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I recently started a new D&D Campaign with a group of mostly new players with little knowledge of the game system and less knowledge of campaign worlds such as Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms. And since I tend to (wrongly) assume that the historical development in those worlds is known to my players ( which in this case actually is not), I decided
1)to use the Eberron Setting where this sort of knowledge isn't necessary (and can be found in one book only)
2)to convert the Adventure Path, so that I can focus on helping my players instead of controlling a self-developed campaign.
The idea is as follows:
1.The PCs start in Shadowdale where they get hired to find Randal Morn, the rightful leader of Daggerdale, and the legendary Sword of the Dales in an ancient wizard's tomb (one of my players has met Elminster and has had some terrific experiences with the Zhentarim, so this should scare him a bit ;) ). For those who remember, this is taken from 1995's Sword of the Dales scenario.
2.In the tomb they find information about other legendary swords (Giventhar, a Githyanki sword, and the well-known Balmung and Excalibur).They happen to rescue Randal Morn but fail to take the Sword which is stolen from them right before their eyes and transported to Eberron via the Portal located in the tomb (I know I'm mixing two different wheel of planes there but that's intended. )
3.To introduce my Players to the Eberron Setting, I'll lead them through "The Forgotten Forge" and "Shadows of the last War". In my campaign, Rose Quarry is located at the foot of a dormant volcano; from there a road winds up to the city of Cauldron, the last human outpost in Daargun and the last greater city at the frontier to the Mournland. There the adventurers will meet Elaydren d'Cannith after their return from Whitehearth and there the Adventure Path will begin...
4.In my campaign, the cagewrights will work for the Dreaming Dark; their goal is to open a Portal to Dal Quor, to make another Quori Invasion possible. They want to enslave the goblinoids of Daargun first (hoping that Darguun won't get to much help from the other nations). With this foothold gained , Khorvaire will be theirs and serve as a great source of human vessels.
5.To fashion the soulcages, the cagewrights need the scheme the House d' Cannith and the Emerald Claw are searching for, and maybe, the Dreaming Dark is the driving force behind the Emerald Claws efforts (I haven't decided on that yet). Besides, the cagewrights need seven legendary swords to finish the soulcages (the four swords mentioned earlier, and the Sword of Aknar Ratalla (Dungeon #119 – this module gave me the idea for this campaign).
So, here's my question: Does anyone knows other legendary swords (preferably from other Dungeon modules, official world modules and the like, which i could include in my campaign? Those modules should broaden the world my players live in, expand the amount of XP available ( I think for new players, the AP seems very, very challenging), and deliver some nice swords (not necessarily from the Forgotten Realms, other Campaign Settings would be very welcome, at the end, the existence of the whole multiverse should be at stake :) ).
Second, I think to remember, that there were modules about the Githyanki in old Dungeon issues. If I am right, can anybody tell me, which issues I have to look through?
Conversion issues
So far I replaced the Church of St. Cuthbert by the Church of the Silver Flame (one of my players is eager to play an exorcist of the Silver Flame and here's the connection). The Striders of Fharlangn have transformed into the Striders of Light (so to say the military arm of the Path of Light, mercilessly opposing the cagewrights for what they are – servants of the Dreaming Dark). I intend to replace the Carcerian Sign by the long forgotten "Mark of Death". I haven't gone into the details of the later AP modules - I'm working on the translation of the „Life's Bazaar“ into German at the Moment - so I don't know if my changes fit into the story development of the AP? Is there place for Psionics (I'd like to give Meerthan a level as psionist, but have no idea about the adventure's personal in the future).
I would really appreciate if someone could give me comments on that. And you're welcome to assist me with helpful advice, how to include Eberron Stuff into the campaign or even devastating criticism (maybe something i said earlier won't function with the AP? ).
Yours truly,
Wormy
Speaking from a position of foggy recollection...
There are githyanki modules in recent Dungeon issues I think.
Didn't #100 have a big one, and in the last 30 issues there have been one of two githyanki-themed issues I believe.
What about Blackrazor? Wave or Helm?
WormysQueue- So far, your changes have done little to hinder the development of the AP (indeed, they seem to enrich it, thus far).
However, I STRONGLY reccomend you read, in detail, several of the key adventures in the AP, including "Test of the Smoking Eye", "Thirteen Cages", "Strike On Shatterhorn", and, most importantly of all, "Asylum"- There is information on Adimarchus and his past that you NEED to know in order to properly set up the finale, including the Smoking Eye, and, of course, data on Adimarchus himself and the stage of the final battle.
An important consideration is that The Abyss and Carceri figure strongly into the AP, whereas these places do not exist in Eberron, and have no direct analouges therein. Most people have simply made the necessary areas pocket dimensions, however, putting Skullrot in Dal Quor might work as well. No idea offhand as to where you can put Adimarchus' old domain, but i'm sure you'll think of something.
Feel free to ask further questions of this forum, but do follow my advice- read the chapters I mentioned. It will color how you run the AP, and save you many headaches in the future...
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Thank you for the many suggestions :)
I think I have heard of the Fedifensor sword before - maybe i can tackle this storyline to Giventhar, I'll see.
Tanis Half-elven's Wyrmslayer sounds fine (and adds another Campaign world - think i'll have a lot of stuff to read in the next weeks (if i can get my hands on it) )
Elrics Stormbringer is well-known to some of my players... and I fear they would rather let the multiverse die, if they only could get THEIR hands on this sword, but maybe... humhum
Justin, I think I'll follow your advice (it's the thing i would have normally done but I'm a bit under time pressure and needed something to feed my players with, so I decided to prepare AP01 first and then read through the later modules. But I suppose you're right.
I'm aware that Eberron lies in another "universe" and has its own wheel of Planes, but being a Moorcock fan, i assume they are in the same Multiverse (there is only one, right? ;) ). I haven't figured out how it works yet, but since there has to be a reason how the Cagewrights can reach other universes (and how the heroes can transfer between them) there will be an explanation in the end. And there will be disturbances threatening other universes as well *evil grin*.
With this in mind, i have to options open:
1) to mix the different wheels of plane (then I could use Carceri/The Abyss without greater adjustments and since my players have no knowledge about it, they won't argue)
2) I redesign things if necessary, so that they fit into my Campaign. I don't know ho difficult this will be, but, hey, design and redesign is the DM's joy and pleasure :).
And I will definitively ask further questions, if they arise.
Thx, yours truly,
Wormy
Hey Greg. I just wanted to say thanks for the stats on Fedifensor. I had been needing those for a long time. I have a character that retreived the broken blade in the Interlopers adventure and I wanted to be able to have it fully restored.
Missed my favorite...
On three in six lies nine
but none shall ever see...
ASEO out
What about Blackrazor? Wave or Helm?
Wave was a trident.
Whelm I think was a war hammer.
I had a character taken over by Wave kill the rest of the party. Oh what fun.
I think a sister to Black Razor was receantly featured in an adventure.
ASEO out
How's this for a blast from the past? (Castle Amber, to be exact.) Details appended. The earlier addition rules realy took advantage of the save or die effects, but you can modify the thing if you want to.
P.S.- What adventure were Wave and Whelm in? I have a fuzzy memory of running into them as a player a long time ago. I was a magic-user, so I didn't get the good loot.
The Enchanted Sword of Sylaire is a sword +3, +5 vs.undead.lts
purpose is to slay undead and it will automatically kill any undead it hits on an unmodified score of 18 or better. It also can detect evil and detect invisible and gives the user the ability to fly (as per the spell) for up to three turns three times per day.
P.S.- What adventure were Wave and Whelm in? I have a fuzzy memory of running into them as a player a long time ago. I was a magic-user, so I didn't get the good loot.
White Plume Mountian, along with Black Razor.
ASEO out
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The Sword of Sylaire seems interesting too, particularly if I decide to include the Emerald Claw/Blood of Vol into the plot.
As I said earlier I'm thinking about replacing the Carcerian Sign by the Mark of Death; that would certainly alert the Queen of the Dead and her minions; and it would explain why the Emerald Claw is interfering in the "Shadows of the last War" (I'm waiting for "Grasp of the Emerald Claw" :) ). I could imagine that Vol has united with the Dreaming Dark, both eager to reach their plans: The Dreaming Dark wants to conquer Khorvaire, Vol seeks revenge against the elves of Aereneal and the dragons of Argonessen. The only thing is that I'm not quite sure if those two powers of evil are able to work together, Vol being the Queen of the Undead,and the Quori in their need to take over living vessels.
So what do you mean: Would those organizations work together (at least for some time), although it says in the Eberron Campaign Setting that "the Dreaming Dark is a secret order that does not bargain with other organizations?"