I started my campaign originally in Freeport but when I had a near TPK, I changed the venue from Freeport to Sasserine (using STAP). I had the high priest raise the party in return for alot of riches they would get after seeking revenge on the pirates that killed them (Capt Scarbelly and crew). That was probably a mistake but I digress.
The party was about 2nd level or 3rd level when they started TINH and I used the suggestions to make the adventure a little tougher for them. Now they after completing TINH, the party has one 5th level pc and everyone else is 4th level. I was considering using side treks and/or other adventures intertwined with STAP (some Goodman stuff, Mad God's Key, Salvage Operation, etc.) but I fear that the genie is already out of the bottle and I will have to pump up every adventure from now on; and that the party will get more powerful even faster as a result.
I don't mind doing the homework on adjusting the adventures but I wonder if there is another solution out there. Will I be "stuck" using only the STAP adventures without getting any other scenarios in?
Please feel free to offer any suggestions and Thanks!
AFAIK, the only things that _have_ to happen in BWG are the meeting with Harliss and the first taste of the savage tide they get from Vanthus and Harliss' meeting. If you can work those two into your sidetreks, you could conceivably skip the BWG altogether and have Lavinia pouring over her parent's journals during the time the PCs are doing their sidetreks.
That wouldn't solve the problem in an of itself (I'm assuming your party will gain some xp and be 6th or 7th by the time they're ready to head off with Lavinia), but toning down the encounters in SWW would get them pretty darn close to the appropriate level for the start of HTBM.
I agree that a lot of the BWG can be skipped. You could have them go out to Kraven's cove and delete most of the encounters except for the one with Harliss. The key things for that part are to see the results of the savage tide and to meet Harliss. It could be mostly role playing and they could even convice her to not send anyone after Lavinia thus deleteing the second half of the adventure as well. The second half of the adventure is mainly to provide some kind of connection not only to their employer Lavina but to also provide a chance for the PCs to enteract with the Jade Ravens. Both can be done through role playing with no exp so that the players aren't too far ahead of the curve. That would only put then maybe half way into 5th by SWW and you should be able to run it as is. From then on they shouldn't be ahead of the AP much anymore.
I wasn't looking forward to running that complicated siege in BWG. I would have, but I am not sure how that would have worked out. They already have a good relationship with Lavinia (all but the greedy self-centered rogue) so that's not a problem. Although I have all the Dungeon issues with STAP thus far, I haven't read past BWG yet. So I don't know what SWW is at the moment. Now I have savage egg on my face. :)
Also, you could just reduce the XPs they earn by half until they're back in line with the adventures.
For Age of Worms with my group, I'm not even awarding XPs as such, just telling them when they level up based on story benchmarks. It's working fine, and I've seen others post here that they do something similar.
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Also, you could just reduce the XPs they earn by half until they're back in line with the adventures.
For Age of Worms with my group, I'm not even awarding XPs as such, just telling them when they level up based on story benchmarks. It's working fine, and I've seen others post here that they do something similar.
I don't think I'd put an artificial limit on XP, people feel like they're being cheated or punished when you do that. I'd just leave the adventures as is for a while, and the PC's wont level as fast, due to the sliding nature of XP and level gain. Eventually the problem will take care of itself.
I started everybody in my party at Lvl2, and even through in an intro side-quest at sea, and they are already back on the schedule for levels. Most of the party is Lvl5 with a few at Lvl4, and we're starting SWW.
I totally forgot about the story benchmark angle! I will probably go with that option rather than reduce xp awards as I don't want a revolt on my hands. :)
That way, I can do side treks and additional adventures at my leisure and approximate when they should level up accordingly. That sounds like a plan.
Rather than beefing up the encounters to the party, why not WEAKEN them. EL 1-3 is all the same XP, but facing an EL too low means not a lot of XP is earned. So an EL 4 gets, modified to an EL 3. Make the encounter last longer (so as not to bore the PCs), without changing the encounter level. You can max the hp for each of the critters so they last a little longer without changing the EL. EL is based on HD, but the adventure assumes average hp per HD (potions of healing do the same thing). From the PC point of view it will not change much, but the math will eventually work in your favor.
I'm not even awarding XPs as such, just telling them when they level up based on story benchmarks.
Going by story benchmarks can cause problems with item creation feats and spells with XP costs. How do you handle this?
My group just finished Bullywug Gambit and is on the verge of hitting 6th level. It looks like if you take the suggestions to increase the CR and EL's of the encounters, you end up with a 2-level-per-adventure progression.
It does look like I will have to bump up every adventure...
Well you could try running them as is and cutting out non essential combats. I suspect ypou'd get them back on track after a bit. However the players will probably scream bloody murder at any sign that the XP tap is slowing down. Clubbing them over the head with the Players Handbook works fairly well here from my experience.
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However the players will probably scream bloody murder at any sign that the XP tap is slowing down. Clubbing them over the head with the Players Handbook works fairly well here from my experience.
I've had a DM who made paper mache throwing stars out of photocopies of the 'DM can change any rule' page. he'd throw them at anyone who agruged with him, aiming for the eyes...