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Anyone doing this? The new batch of rules came out the other day, just in time for me to implement them. I ran the first session tonight. It went very well. I absolutely love this path and couldn't wait to start running all these pirate NPCs. A few issues cropped up:

- The biggest one is the rogue trait called Skill Mastery:

"Benefit: When you determine the bonus for each
of your skills, you use your associated ability
modifier or +3, whichever is higher.
Additionally, when you make a check using any
of your skills, you can take 10 or the result of the
die roll, then add any modifiers."

Now, the suggested DCs go like this... Easy: 10, Moderate: 13, Hard: 16

My plan was for the daily job skill check DCs to be in the DC 10 range. But the Cook's Mate could take 10 on most of her jobs! I had to talk to the player and kind of tell him that I couldn't run all of these checks every day and have him never have a chance of failing. I played it by ear, he was cool about it.

- Another concern was the one on one fight with Owlbear. I was concerned that he'd be either too easy or too hard. So I secretly ball-parked his hit points. I just watched how the fight went and scratched in the hit points once it was clear what was a fair amount. As it turned out, one of my awesome players immediately figured out about his blind spot and pummeled the guy! The stats I used are here:

AC 9 HP 20 +2 to hit d4+3 damage

Owlbear is a great character. The heroes genuinely pity him.

- As has been discussed on these forums, the addiction rules are scary. So for rum rations, what I've done is this: Con Save, DC 5. Fail = Intoxicated (You have disadvantage and take d6 less damage when you are hit). As fr as whether they get addicted, If someone sticks out as failing all the time, at the end of the three weeks I'll narrate that they have a yearning for rum and go from there.

- Not sure how non-lethal damage works. It came up with the whipping. What I did was say that non-lethal knocked you unconscious, and the damage went away once you took a full rest.

5e runs real quick an easy. It's working great so far. Can't wait to play again next Friday.

I am looking for some help, any advice I can get is appreciated.

I have been running a Shackled City campaign converted to 4th Edition. We've been plowing through it, and should be finished within two months. The heroes will be about 16th level.

The players really want to go all the way up to 30th level. I am pretty sure I am going to convert Age of Worms to 4E (and powered to their level). I'll shorten many of the dungeons, but keep the story intact.

The heroes will probably be ruling the city of Cauldron (the volcano city from Shackled City). I am planning on not using Diamond Lake, but switching all of the Diamond Lake adventures to the city of Cauldron. The "Free City" will be easy to plop in, as I've referenced the city of Sasserine from the Shackeld City many times. Sasserine can be the Free City.

I am now getting ready to start dropping hints and foreshadowing the whole Age of Worms story for my party. What should I make sure that I do so that the Age of Worms story doesn't feel "added in"?

- I'll need to reference the wind dukes of aaqa, correct?
- Will there be any issues as far as politics? My party will likely rule Cauldron. Is the overall kingdom known as Redhand? Maybe I should have the prince of redhand visit them sometime soon?
- Any legends they should know?
- They've already run into the Ebon Triad faction, which was very memorable. How do the triad "cells" relate to one another?
- The heroes met Celeste (who's still trapped in a magic thingie right now) as well as Ekaym Smallcask (who they HATE). Do I need to position either of them in the free city for whatever their role is in Age of Worms?

I'm just starting to sift through all of the Age of Worms material. Any advice is appreciated.

So I'm pretty far into the Shackled City path, and I've read the criticisms of it: "The villains aren't foreshadowed" and "It's a meatgrinder" are the two I've heard the most (and also "The Starry Mirror is impossible to figure out").

I love this path, but as I prepare for what comes next, I am wondering what you all think are the best paths out there and how they stack up against The Shackled City. I think the one I will run next will be another conversion to 4e (ohh joy!) - Rise of The Runelords. It just looks awesome.

But I am wondering how you'd rank Shackled City among the others. Here's the main options and my brief, ignorant thoughts on them:

Age of Worms - This looks really, really good. But I've read that it, like the Shackled City, feels like it's not very connected.

Savage Tide - Supposedly in this one, the adventures flow together beautifully. But I personally don't like the "pulp" style, and I hear this is pulp-y.

Rise of The Runelords - Again, awesome. Though I've never seen a serial killer work in d&d.

Scales of War - I am actually running this for another group, but it's too early to say how good it is. I like running something in actual 4e, but wizards hasn't released much of an over-all plot. It's pretty generic thus far.

So wizards just posted Graz'zt's 4e stats here:

http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dramp/20081003

It's funny, I'm just running Test of the Smoking Eye and re-read about how graz'zt ties in to the shackled city story.

Anyone got any ideas on how to use Graz'zt in Shackled City? Maybe as a post-campaign event? I mean, they printed the stats.. might as well use them.

And who is that female behind Graz'zt in the picture? In my game, I have made Athux a female, and I might say that she is Athux.