My group would get into it.
Yeah any perk should be minor at best - probably a small amount of bonus gear as a welcome package.
I have the interview process prepared, It wouldn't be too difficult to work it up into an encounter with a handful of checks and a bit of RP.
I'm still collecting data and thinking things over for this as I'm doing quite a bit of adjusting.
So my party believed Eliza and is now escorting her and Rayland, hands tied and weapons confiscated, back to Talmandor's Bounty. They're being cautious though given that Eliza declared that she's not confident that her and Rayland's minds are their own.
My group would get into it.
Yeah any perk should be minor at best - probably a small amount of bonus gear as a welcome package.
I have the interview process prepared, It wouldn't be too difficult to work it up into an encounter with a handful of checks and a bit of RP.
I'm still collecting data and thinking things over for this as I'm doing quite a bit of adjusting.
About interviews as a prologue (if that's still relevant for you), I did that, presenting it to the players as a way for us to make sure the characters made sense and for me to get to know their characters and skills so I could add a couple fun things related to that. I sprinkled in a couple skill checks based on the way the roleplaying went (diplomacy, bluff, sense motive, knowledge local) and didn't give specific rewards. The players mostly got a sense of what was expected of them from that.
Maybe I should have added some small reward, as it had very variable results. For some players, it led to some very convincing rp and the players figuring out things about their characters that they had not yet thought about. Others seemed to view it as kind of a chore, and they happened to be the ones who had characters that were slightly harder to justify (though still acceptable) or couldn't really find answers to my questions.
In terms of questions, I asked these:
-Where are you from?
-What do you do for a living there?
-Is anyone else coming with you? (I gave the players a chance to create a few npcs.)
-Why do you want to participate in this endeavor?
-What can you bring to the colony?
-Are you willing to participate in construction and farming efforts?
-In case of danger, such as wild animals attacking, can you defend yourself?
-How do you usually solve conflicts?
-How would you react in the event that you meet some other civilization near the colony?
About interviews as a prologue (if that's still relevant for you), I did that, presenting it to the players as a way for us to make sure the characters made sense and for me to get to know their characters and skills so I could add a couple fun things related to that. I sprinkled in a couple skill checks based on the way the roleplaying went (diplomacy, bluff, sense motive, knowledge local) and didn't give specific rewards. The players mostly got a sense of what was expected of them from that.
Totally relevant - I'm still playing around with the re-theme, I've probably got 9+ months before I have to worry about starting the campaign.
And that's exactly the type of thing I have in mind.
I hadn't really thought about using it intentionally to push the players into deeper discovery of who their character is, but that's a great idea actually.
I think I agree, I've found the best RP/character development is done through at table action with some good pre-work to direct conversations. I now deeply regret not doing this with the PC's but maybe I'll add it in as some RP once the colonists settle into the colony. Have it as a sort of "ok, now that we're settled and the danger is past, who are you?"
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My reading between the lines of history seems to indicate a huge financial incentive behind the Roanoke colony, and its continued existence - I want to play a bit more with that idea and try to let at least some of that bleed through into the campaign. The idea that the colonists are being used for financial gain - that there are bigger movers and shakers that may not have their best interests at heart.
I also want to build Buy In from the players and a bit of character development in the direction of why they WANT to be colonist, and to let that be a guiding idea during character creation and initial development.
Yeah I see that first point too, definitely they aren't funding this colonization effort for fun. Someone is expecting to make a profit here, and I expect they're looking to see it materialize sooner rather than later.
I'm currently looking at developing Harcourt from disenfranchised extra son to colonial powerhouse, perhaps being manipulated by the powers that expect to profit from the colony (though I need to figure out where the Andoran government fits in).
With my group, the financial incentive in this expedition was always very openly present. The characters know that there are two reasons to this expedition. One is to further the influence of Andoran abroad, so as to make new allies and spread democracy. The other is to gather more resources and eventually make contacts for trade with other civilizations, mainly in Arcadia. The characters are fully aware of this and have some financial incentive themselves: once the colony is financially viable, they will be awarded a plot of land to use as they wish. I'd be wary of making the people behind the colony too uncaring and unlikable, as there are already a lot of opposing forces in this adventure. Of course, the characters should hopefully care enough about the other colonists to want to protect them, but I'd avoid giving incentive to just abandon the colony. Just my opinion, though, and if the players end up not trusting the higher-ups back in Andoran, I'll probably go with it. XD
My group has reached the end of level 1 a little while ago. I figured I should share my experience.
I won't give all the details, but I've increased the difficulty of some encounters (monkey goblins, ankhegs and blood maize) because there are five players. I did not want to increase the number of encounters, and I'm glad about that, since at the end, the players seemed to feel like checking every house and finding all those monsters was getting slightly tedious, despite some really fun encounters. Most encounters were fairly easy, with the barbarian often killing enemies in a single blow. The monkey goblins, who were more numerous, were a real threat and forced the characters to rest a little early on their first day, but the rest went well.
They are somewhat suffering from their lack of Spellcraft and Disable Device. I've let them trap the clockwork spy, but they have yet to disable it. Since they have not truly manipulated it or ever damaged it (they grappled it, then put it in a box and tied that up), I've let it not selfdestruct. Perhaps they'll get back to it later. As for spellcraft, they are running around with quite a few unidentified items.
The big highlight of the level for our group was the poltergeist, and I'd like to explain what I did with it and what the players did. When they first entered the chapel, the players were somewhat low on health, having rested after the goblins, but lacking some healing magic. They got in, the poltergeist used its frightener ability, and three of the characters, including all the front-liners, failed their saves, so it was time to regroup outside. I had described the piles of ash and some silver objects inside as they walked in, so they really wanted to go back for the loot. So here they were, buffing the barbarian's speed and having him rush in, the dwarven warpriest following for backup, but staying close to the door since he couldn't run away fast, and the Menhir Savant druid using his ability to detect undead by looking through the window and letting the others know where the poltergeist was, just in case it would be dangerous. As the barbarian and warpriest were being pelted with bigger and bigger objects, they ran around, grabbed everything and ran out, very low on health once again. Around the end of the level, once they had the magic sword, magic bow and the warpriest had prepared appropriate spells, they went back, this time to rid the chapel of the undead. The druid was still spending every round detecting the poltergeist and pointing him out to the others. It wasn't easy, but they made it. Now comes the part I took some liberties with : the haunt.
Instead of waiting for the players to engage with the ghost and asking for a linguistics check, I created a sort of code (a sequence, really) that the haunt repeats over and over and which contains hints as to what happened. First, they heard quiet thumps going from the door to the altar, I asked for a Perception DC 10 to hear it, then Sense Motive DC 15 to notice it somehow sounded nervous, like someone walking on tiptoes. Then, there was a louder bang on the altar, followed by heartbeat-like thumps in the altar, slower and slower (DC 15 Sense motive (which I approximated to how you feel like a music piece is sad), to notice a sort of despair). Then, there were loud thuds on the statue of Talmandor and on the bench closest to the altar. (DC 15 Knowledge Society to remember that Talmandor, on top of being a sort of patron of Andoran, is often associated with the Steel Falcons. They failed that one. Also DC 15 K religion/society to tell that the front-most bench in these chapels is often reserved for influential people, leaders in a community.) Just with that, the players understood that something had happened between the undead (unidentified for now) and Arkley, though they have a lot of different hypothesis. They also have an inkling that Silas might have hidden there on his own and bled out, though they are a little indecisive. We shall see how it goes, but the players seemed to really enjoy trying to put the clues together and solve the mystery, so I thought I'd share.
My group has reached the end of level 1 a little while ago. I figured I should share my experience.
Nicely done, Jackie. Sounds like you dialed up the challenge perfectly to account for five players. I especially like how you handled the haunt and not have Silas communicate directly with the PCs. My main group semi-resolved the poltergeist/Arkley situation at the beginning of book 2 (and at level 4) - they wont have full closure until the end of book 2, so this has been a long-running thread for them. The clockwork spy is also such a great mystery, so I'm glad to hear you didn't self-destruct it.
Both of my groups going through this AP have the opposite problem that yours is facing, as mine have all magic and no tanks - squishy as hell and are having to beg, bribe or payout precious loot to some of the tankier npc's in the colony to "accompany" them on each of their outings. I think they are slightly embarrassed at having to rely on others for this. Hopefully your party will find an npc with suitable spellcraft skills to help them out (for a price?) - maybe give Perrell Beys wizard levels rather than rogue or expert levels.
Looking forward to reading how your group navigates the next chapter!
With my group, the financial incentive in this expedition was always very openly present.
You make some nice points, "incentive to just abandon the colony" isn't really going to be much of a threat or option given my re-theme plans, but I don't want to make the players feel TOO trapped in the situation.
Regarding the Haunt - I like your alterations. In reading through the AP, every time I read through that part I keep thinking "How am I going to run this in a way that the players will be interested in rather than frustrated with?"
Thanks for sharing!
we had a similar experience with the haunt but our Paladin of Erastil was heavily motivated to deal with it on the spot. They uncovered the body and buried it so I'm looking forward to having it return as a haunt since they haven't done any "avenging" yet. I like your idea as well of it not communicating with them directly and may use that to play up the sense of mystery.
My party is actually fast approaching level 3, they've cleared shellcracker cave and are currently just mopping up colony encounters. Unfortunately the way they played it I had no choice but to allow the clockwork spy to explode but I've had a player approach Peryl attempting to coerce her via courtship into tinkering with it so I may use her to reveal some of that mystery, maybe a fragment of the recording she's salvaged.
I've had to do similar things Jackie as I'm also running a 5pc party, though our party mostly lacks front liners as opposed to casters. We've got a wizard, a rogue, a paladin, and a druid (lost our 5th member recently. Using him now as an NPC to great effect). I think I've found a replacement however so hopefully someone can step up as a substitute for our bloodrager.
After killing the ankheg, they made their way through the forest, and I skipped the young boars - the hunter rolled high in Survival, and has a tiger by his side. He found some trails and they already had...
Nicely done! Sounds like a fantastic group who can really get into this AP. As some have noted earlier, a lot of fun can be had with the NPCs in the village and you're at the right spot in the adventure to establish those connections. Also, I have had a great time encouraging as many conspiracy theories as my players will dream up, so have fun with that, too!
Something to consider for the boar hunt encounter that is coming up (where the players help Anya Sandstrider)- consider giving those boars the Giant template. Freaked my players out when they dug traps for regular sized boars and then something like this came out of the jungle: Click here - Giant Boar. One of them said, "I think we're going to need a bigger pit."
Looking forward to your next update, Hilton.
Ted, I was looking at spicing up the boar for the hunt too!
My players killed the boar enroute to talmandor's bounty quite handily and I wanted a little surprise for them when the hunt event comes around but I wasn't sure what template to use. I'm considering the mutant template as it would allow for a very different encounter and if they decide to dig on the RP side there are endless possibilities for magical auras to have warped it somehow.
Hi folks,
I've been looking through all the forums for this AP and, if my question has been discussed, I missed it. I'm just starting to run this AP for a group. They seem very, very interested in pricing together as much minutae as possible about the events that transpired with the first wave of colonists. I know the AP leaves those details deliberately grey, but I want to be able to tell them things now in response to their sleuthing that align with other tidbits of information they will glean from later books about how the colony got depopulated. I'm posting here because, in thinking about this and looking through other books for tidbits, I think I'm gonna have a hard time making everything for together for them in the end due to several conflicting accounts.
First, we know that Rayland Arkley got replaced by a Faceless stalker. My understanding is that the replacement of the Colonists occurred slowly, like happens again in book 2, until people got too suspicious and it came to blows, perhaps starting with Silas Weatherbee. Hearing this fighting is why Edwin Fox ran and hid and got eaten by the Ankheg.
But the explanation for what Fox heard was a fight between dominated colonistS and non dominated colonists, and Rayland wasn't dominated, he was Thanaldhu. This leads me to my first question: who are these other colonists that were dominated instead of being replaced whom Fox heard people fighting with? (I'm assuming a dominated Eliza returned to the colony, so I mean besides her).
This gets more interesting because in book 3, Armin recounts Ochymua coming into the colony in human form, being friendly, and then dominating people. Based on the fighting that made Fox flee, this must have happened sometime early or in the middle of the replacement scheme before people got too suspicious and it came to blows.
But this also leads me to my second question: why would Ochymua roll up into the middle of the Faceless Stalkers workplace like this, while they're at work, expose himself, and then dip after dominating some, but not all, of the colonists? If the fighting had already broken out,I could see why he would come to "clean up" a situation that had grown messy. But fighting couldn't have broken out yet because Fox fled at the start of the fighting with the dominated colonists. So Ochymua would have had to have come before then to do the dominating so there were dominated colonists to fight. So even if I play the "Armin's memory is jacked up" card, it still seems like Ochymua would have had to openly visit the colony at some point while his Faceless Stalkers were at work.
That also seems like a detail that would have made it into the log books/almanacs for the colony. Are those last few missing pages from that one logbook in the government building ever brought up again? That might provide a reason they were cut out, to hide Ochymua's visit early on or in the middle of the Faceless Stalker replacement.
Has anyone thought about how these two tactics - open domination of colonists and covert body snatching of colonists - dovetail in the backstory of the campaign? Anyone had a player balk at Armin's recounting of this purple eyed man showing up being friendly after they've already dealt with the Faceless Stalkers in book 2?
I also think I found a more straightforward continuity error, too, that has similarly escaped detection. At least two places in book 1, the number of original colonists is said to have been 100. But in subsequent installments of the AP, the headcount is stated to have been 60, which is the number that John Wood seems to use in his wonderfully helpful calculations.
Is this just an error or did those 40 people fall off the boat?
Assuming 60 is the right number, I took Ted's awesome Roanoke-based charter and modified it to include only 60 colonists, and I made sure to put all the names of all the 1st wave colonists on it that appear later, like Armin, as well as modifying he dates so they leave in Neth of 4716, which situates the beginning of book one in mid spring, which is when Adam said he originally imagined it taking place when he wrote it. I also made the spelling a little bit more antiquated and frustrating to read by replacing all the "s"s that come in the middle of words with "f"s and all the lowercase "v"s with "u"s, and I added a bit more to make the charter mention rights and taxes going to Almas for future exports and other "sundry discoveries," trying to wink at the elephant in the room that this is an economic venture hopeful of finding lost secrets as well as resources. All my players are English PhD students so I'm sure one of them will thoroughly peruse the charter and treat it as more of a binding document in dealings with Ramona than just a GM prop. Willing to share if anyone wants. I'd love for someone to check my work and make sure I didn't forget any colonists, too.
I also took John Wood's accounting of all the second wave colonists and made a passenger manifest that (1 includes all named 2nd wave colonists through books 1-3, (2 satisfies the given numbers of how many of each profession were among the 50 second wavers without changing anyone's profession from what is listed in the book*, and (3 comes out to 50 people even in total, minus the PCs. It's also color-coded so a GM instantly knows which book X character is introduced in, and who is a total fabrication. I'm happy to share this, and I would love for that work to be checked, too.
*John Wood's reckoning comes out to total 52, and I wanted it to be an even 50. So I listed Carver Hastings as a soldier because even though he's one of the named NPCs, it's also mentioned that he signed onto the voyage masquerading as a soldier and that there are "about" six soldiers. Therefore, having five actual soldiers and one guy who is ostensibly a soldier seems about right. I also made Milo, who gets caught in the quicksand, a soldier because the first time he's introduced, it states he has one rank in warrior, even though later he is cited as using the "farmer" stat block on page 29. This makes the numbers come to 50.
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Sorry, it was CorvusMask's reckoning I looked at. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
I'll also just go ahead and post the link to my roster of second wave colonists as well as my version of the Talmandor's Bounty Original Charter.
Eliza and Rayland's hitpoints.... Shouldn't those be reduced on account of the slime? Their Con scores are lowered, and there is a note that the slime ability has been taken into account in their stats, but they are still enjoying +10 and +12 hitpoints respectively. Shouldn't that be lower?
Seems like at 10 Con Eliza should have 22 (3.5x5 + 5 [toughness feat]) and Rayland should have 39 (5.5x6 + 6 [toughness feat]). But the books have them at 30 and 49. Even if NPCs get favored class bonuses (they don't, do they?), they still have more HP than they should. Or am I missing something?
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Latest installment of my obsession with this AP: using my list of second wave colonists, I wrote short bios for all the colonists aboard the Peregrine. I figured everyone being packed on a small boat for that much time, everyone would have at least some knowledge about everyone else.
If you are like me and feel compelled to flesh these people out, I hope you enjoy:
Second wave colonist bios
I scoured the internet for anything other GMs had already written about these characters, so some of this is admitedly theft/derivation of other people's ideas for some of these people. I'm sorry, I didn't keep track of my sources to give proper credit. I also did the same for pictures.
Quick note: Konch Ariti is just a total fabrication. He's an NPC I made to help out my squishy party, and as a Gillman he's a wildcard for me to use as the GM later in the game. So don't be confused about where he comes from. Tesswyn's bio directly references him, though, so if you ax Konch make sure to modify Tesswyn.
Disregard any characters after #50: they are my players' PCs.
If you are like me and feel compelled to flesh these people out, I hope you enjoy:
Bravo, ITCampbell! This is stellar! Nicely done.
With my group(s), I just put together some basic stats on each one plus one or two rumors or secrets which some of the players were interested in keeping track of.
Having just finished Book 2, I can report that having some more info on each colonist was tremendously helpful. Had I had your write up, things would have been even easier!
Here's why...once the events at the end of Book 2 occur, you may have players who will want to sort out exactly who is real and who is not. Doing that on the fly will be a pain. Otherwise, you may have to just relate to your players in very general terms - which might be just fine with a lot of groups out there, but very frustrating for others.
One of my groups hit 7th level before EoB2 (end of book 2) and one decided to take Leadership. Having a more fleshed out list (like the one you just created) will make things a lot easier.
In our EoB2 encounter, the PCs experienced complete chaos with colonists reverting to their faceless stalker forms, some ran into the jungle while others attacked colonists and the crew/passengers aboard the Argent Cornucopia, we had stalkers who had not shape-shifted running into the colony to join in the bloodshed, we had stalkers trying to maintain the shifted forms to blend in and then we had both alive and dead colonists (and locatha and strix). Pure chaos. But, since I was able to script all of that out ahead of time...no probs. In the end there were 13 colonists left alive and accounted for, 2 dead colonists and 3 dead sailors, about 40 dead weakened stalkers and a whole lot of missing persons. When the player announced they were taking the Leadership feat after all of this, it was pretty easy to move Sighra Harleau over to be the PCs cohort and ALL of the remaining 1st level colonists to pledge themselves to the PC (there were only 5 of those). There is most certainly issues between Ramona and this PC, but they seem to have reached an amenable truce in which the PC is serving as patron to the followers and cohort and all respect Ramona as the rightful governor of the colony.
At any rate, thanks again for this most wonderful contribution!
Latest installment of my obsession with this AP: using my list of second wave colonists, I wrote short bios for all the colonists aboard the Peregrine.
Wow!! I have "Create Passenger Manifest" as Item #9 on my ever-growing list of prep for Book 1, and I've been worried that I was not up for the challenge. This is _awesome_! Thank you!
I'll be running this AP for my kids (13, 13, and 8), two of their friends (13, 13), and guest appearances by some of my grad-school friends (much older). I expect the core party to be four 13-year-old boys, and the focus to be on mayhem - but I want to allow and encourage non-violent interactions (and I'm enjoying the prep of the RP aspects).
This forum looks like a fantastic resource - thanks to all!
K
I think they would be ordered to flee and crop up in Book 2. Either in a seperate encounter or maybe helping the faceless stalkers
I think they would be ordered to flee and crop up in Book 2. Either in a seperate encounter or maybe helping the faceless stalkers
Agreed. But, realistically, Ochymua will at some point have no more use for these two - I would argue that by the time the PC's reach Spindlelock, Ochymua will have moved on to the greater parts of its plan and neither the tower nor Rayland or Eliza would serve any purpose. It might be interested to know (through its telepathic bond) that other colonists have arrived, but I think the most Ochymua would do at this point would just be to let Onthooth know that there are more 'biological subjects' available for its experiments, knowing that the aboleth and its minions will take care of any new colonists.
I'd assume Ochymua won't be back to refresh its Dominate this time and in 11 days the spell will wear off. I imagine Ray and Liz would stick around until then, but if your PCs don't return to the tower to confront them, things would get interesting once the spell expires. They will both return to their senses. Rayland will be mortified by what he remembers he has done and will seek out the colony and attempt to explain to Ramona what happened to him, perhaps throwing himself at her mercy and seeking redemption OR, possibly, arrogantly demanding to be re-instated as the colony's governor. That could result in some fun fireworks! But, Eliza is in it to win it and would, most likely, pretend to go along with Rayland until she gets a chance to escape. If it gets to that point, you could run her as a recurring villain. Eventually she'll find Golandral's skum or the faceless stalkers and join them. She'd definitely take part in the events at the end of Book 2. I would have her lead the assault. I think there is some suggestions in the book that Eliza might lead an assault of skum on the colony, but I'd have her trying to take charge of Thandalhu's minions instead. I'd try hard to arrange for her to escape that bit too, only to have her show up again with Golandral in the sunken Temple of Amaznen in Book 3.
let us know how that plays out!
The note basically sets up the idea that the Colony was in the midst of some kind of factional conflict. The "Fishing Trip" is what I believe they are using to refer to the Faceless Stalkers taking prisoners to the other island. Dulin is likely not anyone of import, just one of the group of Colonists that realized something was wrong before things came to a head. Same with Barnabus who apparently was going to try and use the canoe that was destroyed. We do know some about Una however. The Wand in the barracks had her initials. And she was also likely the one who tampered with the Colony log as the plum tree reference was in there. She was likely caught by "Rayland" though as her spell book could be found under his bed.
The recipient of the note probably worked in the govt building. Since the clue was in a logbook that would have normally been stored there. And with them not knowing who to trust or who might be listening, it mightve been safer to leave dead drops to coordinate.
Tldr: the note is there to give some background on the tensions at the original colony. Though it's information is ultimately a Red herring due to the author not knowing what was really going on.
Oh. I also forgot. The note establishes Eliza and Rayland as enemies. With Rayland hating Eliza usurping his authority. Later in the book you encounter the pair of them, dominated and acting as allies with Rayland deferring to her. If they kept this note in mind that can clue then into the shenanigans and keep them more suspicious
I think they would be ordered to flee and crop up in Book 2. Either in a seperate encounter or maybe helping the faceless stalkersAgreed. But, realistically, Ochymua will at some point have no more use for these two - I would argue that by the time the PC's reach Spindlelock, Ochymua will have moved on to the greater parts of its plan and neither the tower nor Rayland or Eliza would serve any purpose. It might be interested to know (through its telepathic bond) that other colonists have arrived, but I think the most Ochymua would do at this point would just be to let Onthooth know that there are more 'biological subjects' available for its experiments, knowing that the aboleth and its minions will take care of any new colonists.
I'd assume Ochymua won't be back to refresh its Dominate this time and in 11 days the spell will wear off. I imagine Ray and Liz would stick around until then, but if your PCs don't return to the tower to confront them, things would get interesting once the spell expires. They will both return to their senses. Rayland will be mortified by what he remembers he has done and will seek out the colony and attempt to explain to Ramona what happened to him, perhaps throwing himself at her mercy and seeking redemption OR, possibly, arrogantly demanding to be re-instated as the colony's governor. That could result in some fun fireworks! But, Eliza is in it to win it and would, most likely, pretend to go along with Rayland until she gets a chance to escape. If it gets to that point, you could run her as a recurring villain. Eventually she'll find Golandral's skum or the faceless stalkers and join them. She'd definitely take part in the events at the end of Book 2. I would have her lead the assault. I think there is some suggestions in the book that Eliza might lead an assault of skum on the colony, but I'd have her trying to take charge of Thandalhu's minions instead. I'd try hard to arrange for her to escape that bit too, only to have her show up...
I agree. In my campaign only Eliza survived. I had the group meet her again, levelled up and with charmed helpers.
Latest installment of my obsession with this AP: using my list of second wave colonists, I wrote short bios for all the colonists aboard the Peregrine.
Love it! *yoink* I can use this to add to mine.
Thanks for sharing ITCampbell.Disregard any characters after #50: they are my players' PCs.
Why would I do that? They could make fine extra colonists to show up at some point!
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The book says players should be level 2 at the end of Part 1, but it seems to me there are not enough experience for 4 players to level up with medium advancement during the first part. Do I miss something here?
Hope you and your group have as much fun with this AP as ours have, VigilantSpirit.
I suspect that is correct, but shouldn't be a problem. I recall that both groups I ran through this hit 2nd on the hike up the beach to search for the Peregrine after securing Talamandor's Bounty. I know there are at least a couple of Story Awards that, perhaps, might have been counted by the authors as xp toward advancement, but your PCs probably wont collect on those until the 2nd and 3rd chapters. For instance, playing up the dangers of the jungle is key to this chapter and following the clockwork spy into the jungle should be seen as too risky for most players. Both groups I ran through this AP waited until chapter 2 before following up on that lead, and its really not possible to collect on the Silas Weatherby story award until the end of book 3.
That being said, don't forget the random encounters at the back of the book. There are some really good ones up to CR 3 that you could run to boost the xp while at the colony. Just roll every 4 hours or so they are in the area and pick from the top of the list.
Also, two encounters on the way up the beach to the Peregrine should be enough to push them to level 2.
My top group is just hitting 13th at the end of Book 4 right now - which is right on schedule according to the advancement track. I've never felt the groups have been underpowered at any point in this AP. Some encounters have certainly been challenging and there have been several that took their all of their resources right down to the wire, but I think the xp progression has been pretty spot on.
Good luck! Look forward to reading about your group's trials and tribulations and triumphs as you progress!
What did you all use for battle maps for the first part of this adventure in the Bounty buildings? Or did you go with theater of the mind?
Awesome! Thanks--I'll take a look and let you know how it goes.
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As time allows I've been (slowly) compiling all of my notes for this AP in the hopes that maybe someone out there might find some of it useful. Most of the notes for Book 1 I have already posted in this forum, but here they are again compiled into a single document.
I've got a ton more formatting and some additional content to add so its no where near finished, but I promised @roguerouge I'd post this tonight, so here it is.
Cheers! . . . Teds Survival Guide Book 1
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Cheers! . . . Teds Survival Guide Book 1
Ted, that document is really great, just outstanding.
Anyone thinking of running this campaign should take a look at it.| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As time allows I've been (slowly) compiling all of my notes for this AP in the hopes that maybe someone out there might find some of it useful. Teds Survival Guide Book 1
Ted - this document is fantastic - great ideas and thanks for sharing them!
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Ted - this document is fantastic - great ideas and thanks for sharing them!
Great! Significant update with the rest of my notes coming soon . . .
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Mhh, I didn't see this, so I draw my own maps. Feel free to use them :-)
MHS...these maps are so, so ! Thank you!
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Hey everybody,
As I was prepping this module for Roll20 I created some battlemaps for the encounters that were missing them. So far I've created ones for the settlement of Talmandor's Bounty and will get around to making others for the rest of the module/AP.
I tried to do my best translating the written description into a visual representation of each building. I hope everyone will enjoy these as much as I did making them. Again, these are just my interpretation and your 'mind's eye' may have a different idea for what each should look like.
If you think I missed the mark on something, please feel free to let me know.