So, I've been waiting for a while to actually get Hall of Harsh Reflections up and running, and I've come to a realization. Although I love all the doppelganger stuff, the illithid seems a wee bit tacked on. Besides which, I've run enough illithids in my time that it's become a running theme in my campaigns. And I'd like to throw a different hideous aberration their way. So I'm thinking aboleth. And where better to steal an aboleth from is the Styes?
So I've gotten a pretty good idea on how to fuse the two modules. The Styes will be a mile or so downstream from the City of Greyhawk proper, an industrial slum where the Sodden Hold is located (I'll be switching it from an abandoned warehouse to something else - a brothel perhaps? An inn?) We run Hall of Harsh Reflections as normal until the PCs defeat Telakin and start digging through his stuff. They find a note hiring the services of the dopple gang from Mr. Dory, complete with threats to actually start interfering with their replacement plan. Instead of drow soldiers coming in to finish the job, a few of Dory's skum guards should do the trick. Based on the webbed footprints and the note, the PCs will be able to find Dory's warehouse/houseboat, where Chapter 3 of the Styes'll pick up.
Once they kill or interrogate Dory (who will be switched from a worshipper of Tharzidun to the Ebon Triad), the PCs find that Dory's involvement is due to Sgothgah the Whisperer, a strange creature lurking in an abandoned ship somewhere on the outskirts of the Styes. Chapter 4 of the module then goes off, with the PCs fighting the illusion-weaving aboleth.
Now, what I want to convey is, of course, that Loris Raknian hired Sgothgah to bump off the PCs for murdering Theldrick (I also want to reveal that Sgothgah's influence has been collecting corpses for Bozal Zahol to turn into an ulgursasta using the Apostolic Scrolls). How do I do this? The aquatic nature and alien mind of the aboleth isn't that good for using yet another note. Perhaps the aboleth has a thrall who keeps a ledger, similar to Zyrxog's ledger in HoHR? Any other ideas?
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I also fused the two modules, but differently and for a different reason. I didn't like the tenuous link between the motif on the key dropped by the dead doppleganger in the bar and the location of the Sodden Hold. Not that it would necessarily help you, but I summarized how I fused the modules in another thread here...
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/hOHRDiscoveringZYRXOGTela kin
Now, what I want to convey is, of course, that Loris Raknian hired Sgothgah to bump off the PCs for murdering Theldrick (I also want to reveal that Sgothgah's influence has been collecting corpses for Bozal Zahol to turn into an ulgursasta using the Apostolic Scrolls). How do I do this? The aquatic nature and alien mind of the aboleth isn't that good for using yet another note. Perhaps the aboleth has a thrall who keeps...
I thought that the atmosphere of HoHR was quites Styes in feel, which was nice, and I really liked what Jason did with my lovely Crooked House Tavern. The obvious way to do this would be to have Loris know about the Spawn of Tharizdun and blackmail the aboleth accordingly, of course the aboleth is likely to have some cunning plans to kill Loris and perhaps leaves the heroes clues leading to him and maybe throughout the whole adventure...
Rich