Exploring the grounds yields some fairly impressive finds: two more suits of armor, as well as a fair amount of coins and gems. After distributing the wealth as best you can, you head back to where Darjiin impatiently waits.
The trip back to Sharn is blessedly uneventful. Garfuss must have been watching for your return, for he intercepts you soon after you dock.
"Ah, good, you're back!" he greets you with a wide grin, "Hopefully you didn't have too much trouble finding my friend, and, more to the point, the money he owed me." He looks you over, particularly those wearing new armor. "Well, at the very least, it looks like it was worth your while. Perhaps I'll see you around." Garfuss takes his money, gives you all a shallow bow and strides off into the streets.
[sblock=Rewards]Material gains:
Deimos: 1000 gp (N parcel) and then 200 more gold
Ghourra: Dwarven Finemail +2 (N+3 parcel) and 168 gold
Brondin: Dwarven Finemail +2 (N+3 parcel) and 168 gold
Tana: Siberys Shard of the Mage and 160 gold (N parcel), and then 168 more gold.
Bellegon: Leather Armor of Dark Majesty +2 (N+3 parcel) and 360 gold
The above is the total of everything found on the adventure, not just what you found at the beginning of this post.
Immaterial gains (XP):
Encounter 1: 350 + 4x250 = 1350
Encounter 2: 375 (skill challenge) + 3x(175 + 3x50) = 1350
Encounter 3: 125 (skill challenge) + 2x(175 + 3x50) + 2x250 = 1275
Encounter 4: 375 (skill challenge) + 8x50 + 2x175 + 2x200 + 2x175 = 1875
Destroying the Shard: 250
Returning Garfuss's money: 250
Total: 6350 xp
XP per player: 2540 xp
Reward Points:
Six full (close enough) months yields each of you 6 reward points.
Two full months of DMing gets me 4 reward points.
I'll get a judge in here to make it all official like.[/sblock]
[sblock=Thoughts]So, this is the second time I've run this adventure, and the first group I had handled the skill challenges pretty much the same way you guys did: one guy did all the checks while the rest quickly took down the zombies. I like the concept behind this adventure and the skill challenge while fighting, but I feel the above strategy sort of trivializes the fight. At the same time, I don't want to just outright disallow it with some draconian rule like making a different person make a check each round. Do you guys have any thoughts as to how to make it more engaging? Or is there actually no such issue, and it's just a matter of perspective?[/sblock]