KOTS Introduction Post Raiders of Oakhurst? *Spoilers*

[nightspaladin]

First I would like to say how much my group enjoyed our first foray into 4e with Raiders of Oakhurst Reloaded. We all had a blast. That being said, I am running KoTS this weekend and I am struck with a problem in the introduction

The First section of KoTS is extremely similiar to Raiders. It is functionally a strip down version of it. Kobold Bashing, town in trouble, Lair stomping etc... What I am concerned about is that it's going to be very repetitive of the last game, and a little boring. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I have considered simply changing the race of the attacks to Goblin for flavor, or maybe even throw in some Duergar, as they are hinted out in the foreshadowing on H2. I have also considered simply trhowing out much of the opening. My only problem with that is that they will be behind the expected EXP curve when the tough battles begin. I have even considered skipping it and letting them keep the EXP from raiders as starting bonus, even though they are different characters... Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stalker0]

I think allowing them to keep their xp and start later in the adventure sounds like a fine idea.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Here's what I'd recommend, based on having your players keep their XP and simply continue on -- with some carefully crafted hooks, you should be able to segue neatly into KotS:

[sblock]
Winterhaven = Chronos Keep SW of Oakhurst (or, it could be a town on the road further north, or can be omitted entirely and you can continue to use Oakhurst as the base town). Chuck out the kobold lair and the two kobold ambushes. The dragon burial site can remain as a side trek.

Where'd the hobgoblins from Oakhurst come from? Well, Varkaze was a disgruntled member of a tribe that was taken over by Orcus worshippers, who had a lair in a ruined keep somewhere in the wilderness ... Varkaze left to find another master and would up working for Nightscale.

After hearing the PC's story from the Stone Tooth, have Picard the ranger, or another NPC, drop some rumors about an old hobgoblin tribe who used to lair in an old abandoned keep ... hint they might want to investigate ... off to the Keep!

Alternate hooks:

- If they didn't resolve the priest's brother quest, have the priest tell them he suspects his long-lost brother disappeared after tracking rumors of a cult of Orcus to some old ruins a distance away. Alternate: the some of the priest's prayers to Amanuator have gone unanswered; something is wrong. Cue information about Orcus and the Shadowfell.

- Have Terren mention to the party that the tailor is long overdue from his trip to the city ... could they stop in at Winterhaven and see if he passed through (and have the tailor become the explorer who was lost at the dragon tomb)

- Depending on how the Nightscale encounter went ... if she survived, Nightscale could set up a deal through intermediaries to eliminate her rival, a foul priest of Orcus. The PCs get any treasure they find but turns the ruin over to the dragon for her lair.

- Oh, and the link to the duergar and H2? Well, the swarven smith knows a bit about that. Seems his family was run out of its ancestral home by a bunch of duergar ...
[/sblock]

 

[nightspaladin]

Thanks for the advice. It looks great. BTW having read KoTS it made me appreciate just how well written your Raiders is. Not that KoTS is bad. Quite the opposite. But Raiders is on par with it in almost every respect, except maybe the shiny folder....

 

[CarlosDosBrickos]

I've used Raiders as the intro to my 4e campaign, with a few minor changes.

I started at the entrance to the stone table, with a brief "Oakhurst hired you to take out some bad guys" blurb. Then into the first kobold encounter.

The hobgoblins in Raiders are part of the Bloodeaver slaver gang that have links to the KotS hobgobs, and to H2. And one of the PCs has a long-lost sister who was captured by the Bloodreavers in his youth. There's a hint in the hobgob's possessions of a link to a human keep to the south (I too have replaced Chronos Keep with Winterhaven).

Belazemon's gem is on Nightscale's island, along with a journal entry from a recently slain adventurer. The gem had been rescued from the deadly ruins of the eladrin city (Shelendril), and was being returned to Belazemon's tomb.

Belazemon's encounter has been significanly beefed up, and now features a puzzle/ trap at the entrance, hordes of zombies rising from a fountain pumping blood (downstairs), a simple skill challenge to make it up the statue and restore the gem (whilst under constant zombie attack), and an encounter with a deathlock Wight/ pair of ghoouls who return nightly to feast on the undead body of Belazemon, fastened to his coffin by spectral chains.

Belazemon was the last king of the local area, who brought the eladrin war to an end, slayed the dracolich Onyxia (Nightscale's mother) and brought the Lizard King's reign to an end (link into the classic I2: Tomb of the Lizard King module) He begs the party to retrieve his lost items of power, in order to release him from Vrix's punishment.

The amulet was the gem, now restored.

The sword was made by the dwarven smith Durgeddin, and may have returned to whence it was forged (Stone Tooth, a link both to Nightscale and Forge of Fury).

The shield was a gift from the eladrin king, and may have returned to the Feywild. Picard is a member of a secretive group called the Sheilds of Sherendril, sworn to protect the lost eladrin city from prying eyes.

The crown was stolen by Vrix and his band, who are part of the same Orcus death cult as the Shadowfell bunch, the Order of the Horned Skull. That has ended up with the reincarnated Lizard King. Belazemon was the one who defeated the attempt to create the rift to the Shadowfell the first time, and had the keep built. He steers the party subtly in this direction, so KotS can be run through from about level 2-4 or 5.

The heroic tier is all about restoring the items and freeing Belazemon from his curse.

The paragon and epic tiers go into who is behind the reincarnation of the lizard king, who is manipulating the servants of Orcus, and who is trying to free Onyxia from her amber prison deep beneath Stone Tooth. I'll spare you the details of that though, this post is long enough already

That takes the party first to the Shadowfell, then the Feywild, and ultimately to the Nine Hells to defeat a plot against Asmodeus that risks the destruction of the entire Astral Sea.

Or at least that's the plan

So I'd just like to add my voice to the praise for the author of Raiders; that one adventure has formed the basis of my entire campaign. Thanks dude!