Creative Director
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Just off the top of my head, we used some stuff from the Book of Vile Darkness in issues #111 ("Strike on the Rabid Dawn" has a diabolist and some vile feats) and #112 ("Maure Castle" has some Yeenoghu cultists with the Bestial domain). Issue #116 has a Book of Vile Darkness in it. We haven't used much from Book of Exalted Deeds but that's mostly because the info there doesn't lend itself that well to villains. That's not to say we'll never use material from it... just that we haven't had any adventures submitted that use it (hint, hint...).
A few suggestions:
1. Don't include any involuntary character changes like the Smoking Eye template. Most players like more control over the appearance and abilities of their characters (even if, over time, the template is free power). The Libris Mortis-type feats from the Spellweaver adventure were cool.
2. Keep a longer lasting, more reoccurring, villain. Sure, we saw the beholder dude in the first adventure, but at no point do the characters really know that he's the big baddie until he's gone all Shator-y several adventures later.
Killing the villain is more satisfying if you know or even remember why your character should hate him.
3. Less weirdo monsters and more original conceptions of core monsters.
But don't be afraid of a ten to twenty percent weird rate. Rather than throwing in a random half-dragon barbarian with no real story effect, tossing in stuff like the half-dragon kuo-toa spawn swarm is wicked cool.
4. Rules for common, but situation-specific events. For example, the Mob as swarm rules were nice.
5. If you are doing lots of undead and dragons, please avoid any vampire dragons. Vampires are cool, and dragons are cool, and even undead dragons are cool, but vampire dragons are not. Two cool things added together seldom produce something as cool as the sum of their parts. Watch Underworld for proof of that. (Who knew that vampires + werewolves = nightcrawler?)
6. Don't be afraid to abstract large locations a bit. Both the Kopru Ruins and Kuo-toa "cities" seemed like moderately-sized buildings. You don't have to tell us how many copper coins we find under the mattress of every hovel or peasant's house, but it'd be nice to not have to do the work of abstracting a city and making an artistic map/layout. A page-sized map with some notations would be nice. Even an artistic rendering of a cityscape(from a dragon's eye view) would do wonders for a campaign.
7. Please avoid all "monsters in a box." I know that the PCs have to encounter some monsters for the plot to move forward and for the PCs to feel like they'd had enough enccounters per session, but several of the Path adventures had things like trapped dracoliches, huge skeletons, demons, beholders, and several other monsters that would be cooler if they weren't trapped in caves, lakes, buildings, etc and they could use their abilities to the fullest.
8. Reoccurring NPCs are great. Including little tidbits to update the PCs on their current whereabouts is good.
9. Create a dedicated place on this site for fan-additions, such as new locations, NPCs, and PrCs. Add in a voting option, perhaps, for the favorite additions. Perhaps a contest, with the winner(s) being published?
10. Include more NPCs more powerful than the PCs. The PCs don't need every NPC to grow with them in power. Finally being powerful enough to best a well known NPC can be a mark of pride for a player.
I know that this is a tough one to do, since most gamers tend to run the game like "attack everything, never run." I just ask that you try.
Special note:
I still think that the Vile adventure that appeared in Dungeon was among the best. More Vile content or mature adventures would not offend some of us.
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Oh, by the way, the current plan is to include appendices in the second Adventure Path that include suggestions regarding inserting the campaign into the Eberron and Forgotten Realms campaign settings, written by some of the foremost experts on those worlds.
Will there be information on inserting the campaign into Greyhawk?
Or will Greyhawk be the default setting?
*fingers crossed*
Will the APII contain rumors like the first one? I continually fed one of my players rumors about the "tentacled lake-monster" thoughout the early installments of the Shackled City path, so much that they didn't believe it was true. It made it so much more fun to spring the bad boy on them in "Foundation of Flame"...
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While we're not ready to unveil any of the juicy details on the new Adventure Path quite yet, we're definately interested in hearing what the readers want to see in it!
So what do you all think? Any requests for the Adventure Path 2? What did you like in the Shackled City Adventure Path, and would you like to see that in the second one? What about things you didn't like in the first? More gnomes? Less demodands? More new monsters? Less new prestige classes? More exploration and overland travel? Less dungeons? More ninjas? Less baboons?
We'll definately take any opinions and recomendations posted here into account as we plot out the next adventure path, but the earlier you voice any suggestions and/or concerns, the better!
The one thing I can guarentee is that we'll be building in goodies for all 11 of the core character classes throughout the next adventure path.
Oh boy! Let's see:
1. Plot twists where BBEG is not the BBEG, but perhaps one of many BBEGs, or even possible only a minion to a greater set of BBEGs who follow an undead god. (Personally, I like lycanthropic orcs who follow Malar allies with a cult of psions bent on destroying illithids by making uber mighty psionic ioun stones and will ally with anyone who can help.)2. Typical bad guys are actually potential allies. (Can anyone say Illithid Ranger?)
3. Magic items that even have the gods a bit scared.
4. Multiple locations ... like a scavenger hunt that only brings the group deeper and deeper into the plot.
5. Plot twists where NPCs allies "aren't."
6. Githyanki and Githzerai (and potential alliances between a certain familiar sect of Gith).
7. Serious morality choices with no easy black and white path to tread ... and consequences any which way you go.
8. Perhaps a jaunt to the Fugue Plane (and the Far Realms).
9. Surprise twists of bloodlines in the NPCs - be they deity-related, BBEG-related, or otherwise .. and tied into some exciting new PrCs (or revised old ones from Dragon!), and perhaps even a new CLASS for a character to assume (or perhaps classes from Miniatures Handbook).
10. Taint.
11. Turning races on their heads: Eldreth Veluuthra, Durzagon, and perhaps even a few Warforged or other "rare" races ... though I'd prefer the campaign NOT be set in Eberron.
12. Blood War
13. (A good number to stop at): Aboleth City in the Underdark ruled by an aboleth lich.
I want the new adventure path to be easier to drop into another setting, so here's my wishlist:
1) Shorter adventures.
2) An adventure should not include more than one location.
3) Make the base location more generic. A cauldron is really cool, but makes it harder to adapt to, say, Waterdeep.
More half-dragons! Okay, maybe not.
I´d like to see the following things:
- battle grids to support mini skirmishes
- poster map (of course)
- no special (core-) setting
- just the same good mix of urban/wilderness/dungeon sections
(maybe some more underdark)
- more background and definitely more pics of NPC´s and
artwork for key-scenes
- a storyline that concludes in a clash between angels
and devils ! ^^
More stuff from the "Book of Exalted Deeds" and it´s dark counterpart would be fine !
Ninja baboons!!! Oh, and pirates.
Btw I hope that there will be no ninja baboons ! ;)
But some seafaring would be pretty cool !
While we're not ready to unveil any of the juicy details on the new Adventure Path quite yet, we're definately interested in hearing what the readers want to see in it!
So what do you all think? Any requests for the Adventure Path 2? What did you like in the Shackled City Adventure Path, and would you like to see that in the second one? What about things you didn't like in the first? More gnomes? Less demodands? More new monsters? Less new prestige classes? More exploration and overland travel? Less dungeons? More ninjas? Less baboons?
We'll definately take any opinions and recomendations posted here into account as we plot out the next adventure path, but the earlier you voice any suggestions and/or concerns, the better!
The one thing I can guarentee is that we'll be building in goodies for all 11 of the core character classes throughout the next adventure path.
So is there an estimation on when we can expect this next Adventure path?:)
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What I would like to see in AP2 is, that you may insert maps for the big battles.
I presently have the problem, to make the map for the Umber Hulk Samsh. This takes a lot of time preparing which I could use in a better way.
A big map would have done the job here perfectly. You had a lot of maps in past issues (like the map of the bridge which the bees - don't know the issue or the adventure name). My players would love to use their minis on those cool maps! Even tokens for the main enemys for the battle would be great, to allready have the opponents!
What do you think about that???
I hope this is not that much MORE work for you and it is the only thing I wish fpr AP2, because I know you will do again a great job on the next one!!!
I would like to see a path that goes into Epic levels, but stays away from excessive planar travel. It would be neat to end up playing power politics in the Underdark, for instance. If you had a series which travelled further and further from the PC's home, it could gradually introduce a new society of some kind, as the group drew nearer to the new land. You could offer campaign support materials as well. Let's see social skills utilized! More persuade/bluff/intimidate-type checks.
I believe the Adventure path series will turn out to be one of those things that people wondered what it was like BEFORE we had it.
I didn't see any prestige classes specific for the campaign so i'd definetly like to see that (maybe three or four, so every class could fit into one).
Also less monsters from D&D's supplements line of books. If you do use them, and it seems you might be using Libris mortis and/or the Draconomicon as the next one will have many undead and dragons, please print ALL the relevent material needed in the adventure, or make a web enhancement for each adventure.
We are supposting Dungeon in relevence to the fact that we're buying the magazine product so I don't think it's unfair to ask this.
As far as fitting into a campaign world (FR,EB) I'd like to see specific reference to which existing world groups best fit into the mold of the power groups in the adventure (as in, a bunch of dragon worshipers in the adventure become the cult of the dragon in FR, for example.
I think getting away from a site based adventue would also be a little fresh air for the second installment. Something where you must travel across the continent(s) to reach your goal (this especially needs to be supported by some info on where these can take place if you're playing in FR or EB)
Otherwise, I'm sure whatever you guys cook up for us, it will be, as usual, a great adventue.
Cheers
I would like to see an adventure path that carried the characters from level 1 up to the near tennish levels but by the sound of it, that kind of stuff has been taken care of already. I agree less extraplanar stuff and more core D&D monsters. I would also like to see it set in the Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms setting which is generic and not world specified. If it is going to be reappearing in 20 or so magazines I think it should have as much as a general apppeal as it can. Christopher Perkins is a good choice, I agree. He is a master of creating the enemy characters. Otherwise than that, let the chips fall where they may.
Perhaps a solution would be to have a sidebar or a web enhansement that gave alternate creatures. The adventure could use standard MM creatures, with the list giving alternatives if you own the suppliments. Or vice versa, the adventure could have the supplimental monsters with a sidebar with standard MM monsters to use instead.
Even for a 12+ adventure series, I don't want to buy 4 more hardback books.
Hey, I CAN'T buy all the books, I live in Taiwan, Ok?
And It's not a matter of the money, I've been playing for many years and spent over a thousand dollars on books and such, and will continue to spend money on the books I feel will be used well in our campaign. I remember reading an article from the Editor of Dungeon or Dragon (can't remember) about how many hundreds of books he has and how many great ideas he had to use them but never had the time to do it. Well, Ive been there too, and learnt that its important to control your spending, becasue the same thing happens to all of us.
If an adventure is presented in Dungeon, I believe all statistics not in the core books that are used in the adventure should be printed in the magazine, just like they did for the feats in the book of vile darkness, or the draconomicon stuff in foundation of flame.
This not only gives the reader a taste of what you can get in the books, it enables the author to present the adventure as it was meant to be.
The Demodands in the shackled city are great, they're definetly not demons, or devils, or something inbetween, and I don't think the readers (re:customers) of Dungeon should have to go out and buy books just to play an adventure in a magazine they just spent their money on in the first place.
If someone wants the Fiend Folio or whatever the book is, people will just go out and buy it. If they don't, they won't. Forcing the hand of the readers to support the material in the magazine by having to buy another book was one of the many factors that sounded the death knell of the old TSR inc.
I know this may seem like a rant to some of you, but it's an important issue to me, as I'm sure it's been discussed in the D&D offices before.
Though I would also like to see supplement material from other sources besides the core books present within Dungeon, it should be included in the magazine, just as the buyers of those books should not have to purchase Dungeon to complete their books.
Any requests for the Adventure Path 2? More exploration and overland travel?
While I can understand many readers' desire for more overland travel, I should put in my two copper pieces here. The more of the campaign world traversed, the harder it becomes to convert the adventures to other worlds. I suspect the first Adventure Path was relatively confined for this reason. The only request I have for the second one is that it not be set in Eberron - converting FR adventures to GH and vice-versa is easy, but Eberron is so thematically different from most D&D settings that the adventures take considerably more work to convert.
This Adventure Path thing sounds like a major investment of pages. Now don't get me wrong I like ready made campaigns - It makes my life easy as a DM. I have everything layed out for me and if I want I can always change stuff to tweak it for my group. If someone dies I can always balme Mr. Perkins ("that heartless fiend! He made me do it I swear!").
On the other hand I also look on the Adventure Path as a major intrusion. If every magazine is going to be three adventures long with one adventure per level tier (High 13-20, Middle 6-12, and Low 1-5) there will certainly be a dearth of high level generic adventures toward the beginning of 2006 and lasting well into 2007. By the time the characters are 12th-level they will be very much invested in the adventure with allies, enemies, prestige classes and what-not (as well they should). This makes the adventures a harder fit for folks who want to use them as a stand-alone, which turns into a major negative selling point for the new subscriber who will not be able to get sold-out back issues (Demonskar only came out a few months ago and its gone already). If I were a novice DM I probably wouldn't want to until the compilation comes out (2008?). It also becomes a negative for us folks who like our dungeons generic or (heaven forbid) like the Forgotten Realms Setting - where the divine beings and twinky Choosen of Mystra are so thick you have to beat them off with sticks. (Beat them hard. Beat them hard.)
I realize that a lot of what I am saying has probably already been considered but still - I think it needs saying. A twenty page adventure is a love affair. An adventure path is a marriage. Sometimes it works great and then other times Jenya, the plot detector, uses her divination to send the characters into a high-level dungeon.
Representing the Devil,
GGG
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Creative Director
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Adventure Path II is going to run for nearly 2 years. As a result, we're very much aware of the fact that it's going to clog certain level bands for several months. And since we want the magazine to be useful to those who choose not to run APII, you can be sure that Great Green God's concerns are at the forefront of our minds.
One possibility I'm thinking about is limiting "heavy continuity" installments of the Adventure Path II to approximately half or a third of the total adventures. We've got to establish a balance between the campaign's story arc and each adventure's usability as a stand-alone product, since not everyone will have all 20 issues (as much as we want them to!). By limiting the heavy continuity installments to once every 3 or so issues, those who aren't playing the whole adventure path will be able to use individal adventrues in the seires as stand-alone adventrues.
Also, for APII we'll be supplying the DMs with a much clearer picture of the whole story arc. You'll have a pretty good idea what the whole campaign will cover starting with the first installment, and every 5 issues or so we'll do a little update article. One of the most common complaints about Shackled City is that DMs had no way of knowing what to forshadow or what to prepare for in the future.
Finally... If I have my way, there's definately going to be less of NPC "plot detectors" in APII, especially in the higher level adventures. I've found that PCs are pretty good at detecting the plot on their own, so why not play to that strength?
Thanks for the quick response - now get some sleep you have to read my proposals later this week. ;]
Yawn, stretch, smack, smack, scratch,
GGG
'Where's my Mountain Dew?'
I agree with most of what you're saying GGG. It is a marriage, and it doesn't look like anyone wants a divorce. You can simply see how popular the AP is by comparing the number of posts on the AP thread to the number on the whole main dungeon thread itself.
Almost the same.
I've also seen many possibilities in my minds eye as far as turning the AP's I've read into one shots. We're all creative people here. If we weren't we wouldn't be playing.
I think we all appreciate the effort Dungeon has put into the first AP and now hearing and responding to our suggestions for the next installment.
I'd really like to see some more coolness like the sign of the smoking eye. It was really great because it didn't give the player too much power, but just enough to make it exciting, and it also did a great job of pulling that player further into the story. I'd just like to see something for each one of the players so they can all sample the fun.
I was thinking of maybe some lesser dragon templates for each one as the story progresses, over the course of four adventures for example, something like the fiendish or celestial template. Perhaps one of each of the good metallic dragons involved with the story, maybe if they were very high level patron type NPC's, could bestow some dragon like abilities magically onto the PC's. Say if each dragon had a favorite amongst the PC's. (which would also keep the party balanced better as well)
I also like the idea of shooting just past the Epic level for the PC's. I don't actually own the epic handbook, but it would be great to have an earth shaking adventure at the end of it!
Well, although GGG's got a good point on the required marriage to those 20 issues of Dungeon, It's plain to see that not doing an adventure path now would be a huge disappointment to so many of us.
And I'm also super busy during the week and don't have any time to make my own campaign world or write adventures. I've been using Dungeon for many years and will continue to do so as long as they keep on being creative, innovative, and constantly trying to make the magazine better.
Cheers
I know you can't include all worlds in the AP, but please don't forget about Greyhawk (for the older gamers ;0)>)
I'm glad most people seem to have enjoyed the Shackled City. I suspect you're really going to like what we have in store for 2005.
--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
DungeonUm.... if it's 20 modules long... that's more like 2005 and most of 2006! I've got no problems with that, especially since that would be a module a month. However, I do have some requests, so please bear with me.
First of all, let me start by saying that I love the series, and have recommended it to other GMs. But there have been several things wrong with it, mainly with inaccurate stat blocks. I've had several instances where the weapons NPCs were said to be using did not match what their stat block said they used. (Greataxes for Greatswords, for example.) Grappling modifiers have been added incorrectly for a few NPCs. (Believe me, I know. I have a half ogre monk grappler with the Vow of Poverty feat in my party, so I've had to use those grapple checks a lot!) Hookface was described early on as being female, but when the...
Please, no more demons or devils. It's getting boring, and I really don't like how every high-level plot degenerates into going to some other plane to fight some eeevil demon prince or devil lord. Can't someone mortal cook up a good high-level plot once in a while.
Also, this Adventure Path had way too many dungeons, especially all the ones right under Cauldron. How many times did the characters go into some heretofore unknown complex created by yet another lost race filled with new bad guys. It was repetitive, and it showed a lack of imagination.
I do like the Adventure Path idea, and I thought some of the ideas were imaginative, but you need to break out of the rut. Have some overland adventures, like "Racing the Snake". Have some horror adventures, like "Tammeraut's Fate". Have some intrigue in urban areas adventures, like the old "Veiled Society". Have a sailing adventure, maybe an underwater adventure, an adventure in a desert, an adventure in a glacier, etc. You've got 20 adventures to play with. Stretch out and let your imagination run wild.
Please, don't make it another dastardly plot by evil fiends from the outer planes. Booooring.
Also, don't let Christopher Perkins write more than one of the adventures. The finale to the Adventure Path was short, lacked much oomph, and was just a series of fights against escalating bad guys. For me, it was a major disappointment, especially since Adimarchus isn't inherently that interesting at the end. He's just insane and a tough fight, and you kill him. And then maybe you have to go to Occipitus and kill him again. Not very exciting, really. I'd really like for someone else to get a chance to do something better.
Positive things about the first Adventure Path:
Were-baboons (creepy!)
many of the NPCs (especially the Striders) - I especially liked having a group that has the same goals as the PCs but doesn't just tag along with them
the original design of Cauldron and the many competing power groups
having the different churches have different personalities and goals and carrying that through
A nefarious plot that is only slowly leaked to the PCs (though this could have been done a lot better - Occipitus feels like it is out of the middle of nowhere as the modules are played)
Let me first say that I really enjoyed all of the adventures of the first Adventure Path. As to recommendations for the second one...what I'd like to see is a sidebar somewhat akin to the scaling the adventure sidebar, but one that gives ideas for a party with more than 4 PC's rather than a party of higher or lower levels. I've been using Dungeon adventures regularly for years now, and my group often has 6 PC's in it. All of the adventures are written for a group of 4 PC's. Some of the encouters work well for more than 4 PC's, but some of them are just too easy for a larger group, and scaling them up by using the suggestions for a higher level group can make them too difficult. I don't always have enough time to read through the adventure, make some notes, prepare all the monster/BBEG tactics, keep updated on the goings-on in the campaign AND have to examine all of the encounters to see if they'll need some adjusting. Some suggestions for doing this in a sidebar would be nice.
Things I liked from the first Path and would like to see again: monster stats in the appendix, campaign-specific prestige classes and templates, and those blocks at the beginning of each encouter that had the information about light and reactions and auras. I really like those info blocks.
Oh...and more mind flayers!
Most everything I'd like has already been mentioned, but let me reiterate.
- Forewarning about who to keep alive and basic plot outline.
- Smoother transitions.
- I LOVE the new downloads section. Please, please, please include the artwork of BBEG's and settings so I can print them off to handout to my players during the game.
- Please start the PC's out in a "home setting" or common base. I accomplished this last time by starting mp PC's in Smallville at 0 level - and it worked in grounding their characters in the world of Cauldron (and supplied me with family contacts to help them and/or endanger, as needed).
Really enjoyed AP1 and am looking forward to #2.
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If Kyuss is in it then you have a mad god. Very scary mad god but mad god nonetheless. And loads of undead. And worms. *shudders with dark delight*
What did I like about Shackled City?
1) The unusual setting. City in a dormant volcano in a jungle. Love it. Reminded me of Suildam (?) from Against the Slavelords. Stangely it doesn't seem too alien, more like strangers in a strange land. A bit like the Dutch and the British colonies in the East Indies in the 1600's (which fit's in with the Holds of the Sea Princes).
2) Campaign Seeds. These really helped to get an idea of what is going on. Although it sounds like "The Path Ahead" will supercede them in Age of Worms. Nice idea nonetheless.
3) MMII and FF monsters. Even if you don't have the book the stats where provided. My players won't have a clue what they are fighting. If you don't own the books then your players really won't know whats going on as you will never have used them before, like when you first meet a troll and it keeps getting back up because no one knows about the fire and acid. It will stop them being blaise. Although it can be a bugger to find suitable miniatures :)
4) Extracts from new books in advance. Such as bits and pieces from Draconomicon and Libris Mortis (as well as BoVD). This made the modules very unique without straying too far from the core books for those on a budget (not me but I can sympathise).
Things for improvement.
1) Setting guidance. Some guidance on where to bloody place it would have been nice at the start, not in Dungeon #110 page 10. Luckily I haven't started it so it's a moot point and I will just place it in hex 77-U1 but it must have been frustrating for others. Big 3 obviously, as in GH, FR and Eberron I suppose. Incidentally if Age of Worms is set 1650 miles to the north east of Cauldron, in Greyhawk that puts it somewhere near the Rift Canyon (I shall get my map). Ah, Kyuss, better bring clerics with the Sun domain and Extra Turning. Radiant Servants would be best.
2) Plot. Make it tight (although planning it from the start should help this immensely). See my post elsewhere about skulks, dark creepers and Keygan Ghelve. Previous posts on the paradigm shift from Demonskar to Smoking Eye already abound. Also avoid plots too dependant on rules (in case they change), such as Xukasus in Flood Season being highly improbable in 3.5.
Other than that I love it. Keep up the good work.
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I forgot one thing. My missus lured me away with the smell of curry, evil culinary succubus that she is. Thats not the thing I forgot but why I forgot :)
Things for improvement:
3) Conisistent Web Support. You seem to have signed up to this but for a long time it was just Life's Bazaar and Flood Season and not a peep again until 114, which did sort of excel itself, as did 115. Where is 116 then ;) Basically keep as you are going currently and that would be an excellent model.
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Creative Director
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1: It will have lots of "setting guidance." You'll know where the first adventure is located from the start.
2: Planning the plot from the start should do wonders for tightening the plot. That said, I don't know how well we can avoid plots that are too dependant on rules, since it's impossible to know how the rules might change several years down the road.
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Excellent. The only thing I might suggest about rule dependency (which is more of a moot point unless D&D 4.0 suddenly appears) is possibly to have Andy Collins (he is Dragon Sage now isn't he) cast his eyes over it before letting a rule intepretation into the module that will potentially have a critical impact on plot. However the point is taken, there is unlikely to be any major shifts in rules for some time. Well at least I hope there won't be :)
Right, stuffed full of curry and wired from the spices. Time to go online and shoot stuff, I'm on tenterhooks enough as is without reading about more juicy gossip on Age of Worms :)
I don't really know if my opinion counts on such things, but I've been running the adventure path for the last 2 months (yeah, I got a late start!) and I've run into a couple of snags and a lot of things I really like.
For the record, I think the best adventures in the path were written by Christopher Perkins and Dave Noonan. While a Chris Perkins adventure is like a Master's Thesis in Adventure Design, I'd like to see more from Dave Noonan because his adventures seem to be the easiest to read and have the most logical flow, making them also the easiest to run. Not that all the adventures weren't good, but overall those are the best. The Demonskar Legacy has been the most difficult to read and run, so that should give you an idea what I'm not looking for.
I'd like to see a more consistent villain or, barring that, set of villains. In Shackled City you've got Vhalantru, Thiferane, and Embrel Aloustinai as the big "mover and shaker" villains, with the Last Laugh and the church of Wee Jas introduced as evil organizations. However, the Cagewrights and Adimarchus don't appear until much later in the adventure path and then the final showdowns with them seem a bit rushed. I guess what I'm saying is I'd like a more consistent build to the climactic battle with the villains. I want a villain that appears, if not every adventure, then every other adventure. It gives the party time to develop a real animosity toward the villain. As it is, they're more concerned with hating the Stormblades than they are any other villains. I've been injecting the Last Laugh into a lot of places so that when they have the showdown in Lords of Oblivion it'll be more of a climax, but I'm concerned when they get to the Cagewrights and Adimarchus there's going to be a more anticlimactic showdown. Make sense, or no?
I'd like to see less actual <i>dungeons</i> and more dungeon-like encounters. We're just four adventures in and every time the party has had to go underground. It gets a little cliche. A good example of a dungeon-like environment that I love from the Shackled City path is the Cathedral of Wee Jas. Great "dungeon" without having to ever go underground.
Otherwise, I like the changes you guys have mentioned. I'm not sure about the "more dragons" thing, because I felt that Shackled City has sort of made dragons more mundane than I like them, but that's just me. I have changed the dragons in Zenith Trajectory to other critters in order to preserve Hookface's special-ness, but I understand this is Dungeons and Dragons, so I guess I can't ask for less of them. Just....well, less dragons in one-off encounters. The dragon attack on Crazy Jared's seems to trivialize dragons a bit.
Wow, that's practically an essay! Whatever happens, I'm sure Age of Worms will be great. Shackled City has singlehandedly convinced my gaming group that core D&D can actually be fun again without a whole lot of gimmicks.
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Had a look on the Living Greyhwak map. If Cauldron is in U1-77, then 1650 miles northeast (or 25 65 mile hexes) puts Age of Worms in W-21, V-21, or V-22. These are in the County of Urnst, and covers High Madreth and Radigast City. This is about 260 miles south of the Rift Canyon (about 4 hexes). One of the older Dragons , but after 3rd edition, had a nice article on it's denizens. I'll dig out the number.
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Interesting bits under the article "Denizens of the Wormcrawl Fissure", in issue 276, written by none other than James Jacobs! It also references Hounds of Kyuss in Dragon #270 (I'll have to dig that one out of storage). Montsers listed are the avolakia, riftjumper, nerephtys, ulgurstasta, and ciruja plant.
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Just noticed that the Minions of Iuz article in Dragon 270, in which the Hound of Kyuss (pronounced kai-OOSS for those that don't know) appeared, was also written by James Jacobs. A pattern is starting to emerge :) Ironically Kyuss appears to have visited Lake Matreyus in the Amedio Jungle, specifically the Olman (later Suel) city of Elatalhuihle which is in hex V1-80, which is about three hexes (about 200 miles) east of Cauldron (assuming you play Greyhawk and place it in hex U1-77 as advised). Thats enough trawling through old books for now, but for those that are interested LGHJ 1 pages 23 & 24 and LGHJ page III page 13 (it has his religion details) have more Kyuss related material. A little more in WGR3 pgs 27/28 and WGR5 pg 54.
Perhaps I'm oversatating the obvious, but I'd like to see each adventure locale fleshed out with a nice regional supplement, ala the recently released City of Sterich.
I say this because I remember Erik Mona mentioning that the upcoming adventure path, unlike Cauldron, will take place all over the Flanaess. I can't help but look on this as a grand opportunity to develop Greyhawk in lieu of a new sourcebook.
Perhaps part of these adventures could take place outside the traditional map, anticipating the "westward expansion" that's rumored to appear in the future.
Anyway, some thoughts.
Just noticed that the Minions of Iuz article in Dragon 270, in which the Hound of Kyuss (pronounced kai-OOSS for those that don't know) appeared, was also written by James Jacobs. A pattern is starting to emerge :) Ironically Kyuss appears to have visited Lake Matreyus in the Amedio Jungle, specifically the Olman (later Suel) city of Elatalhuihle which is in hex V1-80, which is about three hexes (about 200 miles) east of Cauldron (assuming you play Greyhawk and place it in hex U1-77 as advised). Thats enough trawling through old books for now, but for those that are interested LGHJ 1 pages 23 & 24 and LGHJ page III page 13 (it has his religion details) have more Kyuss related material. A little more in WGR3 pgs 27/28 and WGR5 pg 54.
Craig, dude, you have either way too much free time, or you have some sort of stake in all this that you haven't mentioned yet.
Anyway, cudo's on the research. Keep it up!
Yes!!!!!!!!! Please don't forget to include GREYHAWK in any setting sidebar........Please
Well, that's the big question, isn't it.
Greyhawk _is_ the core D&D setting. . . ;)
--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon