So what time of year should the Age of Worms AP start? I'm only curious because I'm an anal retentive DM who likes keeping track of silly stuff like that. I prefer to start my campaigns at the end of winter (in Fireseek) that way the PCs get to experience three seasons of relatively good adventuring weather and by the time they get to winter they have some better resources to deal with the cold. However, I don't know if that idea will work for this campaign. Any future events that take into account weather, like Flood Season did in SC? What time of year (if any) did Erik Mona begin his campaign in?
One of Erik's players has posted in the Campaign Journals section -- the first journal posting for Tyralandi Scrimm was for 3 Richfest (just before Midsummer's Day).
That said, I don't (yet) see any compelling reason to favor one starting date/season over another; we'll see what the wilderness adventures expect, though.
In a similar vein, any ideas about how much time should elapse between installments?
Regards,
Jack
According to Tyralandi's and Demon Boy's campaign journals over in the Campaign Journals area, Erik's campaign started during Richfest.
Creative Director
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It's true. We started just after Richfest. We're currently up to the 12th or something like that.
There's not really any reason you couldn't start at any other time in the year though.
As for how much time passes between adventures... most of the intallments for Age of Worms will be farily nebulous between episodes, unlike Shackled City. We want the PCs to have time to make magic items, do off-adventure stuff, and get whatever else done without feeling the need to RUSH RUSH RUSH into the next adventure. Set the timeline to something you're comfortable with is my advice.
This is something I have been thinking about too. I want the weather to fit the mood, through all parts of the campaign, yet somehow still fit the local climates and seasons.
For Diamond Lake, I don't want snow, the mood doesn't seem right for that. I want either dark and gloomy rain, or maybe rustic dry-heat like the wild west. The Greyhawk references all seem to indicate a great amount of rain in the Cairn Hills, so I'm leaning towards that.
Later in the campaign, the action moves North, where the weather gets a tad colder. I might be cool to have snowfall around the Barony of Wormhall. But then again, I prefer to use the default read-aloud text supplied in the magazine, so I worry about buring some fantastic description under a blanket of snow.
Predicting how long it will take for the players to move from place to place, will be tricky. Typically, time flies faster than fireballs.
I will have to use some cut-scenes to push the time forward a month or two at appropriate times (such as when the players are training, traveling, researching, etc). Otherwise we might get the whole freaky deal with players going from 1st - 20th in a mere 3 weeks. I prefer our heroes' tale to transpire over the course of a year or so, to make it "epic" and realistic.
My tentative plan is for the campaign to have four major themes:
1. Mist and rain to make Diamond Lake even muddier (April/Planting)
2. A stifling summer heatwave to enhance the sweat and grime of Greyhawk City (July/Reaping)
3. Creepy fall in Alhaster with cold winds blowing dead leaves off skeletal trees (October/Patchwall)
4. Deep-freeze up in the Banditlands with frozen ponds and icicles everywhere (January/Fireseek).
Then in a dramatic movie-moment, when the heroes slay the final monster at the end of adventure #12, the sun breaks through the clouds as songbirds begin chirping, signaling the start of spring.
So I tentatively have <b>1st of Planting</b> as a start date (April 1st).
Edit: That date just gave me an idea. On the final day of Growfest, the Emporium puts on an annual demonstration in the tradition of Greyhawk's "Desportium of Magick" holiday. Local bards and sorcerors shoot illusions, fireworks, and spellfire out over the lake, to the delight of drunken miners who clap, cheer, and buy more drinks. So the players will start the campaign by waking up with hangovers from the previous night's festivities. :)
So what time of year should the Age of Worms AP start?
For what it's worth, I think Eric Boyd set the Forgotten Realms timeline in "late spring" of 1374 DR.
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As I read the first installement I imagined Diamond Lake as a place where the streets are muddy from continous rain. Rain just seem right for the setting for me.
But maybe the rain has to come later in the campaign when things start getting darker.
The mood of the movie SEVEN seems cool for Diamond Lake...
I will have to use some cut-scenes to push the time forward a month or two at appropriate times (such as when the players are training, traveling, researching, etc). Otherwise we might get the whole freaky deal with players going from 1st - 20th in a mere 3 weeks. I prefer our heroes' tale to transpire over the course of a year or so, to make it "epic" and realistic.
I've thought about this before. It does get rather unbelievable if the PCs are leveling up every day. However, I have found a way to deal with it. I do not require down-time per se. However, if the PCs level up, I reduce their experience award until they have rested for a week or two. So after they level up, they are tired and they don't learn as well from their experiences. Once they kick back and relax for a while they are refreshed. For example, after reaching level 2, the PCs begin to earn 90% normal experience. Upon reaching level 3, they earn 80% experience, and so on and so forth until they rest. I usually require about a week's worth of rest for each 10%. This is a nice way to encourage PCs to take some time off realistically without forcing them to.
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well, I set Whispering Cairn during Coldeven. I saw it as dark, cold and rainy. They have just finished Cairn and it took them almost 3 weeks of gametime. Kinda weird, because it too 3and a half sessions. They are into the Trappers Rendevous, which I am playing out using "50 fairs and markets" from a back issue (tho one with the Warforged on the cover).