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I really like the looks of the Jade Regent AP and I've been itching to run an OA style game for a while now, but I was disappointed to find that you start in Varisia and THEN travel to Tian Xi.
Has anyone revamped the opening to the AP so that you start in Tian Xi? My other thought would be to have the whole party be originally from Tian Xi but traveling abroad.
Anyone know of any pitfalls or potential problems I might run into with the assumed course of the adventure with either of these routes?
Reskinning the adventures to start in Tian Xi is going to be really hard. The second adventure is quite thoroughly tied to Vikings, with burial ships and weregild and whatnot. The Crown of the World section would also need lots of work, as the encounters are based on geographic features. And, after they got to Varisia, you would have to wildly change everything to account for a hereditary monarchy and Oni in Varisia.
Your best bet would be a group of characters from Tian Xi, dedicated to restoring the true monarchy of Minkai and defeated the Oni of the Five Storms. They get to Sandpoint, and have to convince Ameiko of her status, and convince her to return to Tian Xi with them. Perhaps she initially refuses, but can be convinced by evidence from the old Kaijitsu ships (which the characters know about due to a convenient message sent to Minkai before the death of Ameiko's grandfather). It would be much easier than trying to work the whole thing backwards, in my opinion.
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I've got one person playing a younger sibling of Amiko and one playing a Kitsune whose family come with the Kaijitsus from Minkai. There are definitely ways to have Tien characters start in Varisia, and the "return home to save the throne after years in exile" is a classic story.
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Your best bet would be a group of characters from Tian Xi, dedicated to restoring the true monarchy of Minkai and defeated the Oni of the Five Storms. They get to Sandpoint, and have to convince Ameiko of her status, and convince her to return to Tian Xi with them. Perhaps she initially refuses, but can be convinced by evidence from the old Kaijitsu ships (which the characters know about due to a convenient message sent to Minkai before the death of Ameiko's grandfather). It would be much easier than trying to work the whole thing backwards, in my opinion.
Hmm, I like this idea. Thanks!
Other than the fact that all the characters would be dead because they are starting in a High Level AP with 1st level characters... no problem.
;)
Other random thoughts;
- pc's are exiled and journey to Sandpoint
- divinations lead them to Sandpoint to look for "A treasure worth a kingdoms ransom"
- hired by a(or are) merchant(s) to go to Magnimar, and play a short caravan over the top of the world as 1st level characters
- refluff the 1st 2 modules to a more asian flavor and have the whole thing take place in Tian (with placing the sword in the final location of JR3). So they travel to the top of the world and back. The vikings might be difficult to fit in.
It's hard to really offer advice because we don't have the last 3 parts which take place in Tian.
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Other than the fact that all the characters would be dead because they are starting in a High Level AP with 1st level characters... no problem.
;)
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but if starting mid-AP, why wouldn't you/I start the characters off with appropriately leveled characters and not 1st level?
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but if starting mid-AP, why wouldn't you/I start the characters off with appropriately leveled characters and not 1st level?Other than the fact that all the characters would be dead because they are starting in a High Level AP with 1st level characters... no problem.
;)
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but if starting mid-AP, why wouldn't you/I start the characters off with appropriately leveled characters and not 1st level?Other than the fact that all the characters would be dead because they are starting in a High Level AP with 1st level characters... no problem.
;)
I was sort of joking, indicated by ;). I would assume you would start at the appropriate level for the AP. On the other hand, I have had DMs who thought it was a good idea to start new characters at 1st level when the rest are 5th-7th level. But that is a topic for another thread.
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I keep thinking about this thread.
There are other ways to get to Varisia from Tien Xia: taken through Iobara (or another part of Casmaron) as slaves, or fugitives or refugees.
Or, the characters might be many generations removed: a monk whose ancestor left Tien and founded a monestary in Qadira, a witch whose family has lived in the wilds of Varisia for ages, an orphaned paladin who defends Lastwall, but they all have the same dream: they are members of a party who left Tien Xia ages ago in search of adventure. In the dream, an avatar of Desna or Shelyn draws them towards Sandpoint. She has plans for them... They might be so many generations removed that some of them don't seem to be Tien anymore. Heck, they could be reincarnated members of the orginal party, which could be revealed in flashbacks at various points during the jounrey.
While the setup seems to default to a "Shogun" or "Last Samurai" feel of an out-of-place Westerner, I can see a lot of ways to turn it into a "reclaiming family honor" or "you can't go home again" meta-plot.