Hey there. I'm starting a group with some new characters in some Tian Xia adventures, and planned to begin with Master of the Fallen Fortress, only on another side of the world.
The players are beginning around the general area of Amanandar, Jinin, and Zi Ha, and based on the main monsters of this module I thought it might be perfect to move the tower from the Cairnlands outside Absalom, and into the wild mountains of Zi Ha.
What I'd like advice on is mostly reworking the fluff, but also perhaps changing one or two monsters to add to the Tian Xia feel.
So, as for what I have so far:
Cairnlands --> Wild mountains of Zi Ha
Abandoned unnamed siege castle --> Mysterious ancient tower
Wild Dogs --> ??? (Not sure if I should even use a different monster, but dogs seem as though they would be out of place here)
Band of the Phoenix banner --> ???
Temple of Nethys --> Temple of Lady Nanbyo
Captive Pathfinder --> ??? (Maybe a captive archaeologist, possibly future employer of the PCs, name changed to reflect Zi Ha location)
Tasskar gazing at Absalom --> Tasskar gazing at a Samsaran monastery on an adjacent mountain
Snapjaw --> ??? (Not sure if I should even use a different animal to be honest)
Background: This is possibly nothing the PCs will ever learn, but then again maybe. Instead of having been opened to the outside and the troglodytes by an earthquake, the tower was originally breached by the outcast and his followers digging unknowingly into it. In the process of exploring their new home, the troglodytes stumbled upon the tower's shrine to Lady Nanbyo, which had been undisturbed for decades until now. This disturbance triggered the rise of the undead in the shrine and the earthquake which opened the tower to the outside while at the same time closing the tunnels the troglodytes came through.
Shortly after this quake, an explorer/archaeologist/adventurer (not sure yet, and he's still unnamed) set off to the newly opened tower to see what he could find, or perhaps make a name for himself. However, he has not returned and is now overdue.
Potential adventure hooks:
1. The local monastery asks the PCs to explore (basically the same as the 'church' hook in the actual adventure).
2. Rumours arise of valuable treasure within the tower (i.e. the 'greed' hook).
3. Desperate friends or family of the missing man ask the PCs to search for him (i.e. the 'hero' hook), possibly with mention of a reward if they hesitate (i.e. the 'opportunist hero' hook).
So that's what I've got so far. I'd appreciate a bit of feedback as well as some help and ideas with filling in those few gaps I still have missing.
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I ran Master of the Fallen Fortress in Katapesh. The PCs were in a nearby town that was hit with sandstorm that forced everyone inside. After the storm ends a boy stumbles into town, the mayor's grandson, who says his home (a few miles outside town) was attacked. The Mayor asked the PCs to investigate and save his daughter and her husband. They do, finding the husband dead but not his wife. They track reptilian footprints to the tower and there started the module. In this instance the captive Pathfinder was the mayor's daughter.
You could do something like this, and since your in Zi Ha replace the sand storm with a snowstorm.
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Change the Wild Dogs to Wolves with the Young Template maybe, to represent wolves who are struggling to survive in this harsh land..
The Band of the Phoenix should be a samurai standard. Maybe one from the neighboring elven samurai land.
Snapjaw being an alligator up high in the mountains does seem strange.
Lantern Lodge? Maybe. I don't know very much about them unfortunately, but the gazetteer's little blurb on 'preservation of historical knowledge' sounds like it could work if I intend to put an archaeologist type in the pathfinder's place.
A standard of Jinin works well too, and young wolves (although technically slightly tougher than dogs (being a CR 1/2 compared to CR 1/3 dogs) would probably fit.
Darn crocodile though... Need to find a CR 2-ish animal that fits in the mountains (or at least appears to fit better than a crocodile).
...Maybe a wolverine or a slurk.
A fellow GM friend of mine commented that the Slurk looks like (in his words) "A Troglodyte Froglodyte". Silly wording aside, he has a point. The Slurk and Trogs physically look like they belong together, so I think I'm going to go with a Slurk.
It might be a bit tougher than a crocodile, what with its climb speed and ranged, tangling touch attacks as well as its 2d6 melee attacks compared to the croc's 1d8 + grab, but eh. I'm sure they'll do fine.