After Escape from Old Korvosa (spoilers ahoy) - common objections?

[B_Wiklund]

Hey all now I know much metaphorical ink has been spilled over this section of the AP but I wanted to garner some group's experiences re this. I'm currently running a CoCT campaign and they're just about to wind up Seven Days and start Escape from Old Korvosa so I'm looking ahead.
Now I may be in the minority but I actually overall liked the shift to regions outside of the city. The party has been knee-deep in chaos and intrigue and a chance to get out in the wild seems like a good idea giving them an opportunity to stretch their legs.
So from people who ran/played this far what were some of the primary issues in getting the party to get out of the city? Right now I'm not sure how my players will react to the idea. They all have built characters with a stake in the city, family, friends etc. A few of them have sent their families out of the city during Seven Days just before the quarantine of Old Korvosa hit (they had some hints this was blowing in the wind) so hopefully that will help.

[Gamer Girrl]

B_Wiklund wrote:

Hey all now I know much metaphorical ink has been spilled over this section of the AP but I wanted to garner some group's experiences re this. I'm currently running a CoCT campaign and they're just about to wind up Seven Days and start Escape from Old Korvosa so I'm looking ahead.

Now I may be in the minority but I actually overall liked the shift to regions outside of the city. The party has been knee-deep in chaos and intrigue and a chance to get out in the wild seems like a good idea giving them an opportunity to stretch their legs.
So from people who ran/played this far what were some of the primary issues in getting the party to get out of the city? Right now I'm not sure how my players will react to the idea. They all have built characters with a stake in the city, family, friends etc. A few of them have sent their families out of the city during Seven Days just before the quarantine of Old Korvosa hit (they had some hints this was blowing in the wind) so hopefully that will help.

My group has completed 7 Days, and I'm starting all my plotting and planning for Escape (we alternate three campaigns, so I have time).

That said, I, too, am looking forward to the trip out of the city for History of Ashes and Skeletons of Scarwall. I plan to run the attempted assassination off screen (to keep my party from committing suicide by trying to immediately avenge Marcus's death!), and have them receive word from several folks ahead of time that someone (the Grey Maidens) are starting to nose about for dirt on the party on the orders of someone very high up.

I know some will want to get some key family/friends to safety, but won't be able to spirit everyone out of the city before they have to go running themselves, leaving plenty of hooks to drag 'em back in case they get cold feet :)

I think with enough hints and layering, there should be no issue with the party heading out to get the weapon needed to put down the queen thing :)

[Studpuffin]

I'm at about the same junction as well. They should finish seven days in about a month from now (I know, they're slow players >:D)

I'm tempted to rewrite part four and part five, though I might just move part five back toward Korvosa. I didn't like how far away it was from Korvosa to begin with. I'm thinking about moving it into the Fenwall mountains to let them explore closer to home.

[fray]

My group is just going into the end of book 3. Prolly 3 sessions to finish, which means 3 months for me.
I don't see any issues right now getting them out of the city. So far they have gone along with the story, besides from several building that got burned down along the way.

[deathboy]

My Story:

Right now my players are near the end of History of Ashes. They all seemed willing to leave the city, and well They are all predominately Lawful in Alignment, so they saw the logic of making sure the Senechal was out of the city safely. They are also looking for allies to invade the city when the time is right and they figure that the Shoanti are one of their better bets.Though this option was not covered by the Crew at Paizo I am willing to take a stab at it with all the information on the boards so far.

[Paul Watson]

My party was wiling to leave because they had a couple of people they trusted (mostly Commander Croft) emphasise in no uncertain terms that if they stayed they'd end up like Marcus. That plus getting the Seneschal out, and the fact that they were fleeing for their lives from the Arkonas made a trip to the country sound like a very, very good idea. There was some resistance to the McGuffin chain in History of Ashes, but they loved it when they got to Scarwell.

[tbug]

I made my players think that everything in A History of Ashes was their own idea. I had a Shoanti befriend them early on, and when she left (along with all the other Shoanti, especially Thousand Bones) she let them know where she was going. They were able to cast sending and let her know they needed to talk to her, and so they were expected when they showed up. They wanted to avert the upcoming Shoanti invasion, and needed to figure out a way to have the other Quahs listen to them.

I never told them the entire chain at once. I just kept telling them that there were events happening back in Korvosa and they kept saying that they needed this advantage before the could go back (since I'd laid enough clues to that effect into the back story). They took a certain amount of glee in making me "make up" the Shoanti events. As something resolved I set a new obstacle in their path, and they just put challenging looks on their faces and set out to get to the end. When they actually all became members of the Sklar-Quah they felt really great about themselves, and had a long talk with the Shoanti about Korvosa.

I think it's all in presentation. If you tell your players that they're not allowed to game in the setting where they want to game and instead have to do a lot of little quests then they might very well be unhappy, so don't word it that way. :D

[Studpuffin]

tbug wrote:

snip

You sir, might've just saved AHoA in my game!