Pacing the chapters for EoA

[magnuskn]

From what I've read so far in Edge of Anarchy, the first few chapters happen at breakneck speed. The PCs defeat Gaedren Lamm, go to the queen and are escorted to Cressida Kroft, after which they go directly to All the Worlds Meat.

Not to mention that the adventure seems to assume that a week of riots has passed until the players confront Verik. Only that the pacing doesn't support it. -.-

Anybody out there with an idea how to stretch that period a bit, so that I can work in more of the riot encounters? I ended the last adventure with the PCs kicking in the side door of the old fishery, so there is no going back now from that.

On another note, how much roleplaying is there in Skeletons of Scarwall? So far it looks like mostly a giant dungeon crawl to me, which I'd like to avoid.

[Cpt_kirstov]

magnuskn wrote:

From what I've read so far in Edge of Anarchy, the first few chapters happen at breakneck speed. The PCs defeat Gaedren Lamm, go to the queen and are escorted to Cressida Kroft, after which they go directly to All the Worlds Meat.

Not to mention that the adventure seems to assume that a week of riots has passed until the players confront Verik. Only that the pacing doesn't support it. -.-

Anybody out there with an idea how to stretch that period a bit, so that I can work in more of the riot encounters? I ended the last adventure with the PCs kicking in the side door of the old fishery, so there is no going back now from that.

On another note, how much roleplaying is there in Skeletons of Scarwall? So far it looks like mostly a giant dungeon crawl to me, which I'd like to avoid.

Personally,

Spoiler:

it took my group about a week of trying to sell the queen's broach before they brought it to her. They took this time to heal, buy respectable clothes, figure out what the heck was happening with Zalleria, ect. They also spent time scouting all the world's meat before going in, so that they knew they weren't facing all of the Lamm's Lambs turned into real crooks. Since two of the characters had a sister in the Lambs, they had to return her home, and invited the rest of the party along. Use the optional encounters.... they get hurt with the Ogytuh, and have to heal... They find the drunk guardsman on their way to the meat place, and either he's injured, or he's too drunk to stand, and by the time they bring him to the barracks, its after midnight. They spend a few hours putting out a fire up the street from all the world's meat started by a particularly unruly crowd. On their way back after they find the noble being bullied, or the imp war happens (personally I did this one after Eel's end, so that the psudodragon they saved payed them back un-expectantly.

Basicly, let them explore the city if they don't recognize the queen's brooch

[magnuskn]

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

Personally,

Spoiler:

it took my group about a week of trying to sell the queen's broach before they brought it to her. They took this time to heal, buy respectable clothes, figure out what the heck was happening with Zalleria, ect. They also spent time scouting all the world's meat before going in, so that they knew they weren't facing all of the Lamm's Lambs turned into real crooks. Since two of the characters had a sister in the Lambs, they had to return her home, and invited the rest of the party along. Use the optional encounters.... they get hurt with the Ogytuh, and have to heal... They find the drunk guardsman on their way to the meat place, and either he's injured, or he's too drunk to stand, and by the time they bring him to the barracks, its after midnight. They spend a few hours putting out a fire up the street from all the world's meat started by a particularly unruly crowd. On their way back after they find the noble being bullied, or the imp war happens (personally I did this one after Eel's end, so that the psudodragon they saved payed them back un-expectantly.

Basicly, let them explore the city if they don't recognize the queen's brooch

Thanks for the tips. I want to stretch out the riots a few days before the players get involved with the rest of the plot, since it makes many little details more believable ( like Cressida looking as if she hadn't slept for a good while ).

[Tiger Lily]

magnuskn wrote:

On another note, how much roleplaying is there in Skeletons of Scarwall? So far it looks like mostly a giant dungeon crawl to me, which I'd like to avoid.

I haven't read through that one yet, but the trend for each AP seems to be that at least one of them is predominately a dungeon crawl, and I've heard that Scarwall is it for this one. I would assume this is because there are lots of folks out there that LIKE giant dungeon crawls and they're trying to appeal to a wide range of preferences... which I appreciate as variety is nice.

I'm like you, and I tend to avoid the big dungeon crawls as well. What I've done in previous APs and will likely do with this one as well is work in role playing for the party to get themselves a map. When they can see the whole thing in front of them (minus any DM info surprises of course), I tend to see fewer glazed eyes around the table and the action parts are much closer together.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

I'm removing Skeletons entirely, and instead expanding the rebellion. Essentially the shiny magical sword that can kill the queen is the prize at the end of the previous adventure (Argh! It's on the tip of my brain!) EDIT: A History of Ashes!

I'll save Skeletons of Scarwall for something else (perhaps Kingmaker).

[magnuskn]

Thanks, I'll make a decision as I get closer to it. If I see it correctly, Crown of Blades gets a bit dungeon-y, too, and I'd really like to avoid have the players do almost only dungeons for the last 4-5 levels.