How many DM's needed to throw in additional or secondary scenarios because the party wasn't high enough to go through the next scenario in the AP?
I'm getting ready to start a campaign using AoW. Do I have to worry about running a couple of side tracks, so to keep the party level in line with the Path and no scaling required?
Thanks!
I think that the short answer is probably: No.
We are only just starting Blackwall Keep and I haven't really had any sidequests needed. There have been a few roleplaying diversions spawned by the players and they had a second go-round with Kullen which wasn't in the written adventure. But at this point they are only a few lizardmen away from 6th level and I'm worried that they are even ahead of the curve. Well, not that worried really. It just means I get to play the baddies as tougher and meaner which is fine by me. At any rate, there's plenty of experience out there and I think that you'll find the party will gain levels very quickly...as long as they survive.
For me, I used one side trek in between 3FoE and HoHR, and one full scenario between SoLS and Redhand. The first was just for flavor, and the second for loot for the players-in particular giving one PC the chance to acquire an item to offset his debilitating curse from Maanzorian's Fountain of Fortune's Folly. I'd otherwise been very thrifty with the PCs, not upping the treasure while having 6 PCs instead of 4-so I felt it was time to run a (published) scenario with higher treasure levels.
That second scenario was Goodman Games''Emerald Cobra', which if upped and reworked gives a good challenge from Yuan Ti foes who are mentioned as living in Kuluth Mar.
This might be off topic, but with all these prepackaged adventures and sort of railroaded story my group and I took a new approach. We ditched XP!
I just give them levels at the end of the adventures (and in the middle when appropriate). Its neat and a lot less bookwork on my part. Everyone is pretty happy with it. I had to do some creative work for the wizards item creation, but other than that I really of like it.
Our DM did own thing for a couple of weeks because our group was ment to be like 15th level but we were only 13th.
But.....one player died plus another got left behind and my character got taken over by this black dragon egg thing and now im a LE "King" Half Dragon/Dwarf Rogue!!!
So be careful because just trying to help the party can end up killing them=)
Through the first couple modules, our gaming group was actually ahead of the curve (one, sometimes two levels above where they were supposed to be) but this didn't cause any problems - in fact just keeping them alive was a big challenge. In the middle modules (HoHR & up), they were exactly where they needed to be. We're still there in the "middle years" and I'm a little nervous that they won't level up/keep up as the challenges mount (I've heard SoLS is a killer!) but I don't think secondary scenarios are neccessary. The only thing our group did was way back after 3FoE, they hunted down Smenk at his mansion and I had to make up a few scenarios out of broad cloth to resolve those issues. Actually, come to think of it, I threw in some random encounters in the Free City too but nothing self-contained or complex like a whole new module.
Anyways, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're just starting, you've got time before you need to get concerned about how your players are advancing.
We just wrapped up the first module. At the end of the adventure, the party of 5 each had 3020 xp. Barely making 3rd level as intended. As noted though, we arent the standard iconic 4-man group.
So far so good.
We played WC with 4 players, they gained L3 before the fight with the Wind Dukes, and, in fact gained L4 after the first session of TFoE. There was a death in the Temple of Vecna and we've added 3 more players since, so I'm thinking a side trek will be needed before they hit double digits.
I think it may be a good idea in general to run some side treks every now and then to breathe out the path a bit and diversify the loot gained and monsters fought. Trimming out the encounters that look like they may drag during play or that simply act as padding in the scenario to get the PCs to level up would balance out XP gained on the side.
I think it may be a good idea in general to run some side treks every now and then to breathe out the path a bit and diversify the loot gained and monsters fought. Trimming out the encounters that look like they may drag during play or that simply act as padding in the scenario to get the PCs to level up would balance out XP gained on the side.
I agree completely, especially once the party begins hitting the higher levels when experience gaps begin to appear, due to character death. Oftentimes, I've simply used the sample suggested random encounters, such as a Beholder and ten trolls in SoLS. Other times, I've devised sidequests unrelated to the written path but necessary for plot continuity, like acquiring a boat to get to Tilagos Island, sailing into the Nyr Dyv in LoLR. You never know what your PCs are going to do, or what parts of the adventure the might skip. I've seen numerous posts about PCs avoiding the whole egg scenario in EaBK, or completely ignoring the kyuss temple (as my PCs did) in Champion's Belt. Rather than railroad them into the written text, adapt what is good, save what isn't used for later, and let them do what they wish...to a certain extent anyway. Its always easy to make up side quests using parts of the module that weren't used.
Additional sidetreks:
1. Open. Bandit ambush of PC's stage enroute to Diamond Lake from Greyhawk.
2. Explore/renovate shack north of town (from Wormfood article).
3. Social encounter at Lazarre's Chess Parlour. Good way to introduce movers'n'shakers around Diamond Lake.
4. Balabar kidnaps Chezabeth from Emporium for a nefarious scheme. Muhahahaha!
5. NPC's Oliver and Rose lead PCs on a goose chase (distract them from investigating Filge at observatory).
I've used two one-session side treks in my game, but I also add in the occasional random encounter and a number of subplot threads.
The first side trek was Nicholas Logue's "Cry Wolf" (Dungeon #102), which I ran between 3FoE & EaBK. This I ran for a "story" reason for the the ranger to get her animal companion & the paladin to get his mount. There's a thread about it here: http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/cryWolfInAoW& ;page=1
The second I ran was "The Statue Gallery" (Dungeon #92?), which I placed between HoHR & CB. I ran this one mainly to up the xp of the party rogue, bard, & cleric, who were behind the others on xp for various reasons (PC death & missed sessions mainly).
My next AoW session will be after aGoW, & will include a memorial service by the Cult of the Green Lady to remember those slain by Ilthane's rampage. I'll be using this as an opportunity to reveal the familial relations between the Land family & the PCs.
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I'm intending to run a somewhat altered version of the "Twilight Tomb" module published by WOTC recently. It will tie in nicely to the back-stories established by the two elves in my group, and I'll be able to send a little additional treasure my 8-player group's way before they have to face the lizard-folk.
We're about three-quarters through the path, and my players are already verging on 17th level, (which according to the suggested levels per adventure, puts them kinda one level higher than the recommended level). This I owe to a love of sidequests--both on the part of my players, and most of all, I think, myself. In my opinion, the AoW adventure path is perfectly tailored to award experience in keeping with the general progression of difficulty from adventure to adventure. (This was one of the most important reasons I got hooked on it.) With little or no sidequests, the party should be at the appropriate level for any of the adventures ..or so it seems. In truth, if the DM awards experience for a sidequest encounter (as I believe is the players' right,) this can offset the difficulty of the encounters in the upcoming adventures. I've found two solutions:
1: The easiest is to let the players have a few easier-than-they-might-be encounters, thanks to their experience, and let the surplus ride itself out. After all, in a few levels, that extra three hundred experience they got at level two won't matter much.
2: This is what I like to do. Look at the "Scaling the Adventure" section at the end of each adventure. (SoLS didn't have one, though. Boo.) From there, what I do is prepare a "stronger" encounter based on the recommendations, and offer it to the players as what I call a "Test of Valor." (Thanks to Onimusha: Dawn of Souls for the idea)
What a "Test of Valor" entails is creating an encounter--on the side--that is one or two CR higher than the published encounter. Then, when the players reach the encounter, I declare a "test of valor" option, saying how much the CR will increase by if they accept (the ToV CR should never, IMO, be any greater than four with respect to the party level). If they do accept, I swap the encounter, and the challenge increases. The PCs should still get the appropriate experience for the new encounter, but the harder difficulty should keep them interested.
I am running WOTC's Silver Skeleton between EaBK and HoHR. It is a nice side trek for their travel back to Sharn. It gives the characters a nice place for down time too. It also allows me to introduce some NPCs of my own that may have recurring roles.
I made some changes to the adventure by having Eludecia being a follower of the Silver Flame. Since I am running in Eberron, her redemption by the Silver Flame is a nice counter point to to Ilthane's coruption.