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As I'm just learning more about the Starfinder setting, I'm liking the new sandbox (filled with star dust) that Paizo is building. I agree with those who see the core 20 as mere guidelines for cosmology building in my own campaign. I have already moved a lot of sand around in my existing campaign, based on the Mummy's Mask AP. I've advanced the timeline by about three hundred years and had Golarion enter its late industrial revolution (ala 1880's). The Worldwound was sealed and, with it, an unintentional consequence was that a "knot" in the magical energy of the planet was created. This knot created global chaos as the balance of power shifted, magical leylines dried up or moved and magical energy became a commodity sought by colonial powers throughout the world. Many species of magical creatures became extinct. The elves left again, this time along with most of the gnomes and other fey creatures. Occult magic and psionics increased and political borders changed a lot. And the entire thing happened largely because of Nethys. I have a heavenly back story going on in which Asmodeus and Sarenrae connived with Pharasma to perfectly time a prophecy in which Nethys' protective nature is dominant and allows mortals the liberty needed to seal the Worldwound once and for all. Every attempt in the past had been thwarted by Nethys who could foresee the constriction it would place on the world's magical energy. Nethys felt deceived (something unheard of for him) and became even more mad than usual. He sank into a centuries-long funk and withdrew his attention from the world, causing even greater problems with the flow of magical energy and, incidentally, a greater demand for scientific and technological innovation. Meanwhile, Zon-Kuthon saw all of this as an opportunity to inflict the ultimate pain on Golarion and upon the gods themselves. He used Nethys' resentment, anger and pain to convince him to go along with a plan to punish the world and the gods for their corruption of the world's magical energy by shifting the entire planet into the plane of Shadow. Like most divine plans, the magic involved a lot of cultists, rituals, prophecies and such to complete -- along with loads of time (in mortal terms). Here's where the Mummy's Mask comes in. One of those plans involves restoring a certain pharaoh to power in Nethys' old stomping grounds -- Osirion. Here's where I take some liberties. It turns out that the Shory sky magic used to power the flying cities and pyramids wasn't entirely of magical origin. In case my players are reading, I won't go too much further, but I think you get the idea. Victorian steampunk meets Stargate and the "shift" toward a Starfinder campaign begins.
I'd refer you to the father of it all -- Master Tolkien -- who delivered a lecture titled "On Fairy Stories" that can be found in The Tolkien Reader, as well as online. He presents an excellent academic treatment of this issue and points out that all creators of fiction are engaged in a process of "sub-creation", meaning that we create in the manner in which we were ourselves created. Of course, Tolkien's assertions were made from his beliefs as a Catholic, but the point he makes here is a telling one. In essence, his argument is that all writers appropriate their material from the world around them. Nothing new is every really created. So, as long as the intent is not to mock or trivialize, I'd say borrow at will.
I see that this thread's been archived since February, but I uncovered it with a search for "Casmaron." I've read many of James' comments that Casmaron won't be developed anytime soon, especially not until the new AP into Tian Xia pans out. But... I want to voice my hope again in something small for this region. I'd pay money for James' hand-drawn outline map of this continent and a rough estimate of its national borders. I realize the world map gives some of this, but James' comments about it being largely distorted give me pause to use it as a basis for my own launching point into a homebrew development of the continent. I want to develop linkages between this continent and Avistan in my campaign, but am hesitant to create my own maps and major place names. With nations as powerful as those in Casmaron it seems strange to me that the vast borderlands between it and Avistan would remain as "silent" as they feel in the various Inner Sea materials. It seems to me there's a huge What-if-Persia-had-won-at-Marathon scenario in the making here. And, although there have been numerous renditions of the Arabian Nights style campaign settings, I'm with those who'd like to try something that hasn't been done so many times before in other products -- like medieval India, among others.
Not to mention the used book and hand-me-down effect. AD&D and D&D in the early 1980's had fewer total copies in print than today. Twenty-five years later and thousands of prints and reprints circulating out there, makes it less likely that people need to buy new books. I work in a middle school and hear about students getting hand-me-downs of 1st and 2nd edition D&D books from fathers and uncles. I'm sure some of these inspire them to go out and get the newer editions, but I also suspect that many of them simply enjoy the older editions as they stand.
I'm one who's all in favor of further developing a base of core rules and expanded (i.e., more optional) rules for firearms in Pathfinder. My ulterior motive being a desire to see work eventually commence on a Modern version of Pathfinder. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, hint, hint).
Something I could personally make use of that could lay the groundwork for P20 products in an incremental fashion would be a new arms and equipment guide straight from the foundries and smithies of Alkenstar. Some super-genius engineer there has discovered the principle of replaceable, standardized parts in the fabrication of firearms. The Aspis Consortium, always seeking new and innovative ways to expand their markets through arms dealing, has supplied generous funding for initial production and a distribution contract. Naturally Taldor, with its bottomless cash reserves and dwindling power, seeks an agreement with the Aspis Consortium, but Cheliax, fearing this power, doesn't want to be left behind in this new arms race either. Viola! The age of gunpowder has begun in force. Of course, not to be left behind, spies for the Technic League steal knowledge of these weapons from Alkenstar and, combined with their advanced metallurgical knowledge, make rapid improvements of their own. All of which could fill the pages of a standard Pathfinder supplement introducing players to the wonders of Three-Musketeeresque adventures, while also developing some more mechanics for a more modern setting. The supplement could include new feats, for example, similar to the firearms combat feats of d20 Modern.
I've been searching a bit through the messageboards for threads related to the problem of the Core Rulebook pdf's speed. I've noticed since the most recent update of the Core Rulebook pdf the speed of searches in the pdf has reduced dramatically. The new pdf searches through the file a page at a time at a rate of about 1 or 2 seconds per page, whereas the previous version finds the first reference to any word, in any area of the text within only 1 or 2 seconds TOTAL!
It'd be easier if the base system was 'system neutral'. Whomever decides to use it can build onto it from there to give it their own spin. Which is what I'm wanting to see happen. I agree overall. My thought was to suggest a possible "organic" approach that allowed the system to evolve gradually from the soil of an existing, increasingly popular system. The full-blown, independent P20 system could then mature from elements play-tested and marketed through the established system that provides the added benefit of earning money in its own right on the way toward full realization of the goal of an independent system. It's not the ideal approach, but it (or something like it) may provide a practical approach given the current set of financial limitations with the project. One possible approach would be to develop a kind of Unearthed Arcana product, perhaps one article at a time, that contained alternate core classes along the lines of base classes from d20 Modern, the introduction of a talent tree system into the existing Pathfinder RPG, a tech level system, alternate class features, feats, skills and so forth. These elements could be used by creative GMs to advance the history line of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting into the near-modern or modern age. The materials would represent alternate rules, ala Unearthed Arcana, and would make no pretense of remaining completely "true" to the overall mechanics system of the current Pathfinder RPG.
Here's a thought, and maybe it's been considered before, but I'm new to the discussion of P20. What if Golarion were to experience a major technological advance? The folks at SGG could develop weekly materials for use with the existing Pathfinder RPG that advanced the timeline of Golarion (and tech level) a couple thousand years. These supplements would gradually introduce d20 modern elements into the existing corpus of Pathfinder materials and allow for creative, gradual playtesting of certain conversion concepts, while, at the same time, building excitement (and hopefully revenue) for the P20 project. I can envision a line of companion-like supplements, perhaps even an adventure path of world-sweeping proportions, that changed the sociological and perhaps even cosmological face of Golarion. Naturally, such an effort would have to be done in collaboration with Paizo since it would involve use of their copyrighted sandbox. Perhaps there's too much legalistic red tape in this regard, but, then again, perhaps not. ps. I'm also down for buying whatever gets created in this direction.
1) Favorite Levels: 5-10. 2) Why?: Access to greater toys and powers without entirely removing the PCs from the realm of "reality" depicted by the social setting from which they originally emerged. In other words, I don't like "level inflation" throughout the campaign setting needed to logically explain how any degree of balance is maintained among the various power factions/monsters. 3) Favorite adventures: Homebrew adventures tailored to character backgrounds and responsive to their actions. (To this end, I greatly enjoyed and frequently used DUNGEON articles such as Side-Treks and Critical Threats, as well as similar older products such as the Books of Lairs.)
I think I'd revise the published size, reducing it to a more manageable size. An epic-sized stadium is one thing when it basically serves the purpose of narrative window dressing, but it becomes something else entirely when you decide to center an adventure upon it. Suddenly the cardinal rule of gaming--that DMs decide what exists and how--would be my solution to keeping things simple for myself.
Reading through the history of posts on this thread, I didn't notice mention of the option for gaming that I tend to embrace. Although the comparison may seem a bit negative, I'd have to say that my approach to campaign settings is "borgesque". Yes, I assimilate them into a greater collective. Like other long-time players, I have an equally long-time fondness for Greyhawk. When my group decided they wanted to play in Eberron, I resisted at first, then decided to take on the challenge as DM by bringing Eberron into Greyhawk. I rearranged the map of Khorvaire and found places for all of the places I wanted to include (most of them) in the uncharted central and western reaches of Oerik. Meshing the cosmologies was trickier, but it worked out fine. Now, with Golarion, I've just begun doing a similar thing, only this time I'm using Golarion as the base and adding elements of other settings to it. When we decided to switch to the Pathfinder Chronicles setting, we were in the middle of the Age of Worms AP. I found places for the important locations in the AP near Lake Encarthan and even decided to assimilate the city of Greyhawk and its environs in their entirety. With a bit of tweaking, the Lord of Mayor of Greyhawk became one of the ruling generals of Molthune, supporting the more economic and liberal policies favored by Imperial Governor Teldas. My most recent assimilation has been to graft the entire Jeklea Bay/Amedio Jungle region onto the southeastern end of Garund in order to prepare to run the Savage Tide AP in Golarion without the need for a ton of reworking. I threw together a map that places the Hold of the Sea Princes and the rest of Jeklea Bay south of Geb. You're welcome to take a peak at it at the link below.
Is there an Asian-inspired civilisation/culture in the Golarion campaign setting? Several of them. In fact, for just about every major real-world Asian culture, there is a Golarion equivalent. Check out the Campaign Setting sourcebook beginning on page 152.
The Pathfinder Campaign Setting book lists 4079 as the year in which Qadiri forces first invaded Taldor, sparking the Grand Campaign, whereas the Taldor Sourcebook (p. 3) gives the date as 4029. Which date is correct? Thanks!
Check out the entry for Sargava in the Pathfinder Campaign Sourcebook. You might find this suits your needs perfectly.
As a convert from Greyhawk to Pathfinder, I discovered that Lake Encarthan and its environs makes a decent substitute for the Nyr Dyv. I transplanted the city of Greyhawk, almost in its entirety, into Molthune and transformed the Directing Oligarchy into something of a proto-Politburo. I then found places for other Greyhawk transplants as well: Diamond Lake, Magepoint, Alhaster, and, if the pattern isn't already apparent, Kuluth-Mar. So, Molthune became the nexus for my adaptation of the Age of Worms campaign, working very well until the entire party died in the ruins of Kuluth-Mar. :(
Several ideas for adapting the Age of Worms Adventure Path have already been shared here. Here’s another. First, a warning—anyone who doesn’t like borrowing from other game materials to expand/modify their own campaigns won’t like what I’m proposing here. It includes pieces of Greyhawk, modified for Golarion, but still obviously Greyhawk in most respects. I suspect it will be an equal opportunity offender of both Golarion and Greyhawk purists. There are some AoW spoilers scattered in what follows as well. I have begun a conversion “sourcebook” of sorts, from which I’ve summarized the main ideas below, to keep things fairly brief here. I have kept the two broad storylines of the campaign somewhat separate – the story of the Wind Dukes of Aqaa and that of Kyuss. I’ll discuss the Kyuss story, since it’s the most important to the campaign. If people like it and want the rest, I’ll add it later.
Kyuss curried favor with Urgathoa instead of Nerull to gain his mastery of necromancy. I also envisioned the spellweavers to have a connection with the alien masters of Katapesh. There was a similar feel there to me.
Another advantage to transplanting Greyhawk in Molthune that I discovered was that the geography cooperated nicely. Greyhawk sits along the east bank of the Nosam River, near its mouth into Lake Encarthan. Diamond Lake, in turn, sits nicely about four day’s ride southeast of the city in the hills there (i.e., Cairn Hills). I then turned much of the lowland along Molthune’s border with Druma into marshland, creating the Mist Marsh. The Five Kings Mountains made an excellent replacement for the Abbor-Alz Mountains and the location of the Greysmere dwarves. I could list more examples of transpositions, but I think you get the idea if you’re an old-time gamer like me who has played in Greyhawk and compares all of the elements of the AP between settings. I debated transplanting Alhaster intact, but I liked the adventures and materials developed for it so much (and because my time for revising is limited), I decided to include it largely unchanged as well. Again, the geography cooperated pretty well. I placed Alhaster in the far northern bay of Lake Encarthan that is part of Ustalav. The tone and flavor of the city seemed to fit pretty nicely with the corrupt and petty lands of Ustalav as well. Although the distance is a bit stretched, I placed the Rift Canyon in the valleys of the Mindspin Mountains. Again, the geography cooperated, by placing the giant clans in a suitable location. The greater relative distance between Alhaster and the Rift Canyon does pose a troublesome discrepancy, but, given the level of the PCs by the time they reach this part of the AP, I didn’t worry about it. That covers the gist of my conversion ideas. Feedback and ideas are, of course, welcome.
I haven't explored the messageboards much yet, so please forgive me if there's an obvious answer to my question, but this seemed like a good place to start. I'm eager for more information about Kelesh and the lands immediately east of Qadira -- not the Far East, mind you -- more of the central region of the continent. I imagine Paizo intends to release products for this region eventually, but I would love to see even a cursory overview of it in near-term.
I've just begun exploring the full world of Golarion in more detail. Looking at the poster map contained in the Gazetteer, I see the scale topped out at 240 miles. When I calculated the distance from the mouth of Nosam River in Molthune to the northern borders of Katapesh, I came up with approximately 650 miles. Assuming a world size roughly equivalent to Earth, with an average of 69 miles per degree of latitude, that would equate to less than 10 degrees of latitude change between these two regions. This would be about the distance from the very south end of Italy to the very northern shores of Africa. Also, by comparison, the Inner Sea is roughly the same width as the Red Sea. I'm not complaining, just wanting to make sure I haven't missed something somewhere adjusting the scale of the maps to add more interior area to many of the otherwise tiny kingdoms and to better explain the climate shifts from one region of the map to another.
This seems like a great idea to me as well, speaking as one of those who originally spent time on these messageboards but got lured away to a dedicated PbP site that I was introduced to by another member here. There is a section of Yahoo Groups dedicated to Play-by-Email games that people, new to the concept, can check out to get an idea for how characters and game mechanics can be handled. I'm also familiar with a site called myth-weavers.com that people interested in getting games going here might explore to see what might be possible in a Play-by-Post environment. I have heard of other sites dedicated to Play-by-Post games as well, but I haven't explored any of them myself, so can't make any meaningful recommendations. I would be glad to see such features added to the Paizo site and can envision interesting adventure and article tie-ins and author-crafted supplements and expansions to published adventures adding further uniqueness and appeal to the games run here.
Have any of you had to deal with the legal ramifications of the actions of your PCs in the AoW path? For example, even though Filge may have broken some laws (grave robbing, and animating the dead if you make it illegal) unless the PCs have been deputized by the local law, what gives them the right to go into Filge's observatory, steal his things and potentially kill him? IMC, Smenk owns the observatory, having once thought to use it as his residence before acquiring Parin House. Kullen's boys tailed the PCs to the place and watched them break in through the dome windows, then reported the incident to the sheriff. The PCs captured Filge, but as they exited the building with him in tow, Deputy Jamis, along with four other deputies arrived to arrest them for trespassing on and vandalism of private property, along with assault. The PCs used the he's-an-evil-necromancer argument. IMC, necromancy is illegal in Diamond Lake, but obscure enough that the deputies have trouble thinking it through for themselves. The PCs spent several days in jail, during which time, Melinde helped to secure their release after paying a fine for the charges of trespassing and vandalism. The assault charges on Filge were dropped. This is only a broad summary of the legal implications that arose as a result of the events in the observatory. Our group spent a couple of sessions role-playing the consequences of their "cowboy" raid on the place.
How are you integrating Ravenloft? Which campaign setting are you using, and where did you place Barovia? I'm also going to use EtR, but am planning to use the long version as a substitution for the Free City adventures, weaving the necessary clues from those adventures into EtR.
Sorry for the long post earlier -- I was having too much fun writing up the prologue material. I have a request for feedback from folks reading this thread. I've been working out a way to believably lure the PCs to far-off Barovia and to weave Strahd more closely into the overall campaign plot arc. Here's the short version of what I've come up with so far. Suggestions are welcome.
Given the interest in the floorplans, here's what I'll do. Last night I transferred most of the plans from my hand-drawn version to a paint program. I have just a few finishing touches to make before it's presentable. Once I have it done (hopefully by late tonight), I'll upload it to my personal D&D Website www.geocities.com/lyonav/dnd. You'll find the floorplans in the DM Folder under the Age of Worms campaign link. Check there tomorrow; I should be able to have it uploaded by then.
An even more heavy-handed in-game approach to suggesting tactics to players is to use dreams. The forces of Good, afterall, are not necessarily sitting idly by as the world descends into darkness. They just don't like to compel obedience by suddenly appearing in the flesh and saying, do this or that. They're all about promoting and encouraging heroic freedom of choice, but they don't have to be above cryptic and strangely poignant dream hints.
What did Allustan and Valkus Dun have to say (or do) about all this? They're not chumps. Allustan, in particular, has powerful connections (i.e., Manzorian). Despite their falling out ten years ago, Manzorian is not likely to ignore Allustan's request for help against a rampaging black dragon. Then there are the rangers of the nearby Bronzewood Lodge, who, with the combined aid of the clerics and warriors of Heironeous, could mount a stiff resistance against the dragon. If this isn't enough, the directors of Greyhawk have far too much invested in the mines of Diamond Lake to tolerate such a situation for long. The PCs certainly aren't the only ones capable of handling a dragon menace such as Ilthane's. If they were, all of the Flanaess would have been overrun with far worse evil long ago. In other words, in the long run the party doesn't really need to react to this threat at all, unless, of course, they are the every-individual-life-is-worth-dying-for kind of heroes.
I don't know that an official floorplan of Smenk's mansion was ever published. I looked high and low on the Internet for one myself. I ended up drawing my own. It's certainly not pretty, like those we get from WOTC and Paizo, but, if you're interested I can email it to you privately.
I like your solution, Chris. It highlights the indirect effects that the characters' actions can have in the larger campaign world, like a chain of dominoes cascading down the line. One thing I would add to this are the possible negative effects as well. Greyhawk isn't exactly the most virtuous city in the Flanaess. The Lord Mayor, afterall, is an organized crime boss, albeit an apparently "honorable" one. The PCs' actions might have upset a delicate power game among larger economic and political interests in the Free City, which could bring additional consequences for them when they do eventually visit it.
Here's the narrative hook that I'm planning for the PCs in my campaign, who are currently completing TFoE. I've been building the gothic horror tone for the past few sessions now with mostly flavor stuff. They are currently preparing to re-enter the temple and the summer weather has turned strangely cold and stormy, among other ominious signs. Of course, they believe it has to do with the Ebon Triad moving toward completion of the dark ritual to raise something from the pool. But there are other plans in motion as well . . . *** Dark storm clouds rolled across the Cairn Hills from the north, blown by cold winds and accompanied by continuous peals of rolling thunder and lightning. The inhabitants of Diamond Lake sought shelter from the storm in shuttered homes and taverns, leaving few, if any, on the streets to notice a large enclosed wagon pulled by four coal-black horses roll into town along the Vein. The wheels of the wagon creaked quietly to a stop near the center of town, its driver, a young Rhennee man with thick curly black hair escaping from beneath the cowel of his blood red cloak, looked thoughtfully at the shuttered buildings. The young Rhennee woman sitting next to him on the driver’s bench clutched her cloak close to her as cold rain began to fall from the thundering skies. “This is it, Yuri,” she said to her companion. “See about delivering the message, and I’ll tell Grandmother we’ve arrived.” The driver nodded his agreement, adding as he began to climb from the wagon, “She’ll know already.” The woman smiled at her brother’s resigned remark. Yuri knew and respected their grandmother’s gift of prophecy, but it had always made him uneasy. She sees only darkness, he would often say, although never so that he might be overheard by others than his sister. Using her gift of prophecy, Madam Tavia Rasovich had led their small group of Rhennee from the forgotten county of Barovia across nearly 700 miles to an obscure, isolated mining town in the western reaches of the Domain of Greyhawk. They had been sent by their master, Count Strahd von Zarovich, to deliver a message. The young woman climbed from the opposite side of the wagon and, tilting her head against the rain and wind, hurried to the rear of its elaborately ornamented coach. She knocked at the wagon’s small wooden door, holding her cloak closed at her throat with her other hand. The door opened to reveal an older woman, whose thick black hair showed streaks of grey and whose deep brown eyes concealed a depth of suffering little known to the other members of her family. “Come in quickly, Illyena,” the older woman said. “It appears the master’s reach follows us to the ends of the earth.” The young woman climbed the few steps attached to the rear of the wagon and entered the warmly lit interior. The older woman stepped aside to let her pass and closed the wagon door behind her. The air inside the coach smelled of rosemary and other herbs. Colored beads, animal charms and patterned scarves hung from the walls and ceiling. Seated at a small circular table nailed to the floor in the center of the carriage sat a weathered crone dressed in layers of brightly colored clothes and shawls. A purple and gold velvet coverlet lay draped over a spherical object resting in the center of the table. The old crone’s milk-white eyes stared vacantly into space, and her withered hands lay folded in her lap. “Come sit down, Illyena,” the old woman croaked without turning her head to look at the young Rhennee woman. “Our journey is nearly complete. Those we seek are here, though they still face great evil that could yet destroy them.” *** When the PCs return to Diamond Lake from the temple of the Ebon Triad and report what they discovered and defeated there, rumor spreads quickly that Madam Tavia had only recently predicted events matching these exactly. The PCs further learn that Madam Tavia gave further prophecies regarding the actions of the “Heroes of Diamond Lake.” If these clues are not enough to lure the PCs into seeking out Madam Tavia, she sends her granddaughter and grandson to deliver a cryptic message to them, alluding to their need to acquire the “Sign of the Scavenger” (holy symbol of Ravenkind) and the “Brand of Unquenchable Hope” (sun sword) if they hope to avert the “Rise of the Worms.” (letter B) Her message also states that the completion of dark events set in motion centuries ago will be renewed in a land of unending despair, where death itself cannot assuage the anguish of eternal remorse. I've placed Barovia in the Lortmil Mountains, about 60 miles southwest of Devarnish. For those with the Greyhawk poster maps from Dungeon, you'll notice a nice unnamed patch of forest that works well for the Svalich Woods.
The discussion here reminds me of something I watched on the complete season DVDs for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many of these DVDs include commentaries by Joss Whedon and the other Buffy writers regarding their processes for creating a "story arc" for an entire season of episodes. Anyone with access to those DVDs who's interested in how to conceptually plot a story arc (i.e., adventure path) might find it useful to watch these commentaries.
I'm almost wondering if I'm playing the NPCs too cleverly or if the party is simply having terrible luck. It's also possible, the group isn't balanced for statistical efficiency, but I rarely pay much heed to that, given our group's preference for quasi-realism over game mechanics. The group consists of:
I've sketched a couple of scenarios depending on the players' choices. One involves them returning to the temple in the midst of the final ceremony to raise the Ebon Aspect; another involves the cult organizing an assault on the town, using the Ebon Aspect and their own forces, to punish them and seek revenge on the PCs. Part of my motivation for waking the Aspect is to infuse the game with a little more "horror". Now that the PCs have made some friends and acquiantances in Diamond Lake, I want to kill some of them in a big way to enhance the impression of how dark the times are becoming.
Has anyone had the Faceless One succeed in summoning/conjuring the Ebon Aspect? After a thwarted assault on the Hextorite temple, the PCs in my campaign took on the grimlocks and barely managed to defeat them, expending considerable resources in the process. They decided the best plan was to return to the surface and inform Valkus Dunn of everything they discovered, leaving Theldrick and the Faceless to One to lick their wounds and plot their next moves, knowing that they've been discovered by some capable enemies. I'm toying with the idea of having the Faceless One complete the ritual to raise the Ebon Aspect. But what's he going to do with it? He's smart enough (and informed enough) to know that Valkus and Allustan pose serious threats to any direct assault upon the town. And why would he want to assault the town anyway? So, I'm wondering, what would you do if you were an evil genius wizard of Vecna who'd just succeeded in summoning something nasty but not necessarily uber-powerful? BYW, given Grallak's death, I've decided that the Ebon Aspect doesn't arise fully empowered, but that it would arise somewhat more powerful than the "weakened" version presented in TFoE.
When we print a watermark or other texture in the background of an adventure, we try to keep that background faint and unobtrusive. What do people think: are they too visible? We can always lighten them up more or do them less, but I personally think that they look pretty nice with backgrounds like that. As one of the DMs/readers who makes a habit of scanning the adventures that I use from Dungeon in order to prep my games, I would strongly vote for the little-to-no watermark option. Although I don't use OCR like some others do, I have noticed that the image scans that I use in Adobe Acrobat are more difficult to read when the background has watermarks.
One challenge that I see authors of Dungeon adventures facing is the razor's edge of enough plot and setting to satisfy the "story-gamer's" desires and so much plot and setting that the adventure becomes a nuisance to splice into an existing campaign. Writing formulas for creating this balance can be developed to a limited extent, just as they can (and are) for any other sort of pot-boiler fiction. But, the adventure that captures the imaginations of gamers for decades may or may not follow the formula; there's just too many nuances involved in crafting a classic to predetermine when a hit has been created. That said, I would encourage authors to err on the side of detail when designing adventures. One idea I have been mulling over for how Paizo might enhance the ability of authors to tell larger stories without adding to their word count is to leverage the power of the Internet to create a new kind of collective writing community. The foundation of this community would be its existing Website and these messageboards, of course, but the first floor above that foundation would be a relatively simple database of story elements from previously published adventures that Paizo would allow authors to draw upon for their own adventures. The database need not contain much specific information. At minimum, it would contain a kind of copyright index, simply identifying those elements of published adventures that writers who wish to write adventures for Dungeon could use in their own adventures. Naturally such a database would need to have its terms of use clearly detailed, but the hassle of drafting a new legal document pales in comparison to the potential benefits for Dungeon's readers and authors. While occasional readers might not notice the reuse of story elements in Dungeon adventures across the span of many issues, I suspect many regular readers would enjoy revisiting an old location or a particular social setting. There are many more potential benefits of this system of collaboration, which I'd happily share in private with anyone interested in hearing more about the idea, but I've already gone on long enough here.
I use a full version of Adobe Acrobat to create my own pdf versions of adventures for use on my laptop at the game. Acrobat is an excellent DM's tool--one of the best, IMO. I can quickly pull together information from multiple printed sources into a single document, create bookmarks to specific information in the file, and add comments and annotations. For TFoE, which I'm currently running, I created a pdf of the adventure itself, then added the specific pages from the Monster Manual listed in the adventure. Afterwards I created bookmarks for each section, map and monster/NPC. During the game, I can quickly jump between these elements and keep the table clutter to a minimum. I dislike the OCR function of Acrobat because it takes too much time to edit all of the mistakes that OCR inevitably makes. With well-placed bookmarks and a basic knowledge of the adventure, I don't need to search for anything with find text features. And, with the ability to add the equivalent of post-it notes in the form of annotations, I don't need to retype anything either.
[QUOTE=]- The group killed Kullen & his gang, how important do you think they were to Balabar? ie: would he hire some more goons from Daggerford (Diamond Lake) / Waterford.
First, the cliched D&D caveat -- It's your campaign, so they're as important to Balabar as you want them to be. That said, I considered them fairly important. I use the seemingly unpopular 3e "standard" of non-hero class NPCs in my campaigns. As a result, NPCs with hero class levels are rare and, obviously, more capable than just about everyone else in any given community. Replacing Kullen and his gang would pose a challenge for Balabar -- at least, in my campaign world.
My campaign began, of all places, in Brancast, in the kingdom of Furyondy, where the local baron wanted information about a secret cabal of yuan-ti known as the House of the Circlet ("Within the Circle" by Sam Brown), who had been secretly feeding him information about the movement of Iuz's forces. Among the texts recovered by the PCs in this adventure, they discovered one containing information about a yuan-ti magic item called the amulet of Abyssal invisibility (unique creation). The baron and his wizard believed the information was worth investigating further, hoping it might lead to something useful in the war with Iuz. Unfortunately, the clues pointed to the Cairn Hills, located many miles to the south. As the PCs were preparing to leave, they learned that Crimson, the perpetrator of a series of heinous murders in Brancast, had been apprehended and killed recently, and that a public funeral was planned to restore confidence among the citizens ("Funeral Procession" by Mark A. Hart). The church of Pelor asked the PCs to be present for it, just in case. After burning down the local slaughterhouse and killing one of its owners in front of a crowd of townsfolk attempting to contain the blaze, the PCs had a hard time convincing people that the place had been "filled with zombies". Even the baron and the church of Pelor felt hard pressed to overlook the situation. After a mock trial, the PCs were sentenced to a prison term in the baron's dungeon, from which they were promptly, albeit secretly, released and sent on their way to Diamond Lake, where they were to seek out Allustan, an old acquaintance of the wizard of Brancast. In Diamond Lake, they delivered a message from an old half-elf priest of Pelor, whom they met upon their arrival in Elmshire, to a woman he had tutored when she was a girl. The woman (new player)turned out to be the cousin of Luzane Parrin and a monk of Pelor recently returned from the Solitarn Monestary to help her cousin's embattled business and hopefully bring some sense of light back to the benighted town of Diamond Lake. Since this post is already pretty long, I'll summarize the rest of the intro to the "Whispering Cairn" by saying that Allustan led the original PCs to believe that the clues in the yuan-ti journal they had might point to the old cairn located near town. Meanwhile, the monk remembered stories about the cairn from her childhood and thought that it might provide some treasure that could provide a much-needed infusion of cash into her cousin's business. They all agreed to join up to investigate.
I agree with Christopher that Allustan is a useful tool for keeping the plot from getting stuck. The thing I had trouble deciding on was how much "involvement" he would have with the PCs. The characters in my campaign trusted Allustan almost implicitly, and after some initial forays into the cairn, invited him to come along to gather information about the ancient Wind Dukes first-hand. I couldn't see any reason why he wouldn't go. At 5th or 8th level (depending on the bio), he's obviously been around some violent situations and survived them; the cairn is only a few miles away, and he's traveling with a group who has already done some initial exploration of a site he has explicitly returned to this dump of a town to learn more about. I concocted a pressing trip to Greyhawk that prevented him from taking them up on the offer at this time, but he agreed to join them for a look when he returned. Then I had to concoct some urgency for the PCs to explore the cairn before his return. Eventually, he did return with them to the cairn, but only after they had penetrated the true tomb and defeated the wind warriors. They wanted to be sure they weren't missing anything in the clues provided by all the wonderfully detailed descriptions of the various locations in the tomb.
I posted a similar question to the message board on 10/10, but the thread doesn't seem to interest anyone at the moment. I don't play in Eberron, but, if you're interested, I've copied the text from my original post about using Expedition to Ravenloft in my Greyhawk campaign below. Does anyone else have plans to incorporate the new Expedition to Ravenloft adventure into their AoW campaign? My players are currently cleaning out the temple of the Ebon Triad below Dourstone's mine. I plan to drop a few clues about Ravenloft leading up to their departure for Greyhawk following the Encounter at Blackwall Keep. I'm thinking of placing Barovia in the Valley of the Mage and substituting the new Ravenloft adventure for "The Hall of Harsh Reflections" and "The Champion's Belt," placing the clues obtained from those adventures in the hands of Strahd, who, I'm thinking once delved into the lore surrounding the Age of Worms himself and still has some of that information stored away in his library. I was also thinking that I'd incorporate prophecies surrounding the holy symbol of Ravenkind and the Sun Sword into those related to the Age of Worms as well, perhaps as elements of the tools needed to prevent it from happening.
I enjoyed reading your party's character backgrounds. I liked the way you've woven them together with other NPCs in the campaign.
I know the writer's guidelines say that adventures set against a backdrop of regional or national scale are not preferred, but I would cast my lone vote to the contrary. I would enjoy adventures set in sweeping style, ala Three Musketeers, with Concluding the Adventure suggestions for spinning out the rest of the campaign. The emphasis in such adventures might be more on developing complex NPCs with detailed plot threads than on a series of encounter locations. The encounters that are presented serve primarily as seeds for the DM's imagination to cultivate further. These NPCs and plot threads could then be woven through other published adventures by the DM or developed into a stand-alone campaign unto itself.
You managed to accomplish a lot in a pretty short amount of time, IMO. My group plays 4 hour sessions, as well, but took three or four sessions to get to where you are. They took a lot more time getting to know Diamond Lake and meeting Allustan. Part of the reason for this, though, was that I began the campaign in Furyondy using another 1st-level adventure from Dungeon #130--"Within the Circle" by Sam Brown. Among the yuan-ti texts that the PCs recovered there, they discovered some clues about a prophecy that the secrective yuan-ti leadership feared might come to pass. The information also contained clues about a treasure hidden in the Cairn Hills that might aid Furyondy in its eternal war against Iuz. One of the PCs, whose player joined the campaign late, comes from Diamond Lake and is a cousin of Luzane Parrin. Her mother is Luzane's aunt. She's the one who managed to seduce information about of Kullen.
Interesting tactics. My group's approach was pretty mundane. A couple of the players are paranoid and thorough enough that they actually figured out the lantern puzzle before ever searching the wind tunnel (although they had no idea what the purpose of the lanterns was). They never did figure it out. They simply lit them all, left them burning, and chalked it up to "completeness". As a result, they casually strolled down the wind tunnel, none the wiser. Although they did spot the grooves on the floor and found them curious.
IMC the PCs didn't encounter the Free City adventurers until they had already run afoul of Balabar Smenk for exposing his involvement with Filge's necromancy. At that point, Smenk actually hired Auric's group to ambush the PCs in the Whispering Cairn after the PCs were released from jail for "trespassing on private property" (i.e., the old observatory). The PCs, with Melinde's help, managed to kill Khellek and to rout Auric and Tirra. They suspect Smenk's hand in the attack, but can't prove anything, of course.
One of the female players in our group decided to tease/seduce the info out of Kullen. The ploy worked, but got a little dicey when Kullen decided it was time to conclude the deal.
Does anyone else have plans to incorporate the new Expedition to Ravenloft adventure into their AoW campaign? My players are currently cleaning out the temple of the Ebon Triad below Dourstone's mine. I plan to drop a few clues about Ravenloft leading up to their departure for Greyhawk following the Encounter at Blackwall Keep.
Another great pdf source for Greyhawk is AD&D Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins. I downloaded this file for use with the Age of Worms campaign. It contains complete details on the city. Granted the stats are for 2nd edition, but most of the source material is easily convertible. http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/greyhawk/v5748bt py7mnc
The comments about the moral position of these characters depending on their culture are interesting. Can entire cultures be labeled good or evil, lawful or chaotic? The tenor of many of the comments here suggests that cultures have diplomatic immunity from moral judgements. Is it possible to take multi-cultural tolerance so far that we abandon all hope of identifying objective moral values? In the plane of Absolute Good, do the celestials say to one another, "Well, from Nerull's perspective, he's good?"
Does anyone have any experience with "Within the Circle"? I ran "Within the Circle" as a prelude to the Age of Worms adventure path. (Spoilers . . .) I built on the House of the Circlet as a group of renegade yuan-ti who oppose the machinations of most of their kind by supporting leaders among other races who oppose the mainstream yuan-ti houses. The House of the Circlet is aware of the prophecies concerning the Age of Worms and they fear it, for it would mean their own return to slavery under the serpent/worm lords, or some such thing. I dropped hints about the prophecy in the books stored in the depot, with further hints provided by Baron Joaquim's hired sage/wizard. I ran "Funeral Procession" as an interlude adventure in the PCs' hometown of Brancast (Greyhawk), while the sage studied the yuan-ti texts recovered from the depot. Clues in the texts point to the Cairn Hills as the source of a powerful magic that might help Furyondy's eternal war with Iuz, so the baron and the wizard recruit the PCs to follow up. By now the PCs are between 2nd and 3rd level, so I'll need to adjust the "Whispering Cairn" accordingly to start them off. |