AD&D 1e rules assumed here.
Anyway, so the group is going through A1 currently and doing okay. One casualty so far, a fighter/magic-user who fell to the Aspis in their chamber underneath. The party threw back enough of them that they could retreat in good order, taking the fallen with them (he is an elf and has a will that he is not to be reincarnated).
I'm not a huge fan of just handwaving the "let them sleep in the dungeon, whatevs." thing. I'll roll up wandering monsters, etc. and really keep them on their toes, but given that the WM table for A1 is pretty random and that the orcs who are at the front of the abandoned temple that makes up the upper works of the "slave pits" are pretty afraid of going into the dangerous parts of the temple (like the "haunted" garden, the room of ghouls, the room with the giant sundew, etc.) I'm more than willing to believe that an occasional patrol is all that might roust them (and, indeed, one did - but this is a party of 4th-5th level characters and a bunch of single HD orcs opening a door they should've left shut met a bad end, quickly).
With that said, I've given them enough of a "rough sketch" of what Highport is like that if they make a more long-term fallback for healing and so on, they can (even though the module doesn't detail it).
They're smart enough players and have good enough characters that taking the module piecemeal shouldn't be a problem for them. Of course, if they kill a few high-ranking folks and retreat, their route of entry will likely be found (eventually, depending on how long they're gone), yeah?
I'm curious to read more, as I'm running my group through that series, but using Next's rules
Quote from: Sacrosanct;718685I'm curious to read more, as I'm running my group through that series, but using Next's rules
So far it's been fairly straightforward. Rather than using skullduggery and disguising themselves as slave-buyers and going in the front they've instead gone for the recon-by-force method and snuck in the secret door back way (face full of glass/nails for the party thief, of course).
If I end up fleshing out more of Highport, I'll mention it. Right now, they're rested a bit in one of the rear-most abandoned rooms in the upper temple; as noted, one patrol has "gone missing"...additional casualties might cause more of a stir but thus far the party hasn't brought the full wrath of the local Slavers upon themselves.
interesting. IIRC, my group also snuck in the back way rather than take on the slaver head on. Down below anyway
I ran A1 a while back. When the players needed a fairly safe place, they carefully exited by means of the secret door by which they had entered and found a shed a short distance away.
Later, they set a place (the barn, I think) ablaze. That pretty well ensured a mobilization to search for intruders, and a fight with the fellows in the courtyard left no doubt.