The crew has put the Shackles under their rule. A few years pass, and not all has been the laying back and basking in glory - indeed, after a tenuous victory over the Chellish fleet the Shackles were weakened and perhaps more divided than ever. Each of the crew carved their own territory out of the isles, differences began to arise...
Local captains testing the new Hurricane king's boundaries, Cannibals rising in the West, the resurgent Bloodcove and dragon activity at Dahak's isles are a few of the internal strife. Rahadoum, witness to the potential maritime might of a united Shackles prepares its navy and Chelliax seeks repair in pride...
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Short version: Want to replay in the Shackles, got ideas for small plots and orverarching ones but I need prewritten modules to be the backbone and build upon. Suggestions please.
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So my love for the Shackles and the theme of this AP made it the best adventure we have played so far and I keep coming back to the idea of running it again, but half of the group has already played it. Here comes the idea: starting a new campaign in the viccinity of the Shackles and slowly trickling into it, culminating in the fate of the Isles again.
How I want to do this, considering I dont want to run the same modules, is to support the world building we've already done with prewritten modules. This already happens to some extend, a popular suggestion for example is to use Souls for Smuggler's Shiv (Serpents Skull #1) as the start for the Shackles. Now I just need to find more modules to become the backbone of the adventure.
The new party gets to explore the changed Shackles and the fates of the previous crew, making and breaking alliances with old and new names.
Rough plotline:
Act I - Party is stranded somewhere, out of context of what they know and uncommunicated. Plenty NPCs to like/dislike ala crew of the Wormwood. Enemy to overcome to make their escape possible.
(so far Souls for Smuggler's shiv, reskinned in a mangrove lagoon..)
Act II - Into the woods, or through the mangroves/coast to emerge somewhere with context, they can finally place themselves on a map. Carve themselves a little corner, struggle with early survival. Hear about some big players/events.
Act III - get thrown into the mix. As they gather power/become known powers try to recruit them. Or they fall into more powerful group's sights. The main overarching plot becomes more apparent.
etc...
Overarching plots:
Option 1 - The Serpents Writhe/Old Empire, the serpentfolk come out of the dark to conquer what they lost. The Shackles is their first step.
Option 2 - Revenge for Pride, Chelliax and/or other navies put their sights on the Shackles for regain of pride or to reopen the trade lines to colonies.
Option 3 - Relics of the Sea, someone finds out that there is an artifact that can control all sea monsters to do their bidding; a battle of interests between the Captains, foreign nations and gods (Besmara's pets should stay her pets, easy hook).
Throw in Abendego maelstrom mysteries, the master of the gales and his disappearances, the spread of the cannibals, Raugsmauda the Lich has been reformed in her grave under the sea and has gotten some fool Captain (previous S&Shackles first mate, for example, who was a sadistic slaver drow anyway) to bring her up, Sargava starved from supplies gets overrun by natives, Dahak's Fangs fires up....a million possible things, (supported by the amazing book Isles of the Shackles).
So what modules would you suggest to go through an AP of piracy, exploration and plundering, if you revisited the Shackles?
PS. Modules I've considered / have read:
1. Souls for Smugglers Shiv (Serpent's skull pat 1). Easy to recoat or pick from for a first volume.
2. City of Seven Spears (Serpent's Skull part 3). Decent backbone so so execution, easy to reskin factions and locale, all in all alright.
Played:
APs - Runelords, Carrion Crown
Short modules - Tarin's Crown
Own/Have read:
APs - Curse Crimson Throne, Council of Thieves, some Legacy of Fire, Razorcoast
Short modules - No plunder no pay, Cult of the Ebon detroyers, Treacherous waves
Im very curious about Ruins of Azalant, I feel I could pluck from it but not sure about how it's executed or it's too standard adventuring. I am not a fan of running standard hack n slash adventures or adventurers that do things because they are inherently good. Hence Skull & Shackles murky waters love.
Want to include:
Vudra/Tian theatre at some point, as a short visit.
I would look up Razor Coast from Frog God Games. It's a nautical sandbox setting as well and there is plenty in there that you can adapt to the Shackles.
The crew has put the Shackles under their rule. A few years pass, and not all has been the laying back and basking in glory - indeed, after a tenuous victory over the Chellish fleet the Shackles were weakened and perhaps more divided than ever. Each of the crew carved their own territory out of the isles, differences began to arise...
Local captains testing the new Hurricane king's boundaries, Cannibals rising in the West, the resurgent Bloodcove and dragon activity at Dahak's isles are a few of the internal strife. Rahadoum, witness to the potential maritime might of a united Shackles prepares its navy and Chelliax seeks repair in pride...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
Short version: Want to replay in the Shackles, got ideas for small plots and orverarching ones but I need prewritten modules to be the backbone and build upon. Suggestions please.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------So my love for the Shackles and the theme of this AP made it the best adventure we have played so far and I keep coming back to the idea of running it again, but half of the group has already played it. Here comes the idea: starting a new campaign in the viccinity of the Shackles and slowly trickling into it, culminating in the fate of the Isles again.
How I want to do this, considering I dont want to run the same modules, is to support the world building we've already done with prewritten modules. This already happens to some extend, a popular suggestion for example is to use Souls for Smuggler's Shiv (Serpents Skull #1) as the start for the Shackles. Now I just need to find more modules to become the backbone of the adventure.
The new party gets...
I own the Razorcoast hardback in fact. I like it very much, and while I'd consider running the story I wouldnt make it just that. The structure is also something I havent gotten to terms with, but it is rife with things to pluck out indeed.
What I am doing is following it up with the Ruins of Azlant AP. One of my players showed interested in the ancient ruins on the island of empty eyes and basically made their base there a centre of knowledge over time.
For my game this works perfectly, as those explorers would obviously send out ships to the (relatively) nearby Azlant ruins now pirates are way less of a threat (the new pirate king declared the explorers ships off limits for plunderers).
This gives me plenty of opportunities to reference the old campaign (the grindylow queen escaped for example and the new characters will find her there), while also being remote enough that the previous PCs are not directly involved.
I haven't read through the later books of the AP, but I'd be surprised if the shackles weren't threated by the developments and if there is no cool situation to have a pirate armada supporting the heroes it is easy enough to add.