Okay so I am considering skipping the "The Champion’s Belt" adventure and running "Expedition to the ruins of Greyhawk" as an alternative, what do you guys think?
any suggestions on how to incorporate it into the main plot?
I ran HoHR, CB, and GoW concurrently with Expedition, just slowing the PCs' rate of advancement to half; they just explored the ruins around the plot-driven adventures in the AP. This works REALLY well, especially because
I ran HoHR, CB, and GoW concurrently with Expedition, just slowing the PCs' rate of advancement to half; they just explored the ruins around the plot-driven adventures in the AP. This works REALLY well, especially because ** spoiler omitted ** Time permitting, this AP is really perfect to play in conjunction with EttRoG. They just explored the ruins around the plot-driven adventures in the AP.
So did you just ran the 2 simultaneously or did you incorporate the plot into the Expedition adventure?
I'm thinking of doing this, too, and I'd be interested to hear how you hooked the story of EttRoG into the AoW.
The amount of tweaking depends on how much plot congruity you need.
** ONE BIG SPOILER FOLLOWS **
Much of EttRoG is driven by Tenser and Mordenkainen exposing the "false" Robilar. In AoW, Tenser = Manzorian, so just drop Mordenkainen out of the picture (replace his appearances with more of Tenser/Manzorian) and now they've got the same patron for both adventures. When they handle the "unfortunate Robilar business" for him, he knows they're strong enough to tackle the SoLS... and finishing Expedition puts them at right about the correct level for that, too. Plus, you've got Loris fleeing to the ruins, you've got some kind of super-mind-flayer there (which could easily be replaced with Xyrxog or an ally of his), and any number of other tie-ins in the ruins themselves. Plus, they're right there in town; the Green Dragon Inn makes a convenient staging point for ruins delves and AoW adventures alike. If you want to really play up the arena rivalry, make Almuric's (?) band also try the ruins, so that they're like a competing adventuring party as well.
SPOILERS
I am currently running ETTROG in conjunction with Return of the Eight, just after the arena fights. ROTE is a nice way to introduce Tenser, whom I decided from the beginning of the AP was not back from the dead yet.
I clearly slowed down the XP progression.
All of this ties in quite well, even if at the moment, my players think they are diverging a little from the campaign story arc. Still, they know Loris Raknian (MAJOR ENEMY) is under the Ruins somewhere and want to reach him badly. I decided to keep Mordenkainen and Tenser in the loop. May be a little too many GH Mogols in the loop, but my players are old timers AD&D addicts. Too good for them.
Also ROTE and ETTROG can tie-in around Iggwilv, Vayne and Iuz with a little work, something they have not really discovered yet. They just discovered Tenser on Luna, and prepare to fight Tuerny... Should be memorable!