My Age of Worms campaign started with my regular group, which runs 8 players meeting every other Friday here in the Twin Cities in Minnesota US. I had to stop the campaign due to a series of life events, mostly the birth of my two boys.
After my group wrapped up a Rise of the Runelords campaign under another DM, we voted as to what adventure path we should tackle. Age of Worms beat out a modified Council of Thieves barely, and after a 4 year hiatus we had our first session recently.
We run a very old school band of players, and since we are starting 'the Hall of Harsh Reflections' I made several plot modifications.
1)The PC's met Eligos, and are looking for a way to transform an NPC Vampire (long story, I ran White Plume Mountain as an adventure in between BlackWall Keep and Hall of Harsh Reflections).
2)After 4 years of little succes Eligos has heard rumors of something called 'Apostolic Scrolls' which are akin to 'Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance'(see Magic Item Compendium for details). He sends for the PCs.
3)One of the PCs is recruited to spearhead a team in the upcoming Champions Belt Games.
4)Khellak the wizard from Aurics Warband sees the PCs when they come into town, follows them, and casts a knock on the Chimera cage and then invisibility to disappear. The two thieves steal things from the PCs during the fight with Sleight of Hand checks.
In our case a PC had an item which could Locate Object, and he tracked his pouch to the Thieves where they were counting their ill gotten gains at the 'Crooked House'. The PCs beat the thieves up are took back their items.
5)When the PCs get to Eligos' manor, they find he and Pollard murdered. While investigating the manor, after 5 minutes of reading his journal and seeing the 'Kyuss Worm Paste' recipe, a doppleganger disguised as a homeless waif claiming to have heard screams, has summoned a cadre of Guards. The PCs are arrested and spend the night in jail.
The next day they are taken, in chains and bags over their heads to the Sodden Hold.
As the adventure was written, Eligos was assassinated later, after the Champions Belt. Later, in the Spire of Long Shadowes he is raised/resurrected. His death and rebirth has no real impact on the PCs. Now it is a meaningful event. As the adventure states, The PCs are framed, as the doppleganger crew desires. From Zyrzog's view, a sage who has been snooping into things best left alone is eliminated/discouraged.
Eligos, who eventually will be raised, states that the PCs rushed into his home and slew Pollard, then him. Naturally they were leveled dopplegangers pretending to be the PCs. He will be distrustful at best, even after the PCs kill the nest of dopplegangers.
Well, we are three sessions into the AP again and everything seems to be going well. I will document the changes made to the 'Hall of Harsh Reflections' as they occur in my campaign.
Feel free to check out my long standing blog:
http://ageofwormsminnesota.blogspot.com/