Swapping out Shadow in the Sky to fix SD?

[PDiddy]

I have read in a number of places that one of the issues with the Second Darkness is that the campaign starts the PCs out as shady mercenaries involved in the seedy underbelly of a pirate haven and then asks them the be selfless heroes.

Do you feel that swapping out Shadow in the Sky would fix this issue? If I were to swap out Shadow in the Sky, can anyone recommend another adventure to take its place? What are the key elements/pieces of info from Shadow in the Sky that would have to be carried over to the new adventure?

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Joey Virtue]

Well you would have to make sure to have the Meteror fall and hit the island and it would have to be a costal adventure and the bad guy would have to be working with the drow

[aatea]

I remember reading somewhere in the Second Darkness archives that many GMs recommended replacing the first three Second Darkness AP adventures with the Freeport Trilogy from Green Ronin. I haven't tried this myself, and I don't remember who recommended it and if they mentioned how well it worked.

But it's an interesting thought that allows you to keep some of the seedy underbelly of Riddleport while adding heroic elements. As Joey mentioned above, you'd need to make sure you added the meteor and the drow...

[hogarth]

I thought the real complications came later on in the series, where you're essentially supposed to selflessly work on behalf of the elves even though they sort of treat you like dirt.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

Replacing the first adventure is a good choice for fixing the basic plot issues.

My recommendations:

Replace #1 with Souls for Smuggler's Shiv,

Spoiler:

replace any references to Serpentfolk with Drow. Have the weird blot in the sky for the whole adventure, the cannibals kidnap other folks on the shiv to placate the angry sky. Just as the PCs get rescued by a passing ship have a meteor crash into a nearby island. Replace normal elves with Ekujae elves. Run 2-6 as is with changes for Garund setting.

Suggestion #2: Have the party play all Elves and Half-Elves. Or members of the Winter Council. This makes adventures 3-6 relevant for the characters personally.

Suggestion #3: Home brew something more heroic. Key plot points that need expressing are: Shadow in the Sky, Elves are involved somehow, A Drow is behind this!

[Elorebaen]

Referring to what Dudemeister mentioned, #2 will really help the whole AP with a slight tweak, the party starts off as the organization helping the WC (which may be what Dude is talking about). If you went this route, I don't think you need to swap out modules, just focus more on the reconnaissance angle.

[PDiddy]

I am hoping to run Serpent Skull at some point so I don't want to cannibalize it for Second Darkness.

Also, I would prefer to let the players play whatever characters they want to so I don't want to limit them to elves & half-elves.

One option I have been considering is adapting the old basic adventure Rahasia and replacing the Rahib and the sisters with Depora. This brings rescuing elves to the fore right from the start but it would miss the great final battle scene on the Cyphergate.

Any other suggestions?

[gigglestick]

I'd love to see Rahashia redone as a PF adventure...

[Nathan Monson]

I ran the first 2 books mostly as written, but added a sequence at the end of book 2 where the PCs are transported into the dark future where the drow succeed. this should give even the most selfish characters motivation to stop it. "I like the world just fine as is, I guess id better save it."