RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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For a weekend adventure in a month or so, I've decided to run the Porphyry House Horrors. There are 6 11th or 12th level Forgotten Realms characters, all a bit light on major items, so it should not be too hard to scale.
What I'd like to do, though, is figure out a nice way to get them from Waterdeep to Scuttlecove (I'm putting it in Mhairhetel, way down south of the Mhair Jungle). The same players are now working their way slowly through the STAP so when they eventually hit Scutlecove there'll be that nice familiarity factor.
I don't want to immediately do the old "You see a portal in the woods/ graveyard/ basement", nor do I want an uneventful six-month long sea voyage. I'm left with thinking of a quick intro encounter or two to get them to a portal to the jungle. A drug-dealing connection between Waterdeep and Scuttlecove isn't inconceivable, so my first thought was that they could encounter yuan-ti working for Wulvera and confound their plans, then use the dealer's portal to travel south.
I haven't had any time yet to flesh it out and I'd appreciate any ideas or tips from you guys.
Isn't Skullport right beneath Waterdeep? I would think rewriting Skullport in your campaign to reflect Scuttlecove might do the trick, since traveling there would eliminate all the time on the sea journey and wouldn't require a portal or whatnot. Otherwise, maybe you could have the characters taken captive on a hired kidnapping by one of their most spiteful enemies. If the attempt succeeds, the Protectorate could help them out after getting to Scuttlecove (likely by sneaking them out of bondage, rather than a big pitched battle). If they fight off the kidnappers, they could track their employer/contract to Scuttlecove seeking information along with this drug problem.
Hope this helps.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Kidnapping is nice, though making sure the kidnappers are clever enough to nab the PCs yet foolish enough to keep their stuff nearby will be a juggling act! :)
Ordinarily I'd do exactly what you suggest - rebuild Scuttlecove as Skullport or stick it off the coast of the Moonshaes or Evermeet. It's not really prime, sweaty, jungle-y Yuan-ti territory but anyway!
The thing is, Sasserine for the players is near Tashluta. The Isle of Dread is south of there - round the Chult peninsula and down we go, boys. I want to keep Scuttlecove for the bi-monthly weekend campaign in the same place as I will have it for the STAP campaign, so the changes between Porphyry House and Serpents of Scuttlecove are meaningful to the players and to keep 'my realms' consistent.
Thanks for the Skullport idea though, I should have mentioned my plans! I'll definitely have the link between Waterdeep and Scuttlecove folks happen via Skullport though, they're made for each other!
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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I'm now thinking adapted wakeportals for travel within the same plane, a wrecked pirate ship near Waterdeep, gulguthhydra intro, and a follow-up search-party ship (can't lose those expensive drug ingredients) which the PCs take to Scuttlecove as passengers/ boarders/ prisoners ...
Any more tips/ ideas?
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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And after reading it through a few times I'm thinking it's going to be a case of drop some hints and react to the players/ wing it from then on. Has anyone got any tips for actually running the thing - playing the encounters in the House etc. I can imagine if the players start a fight too soon it will be a mess :)
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In Dungeon 128, the Campaign Workbook article "Express Travel" outlines twelve ways you can rapidly cover ground in a game. While your preferences rule out a few of the ideas, a few are still viable. The ideas mentioned are:
airships, dragons, flying mounts, flying magic items, magic portals, passing time, sailing, swift riding with a change of horses, Shadow Walk, Teleport, special mounts and Wind Walk.
Of these, Shadow Walk (and the cleric variant Wind Walk, both 6th level) may be a viable alternative. The distance from Waterdeep to Samarash (north of the Mhair Jungles) is 1937 miles (give or take). Three scrolls of shadow walk at 15th level (4 at 10th level) will get you very close to where you want the characters to be. The same is true for Wind Walk, requiring three or four scrolls to get down to that region. The party might be able to find such items as treasure (each scroll of Shadow Walk retails for 1500gp at 10th level or 2250gp at 15th level) in an encounter you create. Four such spells on a single scroll would cost 6000gp at 10th and 9000gp at 15th. These amounts are just about the right reward for a CR10-CR12 encounter per the average treasure per encounter table in the DMG. Thus you could run an encounter or two at CR10-CR12 outside (or within) Waterdeep and have the players find the body of an unfortunate wizard with a scroll of 4 Shadow Walk spells. Or perhaps they defeat an illusionist that is carrying the scrolls on him for some nefarious purpose (foreshadowing - no pun intended here - a side quest you can run on the Plane of Shadow at some point).
Another option, depening on how you feel about it, is to have a Halruaan airship depart Waterdeep on a return flight to Halruua. Perhaps the characters can call in a favor owed to them by someone important in Waterdeep to have the airship drop them off in the region they need to reach during their return trip.
Just a few suggestions; I hope you game goes well.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Nice idea - thanks! I love the Halruuan airship but I don't know if I could keep myself from making the journey into a great adventure! Saying "Three weeks later you get off the airship." is just impossible! Especially after reading the airship journey in Shilsen's Story Hour on enworld recently! Undead wyvern attacks and a lich in a little pink dress, vampire assassins with elemental gems, eversmoking bottles, crazy stuff!
That leaves the shadow walk scrolls, and that's easy-peasy to justify as treasure if they have the right encounter. I mean, the Scuttlecove dealer-supplier-contact dude could just as easily be a wizard they have to take care of. I might pinch the undead beholder & wizard from Vampires of Waterdeep - maybe the whole intro with the vampire werewolves too :) They bust up the meet, chase someone into the sewers, turns out he's a wizard and that's his pet undead beholder. Love it!
I'm on a roll again - thanks man!
I like the idea of a drug running connection between the two, that's a perfect hook and lead in. Good luck with it.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Cheers. I'm going to start with the druid PC finding a number of mutilated fey or cute fluffy animals, and let the trail lead him to the wizard drug-runner with the shadow walk scrolls. The extracted body parts will be an ingredient in the drug production process and the druid's player is the most enthusiastic player in the group :)
Now to tie in a gang of vampire werewolves for an awesome first combat.
How about FIENDISH werewolves for a really big tie in?