Reworking HS1: The Slaying Stone

[Pentius]

I am about to begin DMing for a new group, and intend to run them through a module to start things off. I am planning to use my favorite low level 4e module, HS1: The Slaying Stone. However, I am also planning to set the campaign in my own homebrew world, which doesn't always mesh with PoL assumptions.

In that light, I am looking to change some things, mainly the races involved. The module as printed is a story of a Human town taken over by Goblinoids and also inhabited by Kobolds, beset by Orcish mercenaries and also housing a Dragon, for some reason. The kobolds should fit well enough, so they'll stay. The mercenaries are going to be switched to a more mixed race force of predominantly humans and half-orcs, so I have them figured out. The goblins and dragon are left. Goblins aren't going to be terribly prevalent in the part of the world where this is going to take place, and I'd like to avoid the more common tropes of what constitute good guy and bad guy races, so they need a change, but I'm not sure to what. Dragons are rare to the point that they are commonly thought extinct in this world, so the dragon has to go, too.

Making suggestions for these might be unwieldy, since I don't really want to turn this into a "My Homebrew World" thread, but I was hoping you guys might throw ideas at me until some stick.

 

[Aoirorentsu]

I am running the Slaying Stone right now (in fact, we're going to finish it tonight). Some ideas for you - you can switch the goblins to a more traditional occupying force (say from an invading nation). Alternatively, you can reskin them as something else - say a different tribe of kobolds, or something.

As for the dragon, the only thing to keep in mind is that whatever you put in needs to appear big and scary enough to dissuade the party from attacking it, and to pretty easily TPK them if they decide to attack it anyway, while also not representing a great threat to the greater region (which will prompt the PCs to attack it). It's a tricky balance to pull off. If dragons are a no-go, perhaps a behir or a hydra?

 

[Pentius]

Ah, the behir looks perfect! Thank you. My mind kept coming back to sphinx, but I like the behir better.

As for the goblins, I think I will go with your idea of an invading force. It fits fairly well.

 

[Gargoyle]

Ah, the behir looks perfect! Thank you. My mind kept coming back to sphinx, but I like the behir better.

As for the goblins, I think I will go with your idea of an invading force. It fits fairly well.

Also have something in mind to keep the adventure going if they fail the skill challenge against the behir. The module doesn't really go into that. Other than that, it's a pretty good adventure.

 

[jshaft37]

Remember, whatever race takes over Kris Dahn has to be one that lets the city go into ruins. So if its an invading force, maybe they are savages and really razed the city as they invaded.