So, I can't locate the info from Keith Baker that is supposed to be posted on the website here somewhere about placing AoW in Eberron. Can anyone help direct me? Or was the announcement in #124 premature (like, it hasn't been posted yet)?
Also, does anyone know if there's an "official" thing like that for Shackled City? I've seen lots of homebrew ideas on that topic in the messageboards, but nothing from Baker or anyone official. Will that info be included in the hardcover release, does anyone know?
Thanks!
So, I can't locate the info from Keith Baker that is supposed to be posted on the website here somewhere about placing AoW in Eberron. Can anyone help direct me? Or was the announcement in #124 premature (like, it hasn't been posted yet)?
Also, does anyone know if there's an "official" thing like that for Shackled City? I've seen lots of homebrew ideas on that topic in the messageboards, but nothing from Baker or anyone official. Will that info be included in the hardcover release, does anyone know?
Thanks!
Erik mentioned elsewhere that he expected it to be posted by Thursday of this week.
- Ashavan
Um..... so Thursday has come and gone.... and no conversion information... This has gone beyond a suspenseful pause into just plain cruel! ;oP
I'm really disappointed that an Eberron conversion is not going to be covered in the Shackled City hardcover. I do hope that a web enhancement covering Eberron (and Forgotten Realms) is seriously considered. I really love the fact that the Age of Worms is getting an Eberron conversion, and I might add, it is quite excellent. Thank you Mr. Baker.
I'm also disappointed to hear there is no Eberron conersion info for Shackled City. I dearly hope there will be a web document with conversion info in it.
Rooster
As I don't have the spare time to convert AP1 over by myself, I am disappointed as well. In fact, weather or not a web enhancement of this sort is released will depend on weather or not I but the hard cover copy.
I understand that it would be a lot of work for the guys there at paizo, however I do think it would affect profit gained, and after all it is about the bottom line in the end.
No conversion notes is a deal breaker for me (and might I add it should include FR conversions too). Just my perspective.
What? No Eberron conversion notes!
Damn, my players are going to munity when they hear this.
It seems to me that a few people will have to bite the bullet and do the conversion. I think converting each installment of the AP would take about 1-2 hours. Now while people might be busy with jobs, families, etc, I suggest that you spend the hour that you would normally use playing "World of Warcraft" or watching "CSI" to do the conversion instead.
Really, I know that some people might get up in arms about my comments, but for those of you who have no time to scratch your armpits, their are those who are simply too lazy to do the work. If you are one of the latter I will expect your tirade soon, but if you are one of the former you should have no reason to be upset.
I can't speak for everyone, but one of the major selling points for me was the Eberron conversions I thought were to be included in the HC. I even ordered directly from Paize instead of going to FRP games which carried the product at a cheaper price because I would get the product sooner, and I know how eager my players are to begin.
Now I find out (can someone from Paizo please confirm/deny this, or someone point to where they did say this) that the conversions will not be included in the HC. Needless to say, I am not too happy shelling out over $60 and finding out one of the major features I was expecting will not be there. I can now only hope that the conversions will be made available as a web enhancement in the near future.
And sure, I could do the conversions myself. The issue for me is not one of time, but quality. I am rather new to Eberron and am certain that my conversion would not be nearly as good as one made by say Keith Baker.
Currently, there is no official conversion notes for running Shackled City in the Forgotten Realms or in Eberron. There's also nothing of this sort in the hardcover. Hopefully, we'll be able to provide something like this as a web enhancement, but no promises yet...
Now I find out (can someone from Paizo please confirm/deny this, or someone point to where they did say this) that the conversions will not be included in the HC.
You know, someone like James Jacobs. Sheesh, how embarassing.
It seems to me that a few people will have to bite the bullet and do the conversion. I think converting each installment of the AP would take about 1-2 hours. Now while people might be busy with jobs, families, etc, I suggest that you spend the hour that you would normally use playing "World of Warcraft" or watching "CSI" to do the conversion instead.
I love the internet!
Ya know, if we all started posting ideas about Eberron conversions, it may take us all a lot less time to do it than we think it will. If we all put our collective heads together, I'll bet we could find enough notes, ideas, and cool encounter variations with each other to make an Eberron Age of Worms kick $#@.
For instance, where's Dimaond Lake? My vote is for Mistmarh in Breland. It's close to Sterngate/Darguun for the Blackwater Keep adventure, and I thought the Dragon's Crown could serve as a good place for the Wispering Cairn. For the Ebon Triad adventure . . have a central cathedral, like the one int he adventure, but instead of doors to three different temple areas, you have gates leading to three distinct locations across Khorvaire. . . Erynthul temple is deep in the chasms and pits of the Mournland, Vecna temple floats in the sky above the Demon Wastes, and Hextor's in in the heart of the city in Karrnath. The Free City is, well. . . Sharn of course.
A basic beginning, and just one of thousands of ideas we could think of together.
We're talking about Shackled City, not Age of Worms here.
Age of Worms have Eberron conversions for Whispering Cairn by Keith Baker in the Dungeon #124 Web Enhancement. More to come in the Age of Worms Overload as well.
Hmmmm, time to scratch my armpits would be nice... if only ;o)
I'm sure that when life calms down for me, I'll have that extra hour to do all the conversions that my little heart desires. But right now I don't. I won't for at lest another year. So in the mean time I hope for conversion notes and spend a few minutes a week on boards like this to get other peoples perspective on what's going on in the world of AoW...
Hence why it is a deal breaker for me: no conversion notes, no reason to buy.
We're talking about Shackled City, not Age of Worms here.
Age of Worms have Eberron conversions for Whispering Cairn by Keith Baker in the Dungeon #124 Web Enhancement. More to come in the Age of Worms Overload as well.
Oh.
Slinks away slowly. . .
Ok. For those of you who want to know where to start with a conversion, I'll start it off with a few suggestions.
1. Cauldron is located in a sparsely populated tropical region with light volcanic activity. Since most people would want Cauldron to be located somewhere in Khorvaire, then the options are limited. Probably the best location is Q'barra, Cauldron being located somewhere in the Endworld Mountains (in fact you could substitute the town of Whitecliff for Cauldron). The only real problem you face by doing this is that you have to change the map of the area around Cauldron to coincide with Q'barra's geography (since, while Cauldron is located in a mountain range running between two areas of jungle terrain the Endworld Mountains separates Q'barra from the Blade Desert).
2. Changing NPCs is less difficult than you might think. While Eberron has far few PC class characters than other worlds, Cauldron could be an anomally simply because of the dangerous area the city is located in. This is as good an explanation as any, and saves you from having to make needless alterations. If you have to make changes then follow Kieth's conversion notes for Diamond Lake and apply a similar principle to the NPCs in Cauldron.
3. Remember that Eberron has all the races that Greyhawk has and then some. Also remember that warforged, shifters and changelings are all fairly uncommon races, so be careful of making sweeping changes (such as making all the half-orc mercenaries in Cauldron warforged). If you do make such changes, do them on a case by case basis and make sure that your changes don't disrupt the plot of the AP.
4. You don't have to change any of the monsters in the AP at all. In fact its more a case of whether you want to replace the monsters in the AP with Eberron monsters. If you do so make sure the CR swap is as close as you can make it (such as two CR 8 carcass crabs for 3 CR 7 hill giants), and make sure that replacing the monsters does not interfere with the APs plot.
I know that making these sorts of conversions (particularly with regards to statistics) can be time consuming and difficult, so try to limit what you have to change. If the change seems necessary then so be it, otherwise don't make the conversion.
Anybody else want to pitch in?
1. Cauldron is located in a sparsely populated tropical region with light volcanic activity. Since most people would want Cauldron to be located somewhere in Khorvaire, then the options are limited. Probably the best location is Q'barra, Cauldron being located somewhere in the Endworld Mountains (in fact you could substitute the town of Whitecliff for Cauldron). The only real problem you face by doing this is that you have to change the map of the area around Cauldron to coincide with Q'barra's geography (since, while Cauldron is located in a mountain range running between two areas of jungle terrain the Endworld Mountains separates Q'barra from the Blade Desert).
I like this Phil. It makes bringing Zarik (the half black dragon) a little easier too. Q'barra seems like the only viable option. However I would still convert the NPC classes over to the standard Warrior and expert, maybe a few specialists, ect.
Here's a few more suggestions (I really should be putting this on the Shackled City site).
1. Probably the best location for Occipitus is Shavarath, The Plane of Battle. The plane shares Occipitus's blasted/wasteland terrain type, and since Shavarath is infinitely big Occipitus need not be caught up with the warfare on that plane. The Smoking Eye template needs no alteration.
2. Dolurrh, The Realm of the Dead with its entrapping nature is probably the best substitute for Carceri. That being said, Mabar, The Endless Night is the home plane of the yugoloths, so the choice is up to individual DMs which plane they choose.
3. The Cagewrights don't need any modification, while the Striders of Fharlanghn can be replaced by the Striders of the Traveler. Just remember that the Traveler is a far more capricious, enigmatic and neutral deity than Fharlanghn.
4. Substitute Dol Arrah for St. Cuthbert, The Silver Flame for Heironeous and The Blood of Vol for Wee Jas. There are a few minor differences in portfolios and alignment, but these deities are the closest substitutes in the game.
5. The spellweavers come from the plane of Xoriat. Alternatively, replace the spellweavers with the daelkyr from the EBERRON sourcebook.
Now I'm puffed.
I made a small error with my last post because I mistook the yugoloths for the demodands. In EBERRON the demodands come from the plane of Dolurrh, which becomes the replacement for Carceri.
Ok. For those of you who want to know where to start with a conversion, I'll start it off with a few suggestions.
Thank you, Phil! Your sugesstions are very helpful. Let me try again with some conversion stuff. . . focusing on Life's Bazaar:
1. Use of portals and overland transportation could be very helpful. We could use all of Korvaire, instead of focusing of Q'Barra. I think it would be good to use ALL of Khorvaire, even the other continents.
2. The kidnapped in Q'Barra are being taken in chains to Zilargo, where they are sold in an underground market to the horrible creatures of the Demon Wastes. The majority of Life's Bazaar would take place there, after a visit to the Zilargo emissary in Q'Barra.
3. Jzaderune (sp?) is th same, but it represents a more ancient society of Gnomes, that existed prior to the Dragonmarks. It is infested with Changlings instead of Skulks, but is not much differnet in other respects. The gnomish machines could be warforged, or
3. The Malachite Fortress can be converted to a large, ruined library. A few key changes in the room descriptions is all it would require, and everything else can be the same.
4. Oh yeah, I'd replace the Last Laugh with monks and theives of the Mockery. Instead of painted faces, we have. . . yuk!
5. While my last post on this subject was kind of embarrassing, it's kind of understanding considering this thread is in the Age of Worms section. If someone wants to continue this discussion, maybe copying or moving it to the Shackled City thread would be a good idea.
Just a few ideas. I still love the internet!
I had a thought about the Last Laugh. How about replacing its leaders with changelings, who alter the features rather than wearing face paint. The underlings paint their faces to emulate their changling superiors.
Okay, back to Age of Worms and Eberron. My question is this: Will the web enhancements for future installments include an occasional conversion of an NPC to one of the Eberron races? Or, notes on Eberron-specific monsters/treasurs/etc. to substitute?
I'm looking at running AoW as a very low-maintenance "campaign in a box" and my group is interested in trying out Eberron. If nothing Eberron-specific is included in any of the adventures, it seems pointless to bother running it on Eberron, since any old campaign setting would do. I liked the enhancement for #124, but if that's all that is forthcoming on the matter, then I have a really, really hard time actually finding value in the Eberron "conversion".
Moderator, I think this post should be moved to the Shackled City message board.