I ran the first three books in two years, and now after an almost 5 year hiatus and a conversion to 5e, we're back at it. However, I don't want to be playing this campaign for another two years. How can I condense the rest of the campaign to hit the major story beats, but end it before we drag it out for too long? We just resumed with Valley of the Brain Collectors.
My players skipped half the locations in Valley of the Brain Collectors. Back in Lords of Rust Hellion had used the holograph projector to explain the threat of the Dominion of the Black. Therefore, when they discovered neh-thalggus in the valley, they set aside the quest to find Cassandalee's recording to deal with the Dominion Hive. And the Dominion had the recording, so they had no reason to explore the rest of the valley.
Later, they skipped half of Palace of Fallen Stars. They had entered Starfall incognito, one level too low and avoiding scripted encounters: Inconspicuous PCs Unmotivated in Palace of Fallen Stars. I had to create new missions for them, but perhaps RedRobe could avoid that. Then the Technic League followed up on a clue and arrested a party member. The party rescued their teammate and headed immediately to Silver Mount without ever entering the palace and visiting only the top level of Technic League headquarters.
The overall plot arc holds together without going through all the content in Valley of the Brain Collectors and Palace of Fallen Stars.
They had a totally different approach to The Divinity Drive and took an entire year of game sessions working as repair crew employed as Unity. I had them fighting ghosts and zombies and magnetically reshaping glaucite bar stock to patch holes in the hull of the Divinity. The players were roleplaying technology enthusiasts, so they loved it. I have no suggestions for shortening The Divinity Drive.
My players skipped half the locations in Valley of the Brain Collectors. Back in Lords of Rust Hellion had used the holograph projector to explain the threat of the Dominion of the Black. Therefore, when they discovered neh-thalggus in the valley, they set aside the quest to find Cassandalee's recording to deal with the Dominion Hive. And the Dominion had the recording, so they had no reason to explore the rest of the valley.
Later, they skipped half of Palace of Fallen Stars. They had entered Starfall incognito, one level too low and avoiding scripted encounters: Inconspicuous PCs Unmotivated in Palace of Fallen Stars. I had to create new missions for them, but perhaps RedRobe could avoid that. Then the Technic League followed up on a clue and arrested a party member. The party rescued their teammate and headed immediately to Silver Mount without ever entering the palace and visiting only the top level of Technic League headquarters.
The overall plot arc holds together without going through all the content in Valley of the Brain Collectors and Palace of Fallen Stars.
They had a totally different approach to The Divinity Drive and took an entire year of game sessions working as repair crew employed as Unity. I had them fighting ghosts and zombies and magnetically reshaping glaucite bar stock to patch holes in the hull of the Divinity. The players were roleplaying technology enthusiasts, so they loved it. I have no suggestions for shortening The Divinity Drive.
How did you handle leveling up when they skipped so much? I feel like I want to guide them through the Valley, but they are making a B-line for Isuma, so it may not take as long. Perhaps I can plant some more obvious signs of where to find the neurocam/Casandalee?
The PCs began Palace of Fallen Stars at 12th level, one level short of the intended starting level. They began The Divinity Drive at 14th level, also one level short.
They are excellent at teamwork and tactics, so they typically function two levels above their actual level. Being a level short meant that I didn't raise the challenge difficulty as much as usual.
My players liked Isuma and after Valley of the Brain Collectors they went to Hajoth Hakados and used contacts there to find a tribe of kasathans to take her in.
A clue to Casandalee's former camp in the Scar of the Spider could be the search pattern of the annihilator robots. They had found her once and might keep searching there over and over again for centuries. Though Isuma blew one up, she might recall its search pattern.
We have completed Valley of the Brain Collectors, and I'm on a break to play for a bit. I really want to condense the last two books, even skipping most of The Divinity Drive to get to Unity more quickly so I can move on to DMing other things. What are the key parts of Palace of Fallen Stars that I should run to provide for that. Could I have an NPC group tackle some of them off screen so the main party can hit the big scenes? They have a few characters that are waiting back in Torch and at their base that could be recruited. I'm thinking of how Return of the Jedi was split between the space battle, ground battle, and final duel.
I've not read either book in an age, but what immediately sprung to mind was running The Palace of Fallen Stars pretty much as written, but have Unity be the BBEBG controlling the Technic League from the shadows, and place the Godmind beneath Starfall. The PCs deal with Osmyn Zaidow as written, then find a secret lift down to the final confrontation with Unity. You'll need to jiggle the party level a bit, but - Boom, campaign over.
Well, it looks like we're ending the campaign due to a combination of burnout, lack of enjoyment of the 5e conversion, and not wanting to revert to PF1e. The technology conversion also lost a lot. I'm a but bummed since I want to finish the story, but I also don't want to put forth more effort of converting monsters and tech. If a proper 5e conversion is published one day, we may revisit the AP to finish it. Until then, I'll play for a bit and move on to other adventures I want to DM.
Before you abandon your campaign, I feel compelled to recommend Savage Worlds, or Pathfinder for Savage Worlds. Medium crunch, low prep, laughably easy to convert content for. It may or may not be right for you, or your group, but it's definitely worth a look.
Before you abandon your campaign, I feel compelled to recommend Savage Worlds, or Pathfinder for Savage Worlds. Medium crunch, low prep, laughably easy to convert content for. It may or may not be right for you, or your group, but it's definitely worth a look.
Is there an SRD for Pathfinder for Savage Worlds? My group already has a reluctance to convert stuff for one system to other systems. Additional expense would turn them off.
There is not, unfortunately. :(