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So... I guess what I'm looking for is something of a review, as well as some advice on finishing it. I've been working on this for the last couple of days (that is, this specific adventure - it's been at least a year and a half since I started this whole project), and intend to spend the next two or so finishing it up before I shelf the project for another few months (it's how I work on long projects).
Introduction: I am, slowly but surely, adapting World of Warcraft to a Pathfinder campaign. Several campaigns, actually - one (sort of) for each expansion* - but that's beside the point. I've decided to make it E6, and have levels awarded - in short - based on sessions attended. Now that pretty much all of the planning (at least, as far as is needed to get through Burning Crusade, not counting bestiaries), I've decided to start working on adventures. For various reasons, I have decided to start with the first dungeon in the Human campaign*, The Deadmines, to get back into the groove of adventure design. I haven't made a homebrew adventure since 3.5e, and since then (mostly due to moving) haven't been able to hold together a group for more than an adventure or two, so I'm not 100% comfortable in how things actually run in Pathfinder, compared to theory.
Aaanyway, since I'm adapting an existing thing with its own fluff and maps, I'm ignoring that for now, and just focusing on stat blocks and mechanics (though I have graph-ified the zone maps, so I know how much room there is to manoeuvre and what-not). Also, as of posting this, I have only finished it up through the Defias Hideout (Rhahk'zor) area - the stat blocks after that point are all placeholders. Of course, I do intend to update the linked file as I finish each following section (I intend to be done by Tuesday at the latest). Oh, and to clarify this is based on the pre-Cata version of this dungeon.
So, what with one thing and another, the things I'd like feedback on include:
- Balance: Could a 3rd-level group conceivably last through this adventure? Note that I intend for this to last two sessions, setting a break point after the Mast Room (Sneed) fight. During this break, I intend to let the party rest as far as spells, daily uses, and so on are concerned but without in-game time actually passing (to allow for more challenging encounters without having to explain why no reinforcements have arrived while they were sleeping). Lastly, I'm hoping to have the VanCleef encounter be EL 7, though I haven't decided exactly how it will go, including how many combatants it will involve.
- Time: How long do you think it would take for a party of four or five adventurers to get through the Mast Room? To the end? (Obviously, this will involve speculation as long as I haven't finished all the sections, so feel free to wait until I have before answering - although even a ballpark guess would be appreciated).
- Flavour: For those who have run the original Deadmines dungeon in pre-Cata WoW, I'd like to hear your thoughts on how I adapted things to be appropriate for a tabletop adventure. I did, indeed, try to work in unnecessary shoutouts to the original (like the sacks of copper ore - which also serve to reduce the effective treasure that can be looted for encounters that I predict will be a little easier than their CR would indicate). To be quite honest, I didn't start playing WoW until halfway through Cataclysm, so I never actually ran the original version (many thanks to Bradygames' guides and WoWpedia for their help in this), so the feedback from anyone who actually did get to run it will be particularly appreciated.
That's all I can think to say right now... I'd be happy to answer any questions.