DM Suggestions for Alternatives to History of Ashes?

[Gauldin]

I'm prepping to run CotCT, and I really like most of the AP - except for History of Ashes. Its cowboys & Indians theme feels really out of place, and the structure of the chapter is a railroad that I think I'm going to have trouble keeping my party riding.

So I'm looking for alternatives. I've seen other people mention Heroes' Blood; I haven't read the module, but the short synopsis sounds an awful lot like Scarwall Castle, and I don't want the group to get "haunted castle fatigue".

I've also started looking at House on Hook Street and Bloodsworn Vale. HoHS is an especially good fit for the setting of CotCT, but I see a couple of problems. One, yet another mysterious plague right on the heels of Blood Veil sounds like same old, same old. And bumping the module from 6th level to 11/12th would be a LOT of work. I haven't looked much at Bloodsworn Vale yet, but it would have the same leveling issues.

So ... has anyone else done anything like this that just worked brilliantly? Or failed miserably? Or should I just suck it up and play the AP as-written?

[Inspectre]

You could do the Harrowing module, which is for level 9s at the start so that's abbbout right. Just refluff the meaningless Varisian fortune teller for Zellara - the only problem with that is then you can't have Zellara get grabbed by Scarwall.

You could instead use the Academy of Secrets modules, as while that module is listed as starting at level 13 most of the challenges are more around 11 or 12, which could be doable by level 9s/10s if you went easy on them/downgraded the opposition some (most of the challenge is from multiple opponents - just subtract some of the devils in a given fight to lower the challenge). Problem with that one is then they're still in Korvosa and what can they get from the Academy that will lead them to Scarwall?

Honestly, the best option might be to skip History of Ashes as you are planning, and just substitute you in your own custom adventure tailored for your players. Some dangling plot thread in one of your PCs backstory? Wrap it up here. Some bad guy that got away that they'd really like to punch in the face? S/he shows up for Round 2 with a couple more levels to maintain the challenge.

You can also make use of the city of Kaer Maga, which is tragically underutilized in the AP as written. If you go by what's in the Kaer Maga source book "City of Strangers", Kaer Maga is a WEIRD place that will leave your players begging to go back to Korvosa.

If they've gotten along good with Laori in Book 3, they don't even need the Shaoti at all - just get them to meet up with her, have her introduce Shadowcount Sial, and then since they already know about Scarwall they just play tour guide for them once they're ready to go.

[MrVergee]

Maybe you can find some inspiration in my campaign journal.

To summarize how I adapted A History of Ashes: After the PCs met up with the Skull clan and proved themselves worthy to Sun clan visitor Krojun Eats-what-he-Kills, they went into a steam hut. They suffered the heat until they passed out, so they could travel to the spirit world. There the Shoanti shamans saw the heroes were honest and true. As a side-effect of this ethereal journey, the party was briefly contacted by a Shoanti in trouble, who had also traveled into the spirit world to try and contact his kin.

This Shoanti was a spy in the orc city of Urgir, but he had been discovered and captured. He was also the son of the Sun Clan most powerful chief, so Thousand Bones recommended the heroes to go to Urgir and save the boy. This would be an excellent way to earn the Sun Clan's favor.

This scenario allowed me to insert another 'urban adventure' in my urban campaign, but with a very different vibe, as pinkskins are hardly welcome amongst the orcs. The party first aided an orc chief to gain his tribe's token, which allowed them access to Urgir. Then they searched the orc city for clues, while trying to keep a low profile, and finally traced the spy to an ancient dwarven tomb. They freed him and teleported back to the Shoanti, who now respected them enough to open negotiations and exchange information.

[Gauldin]

Inspectre wrote:

You could instead use the Academy of Secrets modules, as while that module is listed as starting at level 13 most of the challenges are more around 11 or 12, which could be doable by level 9s/10s if you went easy on them/downgraded the opposition some (most of the challenge is from multiple opponents - just subtract some of the devils in a given fight to lower the challenge). Problem with that one is then they're still in Korvosa and what can they get from the Academy that will lead them to Scarwall?

...

You can also make use of the city of Kaer Maga, which is tragically underutilized in the AP as written. If you go by what's in the Kaer Maga source book "City of Strangers", Kaer Maga is a WEIRD place that will leave your players begging to go back to Korvosa.

If they've gotten along good with Laori in Book 3, they don't even need the Shaoti at all - just get them to meet up with her, have her introduce Shadowcount Sial, and then since they already know about Scarwall they just play tour guide for them once they're ready to go.

I like the suggestion of using Kaer Maga - I've already been thinking they're going to be looking for someplace to unload loot and upgrade equipment, given that Korvosa (a) is still reeling from the plague and (b) has a price on their heads. It's a natural.

I'll have to look at Academy of Secrets. I've always thought it was more than odd that the Acadamae just locks its doors in Book 1 and isn't heard from for the rest of the AP - maybe this will give me a way to explain that.

I know that Laori & Friends pretty much eliminate the need for most of History of Ashes, but I need to replace the XP to get them ready for Scarwall, and do it in a way that feels coherent with the story (which, frankly, HoA doesn't).

[Stratt]

Think when my party gets to History of Ashes I'm going to keep the party entirely in the city. The assault on the Grey Maidens in the Mantis and Maidens section of History of Ashes is pretty good and I'll run the party through that. I think I'm going to include proof around what Ileosa is actually doing in the compound.

To make up for the cut material I've got an idea. Croft gets taken into custody by the Hellknights and taken away to the Hellknight base of operations within Korvosa (or perhaps Citadel Vraid.) The party needs to get her back. This probably involves infiltration into the Hellknight compound she is held in.

[UncleBison]

I'm DMing this AP starting this Friday (SO EXCITED) but I had major issues with Chapter 4 as well.

I've rewritten it and kept the party in the city - using previous NPCs to guide them back to Jeggare Isle after escaping/killing the Arkonas and from there to Ausio Carowyn (who feels like he owes them a debt). Then it's a sneaky/intrigue game to discover more about 'the bloodletting' which is detailed in the book as the Temple of Asmodeus actively participating in blood collection for Ileosa. They'll need to either navigate the city and avoid or defeat Gray Maidens (who I will be beefing up) or navigate The Vaults below the city to circumvent public avenues.

I'm using the Temple of Pharasma as a focal point to tie in later elements (such as the Gray Maiden foray) and some of the Lamm's Lambs as hooks to pursue leads. Through the whole campaign I will also be dropping clues that Bishop d'Bear is pseudo-important. Any saved Lambs will mention that sometimes they stole from corpses for Gaedren and it will turn out that d'Bear knew and let them do it as the dead have no use for trinkets. All of this will be used to reinforce the party's ties to the city's well-being.

A member of my party has a family member who was abducted by Lamm and they will have had their blood taken - which will be a driving force for the party to investigate. The party will also have to foray into the wilds around Korvosa as I am bringing Trinia and Thousand Bones back to the city (Trinia acting as bodyguard for Thousand Bones who needs to do the ancestral ritual at the end of the chapter). Upon their return to the Temple of Pharasma, the Brotherhood of Bones will be there (Trinia and Laori are destined to get along) and will guide the party to Kaer Maga for Chapter 5.

Also, I'm moving Scarwall to the caverns beneath Kaer Maga (a face carved in the cliff will have a mouth big enough for a dragon to fly out of) as dark elves are likely allies of Zon Kuthon and it makes it more feasible for the party to resupply between forays. I'll make it so that Kazavon was planning on using Scarwall as a foothold for a dark elf incursion and make the resident orc defenders into Drow. Plus Kaer Maga is awesome.

[Gauldin]

Great ideas, everyone. Here's the direction I'm currently leaning:

Spoiler:

Neolandus tells the group that Ileosa stole something from the castle's secret vault, but he has no idea what it was. Tales passed down through generations of seneschals tell of some evil the Chelish found when they drove out the Shoanti. Only the Shoanti might know what was there, and what it means for the Queen's new powers. He points them to Thousand Bones, the Shoanti ambassador.

When the party tries to track down Thousand Bones, Cressida Kroft tells them he's been imprisoned as a "foreign undesirable" in Deathhead Vault. She and Bishop D'Bear point them to the secret entrance. Inside, they'll find the Grey Maiden's HQ, but I'm going to remove all the Red Mantis stuff (for later). They rescue Thousand Bones, but he's not that keen on being helpful - he'd be happy just to let all the white men kill each other off. And he really doesn't know what the Shoanti were guarding before the white men came. But he does owe the party a debt, and the person who might know is a Shoanti shaman who's being held prisoner - by the Hellknights at Citadel Vraid.

Hopefully, I can convince the party that a frontal assault on Citadel Vraid is a Very Bad Idea. If they try to negotiate for the shaman's release, Lictor DiViri will meet with them personally. The paranoia of the Citadel's foundations (see "Castles of the Inner Sea") is working on him, and he doesn't trust his own people. He needs the party to obtain a document - a contract, to be precise - that's hidden in the Hall of Wards inside the Acadamae. This will lead into part of Academy of Secrets (no Breaching Festival, but just the demiplane of Belzaragna).

Assuming the party obtains the document in question (held by the Contract Devil), DiViri will release the shaman to the party. He'll also be so pleased, he'll throw in a little extra - the location of the Red Mantis HQ in Korvosa. (The Red Mantis will have been conducting a number of high-profile assassinations in Korvosa, as well as harassing the party.) The party will have a choice between immediately returning the shaman and Thousand Bones to their homeland for the ceremony to commune with their ancestors (to learn what the party needs to know) or first taking care of the Red Mantis. I may still have the Cinderlander attack during the ceremony, depending on how they're doing on the XP track.

Let me know what you think.

[Aaron Goddard]

Gauldin wrote:

I'm prepping to run CotCT, and I really like most of the AP - except for History of Ashes. Its cowboys & Indians theme feels really out of place, and the structure of the chapter is a railroad that I think I'm going to have trouble keeping my party riding.

So I'm looking for alternatives. I've seen other people mention Heroes' Blood; I haven't read the module, but the short synopsis sounds an awful lot like Scarwall Castle, and I don't want the group to get "haunted castle fatigue".

I've also started looking at House on Hook Street and Bloodsworn Vale. HoHS is an especially good fit for the setting of CotCT, but I see a couple of problems. One, yet another mysterious plague right on the heels of Blood Veil sounds like same old, same old. And bumping the module from 6th level to 11/12th would be a LOT of work. I haven't looked much at Bloodsworn Vale yet, but it would have the same leveling issues.

So ... has anyone else done anything like this that just worked brilliantly? Or failed miserably? Or should I just suck it up and play the AP as-written?

I wound up just running a high-CR red dragon encounter to make up for the lack of XP and treasure...but that was after trying my darndest to get the party to agree to do the respect trials. So now Krojun is dead and they've earned the enmity of the Sklar-Quah.