DM Tips for Death in Freeport

[Gizzard]

I am going to be running Death in Freeport this weekend; can anyone who has DM'ed or played the module give me feedback on what went well, what didnt go so well and what to look out for?

I have seen Dr. Nuncheons story hour, which is very nice, but I was going to use a different setup/hook since I am running a party of 6.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

You may want to hit the Green Ronin forums on Freeport- I know I took/gave some good advice on running the freeport series.

http://www.greenronin.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=b91735247efff91e3d65f2ae0be43f35

The only suggestion I have off the top of my head, is be ready for the players to read too much into the initial encounter- and thing that is the adventure they should be looking for.

FD

 

[Gizzard]

.... SLIGHTLY SPOILER-ESQUE ....
.... SLIGHTLY SPOILER-ESQUE ....
.... SLIGHTLY SPOILER-ESQUE ....

... be ready for the players to read too much into the initial encounter...

Yeah, thats the first thing on my mind.

I also saw a very old post on the GR forums asking if the first encounter was intended to be run with a -4 penalty due to the style of attack initially used (am I being nebulous enough to avoid big spoilers? ;-) because his group had a very difficult time without some sort of handicap for the bad guys. That post worried me; another way that the party can depart from plan.

But, if I take the time to flesh this path out, it will only guarantee that my players will be attracted to some other crazy scheme. Thats part of the magic of being the DM - you are almost certain to have to wing something before too long. ;-)

 

[KnowTheToe]

My biggest hurdle in running this adventure is the number of time the unfinshed light house is mentioned. My players wanted to investigate that time and time again. The adventure is not designed to do that and if you want to do the follow up adventures, you will want to keep your players away.

My suggestion is to play the light house low key, don't have NPCs really mention it.

 

[Nightfall]

I ran it. Believe me NEVER run with guys that can't handle free form! They not only ran off, BUT they ended up trashing store fronts AND wrecking bars.

 

[Kalendraf]

I second Furn_Darkside's suggestion to check out Green Ronin's boards. A number of DM's have posted their feedback out there.
Also, there are some free downloads that can help you. Check out the Focus on Freeport section for a map of the Temple of Knowledge as well as nice mini-adventure to follow up Death in Freeport called "Holiday in the Sun".

In Death in Freeport, that 1st encounter can be difficult. One of the PC's in my group was knocked unconscious during the fight and nearly died. Next, the group missed a very key clue at Brother Lucius' house, which caused a very bizarre sequence to transpire. Their investigation somewhat dead-ended and they decided to do a much more thorough search at the Temple of Knowledge for clues about what Brother Lucius had last been working on (ie what books he had touched, which patrons he had contacted, etc). Basically, this consumed about 2 full hours of game time going on a wild goose chase. Eventually, they decided to re-expore his house, and eventually they found the clue that they had missed. These were players new to 3E and they didn't know about taking a 20, etc. With all the time spent at the library, the Temple of Knowledge is now a key location for the party. Since that 1st session at the temple, they've tended to spend anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes at that location per gaming session doing research and meeting with what have become a few key NPCs (Brother Egil, etc) in the campaign. And each time they are in town, they tend to stay at the Scholar's Quill.

Besides that, you should follow the basic rule of making sure you read thru the entire adventure and familiarize yourself with the key NPC's as well as the key locations. Other than that, be prepared to have a blast.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

I am going to be running Death in Freeport this weekend; can anyone who has DM'ed or played the module give me feedback on what went well, what didnt go so well and what to look out for?

The adventure went very well for me and my group, but I have some very good players.

I did find myself having to make up a lot on the fly - details about the city, what the streets and shops looked like, etc.

I have since purchased the hardback Freeport book, which could've been very useful, but it was fun without it.

I had to invent all sorts of things - the Tavern where Captain Scarbelly was eating his dinner of Fishhead Stew, a group of shops where the Tailor lived, and even fleshing out the Scholars Quill (I had this set up like a victorian era Single Women's home, with a motherly woman running the place, no "gentleman callers" etc).

My group also spent a lot of time searching in the Temple Of Knowledge, and I felt like I was stonewalling them too much there.

I also agree with checking out Green Ronin's noticeboards - there are some typos in the module which you should look out for - eg the map being mis-labelled. Also, as someone else said, look at Focus on Freeport on the GR website - you will find some descriptions of important NPCs, the free adventure, etc, all of which you can hint at so that the players know more about the city than just the important places in the module.

Good luck,

Duncan

 

[smetzger]

I am going to be running Death in Freeport this weekend; can anyone who has DM'ed or played the module give me feedback on what went well, what didnt go so well and what to look out for?

Here is a link to some unofficial errata:
http://www.geocities.com/thastygliax/d20errata/#freeport

I ran the first one and it went very quickly for a party of 2 players. In fact I wished I had brought the 2nd adventure because we could have started it.

They did go visit the lighthouse and I am going to have to retcon some information that they gathered there. I would definantly be prepared for them to visit the lighthouse. So, I would read about the lighthouse in the 3rd adventure and then put some insurmountable obstacles so that they don't get to the upper levels of the lighthouse. Maybe there are workmen working on the stairway or scafolding in the way etc. Maybe the workmen are carrying the large lense up the staircase and there is no way to get arouned etc.

My players were also keenly interested in seeing what he was recently working on. I had him working on making a map of an area around a small village called Homlett (I am plan to run RtToEE after the 3 freeport adventures). So, plan on what your going to say he is working on.

My players didn't have mutch problem with the initial encounter. Remember that these guys are going to run at the first sign the PCs are dangerous.

My players killed Scarbelly's First mate and 1/2 his crew and then fled and came back later. At which point Scarbelly had returned and the gang plank had been pulled. They got the information from Scarbelly over exchanges of arrows. So, I am going to have Scarbelly make his sale of the Staff and then return with a new first mate and crew and then he will put a hit out on the party. The party also let the Sorcerer yellow shield go, so since he is kind of a shady character I am going to have him learn of the hit, just in time to warn the party.

 

[Bragg Battleaxe]

I have run it twice for two different groups and my advice is: prepare for an assault on Scarbelly's Ship. I have talked to other DMs as well, and everybody attacks the ship. There really isn't any reason to, but then again, there isn't any reason not to. The module doesn't really prepare you for this. Also, make sure you don't play Milos like he is what he is. He should be stern, but not a jerk.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

*******spoilers**********

SPOILERS- Players should not be reading of this anyway..

Next, the group missed a very key clue at Brother Lucius' house, which caused a very bizarre sequence to transpire.

My strong suggestion to dm's is to make sure the players find the clues- roll the search for them and have them find what they need to find. If they insist on rolling, then have Egil find the clues that they miss.

When a search check needs to succeed for the adventure to move forward, then you need to force it a bit.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then remind the players before the adventure that they can take 20 on search rolls. Hopefully they will get the hint.

Here is a suggestion I made on the GR forums- a bit of a plot hole is where Egil's keeps getting all this money to offer the party when the members of his church take an oath of poverty.

I made Egil into Captain Lydon's nephew- this gives a great way to use Focus on Freeport #5 Holiday in the Sun.

If you plan to run the trilogy, then you will also want to run some adventures in between 2&3 especially.

Here are some thoughts:
1) Freeport must have an existing light house- the council is making grumbles about stopping cutting funds to the building of the new one.

So, the cult decides to blow up the old one- and lures the players there on a sunken treasure hunt to kill them as well.

2) Followup on Focus on Freeport #8- the players are asked to escort a barge of the dead to a graveyard on the otherside of the island. Of course, an old enemy of freeport (a necromancer) decides to take advantage of this situation and get a little revenge.

3) Lydon asks the party to help locate one his transport boats that was supposed to arrive a few days ago- it has been captured by Sahaugin (spell?). Using something similar to bear traps latched on the bottom of the ship and chained to an underwater mountain that comes close to the surface.

Finally- an amusing anecdote- My pc's captured Drac and he bluffed his way into letting him go- after the rogue put a couple of scars on his face. Of course, they fled town that night. hahah.

FD