Ok, long time lurker- first time poster, big fan etc, etc, blah, blah and so forth.
Now that that's out of the way, I've a quick question for one and all. I only managed to pick up the first two installments of Shackled City in Dungeon magazine way back in '03, and I'm pondering picking up the hardcover. What I'd like to see first though is a general overview of the campaign, as was done for Age of Worms and Savage Tide- does such a thing exist, and would anyone be able to point me in the right direction?
Ta muchly in advance...and I'll see you all on the boards.
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Ok, long time lurker- first time poster, big fan etc, etc, blah, blah and so forth.
Now that that's out of the way, I've a quick question for one and all. I only managed to pick up the first two installments of Shackled City in Dungeon magazine way back in '03, and I'm pondering picking up the hardcover. What I'd like to see first though is a general overview of the campaign, as was done for Age of Worms and Savage Tide- does such a thing exist, and would anyone be able to point me in the right direction?
Ta muchly in advance...and I'll see you all on the boards.
The only "overview" that I am aware of is at the front of the HC book.
The Dungeon mags just give an overview of each chapter as they were released with each issue.
What specifically are you wanting to know - perhaps we can help shed light on certain aspects that you're curious about.
Robert
Basically, I'd like to see a quick synopsis of each adventure in the path, and of the campaign plot itself- as in, while AoW is about the return of Kyuss and the coming doom brought about by Dragotha and his minions, what's SCAP actually about?
Basically, I'd like to see a quick synopsis of each adventure in the path, and of the campaign plot itself- as in, while AoW is about the return of Kyuss and the coming doom brought about by Dragotha and his minions, what's SCAP actually about?
I'll start. Since you said you'd gotten the first couple, I'll skip those. I only have the magazine releases, so I can't speak of Drakthar's Way (or any other changes to the Path, really), so I'll start with Zenith Trajectory.
Needless to say, SPOILERS to follow:
Did I say "SPOILERS"?
The party gets a chance to show off their heroism in Cauldron when a fiendish monster rampages through the city streets. As the heroes of the day, the party is invited to a very exclusive gentlemen's club called the Cusp of Sunrise by the ever-mysterious Celeste. There, they meet an ancient dwarf who asks the party to help him lift a curse by allowing him to make peace with his long lost son, Zenith Splintershield (you may remember his satue in the Malachite Whats-it below Jzadirune) who hasn't returned home since going to war against another Underdark nation.
The group gets their first opportunity to travel out of Cauldron's shadow as they go searching for the entrance to the Underdark passages that Zenith used and finally finding him in an ancient Kua-Toan city. The rescue attempt turns on its ear, though, when the party learns that Zenith is not a prisoner, but instead held as a holy prophet to the Kua-Toans. To fulfill their promise, the party must subdue him and return him to his father back in Cauldron.
The plot twist, though (although it may be a long time before the party gets a chance to realize it) is that the man who claims to be Zenith's father is actually an agent of the Cagewrights. Zenith himself is one of the Shackleborn and the party has been manipulated into putting him into the Cagewrights' hands. Muahahahaha.
Who's next to do Demonskar Legacy? (or, better yet, Drakthar's Way?)
Basically, I'd like to see a quick synopsis of each adventure in the path, and of the campaign plot itself- as in, while AoW is about the return of Kyuss and the coming doom brought about by Dragotha and his minions, what's SCAP actually about?
This probably isn't what you are looking for... but you could look here.
And just click on each issue and that gives a recap of what it is about per issue.This is the only review I could find.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
I assume you've looked at
http://paizo.com/download/shackledCity/preview-intro.pdf
I assume you've looked at
http://paizo.com/download/shackledCity/preview-intro.pdf
The link for us lazy people. :)
Nice find!
I assume you've looked at
http://paizo.com/download/shackledCity/preview-intro.pdf
That would have been SO sweet to have in the beginning. I almost envy those who waited until the hardcover came out to run it.
I'm hoping that the plot summary / overview practice will be continined at the start of each Pathfinder AP. I felt a bit as if I was fumbling around in the dark when preping each SCAP game, because without the master plan, I didn't know where deviation might cause me serious problems later. Running AoW was MUCH less work for me with having the full plot overview ahead of time, because I knew what pieces I could cut out or tweak and what pieces I should make sure to leave as they were.
QUOTE="Keith Richmond"] I assume you've looked at http://paizo.com/download/shackledCity/preview-intro.pdf
Well...that is...Look out! Behind You!
*Runs...
Seriously though, thanks for the help folks, it's much appreciated.
Well...that is...Look out! Behind You!*Runs...
Seriously though, thanks for the help folks, it's much appreciated.
Hehe, yeah, the good folks at paizo have really provided for us so well :)
If our experience is any guide, the biggest issue you as GM should be thinking about with Shackled City is how much information to get into the PCs' hands, and when.
I have heard from a lot of groups that by the time their PCs hit the endgame, their general reaction was "who are we fighting? why do we care? what's going on?" because the big baddies have been so cryptic, the PCs have no connection to them.
My GM had read those accounts too, so put in a *lot* more information early on. This turned out to be really double-edged. The PCs were a lot more informed and felt a lot more connected to the main plot; but they knew about it too early, when it was way over their heads, and this was very bad for morale. They felt they ought to be doing something about it from around 8th level on, which the modules don't support well at all. The GM ended up having to rewrite the endgame for 13th-14th level characters because stalling the PCs any longer was just going to kill player enthusiasm.
It is very easy, if you give more information than the modules do, for the players to feel that their PCs are hopelessly outclassed and just pawns of the various big-league players. (Which is true, to be honest.) On the other hand, without the information there is little dramatic payoff. It's a tough line to walk.
You will also want to monitor EXP and treasure carefully. If there are 5-6 PCs in the party there may not be enough of either to go around, and the modules are difficult enough that this is a real problem, especially if the PCs are not hyper-efficient in their spending (item creation feats, etc.) or their class choices.
We found the Smoking Eye chapter to be the most problematic as far as motivating the PCs went. My GM's other group flatly refused to engage with it at all. My group did engage and then felt let down by the module continuation--a big deal is made about gaining the Smoking Eye and then nothing comes of it for a really long time.
On the other hand, you have a lot of very cool stuff to look forward to--there are a lot of really fine NPCs and situations in SCAP. Have fun!
Mary