Well, things aren't looking great for the old guard, are they?
I think it's important to remember that the main problem facing the 1E party is the poison gas. It's a brutal mechanic that is unique to this dungeon, but I really do think it's counterbalanced by the relative lack of combat and traps. There is a specific downside though... PCs with low hit points are the most vulnerable. At least with combat, the more fragile PCs can hang back while the warriors bear the brunt of the hits with their superior Armor Class and hit points. That tends to result in the party weakening more uniformly. This poison gas may well end 2 PCs while the others continue on for a while longer.
The 5E party has it pretty good. The gas affects them much more slowly, but even if it didn't they have resources to deal with it more effectively. For example, in 1E, Nathair can memorize a maximum of 3 Cure Light Wounds spells. If she does, then that takes up all of her spells of that level. The spell itself is also less effective, healing only 1d8. Weyland was very, very unlucky when she cast it on him TWICE, healing him for only 4 total hit points with two castings. Meanwhile, 5E Nathair has four slots to cast Cure Wounds with and can use her six higher-level slots to cast it even more powerfully. All of that and still has the flexibility to cast other spells if needed. And to put the icing on the cake, each casting heals 1-8 + 5 with her high Wisdom. That means a single casting is guaranteed to heal better than both of her attempts in 1E did in this case. This is a stark reality that definitely points toward 5E being considerably easier. Not only is the environment generally kinder to PCs, but they also have better resources for dealing with it. (Don't forget they have equal or higher hit point maximums, too.
Still, it's too soon to draw any conclusions. It would be great to get some combat. Hopefully, the 1E party will live long enough...
Area 12: The Tomb of Hurakan
5E:
Mikhael leads the party to the end of the corridor. He briefly considers the door across the hall from the secret passage, but Nathair points out that they need to go up to get away from the gas, and the water on the floor is flowing toward that door and therefore, downhill. The party reaches the other end of the corridor and Weyland does a quick check for traps. Finding none, the party approaches the door.
Thirty-six minutes in the dungeon exposed to poison gas.
1E:
Mikhael leads the party to the end of the corridor. He briefly considers the door across the hall from the secret passage, but Nathair points out that they need to go up to get away from the gas, and the water on the floor is flowing toward that door and therefore, downhill. The party reaches the other end of the corridor and Stig does a quick check for traps. Finding none, the party approaches the door.
Fifty-three minutes in the dungeon exposed to poison gas.
Comments:
Not every insight by a PC has to involve a die roll.
Area 13: Child of Zotzilaha
5E:
"We don't have time for this," mutters Mikhael. Nathair points. "There's a ledge just under the water. We can use it to reach the door!"
Mikhael nods and rushes toward the ledge, the rest of the party following. He leads them to the ledge and draws his weapon, watching the water for signs of trouble. Stone rushes onto the ledge and makes his way as fast as he can manage to the doors at the other end. Nathair casts Spirit Guardians and moves up to the ledge and then a few feet out on the ledge. Stig and Morton stay out of the water but prepare to move. Suddenly the water starts frothing and bubbling as Nathar's Spirit Guardians begin attacking the woman, now invisible in the water. A moment later, a column of water forms into a humanoid, points a trident at Stone, and a blast of water lashes out at him. Stone braces himself in time, and keeps his footing. An instant later, a massive eel swims up behind him, and a loud spark and burst of steam emanates from the creature, with Stone at the center of it. He grits his teeth and hangs on, intending to open the doors. Weyland points at the eel and releases a blast of freezing energy at it as Mikhael rushes toward Stone to help him.
Stone jerks the doors open and turns to face his foes. He tries to reach for his warhammer but finds himself compelled to draw the axe from the tomb instead. Nathair moves quickly to reach the door and manages to jump through, but remains close enough to the fight so that her Spirit Guardians continue to ravage her enemies. Morton now moves across the ledge as quickly as he can, with Stig right behind him. Enraged now, the water creature lashes at Stone again this time he is caught off guard and is smashed hard and sent flying into the corridor beyond. The giant eel now turns its attention to Mikhael and attacks him with electricity. He is unharmed and prepares his return stroke. Weyland rushes toward the water but suddenly vanishes, reappearing beyond the door with Nathair and Stone. Mikhael strikes twice, channeling divinity through his blade on the second strike and the eel goes still. He moves toward the door. Stone gets up and moves back toward the room but cannot see their enemy. He noted with satisfaction that Mikhael has dispatched the eel. He prepares in case the woman in the water reappears. Morton reaches the doorway with Stig and they get out of the way as Nathair draws her mace.
From the center of the pool, the creature, a Nereid, appears, her hands up in surrender. She is badly bruised and beaten. "Please... spare me," Mikhael responds. "Why should we do that?" She pauses. "I will give you my treasure in exchange for my life." Mikhael knows time is short but agrees. "Quickly."
She resurfaces a few moments later with a wooden box, waterlogged. Inside there appear to be valuables. Stone takes the box as the party moves down the corridor. "We have spared you because mercy is a virtue taught by the gods," Mikhael says. "Remember that." He turns and follows the party.
1,150 XP is gained.
Forty-five minutes in the dungeon. No ill effects from the gas.
1E:
As the party approaches the door, Nathair notices a light coming through what appears to be a keyhole. She holds her finger up to her lips and leans down to look through. She sees a young woman sitting by the edge of a pool of water.
. Mikhael pushes the doors open and the party hears a surprised squeal and a splash. The woman has darted into the water. Seeing the passage to the South, Nathair surmises that this will lead back the way they came, and they should go through the doors on the opposite side of the room. They approach the water, and the young woman's head comes up out of the water. "In a hurry?" she asks, and giggles. Only Weyland, who still has his Comprehend Languages spell up, understands her. "Yes..." he stammers. "Can you help us?" She smiles and nods. "Oh yes, come join me in the water!" All of the men are mesmerized and start to move toward the pool.
Nathair notices the shawl left behind by the young woman and casts Detect Magic as the other party members start to move toward the water. She also notices this woman moving toward the shawl while keeping the men's attention on her. Nathair rushes to the edge and grabs the shawl. The woman in the water's eyes flash with anger. In her flirtiest voice she says "The first one of you men that brings me her shawl can come swim with me!" Only Weyland understands this, but when he says "Don't worry, I'll get it for you," the others realize what he's doing and move toward Nathair to grab the shawl. Even through the pain of the poison gas, they all focus only on doing whatever will please the beautiful lady in the water. Nathair responds by telling them "I bet she only lets one of you win, I suppose that'll be the strongest, don't you?"
The men respond by aggressively grabbing the shawl from her - and then each trying to grab it for himself. Five men tugging on one garment results in the shawl being ripped to shreds. The woman in the water, a Nereid, shrieks as she dissolves into the water of the pool.
Snapping out of it, the men realize what is happening. Nodding in thanks to Nathair, Mikhael leads the party toward the pool. He sees that the edges of the pool are very shallow near the walls, and starts to lead the party toward the door. Once he has set foot into the water, an enraged giant eel attacks.
An electrical jolt runs through Mikhael and he staggers but retaliates by trying to stab his longsword into the creature. He is unsuccessful. Stone brings his axe - which has teleported into his hand - down upon the creature but slicing through the water dulls the force of his blow. Stig wades into the water to strike the creature from behind and stabs into it, but the creature continues to fight. At last, Weyland is able to slay the creature with a Magic Missile.
The party is exhausted but does not dare stop to rest. They make their way to the door opposite the entrance and open it.
1,040 XP gained.
One hour and three minutes in the dungeon. The PCs continue to suffer the effects.
Comments:
We've finally had our first real combat, such as it was. There are a lot of things to point out here.
- It took a lot longer for the 5E party to finish the battle. This is because 5E monsters have a lot more hit points than their 1E counterparts. Case in point: The giant electric eel in 5E had 42 hit points while the 1E version had 10. At first, this may seem like a major advantage for the 1E party, but look what it took to kill it. A strike from a Fighter was reduced in damage by the eel being in the water. The backstab from the Thief just rolled badly, and a Magic Missile from Weyland finally finished the job. (Remember that the 5E Paladin and Fighter each had two attacks while their 1E counterparts each had one.) I really think the boost in monster hit points is more about making combat last longer than anything else.
- Notice that in 5E, a Saving Throw was provided to allow PCs to avoid the damage from the electrical attack. No Saving Throw exists in 1E for the same thing.
- Notice also the 1E Nereid was able to completely entrance all of the men in the party. No Saving Throw. It is fortunate that Nathair was smart enough to make the connection with the shawl and use it. This shortened the battle considerably and made it easier. Had Nathair not made the connection it would have been up to her to battle the Nereid and the Eel by herself.
- On the subject of the shawl, the 1E version of the module specifically said that she leaves it on the shore, while she is wearing it in 5E. This is possibly due to making the content a bit more family-friendly in 5E but consider also that the 5E Nereid would not be immediately destroyed by having the shawl destroyed. Again, this suggests a greater challenge to 5E characters.
And how about that mesmerizing effect, eh? Only affecting males, no Saving Throw... (You won't see that in a modern D&D module.) To say nothing of the Nereid's Kiss, which in 5E causes significant damage but in 1E is instantly fatal, no Saving Throw.
There's something else I'd like to point out. The difficulty of a 1E encounter is higher from a strictly mechanics-based perspective, but I think that encourages a lot more creative thinking and roleplay. Clever players don't just treat their weapons and spells as the only tools they have to resolve every battle. If the 1E party had attempted to win the encounter in the same way as the 5E party, they may very well have been wiped out whereas the 5E party wasn't even in significant danger.
Let's continue.
Area 14: Flooded Hall
Another hallway.
5E:
The party makes its way down the corridor but the water is cold and deep enough to slow them until they get out of the flooded section. They climb the stairs and reach a pair of bronze doors. Weyland briefly examines them to find traps but there are none, and as they're unlocked, the party goes through.
Forty-nine minutes in the dungeon. No ill effects from the gas.
1E:
The party makes its way down the corridor but the water is cold, but they are able to get to a set of stairs that leads up and out. They climb the stairs and reach a pair of bronze doors. Weyland briefly examines them to find traps but there are none, and as they're unlocked, the party goes through.
Fifty-one minutes in the dungeon. No additional ill effects from the gas.
Comments:
There is a slight variation in the map here. The water in the old version goes right up to the stairs. The new version, by contrast, explicitly says the water is three feet deep and thus slows the party. I think speed bumps like this are placed in the newer version to make it more likely the party will take damage from the gas at least once.
Speaking of the gas, I think it serves a different purpose in each of the two versions. In 1E, I think it was a way to hurry the party along in the dungeon to prevent them from dilly-dallying. In 5E, I think it had more to do with preventing the PCs from taking a Long Rest in this section.
Area 15: The Great Hall
5E:
Mikhael leads the party down the wide gallery, eventually reaching an arch at the far end. He proceeds through the arch, not realizing there is a wall there, because of the mural painted on it combined with the darkness and poison gas.
Embarrassed, he backs out of the arch. Is this a dead end? Perhaps they should go back. He discusses the question with Nathair and Stone while Stig, Weyland, and Morton wander back, looking at the murals painted along the walls. They notice nothing unusual. As the discussion continues, Morton notices something odd about the Sun painting. Finding a large "button" on it, he takes it upon himself to press it. Eight feet from the floor, a secret door clicks open.
Seeing the exit, the party gathers around the doorway and, working together, gets each person up and into the passage.
Fifty-five minutes in the dungeon. No ill effects from the gas.
1E:
Mikhael leads the party down the wide gallery, eventually reaching an arch at the far end. He proceeds through the arch, not realizing there is a wall there, because of the mural painted on it combined with the darkness and poison gas.
He calls to the rest of the group and they quickly enter the secret passage. Just as they pass through the entrance, Stig doubles over in a severe coughing fit. He is close to death and will almost certainly not survive another ten minutes here. Mikhael calls upon his power and lays his hands on Stig, who recovers somewhat. Nodding his thanks, he stands, and the party continues.
One hour, one minute in the dungeon. Time is running out.
Comments:
The 1E party was very fortunate to find the secret door right away. Searches in 1E take a lot longer and that would have been devastating.
Area 17: Hall of the Great Spirits
5E:
Mikhael opts to take the first opportunity to turn, but as the party starts down the corridor to the left, Stig notices something shiny in the mouth of one of the sculptures.
Separating from the group, Stig examines the eagle head. Surely this golden bracelet must have a trap. Indeed, he realizes the trap would snap closed like a bear trap (Investigation roll). He jams a wedge from his thief's tools into the hinge and pulls the bracelet free (Thief's Tools roll). When he gets his wedge back, the beak snaps shut. He quickly catches up to the party who has been waiting for him, irritated.
Fifty-eight minutes in the dungeon. No ill effects from the gas.
1E:
Mikhael opts to take the first opportunity to turn, but as the party starts down the corridor to the left, Stig notices something shiny in the mouth of one of the sculptures.
One hour, seven minutes in the dungeon.
Comments:
Stig is very lucky that the 1E version of this trap only causes penalties to his "to hit" and Armor Class as a result of the hits to the eagle head. The 5E version would have inflicted considerable damage. Then again, Stig's odds of finding the trap were higher in 5E. Stig now fights at a -3 to hit and an Armor Class of 5 for a while.
Impressions:
We're really seeing more of a difference now. Combat and abilities are working very differently, and for the most part those differences are subjective. That said, the 1E party continues to struggle against the clock.
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