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How does it run as a semi-standalone, actually.
I have this truly phenomenal Runelords campaign that I've put together but I want to work in at least some of Return before running it again. It's centered around the shards of the Sihedron and uses Rise of the Runelords #1 - #6, Shattered Star #2, #3 & #6, Curse of the Crimson Throne #2 and a handful of Season 3 & 4 scenarios from PFS all cobbled together to tell one epic story. Lots of backstory has been re-written, NPC roles expanded to on-going subplots of their own and everything reordered to take place in the same timeline.
I have a spot where I need the group to find the Shard of Pride, around the levels 10th - 12th, and Temple seems to be like the perfect option from a level and thematic standpoint, but how does it play in your opinion? The other options right now are Rise #4 City Outside of Time and Shattered Star #5 Into the Nightmare Rift, but both would have to be much more heavily re-written, I think.
Seems like it would work. Does Xanderghul have it, or would they find it in the temple proper, then find out there's more to it than that?
I'm actually on the fence as to whether I'm actually going to have it be Xanderghul or merely his highest-ranking subordinate who made it to this sanctuary when his master did not. Throughout the campaign I've limited direct interaction with Runelords to keep the larger, looming threat of them intact, instead having a variety of what I would call 'Runelord-adjacent' encounters... but yes, the Shard of Pride would definitely be locked away there for safe-keeping.
This volume actually follows perfectly after the Therassic library is discovered and Mokkmurrian is defeated in volume 4 of Rise.
Please do tell us more!How does it run as a semi-standalone, actually.
I have this truly phenomenal Runelords campaign that I've put together but I want to work in at least some of Return before running it again. It's centered around the shards of the Sihedron and uses Rise of the Runelords #1 - #6, Shattered Star #2, #3 & #6, Curse of the Crimson Throne #2 and a handful of Season 3 & 4 scenarios from PFS all cobbled together to tell one epic story. Lots of backstory has been re-written, NPC roles expanded to on-going subplots of their own and everything reordered to take place in the same timeline.
Oh, geez, where to begin...?
I've been working on it for several years now and its really spectacular. My hope is to eventually have it written out in such a fashion that others might be able to run it, and then hopefully convert it to 2nd Ed.
I'll try to put something together and post it up on the appropriate forum soon, but even a brief overview would still be quite a read - in the meantime, what do you want to know?
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Thanks.
For starters, how do you get a logical flow with all the parts without it being too railroady ("you're in MAgnimar, now you must go to Korvosa. Now you must go to Hook Mountain. Now you must go to KAer Maga etc.?). It seems somewhat.... crowded? I've been wanting to combine a lot of these adventures as well, but I always end up wanting to cram too much into the story.
Also, how do you keep the slowly unwinding mystery which is a big part of RotR, when chasing the Silhedron and all that that implies?
I started to type this a dozen different ways, but each time it got too long-winded - perhaps this is a better topic for mail? There is just so much detail to go into if I want to give you a proper anser. The short version is that some of it is done for you; remember that events in Rise directly influence events in several other AP's including Crimson Throne, so there is a natural progression that you can start to pick up there. Of course, any epic campaign is going to be somewhat rail-roady, the trick is to make sure you have a logical progression so that It doesn't ~feel~ that way. You will have to trim some elements throughout, naturally, to keep the narrative moving forward.
Alright, here is a tragically condensed outline of the first act, to give you an example of what I'm talking about:
The PC's attend the annual Swallowtail Festival in Sandpoint which is interrupted by a goblin raid. A series of events then reveals that the raid was merely a diversion and someone from the town's past has a dark plan for its future.
After defeating the threat to Sandpoint and discovering an odd artifact mixed in among the treasures collected, the group attends an auction in Magnimar to sell some of the antiquities that they recovered. While there, they meet several important figures in Magnimar, including Pathfinder Sheila Heidmarch and the dour Justice Ironbriar.
A return to Sandpoint sees the group implicated in a series of grisly murders until the true culprit is revealed. Following him back to his haunted lair, the party eventually destroys him and discovers much, including the secret history of the Foxglove family and another odd-shaped piece of the mysterious artifact. Following up on clues discovered at the manse, they realize that dark forces were pulling Aldern's strings and those of a great many others throughout the city. Enlisting the aid of Sheila Heidmarch and her Pathfinder Society, the group ferrets out the murder cult plaguing Magnimar and eventually tracks down the mysterious Xaneasha - only to have her escape.
It is at this point that Sheila reveals to them what the strange shards are and inducts them into the PFS. She claims that the ancient Runelords have begun to stir and Xaneasha is likely but one of their agents. Sheila believes that the Sihedron will have to be reassembled and re-forged if they are to have a weapon capable of defeating the threat posed by these powerful wizards.
Sheila gathers the group together, believing that she has found the resting place of a third Shard fragment - the monument long known as the Lady's Light. She sponsors an expedition there to find out and the PC's explore its depths, battling all manner of threats, both ancient and new, before finally recovering the piece.
While there, they encounter the remains of a second expeditionary force, this one sent out by Queen Ileosa of Korvosa with the same mission as their own. Unbeknownst to all, the Queen has begun to be influenced by the dreams and stirring consciousness of the Runelord Sorshen who slumbers in secret deep beneath Castle Korvosa (not some forgotten dragon named Kazavan as it was in the original story).
Upon emerging from the Light, the party is contacted by Sheila who has managed to decipher Ironbriar's journals and discovered where Xaneasha is headed next - she intends to use something she found deep beneath Foxglove Manor to wreck havoc on the city of Korvosa, possibly killing tens of thousands. The group let her escape once before and must do what they can to stop her this time.
At this point, the PC's don't even register with the Runelord factions that are starting to move in Varisia. Xaneasha's mission is to harvest as many greedy souls as she can for her master while at the same time disrupting whatever plans his rival Sorshen might be pursuing. Infecting her city with a terrible plague spread by cursed gold and silver would seem to check both of those boxes, only this time when the PC's interfere, they come to Xaneasha's full attention. The cure for the plague brings the group back full circle, as one of them discovers that they are an ancestor of Kasanda Foxglove and shares her immunity by Desna's divine grace.
This makes up what I consider the first Act (of three) and could conceivably be played as a stand alone campaign, ending here if the GM wished. It incorporates four AP volumes from three different AP's into a cohesive narrative flow. There are actually several other PFS scenarios seeded here and there, as well as a secondary group of PC's that allow my players an occasional break from their primary characters and gives me the opportunity to flesh out some aspects of the campaign that might otherwise have been missed. These scenarios include The Golemworks Incident and The Cultist's Kiss as well as a couple of my own home-brewed side quests, all of which continue to both refine and expand the scope of the adventure.
That was the shortest that I could make it - I hope it helps to explain some of what I'm doing and inspires many more questions. For what it's worth, the above material would normally be expected to take approximately 30 - 35 sessions, with the full campaign topping out at just below 100. For many groups, this would represent a three-year commitment, if not more.
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Wow, this is great! I'd love to hear more. Should I PM you with a mail address?
So, the "mystery" of RotR is revealed (at least, the return of the runelords) is revealed pretty early?
Also, no follow up regarding Korvosa and Ileosa's misgivings?
Oh, there's much, much more than that, trust me and yes, feel free to pm me any time (along with anyone else who's interested in this discussion).
So the mystery isn't 'revealed' per se, but rather it's hinted at with growing dread. Kind of like the One Ring, Sheila theorizes that the Shards may be starting to surface because they are reacting to their Master's stirring consciousness, but no one knows which ones are waking or how long it will take them... and her theory isn't even actually correct. I've got a whole thing about what's really going on with the Sihedron all laid out.
Heh - you should see what I've got going on with Fenster from Shattered Star, Vol. 1...
One of the things I feel you have to do to make a story truly epic is to not have everything that matters happen right in front of one group of people every time. That's one of the reasons for my 'B-team', but some of the major NPC's also have an important role to play. There is an entire redemption arc for Nualia that carries through the Lady's Light, her eventual sacrifice and rebirth (drawn to Sorshen's malfunctioning clone) and finally into Korvosa where she assumes the role and title of Blackjack after Vencarlo is assassinated. She and Oriana fight their own clandestine war against the Queen's imperialistic intentions, made easier by the devastation caused by the Bloodveil.
Not to give too much away, but probably my favorite moment in the campaign is this scenario that I call 'A Gathering of Eagles' - the giant attack on Sandpoint ends up being much, much bigger, but most of the major NPC's up to that point gather in the defense of the town and I have about a dozen asymmetrical combat encounters planned where the players get to take over various NPC's, from Vin Vender and Daverin Hosk escorting 'mi'lady Heidmarch through the streets to Shalelu and the druids who moved into Thistletop defending the bridges to Oriana and Nualia fighting back-to-back in the very town square that Nualia had once plotted to raze to the ground and so on. I expect some really powerful moments of both victory and sorrow to come from that one.