Yes I know this is the SCAP forum but some of you know the answer to this and its relevant to SCAP.
From what I can glean the AoW adventure path is supposed to be run after SCAP. And places like the Spire of Long Shadows are adventure locales detailed in AoW. Is the AoW AP based in and around Cauldron? Is it based around somewhere else like Sasserine?
I'm only on Chapter Five of SCAP but it would be great to run a follow up campaign in this area as the players will already be greatly familiar with the locale in general and I wil be able to make more use of my detailed gazetteer enrtries for the Cauldron Region.
Can anyone tell me (briefly) where the AoW path takes place? And if it relates to SCAP, how does it relate?
Thanks!!
Blakey
My understanding is that AoW takes place elsewhere and that the Spire of Long Shadows is only teleported to as part of the adventure. SCAP is minorly mentioned as a part of a prophecy. You can read about all of the AoW here, which is a free download from Paizo.
On the other hand, the Savage Tide adventure path involves Sasserine, and is more involved in the area (though I believe a lot of it is seagoing to the north of Sasserine instead of heading back to Cauldron).
Can anyone tell me (briefly) where the AoW path takes place? And if it relates to SCAP, how does it relate?
AoW and SCAP both are nominally set in the old Greyhawk setting. SCAP takes place on a frontier in the far southwest of the overall greyhawk setting, while AoW begins in the very center, near the City of Greyhawk (Free City).
I don't know exactly, but I would guess that there are hundreds, if not a thousand or more, of miles between the physical locations if you are using the Greyhawk world.
Of course, if you are homebrewing, you can make them closer or farther apart as you see fit.
As for how they relate? I don't really think they do, other than using a cool location from SCAP in the AoW. The stories don't relate at all if I recall correctly.
Here's a decent example metaphor. Don't use it as a judge of distance, just as a reference for the overall scheme of things.
Superman hangs out in Metropolis (aka Cauldron area). He has his grand adventures there, saves the day, goes to dinner with Lois. This wraps up the Shackled City AP.
Now we go to Batman. He's over in Gotham (Diamond Lake, where Age of Worms begins). Its a crappy place, but hey, someone has to be the hero. After he starts getting some of his toys, he flies the Batjet around to a few places, roughing up some thugs who know where the Joker is hiding, snagging a few more lucrative deals for Wayne Enterprises, which will ultimately become more tech on the BatBelt. One of those stops just happens to be a gangster hideout in Metropolis (Spire of Long Shadows). He goes in, roughs up the bad guys, gets out, and goes back to doing what he's doing.
My metaphor starts to fall apart here, but I think you get the gist. Superman never dealt with the Spire because he had bigger fish to fry, like good ol Adimarchus/Mytzlplyx. They two adventure paths have aspects of their setting which gently brushes up against each other to create the illusion of a cohesive living world. My players can't wait to see what the Age of Worms campaign will be like, since we just finished SCAP, and they know that I will keep their previous character's deeds alive in the history of the world.
......
Wow, now I want to see if SCAP could be rebuilt into a Batman/Gotham adventure..... Adimarchus = Joker? No way it would work, but the idea itself is epic awesome....
My players actually made a trek to Cauldron from the Spire after getting whipped on by the
It made for a good side trek and an opportunity to stock up on some much needed supplies.
Okay, so given I'm now 100% a 4th edition convert there's nothing really to be gained from running AoW or ST adventure paths it seems. I'm better off picking some 4E adventures or even Scales of War and adjusting it to fit into the Cauldron Region if I wish to re-use this area. Or of course just placing it elsewhere in my homebrew world entirely.
Thanks for all your responses - you cleared that all up for me.
Cheers
Blakey
I don't know if "nothing to be gained" is quite the right term. "Probably more effort than I can reasonably spare" might be a bit better. I think the Paizo APs are all solid gold, and with work, they can run in any setting or system. Adventure paths are ultimately about the story and the characters (NPCs) in it, with mechanics trailing a far third. Paizo's APs are gold mines for the first two.
But I admit, a full conversion is a HUGE amount of work. I have my hands full just upgrading "boss" encounters to take Splatbooks into account.
I agree, the adventures aren't so much about the crunch but the awesomeness of character interactions and cool scenes in a sense. It's hugely ambitious and time consuming but actually converting an AP like this is alot of work but I think it can be fun. I'm starting to get back to work on Savage Tide for 4e because the story is so awesome I want to see how I can make the 4e system work with it.
Well, I'm happily converting SCAP to 4E at the moment so I guess its possible to do the same with AoW and ST! Anyone know (yes I'm lazy for looking this up myself) if there is an active 4E conversion community for those APs?
Thanks all
B
Well, I'm happily converting SCAP to 4E at the moment so I guess its possible to do the same with AoW and ST! Anyone know (yes I'm lazy for looking this up myself) if there is an active 4E conversion community for those APs?
Thanks all
B
Well in the Savage Tide forum there is a decently active 4e conversion thread, I *may* be responsible for a large amount of the latest posts towards that effort *cough* and I *might* have been working on an outline for the whole path adventure by adventure laying out the encounters as are and quests and skill challenges so that I can go back and rework them in 4e.... maybe. :P