Berandor's page

No, I mean Tenebris. It sounds more like a name :-)

And I changed him into a Malaugrym (from FR), so I had shapechange abilities. His favourite form is that of a beholder... only that he's not.

IMC, Celeste is a "fallen" (risen?) Succubus who was seduced by a player's ancestors. She is CN, and the name "Celeste" is just her kind of humor.

I used a Gargantuan monstrous scorpion skeleton. Nice visuals, and about right in terms of CR.

You might want to explain Valanthru's two appearances. With the way Polymorph works now, I find it hard to believe a beholder could actually fake being an elf for years (!).

Similarly, the polymoprhed otyugh/ogre in "Flood Season" doesn't work that way.

I renamed him "Tenebris" Valanthru, as in "shadow".

Of course, I also changed his being a Beholder since 3.5 spells don't work that way anymore.

My shrine is a small tower, about 20 ft. tall. It has a receptacle at its top that catches the morning light and, via mirrors, reflects it into the ground floor. On sunlit days, the shrine is lit by this contraption, but in the morning, a warm rose glow fills the entire room.

Aside from the praying area on the ground floor, there's a small living room on the first floor with two beds (the inside of the tower is smaller than the outside because of the mirrors in the wall). A small cellar lies behind a secret door that Kristoff knows nothing about.

Thanks for the praise, Oliver. I just used "Hofnarr" as the translation for "Jester", the title the Last Laugh's leaders give themselves. But you're giving me an idea here... *evil grin*

SHAdiROON
BHAAL-hamaTOON

A rogue is nice for traps and secret doors, especially in the first adventures. There are not a lot of undead and only some constructs, so sneak attack is often possible.

28 point-buy will probably make this a very tough adventure.

I have categorized Cauldron's taverns:
The tipped tankard is low-level (cheap, but not very good)
the slippery eel is mid-level (normal prices and quality, known for its eel, has a lot of different beers)
the drowning morkoth is high-level (expensive and good)
the coy nixie is a brothel
the cusp of sunrise is exceptional (very expensive, very high quality)
Minuta's board is a cheap way to rest, but only get breakfast
I have also included an empty temple of one of the player's deities that the party might use later on.

IMC, clerics feel a spiritual need to pray when it is time. That would be the same on Occipitus.

I like Wil save, and I enjoyed #116. It's a view into another gamer's life, and I like it. It kind of creates a community feel.

So... let's see. Epic, perhaps bilbical connotations? Dramatic, tense music? maybe even a choir?

My suggestions:

Conquest of Paradise, Vangelis
The Omen Theme (nice choir chanting "Satanis!")
O Fortuna from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana
Balkan's Death from the Ninth Gate OST by Woiciech Kilar
Duel of the Fates, from Star Wars: Episode 1 by John Williams
The Bridge of Khazad'Dum from LotR: Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Shore

The Hunt for Red October Theme is a nice choir, though a more quiet theme that draws its tension mainly from the choir, not from a particularly loud or fast orchestration

To go a different route, you might also play
Come with Me, from the Godzilla Soundtrack
Smack my B*tch up by Prodigy
or something like Who wants to live forever by Queen :)

Downer simply doesn't make any sense to me. On top of that, I don't think the artwork is good enough to make me not care. I can live with not reading it, but I would rather see something else instead.

I placed Cauldron on the eastern border of Tethyr, in the Orm... Mountains. Nearest city is Saradush. I changed Cuthbert to Helm, Kord to Gond and Wee Jas to Azuth. Pelor is Lathander, and Fharlagn is Shaundakul.

ETA: With Tethyr, I have Chondathan population with Calishite influences.

The Ebon Triad is Shar and either Gargauth or Bane and Vlsharoon or Cyric

Honestly, if there's one thing I was disappointed with in "Thirteen Cages", it's the NPC write-up. For one, after the first adventures all had very difficult encounters, I think my players catered to that. Having suboptimal choices now just counters that expectation. There are some really funny choices, like giving the Con16-conjurer (name?) Toughness as a feat.

Secondly, if you really want to express suboptimal choices and persoanlity, then go all the way. The Stormblades all have one level of Aristocrat. Why not more? This reeks of min/maxing and taking levels not for the sake of the story, all the further incriminating suboptimal choices later on.