You might first think that it's unrealistic, but hear me out. Diamond Lake is about three days from the Free City. If you run this in Eberron, it is assumed that Sharn's your big city. But I have a slight problem with this: Breland is supposed to be relatively safe. I mean, a lizardfolk tribe in a swamp in the middle of Breland, where Diamond Lake is supposed to be according to Keith Baker? Ridiculous, I say. That's the problem with most of Khorvaire. It's simply too safe.
Now consider this. Use a larger version of Stormreach as the Free City. RickVigorous from the WOTC boards actually statted up a Stormreach of about 11,000 in population. If you make the assumption that there are smaller towns and villages around Stormreach, then you have a basis for doing AoW there.
IMC, I actually have an independent nation of about 40,000 on Xen'drik called New Breland, of which Stormreach is the capital. New Breland was the first and only colony on Xen'drik and became a neutral sovereign nation during the Last War. It is much wilder than the main continent, and therefore IMO more suited to run this AP.
Granted, I still may run this thing in Sharn/Breland, for ease of play. But I must be honest, the thrill of a wilder environment (sahaguin, giants and drow anyone?) is appealing. Thoughts?
I think this AP would work very well in Xen'drik. However, you can't say that Breland is "simply too safe". It's a HUGE area, almost as large as the US. Sure, some of the settlements and roads may be safe thanks to the dragonmark houses and garrison, but I would guess this is less than 1% of the area. Check out the Five Nations for more info on some of the dangers and adventure hooks for Breland.
It could be said that thus far there is no mention of lizardfolk in Breland in official sourcebooks. Having a few hundred lizard folk near a small Brelish mining town isn't on the radar in comparison to a few hundred thousand in Q'Barra.
The geography is a little different though. I'd like to see the conversion. Erik Mona said he might post the notes over three weeks but hasn't yet.
AoW on Xen'drik is an interesting notion, but I don't think required. Southwestern Breland is a pretty wild and not particularly heavily populated area, so I see no problem with a lone lizardfolk tribe.
I'm placing Diamond Lake on the western bank of the Dagger River as indicated in the conversion notes in the 124 supplement and Overload. I'm placing Blackwall Keep and the Mistmarsh a little further off than written in the adventure - either somewhere between Ringbriar and Moonwatch or on the eastern edge of the forest north of Ringbriar. My thought is that at one time (possibly centuries ago) the marsh was much more extensive and the lizardfolk that live there now are a pathetic remnant of a once mighty tribe. In general, they are not a threat, but a few decades ago they caused some VIP noble a bit of trouble, so the Keep was built. Unitl the recent attack, egged on by Ilthane (pun definitely intended), there was little to do there being posted at Blackwall was viewed as a punishment, or at the very least a sign that you've been forgotten by the Powers That Be (which might explain the soldiers' incompetence at dealing with their Spawn-ed companion).
Here's a couple thoughts on using Xen'drik:
- What if that's where Kyuss found the Spire of Long Shadows?
- What if the tiny nation of Redhand is actually the area ruled by Stormreach?
I'm 90% certain that this is the approach I'm going to take.
I think this AP would work very well in Xen'drik. However, you can't say that Breland is "simply too safe". It's a HUGE area, almost as large as the US. Sure, some of the settlements and roads may be safe thanks to the dragonmark houses and garrison, but I would guess this is less than 1% of the area. Check out the Five Nations for more info on some of the dangers and adventure hooks for Breland.
It could be said that thus far there is no mention of lizardfolk in Breland in official sourcebooks. Having a few hundred lizard folk near a small Brelish mining town isn't on the radar in comparison to a few hundred thousand in Q'Barra.
The geography is a little different though. I'd like to see the conversion. Erik Mona said he might post the notes over three weeks but hasn't yet.
I don't have the Five Nations, nor do I plan on buying it for now, so the only thing I'm going off is the ECS. That's just the impression I got from reading the section on Breland. There are dangerous areas for sure, but that particular area was not mentioned. I'm not saying that my opinion is right or wrong; it just is. Now, that's where I put on my DM hat and do some work :).
As for the lizardfolk, exactly my point. There may be a way to write it in logcially though (which is why I'm waiting on the supplement for issue 126).
Cool, man! One comment: I think Stormreach would be a very interesting place to have Diamond Lake in; Stormreach being a sort of frontier on Xen'drik, with the rugged feel and the lack of thorough exploration and colonization to facilitate the adventures in AoW. I might just have to try that!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Another thing to keep in mind is that in Eberron it's okay for adventure locations to be really far apart, because you have air ships and lightning rails, etc. to make travel faster.
So when it says Diamond Lake is "3 days" from the free city, 3 days via air ship could be on the other side of the world!
Likewise, if you want to run it in the Forgotten Realms, you can place gates where you need them to easily teleport around the world as needed.
Another thing to keep in mind is that in Eberron it's okay for adventure locations to be really far apart, because you have air ships and lightning rails, etc. to make travel faster.
So when it says Diamond Lake is "3 days" from the free city, 3 days via air ship could be on the other side of the world!
Likewise, if you want to run it in the Forgotten Realms, you can place gates where you need them to easily teleport around the world as needed.
It would be cool to have the different locations that far away! Maybe Diamond Lake could be a seculded hideout on Riedra, which the PCs have to use because of a conspiracy which made them wanted criminals!!
WaterdhavianFlapjack