Adventure Path Core Modules - WARNING - SPOILERS

[Jodo Kast]

I'm starting up a D&D game for a great group of players, and I'm contemplating running the adventure path modules. I would prefer to avoid modules and go 100% homebrew, but I just don't have the time to generate all the maps, encounters, treasures, locales, NPCs etc. necessary. I would, however, like to develop a good overarching plot to tie the modules together, something that gives it a personal imprint. I don't want to just say, okay, you finished the Sunless Citadel, now there's this place called the Forge of Fury out there.

The modules contain a bit of a thread involving the dragon Ashardalon and the vampire Gulthias. I don't have any modules beyond Nightfang Spire yet, so I don't know whether the thread continues beyond that module. Anyway, I'm curious as to what DMs out there have done to tie it all together, or what advice they might have for me.

My players:

Rune Linnormson, dwarf sorceror.
Grum, half-orc barbarian. Rune and Grum are partners and would-be bounty hunters.
Tothla, human cleric of Sheol, LN god of death (reviles the undead).
Brynja, human fighter.
Renaelus, elf rogue.

 

[mypetrock]

Plot line

Sunless Citadel - Players kill the Gulthias tree freeing Gulthias. Find a note that points them to Durgeddin's forge. Citadel was destroyed in Ashardalon's death throes.
Forge of Fury - Explore the forge of Durgeddin.
Speaker in Dreams - (?) didn't DM this one.
Standing Stone (?) didn't play
Heart of Nightfang Spire - Players face off against Gulthias in his tower, a former temple to Ashardalon.
Deep Horizons (?) didn't play
Lord of the Iron Fortress - Imperagon is the son of Ashardalon. The players run into Durgeddin as one of the smiths in the forge.
Bastion of Unborn Souls - Players face off against Ashardalon himself.

There was a thread on typing these together on the 3E BB (http://pub88.ezboard.com/f3ebb85430frm6.showMessage?topicID=1379.topic)

mypetrock

 

[Caliber]

In many ways I followed mypetrock. Here is how mine have gone so far:

Sunless Citadel - Destroying Gulthias Tree frees Gulthias. Note if found that eventually leads to the Forge of Fury.

Forge of Fury - A Vampire Spawn of Gulthias attacks party. Guilthias is hunting them.

Speaker in Dreams - Party Cleric begins receiving visions from her god about Gulthias's rise. Shes an Undead Hunter by the way, so letting big bad Vampire defintely wasn't good.

Standing Stone - Some background on Ashardalon and the Druid that killed him. Adventure ends with another vision. Party sets off north.

Heart of Nightfang Spire - Haven't played yet. Should be final confrontation between group and Gulthias. A few of the Vampire Spawns that have been hounding the party finished here.

Deep Horizons - Haven't played yet. Dwarves that have moved into the now cleared Forge of Fury will have found a passage leading into the Underdark.

Lord of the Iron Fortress - Haven't played yet. Durgeddin will be a smith. Haven't really thought too much more on this.

Bastion of Unborn Souls - Haven't played yet. Don't even own it.

In Deep Horizons I will probably start thowing some Draconic type opposition, to show that Ashardalon is not too happy with the party either. Perhaps bring Gulthias back at some point. The campaign itself is on hiatus so I dunno if these plots will ever be resolved.

On a side note, my group HATED Standing Stone. It just wasn't their kind of adventure. Its not really my kind either, but still, everyone pretty much agreed it was bad. If I had a choice (and time) I think I would defintely have tried to re-tool it. Just IMHO.

 

[rln]

How we did it

OK, we did a different thing, but with a couple of the core modules. As it was quite hard to get modules here in Sweden, our DM used several of the cliffhangers and free adventures on Wizards webpages. I'll try to outline them. Apart from WotC stuff,we used "Crucible of Freya" and "Wizards amulet" from Necromancer Games.

Plot elements from adventures in chronological order:

* Tornclaw Orc poisoning the villages water supply (Burning Plague, WotC Cliffhanger)

* Party ambushed by Tornclaw Orcs on their way back from the Sunless Citadel. Clues lead to Vortigern, who is hiding (Wizards Amulet from Necromancer Games).

* Party concocts a draught of the Gulthias tree and feeds it to Vortigerns mentor. (Sunless Citadel/Wizard amulet)

* Vortigern tracked down and returned to village. He was travelling with two Tornclaw orcs. (Wizards amulet)

* The draught turns Vortigerns mentor into a vampire. Party reads some history book and found out Gulthias was a vampire... (Oops!). Mentor disappears, thankful but thirsty on his newfound unlife... (Sunless Citadel)

* While trying to recover some diamonds stolen by Orcs, we come upon a large Orc village, empty save for women and children. All the warriors have left for the village... We manage to return before them. (Unknown?)

* Orc & Hextor Armies found encamped outside the village. Halfling does Coup-de-grace on an Ettin and uses Azun-Ghund to awake him and wreak havoc in the camp, evening the odds a little.

* Shandril (highest cleric in village) killed by Hextor assassins. The item that can resurrect her stolen by a gnomish infiltrator working for Hextor. Item retaken, Shandril resurrected. (Crucible of Freya by Necromancer games)

* Large battle with the orcs and Hextor minions. Short story: We Kick Their Butt Bigtime!

* The leaders escape and are tracked down to a keep which turns out to be Eralions keep (Wizards Amulet & Crucible of Freya).

* A Paladin (PC who is killed by a spectre) is turned to Hextors service (future villain to ensure the continuation of the plot )

This part of the campaign was so well done that it afterwards felt like it was one, big adventure. Of course, we had a few quests that weren't plot related (Unearthing the past, Ettins riddle) but they served to fortify the partys idea of the village and its inhabitants.

After this we switched DM forward and back a couple of times which makes plots harder to follow, but basically played Forge of fury as a standalone adventure, The Giants Skull and the goof old Doom of Daggerdale where only the latter had some of the Hextor Plot.

If you want to read an in-character story, browse a little at http://www.ludd.luth.se/~rln/dnd/.