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<blockquote data-quote="sim-h" data-source="post: 7816445" data-attributes="member: 6813788">To make the whole first chapter less of an obvious railroad of strange coincidence I would probably have the Dark Secret be known by Zodge, and have him blackmail the characters into accepting his mission (no 200gp for them...)Furthermore, the fact he drops them a single lead that 100% pays off (rather than them having real freedom of options in the investigation) is irritating to me. Doubly so when the coincidence of pirates Tarina robbed YEARS earlier turning up THAT DAY is added in.I'm thinking Zodge will say Tarina has offered him information but wants protection, since she knows the pirates are coming. Zodge tells the PCs to be her protection and then act on the info she gives. He's too busy at the gate to go himself and wait with her.To me that fixes all the suspension of disbelief issues. I'm frankly disappointed by the contrived threads between those first couple of encounters as written - but easily fixed![edit] I'd also add some spiel from Zodge about uncovering who is bankrolling the cultists - to provide stronger hooks to the Low Lantern. Maybe he even offers a reward, for that extra info (since I'll be removing the reward from the initial mission)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="sim-h, post: 7816445, member: 6813788"] To make the whole first chapter less of an obvious railroad of strange coincidence I would probably have the Dark Secret be known by Zodge, and have him blackmail the characters into accepting his mission (no 200gp for them...) Furthermore, the fact he drops them a single lead that 100% pays off (rather than them having real freedom of options in the investigation) is irritating to me. Doubly so when the coincidence of pirates Tarina robbed YEARS earlier turning up THAT DAY is added in. I'm thinking Zodge will say Tarina has offered him information but wants protection, since she knows the pirates are coming. Zodge tells the PCs to be her protection and then act on the info she gives. He's too busy at the gate to go himself and wait with her. To me that fixes all the suspension of disbelief issues. I'm frankly disappointed by the contrived threads between those first couple of encounters as written - but easily fixed! [edit] I'd also add some spiel from Zodge about uncovering who is bankrolling the cultists - to provide stronger hooks to the Low Lantern. Maybe he even offers a reward, for that extra info (since I'll be removing the reward from the initial mission) [/QUOTE]

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