Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid but back in Issue# 127 the players ran into the Rain Barrel Man preaching to anyone who would listen about the Age of Worms. When the vagrant is questioned he refers to himself as the "Prophet of the Golden Eye". This seems to be a very specific reference that could easily overlooked.
Anyone have any ideas who this Golden Eye maybe? I don't think it's Kyuss?
Tharizdun maybe? I know that in Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil - there was a fiery eye involved in some fashion.
Not sure if it's him or not... Tharizdun was a bit insane... guess it would stand to reason his prophets would be too.
Maybe he just likes really, really, really bad James Bond movies...
I'm still a little suspicious of the "helpful" Archmage Manzorian (sp). Just what was he doing on Arcadia and what does he intend to do with the piece of the Rod of Seven Parts he now has? He also mentions a pretty extensive list of artifacts that have come out of the woodwork; which he seems to have been keeping tabs on.
Of course he wants to see Kyuss fail, that way his "Masters" on the Outer Planes can make their move once Kyuss is defeated.
I left the rain barrel man out so far. I've not been too succesful using the "crazy man" encounter in my games. From what I've seen in movies, or waiting for a bus in St. Louis (long story), people that suddenly start to rant and rave about things are ignored and avoided.
But my experiences in D&D is that anytime a DM mentions an NPC that sticks out from all the other NPCs that go un-mentioned, they want to talk, poke, investigate, etc. These crazy NPCs generally are described as "if interrupted, they have no real information... blah, blah, blah." So, when a player decides to talk to (or beat senseless, save from society) the crazy NPC, the encounter ends kinda like a flat soda.
It seems like these encounters are meant to be heard but largely ignored, because if a player actually tries to make contact, nothing significant comes out of it.
Actually, now that I'm writing out my thoughts, I think I may have figured out a way to include it in the game in a way that I like. It would require a lot more descriptive narrative on my part, to weave it together. Something like:
As you walk through the streets you hear the familiar calls of the bird lady selling her bread, the seemingly endless argument between the neighbors upstairs, and the droning rant of the rain barrel man, as he appears to have been ignored by a totally new group of people today.
Wow! Thanks for your help!
I'm still a little suspicious of the "helpful" Archmage Manzorian (sp). Just what was he doing on Arcadia and what does he intend to do with the piece of the Rod of Seven Parts he now has? He also mentions a pretty extensive list of artifacts that have come out of the woodwork; which he seems to have been keeping tabs on.
Of course he wants to see Kyuss fail, that way his "Masters" on the Outer Planes can make their move once Kyuss is defeated.
Tenser, no I won't believe it. He has always been the bright hope of the Oerth. Smart, young, handsome, throughly endowed in heroic aptitudes and attributes. Woe to the hand that harms Tenser. If anything should befall the mage, in 3-4 weeks time a 10th lvl Paladin who can speak the major alignment lanaguage of the party will arrive and seek retribution. If he is defeated no further action will be taken..
Manzorian offers to give each PC a valueable magic item (up to 40,000 gp value) in return for giving up the piece of the Rod. I think it will be a tough choice for some groups, and a no-brainer for others (either way).
The adventure even suggests that the DM could make very specific items that will appeal to each individual character. If the DM does a great job making items, the offer is even more tempting.
I'm pretty sure my players will hand over the piece, but I've been wrong before.
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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I should point out that whether or not the party gives up their fragment of the Rod of Seven parts, the Age of Worms adventures will accommodate them.
Basically, as an artifact, the rod isn't a bad weapon to use against Kyuss himself in the big finale, but it's also possible that the items PCs get from Tenser in a trade can help them live to see that finale, so either way works. If they trade the item, the campaign itself might be a little easier. If they keep it, they'll have an edge other parties will lack in the final confrontation, but parties without the rod fragment will still be able to win.
Incidentally, I have a file on my old computer for a in-house campaign I was planning to run at Paizo before I started working on the Age of Worms. It was set in the city of Hardby (which we published in 107 or 111, can't remember off hand) and was going to involve a quest for the Rod of Seven Parts. As part of my set-up for that campaign, I had an agent of Rary (whom we've also covered in the magazine) working with one of the competing would-be Gynarchs of Hardby to trick Greyhawk's mayor Nerof Gasgal into trading the fragment of the Rod currently held in Greyhawk's vault to her, and she would give it to Rary.
Involving Tenser and the Rod fragment in the Age of Worms campaign was at least in part to set up a conflict between Rary and Tenser, each of whom would have one fragment and would covet the fragment of the other.
Now the segment's role in the Adventure Path is simply to tie back to the intriguing shared history of the Dungeons & Dragons game and give the PCs a slight edge in their final battle, but as Paul Harvey says, now you know the rest of the story.
I never did run that campaign.
--Erik
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I had an agent of Rary (whom we've also covered in the magazine) working with one of the competing would-be Gynarchs of Hardby to trick Greyhawk's mayor Nerof Gasgal into trading the fragment of the Rod currently held in Greyhawk's vault...
For the sake of karmic consistancy, which part of the rod is in the Lord Mayor's control and from where did it come from?