Adventures Scale of war synopsis??

[DK]

Hello everybody!

What's going on in the SoW AP? Is there a synopsis written somewhere?
If not, is there anybody that could do it?

For those that are playing it, how is it? From the players point of view? From the DM point of view?

Ciao!

[Pbartender]

Originally Posted by DK

Hello everybody!

What's going on in the SoW AP? Is there a synopsis written somewhere?
If not, is there anybody that could do it?

I've found this Wiki very useful.

Originally Posted by DK

For those that are playing it, how is it? From the players point of view? From the DM point of view?

My group is nearing the end of the first adventure, so it's hard to say at this point.

So far, we're enjoying it.

As the group's DM... Be certain to download as many of the adventures ahead of time as you can and read them through. There's the occasional inconsistency (especially in the earlier adventures) that you'll need to watch out for. The Wiki I linked to above does a pretty good job of pointing them out and has good suggestions for fixes.

[amethal]

WotC's original position was that everyone was better off without a synopsis.

When enough people disagreed, they did provide a synopsis. As to where they hid it, however, I couldn't say - it has defeated my searching skills.

From what I remember, the synopsis wasn't very helpful as it was kept as spoiler free as possible, and was kind of like the write-up you might get for a forthcoming TV show - along the lines of "In this episode the PCs find themselves on another plane of existence, and learn that an old enemy has returned".

There is an interesting thread at RPG.net with people's play experiences, but it doesn't get many updates.

[Let's Read] Scales of War. That's right, all of it. - RPGnet Forums

I am not a DDI subscriber, so I have only read through the first couple of adventures in the free issues of Dungeon. Having said that, it doesn't look much like an adventure path to me - the early adventures seem to have few links between them, and there is little sense that things are building up to a big finale.

Of course, the later adventures might reveal that all the "inconsequential" stuff in the beginning was all closely tied in to the final outcome. My general advice these days is never run an adventure path until all the installments have been written, as it gives you a much better idea of what is important to the plot and what is window dressing.

[Pbartender]

Originally Posted by amethal

WotC's original position was that everyone was better off without a synopsis.

When enough people disagreed, they did provide a synopsis. As to where they hid it, however, I couldn't say - it has defeated my searching skills.

It can be found here.

Here's the outline, spoilered:

Spoiler:

Scales of War Heroic Tier

Episode #3: The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge
On returning from the Vents, the characters search for clues behind the well-armed orcs that sought passage beneath the mountains around Overlook. Their investigation takes them beneath the city, and then to another plane!

Episode #4: The Lost Mines of Karak
A dwarven clan of Overlook—once renowned for their wealthy mines—has fallen on hard times. But the rediscovery of one of their mines could spell relief for the city’s war efforts, and redemption for a once worthy name.

Episode #5
The heroes are summoned back to Brindol by an unexpected source. Their new ally then guides them to a long-lost fortress now inhabited by all manner of foul creatures.

Episode #6
The characters return to Overlook to find the city marshalling for war. But something rotten lurks in the city’s heart, and further investigation reveals that the city faces a threat as great from within as the army marshalling at the gates of Bordrin’s Watch.

Scales of War Paragon Tier (Episodes #7–12)
The scope has changed. By the end of the heroic tier, the heroes finally learn that the war in Elsir Vale is on a much larger scale than they imagined. Not only their small slice of the world is in danger, and the forces of good need powerful champions. The characters venture across the planes as a small, elite strike team, pursuing missions few champions of their world would dare to undertake. There, they must make new alliances to further their war effort, while sundering those of their enemies. Finally, they uncover the magnitude of the true threat facing their home.

Scales of War Epic Tier (Episodes #13–18)
The stakes increase. As the heroes cross into the epic tier, they learn that their world is truly under siege from all sides. Pursuing numerous threats only they can deal with, they single-handedly have the potential to turn the tide of war in one direction or the other. As the balance teeters on a razor’s edge, disaster strikes the characters’ allies, and they must act swiftly before their world—and possibly more—is lost to an age of darkness unlike any other.

[The_Gneech]

I just started looking over this AP yesterday. As my players thoroughly enjoyed Red Hand of Doom, I may run this one. I'm curious, tho ... any sign of the Ghostlord?

-The Gneech

[Caliber]

Originally Posted by The_Gneech

I just started looking over this AP yesterday. As my players thoroughly enjoyed Red Hand of Doom, I may run this one. I'm curious, tho ... any sign of the Ghostlord?

-The Gneech

The PCs pass through the Ghostlord's domain in the 4th part and I *think* encounter a lackey of his. But the Ghostlord himself doesn't feature, and (at least in the Paragon tier) it doesn't seem like the party is spending much time in the World to meet him anymore.

As to a synopsis, they never posted an overview of the plot arc but it isn't terribly hard to surmise, especially with the recent additions to the series. The last time I saw this question asked a poster here gave his idea on how the series would play out and it seems he was pretty much spot on. Spoilered below is my remembrance of what he said.

Spoiler:

Heroic Tier - Hints of warmongering traced to other-planar armsdealer working for shadowing relationship.
Paragon Tier - Githyanki revealed as pulling strings for previous armsdealer, and planning on invading the World
Epic Tier - Tiamant revealed to be orchestrating the githyanki agression.

Hence Scales of War.

Seems reasonable enough to me so far.

Also, it's great to see that wiki getting out and about! The more who use and contribute, the better we'll be. Glad it is being used.

[DK]

Thanks, for wiki is very helpful!

Is there anyone whi has played most of the adventures? How are them? How much work need to be done to give a good feeling of continuity between the adventures?

Originally Posted by Pbartender

I've found this Wiki very useful.



My group is nearing the end of the first adventure, so it's hard to say at this point.

So far, we're enjoying it.

As the group's DM... Be certain to download as many of the adventures ahead of time as you can and read them through. There's the occasional inconsistency (especially in the earlier adventures) that you'll need to watch out for. The Wiki I linked to above does a pretty good job of pointing them out and has good suggestions for fixes.

[amethal]

Originally Posted by DK

Thanks, for wiki is very helpful!

Is there anyone whi has played most of the adventures? How are them? How much work need to be done to give a good feeling of continuity between the adventures?

The wiki seems to have some good ideas in this area.

My current campaign is A Dark and Stormy Knight / Into the Haunted Forest / Sunless Citadel / Forge of Fury / Red Hand of Doom / Guardians of Dragonfall. I'm having a lot of fun linking together all the adventures. However, I can't help feeling that when you buy an adventure path most of that should have already been done for you.

My favourite part of Scales of War is the city of Overlook. I'm trying to find ways of shoehorning it into Red Hand of Doom.

[Baz King]

Originally Posted by amethal

There is an interesting thread at RPG.net with people's play experiences, but it doesn't get many updates.

[Let's Read] Scales of War. That's right, all of it. - RPGnet Forums

I'm the author of that thread, which is also on my blog.

Yeah, the updates are probably a little slow, sorry about that. I do tend to do them in batches though, so after any dry patch there's usually a flash flood of posts!
Also, bear in mind I'm trying to get actual play of these adventures in when I can. Like many things, there's a difference between reading and playing and I want to get both viewpoints before I commit on my opinion.

Lastly, feedback and comment are all fuel to further updates, so don't be shy.

Cheers!

[Pbartender]

Originally Posted by DK

How much work need to be done to give a good feeling of continuity between the adventures?

Really, not that much, as far as I can see. You just have to keep your eyes open for them, otherwise you'll be caught off guard when one of your players asks the inevitably revealing question, like, "Brass key? What brass key?"

Here's a list of a few of the changes that I made to Rescue at Rivernroar. Most of them are due to the placement of the Elsir Vale into my own half-homebrew setting. The rest are there because of my own personal aesthetics toward the plot -- they don't necessarily need to be there, but it makes the plot look "prettier" to me.

Spoiler:

1. The adventure path begins nearly 40 years after Red Hand of Doom. I wanted the characters from the previous campaign to still be around, and to have grown into important NPCs in the region: Sir Harvey as the Earl of Castle Vraath, Kouda Palliacanus as the Lord Warden of Brindol, Loriandril as the Archbishop at the Cathedral of Pelor, Agaemon the Warmage as Grandmaster of the Order of the Golden Wyvern, Brother Lawrence has become the Abbot of the newly dedicated Cuthbertian Abbey, and so on. Also, I wanted the SoW characters to have grown up after the war in an orphanage that was built originally to house orphans of the Red Hand War.
2. As mentioned above, the Lord Warden of Brindol is Kouda Palliacanus, formerly an Elf (now Eladrin) Rogue from the RHoD campaign we played a few years back. This forms a solid link between the two campaigns.
3. Mirtala is the cook at the orphanage the PCs grew up in. That let me pull their hearts strings just a little bit.
4. Rivenroar is the ruins of an Eladrin Castle that ruled a small kingdom in the Vale shortly after the fall of the Anaulian Empire (at which point, the split into Eladrin/Elves/Drow happened), several thousand years ago.
5. With the exception of the undead, all the non-goblinoids at Rivenroar are mercenaries that were hired by Sinruth through "the Emissary". That simply made more sense to me. Plus, it led to a roleplaying situation in which the PCs parleyed with some of the less-than-perfectly-loyal mercenaries who weren't willing to fight to the death. The professionally friendly gnome mercenaries will show up again later.
6. Which reminds me... In my game, "the Emissary" is Lareth the Beautiful. This is another link to a previous campaign. In the very first campaign (about 6 years ago real time, maybe 200 years ago in game time) we ever played in this setting, I ran the players through the Village of Hommlet, and he became a bit of a recurring villain. He'll be a big reveal later in the campaign.
7. Also, I rewrote the Emissary's letter to better reflect those two changes. I felt the letter was a little too melodramatic in its wording for my tastes, and so I made it a little more business-like.
8. I clarified the agreement between Sinruth and the undead... Sinruth provides live captives for the undead to "eat", and the undead allow him to use the crypts as a base of operations. Plus, the undead will provide additional "security" in the crypts, though they will not accompany him on raids.
9. I hinted that the castle that can be seen through the "broken" portal is Castle Ravenloft.
10. Finally, I switched the "rededicated" altars in the Rivenroar family crypt from Bane to Tiamat. In the context of the adventure and the campaign, it made more sense.

Nothing earth-shattering, and certainly no major changes to the encounters, the dungeon or the plot. Mainly, just a few changes in window dressings to make it mesh together a little better with the overall plot and with my setting.

[Atras]

Originally Posted by DK

Is there anyone who has played most of the adventures? How are them? How much work need to be done to give a good feeling of continuity between the adventures?

I'm playing in the campaign on the weekends, and our party is just about to finish "Haven of the Bitter Glass" - just about middle of the Paragon tier; in fact, we hit level 14 last session.

I'm quite enjoying the adventures, but I tend to prefer combat, so there is that consideration. I would say that the battles are really solid throughout the campaign - the second part of the Adventure Path had some of the coolest battles I've been a part of; and the end of Heroic Tier and the end of the first section in Paragon were really tense and fun.

The first couple of adventures have some built-in hooks to draw the players from one adventure to another, but without much of a overall story that is revealed. There are some well-documented retcons in the early adventures too, so I think it is a really good idea to read all the way through Heroic tier before starting to run the Adventure Path at all. So far in Paragon, it feels like the adventures are made to be more free-form, with a quick mention to the DM about the overall story - without the DM doing this work on their own, it doesn't feel (yet) like the paragon tier is connected.

I have been running some players through the campaign myself - we are on the 4th adventure now. I had the benefit of preparing some of the links for later on, and I think my players are feeling pulled into the story. I focused on building up the city of Overlook, planting NPCs for the players to care about, and seeding the area with potential alternate adventures. The other adventures were not really worth doing, since the Adventure Path covers every level progression, but making Overlook feel like home has been a big success, and WotC did a great job in "Siege of Bordrin's Watch" of creating the city and giving us NPCs - it made it easy to build on that. At this point, I could easily see using Overlook in a new campaign.

For linking the adventures, I would suggest looking at the Heroic/Paragon crossover adventures ("The Temple Between", "Beyond the Mottled Tower") and planting foreshadowing from the last fights in the third adventure ("The Shadowrift of Umbraforge"). Umbraforge should also be used to foreshadow "Den of the Destroyer", and familiarity with Umbraforge will give you the tools you need to tie "Bordrin's Watch" to it. "Lost Mines of Karak" needs extra attention to make it fit into the campaign, check out the middle Paragon adventures, and be careful to read the DM sidebars in that adventure - it should be made clear to the players in this adventure why all of this is going on. "Rescue at Rivenroar" is the biggest challenge - there are things that are important in later adventures that can easily escape the players' notice. Use the wiki heavily for this adventure - the combats are good for level 1 characters, and the skill challenges can be really good, but the mix of monsters used are a bit flawed, and balancing extended rests with the quest is all on the DM.

[spuppett]

We're playing through it right now and having a pretty good time. What we're doing though is rotating DMs at each 'modual'. I started so I didn't really have any gaps to fill in, though the current DM, running The Shadow Rift of Umberforge, said he had to reorganize some things due to either the previous DM missing something or whatever. So far it's been a good experience and I'm looking to getting back behind the screen.

[hailstop]

Is it conducive to jumping in around mid-Paragon? Tiamat is a potential ultimate threat in my campaign while the PCs grab the pieces of the Rod of 7 Parts.

[Baz King]

I've been busy updating the reviews both on my blog and over at RPGnet. The Temple Between is in the chamber at time of writing.