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Hi all!
I'm currently taking a break from DMing, but my surrogate replacement wants to go back to the ranks of playing, so I'm up in about 2-4 weeks. I've decided to run the adventure path with some heavy tweaking, and given the meeting of minds here, I thought it would be useful to post a progress report as I go, so if I get into a pickle, you kind, kind souls can help me.
I've had to change some of the cosmetic details of the campaign to (a) fit in the Wizard's Reach area of the Forgotten Realms, (b) confound a DM who's run the first two adventures, and (c) make it my own thing.
What I've decided thus far...
1. Cauldron will be replaced by the large town of Taskaunt. Instead of a volcano, they are on a thinly patched hole to the Elemental Plane of Fire from the Salamander War.
2. Instead of the Cagewrights seeking to open a gate to Carceri, they are the Hexblades looking to free Levistus, Prince of Hell. Really, I appreciate the input on the boards suggesting a more direct connection to Adimarchus, hence, this!
3. Little cosmetic things, such as names to sound more Thayan/Untheric, the Church of St. Cuthbert is the Church of Assuran, the church of Wee Jas is the church of Kelemvor (with Embril really being a cleric of Jergal with sinister plans).
4. The final encounter will lead the players to Stygia, to face off against Levistus...
I'm halfway through my little conversion notes of Flood Season, but when I run my first session, I'll be sure to post what happens. Suggestions are welcome...
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Okay, 1 week to go before I take over the DM reigns again, and I'm looking at running a preliminary adventure to get the party together. I'm looking at Unfamiliar Ground as a lead-in, with the following rough ideas
1 - Hezzrack is a great foreshadowing detail for rampant devils later. He can be a good story line as we go, taunting the PCs and giving them small bits of information.
2 - I'm changing the goblins in the forest to frogmen in the swamps of Taskaunt (sivs? bullywugs? one of them...)
3 - The destroyed tower will belong to the father of Fetor Ambrosius, the archtitect of the Cagewrights (IMC Hexblades). I'm thinking Fetor's dad isn't dead, he's stuck on Stygia, and Hezzrack has gone loony from wizard/familiar reception on the fritz or some such thing.
Any other ideas?
1. You might want to modify Hezzrack so that he's a demodand equivalent to an imp/quasit. I'm not sure if there is such a thing, but all you'd really need to do is keep the same stats for game mechanics, maybe change his appearance (grossly overweight, exudes a tarry substance) and alignment. Maybe give him a diseased bite instead of a poison sting. Something like that. It would add more specific flavor than using an imp.
2. Swamp goblins, perhaps?
3. Nice touch.
Oops. Just read your first post. Please strike my previous suggestion from the record.
I still like the sound of swamp goblins though.
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So we rolled up their characters last night ...
A gnome wizard with a riding hyena that he plans on making a familiar at 3rd level (with Improved Familiar)
A human cleric of Lathander who hates undead
A shou human rogue, who will be later multiclassing into monk and then thief-acrobat.
An untheric human bard, who is an former galley slave turned storyteller from unther with a nervous twitch and a Charisma of 11 ...
Two more characters to generate, and then we're off!
Thanks for the input PBEM - makes me feel like I'm not talking to myself ... ;> So, I'm starting them on a boat -- any ideas on challenges to throw at them, before I wreck their boat and leave them washed ashore in the Bone Swamp, near a destroyed tower, with a raven talking to them ...
Fly-bys!
I remember this adventure I played once, total pick up game, we were on a boat sailing 'somwehere' and were being attacked by a lich-dragon. Not your typical introductory encounter, but I still remember the sound it made as it swooped over us!
Well, here I am Archade, fulfillin' my DM'ly requirements of support and ideas! ;P
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Hiya!
I'm prepping up Unfamiliar Ground, and I'm looking to start it with all the players (likely not knowing each other) on a boat from Bezantur to Taskaunt. The boat is going to sail within 5 miles of Hezzrack, and he's going to perform some mischief on the ship during a bit of rough seas.
It'll give the PCs a chance to try to tie down sails, deal with crewmen under suggestion, deal with an unseen servant dumping things overboard, and an invisible Hezzack chewing through ropes, clawing up the sails, etc.
Ultimately, it'll leave them stranded in the Bone Swamp 10 miles west of Taskaunt, with a crazy raven talking to them. I'm thinking of stranding them with the captain, or one of the Stormblades, but I'm thinking that might detract from the unifying effect of being forced to deal with the situation. Maybe I can have the ship break apart, and the Captain and the Stormblade get home 'offscreen'.
Great minds think alilke, eh Bulette?
Have you considered Box of Flumph as a starting adventure? I haven't played it (only read it), but it looks like lots of fun. It has a nautical theme to it, and part of the adventure is on a ship (with the potential for breaking up on the rocks). I'm sure you could alter it to fit your scheme, and it has the added advantage of being designed for 1st LVL characters. A rarity.
If you wanted to use only half of it, you could skip the first detective part of the adventure and have the flumphs already smuggled aboard the PCs' ship by the Grackle. They would then have the opportunity to figure out what's going on just by being nosy and snooping around. It could work.
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Funny you should mention that - I've taken the map from the web enhancement of Box of Flumph, enlarged it and printed it into a battle-mat sized boat.
The adventure inspired me to jam a bunch of unattached pcs on a board, smash it up, jam them in a swamp 10 miles from town, and spring an adventure to gel them together...
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Okay, here's the saga thus far!
We've run the last two weeks a slightly modified version of Unfamiliar Ground. I've used this adventure to gel the various PCs into a group. The first thing I did was start them asail the Wings of Tanalee, pushing off from the docks of Bezantur. I used other passengers in NPC interaction, and the first mate asking their business in Taskaunt for the register to get the PCs to introduce themselves. Then I started throwing things at them ...
First, I threw a storm at them to blow them off course, make a couple of balance and climb checks, and put them on edge. Then I threw Hezzrack at them. I had him come aboard the ship invisibly, start chewing on integral ropes, and using unseen servant and suggestion to have the slave crew mutiny and have various objects dropped overboard. The PCs are very much pushing the "free all slaves" angle, so they got Hezzrack's attention quickly.
They then made their way to the cave complex (now filled with bullywugs), and after a few forays there and back to the ship, set sail for home. Most of the PCs have made 2nd level, but the ones with Level Adjustments aren't quite there yet. They fought an assassin vine in the swamp, some gnolls, pushed partially into the tower and fought the skeletons and bullywugs, but didn't get into the wizard's chamber or look in the pool.
Now I'm ready to spring Life's Bazaar on them ...
The PCs thus far:
Xuthah, a murghom human/half-dragon ranger 1/fighter 1
Kazah, an aasimar cleric of lathander 1
Tetsuo, a shou human rogue 2
Demos, an untheric human bard 1/fighter 1
Rast, a moon elf (escaped slave) rogue 2
(Name?), a gnome wizard 2, with his animal companion a riding hyena
Nelson, a human (former sailor of the Wings of Tanalee) fighter 1
very nice!
I can't wait to hear about Life's Bazaar. Especially how they get Keygan's confidance, the two groups I've run through Life's Bazaar did things so differently.
Bulette
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Life's Bazaar should certainly be interesting, especially with the following changes:
- instead of children stolen from an orphanage, slaves have gone missing from a mulan noble's manor.
- Keygan is now Koran Doon, a junior mulan wizard
- Jhazidrune is now Doon's Retreat, a secret magic item workshop that is a precursor to the idea of the Thayan Enclave, and the demense of Koran Doon's ancestor
- the Gear doors are now planar rune doors, but trapped pretty much the same.
- The Vanishing is now the Firedance Plague, an extradimensional disease brought by the salamanders that burns people alive on the inside.
- instead of dark creepers and dark stalkers, I'm using kenkus and splinterwaifs. The head dark stalker is now a half-fey splinterwaif.
- The malachite fortress is a dueregar outpost/trading enclave
- Kazmojen is now a dueregar, haven't exactly decided how to make him interesting.
We'll find out at tomorrow's session!
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So, we played our first session of Life's Bazaar tonight, and it was definitely interesting ...
They heard rumors about people going missing, and asked about town. They decided that living in a tavern was too expensive, so they went and talked to Lord Petrus Borenti (aka Lord Premiach Vanderboren) and rented a villa from him and got to like him. They then tried to see the Hierarch (aka Mayor) and got to meet instead Lord Ulem Var (aka Vhalantru, only he's an Ultroloth), and agree to try to help find the missing persons.
Then they have the alley encounter with Rufus, Jil of the Shadowmasters (aka Last Laugh) and the thugs. First off, in a raining alley the aasimar cleric of Lathander casts daylight on the alley wall, revealing Jil and setting up a rooftop chase of her! They rescue Rufus, go back to the Church of Assuran (aka St. Cuthbert) and are asked by Jenya to help find the slaves (aka the orphans).
They examine Phen Manor (aka Lantern Orphanage) and learn a bit, including the locks were made by Koran Doon, and that some mysterious half-elves (aka the Striders) were by, but nothing horrible.
They Meet Koran Doon (aka Keygan) and botch it, alarming and annoying him more than anything, but they realize something's up. Finally, they later send a note via urchin to Koran with an implied message they know he's in trouble and they want to help, and Koran shows up at their doorstep at noon, stating he only has a few minutes to speak ...
Fun, fun fun!
Excellent! How many hours did that take?
I remember in one of the playtests that were written about in Dungeon Magazine, after only four hours they have found the door to Jzadirune, but it took my group 1.5 sessions of 5 hours each to get to that point.
I can't wait to hear more. Tonight's my D&D night, so I should have something new in my journal tomorrow.
Bulette
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Hiya Boolay and others!
Our sessions are about 4 hours long, so it took about 2-3 hours.
So our session last night was interesting, we started with Koran Doon (aka Keygan) standing at the door of their very expensive villa giving them the leather map to Doon's Retreat, and telling them that underneath his hall in the Red Wizard Enclave is his grandfather's old retreat, a place where magic items were manufactured, a prototype of the Thayan enclave idea. Anyhow, Doon's Retreat was abandoned during the Salamander War when elementals brought something over from the Plane of Fire that mixed with a remnant of the Dragon Plague and came up with the Firedance, a magical disease that burns people from the inside out, that contaminates magic items and magical beasts (like familiars). He also told them that he was being watched by bird men and their plant minions.
So, the PCs had to figure how to get in the enclave with their weapons, so a visit to Lord Ulem Var (aka Vhalantru) was in order. I tried to forshadow a bit of knowledge/sinister mannerisms of Lord Var by having him open his door and greet them before they knocked, and provide them a ready-made sealed letter for the guards of the enclave. Spooky...
So, the PCs throw their weapons and shields into a box, give the letter to the guards, get in the enclave, and push their way into Koran's shop. Instead of a skulk, they got to fight a splinterwaif, which kept them on their toes. Beating it, they talked to Koran, found out that the bird men (kenku) and splinterwaifs had stolen his familiar, and he showed them the way down into Doon's Retreat.
Down there, the PCs started crawling through the tunnels, fighting splinterwaifs, and found out what made the tunnels - a bronze large animated object, which was a statue of a minotaur with a maul. The PCs being brilliant, ran like hell.
They then started opening the trapped doors, which were brass-plated doors etched with runes of the various outer planes. With the rogue in the party having a Disable Device skill of +11, they're making pretty fast handywork here.
They're now in the great hall, where the magic items were made, and find the place is boarded up from something inside here, and they hear a chittering. I'm thinking an arachnoid rust monster might be better than a grell, it's still to be determined ... ;>