I have what I hope is unique situation. I'm running Jade Regent for 5 players. 3 of them may leave. 2 of them want to continue the game. I have worked very hard on this game and I don't want to just throw it away. We're currently exploring Brinewall castle. If I have to replace half the party. Do I start over or do I integrate them into the game where we are? If I integrate them, how do I get them invested in the NPC's? If I start over, how do I prevent my two remaining players from metagaming?
I appreciate any advice. Thank you.
Damagecrab's situation is not entirely unique. I lost 5 players out of 8 between The Brinewall Legacy and Night of Frozen Shadows.
My players and I had finished the Rise of the Runelords adventure path and decided to continue with the same characters in The Witchwar Legacy and up to 20th level. I needed time to order The Witchwar Legacy and homebrew some adventures past that module, so in the meanwhile, I ran The Brinewall Legacy as a single module from September 2012 to December 2012 with 8 players. We returned to Rise of the Runelords with The Witchwar Legacy in January 2013 and finished in August 2013. Afterward, three players wanted to continue with their characters in Jade Regent. This awkward situation was my fault.
I needed advice, so I started a thread, Amaya of Westcrown. That thread now contains the chronicle of the adventure from Night of Frozen Shadows to the end of The Empty Throne..
The summary of restarting the campaign is:
(1) Due to the oversized party sharing experience points, the party had finished The Brinewall Legacy at 3rd level. With the party dropping down to four (we had recruited a new player), I told them to level up to 4th level, the stated starting level for Night of Frozen Shadows.
(2) One of the missing PCs had been the party healer. I declared that exposure to the Amatatsu Seal had awakened oracle powers in Amaya, Ameiko's half-sister, so that she could be the new party healer.
(3) We said the missing five player characters had not wanted to travel to Minkai so they returned home to Sandpoint in Varisia.
(4) The party met the new PC, Jao, on the road to Kalsgard. Two weeks later, a fifth player joined (we played in a game store, and new players could join in at any time), and the party met his character, Lu, in Kalsgard.
As for the Amatatsu Scion status granted by the Amatatsu Seal, the three returning players decided to never mention it again and pretend it did not happen. They instead wanted to focus on getting Ameiko or Amaya on the throne. They also did not mention to the new players that Ameiko and Amaya were the lost heirs to the throne of Minkai, but the new players deduced that the two NPCs were special from the way the experienced party members guarded them.
The new players were invested in the campaign, not the NPCs. They had created characters who were interested in traveling over the north polar ice cap to reach Minkai.
Damagecrab's situation is not entirely unique. I lost 5 players out of 8 between The Brinewall Legacy and Night of Frozen Shadows.
My players and I had finished the Rise of the Runelords adventure path and decided to continue with the same characters in The Witchwar Legacy and up to 20th level. I needed time to order The Witchwar Legacy and homebrew some adventures past that module, so in the meanwhile, I ran The Brinewall Legacy as a single module from September 2012 to December 2012 with 8 players. We returned to Rise of the Runelords with The Witchwar Legacy in January 2013 and finished in August 2013. Afterward, three players wanted to continue with their characters in Jade Regent. This awkward situation was my fault.
I needed advice, so I started a thread, Amaya of Westcrown. That thread now contains the chronicle of the adventure from Night of Frozen Shadows to the end of The Empty Throne..
The summary of restarting the campaign is:
(1) Due to the oversized party sharing experience points, the party had finished The Brinewall Legacy at 3rd level. With the party dropping down to four (we had recruited a new player), I told them to level up to 4th level, the stated starting level for Night of Frozen Shadows.
(2) One of the missing PCs had been the party healer. I declared that exposure to the Amatatsu Seal had awakened oracle powers in Amaya, Ameiko's half-sister, so that she could be the new party healer.
(3) We said the missing five player characters had not wanted to travel to Minkai so they returned home to Sandpoint in Varisia.
(4) The party met the new PC, Jao, on the road to Kalsgard. Two weeks later, a fifth player joined (we played in a game store, and new players could join in at any time), and the party met his character, Lu, in Kalsgard.As for the Amatatsu Scion status granted by...
First, I appreciate your input. I read the other thread you mentioned and skimmed Module you mentioned in that other thread. You put as much effort and though as I do and it inspired me to do the following:
*If* I have to bring in new characters, I'll make them current caravan members (hirelings). I could even replace Belevek and Vankor with the new PC's. They've always known the NPC's and we can quickly RP some interactions to build their relationship scores to similar levels with the current PC's. Since we are currently at Brinewall but haven't found the seal, they should arrive just in time to become scions.
Again, I REALLY appreciate your input. Quite valuable!