It seems to me that the number of spiders in the webbed wood might be a little excessive, when you consider the area is a cross roads that you have no choice but to use it to reach certain places.
I know it's suppose to be difficult and challenging, and I even agree with that... but at times there are > 20 spiders roaming that area, and it's just impossible to do anything but die if just one of them spots you (unlike dangerous spawns in the old underdark, where you might have been able to AE them or run away). One bite encumbers you and you're just dead.
I'm dying enough in this one area that it's starting to ruin my generally very positive feelings for the new setting.. and I don't want that to happen.
Please consider toning the sheer number of spawns here... even just a little?
I think a lot of folks both stealthers and otherwise have made it through this area in both large and small groups with a little effort. I think the areas spawns are fine.
There also may or may not be a way around said "crossroads" that you've yet to explore, I shall leave you to find out for certain IG.
I am aware there are ways around the area. And there are times when you can waltz through the area with almost no spiders seen at all. That's not the point of my post.
All opinions are valid though, so I'm interested in what other players and the DM's think about this as well.
Sometimes it is pretty flippin ridiculous.
Invisibility rules for lone explorators.
It wouldn't be to bad if they didn't spawn in groups. You know one here..one there....one there...etc. But when you hit a spot and there are 5 of them right in front of you. You have no place to run, and don't care how good your stealth is, it's gonna be a bear to get past them.
I have gone threw here and been like...uhoh, something is wrong, where are the spiders? Holy heck what could have scared all the spiders away. I think that was a more frightening feeling than seeing the 20 spiders roaming the woods.
I've never been past this spot in terms of exploration. The reason for that is the first time I visited, I was warmly greeted by two phase spiders right in the entry, and I could see at least eight more of undeterminable species beyond.
Nerf plz
Well, it depends. When it spawns about 10 spiders at once, though, I have to agree that it's a bit nuts.
I have walked in..rolled a spot, then walked out. "Guess I didn't really need to go there after all."
I was with a group when out of nowhere 5 spiders were on us. It was right at the transition, so those of us last threw, had NO PLACE to go. Nice way to get a one way ticket to the Fugue.
Would be inclined to agree with this assessment. It would be great if the spiders were spaced out more. 10 spawns over the entire vast area would not be nearly as bad.
I sort of agree. Perhaps just have them off the beaten path a little more?
I actually definitely plan on making some adjustments, because to be honest I just copied the same spawn pattern from the UD spider tunnels, and the spawns could be more interesting.
The large amounts of spawns is from PCs entering the area a bunch of times, triggering new monsters each time.
That said, it will remain a dangerous, spider infested area until such a time as PCs successfully do something about it (which is entirely possible).
Although I agree that the area should be very dangerous, here is what I encountered from running through the area....
(http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/4272/howmanyspiderscm0.th.jpg) (http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=howmanyspiderscm0.jpg)
Maybe a limit to the maximum number of spawns could be put in, if that's possible? Because otherwise it looks like when people actually do get together to explore, they better do so in armies, due to the fact that single PCs are just going to run in there, see something hostile, panic and flee, and others are just going to repeat it until... that.
Add a timer.
Each 30 minutes or hour, the area clears itself.
Yeah, I got solid blocks of spiders too. Got me fugued today from stupid spawns. If it could just be changed to a more normal script it'd be good. Sometimes it's a walk in the park, sometimes it chews up and spits out lvl 7 Clerics.
Yes, please. I just took a screen shot similar to Skrillix's so I won't bother posting it now.. it was ridiculous how many spiders are there right now.
Im pretty sure the spawn scripts are pretty generic, though custom for EFU.
The only difference with this area, and others, is that there are no predators (that I have seen) to cull the spawns. In other areas, there are spawns which fight each other, so when a player entering the area, more things will spawn, but they will fight each other as well so they never grow too out of control in numbers, keeping it somewhat balanced and managable for the PCs.
The lack of this means when players enter and trigger the spawn scripts, they just continue to stack until you have a huge army of eight legged death.
Just as a side note:
As a level 4 cleric, I was able to solo 7 phase spiders and, later, 2 giants.
They aren't exactly challenging monsters from what I saw...
Guess Its possible I got lucky, though.
EDIT: Holy crap, just saw that screeny. I never saw anything -that- bad.
I'm sorry to bring back an old thread, but I feel that the spawn number is still well beyond ridiculous.
Earlier today, we were about to prance off on our merry to visit mumsy, when we were almost slaughtered by at least seven spiders. Actually, two of three of our group died, and they were also the higher leveled of us. The lowbie only survived because he ran like hell.
Once we got even more help, we still encountered two more spiders later down the track, making our total number somewhere above what's rational for a level 3-5, group of three spawn.
Given that a few players need to use this area frequently, mainly our Stargazer players and their bestest buddies, I think that we really should nerf this area down a lot. Either make the spiders killable by a bunch of lowbies, make their spot/listen scores absolutely laughable, or provide us with a clear alternative route.
It really is frustrating. One player told me he has died there nine times, which irks me.
An alternative route from North to East, known only to the Stargazers and their confidants, along with a similar alternative route from North to South for others, would be ideal.
Protip: Spiders have eight eyes. Don't go in the woods alone.
I'll grant that the spawns are a bit out of whack, but I've been through the Webbed Woods dozens of times -always with groups- and have yet to encounter any real trouble there, except when my group was inefficiently prepared for the danger.
Sometimes, there are only about nine people on, Kotenku. And when that happens, you're usually able to find about two of them.
However, that doesn't mean it's not silly at all. It's in a spot right between two key locations on the module, and it makes it virtually impassable to anyone who isn't in a large group.
Now, if you've logged off on the other side of the Webbed Wood, that's it. You need to wait for a reset to dump you back in Ziggurat. Because there is just no chance you're going to get back. Ensuing is hours of boredom waiting for said reset, and eventual frustration, etc.
This could all be solved by just nerfing the area enough that people can actually enjoy it.
Howland has said that this area will remain dangerous until PC's do something to change it, IG.
But TBH, with people just sneaking through, or people going invis through - the spawns add up. There is a very large difference between being dangerous and being completely ridiculous. A timer to reset the area to prevent the spiders from accumulating to such ridiculous levels would be a godsend.
Quote from: Cruzel;90047Howland has said that this area will remain dangerous until PC's do something to change it, IG.
But TBH, with people just sneaking through, or people going invis through - the spawns add up. There is a very large difference between being dangerous and being completely ridiculous. A timer to reset the area to prevent the spiders from accumulating to such ridiculous levels would be a godsend.
Please.