[Way of the Wicked] Small towns and side adventures in Talingarde?

[OssianGrr]

I'm about to be running Way of the Wicked for a group of experienced roleplayers who are generally accustomed to more open-world games.

(Ahem, if you are one of those players -- and you know who you are -- you can stop reading this thread now!)

I have GMed before, but this is really my first time running a published story, or at least one with such specific geography.

I've only really read through Book 1, and I'm thinking about perhaps populating the general area around Branderscar with small generic towns, and possibly offer some "adventures" unrelated to the main storyline. Especially with the group being 6 characters, I want to give them more opportunities for XP, and I also want Talingarde to feel more "organic".
And if they decide to regroup and get equipped and rested before even heading to the Manor -- which is likely -- I don't want to railroad them away from that decision.
Additionally, in case of an early character death, I want some convenient places where "a new PC appears!" can occur, or even the opportunity for visiting a church for a Raise.

Finally, I don't want their side-quests to end up contradicting any major events that happen in the future which I haven't read about yet. What if the party decides to make their way to one of the "canon" cities earlier than scripted events dictate?

Any advice/thoughts on what I can add to Talingarde to give it a little more dimension and deal with players going temporarily off the path?
Perhaps some side-quests (or other published adventures that work well) that you have used?

Thanks!

[wolaberry]

I just found some PDFs of generic villages from Raging Swan Press. You could drop a few of those on the island without hurting anything. There do need to be more villages / towns on the map. Just remember, unless they kill EVERYTHING in the prison, there will be pursuit so the options of exploration are limited. More advice below, but first some warnings about this AP.

With 6 players, the action economy is going to crush several of the planned encounters. Like most APs the assumed size is 4. If they are a level behind where the book says they should be its OK.

And plan now for a bigger group. IF you plan on continuing to book 2 the author encourages the entire group to take Leadership. This makes perfect sense in the story. The party is an insurgency, they will need the help. There certainly are others on the island tired of the oppression and would happily work with the PCs. It makes your job harder. Make sure you have things for the cohorts and minions to do that is not just follow around the main group.

Book 1 Side Quests: After the jail break but before they reach Thorn you could have a CR 1 or 2 swamp encounter. Once they reach the house you could have Thorn or Tiadora send them out for something. After Thorn's test there isn't much room to add anything until they get to Balentyne. There is lots of room for side jobs in and around the town. Build up the need to do recon and infiltration. You could invent another officer who the party needs to discredit / assassinate.

Book 2: The party gets to hang out in an area with little control and a large wilderness. Any number of search and destroy missions into the Caer Bryr. Farholde could use a new Thieves' Guild. There is always room for another group of heroes to attack the Horn.

[OssianGrr]

Thanks for the advice!

I've already started making adjustments to the first Act. I've added more prison guards (including some dwarves to mix it up), I've given the watch captain and the warden some extra levels and gear, and I gave full HP to Lashtongue and made him worth a tiny bit more XP just because. I was also planning on being a little more generous with Story XP so that they could level appropriately, but maybe that part is not needed.

[wolaberry]

Be careful with extra gear. The PCs will eventually kill guards and keep the gear. You may get more mileage out of the advanced simple template. Giving Blackerly an extra level should be OK. The party doesn't have to fight him, but odds are someone will. Watch his damage output. You do eventually want the party to get out. Having Sarge crit and kill a character while realistic might bring the player's mood down.

Even with the holy symbol and potions on the veil, healing is very limited in this section. The entire AP for that matter (evil cleric does not channel healing). If the party keeps going and some or all of them go undead around book 3 or 4 then the evil cleric rocks for healing. You should consider having a wand of cure light wounds available for sale in Aldencross or other small town they pass through on the way.

You shouldn't need to give extra story awards and put more guards in. you don't want them leveling too fast. My group didn't even try to find their old gear (I didn't bother to tell them it was still in whatever town they were arrested in, not Branderscar). They were in a big hurry to get out. They covered the last leg of their escape by setting a building on fire to distract the remaining guards.

[OssianGrr]

I also have read a little more and I see that there is a point where they will automatically jump to level 3 no matter what.
But I just want to make sure that the party isn't *too* far behind the XP curve, being 6 players. Maybe I'm overthinking it.

I did not realize that they were going to have the option to "go undead" later in the story. That certainly does change things as well.

First session is still a few weeks away, and I don't even have any finished characters in-hand yet. So I have some time for tweaks.

Maybe I will post a small update to tell what I decided for first session.
Thanks again, wolaberry!