D&D General Greyhawk fans - How to fit older modules with Age of Worms

[haakon1]

I know @Snarf Zagyg and @grodog are local Greyhawk afficiandos, paging them for some ideas. Pretty sure @haakon1 runs a lot of Greyhawk and in the same edition as me.

I’m not worthy of company with Snarf and Grodog (or AdmundfortGeographer if that’s who I think it is)! I am honored.

I haven’t run AoW, but I’ve read and taken notes on it all. And I still have an active 3.5e Greyhawk campaign, over email.

What help are you looking for?

 

[pukunui]

Maybe even PDFs aren’t an option today?

paizo.com - Store / Books / Dungeon / Products / Issues / Age of Worms Adventure Path

So ahem the files, or eBay the issues?

Yeah I noticed a while back that Paizo had pulled a bunch of their Dungeon PDFs. No idea why. I think some are still purchasable but not all.

 

[earthsea_wizard]

I’m not worthy of company with Snarf and Grodog (or AdmundfortGeographer if that’s who I think it is)! I am honored.

I haven’t run AoW, but I’ve read and taken notes on it all. And I still have an active 3.5e Greyhawk campaign, over email.

What help are you looking for?

Well, basically I started with AoW but want to run a larger, longer GH campaign but I want to be able to use the wealth of AD&D stuff that was published for it, particularly the modules. But with AoW being so late in the timeline I'm afraid there may be major stuff in this adventure that will conflict in huge ways with early modules.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Well, basically I started with AoW but want to run a larger, longer GH campaign but I want to be able to use the wealth of AD&D stuff that was published for it, particularly the modules. But with AoW being so late in the timeline I'm afraid there may be major stuff in this adventure that will conflict in huge ways with early modules.

I'm mostly absent recently, but I thought I'd try and provide a little help. Of course, when I say little, I mean ... very little help. The problem is that I am a strong 576er (so to speak)- I respect the work that went into other products that are later in the timeline, and I love the enthusiasm that people have for them, but my Greyhawk always starts at 576 CY (folio, 1983 boxed set) and I am not nearly as familiar with the material that comes later. Age of Worms starts at 595 CY and incorporates changes that wouldn't exist in my campaigns.

With that said, there are two possibilities-

1. The older materials are very agnostic about the overall campaign world. It's really easy to put the "classic" TSR modules in different times- or even different campaign settings. With a few exceptions you can simply run them "as is" in the 595 CY+ timeline without too much worry.

2. Run Age of Worms in the past (576 CY). I am not going to lie- I did a brief look (yeah. wikipedia, not gonna lie to you) to get a feel for it. It will take a little bit of extra work, but not that much. That's what I would do, but I have my biases.

 

[earthsea_wizard]

2. Run Age of Worms in the past (576 CY). I am not going to lie- I did a brief look (yeah. wikipedia, not gonna lie to you) to get a feel for it. It will take a little bit of extra work, but not that much. That's what I would do, but I have my biases.

Thanks for the comment! Any running it in the past is what I would prefer to do, my players won't know the difference. I suppose I am just trying to get ahead of what changes that might mean on the grand scale before they bite me in the ass down the line! Thanks again.

Given your biases, do you run your campaign with AD&D?

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

My Greyhawk is so … personalized… that I’m so used to adapting something from all the things. Snarf is right that the older material is very unconcerned about worlds, much less a metaplot in Greyhawk to keep straight.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Thanks for the comment! Any running it in the past is what I would prefer to do, my players won't know the difference. I suppose I am just trying to get ahead of what changes that might mean on the grand scale before they bite me in the ass down the line! Thanks again.

Given your biases, do you run your campaign with AD&D?

Well, for D&D I run 5e and AD&D (1e, NO UNEARTHED ARCANA!!!!!).

That said, my AD&D has become so customized and streamlined in some ways it is not ... well, it's pretty far removed from what purists would demand. I'm only a purist when it comes to martinis. There is no such thing as a vodka martini, just a person lacking in essential qualities quaffing vodka.

 

[haakon1]

Well, basically I started with AoW but want to run a larger, longer GH campaign but I want to be able to use the wealth of AD&D stuff that was published for it, particularly the modules. But with AoW being so late in the timeline I'm afraid there may be major stuff in this adventure that will conflict in huge ways with early modules.

I would just slot in what you want to slot in, and slot out what you don't.

In and out is what I did when running the Shackled City Adventure Path, but SCAP has the advantages of a book form (nixed by WotC for later AP's) and a huge fan following with fan-written expansions.

For what it's worth, my ratings on the AoW adventures, by how much I'd like to run them some day. My actual reviews have more notes on content.

• "Encounter at Blackwall Keep" I think is really strong, though I would make my own map for the Keep and environs.
• "Library of Last Resort" is not typically what I like (it's high level) but I thought it's one of the best in Dungeon for high-level play.
• "A Gathering of Winds" is a great dungeon crawl.

Issue	Date	Pages	Title	Author	Level	Front Cover or Preview Text	Rating	Review	Setting
135	June 2006	52-86	Dawn of a New Age	Tito Leati	20 (20-21)	The Worm God Comes Alive! Age of Worms Endgame. Slay a God, save the world, claim the kingdom. Alhaster is in flames, choking on the poison mists of the Worngod's first tentative breaths on the Material Plane. The Age of Worms has begun, and unless the PCs can kill a god, this new age will be dark indeed.	2.5	Unlikely or plunder	Greyhawk: Bandit Kingdoms, Principality of Redhand, City of Alhaster.
134	May 2006	54-89	Into the Wormcrawl Fissure	James Jacobs	19 (19-21)	Showdown in the Wormcrawl Fissure. Slay the original Undead Dragon! If the PCs are to avert the Age of Worms, they must invade the heartland of Kyuss' power, the Wormcrawl Fissure, and destroy one of the world's most powerful dracoliches before the Wormgod awakens.	1	No	Greyhawk: Rift Canyon. Wormcrawl Fissure sub-canyons and dungeons.
133	Apr. 2006	52-86	Kings of the Rift	Greg A. Vaughan	18 (16-20)	Giants vs. Dragons: Who Will Be Caught in the Middle? Dragotha's phylactery lies somewhere in the ruined city of Kongen-Thulnir, a ruin now inhabited by tribes of giants and besieged by an army of dragons desparate to claim the phylactery for their undead master.	2.5	Unlikely or plunder	Greyhawk: Rift Canyon. Giants "city" of Kongen-Tulnir and its Citadel of the Weeping Dragons.
132	Mar. 2006	58-89	The Library of Last Resort	Nicolas Logue	16 (14-17)	Age of Worms: Vecna and the Isle of Secrets. Tilagos Island does not appear on most maps of the Nyr Dyv, yet the storm-shrouded island hides the greatest repository of knowledge of an ancient cabal of druids who defeated Kyuss 1,500 years ago.	4	Yes or plunder	Greyhawk: Alhaster to Tilagos Island in Nyr Dyv to Demiplane of Last Resort.
131	Feb. 2006	48-79	The Prince of Redhand	Richard Pett	15 (13-17)	Dire Secrets of the Ebon Triad Revealed! Prince Zeech, ruler of the town of Alhaster and lord of the domain of Redhand, is throwing a party. Bandits, slavers, pirates, and worse have been invited, along with a mysterious woman who holds the key to the coming apocalypse.	3	Maybe or plunder	Greyhawk: Bandit Kingdoms, Principality of Redhand, City of Alhaster.
130	Jan. 2006	58-89	The Spire of Long Shadows	Jesse Decker	13.	Meet the mad architect of the Age of Worms. Cewnturies ago, the Priest-King Kyuss sacrificed his nation to fuel his lust for divinity. He left legions of hungry dead in his wake, along with a ruined city that now hides the truth behind the coming apocalypse. A man became god in this worm-eaten city, and the secrets hidden there may hold the key to his defeat.	3	Maybe or plunder	Greyhawk: Magepoint & Tenser's ("Manzorian's") Castle on the coast of the Lake of Unkown Depths, then Spire of Long Shadows in Amedio Jungle near Cauldron.
129	Dec. 2005	38-66	A Gathering of Winds	Wolfgang Baur	11 (9-13)	Wolfgang Baur returns to The Whispering Cairn. When the PC's return to Diamond Lake to consult their friend Allustan, they find the town in shambles and Allustan missing. Locals tell tales of a terrible dragon's rampage through town. Unfortunately for the characters, the dragon is just the beginning.	4	Yes	Greyhawk: Domain of Greyhawk (though doesn't say Greyhawk), Diamond Lake village & Whispering Cairn nearby.
128	Nov. 2005	30-62	The Champion's Belt	Tito Leati	9 (7-11)	Worms & Woe in the Free City Arena. The Champion's Games are here! Gladiators from around the world converge in the Free City! Yet this year, something dire festers in the arena's foundations, for its director plots one of the final omens heralding the Age of Worms.	2.5	Unlikely or plunder	Greyhawk: Free City of Greyhawk. But dare not say "Greyhawk".
127	Oct. 2005	34-60	The Hall of Harsh Reflections	Jason Bulmahn	7 (5-10)	Age of Worms: Death and Dopplegangers. The Free City: a shining gem in the crown of cultured civilizations. Beneath the surface of this bustling metropolis is rot, festeringin the darkness, manipulating the lives of those unaware of its presence. Now a small adventuring band from out of town may be in over their heads. Their actions in Diamond Lake have attracted the wrath of one of the city's hidden masters. A gang of infiltrators and an enigmatic mastermind plot their destruction, and only tracing the rot to the root can stop the onslaught.	3	Maybe or plunder	Greyhawk: Free City of Greyhawk. But dare not say "Greyhawk".
126	Sept. 2005	16-40	Encounter at Blackwall Keep	Sean K. Reynolds	6 (3-8)	The Age of Worms is upon us! The wizard Allustan requests the party's company on a trip to Blackwall Keep, a militia outpost on the border of a treacherous swamp. But what of the green worms and unkillable zombies plaguing the region, and what fell secret is locked in the keep's forlorn basement?	4.5	Yes - strong yes or plunder	Greyhawk: Domain of Greyhawk.
125	Aug. 2005	15-47	The Three Faces of Evil	Mike Mearls	3 (1-5)	The Age of Worms Revealed! Embark upon the new Adventure Path. Clues discovered in Diamond Lake lead to the Dark Cathedral, a forelorn chamber hidden below a local mine. There the PC's battle the machinations of the Ebon Triad, a cult dedicated to the three vile gods. What does the Ebon Triad know about the Age of Worms, and why are they so desperate to get it started?	3.5	Maybe to Yes	Greyhawk: Domain of Greyhawk near Diamond Lake. Mine with evil cult.
124	July 2005	14-47	The Whispering Cairn	Erik Mona	1.	Introducing the Age of Worms Adventure Path. A handful of wold-be adventurers gathers to explore an ancient tomb, eager to trade their discoveries for a ticket to a better life. What they find within presages the advent of the Age of Worms, an era of darkness, decay, and writhing doom.	3.5	Maybe to Yes	Greyhawk: Domain of Greyhawk near Diamond Lake.

 

[haakon1]

AD&D (1e, NO UNEARTHED ARCANA!!!!!).

"The best - Stygian." - Subotai in "Conan: The Barbarian"

That said, I run 3.5e, with a lot of A&D (1e, no UA) content, and some 3e, PF1, 5e, and a dash of Harn.

 

[earthsea_wizard]

"The best - Stygian." - Subotai in "Conan: The Barbarian"

That said, I run 3.5e, with a lot of A&D (1e, no UA) content, and some 3e, PF1, 5e, and a dash of Harn.

I would love to see these house rules