DON'T BUY the Carrion Crown Map Pack...It's useless. Just a bunch of colored squares laid out differently for each town they represent. No grids, no info, etc.
There's a lot of great maps online as images that can help. -or-
Get the PosteRazor program & make your own maps! You can scan in the maps from the books as jpeg's then make them into any size poster you want. Takes quite a bit of paper & ink {and tape} but greatly improves game-play. I personally have a printer whose ink costs under a dollar a cartridge so I make eveyones maps.{Uses LC75 Cartridges from Amazon.com}
I strongly suggest finding a printer that takes these cartridges for map printing!
Anyway, I have up through book 4 maps already made as pdf posters if you want me to email them to you {it's a LOT of info & emails}.
I also picked up the CARRION HILL module to use between books 3 & 4.
Turns out there's not a lot of chances to sell/buy in the game {as the PC's are constantly chasing & being chased - especially book 4 where they are "on the trail of"}.
With Carrion Hill I just take the Slipper Market part of the module & use it as a place where "The Riders" ransacked the place & left. If the PC's help the shopkeeper he will lead them through a dimension door that opens up into his REAL warehouse of goods. {I have him excuse himself for a moment where he dons rings, bracers & casts some wand of protection & an anti-magic shell on himself as a precaution before opening up to the PC's, just in case} Of course the warehouse is bustling with workers, beasties as guards & the like.
Here I allow them to sell their goods for 50% of retail & purchase at 75% {25% off}. Not everything is available & I caution against Monty Halling as too powerful of items can quickly ruin a campaign. Wands should not be fully charged & limit the (+) factor of everything.
I also allow them to have (1) item they own enhanced up to have any (+1 or +2) bonus added. [I don't allow +3 as SPEED is usually chosen...] It takes a full 8 hours for the enhancement so they might want to shop some more & explore the town. {don't get into the Carrion Hill campaign at this time since the PC's are following the pale riders}.
Let me know if I can help!
-Gwydion
Email me: gwydionmaurmatauc@yahoo.com
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I disagree with the map packs being useless. As a visual aid without spoilers for PCs, I've used the applicable ones (Lepistatd and Caliphas)to give the PCs visual representation of their path through the city. The locations that matter I simply highlight or mark on the map, allowing me to control the flow of information better than with a reprint of the city map from the module, especially the locales that read, "This location is detailed on page x of the modue". While they are not the most detailed, they do give the PCs some idea of the layout of the city. Its easy enough to transpose the scale from the module to the big maps.
That aside, I think Rule of Fear is great for giving extra flavor to the overall AP. It helps to detail a number of locales and personalities encountered throughout the journey across Ustalav. Besides that, it has helped to influence a number of expanded material present in these sub-forums.
Carrion Hill is a fun module to run, but obviously isn't for everyone. My players are fans enough of Lovecraft and the whole Mythos thing, so inserting it in my CC campaign made perfect sense, to the point that I made additional things to have the overall arc make more cohesive sense.
I've been using the Adventure Path Plug-Ins from Legendary Games. They provide opportunities for extra Trust Points at the beginning, plus add flavourful bits and pieces for the campaign as a whole.
We're still in chapter one, but I'm looking at adding Carrion Hill as well. Glad to hear it's working well for people.
I will buy any Carrion Crown product. Surprised there is nothing out there. Let me know if there are any plans.
Get Rule of Fear. It fleshes out Ustalav magnificently, giving GMs plenty of material to work with whenever players step off the narrow path.
I'd heartily recommend these. They are written by half the same authors who wrote the adventure path and really fit rather well thematically.I've been using the Adventure Path Plug-Ins from Legendary Games. They provide opportunities for extra Trust Points at the beginning, plus add flavourful bits and pieces for the campaign as a whole.
We're still in chapter one, but I'm looking at adding Carrion Hill as well. Glad to hear it's working well for people.
I may be late to the party on this one, but I'll Third the Legendary Games plug ins. My players didn't even realize that we were outside and alongside the Paizo adventure. They were a lot of fun, and helped fill the time while the party was spending 8 hours every day researching the prison.
Re the map folio, I got a lot of use out the Ustalav poster map and the city maps but I also am a sucker for props.
Rule of Fear is somewhat useful in providing further background on the country and regions but in truth I didn't make great use of it but if you're expanding the campaign as written it should provide some good fodder.
I would note that Carrion Hill while a good adventure on its own when grouped with six other horror adventures might make the AP a bit much. My group is a session or two from wrapping up the campaign but I think there is definitely a feeling of looking forward to something that is not horror-themed.