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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Big Jake" data-source="post: 1634360" data-attributes="member: 19203">It won't hurt at all starting at 3rd level.  Some of the early encounters might become very easy, but the rest of them should still be challanging.  If you decide to begin at 1st level, it would be good to have them at 2nd level before they go under Cauldron... the extra hp will do them wonders.If you do start at 1st level, you could run a short "pre-adventure adventure."  You could easily use "The Devil Box" in Dungeon 109.  Change to city to Redgorge, have the PCs hired by Maavu Arlintal (described in The Demonskar Legacy) to escort a shipment to Redgorge for selling at the market during the events of "The Devil Box."Okay... I have a lot of suggestions.  I've run two groups through the series up to The Test of the Smoking Eye, and I've learned a few things.1.  Read through all of the adventures before you even start the Life's Bazaar.  Make a list of NPCs that the players should know about, but don't include class levels or alignments.  My list is broken down by authority figures, religeous leaders, merchants, and then other notable people (like the Stormblades).2. Introduce as many of the important NPCs as early in the adventure as possible.  After the first encounter with the street thugs (in Life's Bazaar), introduce "Private" Skylar Krewis (who is introduced as Sergeant Krewis in the Demonskar Legacy), and he can become thier point of contact with the town guard, and they can "cheer" for him when he gets his promotion (probably because of his involvement with your party members).By the end of Life's Bazaar, they should know Alek Tercival, the clerics of their patron churches, at least one of the tavern owners (you can guide them to always picking the same one), and most of the shop owners (especially Skie, if you let them sell magic items).Oh, and give them each a map of Cauldron, so the can see where they are living.  Eventually, give them the maps of the surrounding area and the new maps as they learn of new locations.  There is a map shop in the city, so you can even use that as a means to spread this information.3. Make sure your players understand the laws of the city... if they just go and kill someone in the streets, they should be arrested, and possibly put on trial.  Tax them at the begining of every other adventure (maybe 100 gp each).  The tax problem plays a big part of the adventure path, so you should make sure they feel the pain of the city dwellers.Do your best to have them interact with the NPCs.  Let them feel like it is their city.  Be open to their character's goals in the city.  I have a Ranger with the Vow of Poverty feat that is running a soup kitchen; a rogue that started a smuggling operation via the waterways under Cauldron (her cohort is an aquatic dwarf); a fighter/sorceror that runs his own alchemy shop; and a wizard that started a wizarding guild (No Sorcerors Allowed!)  Of course, thier endeavors often gain them more taxes to pay!!!4. Run side quests inbetween the major adventures.  You can choose pre-made ones or make some that will suit your players.  It could be a useful way of linking the story together without seeming overly "episodic."  You can show a better flow of time.  Instead of just "about a month later, you are contacted by Jenya," you can have them investigate a mysterious illness in the city, or have them do a little encounter in the forested areas outside of Cauldron.  I've used adventures from WotC website to throw in the inbetween.  You can run adventures similar to what they will encounter, or already encountered.  Maybe one of the bad guys escapes and comes back after a few months of preparation.These are just my initial suggestions on overall game play.  I'll post my other comments separately, as they will all be long.  And maybe a lot of others can use this information as well.</blockquote>

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