Hello!
This is my first time posting at Paizo forums. I just learned of the existence of the Shackled City and Age of Worms adventure paths a few days ago, but I have been a D&D players since 1990.
I would like to ask two things:
1) What is the basic storyline of the Age of Worms adventure path?
2) How fixed in Greyhawk is it? Could it be adapted to another campaign setting? (I play in Mystara / The Known World).
Any info is appreciated.
:-) Spellweaver
The staff at Paizo is working on a web enhancement for issue 124 that will include conversion notes for Eberron and Forgotten Realms. The last I heard was that it will be online either the end of this week or the beginning of next, which probably means that it will be during next week considering it's thursday now.
As for Mystara you will probably have to make the conversion yourself. You could, however, check out the conversion notes from the other settings to get some ideas how to convert it to that setting.
I would like to ask two things:
1) What is the basic storyline of the Age of Worms adventure path?
The overall plot seems to deal with the coming of a prophesied time called "The Age of Worms" which is a time of decay and destruction and according to members of a cult called the Ebon Triad (were in the first AP breifly) the time when they can bring about the appearance of their god who is the amalgamation of 3 evil dieties.
There seems to be a heavy influence from the history of the Rod of Seven parts as well, however the empire of the ancient race was said to have spread across all worlds.
2) How fixed in Greyhawk is it? Could it be adapted to another campaign setting? (I play in Mystara / The Known World).
I plan on using it in the Forgotten Realms and it was specifically designed to be portable. From reading only the first adventure I would say the author (editor Erik Mona) did a good job of giving a lot of history which will thrill Greyhawk fans but it is also very portable to other worlds. I don't know the Mystara setting well enough to make any suggestions on where to place it though.
Basically you are looking for a small mining town about 3 days from a major city that could be called "The Free City." (Greyhawk, Waterdeep, etc.). Ideally this should be on a small lake and surrounded by hills, but it would be easy enough to create such a town near a city.
Sean Mahoney
I would love to know if the Age of Worms would translate well into the FOrgotten Realms?
Can anyone tell me if it would plug-into Toril without too much work? I dont have much time at all to work on D&D anymore... :(
I will be running it in FR as will several other people on the board. To aid in this Paizo has been wonderful enough to contact a big name in the FR field of study and get him to create conversion notes for the setting, same with Eberron. I think it is Eric Boyd for FR and Keith Baker for Eberron.
What sort of region is the new AP set in? Northern chill or Southern heat?
The recommended location will be Waterdeep. I don't know what parts of the city will play into the adventure (like if it needs a harbor), but I would think that Silverymoon would work well as well.
Any cultural standards that must be be met? What "flavour" does the first module seem to be? Swashbukler/Thriller/mysterious searching/hack and slash/fortold of quest and "chosen ones" PC destiny stuff??
Is it a typical euro-centric adventure?
Cultural standards shouldn't be too tough for FR. The feel of the first city is pretty gritty, but will fit well into FR (though I guess might be a little out of place in the newly optimistic silver marches... hence the waterdeep recommendation). Basically this is a mining town run by corrupt mine managers and full of very poor workers.
As for the flavor, I would say that all of those you listed will be somewhat included to one degree or another other than maybe swashbuckling (though that would be easy enough to include if that were your bag). The story line revolves around prophecy, but I don't know that the PCs specifically are part of that prophecy, but will take prominant roles in determining the outcome of said prophecy.
What would you say inspired this AP?
Well, only the first adventure is out so it is kind of hard to say at this point (the author is likely to chip in here at some point and have a better answer). I would have to say first, the first AP in Dungeon. Then the Rod of Seven parts seems to have a heavy influence (the adventure that is, I don't believe the rod itself plays a large part in the AP). And finally I think there is a facination with Kyuss.
How much freedom does it allow for players at the creation point, do the PC's have to be local, vanilla, untested human, elf etc's
Well, it is recommended that the PCs start out as locals looking for a way out of the miserable little town. Exploring the Whispering Cairn could just be their ticket to that. As for the rest of the PC creation, any race or class that could possibly be in a degenerate little mining town that also happens to have a freak show would work. So pretty much anything. The PCs don't have to be originally from there, but have lived there for a little while... long enough to want to leave.
In your opinion, is this first module of Age of Worms better than/more fun/exiting than "Lifes Bazzar" from the last AP.
Tough call. They have very different feels to them. I really like the first part of Life's Bazaar but felt the dungeon was too large... I haven't finished reading the Whispering Cairn yet but am liking it so far. The adventure in and of itself isn't as good I would say in that is starts outside the dungeon door and just goes right into the Dungeon.
However, that said as soon as you get to the next article you get the info on the town and plenty of opportunities for role-playing. It doesn't spell out the initial rp action, but gives a very robust frame work for it. So as a package of what you get in the Dungeon mag it is very, very good so far.
The Dungeon itself seems to be more trap heavy than fight heavy at this point, but like I said I am not done reading it yet. Additionally there is a very rich background with tons of clues for additional rp opportunities back in town and plenty for investigative types to look into.
Overall I would say it rates high on my list of adventures... I haven't seen the whole AP yet (obviously) and will reserve judgement until then, but if this is any indication it will outshine the first AP in Dungeon.
Sean Mahoney
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Of course, a GM doesn't have to begin The Whispering Cairn right outside the dungeon. I know I won't. There is plenty of resource information about Diamond Lake from the adventure and backdrop article to have plenty of city encounters before the party gets to the dungeon portion. I fully expect my group to spend at least one evening in town, once we actually begin the campaign.
Now, the really crazy notion that's been running through my mind is how to translate Age of Worms to a D20 Modern, Urban Arcana campaign...
Of course, a GM doesn't have to begin The Whispering Cairn right outside the dungeon. I know I won't. There is plenty of resource information about Diamond Lake from the adventure and backdrop article to have plenty of city encounters before the party gets to the dungeon portion. I fully expect my group to spend at least one evening in town, once we actually begin the campaign.
That was pretty much my point... sorry if it didn't come across.
Sean Mahoney
I'm curious to see how this fits into Eberron. Some of it seems easy - Ebon Triad is a cinch, just pick three of the Dark Six (I'd go for Keeper, Shadow, & either Mockery/Fury). Fitting in the Wind Dukes seems a bit tougher, but I'm eager to see what the Web Enhancement says...
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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i for one will want to know how to fit the Wind Dukes of Aqaa for the Forgotten realms. maybe i'll place Diamond Lake near Calimshan due to its long history with genies and elementals.
This is Eric L. Boyd's suggestion, which you will be able to read in detail next week.
--Erik
Thanks for the replies everyone!
:-) Spellweaver