P1 foreshadowing in H1/H2

[Rechan]

Some folks want to be ran through the official WotC modules. I plan to oblige them (although I might skip H3).

There have been quite a few threads on handling H1/H2 and their various connections. What I am not certain of is proper foreshadowing for the paragon adventures. I am actually rather enthusiastic about running Trollhaunt, so I would like to find a way to crowbar the thing in there somehow.

I'm going to be making some severe modifications on the first two modules, so there's room to change a few things.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Spoiler alert - stop reading if you plan on playing the Trollhaunt.

One way would be to take the dead prince in Trollhaunt and make him a known NPC earlier on. He seems to have friends who helped him raid the Trollhaunt. In the beginning of the Troll Haunt, he's already dead. This could be a pretty powerful moment if the party knew him and liked him. It would be a seed all of its own.

The shadow of a troll invasion would be good too. Rumors of a new troll king rising in the south east. Ripples in the Feywild might be another.

Neither of those two would be as good as making the dead prince a notable NPC earlier on. I really wish I had done that.

BTW, I used the Pyramid of Shadows as a way to make the time period jump four years ahead. The space and time of the pyramid is flexable. A skill challenge determined when the PCs returned. I had a timeline all done. I enjoyed the pyramid, as did my players, though they were very happy to get out of it and back to town and country.

 

[Obergnom]

I do not really know the H1-3 series, but while my group was resting during some overland traver, there was a stone pillar on a clearing, roghly in the shape of a troll sitting on a throne.

You could try to have them encounter a couple of sites that give them a feeling there once was a big troll kingdom here. That will make the "Troll Uprising" all the more epic.

And I like the Prince idea

 

[fissionessence]

Just out of curiosity, why would you skip H3? I've read all the adventures so far (but played or run none of them), and the Pyramid of Shadows was the coolest, IMO, with Demon Queen's Enclave a close second.

To actually reply to your question, if you're going to run Demon Queen's Enclave, be familiar with it while you're running Thunderspire Labyrinth, as there are connections there you might want to foreshadow.

Also, mshea's connection idea is really cool; do that

~

 

[crash_beedo]

One way would be to take the dead prince in Trollhaunt and make him a known NPC earlier on...

Continued Spoiler Alert, DM's Only. (Duh).

Yes, this would be my advice as well - introduce the Barony of Therund, the town of Moonstair, and the Prince ahead of time. I had the Lord Warden of Fallcrest organize a tournament (which was handled as a skill challenge). Moonstair also has a fey portal and could be an entrance for Eladrin characters into the campaign.

In my campaign, a temporary magical catastrophe (the opening of an artifact, the Casket of Ancient Winters) opened many closed fey portals between the mortal world and the Feywild; this happened after Thunderspire. It allowed the Pyramid of Shadows to slip back into the world (my group is just getting ready to start H3), and it is how the Troll King got access to the Cauldron and the Feywild.

OT: I was delighted to see the Winter Witch epic dungeon adventure for the Nentir Vale, because the theme fits right in with my sub-plot involving the Casket of Ancient Winters.

 

[Rechan]

I pretty much assume this whole thread is one big spoiler, so that's unnecessary to bring up.

Just out of curiosity, why would you skip H3? I've read all the adventures so far (but played or run none of them), and the Pyramid of Shadows was the coolest, IMO, with Demon Queen's Enclave a close second.

I agree that the adventure, by itself, is actually rather good in that '1e wacky' sense. However, it's hard as hell to tie it to the previous adventures, story wise. In addition, I generally dislike the notion of "You're now in a dungeon. That will take you 3 PC levels to exit."

One way would be to take the dead prince in Trollhaunt and make him a known NPC earlier on. He seems to have friends who helped him raid the Trollhaunt. In the beginning of the Troll Haunt, he's already dead. This could be a pretty powerful moment if the party knew him and liked him. It would be a seed all of its own.

Yeah. The hairy part is where to stick it, and who the Prince is. I want to avoid the Ye Olde "Here's a real powerful NPC adventurer. You, puny adventurers, behold him. he will save the day. You, go kill rats." So the How and Where the Barony of Therund relates to the rest of the area is the issue.

I could just drop Fallcrest into the Barony. My plan is to start the adventure with all the PCs in Fallcrest, the PCs all happen to be going to Winterhaven at the same time on a caravan (since the kobolds have been disrupting trade, travel up there is being made in a large group). 2 PCs were mentored by the mentor. 2 are seeking the cult. And 2 are traveling to Winterhaven to find a girl:

Her mother is a rich aristocrat, relative to Padriag. The Aristocrat's daughter was visiting Padriag's daughter, and from what reports the aristocrat has received, her daughter has gone missing! She is headed up to Winterhaven to personally seek investigations into her daughter's disappearance, and the PCs are her guards. (Padriag thinks she ran away with a boy, but in truth, the daughter joined Kalarel's cult.)

 

[Nebulous]

Yeah, i really like the idea about seeding the Prince as an NPC long before Trollhaunt starts.

When i ran Shadowfell, i introduced a Fey Frog Queen from the Feywild. She's going to kick off the first adventure of Thunderspire (right before the Bloodreavers raze Winterhaven and kidnap some notable friends of the PCs) and i think i'll have her drop some prophetic hints about the Troll King. Furthermore, if the PCs get on her good side, i'll have her pop up occasionally to keep them on track.

Personally, i hadn't planned on running H3. It looked weird, almost too weird, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun. It's just that Trollhaunt looked much better. If i didn't run Pyramid after Thunderspire, then i would hombrew 3 levels worth of adventure until Trollhaunt started. In fact, this would be the best way to set the stage for the Prince, the Troll Invasion, and disturbances in the Feywild.

I mentioned this in another thread, but i would be cool to see a common plot thread linking all of H1-H3, P1-P3, and E1-E3.

 

[Rechan]

When i ran Shadowfell, i introduced a Fey Frog Queen from the Feywild. She's going to kick off the first adventure of Thunderspire (right before the Bloodreavers raze Winterhaven and kidnap some notable friends of the PCs).

I'd actually like to hear the details on this. I love fey. Sadly, not much opportunity to implement them in the WotC mods.

Now I'm thinking of having the PCs, while on their way to Winterhaven, run into a pair of gnomes. The pair are looking for a fugitive gnome that shrekked his duties to his Feywild masters. (Said gnome is the one at the Dragon burial site). I could easily co-opt him into the Frog Queen's court,

 

[LostSoul]

Yeah. The hairy part is where to stick it, and who the Prince is. I want to avoid the Ye Olde "Here's a real powerful NPC adventurer. You, puny adventurers, behold him. he will save the day. You, go kill rats." So the How and Where the Barony of Therund relates to the rest of the area is the issue.

Here's an idea: a skill challenge. The Prince shows up wherever the PCs are. "I've been fighting Trolls and I want to unload some of the loot I've found. I was told you might be interested."

Pick a few magic items that fit a treasure package or two, worth slightly better than normal because the PCs are going to pay something for them. Then run the skill challenge, with the price/goods offered in trade set by the success or failure of the PCs.

During the skill challenge, drop all the foreshadowing you want.

 

[Rechan]

Here's an idea: a skill challenge. The Prince shows up wherever the PCs are. "I've been fighting Trolls and I want to unload some of the loot I've found. I was told you might be interested."

Hrm. Well, according to P1, the Prince was actually on lay-over when he went to fight the trolls. He was on his way home from "fighting a cult in a far-off land". Heard the trolls were getting uppity, went in to battle, and got whacked.

But then, the same idea could be used. Say, the Prince, before running off to battle The Cult, had a different adventure, and so he dumps off his loot on the PCs.