Hey all.
My group and I are a little ways into Serpents Skull; Souls for the Smugglers Shiv
A little background.
They're building strong relationships with some of the NPCs, Sasha and Gelik mostly, Jask is dead due to no one trusting him or giving him a chance to explain why he was shackled.
They are really enjoying the mysterious jungle aspect, and are really getting an understanding of how dangerous it is.
After reading a little bit of Racing to Ruin and Vaults of Madness and stuff, I'm just not impressed. I don't like where it goes, and knowing my group, I don't think they will either. After being so involved in the survival aspect and stuff I think the change of pace is kind of drastic.
On the other hand. They can't stay on the island forever. I'm just looking for some suggestions on where to go from this book.
I've read that going from Serpents Skull to Skull&Shackles works well, but I think I might be a little late on the jump. Unless I did some major tweaking probably.
Have the boat that picks them up from the island be the ship that press-gangs them.
Also to de-level them at the end when the temple releases the ghost that are bound to the temple, have it level drain the party back to 1.
That should get you good to go, you can even use the NPC on the Island as cannon fodder for the Pirates to show how serious they are.
Honestly don't know much about Razor Coast. (my bad) It could work too.
I'm really into the mash up idea between Serpents skull & Skull and Shackles.
The only thing I wasn't crazy about is the delevel idea.
How would it work out if I started from book 2 of S&S?
I'm really into the mash up idea between Serpents skull & Skull and Shackles.
The only thing I wasn't crazy about is the delevel idea.
How would it work out if I started from book 2 of S&S?
My recommendation, just have a bit of the pirate-y stuff from book 1 of Skull & Shackles, to get a basis for hating Cap'n Harrigan, jump rite to the man's promise, then after the storm (stranded on bone wrack isle optional) have the mutiny then jump right into book 2 (Raider's of the Fever Sea)
i dont recommend the de-leveling (i know if my PCs busted their ass to get to level 3 or 4 then *BAM!* back to square one, i would have a real life Mutiny;)
i honestly rather like Serpent's Skull, i just wish book 3 had 1) more maps and 2) way more artwork of the city (pictures of azlanti architecture or anything really)
book 2 can be a blast if you let your PCs pick the route (the companion book on sargava helps with this immensely) book 4 got really weird for us when our dwarven cleric started huffing midnight spores then everyone started dropping like flies (it got really dark when the elven druid got beheaded by the giant pazuzu worshipping parrot) after that it pretty much fizzled, then i gave the entire ap to my nephews out west.
I'm really into the mash up idea between Serpents skull & Skull and Shackles.
The only thing I wasn't crazy about is the delevel idea.
How would it work out if I started from book 2 of S&S?
My recommendation, just have a bit of the pirate-y stuff from book 1 of Skull & Shackles, to get a basis for hating Cap'n Harrigan, jump rite to the man's promise, then after the storm (stranded on bone wrack isle optional) have the mutiny then jump right into book 2 (Raider's of the Fever Sea)
i dont recommend the de-leveling (i know if my PCs busted their ass to get to level 3 or 4 then *BAM!* back to square one, i would have a real life Mutiny;)
i honestly rather like Serpent's Skull, i just wish book 3 had 1) more maps and 2) way more artwork of the city (pictures of azlanti architecture or anything really)
book 2 can be a blast if you let your PCs pick the route (the companion book on sargava helps with this immensely) book 4 got really weird for us when our dwarven cleric started huffing midnight spores then everyone started dropping like flies (it got really dark when the elven druid got beheaded by the giant pazuzu worshipping parrot) after that it pretty much fizzled, then i gave the entire ap to my nephews out west.
I'm really enjoying Smugglers Shiv, but I'm just not impressed by the rest of the story. Plus I've heard that 3&5 of Serpents Skull are possibly the worst AP's ever.
They're also terrified of the "giant thing with wings" that they haven't found yet. I feel like the rest of the story kinda loses that dark, mysterious aspect.
Why not have the rescue ship BE Man's Promise and press gang them from there?
That's the basic idea, but my only real issue would be having to increase the CR of every encounter, and level up every NPC.
My first thought was Razor Coast. I guess Skull&Shackles may work too.
After looking up Razor Coast, it's exactly what I want o_o
But my local gaming store said it isn't released yet? Where would I be able to find it?
Simple. By the time they have finished with the cannibals they should be level 2? They send the help signal, picked up by the Wormwood, shorten the days on the ship to say 5-8 days?, don't level the players at the end of the Man's Promise battle and there you go back on track. No need to change anything or alter any NPC's. Keep the NPC's form the island and replace and either add to the exisiting crew or change Roise, Cogward and Conch with the ones form the island (you will still need Sandara and Kroop). They need to be on the Wormwood as they need to have seen Harrigan for the plot of Skull and Shackles to continue.
|
My first thought was Razor Coast. I guess Skull&Shackles may work too.After looking up Razor Coast, it's exactly what I want o_o
But my local gaming store said it isn't released yet? Where would I be able to find it?
You can buy the PDF here at paizo (found the link with a quick google search actually).
From what I heard, it is better to use the print edition though (because the file apparently takes forever to load/open). The book is expensive AND not available at paizo yet but could arrive in a few days/weeks. Check the thread on the product for more info.
It is already available at FrogGodGames apparently.
|
|
I'm really enjoying Smugglers Shiv, but I'm just not impressed by the rest of the story. Plus I've heard that 3&5 of Serpents Skull are possibly the worst AP's ever.
** spoiler omitted **
I think your GM skills have greatly enhanced this adventure for your players, even though the original module is already great by itself.
I think that you will be able to do this with any scenario you chose to run afterwards. Though I agree that Razor Coast seems close to this kind of "horror at sea" theme.