I've seen quite a few people frustrated with the menagerie. I was pretty worried about it myself when I started running it... I only have 2 PC's and and NPC, and none of them are strictly combat heavy (dwarf monk, gnome bard, human investigator).
They pulled some good ideas out though, and I thought I'd share if it helps anyone.
- For the cocatrice, they used their environment pretty well. The bard tore down a tent for the poles and canvas, the monk tried trapping it in one of the rugs in the market and the investigator ended up throwing a large crate over it before dropping the merchant statue on the crate.
- The owlbear was rough, but again, a lot of environment use. Our monk climbed up on the shop with the canvas from the tent and jumped down on the owlbear trying to wrap it up. I ruled that based on the average party damage it would take 5 hits to bring the beast down, so if the PC's could make 5 successful skill checks vs it's AC, they could hog tie it. Between the canvas, rope around the legs Empire / Hoth-style and the occasional smack on the head, they were able to subdue it. Rusty the Rust Monster was the same / similar.
-The hyena's ended up getting closed up in the concession stand - I ruled the PC's were able to slam closed the awning, and the back door was already closed. They beat the hyena's in initiative and completed a successful skill set to succeed.
-The ankrav (sp?) just sucks. That thing is a beast and the PC's went full 'real damage' on it due to it's ferocity and viciousness. Having avoided a ton of damage by quick thinking on the other encounters they still had a hard time, but were able to succeed if barely.
Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there if it helps anyone. Encourage players to think out of the box for these. It'll help make it a little more palatable.
Sword of Air is so good it boggles the mind. I've been running it in Swords and Wizardry format, in combination with Stoneheart Valley for the last seven months and the players and I are having a blast.
There is so much there, and yet for an enterprising Referee, there is so much you can expand upon to make it your own. No campaign using this as it's base will be exactly the same.
I always try to not get too specific at first. Using the example above, when prepping a homebrew game, I would do something like this:
"As you open the door, your attention is diverted by five screaming, bloodthirsty bugbears. You get a dim sensation of the room, torchlit and carpeted with a strange blue light emanating from a table and dried stains on the walls."
After that, outside of boxed text, usually in brief bullet points I note special features, and hidden items / effects:
- the blue light is coming from an axe covered in a strange metallic mesh
- The carpet is old and smells of mildew
- The stains are obviously blood, and a holy symbol of Lammashtu hangs nearby
- Under the rug, or with a DC 15 perception check, a PC can find a secret compartment in the floor with 274 gp in it.
If the party gets to Bards Gate or the twin shrines they can hear through various means (via the magic armor under the temple of Muir or a temple in BG) about the Stone of Tircople. This is a good starter quest in the old burial halls (Tomb of Abysthor). They could find that and the Chalice and return them for safekeeping.
The exploration of the dungeon alone is likely to lead to a couple of points where the PC's seriously start to question where these bad guys are from and why they're there. You can then incorporate things like the connection to Rappan Athuk, the Earthblood, and other hooks.
Basically, get them in the dungeon and reward them with more information when they go looking for it.
I suggest Stoneheart Valley series (Crucible et al) to get them started. Heck, there could be easy-import clues in the shadow-wizard's lair, for example.
This one is intended to be a long, long journey...
This is similar to how we've gone about it. My group finished the Crucible quest and a few overland lairs - and I story-lined in several reasons for them to go to the old Burial Halls (Tomb of Abysthor). They've played around with that, but the biggest thing that's tied it in to the overall arc is their connection to Kayden.
We play S&W so spells are much more rare to come across. The magic users (we have two) have hooked up with Kayden
Spoiler:
who is pretending to be a good guy, and using illusions to cover the worst of his depravity - much of which he doesn't even know about thanks to Steve. Currently he has cast a Geas on the party druid, and they now know that they need to go after Sorten at some point - Kayden has told them what an evil wizard Sorten is, so they'r up for it.
who helps them along with spells, identifications, sage work, etc in return for doing jobs for him. Gathering rare components, things of that nature. Definitely going to be a long game here, this won't be over anytime soon.
There will be a few spoilers in the following so, I'll cover some of this up just in case. I'll caveat that I'm running this in Swords and Wizardry so Challenge Rating, ECL, things like that are all very vague on my end.
The main hook I used to get my party interested (and they don't even know they're on part of the storyline yet) is power. I have two magic users in the group who are hungry for more spells - you get them at a much slower rate in S&W than PF. The group has been spending time in Stoneheart Valley (a great starter adventure for this, imo)... After some digging, the PC's caught wind of a magic user who may be willing to trade services for spells (get your mind out of the gutter - QUESTS!)
Spoiler:
Thus far the party has taken the time to go to Stoneheart Forest and meet with Kayden. Check out Kaydens chapter in the book by the way. It feels out of place, being near the middle, but it's actually a decent place to start. There's a lot of interesting material there besides just "he's an evil wizard who thinks he's the good guy". I had his Ogre Mage butler escort the PC's to his mansion under cover of illusion so they wouldn't get the whole 'evil wizard' vibe. While there, they were able to talk Kayden into letting them do a couple of quests for him. Being a wizard who's holed up in his evil swamp, it's nice for him to have some PC's on the outside doing his bidding.
What's really nice (from a DM perspective) is that Kayden can give quests that are optional for the party. It gives them a) something to do b) without forcing them to do it. And Kayden has the resources to reward them.
The first quest I had Kayden give them was to bring the broken vial from Eralion's Crypt (in the Ruined Keep outside of Fairhill - Stoneheart Valley). It's a win-win. Kayden gets something to study, the PC magic users get a low level spellbook.
Other options - gather spell components, manticore eggs, find out what the priests are up to in Stoneheart Mountain Dungeon, bring dust from the edge of the Blight, things like that. Remember, it's a very open world, and the PCs should feel free to accept or deny any quests. They're doing this for their own advancement in both power and wealth (and coincidentally, Kayden's too!).
Later on though, as the party gains in power and influence, he can start sending them on more specific missions. Eventually leading up to the point where he either feels confident enough in them or fears them enough to Geas them into attacking Sorten the "evil wizard". Who is actually a good wizard. And that will bring about it's own set of adventures. He may even tell them that Sorten knows where the Sword of Air is. Or at least that he thinks Sorten knows where the Sword is. And that it can be used to save the world! (so Steve says anyway).
Regardless, I find it's best in a sandbox to remember that the PC's can and will go where they want. Keep throwing out hooks... not all at once, you don't want to overwhelm them, but each session make sure they know all the options. It's not a railroad. More like Skyrim. The main quest is there, but you can ignore it and still have a really good time.
Hope everyone is getting as much use out of SoA as I am. I've thus far introduced the characters to Kayden who took them on for missions - pay equals spell scrolls and old spellbooks for the magic users. As for Kayden:
Spoiler:
I've played him up as a little creepy, but not overly evil. I have definitely made sure to introduce Steve however, and let the players realize there's a relationship there. Though, of course, Kayden thinks he's the on in charge.
So far, combining this with Stoneheart Valley has made for some great adventure material for the characters. There's so much to do.
One of the best things about RA is its modularity. You can use bits and pieces for a portion of an adventure or let the PC's use it as it's own sandbox. What's great is that it's large enough that it is it's own sandbox!
That being said - it is very much old school. There are places where the structure of the PF game breaks down a bit and that old school "one troll in this encounter, 2 liches in the next" takes over. I honestly feel it runs better in S&W that PF as the encounter level fluctuations are a little less severe (and it seems a little more expected in a system where gp = xp and tricking / stealing / running are much more common practice than wading in, swords flashing).
My biggest problem with Tsar is getting the PC's to want to go there. How have people been working that? Interspersing missions? "slay all evil"? Meta storylines?
I'm giving serious thought to my S&W conversion of this and want to be able to plant the seeds long before the PC's go there.
According to the obituaries thread, that water trap is upping the kill count! I like it!
To be fair, we haven't started playing this yet. But reading through, there is a large dollop of flavor with some pretty good pacing. I like how things start slow and build a sense of menace - a menace that so far is pretty behind the scenes. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones didn't go toe to toe with the Nazi leaders, he faced of against Belloq and subordinates. It's the background of the cult willing to do whatever it takes to stop the PC's that adds the tension and need to rush a little.
I accidently left this on the table yesterday during our gaming session. One of my players - my father-in-law - saw it and snatched it up before I could pull it away. "Hey," he calls out, "just what in the hell is this?!" I grinned and put my hand out to grab it back and he pulled it away. "No, no... you don't need any more dirty tricks. Have you read it yet?" By now, I was frowning mightily.
"Yes," I replied.
He stared me right in the eye for a full minute (big dude - father of my wife - 6'5", 300 lbs - judging me. Always judging me.)...
Not only an evil act, but a conciously agressive evil act. Killing fleeing children. Even if the chief was begging in goblin, it's still obvious he's begging. All alignments shift (bare minimum) one step towards evil, and the pally loses his status and is forevermore a fighter. Atonement spells be damned, that's a cheap way out.
Pick up Swords & Wizardry Complete. The pdf is free and it's a great, simple game, with just enough rules to have a framework, and not too many that you feel overwhelmed by them.
It's always roll for us. 4d6-L. Reroll if the total modifier is less than +1. If someone doesn't like their stats, suck it up. No 'suiciding'. Find a way to be a hero despite your deficiencies.
Something akin to the old Dungeon Magazine Side Treks would be interesting. A short adventure scenario, something simple but with a quirk (random little things you can drop into an ongoing adventure that add versimilitude to the world...) a tomb, an old well with a secret door at the bottom, things like that would be cool.
Articles are good too, new magic items, spells, monsters.
I'd still like to see a Swords & Wizardry compilation of spells from the Complete book and those put in other supplements as well (RA, RC, SoA, SV)
Read through it carefully. Some of the encounters are absolutely brutal. This is a good thing. Just remember to let your players know up front... it's a meatgrinder - they'll get the hint about 3 rooms in when they reach the Font of Bones.
Careful, smart play will get the players farther than brute strength alone. They will need to know when to run, and make good use of the items they find along the way. Like Rappan Athuk, there are a lot of ways to get from one level to another. Be prepared for them to go from "easier" areas to areas with more deadly encounters in a few rooms.
Make sure you give fair warnings for some of those encounters. If there's a den of 2 dozen giant frogs up ahead, cautious players may state they're listening, but they'll also be able to smells the beasts. Don't give everything away, but be fair.
Oh, and let the dice fall where they may. It takes about five minutes to make a replacement character, so no one will be out of action for too long. ;)
I would highly recommend Slumbering Tsar, by FGG. It takes a break from some of the conventions more commonly used in newer games and brings back some old school lethiality (without breaking the system or changing the rules).
