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I prefer to start things off with a party-building adventure. I have looked through the various Lvl1 products and I am going to use Master of the Fallen Fortress. It will be a ruin 5 to 10 miles south of Phaendar. Recent travellers reported seeing activities there, so Aubrin recruits a few locals to check it out. This will introduce the Trogs as future enemies- the Trog leader there will be an outcast from the main tribe. Perhaps they will find clues about him desiring revenge against the tribe. When the group returns, they now have an invite to join Aubrin at the inn after the festival for some free drinks, and she promises to share their heroism. And then of course things happen.
Anyone else prefer an opener? Any other suggestions for this AP. I'm starting in 2 weeks.
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We had an online in character chat. Everyone developed a relationship with each other and many npcs and locations
When the bad stuff hit they therefore cared. A lot. Worked very well.
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Yes, I definitely prefer an opener to give the party a reason to know and like each other beyond mere survival. I am going to be running "Hollow's Last Hope." The abandoned monastery will be located in Fangwood and was erected by Droskarite exiles from the Dwarven Sky Citadel of Kraggodan centuries prior. The worg Graypelt, meanwhile, will be a scout for the Ironfang Legion, who has helped map out the woods and find the location of the three Chernasardo ranger forts.
I'm looking forward to running this.
I ran Crypt of the Everflame with teenage NPC-classed heroes, 5 years before the start of the campaign.
I ran Crypt of the Everflame with teenage NPC-classed heroes, 5 years before the start of the campaign.
I like this idea a lot! Question though, how did you build the PCs with NPC classes and have them survive? I think I'd like to do this as well.
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I was thinking of starting it with a short adventure where the PCs partake in a raid against Molthuni soldiers to rescue Nirmathi hostages. Essentially using the Molthune army as an "intro villain" before the main threat of the Ironfang Legion is introduced.
Essentially, this would show the larger context in which the campaign takes place and have the PCs establish themselves as skilled and effective warriors in a relatively triumphant attack on the Molthunis, before the grim and depressing fall of Phaendar and the party's desperate flight across the plains with the refugees in tow.
I ran Crypt of the Everflame with teenage NPC-classed heroes, 5 years before the start of the campaign.I like this idea a lot! Question though, how did you build the PCs with NPC classes and have them survive? I think I'd like to do this as well.
Mechanically, they had a 25 point-buy even though they were NPC classed (it represented their above-average talents). I also made up a few traits that provided limited uses of 1st-level class abilities (the would-be barbarian had 2 rounds of rage, the swashbuckler could parry once per day, etc).
But the adventure in itself is somewhat easier than most (purposefully), providing intelligent ways of solving most encounters and ample ways to heal and recuperate (there are many potions and even a healing fountain). I suppose if you do have an adept (we didn't) things would run even smoother. But they did use almost all resources available (like setting a few monsters on fire using oil). A good way to help them is providing a few consumable items (holy water, alchemical fire, acid, etc), since it gives them ways of bypassing the enemies' resistances. They also feel pretty damn smart when remembering a few jotted down items during a tough spot.
In the end I cut down some of the encounters (mostly to make sure I could run it in two game sessions) and made sure the characters were well-prepared for the adventure (they really need to carry a few bludgeoning weapons to deal with the many skeletons). You probably need to switch the blood skeletons with regular ones.
The idea was to build the characters in the spot and start the adventure immediately, so I provided a very small list of traits (this is a classic problem spot with my group) and provided the equipment (plus one weapon and one cheap armor/shield for each character), given to the PCs by their parents and townsfolk.
I was thinking of starting it with a short adventure where the PCs partake in a raid against Molthuni soldiers to rescue Nirmathi hostages. Essentially using the Molthune army as an "intro villain" before the main threat of the Ironfang Legion is introduced.
Essentially, this would show the larger context in which the campaign takes place and have the PCs establish themselves as skilled and effective warriors in a relatively triumphant attack on the Molthunis, before the grim and depressing fall of Phaendar and the party's desperate flight across the plains with the refugees in tow.
Just to add to my previous post, lemme put it this way:
You know how Dutch and the other commandos in Predator take on a bunch of normal human guerrillas before they encounter the Predator itself?
Yeah...
I would combine Louis Lyons and Runes suggestion using NPC classes in Hollows Last Hope. (Almost a variant on Goodman Games 0 level from 3.5)
Basically they would start at -2000 XP, go through Hollow's Last Hope and level up naturally back to level 1, and then start their 1st level careers normally.
I'd recommend that the NPC classes choose skills/spells from their wanted first level class later.
For balanced encounters, I'd do the following...
Random Encounter 6 - Change from Kobold to Goblin Zombie (for campaign flavor).
Random Encounter 10 - Drop one Wolf from the two encountered or change to a patrol of 3 Goblins.
Area B - Drop one Razorcrow.
Area C - Drop the Tatzlwyrm (CR2) for a Snake, Venomous (CR1).
Area D Ulizmilla's Battered and Dented Cauldron (1d4 bite, and 2 rounds after grappling to swallow hole). Alternatively Ulizmilla could be a Ghoul and the cauldron is just a mundane item.
The Monastery...
1) Drop one Wolf.
8) Change Gurtlekep to a Goblin (for campaign flavor).
10) Drop one Darkmantle.
15) Drop one Wolf (especially if it flees to Graypelt.
16) Drop Graypelt to War2, and possibly reduce his hp some if the Wolf from area 15 is here.
Crypt of the Everflame would need alot more adjustments if you use this formula.