I was gonna post this under Ogre's, but then I realized this covered numouers quests.

If there is a quest out there that does not come close to equaling the reward it is Hook Horrors. The Ogre Quest -is- doable. but I two, would like to see the reward go up. It is powergaming to know what the ogre mages will cast, for all you know is that they will cast Fireballs dispells, Dominate Person, mestils Acid Sheathe, summonings. You have NO idea what they will cast. It is sooo powergaming to know even what they -do- cast. It is powergaming to know how many mages there will be. It is metagaming to run to the Store and buy insulation potions when you just did, gnolls, Urdlen gnomes, Troglodytes, and numerous other quests and you go off to buy insulation potions because you just heard we're doing Ogres, Shoot, Why do you expect Ogre's to have a treasure trove? For the love of the gods people, do you really expect ogres to have a +2ac breastplate? TO spawn A full plate in those crates? TO have about 1000 gold in those crates in total? It is the Underdark, it is either you survive or don't, when people complain abotu a quest being to hard, it is usually because the group is not working together. Yes, I do complain about certain quests, but I suck it up. If there is a quest that needs an up the antee reward, it is hook Horrors! And In the Underdark, Hook Horrors don't really have anything good! I am surprised I should even find a shortsword on a Hook Horror corpse!

On troglodytes I would like to see a tougher clerics, I would actually want to see -why- we bother with Mind wards on that quest. Entirely, yuor mage, if he is smart, and knowing he will face foes who will cast spells of unknown nature, would likely prepare Dispelling magics to counter them! When you rant about to many of an enemy, maybe you should rant about to few of one. Troglodytes are not stupid, I believe they get a wisdom bonus. I ought to be ranting about how weak the enemies are on this server in comparison to the fact how dangerous the underdark is, I could probably take out my level four character and go to Mur without dying. The goblins are to weak, the Kobolds are far to stupid, you would see enemies trapping you, lying in ambush, Patrol parties of goblin rogues instead of the pathetic one party groups. For Gods sakes, Make us be afraid to venture out of town!

Such is the double edged nature of static quests.

It's called a mind ward because that's its primary effect, and because Protection from Evil (omgomg) sounds stupid and, at least to characters without Spellcraft, metagamish. Nevertheless, it still adds a +2 AC bonus vs. evil making its usage more than justified.

As for the survival feel, I'd like to see weapon and armor drops removed from all monsters that rely on natural weapons and armor, respectively (such as hook horrors). At least, there should be a skeleton placeable to go with every armor and every other weapon. I'm also in favour of a level 2 level cap in order to better reflect our PCs' skills compared to the native creatures (which should be far superior to us).

... no, seriously. Gwydion's post was well founded. If you need to justify finding longswords on the hook horror quest, hook horrors are predators and surely a noble (but foolish) adventurer has set out to combat them before. If that's not enough, just don't do the quest at all. >.>

If you're annoyed at being able to walk to and from Mur at level four without any deaths, take a detour. Heck, you could even ask for a DM to drop an umberhulk behemoth or 17 on you for added realism.