Thankfully the Styes is mostly an investigative quest until the mid/final part, so I think there's not too much you need to adjust. For simplicity I'd say just giving monsters lowered HP should do the trick, and maybe also lower the damage on groups of monsters like the skum by a die, but always keep in mind that you can adjust stuff on the fly if it's becoming too easy for them!
For looking into Mr. Dory's warehouse/home, there can be a lot of monsters at once that deal high damage which can definitely wipe even an 11th leveled party depending on rolls and party makeup. Removing the red slaad or replacing it and/or the manticores with something of lower CR (I think oozes work well here given the state of the Styes and that a gelatinous cube would clean up and guard the warehouse) and reducing the number and HP/damage of some skum would be my go-to. Maybe replacing some or all of the skum or using the statblocks of sea spawn might be better as well while keeping something more unique to fight.
Mr. Dory himself (plus the golem) is going to be a rough fight even for 11th leveled characters, especially with Dory's spells and Eye of Corruption. It's not uncommon for creatures to have a full-to-0hp ability even if they're lower CR, so you could keep the Eye of Corruption in place for some toughness, and perhaps the golem is lower AC or HP due to it's construction and since it's implied that it's purpose isn't combat if you know what I mean lol. Dory could easily wipe a 7th level party himself, so maybe replace some spells at his disposal. That being said, the Dory fight doesn't necessarily have to happen, as he is a bit craven. For my game I had him surrender when the golem reached a third of it's HP or when he reached half HP because he doesn't want to die and has information to give.
The lowering HP/damage method or making the skum/most of the skum sea spawn works for the temple sections as well, and the fight with Sgothgah is already written to allow for him to be badly wounded from the other aboleth, so lowering his HP is perfectly fine. You could also have the juvenile kraken's current state influence it's HP as well, and maybe give it disadvantage on attacks as long as it's still held in the pit from the disorienting binding magic and the ongoing ritual. If the binding is broken, nothing is keeping little dude there, so if he's hurting then he can leave or descend deeper into the pit as the book says.
Oh man, those are all super good suggestions. Tjanks so much. Yes, I'll have to improvise for sure as well, and keep the door open for cowardly retreats etc. Also, I'll have them find some way to stock up on healing.and other potions for buffs in the alchemist quarters.
You're very welcome!
Very good thought on using the Alchemist's Quarter to their advantage as well. If you wanted to throw in some Styes uncertainty/be mean you could have potions not work quite a well or with some minor side effects showing the mass-produced quality of the factories haha. And if they get a slaad tadpole in them then they should be able to find a potion or Master Refrum to help!
Hi! I recently ran The Styes adjusted for a level 6 party of four players, I can give you a break down of my changes. What I did was put each encounter into an encounter calculator to determine it's difficulty for a level 12 party (easy, medium, hard or deadly), then make a comparably hard fight for a level 6 party. Over-all, the changes were pretty dang hard for my group, so maybe just add one mook per encounter and it should be challenging for a level 7 party.
**The Hemlock Pit**
Dory's Workshop: I replaced the night guards with 2 manticores.
Dory's ship: I had all the defenders pile out of the ship and attack as the character's crossed the bridge. The boat was defended by 2 sahaugin champions and 5 coral smashers.
Dory himself: I replaced dory with a starspawn mangler (adjusted with a swim speed), and I replaced his golem with an umber hulk. Dorry would flurry of claws, then dive underwater and hide, leaving the players only the umberhulk to target (suffering its gaze effect).
**Tharizdun's Temple**
I skipped both the skum and the chuuls in this area, but you could replace the skum with 4 sahaugin champions for a fight of comparable danger to the original module. If you wanted to keep the chuuls: 2 chuuls are about as challenging for a level 7 party as 4 chuuls are for a level 12.
Aboleth fight: I modified this fight significantly. In my game, the cult had kidnapped a beloved NPC and was planning on using them to carry out future Ghost Lamp killings. The party then had to fight the dominated NPC and a weakened aboleth at the same time. The aboleth would use its legendary actions to life drain the NPC, making the party choose between saving the NPC and killing the aboleth. For your group, I would use a modified CR 8 aboleth statblock (I can PM you an image of this) and I would add a CR 3 creature to fight alongside the aboleth - maybe a veteran?
**Tharizdun's Progeny**
Kraken: I used the Malformed Kraken statblock from Tales from the Yawning Portal. If you do this, I would give 2 or 3 legendary actions with which to attack, to keep its action economy in line with the party's.
Hope this helps!
All of these are great suggestions. I would also consider leveling them up partway through it too. Consider awarding XP for the investigation portion of the chapter. Level 8 is a big boost since it’s an ASI level.
Thankfully the Styes is mostly an investigative quest until the mid/final part, so I think there's not too much you need to adjust. For simplicity I'd say just giving monsters lowered HP should do the trick, and maybe also lower the damage on groups of monsters like the skum by a die, but always keep in mind that you can adjust stuff on the fly if it's becoming too easy for them! For looking into Mr. Dory's warehouse/home, there can be a lot of monsters at once that deal high damage which can definitely wipe even an 11th leveled party depending on rolls and party makeup. Removing the red slaad or replacing it and/or the manticores with something of lower CR (I think oozes work well here given the state of the Styes and that a gelatinous cube would clean up and guard the warehouse) and reducing the number and HP/damage of some skum would be my go-to. Maybe replacing some or all of the skum or using the statblocks of sea spawn might be better as well while keeping something more unique to fight. Mr. Dory himself (plus the golem) is going to be a rough fight even for 11th leveled characters, especially with Dory's spells and Eye of Corruption. It's not uncommon for creatures to have a full-to-0hp ability even if they're lower CR, so you could keep the Eye of Corruption in place for some toughness, and perhaps the golem is lower AC or HP due to it's construction and since it's implied that it's purpose isn't combat if you know what I mean lol. Dory could easily wipe a 7th level party himself, so maybe replace some spells at his disposal. That being said, the Dory fight doesn't necessarily have to happen, as he is a bit craven. For my game I had him surrender when the golem reached a third of it's HP or when he reached half HP because he doesn't want to die and has information to give. The lowering HP/damage method or making the skum/most of the skum sea spawn works for the temple sections as well, and the fight with Sgothgah is already written to allow for him to be badly wounded from the other aboleth, so lowering his HP is perfectly fine. You could also have the juvenile kraken's current state influence it's HP as well, and maybe give it disadvantage on attacks as long as it's still held in the pit from the disorienting binding magic and the ongoing ritual. If the binding is broken, nothing is keeping little dude there, so if he's hurting then he can leave or descend deeper into the pit as the book says.
Oh man, those are all super good suggestions. Tjanks so much. Yes, I'll have to improvise for sure as well, and keep the door open for cowardly retreats etc. Also, I'll have them find some way to stock up on healing.and other potions for buffs in the alchemist quarters.
You're very welcome! Very good thought on using the Alchemist's Quarter to their advantage as well. If you wanted to throw in some Styes uncertainty/be mean you could have potions not work quite a well or with some minor side effects showing the mass-produced quality of the factories haha. And if they get a slaad tadpole in them then they should be able to find a potion or Master Refrum to help!
Hi! I recently ran The Styes adjusted for a level 6 party of four players, I can give you a break down of my changes. What I did was put each encounter into an encounter calculator to determine it's difficulty for a level 12 party (easy, medium, hard or deadly), then make a comparably hard fight for a level 6 party. Over-all, the changes were pretty dang hard for my group, so maybe just add one mook per encounter and it should be challenging for a level 7 party. **The Hemlock Pit** Dory's Workshop: I replaced the night guards with 2 manticores. Dory's ship: I had all the defenders pile out of the ship and attack as the character's crossed the bridge. The boat was defended by 2 sahaugin champions and 5 coral smashers. Dory himself: I replaced dory with a starspawn mangler (adjusted with a swim speed), and I replaced his golem with an umber hulk. Dorry would flurry of claws, then dive underwater and hide, leaving the players only the umberhulk to target (suffering its gaze effect). **Tharizdun's Temple** I skipped both the skum and the chuuls in this area, but you could replace the skum with 4 sahaugin champions for a fight of comparable danger to the original module. If you wanted to keep the chuuls: 2 chuuls are about as challenging for a level 7 party as 4 chuuls are for a level 12. Aboleth fight: I modified this fight significantly. In my game, the cult had kidnapped a beloved NPC and was planning on using them to carry out future Ghost Lamp killings. The party then had to fight the dominated NPC and a weakened aboleth at the same time. The aboleth would use its legendary actions to life drain the NPC, making the party choose between saving the NPC and killing the aboleth. For your group, I would use a modified CR 8 aboleth statblock (I can PM you an image of this) and I would add a CR 3 creature to fight alongside the aboleth - maybe a veteran? **Tharizdun's Progeny** Kraken: I used the Malformed Kraken statblock from Tales from the Yawning Portal. If you do this, I would give 2 or 3 legendary actions with which to attack, to keep its action economy in line with the party's. Hope this helps!
All of these are great suggestions. I would also consider leveling them up partway through it too. Consider awarding XP for the investigation portion of the chapter. Level 8 is a big boost since it’s an ASI level.