I tried running this module a few months ago and it didn't go great. I'll be running RotRL soon and this is to get my feet we and get any newb mistakes out of the way before I start the "main" campain.
I'd like to take another wack at it though but I want to switch out the Bloodrose Sprites, the Bugbear Mercs, and the final boss.
Here's what I have so far. Any advice, pointers or critique would be welcomed. The True Final Boss will be a Coven of Hags. I want the encounter with them to be "unlockable" through RP and Investigation. They have two Changling daughters who they're secretly luring into the swamp via The Call. They're currently minstrals in the Fort Thorn tavern.
My players cleared the Sprites last time I ran this and they refused to talk to the ones into dining room because the module as written ensures the PCs don't trust them. I'm thinking of replacing them with a group of cannibalistic, xenophobic group of Elves who revere the "Ladies of the Wood" aka The Hags.
I'm changing out the Bugbears because they don't fit with Pathfinder lore as Silen Killers. Usually I'd play them as a freak anomoly worth investigating but this is my players first steps in Golarian so any deviations from the norm would be meaningless to them. Not sure what to replace them with though.
I'm replacing Vardak for two reasons. One, he's not very interesting and two, I'd like some with some lose Thassilon/Runelord connection so when it starts coming up in my RotRL game, it feels more global. I'm torn between having them be some poor sap driven mad by an artefact of lust or or have it be a bonafide Thassilon and former disciple of Sorshen herself who has decided to make a play for power in place of their missing mistress. I went with Sorshen/Lust as this area was in her turf back in the day.
Fort Thorn. I've decided lay some groundwork in case I get round to running CotCT by changing the soldiers and workers (now engineers) into the King of Korvosa's elite strikeforce made up of mostly former crooks that have gone straight. They crossed the queen and she had them reassigned to Fort Thorn to either die or become politically obsolete.
That ended up being longer than I hoped.
Any tips or suggestions would be well appreciated.
I would not make a replacement Boss all that tightly linked to the Runelords. The big thrust of RotRL is that there's an [i[actual Runelord[/i] from 10,000 years ago becoming active. Having an almost-Runelord as the boss in a single middle-level module kind of deflates the impact of it.
A Cyphermage who has become obsessed with his research into Thassilon still has that tie without weakening the impact of the actual Runelord later. Add a few of the newer symbol spells from Ultimate Magic to give his magic a Glyph or Rune theme, and that may be a good tease.
The Rune Guardian from The Godsmouth Heresy might be a good thing to pop into a ruin here or there.
The big thing to remember, I think, is that 10,000 years is a long time. Clear memories of the Runelords have faded into vague legends and bits and pieces of lore (such as Varisian Tattoos, and Varisian Idols, or Shoanti lore about "the old masters"). A few minor bits here and there in Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale should help set the stage, but it is easy to add too much. Start small, and add more if you think you need to... but if you start with something big, it will be hard to undo that if you give away too much.
I would not make a replacement Boss all that tightly linked to the Runelords. The big thrust of RotRL is that there's an [i[actual Runelord[/i] from 10,000 years ago becoming active. Having an almost-Runelord as the boss in a single middle-level module kind of deflates the impact of it.
A Cyphermage who has become obsessed with his research into Thassilon still has that tie without weakening the impact of the actual Runelord later. Add a few of the newer symbol spells from Ultimate Magic to give his magic a Glyph or Rune theme, and that may be a good tease.
The Rune Guardian from The Godsmouth Heresy might be a good thing to pop into a ruin here or there.
The big thing to remember, I think, is that 10,000 years is a long time. Clear memories of the Runelords have faded into vague legends and bits and pieces of lore (such as Varisian Tattoos, and Varisian Idols, or Shoanti lore about "the old masters"). A few minor bits here and there in Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale should help set the stage, but it is easy to add too much. Start small, and add more if you think you need to... but if you start with something big, it will be hard to undo that if you give away too much.
What about Lustspawn, if I avoid explaining what they are? Do you think that'd be too big too soon?
That's probably easier to work in. I believe there are some in Kaer Maga, for example, so they should not be totally unknown in the world (though very rare).
A lot depends on how you view the continuity of Golarion.
If you intend to introduce the world in the same order as the APs were published, then RotRL is "first" and a big part of that is the whole "learning the truth about Thassilon" aspect; so then the more you reveal beforehand, the more that aspect loses its edge.
CoBV was published in 2007, when the initial version of RotRL was published. The world had not fully gelled yet, and only Varisia was really firmly defined (enough to publish, anyway). When I look at CoBV, I see more opportunity in the vague descriptions of the "barbarians" and the "invaders"... which have since been clarified to be the Shoanti and the Chelish forces pushing into Varisia. That's more of an area where you have some leeway to expand on the flavor without giving away too much of what is to come.
The other thing to keep in mind is how long you expect your group to stay together. If you plan to run the other Varisia-based APs later, you may give away things that are intended to be surprises. On the other hand, if you don't have such expectations, you can more freely drop in elements like that. That's more an issue for Shattered Star, and Curse of the Crimson Throne than Second Darkness.
From Wayfinder #7, the mini-adventure The Lure of Greed ... Serpentfolk spies (the Coils of Ydersius) were experimenting with re-creating Runewells when Earthfall wiped them out. Perhaps a group here had limited success, and managed a Runewell that worked well enough to be awakened when Karzoug's was, just as the one under Sandpoint did.
Karzoug has been awake for about 5 years before RotRL begins, so other Runewells may have been exploited/researched in the 5 or so years since then. By limiting it to being "not quite right", you can use that add some Thassilonian flavor while still saving the most accurate representations for later... such as, instead of spawning true Sinspawnn, only Fleshdregs come out. Or the possessor needs to perform some dark ritual with sacrifices of captured workers to get true Sinspawn instead of Fleshdregs. Alternatively, you could cook up a new monster that combines Serpentfolk with some elements taken from Sinspawn.
This also gives you the opportunity to "go against expectations" by using Sinspawn of a type NOT linked to Sorshen, like Wrathspawn.
Perhaps the Bugbears are infected with wrath from Wrathspawn created from the flawed Runewell, or perhaps the presence of the Runewell has altered them (saves work on re-writing that part), so knowledgeable PCs can notice the difference from normal and be puzzled by it... and clued in later.
Specifically, what went wrong with Conquest the first time you tried to run it?
BTW, running a module first before tackling and AP is a good idea for a new-ish GM. It's something i always recommend for exactly the reason you stated.
Specifically, what went wrong with Conquest the first time you tried to run it?
BTW, running a module first before tackling and AP is a good idea for a new-ish GM. It's something i always recommend for exactly the reason you stated.
-Skeld
A few things went wrong. I was expecting it to go a lot quicker than it ended up going, which killed my enthusiasm for it as I wanted to get onto RotRL soon. This is because a friend was back from China/Australia for a few months and I wanted to get him in for a least Burnt Offerings.
My players then refused to talk to the Bloodsprites in the dining room for clues because earlier encounters had been hostile, then when there finally did I failed to read the room and had one attempt suggestion, as the book, on one of them which resulted in my players deciding that every Sprite had to die. The book also didn't explain WHY they the Sprites repopulate the dining, if killed, whenever the PCs re entered the dining room.
I also lost access to a laptop, so found it harder to put things together and I was struggling to get every there for a session.
