I'm running a session zero (on Foundry) for some old high school friends this Friday, and I've been playing around with a better hook than the one given in the AP to get them to care about Otari.
I've seen lots of suggestions about starting with the beginner box or a Founder's Day Festival, which both sound really fun. My concern is that we will probably only get to play a couple of times per month, and both of those options feel like they will take a couple of sessions to even start the AP. (I may incorporate the festival later between chapter 1 and chapter 2.)
Instead, I was thinking about stealing from Carrion Crown and having them find Wrin Sivinxi's body somewhere (or having it found by an NPC). I'm thinking that Wrin saw the Gauntlight and went to investigate and got killed in the ruins. That would give players a clear hook to Gauntlight and maybe a reason to ask around town and get to know some of the NPCs.
Can you think of any big consequences to not having Wrin around for the rest of the adventure? (I could also have another NPC like Oeseph die). Also, any ideas on what it is that killed her? I was thinking that the Flickerwisp might make sense, but I also love the idea of making her more knowledgeable about Gauntlight and Nhimbaloth (again, riffing on Professor Lorrimor)-- so maybe she got to the chapel and was killed on the way out?
I also appreciate any other thoughts or suggestions you have on how to start out the campaign!