I am going to run the Shackled City in the Forgotten Realms. The one thing that was bugging me was should I change major NPC's to make them more Forgotten Realms oriented.
I was wondering if anyone who played in the Realms changed NPC's to fit in the Realms, and what they did.
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I certainly made changes!
I am running my SCAP in the Wizard's Reach. Some simple changes were Keygan Ghelve = Koran Doon (now a human red wizard) and Shensen Tessaril = Tessen Shandril (an air genasi brd/drd).
I should warn you, once you start making small changes (like adapting the churches to FR deities, changing names to match cultural areas), it starts a 'ripple effect' that gets more and more extensive as the campaign progresses, meaning more work for you -- either keep your changes simple, or set aside time to make extensive change notes!
Where do you plan on setting your campaign in the Realms?
I'm probably going to stick with where the Age of Worms Overload assumes it be. In the Chultan Penninsula.
I may not change many names, most of the group that I play with won't care either way if the names seem appropriate for the setting. Plus, I may not have the time to work extensively on that much work.
Would you suggest any changes that had seemed to have a profound impact on the game? I want to have an idea of what I should do.
I put Cauldron between Calimshan and the Lake of Steam. Changed the religions to FR and I don't really care if the NPCs are strictly FR compatable. My player's will never know.
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Well, as an example, I changed the church of Wee Jas to Kelemvor. Early on, some divination riddles are keyed to Wee Jas, so they need to be tweaked. Later on when Ike tries to squash the heroes, there are undead -- something Kelemvor would never tolerate. So I made Ike and Embril secret Jergal cultists in the church of Kelemvor, making it even more sinister.
Just changing to Kelemvor was great, because IMC the players are suddenly all suspicious because clerics of Pelor have been dying off in accidents, Embil has been the high priest of the local cathedral for the last 10 years, and they've come to the realization that Kelemvor's only been a god for 15 years -- they're asking who the Cathedral was dedicated to before, and now they're suspicious of likely cultists of Bhaal, or Myrkul, or Cyric ...
Does that help? There are other changes I've made I could go into detail on if you'd like.
Yeah I was going to do the same with Kelemvor, but hadn't decided yet for Embril and Ike.
One thing I am curious of is what changes to the Cagewrights did you make?
What about any of the other Villains?
I know I may be asking a lot, but I haven't played a lot of Forgotten Realms in the past so I don't know what changes could help make it more of a Forgotten Realms flavor.
Yeah I was going to do the same with Kelemvor, but hadn't decided yet for Embril and Ike.
One thing I am curious of is what changes to the Cagewrights did you make?
What about any of the other Villains?
I know I may be asking a lot, but I haven't played a lot of Forgotten Realms in the past so I don't know what changes could help make it more of a Forgotten Realms flavor.
I've made Skaven Umbermead a Necromancer5/Shadow adept 2 (IMC, Ebon Triad is Shar, Velsharoon and Bane). I also gave the Sea Mother prestige class to the high priest of Blidoolpoolp in "Zenith's Trajectory"(found in "Underdark" I think). I used "Serpent Kingdoms" a lot to expand Cauldron's background, involving a yuan-ti plot to from Se'sehen clan to reconquer the Black Jungles (where lies my Cauldron). It gives some nice opportunities for side quests.
Dechrini Baiul, one of the Cagewrights is a high priest of Bane. Embril Aloustinai and Ike Iverson are NE priests of Oghma gone mad with their quest of Adimarchus' secrets.
In fact I made quite a lot of changes so far but I'm not finished yet as we're only finishing a side trek that will lead the players into Demonskar Legacy-Test of the Smoking Eye arc.
Hope this helps,
Bran.
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I made some sweeping changes to the Cagewrights. I replaced Adimarchus with Levistus, and changed the Cagewrights to the Hexblades -- still an organization of 13, but they are now dedicated to freeing their devil lord.
I re-wrote most of the stat blocks for the Thirteen to suit my campaign (and give me a chance to build some NPCs), but used the Cagewrights as inspiratrion -- most of the spellcasters are Red Wizards now. I sprinkled in some Demonologists and even a Disciple of Levistus class I kit-bashed.
The problem with my campaign is that I've pretty much decided to replace the last two chapters of the SCAP completely ... instead of the strike on Shatterhorn, the remaining Thirteen are going to call in the floating city of Icerazer (from Frostburn) to attack my version of Cauldron (Taskaunt, which is a coastal port). The last adventure will be the PCs venturing into the Nine Hells to stop Levistus - but they'll have to journey down through the various layers of Hell to Stygia, with a small city side-adventure in Tantlin.
Sounds like fun.
I am just going to go along with what is in the HC. I want to see how it all runs first. THen if I ever run it again with another group, I will make changes as i see fit.
For now, I will probably make changes to the NPC's as I go throgh the campaign.
Thanks for the help.
i have used the Striders of Fharlangh as Harper Agents, changing the clerics to followers of Shaundakul.
I plan to replace the Striders of Fharlanghn for Striders of Shaundakul. I was also planning to substitute the Ebon Triad Gods (Hextor, Erythnul & Vecna) by Loviatar, Malar & Shar. They suit really good the NPCs (Triel, Tarkilar & Skaven). I know there's an official conversion for the Dead Three, but I prefer mine.
One major change is Wee Jas for Azuth. I Know this can be controversial, but Azuthan clerics can have LE alignment and Azuth is a major religion in Erlkazar, where I set the campaign. I see Azuth's temple in Cauldron as a sort of heretic sect going apart from the official church. This will also take the players by surprise, because they expect the Azuthans to be benevolent people. Can't wait to run "Secrets of the Soul Pillars" and look at the shocked face of my players...