Session 1 Modifications

So I have just started reading the module 1, not running for a few weeks. I am planning on the following modifications specifically targeted toward the first session/background of the campaign. Any feedback would be appreciated.

0) So basically, it bothers me when the heroes of the story have weird stuff happen to them that no one else encounters. Like they are a cursed group. So I am intentionally going to drop hints to some backstory that says that this specific cohort is special. Maybe someone at the Magaambya saw some fate or future, or maybe these cohort members were specifically chosen to come together at the same time. I might add to that by picking one or two members and maybe they have been accepted to the school but told not to report for an extended period of time, maybe up to a year. They have been waiting and waiting for their signal to finally join the school. Behind the scenes someone has maybe been trying to get this specific group together.

1) During initial interview, I am throwing in a combat for one of the challenges. I am leaning toward putting the bone to rest, and then a sudden darkness, Ot disappears, and the PC's are confronted with undead walking in from the rain. This would be intentionally weird and likely a challenge played by Ot on the party that he would immediately downplay.

1b) During the encounter, a random PC will notice one of their secondary weapons is missing as they pull items to confront the undead.

1c) Boosting the cantrips the characters get. I am simply going to make them permanent once/day you can cast. If you can already cast, then once per day when you cast that cantrip it gets a small bonus. I.e. shield soaks an extra couple damage, light has its range extended slightly, etc etc. I'm also tying this boon to their bead they wear.

2) When the PC's first get to the dorms, Chizire will coyly offer it back to them in some manner. I'd like him to be lazy, but a prankster. And this was a prank on the newcomers that he obviously had to really put effort into. Much later on, he might reveal that he heard "something" about this new cohort showing up, so he thought he would sneak into the city and see what the fuss was about. But after stealing the dagger/whatever, he returned back to the dorms unimpressed.

3) At some point early on, during maybe first game night, discussing the introduction with Ot that housemates kind of illude to the fact that they all had different welcoming encounters, but that this was the strangest. Normally there isn't a combat. But most the NPC's would brush it off, maybe a some seeds of curiosity, jealousy from different parties that might grow as the sessions progress. I kind of like the idea of Esi enjoying the party getting pathetic tasks and being a little jealous of their successes or any special treatment they get.

Here are my thoughts:

0) It doesn't bother me at all that the PCs start just like regular students. They do the usuall first semester stuff and slowly encounter the mysteries in the school. Later on they will have their moment to shine and show how special they are. In the end it is a preference. Do your players like to know from every event happening that they are the chosen ones?

1) Adding more combat in the AP know for not being combat heavy, lol. First, undead are not present at all in the first book, so very out of place. Also Teacher Ot disapearing and somehow implying he can rise undead to test the student seems really weird.

1b) I'd adivce strongly not taking stuff away form PCs in the very first combat. Thats also just hurting the ones not being able to cast spells for no good reason.

1c) The spells are just there to boost the non-casters a bit. I've read somewhere that DMs are skipping them entirely since it unneeded bookkeping. That would even increase when you change the cantrips in little insignificant ways.

2) Just a preference, but having NPCs pranking the PCs by STEALING their stuff would make them a hated character from the getgo. My Player love Chizire, he'd never steal from them.

3) Again, I prefer to have all students be welcoming and with few having reserves (like Ignaci and Noxolo). Who would be even jealous in having to fight undead on the school grounds haha

I would second that if you’re adding more combat encounters, this probably isn’t the right AP for you and your group.

I've just started this AP and have only completed session zero and 1. I'll also likely be transitioning toward the end of book 1 into homebrew campaign - not because Strength of Thousands doesn't look cool, but because I happen to have written my own campaign starting in Nantambu at the beginning of Covid, and had to cut it short on my first attempt at running it.

Anyway, I didn't change too much about the AP intro. I get what you mean that it's weird when one group of novice students keep running into weird and dangerous s+&+, but I find that can be helped by tying in character backstories in some ways. With the alterations I've made to the campaign, Teacher Ot is actually sort of responsible for the gremlins being around and messing with the cohort. He's still a nice guy, but is also tied in with doing some research on behalf of another, shadier organization in my campaign's big picture.

For the free cantrips, I agree that it feels a bit boring to just offer each character one of six cantrips as an innate ability, especially since 3 of my 4 players are spellcasters anyway, and are already a bit overwhelmed with the amount of stuff they can do.

What I did was:
A- increase the number of cantrips offered by Ot from 6 to 24. This is to make their choice feel more personal.

B- Add flavor. Ot pulls out a carved wooden cube with a symbol on each side. When a PC touches the symbol it lights up and unfolds into another set of four symbols. The one they choose will determine their cantrip. If they've already got that cantrip, it won't light up for them. Ot tells them that this magic flows directly from the Magaambya, but is theirs to share while they are at the campus. This ceremony also took place at the Circle with the crazy pillars, to connect it thematically with Jatembe's original magic.

C- Tell them that each of these cantrips is special. Aside from being an "innate" ability, I also intend for these cantrips to allow more flexibility, if not more raw power. Like, when a player would normally try to use a cantrip to do something not really covered by its rules, and you'd normally say "sorry, can't do it", in this case I'll allow an Arcana or Nature roll (or whatever skill is appropriate), and allow them to stretch or flex the result of the spell a bit on a good result. Once they've successfully flexed their cantrip in a particular way, it'll be easier for them to do that in the future.

The goal is to make them feel personally connected to this free cantrip, and to the school through it. In addition, I'm hoping they can show creativity with how they use their magic, which is a core principle of the Magaambya.