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I'm getting ready to start up Burnt Offerings Friday night, and am wondering what the norm is for what info in the beginning to tell the PCs.
Obviously they need to know that they are in Sandpoint for the Festival, and I can give them a bit of background on the town, but what about all of the Adventure Background/Nualia's Story details?
Has anyone shared bits of these details right off the start? If so, did it help or hurt?
Thanks!
Its based on where your players come from, in my campaign I created my own Players Guide, with stuff taken from the official players guide, from the Sandpoint section of the BO book, the whole section on the Late Unpleasantness and other little things like house rules and character creation.
The bit about the Late Unpleasantness was great, as the players treated it as fluff and background, was all the more fun when they realised that Nualia was a threat.
Out of 5 PC's, one come from Sandpoint, and two were fairly knowledgable on the place (the other 2 were from Magnimar), and the guide was ideal for them to refer to. I sent it to them a couple of weeks before the campaign started, so they had time to read and digest, one of the players pretty much committed it to memory!
You probably don't have time to do that, but there is a wealth of info there that any Sandpoint local should know, just relay that to them at the time...
Spill it up front. Have people know Nualia and take them through some childhood interactions with her. Otherwise your run the risk of them never understanding the plot of the first issue.
I wish I had placed more emphasis on this.
Also, mine this forum for more ideas on revealing Nualia's story, it can be really hard to get the Players to make the connections.
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I had a copy of the rumors for everyone. Also really reading up on the buildings in town was a huge help, I rolled percentiles for random NPC introductions every few minutes. "38, the local Davieren walks into the Rusty Dragon. Some of you know him as ..."
I wish I had played up the creepy guy in the graveyard. Its also good to have the pc's become well aquainted with Ameiko Kaijitsu.
You need to place alot of emphasis on Aldern Foxglove, the scene seems a little rushed with the battle and all, so make sure he gets introduced well. Read AP 2 synopsis if your in a hurry.
After the incident at the festival I made sure to have some kids running around pretending to be escaped monsters from the Academy. Which was interesting to see the town get rabbled against the orphanige. Kids said something, players repeated, drunk commoners repeated, players heard it again, everyone decided it must be true.
Also make sure you grab all the goodies out of the Community Created thread, there's alot of talented people making stuff for this.
I had a copy of the rumors for everyone. Also really reading up on the buildings in town was a huge help, I rolled percentiles for random NPC introductions every few minutes. "38, the local Davieren walks into the Rusty Dragon. Some of you know him as ..."
I wish I had played up the creepy guy in the graveyard. Its also good to have the pc's become well aquainted with Ameiko Kaijitsu.
You need to place alot of emphasis on Aldern Foxglove, the scene seems a little rushed with the battle and all, so make sure he gets introduced well. Read AP 2 synopsis if your in a hurry.
After the incident at the festival I made sure to have some kids running around pretending to be escaped monsters from the Academy. Which was interesting to see the town get rabbled against the orphanige. Kids said something, players repeated, drunk commoners repeated, players heard it again, everyone decided it must be true.
Also make sure you grab all the goodies out of the Community Created thread, there's alot of talented people making stuff for this.
None of the core PCs for my ROTR campaign were from Sandpoint. (A later PCs was) So, I had them in town for a few days before the festival, meeting people, getting into trouble, and learning the history of the town. (they have an NPC who is keeping a Journal that I post online for them as well, so important tidbits they miss can be picked up from her notes there.)
I've used rumors, interactions with merchants, priests, and mages, the tales of visiting Varisian gypsies, talks with Madam Mvashti, and even the pillow talk for one of the more...romantic characters (who also went along with the shopkeeper's daughter plotline without hesitiation)to give more insight into the history of the town, along with some side treks. (There was an Attic Whisperer in the Tarandarok Academy, following up on the history of the ghost has given them some more background and good hools to keep them asking the right questions.)
Basically, using the hooks, rumors, and excellent cast of townspeople to give the heroes what they need to know as they role play through Sandpoint.
I had a copy of the rumors for everyone. Also really reading up on the buildings in town was a huge help, I rolled percentiles for random NPC introductions every few minutes. "38, the local Davieren walks into the Rusty Dragon. Some of you know him as ..."
YOU HAVE A TABLE FOR NPC ENCOUNTERS IN SANDPOINT?!
Why is this not in the Community thread yet? Huh? Betrayer?
There's a list of buildings from 1 - 50 (pg 61 - 71), all I roll is percentiles, flip open the book and insert said awesome npc.
I think the first NPC I rolled was Gorvi (the half orc) (sp) and he tried to molest one of the female pcs (Dryad) in the bar, before he was hauled out and thrown in a dumpster after she beat him unconscious.
I could make a list though, I'll get back to ya.
There's a list of buildings from 1 - 50 (pg 61 - 71), all I roll is percentiles, flip open the book and insert said awesome npc.
I think the first NPC I rolled was Gorvi (the half orc) (sp) and he tried to molest one of the female pcs (Dryad) in the bar, before he was hauled out and thrown in a dumpster after she beat him unconscious.
I could make a list though, I'll get back to ya.
How do we submit things to the Community Thread?
I've done a quick spreadsheet with the 50 buildings and residents for quick reference (I have 2 versions: 1 for players and 1 with entra notes for the GM). I added additional names and notes as the game goes on.
Just upload your materials to the web and post a link and a description on the thread, I think there's two people who maintain the list. Easy peasy. I know photobucket is good for image storage.