I set my campaign in Greyhawk and I do fine using only the Greyhawk Gazetteer and the online resources (realizing that online info may be campaign specific). Cauldron is in the Amedio, of course, and I found it important to pick a spot in the timeline as well. Our game is set about one year after the use of the Crook of Rao.
If you do go Pathfinder, realize that all your monsters and NPC's will need to be converted, and Appendix IV is pretty big (ot to mention the Monster Manual)! There might be folks on here who are doing that and would be willing to share their work, but most people here are 3.5 or converting to 4E because Pathfinder just came out. If I were converting Pathfinder, I'd start from scratch and build all the NPC's instead of trying to convert them.
I set my campaign in Greyhawk and I do fine using only the Greyhawk Gazetteer and the online resources (realizing that online info may be campaign specific). Cauldron is in the Amedio, of course, and I found it important to pick a spot in the timeline as well. Our game is set about one year after the use of the Crook of Rao.
I agree, timing is everything. I was thinking about placing it about 25 years after Greyhawk Wars.
Cauldron is pretty much at the bottom of the map and the AP doesn't expand far out of the region. I think that the Gazateer has plenty of background for the different races (it's been awhile).
Gazateer is always a good choice for the Gods.
SCAP, being the first AP, I think the designers wanted it user friendly for many different worlds. Like Dungeon modules that took place, obstensibly, in a particular realm, "but could easily take place in any forested/mountainous/urban/etc. location in your world."
With that in mind, as was mentioned in the last post, SCAP does not venture far from Cauldron. You do not need an extensive knowledge of Greyhawk to run it. I wouldn't even bother boning up on it; if the players never leave the area, all your cramming will be for naught.
Instead, spend the time getting to know Cauldron really well. Know the street names and use them. Talk about this shop or that boutique that the players pass on their way to the Cusp of Sunrise in "Zenith Trajectory," that sort of thing.
If you make Cauldron a vibrant, living city, your players won't want to go anywhere else!
The only Greyhawk specific items I've used so far has been the Greyhawk calendar which you can find online. I usually have festivals during the holiday weeks on the calendar with the size/extent of the festival dependent on what gods the week is oriented toward. I'll see if I can find some of my write ups and give you some specifics later.
When I set my first Shackled City game in Greyhawk, I just used the Greyhawk boxed set from 1983 and it worked out fine.
Greyhawk Wars -- what are those? Pluffet Smedger the Elder never mentioned anything by that name...
;-)
As a DM that has been running Shackled City for the past year, let me say that you really do not need to bone up on the setting at large, as has already been mentioned. I second that getting really familiar with Cauldron will make it all come alive. What made it work really well for my group was a small players guide I made that had lots of details about the city that they could read and feel like they were a part of a real, living city.
Creating this sense of attachment and life from the get-go is important in the long run since the entire campaign deals with the city. Even when the characters leave the city, as has been said, they do not go far and the events are related to goings on in the city.
Additionally, Shackled City is not structured very well and may end early if you don't spend some time tweaking what is written. When I run a published adventure I end up changing so much I end up using about 50% published material and 50% original work, so the changes that need to be made to it were not anything too major for me. With a little bit of work, this can be an amazing and memorable campaign and has been a blast to run.
Be sure to check out delvedeep's alternative foreshadowing article as well as the other resources available here and on theRPGenius.com. While I converted the campaign to my homebrew world, my player's guide and the conversion notes for the first couple of chapters are available on theRPGenius.com and I am willing to send any advice your way.
The Shackled City community is worth it's collective weight in gold coins, use it.
If you make Cauldron a vibrant, living city, your players won't want to go anywhere else!
... except possibly for higher level magic items! The GP limits in Sasserine and Cauldron, even though I have adjusted them slightly as the cities prosper or decline, don't allow for big-ticket items late in the game. Our party routinely jaunts off to Greyhawk Mall to go shopping and visit family back North. The sorc with the smoking eye is off consulting with the Priests of Rao trying to figure out what happened to her (her player switched characters and this was a good way to put that character on ice for a while).
But you're right about overprepping even if they decide to travel elsewhere. Don't fret too much and see how much the party forces the issue of other places. Decide on your date and timelines (the Flood Festival is easy to synch with Needfest - midwinter rainy season), get a general grasp of the areas, and don't worry. If your players insist on backstories from the Flaeness, learn that area and not much more. Even though one of mine is very conversant with Greyhawk, I have not had a lot of trouble keeping up - though I dread the question, "So, where are YOU from?" when they meet an NPC from the Flaeness who was SUPPOSED to end up dead but doesn't. Darned merciful players.
Our party never ventured far from Cauldron and the only time we left the locale of Cauldron was by teleport to a large city for the purposes of selling and buying. Though, overall, our setting was Forgotten Realms, we placed Cauldron in the South near the jungles of Chult.
As a DM that has been running Shackled City for the past year, let me say that you really do not need to bone up on the setting at large, as has already been mentioned. I second that getting really familiar with Cauldron will make it all come alive. What made it work really well for my group was a small players guide I made that had lots of details about the city that they could read and feel like they were a part of a real, living city.
Creating this sense of attachment and life from the get-go is important in the long run since the entire campaign deals with the city. Even when the characters leave the city, as has been said, they do not go far and the events are related to goings on in the city.
Additionally, Shackled City is not structured very well and may end early if you don't spend some time tweaking what is written. When I run a published adventure I end up changing so much I end up using about 50% published material and 50% original work, so the changes that need to be made to it were not anything too major for me. With a little bit of work, this can be an amazing and memorable campaign and has been a blast to run.
Be sure to check out delvedeep's alternative foreshadowing article as well as the other resources available here and on theRPGenius.com. While I converted the campaign to my homebrew world, my player's guide and the conversion notes for the first couple of chapters are available on theRPGenius.com and I am willing to send any advice your way.
The Shackled City community is worth it's collective weight in gold coins, use it.
Hey, Eater...I'm in the process of reworking SC to fit my tastes. I plan on running the campaign in about a month. I would love to talk to you about the ins and outs of the campaign and get your advice on various things. Can we talk?
Hey, Eater...I'm in the process of reworking SC to fit my tastes. I plan on running the campaign in about a month. I would love to talk to you about the ins and outs of the campaign and get your advice on various things. Can we talk?
Absolutely. Drop me an email at eaterofthedead42@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to have a dialogue. My Shackled City game has been on a tentative hold since the end of Lord of Oblivion but my notes go all the way to the end and I've spent a metric asston of time reading and converting and so on. Anything I can do to help I will gladly do.
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Hey, Eater...I'm in the process of reworking SC to fit my tastes. I plan on running the campaign in about a month. I would love to talk to you about the ins and outs of the campaign and get your advice on various things. Can we talk?Absolutely. Drop me an email at eaterofthedead42@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to have a dialogue. My Shackled City game has been on a tentative hold since the end of Lord of Oblivion but my notes go all the way to the end and I've spent a metric asston of time reading and converting and so on. Anything I can do to help I will gladly do.
I am on chapter 8, which is on hold right now as we change DM's every so often. I am hoping to have most of the creatures and NPC's changed to Pathfinder by the time I am running again in a few months. If anyone is STILL paying attention or intending on running SCAP it would be good to know what you are doing for the Demodands and the like for Pathfinder? I am always open for suggestions, advice and the like.
If anyone wants to chat too.. I am amicable to that as well :)
Email is
jonflamkin at gmail.com
Thanks for the advice! We won't be starting the campaign just yet so I have some time to mull over my options. The book itself arrived today and it looks beautiful :)
hey Skyde,
I am intrested in this AP too so what did you think of it?The book is a great deal now but does it come with all the maps or not?
Inside the HC you will find en extra map booklet with all the maps necessary for the campaign.
If you need the maps "player friendly" (without hints, secret doors etc.) you can find most of them together with much more information about the AP here.
And as you can read on this board the SCAP rocks! Really. Especially if you use some of the extensions from Delvesdeep like the "Demonscar Ball" or the "Siege of Redgorge". We just finished the AP 3 months ago and I must say that it was the best campaign I ever mastered.
Buy the hardcover!