Thistletop Fortress

And so we near the finale of Burnt Offerings: the assault on Thistletop. I'm going to quickly go over the changes being made to this final dungeon before I dive into the encounter write-ups.

The first floor is being split into three encounters, plus a skill challenge. The pickle thieves in the guard tower are now combined with the goblins playing Killgull. The goblin dogs from the exercise yard are mustered by a pair of goblins from the barracks and the two commandos from the eastern guardtower, who mount a defense just outside the throne room. The remainder of the goblins in the fortress are part of the encounter with Ripnugget. Dealing with Shadowmist is now a skill challenge.

The second floor prominently features a fight with Bruthazmus and the goblin wives. Orik and Lyrie are holed up together in the research room as a single encounter. The cave area has been altered to replace the tentamort with up-to-date monsters, and the chapel contains Shadow Hounds, which are a decent replacement for the Yeth Hounds.

The final floor begins with a trap encounter (an expanded version of the scythe-pit trap). The fights with Nualia and Malfeshnekor remain largely intact, as does the fight with the undead in the crypt room. The hermit crab no longer resides in the ruined treasury, which is instead inhabited by a group of kruthiks.

By this point it is very likely that the party has reached level 3, or will very soon. They will hit level 4 before the end of the dungeon. Be sure to keep track of your treasure parcels appropriately.