One of the big strengths of the new AWAP is that DM's are given a lot more tools with which to "tie" their parties to the initial setting. I produced my own "adventurer's guide to Cauldron" that gets updated as my PC's finish each module to help them feel more like locals, but they still felt "foreign" to the setting and played adventurers from Sasserine. Never underestimate the lure of cold cash, even for good characters; my party traveled to Cauldron because it is a cheap, relatively unexploited venue for professional adventurers. Their characters have developed since then, but that was the initial hook. I would have liked to make them locals, but Cauldron just wasn't fleshed out enough to make it their childhood home.
On a related note, James, I know it's kind of late in the game, but what are the odds of getting a "Player's Guide to Cauldron" in the hardcover, or better, as a downloadable PDF? Something that gives generic background and highlights sufficient for a player to play a "local?" And Erik, what about a player's version of the outstanding Diamond Lake backdrop in #124, either in Dragon or on this site?
I'm getting ready to run the Shackled City adventure path for my group and was wondering how everyone introduced their PCs to Cauldron...
All of the PCs I'm running through SCAP are locals. During character creation, I had them all decide how they knew eachother, and give suggestions as to their connection to the town of Cauldron. The cleric is one of the four 1st-level priests working for the Church of Saint Cuthbert, the fighter used to be an orphan at the Lantern Street Orphanage, the rogue is a "rich kid" who may end up in the Striders, and the wizard is the rogue's best friend.
As a tie in to the campaign, it's all working out rather well. With the connections to the Church of Saint Cuthbert and the Orphanage, getting the PCs involved was not hard at all. Of course, I had the advantage of being able to see more than the first installment before the campaign kicked off, so I knew what was coming down the pike and was able to use that knowledge to my advantage.
As an aside, I have always found it easier to involve the players' in the creative process as far as linking their PCs together BEFORE play starts. Taking time to make sure the players integrate their PCs with eachother during character creation should be the rule - it makes things SO much easier. If you've taken a look at the newest Age of Worms AP, you'll note that DUNGEON made some great suggestions as far as this is concerned. I hope (for those of you fixing to start the SCAP after the hardcover is released) that they added similar suggestions to the compiled product.
Oh, and I would REALLY love to see something similar to the Diamond Lake article which ties into the Age of Worms AP - but for Cauldron. That article was just awesome!
I use a "Creation Preamble" as a catalyst for character development. After graduating from Greyhawk College/University of the Flaness, the characters are so in debt that they indenture themselves to one of three different organizations: The Scion of the Green Reagent, Harpers Agent, and Red Fellowship (I edited the same templates from the RPGA site). I think two of these groups relate well with Cauldron's secret societies - the Striders (Harpers and the Chisel (Red Fellowship. The Green Regeant may be a St. Cuthbert fellowship. Here is a copy of part of the introduction I use to hook the players into Cauldron.
Graduation at Greyhawk
From the dark alleys of slums, to the alabaster spires of palaces, the city of Greyhawk quenches your thirst for diabolic secrets and truths’ divine. While peasants till the soil, woodsmen strip the forest, and knights quest ‘cross valley; you delve in a sea of scrolls, mine mountains of scholars, and journey mythic roads for enlightenment. For two years research, writing, listening, reading, investigation and performance are the hallmarks of your academic career. Graduation marks an end to this scribes’ life and commences your pursuit of fame and fortune.
Fame and fortune come at a price, however, with choices both profound and ordinary. When you were enrolled at the University of the Flanaess, cost was not a consideration. Earning a college degree opens many doors and the choice to take one path or another. Many roads lay before you, and some decisions await your scrutiny. Three offers to exorcise your debt exist.
After your ceremony of graduation, a debt must be paid to the benefactor’s who financed your education. And the Green Regency, Red Fellowship and Grey Council explain a task that you are qualified to perform in exchange for the room and board at U.F.
Minister Sauul explains “In the interest of commerce, the Free City of Greyhawk established many trading outposts throughout the Flanaess. Eight centuries ago a wizard, Surabur Spellmason, established towns, villages, and colonies on the coast of the Amedio Jungle. One city, Cauldron, honors its’ fealty to the Grey Council, grants trade provisions for the Red Fellowship, and provides sanctuary for agents of the Green Reagent. Though Lord Mayor Severen Navalant has not asked for any assistance, it is in Greyhawk’s interest to protect our relationship with this honorable community. Pursuant to our agreement, the Council, Reagent and Fellowship ask you to journey to Cauldron, reconnoiter the landscape, investigate town disturbances, analyze dangerous situations and report, by way of courier, on events that unfold in Cauldron.
Jon Hawkins, captain of a sailing schooner, will conduct you to the Amedio coast and provide directions to Cauldron.”
And here is the letter which explains the characters direct involvement with Cauldron, which they open when they reach Cauldron.
Good journey,
Built inside the mouth of a dormant volcano, the town of Cauldron is aptly named. The town’s buildings, tightly packed and built from volcanic rock and wood, line the inner bowl of a dormant volcano. Cobblestone roads form concentric circles around a small lake of cold water. Although the town’s sewage seeps into the lake, local clerics routinely purify the water for the citizens in exchange for charitable donations to their temples.
A 50-foot-tall fortified wall of black malachite encircles the city, tracing the outer rim of the volcano. Four roads descend the outer walls of the volcano, becoming major thoroughfares that lead to other towns and distant realms. The districts nearer the rim of the city tend to be occupied by upper class families and elite merchants. The closer one gets to the center of town (and the closer to the pungent odors of the central lake), the shoddier the construction and the more dangerous the dark alleys.
In these dark alleys few find solace, especially since a recent string of disappearances and robberies have plagued the townsfolk. People have been taken from their homes during the night, and the town guard has been unable to identify the culprits or locate the vanished citizens. Moreover, the victim’s homes were stripped of portable valuables.
Besides the four major thoroughfares within the city, Cauldron can be prescribed into quarters: a Noble and Foreign Domain, Merchants Row, Ministers, Scribes, and Clerks Squares, and the Artisans and Craftsman’s Guild Halls. On the shore of Crater Lake, piers, slaughterhouses, and docking facilities harvest this liquid’s resources. Underground, every strata is honeycombed with basements, tunnels, sewers, and cysts. These connections, often called the Silent Highway, provide a network to communicate, trade, and collaborate with the Underdark.
Seek Lord Mayor Severen Navalant or Captain Terseon Skellerang to discover details of these events. Arvin, an innkeeper at the Shady Dragon Inn, will supply you with simple accommodations.
A great way to get the best of both worlds - locals and newly arrived explorers is to combine the two. Having locals returning to Cauldron after years/months absence is a nice balance to a characters background.
Perhaps the characters know a great deal about the recent past of Cauldron but not the immediate past. Alternatively you could have a combination - characters that were all childhood friends but some left for distant lands while others remained behind.
Still using this idea you could even have the party made up of the children of friends - much like the Stormblades - and have the party be a mix of returning and existing locals.
Good luck tonight
Delvesdeep
|
I had them start at Sasserine. As we know in Greyhawk Sasserine moved around a bit which complicated things somewhat, particularly when it moved 60 miles to the north when it used to be 200 miles to the south :) As I only had three players I knew they had to get to lvl2 for Life's Bazaar, so I ran them through Evil Unearthed as they travelled to Cauldron. Look at my posts elsewhere on the group but it was like three (very religious) strangers on a road trip, almost a pilgrimage. I also made Kor Bloodaxe a recent convert to the Hextorian cult within the Ebon Triad reporting to Triel Eldurast. The players formed a joint identity, that crossed temple boundaries, prior to arriving in Cauldron. It really worked but I guess they are from the Cauldron region as will be presented in the new hardcover.
I had some players who thought it would be best to start as a group and some that thought it would lose appeal if they didn't get to role-play their meeting. Some thought it would be best to be local and have a knowledge of the city, others thought it would be best to learn during the game.
So what is a DM to do? I did them all...
Goliath Fighter - This PC was not from Sundabar (playing in the Realms, but I have Cauldron be the knick-name the locals use for the city) but arrived a couple of years ago. He is a member of the watch and has been investigating the disappearances. He started with the a fair knowledge of the town, the info the watch possesses in Life's Bazaar, is friends with and works under Skylar Krewis, was part of a group of guards led by Triel when she turned on them (he and Skylar were the only survivors). He is convinced that Triel is behind the kidnappings (and all other evil in the world really).
Tiefling Rogue - I replaced the handyman of the Lantern Street Orphanage with this rogue. She was raised as an orphan at the orphanage and started with some knowledge of the gang war going on and the 'seedier' side of Sundabar. She was hired by Revus Twindaggers to watch Terrem and is deathly afraid what the Last Laugh will do now that he is missing. Her biggest priority is staying alive, but to do that she feels she has to find and rescue Terrem (she tells the group she is interested in all the kids).
Human Bard - This player wanted to start out as not local and part of a group. This character then was from Waterdeep but wanted more in life and excitment. He set out to reach the bardic college in Silverymoon but stopped in Sundabar for a time. He met up with a bouncer from the Tipped Tankard and a slumming noble who often frequented the establishment. They started the first scene of the game as the three of them going to a public office to meet with a Lord Vhalantru to assign them their first public commission as an adventuring group, but found that someone had pulled political strings and a group called the Stormblades had received their job. This player met Sarcem Delasharn and Alek Tercival as he accompanied Sarcem to Silverymoon for the Annual Helmite festivals (going for wands). He also started with a fair number of rumors that seemed appropriate for a bard.
Elven Diviner - This player wanted to be a local and start out as a group. He is the son of a noble and was apprenticed to Maavu (his father secretly hopes the financial parts of Maavu will rub off as much as the magical portions). He is prone to frequent the Tipped Tankard Tavern, much to his families dismay who would prefer he frequent places like the Coy Nixie or the Cusp of Sunrise, where he met up with one of the bouncers and a traveling bard and formed an adventuring group (see above). This player starts with knowledge of the 'players' in cauldron and the stormblades.
Human Monk - This player is a local and wanted to start in a group. He is a worshiper of Kelemvor (replaces Wee Jas) and is from an order of monks that is trying to turn to Kelemvor's new teaching and move away from those of the former god of death. He has been working as a bouncer in the Tipped Tankard and actually has been running the place in the absence of his friend, the owner/bartender who disappeared mysteriously a little while ago. He started with a knowledge of the churches and specifically the church of Kelemvor's internal workings.
Dwarven Cleric - This player wanted to not be a local and RP the joining of the group. His god is a god of dwarven defense and I ruled he has a very good relationship with Helm. This former adventurer turned alcoholic who has lost all of his previous skills and even his faith was moved by his god to restore a bastion of dwarven defense to its former glory... the Malachite Fortress. But first he has to find it. He has been staying at the temple of Helm (replaces St. Cuthbert) while he searches. As a favor Jenya sent him to the orphanage to console them in their time of grief, on his way back he was accosted by a group of thugs (replaces Ruphus Laro in the opening scene). This player starts with knowledge of the church of helm.
I did a lot of working of the rest of the NPCs and such related to later adventures into the players backgrounds. The monk was orphaned when his adventuring parents were turned to stone by Vhalantru... his parents friend who considers an uncle still watches over him occasionally (Tygot). The rogues mother was a member of the Ebon Triad who tried to leave when she was impregnated by mysterious powers (she actually bears the Carcerian Sign, but has no idea). Etc, etc.
Anyway... that was how I did it... the fighter was assigned to watch a meeting between two Last Laugh members (the watch suspects the guild in the disappearances) and ended up chasing the rogue through alleys, but lost her near the scene of the attack on the cleric. The three that were a party were walking dejectedly back to the tipped tankared when they heard the cleric attacked.
It all worked out pretty well actually... took a little extra to get the rogue to join the group, but it worked out.
Sean Mahoney
I had all of my players create backgrounds so that they were all from the general area. I told them that Cauldron has been known to be a great launching spot for adventurers.
So good, in fact, that there are life-like statues of some of the more famous adventurers that started off in Cauldron, then left in search of greater adventure.
Of course, the reality of it was that any adventurer that Vhalantru couldn't control was turned to stone. But they didn't find that out for a long time. ;)