My players are currently 12th level and a little over halfway through "Ashes at Dawn". While we're having fun, we're all feeling a little burnt out with CC. We've been playing for almost a year in the same path and want to move on to something new but I don't want to just quit something a) we still enjoy playing and b) we've given almost a year of our lives to.
So I'm planning on finishing up "Ashes at Dawn" and having the battle with the witches. But after that, I'm not sure I want to take the players all the way through "Shadows at Gallowspire".
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to wrap it up fairly quickly after the end of "Ashes"?
I know where you guys are coming from. I had massive GM-Burnout-Syndrome after BM.
So what we did and whats currently working quite well is that every other session I'm a player in the Skulls&Shacked campaign. This gives me and the others time to decompress from CC.
give it a go. Your just a book short. Take a sunny holiday in the shackles (or somewhere else) and come back and finish it off.
good luck
Boo!
Always sorry to hear this sort of thing, and of course hate to have you deny your players a great romp through an undead dungeon (at least, I think it's great! =-) )but if taking a short vacation as Windspirit suggests doesn't work, I've got a few major section edits suggestions:
1. Take away the entire Witchgate thread. this will enable PCs to scry and teleport to Renchurch, chopping out all of those encounters, and letting them skip the potentially deadly banshee at the final Witchgate (because they won't have Lacramoria's gauntlet to get them out).
AND/OR
2. You COULD strip out Adorak and Gallowspire entirely, and have Adivion team up with the Gray Friar in the Renchurch finale.
OR
3. You could skip Renchurch and move straight to Adorak and Gallowspire...with or without the Witchgates (they could lead straight to Adorak, after all), or even just Gallowspire and edit out all of the encounters in the outer city. You could probably wrap up the campaign in a couple of sessions if you did this.
You bought the book, you should at least put some of it to use, right?
=-)
Boo!
Always sorry to hear this sort of thing, and of course hate to have you deny your players a great romp through an undead dungeon (at least, I think it's great! =-) )but if taking a short vacation as Windspirit suggests doesn't work, I've got a few major section edits suggestions:
** spoiler omitted **
=-)
Thanks for the suggestions!
What I've decided to do is:
They will find out that Adivion Adrissant contacted Radvik about taking over the vampires and that he, AA, then contacted Count Tiriac for help with a potion; Tiriac and Ramoska have no idea AA is part of the Whispering Way.
Once the PCs kill the witches, Ramoska will then contact the PCs with information on AA. They will be told that he has finished his potion and plans on using it to become a lich. The PCs, I assume, will know the potion is not complete without the Raven's Head and will be able to figure out that he won't be as powerful as he should be with a full potion.
Quinley will recommend they talk to the Palatine Eye about teleporting to Gallowspire. The Order will teleport them and give them a scroll to teleport back. Once they get to the tower, they will fight the General (nightwalker) who will be invisibly guarding the gate.
Once defeated, the doors will open and they can take the stairs up to the climatic battle on the roof with AA!
