In modern role-play, Castle Amber is challenging. There are so many moving parts, and the module is presented as a straight-up railroad.
In Session 0, I suggested that the DM either dispense with the mist/fog to stop the railroad. Or present it as a mysterious force that stymies the party. The module was written for an unknown cast of players and makes the obvious assumption that one purchased X2 to play X2. That requires the author to turn it into a railroad.
At your table, the motivation to explore Castle Amber can be different, specific to your campaign world. Therefore, you don't need to push so hard.
I have given these characters a version of "Horse Heaven", so that they feel safe in proceeding into the castle, and the question of the mist never came up. After setting up camp, the party walked right into the adventure.
Theoretically, the party could explore all of the castle without being forced or arm-twisted into slogging through the whole adventure. At least until they reach the gates to Averoigne. Then they are trapped.
This does present some flex in your campaign world. If the party can back out of Castle Amber, why can't other parties find it, too? That is where you need to get creative and make something different or special happen to the characters.
Anyway, let's get into Session 1.
The party has opted to enter the Grand Salon with Jean-Louis D'Amberville. If you opted for the railroad option, this is your first challenge. Most modern players would question Jean-Louis about the situation. I dodged that here by allowing the players to retreat to a safe zone.
Nononn is fully suited in his ghostie armor and throws open the door.
"Marvelous! Enchanting!" exclaims Jean-Louis. "Take it off! And step in the ring, please."
Nononn's ghostie armor should cause fear, but the D'Amberville family is highly magical and bat-shit crazy. I figured I'd put a lampshade on that from the get-go. That would give players a nice meta-jolt.
The party exchanges a few questions, while Jean-Louis encourages one of them to get in the ring with his Magen. Jean-Louis really wants Nonnon to be the first. Jean-Louis's bet is his suit of armor vs. the ghostie armor. As per the instructions, he also offers side bets. There is a lot of gold here, and therefore a lot of experience on the line.
The Magen is not much of a challenge to an equal-level character like Nononn, who is 4th level. This is because most characters with high strength, dexterity, and constitution have bonuses. What hinders the party is the fact that they don't know the Magen's stats, plus they have the opportunity to throw in the towel, whether the combatant wants it or not.
The challenge for the DM is managing a large party watching a single combat. I would sort the party by PLAYER demeanor. Those who want to fight go into one group, those who want to gamble go into another group, and those who are not interested in either of those go into the third group.
Before we go much further, let's have the overt commercial:
I mention this because this combat uses non-standard rules per the module. PC's do 1 or 2 HP of damage while the Magen does 1-3. Any time a combatant does max damage, there is 5% chance of a KO. Being reduced to zero kills a combatant. Each boxing round is 6 normal combat rounds, and there are 5 boxing rounds. Mechanically, we are talking 30 initiative rolls and 60 to hit rolls. This is why I split up the party into 3 groups.
I use one house rule at all times, which means I can't take it back for this scenario. All characters, including monsters, can go to -10 hp before dying. It makes death virtually impossible in this scenario. It also sets up a dramatic twist later. There is a second house rule in play that I will mention later.*
Those interested in boxing are engaged with Nononn, and Nononn's player can ask other players to make his die rolls if he wishes. Gamers are a superstitious lot and may want to switch who rolls and what dice are used for luck. They also get to throw in the towel for Nonnon, even against his wishes. This keeps them busy.
The last group will take over the DM's role and will roll the dice for the Demos Magen, including throwing in the towel. This sets up a little friendly hostility because they can screw the party with random die rolls or save the party by throwing in the party. Jean-Louis will meta-shit-talk them if they throw the towel without a good reason.
By breaking the party up into different groups, you get everyone engaged rather than 1 person rolling dozens of times while everyone else watches.
Remember, I mentioned that a like-level fighter has an advantage in this combat? That is not entirely true. They only have an advantage if they know the Magen's hit points. And only the group rolling the dice knows the Magen's hit points, and I ask them not to reveal them on pain of forfeit. They need this information so they know when to throw in the towel.
*My second house rule that is always in effect is "Just say it". If a player is discussing gameplay and tactics, but not speaking for their characters, they can use numbers and such. If they flip it around and have the characters speak about HP or levels, I'll break the fourth wall and mock them. This is important for this boxing match because it clues in the party as to Nononn's state of health.
Nononn doffs his armor and gets in the ring. The other two Magens signal the start of the match by stamping their feet. To make the insanity of the situation complete, the floating wizard's eyes appear, and Jean-Louis orders his Magens to cheer. I want the vibe to be Heath Ledger's William Thatcher vs. Heath Ledger's Joker. And here we have it.
Nononn is a beast of a fighter. He has more hit points, is harder to hit than the Magen, and he has a plus one to damage and to hit. At the end of the first round of boxing (six combat rounds), the Magen is down to 18 HP from 29, plus Nononn tags him for both a 20 to hit plus max damage at the end of the first. The Magen avoids being KO'ed. Nononn has 22 hp left.
Remember what I said about players being a superstitious lot? Due to a fluke of the dice, Nononn happened to roll within one of the top five or bottom five on a 1d100. The team got spooked and threw in the towel. That's not how random or die rolls work, but that is the choice they made. Players do this all the time, but shouldn't.
Annoyed, Nononn climbs out of the ring, glaring at his friends. The party heals Nononn and more than a few characters ask for double or nothing.
Jean-Louis suits up in the ghostie armor and asks the party, "Do you really have enough for double or nothing?"
They do not. They do have 2500 gps and Jean-Louis bets his suit of +2 chainmail against them. Ana replaces Nononn in the ring. Jean-Louis orders one of the guardian Magens to take the place of the slightly banged-up Magen.
If anyone asks, the ghostie armor has turned into something unusual, but completely normal plate armor once Jean-Louis dons it. It is essentially non-magical now.
Ana and the Magen survive round one and round two, but the Magen goes down in round 3. Pleased, the Nononn accepts the +2 chainmail and suits up.
Back in December, I posted about my first and second run through of X2. And I would like to incorporate an event that happened decades ago. The party in that session healed the Demos Magenes they defeated, and a perplexed Jean-Louis asked:
"Why would you do that? They are just automata. A thing."
Jean-Louis is still super excited and dismisses the banged-up Magens to the corner, like broken toys. But he hasn't had this much fun in a long time, so he wants to go again. The third Magnus takes off his armor and gets in the ring.
The gang of gamblers wants to go big. In addition to the 2500 gps the party has, they offer a pair of +1 daggers, a +1 short sword, a bag of holding, and a cloak of elven kind as a wager.
"My, my. You are suddenly very rich, and perhaps on a winning streak."
The healed but bruised Demos groans at the condescending tone. He is now ashen, instead of the golden tone he started with. The party dismisses it as not remembering correctly, and Jean-Louis ignores the automata entirely.
The floating eyes examine the groaning creature, then the party's wager. After an oddly one-sided conversation with the eyes, Jean-Louis gives back the party bag of holding and bets 10,000 gps against the party's wager. Everyone is all smiles as Merry starts to strip off his armor.
"What a fine challenge this will be. The lightning bruiser against the magical automata!" Jean-Louis is not wrong. "Perhaps, you would like to accept my offer of magical preparation? I wish I had ordered food and libations for this." He pulls out a cell phone, but having no data here, puts it away.
Thomas enters the ring and bestows a blessing on Jude, who kneels to accept it. Jude has an 18 strength. He now has a +4 to hit and damage thanks to the spell. But he only has 18 hit points vs. the Magen's 29 HP. Rety and Bel consult each other as Sybil uses her magical Cloak of Wondrous Items to produce a pig on a spit.
Jean-Louis claps and 2 of his creatures approach to assist him out of his not-so-ghostie armor. The ashen Magen is nearly useless in this task, and Thomas takes an interest in him. It removes a guantlet and stops to examine it. The other Magen completes the task before it is finished.
After everyone is situated with food and drink, Jean-Louis asks if they are ready.
Rety replies, "Almost," then nods to Sybil.
"Wait!" shouts Jude as Sybil casts invisibility on him. Jean-Louis is not amused and mutters something about cheaters being drawn and quartered. The Wizard Eyes flutter around the boxing ring. The eyes face each other, bouncing up and down as if having an animated conversation.
The challenging Magen vanishes, as one of the eyes casts invisibility on it.
Jean-Louis chuckles appreciative and says, "With that, I believe we are ready."
For drama, Invisibility isn't canceled by attempting to attack. It's the rolling of damage that causes the spell to end. The first round of boxing doesn't go well. Jean-Louis roars with laughter as the two combatants stumble around the ring trying to find each other. Jude utters an oath, and the Magen fixates on his location. Jude moves, and the ring quakes as the Magen strikes the turnbuckles.
The party seems to be ok with this turn of affairs, continuing to engage with their host. The food and libations go down fast. The round ends, and the opponents retreat to their corners and the merriment continues.
The second round is a stunner. Both fighters come out of their corners swinging, and as a consequence, both drop their invisibility spells. The Magen strikes on each swing, but does poorly with damage rolls. When Jude hits, he rocks the Demos Magus hard.
They move on to the third and final round. Jude is staggered by a series of hits, stumbling around with one hit point left. The Knight pulls himself up and chases the Demos Magen now. Jean-Louis considers throwing the towel. Jude unloads 3 powerful hits to finish the fight.
Jean-Louis says, "Bonne journée," as they collect their winnings and equipment. They smile and make for the door. The madman groans and asks, "So, you don't clean up after yourselves?"
Sybil laughs and smiles as she turns to recover the empty spit. Lance packs up the food, but Nononn and Thomas are dismayed.
Jean-Louis is pointing at the two Magen who received healing. Both have lost their golden luster and no longer respond to the man's orders. They dumbly allow themselves to be led out by Nononn and Thomas.
The party has won 10,000 gps, a +2 suit of armor,
In the yard outside the foyer, one Magen mumbles, "We don't remember our name."
Name by the Goo-Goo Dolls.
