Upscaling Reavers of Harkenwold and Campaign...

Agatheron · Aug 29, 2012

Well... using Masterplan this at least makes playing around with some options much easier. Using some of the Daggerburg Goblins from Threats to the Nentir Vale, I've swapped out the Bullywugs for the Goblins/Hobgoblins/Bugbears although keeping the location and encounter sequence the same. I debated re-skinning them, but it seemed better to do a monster swap.

I wanted to use a single Mistmane Bugbear in the encounter sequence, and as such it replaces the Bullywug champion in the 3rd encounter, and then I fill in the rest of the encounter with a single Hobgoblin archer and about 5 grunts. I included standard sized bugbears in the previous encounter to make the Mistmane's immense size really stand out... and give them a real sense of accomplishment on taking down such a fearsome beast. I did do some downscaling though, the Mistmane is a Level 8 Elite Soldier in this encounter. I hope that it's not too hard for a party of level 4 adventurers. I kept it as elite, but lowered it to a 6th level Elite Soldier, so not quite as dangerous as the "by the book" version... but with the rest of the encounter padded out to a "moderate" level this should be do-able by the characters.

Dragonblade · Aug 29, 2012

I'll just pop in to say, avoid H3 like the plague. Pyramid of Shadows is one of the absolute worst 4e adventures. Its just endless combat grind.

Agatheron · Aug 29, 2012

I have it, but I don't plan on using it unless I can modify it to follow on Madness at Gardmore Abbey... Which isn't too likely. I picked up Vor Rukhoth as a setting, and I may get Hammerfast and use those settings to pull together something that will transition them well from 8-10. I could also look at some 3rd Party adventures as well, but I'd like to pull together something of my own creation. Years ago, I had six adventures published by ICE back when they had their Middle-earth licence, so maybe it's time I put my own writing chops back into play.

Scrivener of Doom · Aug 30, 2012

Dragonblade said:
I'll just pop in to say, avoid H3 like the plague. Pyramid of Shadows is one of the absolute worst 4e adventures. Its just endless combat grind.

I meant to post this comment earlier.

I will add this: PoS has the same acronym as piece of sh** for a reason. It is a PoS. I sometimes describe it as an adventure designed to send 4E players and DMs to Pathfinder. Seriously, not even the most aggressive competitor could produce an adventure such as this which seems to be specifically designed to show you everything that is wrong with 4E and none of its good points.

That said, it would be a crappy adventure in any edition of D&D. Please avoid it like the plague, as [MENTION=2804]Dragonblade[/MENTION] said, and assume that the plague he is referring to is the black death or similar.

Agatheron · Aug 31, 2012

Again, thanks for the tip on Pyramid of Shadows. I plan on avoiding it now wholesale, even if I do have a copy of it. I've been working through up scaling Reavers. I think it is going to work really well, but upgrading the treasure parcels may be more of a challenge. I figure with those, I will redo all of them from scratch.

So now the plan looks like it will be to finish Keep on the Shadowfell, work through an upscaled Reavers of Harkenwold, which will finish with them acquiring a card from the Deck of Many Things, leading directly into Madness at Gardmore Abbey. This will get the characters up to about 8th level from what I understand. The challenge will be what to do to move them from 8th into Paragon Tier, where I can take them through King of the Trollhaunt Warrens.

I'd like to develop something around the aftermath of Gardmore, and tying it back into Reavers. After all, if the Iron Circle wants to get their hands on the Deck of Many Things, maybe trying to get the characters to destroy it or dispose of it could put a nice transition adventure to move them into Paragon. It'd bring them south, putting them in position to challenge the Iron Circle nearer to Sarthel, and I might use Vor Rukhoth as a setting... Just a thought.

Scrivener of Doom · Aug 31, 2012

What about dropping the levels of Trollhaunt and simply running it after Madness?

Damage could remain unchanged (as it is pre-MMIII) and you could get away with simply dropping AC, NADs and Attack bonuses by about 3 each and maybe reduce hit points by 20 or so.

Agatheron · Aug 31, 2012

It's a thought, although given the story arc that is building with Reavers/Madness I almost need a transitional story/adventure that would link Trollhaunt. I don't think it's too hard to link the Iron Circle to using the trolls as a destabilising force, but as with anything Chaotic Evil, it is certainly playing with fire. I think the party also needs to do something with the Deck of Many Things, which the Iron Circle clearly wants in my campaign.

I think it's because there appear to be so few adventures published to transition characters from 8-10, but a lot of resources to develop your own. I think I will do the latter, and keep Trollhaunt for when they make Paragon Tier. Besides, I could use the challenge of mapping out my own 8-10 adventure.

Scrivener of Doom · Aug 31, 2012

Actually, after thinking about it I agree with what you wrote. There really needs to be a transition adventure to tie it all together. I wonder if the same fey power behind the troll king might find that the Deck of Many Things is something he simply has to have?

Agatheron · Sep 4, 2012

One of the risks I run with the transitional adventure is that the intact Deck's own propensity to disappear once it has been used. I could plan out a whole adventure as a quest to destroy the Deck, and yet the players decide to throw caution to the wind and pick a card... Irrespective of the results, the one consistent piece is that the deck disappears after each draw. I know that Gardmore Abbey has its own wards against the deck disappearing, which is what caused the chaos in the first place... but one very real possibility is that the characters use the intact deck instead of trying to destroy it.

As such, I almost have to design an adventure that will work whether or not the characters use the deck. In that respect, I think a more deliberate tie-in with the Reavers of Harkenwold and the politics of that may be the better way to go, and that I treat the Deck as a replaceable McGuffin... have something that might fill its place.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?