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The first two adventures were really good, increasingly better with each submission.
But, I recently received Issue#141 and have skimmed through STAP#3. Wow! This adventure, its style, and presentation and the writing is one of the best that I have seen. I really cannot wait to run it, and am chomping at the bit (still in STAP#1)in my current game.
That's one vote for Dragonslake... er... sorry, wrong thread.
Sean Mahoney
That's one vote for Dragonslake... er... sorry, wrong thread.
Sean Mahoney
That's perfectly alright Sean, I'll tabulate it in the vote count anyhow. ;-)
I have the magazine, and although I have not read the adventure itself, it looks quite good. Pett is an accomplished author; and I am confident it will be one of the more memorable chapters in the AP.
I was quite disappointed with the map included. This was to be the first (that I'm aware of) "official adventure" (not counting chainmail) off the standard Greyhawk map and the map included was both very small, and quite vague. This was even more irritatingly so, because included with the magazine is a larger folded map of the ship. I think long-time fans of D&D are quite capable of hand drawing a larger version of the map on a dry or wet erase marker map, and would have STRONGLY preferred the bigger map be given to an enlarged map of new lands to the South of the Flanaess.
Creative Director
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I was quite disappointed with the map included. This was to be the first (that I'm aware of) "official adventure" (not counting chainmail) off the standard Greyhawk map and the map included was both very small, and quite vague. This was even more irritatingly so, because included with the magazine is a larger folded map of the ship. I think long-time fans of D&D are quite capable of hand drawing a larger version of the map on a dry or wet erase marker map, and would have STRONGLY preferred the bigger map be given to an enlarged map of new lands to the South of the Flanaess.
The shape and scale of the map would have made it a difficult one to do at the same scale as the Greyhawk maps we did a while back, especially since so much of the map would be empty water. Much of the map was updated from the late 2nd edition product "The Scarlet Brotherhood," and it remains the go-to place if you're looking for more information on the region.
But, since Savage Tide isn't going to be used in Greyhawk by everyone, and since detailing more locations on the map (especially off-route islands and the jungle itself) would have increased the word count of the adventure dramatically (forcing us to cut parts of some adventure that were necessary for the adventure in question), we didn't reprint this material from "The Scarlet Brotherhood."
The Sea Wyvern map, on the other hand, is going to be useful and used over and over by those who run the campaign, so having a minis-scale poster map made a lot more sense.
Basically, the smaller regional map is not more detailed because "Savage Tide" is an adventure path and not a campaign expansion.
Speaking as someone who isn't running the game in Greyhawk, I'll back up James's evaluation - I'd far rather have a set of miniatures-scale deckplans that will be useful well beyond the Adventure Path than a sea chart from a world I don't set games in.
Hopefully with the way it is written, the voyage will be suitably generic enough to allow additions quite easily, so if DMs want to add more detail they can regardless of the setting -certainly with Greyhawk it was hard to decide where not to go and what not to put in rather than the other way round. To keep it feeling generic enough in that way was quite a challenge because the adventure must be able to work not only in other settings but also in other DMs campaigns. I'd certainly expand Tamoachan if I was running this adventure path for my own group and I guess everyone will have their own favourte places in their own areas.
I used the Scarlet Brotherhood extensively in creating the adventure and would certainly recommend it as a great sourcebook for the area for Greyhawk. Alas whilst writing this my beloved original tamoachan fell to bits...as for more detailed maps that would have been cool but that would have meant creating at least 3 sets I guess, and the more detail one has the more it probably wouldn't fit into the other settings which would mean extensive re-writes and therefore less actual adventure (as the magazine is only so big (although removing Logue's adventure would have enabled it to be bigger:))), or a lot of extra material on line. Speaking of which, I'd be quite happy to post what I have extra if that will help anyone.
The ship was good fun to work on and could be one of those maps that could have a large number of uses - perhaps for some time to come and certainly will be a useful aid in the upcoming adventures. I'm already planning to have the ship appear as salvage in the Styes campaign and hopefully other DMs will find the aid useful even if they don't run the adventure path.
And thanks for the praise guys, this was a challenging one to write without it seeming to be just a string of random encounters, hopefully your players will enjoy the voyage.
Rich
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I'm wondering if Paizo, and by default the freelancers, couldn't make a wee bit of jink on pdf expansions of some of these adventures which, it seems to me, must have been greatly streamlined for magazine presentation? I don't have the Sea Wyvern's Wake yet, but the idea I seem to get is that this one adventure could be expanded to almost a mini-campaign. I've been looking at the outline and there's a veritable schmorgasbord of scenarios in there. Just a thought...
schmorgasbord?
I received issue #141 in the mail on Friday. We played for 5 hours on Friday night, and 6 hours today, finishing this adventure. I must say that those 11 hours have been, without a doubt, some of the greatest experiences I've ever had with a roleplaying game.
The depth of this adventure is incredible, and the crux of it is the cast of colorful NPCs. My players and I loved "The Prince of Redhand," and if one night with interesting NPCs was good, three months on a ship with them was incredible. The NPCs quickly took on lives of their own and won special places in our hearts. Amella and the barbarian PC have taken a shine to each other, the barbarian enjoying her colorful curses. Avner Meravanchi quickly established himself as a jerk and a miscreant, somebody the PCs love to hate. But the most memorable NPC from this adventure was hands-down Tavey the cabin body.
Ah, Tavey. Think of the pimply teenager character from "The Simpsons" and you'll have a pretty good idea of how I've portrayed him, cracking voice and all. From the moment he introduced himself, he was an instant hit. All I have to do is say anything in his voice and the entire group breaks into fits of laughter. Tavey is enthralled with the elven swordsage, and always follows him around hoping to learn some fancy maneuvers. The cabin boy's shining moment came when, after Conrad was uncovered as a fraud, Tavey was promoted to "senior cabin boy" with Conrad serving under him. His first command to his underling, "Swab that deck, maggot!" brought to game to a halt for at least five minutes while we recovered from our fits of laughter.
All of the encounters were well lots of fun to run. Rowyn's machinations had the PCs paranoid of everybody else on the ship before she finally revealed herself in an ill-guided assassination attempt. The reveal caught everyone by surprise; nobody expected it to be her. Journey's End was seriously creepy, and I think my players were really scared at some points. And of course, the adventure's conclusion had everybody groaning and cursing Richard Pett's name. I told them it wasn't your fault they have to wait another month for the next installment, but they wouldn't listen.
Bravo, Mr. Pett. I tip my hat to you. Thank you for a wonderful 11 hours of gaming bliss, and thanks to the entire Dungeon staff for consistently publishing an incredible magazine.
WARNING: Do not read The Sea Wyvern's Wake until you're ready to play it. You'll want to ditch your current campaign to get to this adventure.
Read this morning, it's reads like a great story. Sea voyage with your standard stowaway, pirates, a way creepy horror setting in the sargasso sea, a jungle temple, ship wreck, sea monsters, great NPCs; this adventure has got everything and it's all well presented.
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WARNING: Do not read The Sea Wyvern's Wake until you're ready to play it. You'll want to ditch your current campaign to get to this adventure.
Read this morning, it's reads like a great story. Sea voyage with your standard stowaway, pirates, a way creepy horror setting in the sargasso sea, a jungle temple, ship wreck, sea monsters, great NPCs; this adventure has got everything and it's all well presented.
Man, I can't wait.
It must be true, too. I mean, Brainiac up above got it in the mail and the same day he was running the thing.That's awesome.
I haven't received 141 yet, but is it safe to assume from the above posts that there is already an NPC crew generated for the Wyvern? If so, that would be cool, because I was thinking of sitting down and statting one up myself. A pre-made crew would sure save time and probably be composed of better thought out NPC's than what I could come up with. Can someone confirm? Or should I just wait for the pony express to mosey on down here with my mag?
I haven't received 141 yet, but is it safe to assume from the above posts that there is already an NPC crew generated for the Wyvern? If so, that would be cool, because I was thinking of sitting down and statting one up myself. A pre-made crew would sure save time and probably be composed of better thought out NPC's than what I could come up with. Can someone confirm? Or should I just wait for the pony express to mosey on down here with my mag?
I just received 141 on Saturday. While I haven't had much time to read it yet (my PCs just started the invasion of the Lotus Dragon guldhall in TINH), it looks like the NPCs are a mix of crew and fellow passengers. The writeups (and pictures) look good, so they will definitely be helpful!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Dalesman
"Bringing Big D**n Justice to the Bad Guys Since 1369 DR"
Brainiac, that is impressive. I'll not forget that in a hurry, glad you liked it and thanks everyone for taking the time to post. So much nicer here amongst the civilised intelligent area than over on that squalid part of the site where some tawdrid little contest is going on...
Speaking of which, Wertz, this Prat thing is getting tiring, I can see the only option is for me to send in the skybleeders. James, your staff are revolting...
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Hey Richard, Sea Wyvern's Wake did rock it big and like you said, the side hooks you offer provide LOTS of opportunities for scribbling outside the lines. I was wondering though, what's the story behind Kaboutermannekin? Is there more there than just the great name?
Anyway, all my wise-ass comments aside, this was awesome!
Hey Richard, Sea Wyvern's Wake did rock it big and like you said, the side hooks you offer provide LOTS of opportunities for scribbling outside the lines. I was wondering though, what's the story behind Kaboutermannekin? Is there more there than just the great name?
Anyway, all my wise-ass comments aside, this was awesome!
Kabboutermannekin is the dutch name for a red cap - cool name isn't it:). Cheers Gav, apprecate your kind words matey.
Rich
Hrmm... this thread disturbs me... I WANT to like Dragonslake more than anything, but this thread is making salivate waiting for my mag to show up... I think Logue might be in trouble...
Sean Mahoney
Speaking of which, I'd be quite happy to post what I have extra if that will help anyone.
I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we would absolutely love that... so... please Mr. Pett.... would you do us the honour?
Always loved spelljammer for those "random encounters" -type adventures. This one seems very similar :)
Now letsee whats in the horizon..
Still i suspect that the players, being paranoid bastards, will suspect all kinds of ills from atleast someone in the crew and begin interrogations even before anything has happened.. lol!
"Arr! Received t'over the weekend, too, did I, but cursed overtime be keepin' me from playin' it faster than an albatross wi' his tail on fire!" But wow, is it cool. I love the nod to the old (original) "Tamoachan" cover in the art, the sea battle with the Scarlet Brotherhood (I'll need to watch "Master and Commander" again!), and especially the sargasso vine horrors... absolutely brilliant stuff. In fact, given the last 2 issues, I almost wish it was "Savage Tide" magazine instead of "Dungeon"... Absolute top ratings, Mr. Pett ("No keel-haulin' this month, says I!")
Hrmm... this thread disturbs me... I WANT to like Dragonslake more than anything, but this thread is making salivate waiting for my mag to show up... I think Logue might be in trouble...
Sean Mahoney
Sean!!! No!!! Stay the course my good man! ;-)
I am not sure who this Louge person is who is speaking to me, he seems familiar... like a pale shadow of that Logue guy. Oh well...
Anyway, I got the magazine today just after writing that it caused salivatory excitement. Since I tend to just read front to back through the magazine I have started reading through the Sea Wyvern's wake, and I must say that I am pretty impressed so far.
In memory of that Logue guy who used to frequent these boards I will do what I can to pick apart the adventure. At this point I really have only two negative comments.
1) Lavinia now sounds british in her monologue at the beginning of the adventure. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it slightly different than how I would have run her before... I can't help be reminded of the voice of Balista from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
2) There wasn't really clear notes on how to run the adventure and since there was different parts to be run at different times, it made reading it a little difficult until I realized the order things were to go in. (Ok I am stretching a bit on this one as it wasn't tough by any means to figure out... but that is really all I have so far...)
I guess the only other thing I could of asked for so far (and I am not done with the adventure yet) is for more notes on the personalities of the various people on the boat. And maybe some notes on how Lavinia communicates to the Sea Wyvern (at one point it mentions yelling from one to the other and at another point a message is sent via small boat, but other times she just seems to tell them).
Alright... that is all the criticism I can give and I don't really know that any of that really detracts from the adventure... so far it is very good and lends itself to roleplaying extremely well... I am loving it.
All that said, I am reserving my vote for either until I read Dragonslake.
Sean Mahoney
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1) Lavinia now sounds british in her monologue at the beginning of the adventure. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it slightly different than how I would have run her before... I can't help be reminded of the voice of Balista from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Cool. Women with British accents are smokin' hot.
All that said, I am reserving my vote for Dragonslake.
Sean Mahoney
Fixed your post Sean! :-)
Fixed your post Sean! :-)
All that said, I am reserving my vote for Dragonslake.
Sean Mahoney
At least there wasn't any words that I didn't actually use in that... like a pasted together new report... it is all still my voice...
Sean Mahoney
I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we would absolutely love that... so... please Mr. Pett.... would you do us the honour?Speaking of which, I'd be quite happy to post what I have extra if that will help anyone.
I'll have a look through and try to get something on, after checking with the lovely Mr Jacobs first of course.
Rich
I've been collecting Dungeon Magazine off and on since the early nineties and The Sea Wyvern's Wake is by far one of my top 5 favorite adventures!
Huzzah! And a double huzzah with candyfloss and whipped cream on if you could confirm that absolutely none of Nick Louges made that lofty pinnacle...
Fixed your post Sean! :-)
All that said, I am reserving my vote for Dragonslake.
Sean Mahoney
At least there wasn't any words that I didn't actually use in that... like a pasted together new report... it is all still my voice...
Sean Mahoney
That would be a despicable thing to do:)
I've been collecting Dungeon Magazine off and on since the early nineties and The Sea Wyvern's Wake is by far one of my top 5 favorite adventures!
In all seriousness, that is very kind of you, I daren't expand upon my own top five as two of my fellow contributors (in fact three of them, now I think of it) would never let me forget the mention of their names on the list:)
1) Lavinia now sounds british in her monologue at the beginning of the adventure. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it slightly different than how I would have run her before... I can't help be reminded of the voice of Balista from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Haha! Now that I think about it, I think Bastila is exactly who I've been modeling Lavinia's voice after. Then again, most of my noble NPCs tend to have something of a British accent.
This Adventure sounds great, I wish I could read it... Hopefully my issue will show up soon or Paizo will send me out another..
Speaking of which, I'd be quite happy to post what I have extra if that will help anyone.
Yes, please. I'm with Magehound. If the other authors also have extra goodies to share, I would encourage them to do so.
I have only just got done with Parrot Island and now I want to go ahead and read 141. All I read is the summary of the adventures and then put them into the library (going back to dungeon one but missing runs of more than 3 or 4 at a time). But after this thread I am going to have to read Wyvern's Wake.
I am impressed with this adventure path so far.
Yes, please. I'm with Magehound. If the other authors also have extra goodies to share, I would encourage them to do so.Speaking of which, I'd be quite happy to post what I have extra if that will help anyone.
Except Nick Lougue
1) Lavinia now sounds british in her monologue at the beginning of the adventure. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it slightly different than how I would have run her before... I can't help be reminded of the voice of Balista from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.Haha! Now that I think about it, I think Bastila is exactly who I've been modeling Lavinia's voice after. Then again, most of my noble NPCs tend to have something of a British accent.
Spiffing:)
okay - I'm sorry if this has already been asked and answered - but for my Ebberon setting I have to redo the voyage map - So I need to know where the final destination of the Isle of Dread is supposed to be located.
okay - I'm sorry if this has already been asked and answered - but for my Ebberon setting I have to redo the voyage map - So I need to know where the final destination of the Isle of Dread is supposed to be located.
Bump.
Sorry Lex, I can't help you there but I'm sure someone will be able to assist - how about you Logue since Eberron is your bag old man?
As promised, here are a couple of encounters that didn't make the final adventure for various good reasons. Be very careful with the hag covey - James J has pointed out that it could mess with the NPCs regadless of the PCs actions and so will make things awkward later on. I include them both out of interest.
The Swell
Ships crossing this stretch of sea face a severe storm until they have crossed 100 miles, once past this they are safe.
Avoiding the Swell [EL8]
Add 200 miles to the totals from now on (300 less the 100 mile crossing of the Swell). This stretch of sea is the lair of a dragon turtle called Masingrix, it avoids the turbulent waters of the Swell as game is scarce there, however, there are always a few ships coming other ways as it patrols its domain. The young turtle spots the ships soon on the journey, and moves to attack – it is possible at first that the heroes mistake the vast creature for a ship or even a small island.
Dragonturtle MM 88
Tactics: Masingrix is young, and incapable of capsizing such big boats as the Wyvern and Nixie, he has only 114 hp. The turtle moves towards the ships and uses its breath weapon, its size is such however that it is also capable of attacking those on deck. However, it is not stupid, and if it suffers 60 hp of damage it dives beneath the waves to nurse its wounded pride. It is possible that it could attack again at a latter date, this is left up to you. Reduce the CR of the turtle by 1 to reflect its immaturity.
Use both ships in the combat.
The Calm
The Calm is not a feature at all – the seas here are perfectly normal, a sea hag covey is responsible for the rumors about the sea here.
The covey lives in the ruins of a warship – the Valor (q.v.) that drifts around the sea hereabouts, unfortunately for the heroes it is about to drift directly across their path. Continue the voyage as normal until the covey spots the heroes ship, they immediately use their control weather ability, and 10 minutes later the ocean is calmed for 4d12 hours, at which point the Valor lies in the ocean 3 miles ahead.
The hags swim towards the ships, careful to keep out of sight as much as possible. The encounter progresses thus - the hags either spot a handsome male PC and decide they want him as their personal slave, or they spot an attractive female PC and decide the same or settle on Captain Amella. One hag boards the heroes ship, having called from the waters that she wishes to parley, if she is attacked she and the other hags flee, and attack the ship using the wyvern zombie (below) then return later to see if the heroes are more amenable to talk then. The hag gives the heroes a proposition - they will allow the ships to move on if the slave is given over to them, she gives the heroes the day to decide what to do, and by nightfall if they do not accede their ship will be left in the oceans to rot – becalmed forever.
The hags return to their foul vessel to consider what to do with the slave, their intentions are honorable in respect that if the heroes do not agree then they continue to cast control weather until the crews are dead, and then use the bodies to decorate their own ship. If they get their slave, the hags allow the ships to move on.
The Valor lies 3 miles from the ships, if the heroes have smaller boats, this gives them a better chance of attack (q.v.), the swim is considerable, and if the hags spot the approach of enemies they attack such transgressors in the water. Consider that the hags dance about on deck every 1d12 minutes, laughing as they watch the becalmed ships at their mercy, at other times they are below deck.
The Wreckage of the Warship ‘Valor’ [EL 7]
This is a dead ship – her masts have been ripped apart, her sails tatters, her castles have been torn asunder. The deck is a vile testimony to the success of the hags and is decorated with corpses and skeletons – statues played with by the hags for their amusement – sailors mouths have been widened into rictus grins, arms have been torn off and replaced with swords, bodes have been sculptured.
Beneath deck the hags have used the animated dead sailors to tear the ships apart to make a single grotesque hold – decked with more sailors bodies, as well as rich trappings.
Sea Hags, 3 – MM 144
Tactics: The hags use animate dead first, causing a dead wyvern that lies deep beneath the Valor to rise and attack, the remaining 4hd of undead are sailors animated as skeletons. The hags command the undead to attack, then use forecage to imprison a group of PCs, and finally use their evil eye attack on prisoners.
Wyvern Zombie – MM 267
Development: The hags have no wish to die, and if they are seriously threatened, they offer to free the brave heroes and grant them a vision pertinent to the next adventure.
Treasure: The hag eye is a fine silver broach set with a lustrous emerald worth 1000gp and which the hags tend to squabble for possession of. The hold contains 1200gp, 462 pp, four fine woven carpets of great size (20’ square) each depicting a season and worth 1000gp each if cleaned, a dozen sets of noble clothing still on rotting bodies, a quartet of golden goblets worth 100gp each, a silver church candelabrum worth 350gp. Casually tossed aside under a pile of bodies is a great gray barnacle covered horn depicting sharks devouring men (a horn of the tritons), a war chest containing several ships logs (of little interest) and a bone scroll case containing an arcane scroll of hold monster, waves of fatigue, and permanency. There are hundreds of weapons herein, amongst which are three masterwork scimitars.
Thanks very much for posting those. The sea hag encounter, in particular, looks very cool, and I may very well add it back into my game.
Thanks Richard - I will start an original thread on it.
Kabboutermannekin is the dutch name for a red cap - cool name isn't it:). Cheers Gav, apprecate your kind words matey.
Rich
I'm not sure but it sounds more Flemish than Dutch (at least to my ears, anyone from the Netherlands who knows the word Mannekin?). For anyone who's interested. The word consists of two words:
- Kabouter = gnome (most people see kabouters as the typical garden variety with red hats)- Mannekin = small boy e.g. The Mannekin Pis (a famous statue/fountain in Brussels of a small boy peeing)