Although my players don't know anything about the overall narrative of Rise of the Runelords, they are aware of its title. Specifically, they've very much noticed the fact it says 'Runelords' (plural). I think they're going to be a bit surprised, and possibly disappointed, when they eventually discover it's really just about Karzoug.
I'm already playing a heavily, heavily edited version of the campaign to better suit my players... so this got me thinking, what would happen if you embraced the plural title, and included more than just Karzoug?
Maybe Karzoug's increasing power causes something of a chain reaction in the ancient Thassilonian ruins, as old magical artifacts hum back to life, and ancient schemes move into motion.
You could keep this small of course. Perhaps the followers of another rival Runelord (I'm especially intrigued by Zutha personally) are at work in Varisia too, also trying to return their lord to power. This presents the players with something of an interesting challenge - do they take on all the groups at once, or play them off against each other?
Alternatively, you could go big with this too. What if two Runelords awoke at once? Could Varisia withstand a war for territory between the armies of two Runelords?
Has anyone tried anything like this before? Interested to hear the biggest, craziest Rise of the Runelords ideas that you have!
My memory is fuzzy, but I remember something of two other Runelords awakening as well. They were in different campaigns/modules, though. Alaznist was one, but I can't recall the other.
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There is in fact a group of PFS modules that lead up to an encounter with another Runelord.
I'm not sure of the actual chain or season that leads up to the fight up with him but it's supposedly very difficult. You may be able to glean some material from those.
The name of the final adventure in the chain is The Waking Rune and I believe it's in Season 4.
EDIT: In addition Shattered Star, which is kind of a sequel to this, CotCT and Second Darkness is heavy on the Runelord material. Won't go into much spoilery business but a number of Runelords 'appear' or have a lot to do with that path.
"I think they're going to be a bit surprised, and possibly disappointed, when they eventually discover it's really just about Karzoug."
I imagine they'll feel a tremendous sense of relief when they learn they only have to deal with one--Karzoug's tough enough :)
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I'm not terribly experienced at linking to other threads, but this is a Thread from General Discussion where they talk about ideas for an ambitious campaign involving many Runelords. You might like the ideas. The General Discussion thread, when I searched, had a number of hits when looking for runelords like Krune, Sorshen, and Alaznist. Happy hunting!
"I think they're going to be a bit surprised, and possibly disappointed, when they eventually discover it's really just about Karzoug."
I imagine they'll feel a tremendous sense of relief when they learn they only have to deal with one--Karzoug's tough enough :)
This is true! It'd probably be mean to make my party fight more than one awakened Runelord, but getting them to work against more than one set of Runelord followers might be more manageable...
I'm not terribly experienced at linking to other threads, but this is a Thread from General Discussion where they talk about ideas for an ambitious campaign involving many Runelords. You might like the ideas. The General Discussion thread, when I searched, had a number of hits when looking for runelords like Krune, Sorshen, and Alaznist. Happy hunting!
Wow. This is perfect thanks!