We finished up the Wells of Darkness tonight and I was astounded by the lack of threat Demogorgon's last contingency posed. I'm aware that high level encounters can be touch and go, but Mr. Boyd had the advantage of building Shami-Amourae and the last encounter. Details are spoilered just in case:
The encounter actually turned out ok for our group, but I'm hoping I'm missing something that would have made these guys a threat. How it turned out in my game:
So, anybody got any insight on how these guys were expected to capture or kill the Lady of Debased Eros, other than blind luck?
IMHO, Wells of Darkness is the lowest point of Savage Tide. Mish mash of random, boring encounters that couldn't put a dent into the party... The only intresting part is Well of Ahazu and the whole chapter has a filler feel to it.
I scrapped most of the chapter and just kept to the key encounters (Red Shroud, Ahazu, Shami).
I do sort of feel like Wells was a low point, and particularly non-threatening. I will be increasing their threat and adding significant side quests to that chapter in order to keep it from sagging. The concepts dealt with are super cool, I think, but they weren't mechanically potent, especially coming off Into the Maw.
The one thing I will say in Wells' benefit is that it jump started the campaign. Into the Maw and some of the other adventures really dragged across several sessions. The weaker encounters in Wells may have boosted the party's confidence and got them more enthused heading towards the end-game.
I still don't understand how the barl-guras were going to recapture or kill Shami, though.
I would have said that the barl-guras weren't really meant to kill or capture Shami. They were instead part of the ongoing war between Demogorgon's two heads. One head wanted Shami dead, but the other didn't want her dead, instead wanting her for other purposes. The barl-guras were really meant as messengers more than anything else, meant to test Shami's power level after escaping the Well and reporting back. They could also have been a sort of warning to her to keep her mouth shut and she might be allowed to exist a while longer, as Demogorgon had other fish to fry (e.g. the PCs).
Maybe this would be a good spot to introduce the NPCs that served Demogorgon in the 3.0 module Bastion of Broken Souls? I read comments here how people integrated part of that module into the Savage Tide AP. Looking through it though I only see the early NPCs as relevant, as most of the adventure focuses on encounters that lead up to the battle with the final red dragon...which would be a distraction for ST.
Bite your tongue!
:) I'm already trying to merge that adventure into the Savage Tide endgame.
If you find a good way, I would love to know.
:) I'm already trying to merge that adventure into the Savage Tide endgame.
+1
Not going to post anything here, I don't want to lay out my entire plotline for the players to find.
My AIM name is faduche
My email is kain underscore darkwind at yahoo dot com.
Contact me either way and I'll discuss it with you, along with anything else about the campaign you might like.
Would you post the details here after the final session? (I'm asking because it will be at least a year - if not more - before I get around the running the STAP.)
Would you post the details here after the final session? (I'm asking because it will be at least a year - if not more - before I get around the running the STAP.)
I wouldn't mind at all, though it looks like it will be three years or more before we wrap up.
Up to this current point however, I've done the following.
I inserted The Standing Stone, which is one of the adventures with foreshadowing of Bastion into the game. Ossington became a town south of Cauldron in the depths of the Amedio. When the PCs recently became embroiled in trying to save Sasserine from Milton Drac, they ended up on this adventure to find the Jade Crown of Yig that was buried in Saithnar's tomb. They are currently wrapping up on this.
I plan on getting the following adventures into the campaign somehow.
Lord of the Iron Fortress
Heart of Nightfang Spire
Sunless Citadel
Now you are getting me thinking...what if the villains of those first two adventures were potential allies to be recruited in Enemy of my Enemy...but things go horribly wrong?
As an alternate possibility, there is a guy in that second adventure who could well serve an army that needs to be equipped for a battle against Demogorgon...rescuing him might be a different goal for Enemies of my Enemy.
I'd say more, but my players are nosy, so feel free to contact me directly.