D&D 5E Enhancing "Storm King's Thunder"

[pukunui]

On a completely different note, I was going to run Against the Giants for my other group post-Tomb of Annihilation, but after re-reading/skimming it over the weekend, I'm really feeling disinclined to do so for a number of reasons.

Instead, I am thinking I will set the PCs up as the newly minted lords of the Gray Vale. One of their first missions will be to stop the stone giants operating out of Deadstone Cleft. Another will be to rescue Gray Vale settlers who were enslaved by the Iron Baron (from the eponymous AL D&D Epic). I will have to see what else I can come up with for them to do in that area, as they establish themselves as its rulers.

Anyway, can anyone think of anything I can/should do to beef up Deadstone Cleft to make it more of a challenge for a party of 5-6 11th level PCs?

 

[Eltab]

Anyway, can anyone think of anything I can/should do to beef up Deadstone Cleft to make it more of a challenge for a party of 5-6 11th level PCs?

The stone giants have overawed some Elemental Evil Earth cultists. They are providing lookouts and some magical firepower to the sentries. Having a PC (maybe the guy in plate armor) break through a thin stone crust into gooey mud or quote quicksand unquote will foreshadow what awaits ahead.

 

[pukunui]

I like it!

Maybe they’re only pretending to be overawed but are actually trying to make contact with the earth primordial locked beneath the mountains. Maybe they think of it as an avatar of Ogremoch or something.

 

[Sadras]

Over the weekend we began chapter 3 of STK. I had fleshed out 15-16 days worth of travel since the players had told me which direction they were heading in (Goldenfields to Everlund).

It took me 4 hours of prep work to read through the relevant material, select and familiarise myself with the monsters/NPCs and their tactics as well as make notes. Using the weather chart in the DMG, the detailed information on the various areas and creatures provided in the AP as well as my own creativity, I found it surprisingly easy to put together an interesting session which was riddled with various lore tidbits, interesting combat and social encounters, weather hazards, and mysteries, all within an exploration-based session.

I was amazed at how much ground we were able to cover in the 5 hours. It has certainly been the most enjoyable session in the AP for us thus far - with the players closely tracking their progress on the map and having to negotiate with each other on the numerous decision points along the way.
The party only got as far as Ostolin's Hold but it was still very impressive.

I'm finding WotC AP material very inspiring.

EDIT: Have the burgomeister in Womford keep a journal of the attacks recording dates, if and how bodies were found, which violent incident sparked the baring of boors and closing of shutters...etc

 

[pukunui]

Something I don't really get about this adventure is why the Harpers would let non-Harpers use their teleportation network. I get why they included it in the adventure, but I feel like it strains credulity.

The book says the Mirabarrans would be upset if they knew about the Harper portal in their city. Well, what if some of the PCs are Lords' Alliance agents, maybe even agents from Mirabar itself? Wouldn't they be obliged to tell their superiors about the portal?

Also, why on Faerûn would the Harpers ever let the Zhents know about the portals? Especially the portal they've hidden away in Zhent-controlled Loudwater.


As an aside, what do those poor mages do all day? At least the ones in Moongleam Tower take turns, and the one in Loudwater shirks his duties, but what about the poor girl who lives in an underground crypt? Does she ever get to go outside?

I know I'm over-thinking it but still ...

The way this portal network is set up just irks me, and I don't know what to do about it.

 

[Sadras]

I'm not there yet, so I have not done the necessary reading material, but these seem like good questions to think about and comes up with plausible answers should the players ask.

 

[pukunui]

FWIW the PCs in my group all belong to the Waterdeep chapter of the Lords’ Alliance, so I don’t think it will necessarily be an issue in my game (especially since their top boss, Lady Laeral Silverhand, was once a Harper herself and is still sympathetic to their cause).

However, it still bothers me in a general sense. It just doesn’t seem like something the Harpers would do.

 

[pukunui]

Anticipating that my group might encounter Moog at the Old Tower next session. Various elements of the setup seem to be working at cross purposes to each other.

On the one hand, the main purpose of this scene is to provide the PCs with a guide to Grudd Haug.

On the other, we are told that Moog “has had some bad experiences with small folk in the past” and is thus inclined “to attack if confronted”.

I am thinking that if my group seem threatening, I will start off by having her throw a rock at someone while shouting “Go away!” I want to make it clear that she’s not yet another giant that they can or should just kill like all the others.

If they do get into a proper fight with her, I will have her surrender when she gets badly hurt, like Lob and Ogg at Goldenfields. (They did capture Ogg previously and could have used him to guide them to Grudd Haug, except they left him in the care of Goldenfield’s lazy half-orc commander, who had the giant executed while the PCs rested.)

 

[Tebor]

Hello there, and thank you all for everything you shared in this thread.
Lots of cool stuff to be inspired for my own SKT campaign.

Short brief of where my PCs are :
After playing LMoP with a first party, I was left with only the human warrior from the starter set played by a friend.
Her character became Lady Protector of Emeraldlines, the region around Phandalin. The two dwarves brothers rehabilitated a bsation at the entrance of Wave Echo Cave and a little settlement was created on the intersection between Triboar Path and the road to Phandalin.
Later (1 year and a half in game), a new party is constituted around the Lady protector and I made them wander through 3 stories to make them L5 PCs.

Next, returning from the Neverwinter Woods, they heard of a first giant attack in Triboar. The city ask for help of their neighbours, so they went to Triboar. They also heard from their respective factions (the tiefling rogue is a Harper, the dwarf warrior is member of the Gauntlet Order and the Lady Protector run for the Lords Alliance).
They spent three days discovering the town, its NPCs and tried to figure out why the giants attacked. They also went south hunting the giants, hoping to understand their goal.
The fourth day, they waited the assault outside the town and parley with the two fire giants. They offered the piece of the Vonindod, not knowing what it was, and the giants walked satisfied without attacking.

THey won several side quests doing so and decided to go east, to Everlund, in order to contact a main cell of Harpers.
But first of all, they went south to Westbridge to collect the Giant Slayer Axe (little change from the campaign). The owner inform them to go to Yartar to collect it from his son.
The same day, they explored Kryptgarden Forest to slay some hill giants but faced instead Old Gnawbone. The green dragon spoke in riddles, showing that she knows who they are and prevent them to search for "The One Who Walks", a frost giant looking for an answer from his gods.
That rang a bell when they remembered of a previous encounter in Helm's Hold where two sailors explained having transported to Neverwinter Harshnag, who claimed that he needed to meet "The One Who Sees".
On the road, they lost their way in the mist and fell into one of the burrial mounds and acquired a giant relic, not knowing what it realy is, except a new weapon for the elf warlock.
They then arrived at Noanar's Hold and defeat the Hunt Lords (very easily as said in a previous post) and faced a troll attack in Olostin's Hold. They were missioned to investigate the moors to understand this event and killed the fire giant who was there.
Next, they arrived at Everlund, meet the Harpers and decided to teleport to Mirabar in order to search for the Weevil in Xantharl's Keep.
They helped in Xantharl's Keep against the attack from the frost giant and captured the evil dwarf. Three days later, after the army from Mirabar collected the Weevil, Harshnag came at the door, asking for the PCs and claiming that they must go with him to meet "The One Who Sees".

From Mirabar, they crossed the Sword Mountains to the Eye of the All-Father, faced all the encounters (barbarians, rhemoraz) and wait three days to ask multiple questions about the fall of the ordning, the disappearance of Hekaton and the links with my main plot (no need to develop it right here, SKT is a huge parenthesis in this quest so they level up).
Now, they are looking for three more giant relics (Great Worm Cave, Beorunna's Well and One Stone) with the Klauth Airship (called the Klauthling).
They hope to have the more options possible to select the giant lord who maybe we'll be interested in bringing back the ordning at its former state.

That brings us to he questions I have :
- They won't have all the choices but only three if I stick to what's written in the book (stone, frost and they already have cloud). SHould I change one of the relic to offer them a fourth choice?
- If or if not I change the relic, their goal is to persuade one of the lord to help them bring back the ordning. Do you think one is more enclined to do so?
- I have the feeling that the book leads PCs only to a fight whith every giant lord and offers little ways to avoid combat. Which ones are easily avoidable without making to many changes to the script?

Thank you for your answers,

Tebor, french DM

 

[Eltab]

- They won't have all the choices but only three if I stick to what's written in the book (stone, frost and they already have cloud). SHould I change one of the relic to offer them a fourth choice?

Yes. Give them enough information to make a meaningful choice, too. The PCs do not know which artifact leads to which giant lord, so you can alter what you need to provide a more satisfying story.