spoilers

[tylermo]

In the last month I got some of old players and some new ones back into the A series (after 4 and a half month hiatus). We're into A3 Wicked Cauldron presently. The original characters and some 2nd wave characters have retired or died before or near the end of A2 Slag Heap, save one who kind of acted as a bridge for the new characters who joined late in A2 and early in A3. That character retired so the player could concentrate on his new Dwarven Paladin. I didn't let the new characters start at 3rd level, and opted for 2nd level instead. Either way, the paladin pklayer isn't around anymore, so we retired him and another absent player's dwarf barbarian. Presently, the current party consists of a dwarf fighter, dwarf cleric, gnome illusionist, half-elf druid, and a half-elf ranger. All are 2nd level. They're on level 3 of the ziggurat. Two weeks ago, they handily defeated 20 goblins, and a few Ungern. More recently, a three of them were at neg hit points at the hands of two Trolls. Two were taken prisoner, and one was dragged to safety by the party's weakest members...the druid and illusionist. One Troll was killed, and other imprisoned two of the dwarves. The other three party members took refuge on a stair case between levels 3 and 4. Earlier this week, the illusionist, druid, and fighter nursed their wounds somewhat, and attempted a rescue. Long story short, they ended up -1 or -2 hp each. They fought the remaining Troll and an Ungern chief. The Troll has slightly over half hp, and the ungern was nearly killed. Presumably, all of these characters will be imprisoned or killed. Any thoughts? They'd like to continue with these characters if possible. One possibility...the retiring dwarf paladin and dwarven barbarian could have a Han and Chewie Death Star battle moment, returning out of concern for their comrades. These two were in the 1st two levels of the ziggurat before they left. Also, I'm curious as to how all of you handle natural healing at neg hit points while imprisoned. The characters are getting plenty of rest, so would they get back 1 point each day? Any advice would be appreciated. These characters may have to be bumped up to 3rd level at least.

[koralas]

BTB, at -1 to -6, the character requires 24 hours of rest before the healing process begins, and then it proceeds normally. So the first 24 hours, no healing, then after that normal 1 hp/day of rest... But that also needs being well fed, warm, etc. What are the conditions under which they are held captive? Is the troll planning on making snacks of the PCs? Is it planning on holding them for ransom?

If the former... well such is why there are so few high-level characters around.

If the latter, consider having the troll release one of the PC's to collect the ransom. If you want the old characters to make an appearance, perhaps they accompany the character back to the troll, and remain with the party as NPC's until the characters are back to safety. They will need to be paid, and well, but it is one way of getting out of the mess. Another way is to have one of the characters, probably the illusionist, slip it's bonds, perhaps fleeing to return as above, or it can free the other characters who now have to survive a trek to freedom without their gear, just like in A4. (By this I mean the TSR A4 module not the Trolls)

[Treebore]

Personally I wouldn't have even put them through A3 at second level. I think I did it at 4th, and it was still tough. Not the least bit surprised that a group of second level characters got beat up by 6 HD Trolls. All it takes is a few good rolls.

[Lobo316]

Personally I wouldn't have even put them through A3 at second level. I think I did it at 4th, and it was still tough. Not the least bit surprised that a group of second level characters got beat up by 6 HD Trolls. All it takes is a few good rolls.

What Tree said. A3 is too tough for 2nd level characters. Trolls are tough as it is, a pair of them can be devestating. You need to either adjust the encounters a bit, or bump up the players. Wicked Cauldren is pretty tough. It'd be challenging for 4th level characters.

[tylermo]

Well, we had another session last night. Before the players arrived, I played out a battle involving the return of two recently-departed characters (Dwarves-paladin and barbarian). These characters "retired" two sessions baack because we grew weary of carrying them along. Two of our players were no longer available after the hiatus. Anyway, these two characters had their Han and Chewie "return to assist the rebel fighters" moment. They traveled through two levels of the ziggurat and outside briefly, before coming back to check on their former companions. The battle against a troll (28 hp remaining) and an ungern chief (3hp remaining from previous combat with their now unconscious allies), was hard fought. Paladin was down to 4 hp, barbarian at -2. The Paladin used his 4 points of healing to bring back the cleric, and the cleric worked to bring back the druid. Through natural and magical healing, the party got on their feet after two or three days. to be continued momentarily...