D&D 5E (2014) Converting GDQ into Forgotten Realms

[Inchoroi]

I got given the GDQ set Queen of the Spiders for Christmas, and thought it'd be fun to place it in Forgotten Realms. Wet here do you think it'd fit best? My first thought is the Spine of the World.

 

[soulcatcher78]

Spine of the world (more specifically the Silver Marches) would be a good starting point. Given the different types of geography/temperature changes needed it can be difficult to tie the adventure sites together coherently unless you really spread it out across the realms (quite possible given teleportation). While the adventurers may want to pursue the connection between the different Giant modules it would be easier to motivate them using the organizations prevalent in the Realms vs. a single ruler.

Will you be using Eclavdra as written (splinter faction of the Drow) or converting her over to Lolth?

 

[Inchoroi]

Spine of the world (more specifically the Silver Marches) would be a good starting point. Given the different types of geography/temperature changes needed it can be difficult to tie the adventure sites together coherently unless you really spread it out across the realms (quite possible given teleportation). While the adventurers may want to pursue the connection between the different Giant modules it would be easier to motivate them using the organizations prevalent in the Realms vs. a single ruler.

Will you be using Eclavdra as written (splinter faction of the Drow) or converting her over to Lolth?

My first thought is to move both houses over to Forgotten Realms whole, since there's an Elder Elemental God that's worshiped by a few drow and other Underdark creatures (Ghaunadaur, in this case, with some details in the Drow of the Underdark book). That would be the 'unnamed' Elder God that they've turned to the worship of. That way I have less to worry about bringing over, and then can explain away their destruction.

I plan on converting it to 5e as well, placing it just after the 5e Starter Set, since [Spoiler Alert!] there's a drow already. Going to change...what was that drow's name...to a female, and change the two doppelgangers into actual drow (probably males), making it so that they're part of Eclavdra's rebellion, seeking to capture the Forge of Spells for the glory of Ghaunadaur (and Eclavdra, of course).

After the Starter Set, there's going to be a little bit of Scourge of the Slave Lords--I am tempted to add that in in it's entirety, since it is a fun little adventure, and I haven't run it in many years, but I am unsure if I want to or not. If its not the entire adventure, it'll be inspired by it; the gist of it is that the drow have set up (in disguise) some bandits to kidnap people for sale into slavery. Most of the kidnapped people are being kept in the bandit's hideout, since they're incidental to the plan. The drow is going to hide while the PCs defeat the bandits, then try to drop the roof of the old dungeon they stashed the kidnapped folks in, killing the party and the bandits in one fell swoop (or, alternatively, have the bandits have a "secret weapon" which is an enchanted jewel that spawns a nasty demon sort of thing that's supposed to kill the party and the bandits--that sounds more drow, doesn't it?).

Assuming the party survives, they return to Phandalin to even more fame. Gundrin (sp?) brings them to the mine and says, "Hey, our first shipment is ready. If you want to make a profit off it, make sure it gets safely to [town A]." Town A is, of course, the location of the giant black spider-orb that Lolth is going to use to enter the Prime Material Plane. That's where I need to decide which town to place it in. I considered Mirabar, but there'd be no shortage of dwarves there, so they wouldn't necessarily need a single shipment of mithril and/or weapons and tools. Ditto any of the larger cities in the area around the Spine of the World.

Thus my conundrum. I don't mind fudging the mountains and saying some of them are volcanoes--that's fairly easy. I'll probably have a sidequest to take them to Neverwinter or, possibly, Silverymoon, to learn about drow, since they'll doubtlessly be curious by then, especially if they discover the drow in the slave part of the adventure. But I cannot figure out, yet, anyway, what city will suffer the touch of the Queen of the Spiders.

EDIT: Come to think of it, I might have to also put in a second side quest, possibly to find the magic McGuffin to fix the Forge of Spells, after the Starter Set is over, because, working out XPs, it seems like a lot to get the party to level 18-20 when they go to finally fight Lolth (a goal I always want when making full campaign; my players and I love it when we get to see our characters all the way to the end, bitter or otherwise).

 

[soulcatcher78]

The A series can be squished about anywhere (use Skullport below Waterdeep for A1 and it gives the PCs a reason to have travelled there) in the Sword Coast area. A2 can be dropped anywhere there's a road. A3 gets a bit more tricky with the need for a city but you can always use someplace off the main trade way if you don't want to deal with a city inside a dormant volcano.

Bringing them back to the SotW to kick off the Giants series might take some doing but you could use Silverymoon as a starting point for the G series (with support from Citadel Feldbar and Adbar) - The Glimmerwood would be a great spot for G1 (nice thick forest) and not too far from the Endless Sea of Ice above the SotW mountains (G2). G3 might be a harder sell but you're close enough to Anauroch to drop it on the edge and still keep it in the same neighborhood.

This would place D3 far enough away from Menzobarranzan (sp?) to make it feasible (how many big Drow cities in this part of the world without constant fighting?) but still keep it on a smaller scale so that it doesn't become a world spanning adventure.

The inclusion of a Drow diety other than Lolth will keep the PCs guessing as to who/what is running things...a little misdirection goes a long way and the use of different iconography (think tentacles instead of spiders) will have them thinking it's all about Mind Flayers or Aboleths. Who doesn't love to see people prep for one threat only to find another?

 

[Inchoroi]

The A series can be squished about anywhere (use Skullport below Waterdeep for A1 and it gives the PCs a reason to have travelled there) in the Sword Coast area. A2 can be dropped anywhere there's a road. A3 gets a bit more tricky with the need for a city but you can always use someplace off the main trade way if you don't want to deal with a city inside a dormant volcano.

Bringing them back to the SotW to kick off the Giants series might take some doing but you could use Silverymoon as a starting point for the G series (with support from Citadel Feldbar and Adbar) - The Glimmerwood would be a great spot for G1 (nice thick forest) and not too far from the Endless Sea of Ice above the SotW mountains (G2). G3 might be a harder sell but you're close enough to Anauroch to drop it on the edge and still keep it in the same neighborhood.

This would place D3 far enough away from Menzobarranzan (sp?) to make it feasible (how many big Drow cities in this part of the world without constant fighting?) but still keep it on a smaller scale so that it doesn't become a world spanning adventure.

The inclusion of a Drow diety other than Lolth will keep the PCs guessing as to who/what is running things...a little misdirection goes a long way and the use of different iconography (think tentacles instead of spiders) will have them thinking it's all about Mind Flayers or Aboleths. Who doesn't love to see people prep for one threat only to find another?

Awesome.

I also wanted to pad a bit with a side adventure to fix the Forge of Spells for Gundren. I thought that the map in area...14? Of Wave Echo Cave could be the dwarven tomb of the original architect of the Forge, which would lead to a trap-filled tomb of a dwarven master builder. With the Forge rebuilt, the party and friends can really start the push into a full mine, which, with a side derailment to deal with some slavers (god, I haven't thought about Scourge of the Slave lords in well over a decade) can then lead to the group to traipsing through the Glimmerwood to a smallish city beset by giants and a terrible, impenetrable black orb.

I'm also going to remove the teleportation gimmicks; my group actually requested to travel overland more, and interact with the towns and campsites and the random encounters that they'd come up against. I'm going to also have them make a stopover at Blingdenstone, as a sort of rest time, away from the terrors of the Under dark.

Edit: You know, putting the city under siege by Lolth as Silverypool does have a bit of delightful revenge in it for Lolth, assuming you take a few of the better Salvatore novels as canon. Not sure if I want to go that route, though.

EDIT EDIT: On second thought, I think, for the purposes of the adventure as a whole, it should be a city that has only one organization--the King or Governor--being the only ones that have the money to pay for their shipment of weapons and tools (assuming that the mine at Wave Echo Cave is an iron + gems mine, in this case, based on a few forum posts). I've got a fairly greedy party who would be quite angry if they didn't get any money from this, so they'll have a stake in getting involved with the giants--and then once they see the drow are the ultimate instigators, they'll be all over the idea of marching into Menzobarranzan to deal with them.

For the Forge of Spells, this is what I've come up with as actual mechanics:

The Forge of Spells is a monumental undertaking of geomantic engineering; Wave Echo Cave is more than just a mine--it is a confluence of ley lines deep beneath the earth. The dwarves and gnomes nurtured these woven nets of energy, capping it with a deceptively simple brazier that, when first created, burnt with great fire.

Its power was manifest, and it was not long until the Wave Echo Cave became a prosperous mine. The items produced were powerful. The Forge of Spells functioned by, in its simplest incarnation, allowed a non-spellcaster to create magic items. Although there was only a single forge, because of its strength, another was not needed.

Using the Forge of Spells when creating magic items has two game effects:


1. You do not have to be a spellcaster, possess spell slots, or know the spell that is required to create the magic item in question.


2. You double the progress made each day when creating magic items.

Are there any famous lost dwarven mines, suitable for a tomb of a powerful and famous dwarf, besides Wave Echo Cave? I enjoy linking the story to existing cities, if not necessarily people.

 

[soulcatcher78]

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Dwarven_locations might be just the resource you need on Dwarven cities of the Realms. Some have more information than others (its a wiki so that's normal). If all else fails take a map or idea and reskin in with a new name. Unless you tell your players you did it who's going to know.

Depending on the level of magic item creation you are comfortable with (I would recommend not turning the forge into a magical wiz bang factory for balance reasons) you may want to downplay just how much they will be able to create with it. While keeping them interested in the production of the mine can be important it might overshadow any future story lines you wish to explore without you becoming heavy handed (i.e. railroad syndrome).

 

[Inchoroi]

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Dwarven_locations might be just the resource you need on Dwarven cities of the Realms. Some have more information than others (its a wiki so that's normal). If all else fails take a map or idea and reskin in with a new name. Unless you tell your players you did it who's going to know.

Depending on the level of magic item creation you are comfortable with (I would recommend not turning the forge into a magical wiz bang factory for balance reasons) you may want to downplay just how much they will be able to create with it. While keeping them interested in the production of the mine can be important it might overshadow any future story lines you wish to explore without you becoming heavy handed (i.e. railroad syndrome).

We're already using magic item creation in my other games, too; the Forge of Spellls doesn't actually reduce the cost at all (and Gundren certainly can't and won't give them all the stuff for free), just makes it so that the entry requirements are somewhat less and speeds it up a little bit (really, it is a little bit--it still takes quite some time to make the good stuff). If the PCs really don't want to go adventuring, Gundren will be pissed off and send the shipment off with just some dwarven guards--who will, of course, be taken by the drow and tortured for information; Gundren will blame them, and tell them to go rescue the dwarves. If they do, they'll find some drow torturing the survivors and sacrificing the others to Ghaunadaur.

Eventually, if the group just hides, the drow will come up through the mine itself and attempt to take it again through main force, rather than subterfuge (well, as unsubtle as drow can get, anyway).

Through the playtesting I've done in planning my campaign, unless you really are crazy with the custom magic items, it doesn't unbalance anything, it just becomes a caricature of a game at that point (in the playtesting, I had my wife make an entire party with an unlimited budget and had her fight Tiamat; it was hilarious how little effect magic items made against her; the unlimited budget--no custom stuff, of course--made the fight last a lot longer, but eventually she ran out of charges for her items, and the fight began in earnest; she barely won after three out of five party members dropped--one insta-killed). The magic items really favor the careful and considerate users, rather than the spammers--exactly as it should, and as described in the FR novels.

 

[soulcatcher78]

Good to know. With the need to attune most powerful items and a limit of 3 per PC the accumulation of items shouldn't be the issue it's been in previous editions. If they are unable to flood the market with common items then it won't cause an economic imbalance in the campaign.

 

[Inchoroi]

Good to know. With the need to attune most powerful items and a limit of 3 per PC the accumulation of items shouldn't be the issue it's been in previous editions. If they are unable to flood the market with common items then it won't cause an economic imbalance in the campaign.

Gundren's plan is to use the Forge of Spells as both a way to make better mining equipment as well as something he can rent out. Magic items will be by commission, for the most part, simply because its so hard to find a decent buyer for magic items (I'm rolling Gundren as very shrewd when it comes to money). He's also going to fortify the mine against anyone else; he knows the legends of how the cave was taken before, and doesn't plan on having that happen again--Phandalin will also be receiving some love, probably in the form of a wall around the city, and the travelers and merchants that will eventually come to Phandalin because of the mine and it's Forge of Spells will boost Phandalin upwards by it's bootstraps.

Assuming, of course, the PCs manage to keep the first shipment safe. If that gets taken, it'll be a blow to Gundren's reputation, and the jackals may begin to circle.

Oh, I also don't allow the PCs to create legendary items at all. Those are found-items only, so there is that balance to it. They're Legendary for a reason, after all.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Are there any famous lost dwarven mines, suitable for a tomb of a powerful and famous dwarf, besides Wave Echo Cave? I enjoy linking the story to existing cities, if not necessarily people.

Gauntlygrym is the obvious choice, but the Hill of Lost Souls features the tomb of Thelarn "Swifthammer" and is a bit distant from the Savage Frontier, allowing for some travel.

The suggestion to do A1-4 as a prelude is something that I'd considered for my own campaign (I've run GDQ1-7 in the Realms and would do it again), but I feel like those adventures are a bit too tournament-focused and not very Realms-ish. I think those levels (4-8) are great gameplay that could be put to good use with an open format exploration-style game. I would look at using an organization with an establish FR presence like the Zhentarim instead of the Slavelords and then work backward from the intro to GDQ1-7. The PCs can have some run-ins with the Zhents in the North as the hidden force behind orc raids and the monsters lurking in lost dwarven tombs (perhaps the Black Network is looking for dwarf-crafted "firepower" or to eke out a string of secure underground bases in the North) and then come to grips with them in the deserts of Anauroch, the Far Hills near Darkhold, or even further south (the Zhents are everywhere after all). Perhaps the larger plot focuses on foiling a major threat like a trade alliance between the Zhents and the Arcane Brotherhood and a related program of conquest, or a plot to assassinate several major leaders of the Lords' Alliance or Silver Marches (depending on the timeframe), and so on. The climax could involve the destruction of a Zhent base, assassination of a major leader, or even a pitched battle with real armies on both sides (the Purple Dragons, the Lords' Alliance, and so on).