Odysseus
Explorer
I'm a few Adventures into Zeitgeist now. So I'll use the post for so game play feed back. Spoilers included.
Its a four player party, we're playing 4E. But I'll make the post as system neutral as possible.
Axis Island.
Nice 1st level adventure.
We went through it very quickly though. As a houserule for the campaign I used knowledge religion checks as knowledge technology. As there is no real need for religion checks. And this was a big help with saving the Coaltongue.
If I ran the adventure again, I would add some Police work type encounters/challenges. To introduce the players , to the activities(interrogation, arresting suspects,crime scene analysis, etc)they need to become proficient with to act as Cops. The most common cry at the game table so far is "Wait were cops, we can't do that!" I believe the campaign works better if the characters are members of the RHC(cops), however to the typical DnD players its a little different, and needs some adjustment. In the 4th adventure there is a section on being a spy. It would of been good to hade had a section on being a cop.
The infiltration of Axis island fort went pretty well, and the finale went alot better than a thought it would. I was concerned that the party wouldn't know how to react to such a high level monster. But they got through it. If I ran the adventure again. I wouldn't have the infiltrators die in the sea Tunnel, or not all of them. I'd kill them one by one. Dying in the sea tunnel seemed very predictable to the players. And some of the combat inside the fort could of been a lot harder if the infiltration hadn't gone well. so an extra character could of helped.
Dying Skyseer.
Best investigation adventure I've ever Dm'd. And one of the best adventures period.
The party manged investigate in such an way , that whenever they got near a combat. They would go follow another clue. Leading to a very long stretch without any combat. However the players loved it. And it worked out well in the end.
The skyseer Nevard was the only difficult point. The players wanted to clap him in irons, and drag him off to jail. For hanging around with bandits, terrorists. I used it as an opportunity to show the party things arn't what they seem. And plant the seed of conspiracy. However I could see the whole adventure going off course if that had gone wrong.
We had one character die with the encounter with the arsonists. which was defiantly difficult after the combat on cauldron hill. And the witchoil lab encounters need to be a little stronger. It felt a little bit easy,a bit of a let down for the final fight, especial after the fight with the mayor.
Overall an absolutely excellent adventure.
Digging for lies
After the dying skyseer this was a little bit of a let down. Adventure two was very organic, while adventure three I had trouble keeping the players on track for the first two acts. If I rerun the adventure , I would try and try and give the Obscurati a better action plan. Their behavior seemed a little static. And I'd have Rock Rackus trying to find adventures at the fair to go with him to the Ziggurat. That wouldn't of happened, because he got arrested. But would of helped point the PC in the right direction. Overall still a decent adventure.
Always on Time
Overall an excellent adventure. The train trip had a very good murder on the orient express feel to it. The players had some difficulty investigating while on the train. And used the overnight stops to try and find out what was going on. If a re ran it. A think I would give an extra night stop. There was complete panic when Luc got on board. The players all though he would see through their disguises. And the lantern scene could of been set up better. The idea of a train ride in purgatory, jumping from car to car, to destroy a magic lantern should of been epic. And didn't turn out that way. Part of the problem was my DMing. And if a Re ran it. I'd make a great effort to set it up as an Epic scene. I ran the extra adventure Crypt of the Heretics, which was fun. The party managed to go through it in a strange order. And with a do over I'd try and have them meet giovanni earlier instead of almost last.
Cauldron Born
This was an Ok adventure. Players had a terrible time with it. Mostly with the problems pointed out in the adventure, and some bad skill checks. And the 2nd PC death of the campaign against the Borne prototypes.
If I re run it, I would have the B team higher level, and let the party mix and match characters as they see fit.
Mouth of a Madman
This adventure didn't go well.
Start was ok. Players liked the courtroom stuff with Glaucia Evora. And i wish as was able to make it a bit longer. Once we got to Brakken things went wrong. The players took an immediate dislike to Bruse. One PC actively began a plot to overthrow him. The party didn't like the maze or the railroad challenge. They didn't think it was necessary, and they were expecting the OB to cheat and wanted to kill them , and to hell with the consequences. I rushed thru the railroad challenge and used their dislike for Bruse to plan a coup with Cavello.
So when they returned to court they were already going to assassinate Bruse when Pemberton tries.
This was mentioned in the avoid the railroad section. I think it would of been better if there were some alternatives sketched out. In a rerun I would try and do some sort of political intrigue section with Cavello ,Bruse and the OB, rather than what was written.
The final in the volcano worked out well. Although I switched the entrance to the pump room. So the PC have to cross the room to get out.
Schism
Great adventure, and written well.
The party initially wanted to go after Pemberton, and have started to get paranoid about spies in the RHC. And I used Delft to direct the through the adventure.
The docks scene went fairly well, and left the party with lots of questions about the Fey, Beshela and Copperhat.
Tracking leone was a good session. Although as laid out it tended towards alot of dice rolls rather than role play. I much prefer my skill scenes to be more along the format of if the make the skill check they are successful. And if they don't make the check then I give them something. Not they have to make a dice roll for me to give them info. I had great fun with El ExtraÑo, who was an excellent npc.
The players had great fun planning to stop leones train. The module detailed the train station , but the was nothing to deal with stopping the train away from the station.
The glacial rift went very quickly. partially because of player tactic, and partial because of the party make up, they can avoid alot of minor problems . The players found the lich a big let down. If I re run it, I'll probably have them fight the Lich.
The Ob palace went well, the players enjoyed it. Although it was a difficult to run. We had an entire session without any combat and only a few skill checks. And then the following session was almost all combat. The party tried to avoid any contest with their hosts. No one considered joining the OB. They all thought the Ob are a bunch of wackadoddles. In a rerun I would of tried to take for time over the murders. The idea of a who dun it murder mystery during a meeting of bad guys, while being infiltrated by cops possessing bad guys bodies. With different guys also infiltrating the meeting was a great idea. The players found all the proposals a little crazy.
Diaspora
Overall good adventure, with some excellent moments but difficult to DM.
The search through the jungles was thoroughly enjoyed. And a good change of pace. When it came to exploring Kasvarina memories , the party weren't keen of doing it. There thoughts were they might restore the memories of an OB leader, and end up with another enemy. And they wee put off teleporting , by the possible breakdown in teleporting. So they didn't want to visit any other places. I managed to muddle through and eventually they decided to go to Methia. But it was a difficult section And the tower scene was an excellent session. I think I could of handled the ghosts on the assent better.
The scene ended with the party deciding to leave after 9 rounds. With Borne trying to demolish the tower. Borne also killed Nicodemus. Kasvarina went mad and attacked the party, and Grappa fell off the tower. Although it ended being an excellent session, it felt difficult to run trying to balance everything going on.
Also at this stage of the campaign. The party have the abilities to bypass alot of stuff if they think it not relevant. Which also means they can bypass relevant sections by mistake.
Last starry sky
Good adventure from start to finish. Compared to the other muder investigations , the one in act one was easier. But still enjoyable.The end of act one felt a little railroaded. Acts two and three were good solid adventures.
Godmind and Gorged on Ruins
I'll do these together because I had to prep them out of order, as the party seemed hellbent on doing them backwards. And then ended up doing them in order.
They had a great time with the Titans. I think more information about Titans motives would of helped.
The new conspiracy was ok, as was Shackled thoughts and the Drakr army of doom.
The party weren't interested in the trials, and just broke into the vault.
Grinding gears and Avatar
I'll do these two together as the players pretty much did them back to front.
The climax although good, wasn't as cinematic as some of the other adventures. This was because at this stage the party is doing things there way. But still enjoyable.
Its a four player party, we're playing 4E. But I'll make the post as system neutral as possible.
Axis Island.
Nice 1st level adventure.
We went through it very quickly though. As a houserule for the campaign I used knowledge religion checks as knowledge technology. As there is no real need for religion checks. And this was a big help with saving the Coaltongue.
If I ran the adventure again, I would add some Police work type encounters/challenges. To introduce the players , to the activities(interrogation, arresting suspects,crime scene analysis, etc)they need to become proficient with to act as Cops. The most common cry at the game table so far is "Wait were cops, we can't do that!" I believe the campaign works better if the characters are members of the RHC(cops), however to the typical DnD players its a little different, and needs some adjustment. In the 4th adventure there is a section on being a spy. It would of been good to hade had a section on being a cop.
The infiltration of Axis island fort went pretty well, and the finale went alot better than a thought it would. I was concerned that the party wouldn't know how to react to such a high level monster. But they got through it. If I ran the adventure again. I wouldn't have the infiltrators die in the sea Tunnel, or not all of them. I'd kill them one by one. Dying in the sea tunnel seemed very predictable to the players. And some of the combat inside the fort could of been a lot harder if the infiltration hadn't gone well. so an extra character could of helped.
Dying Skyseer.
Best investigation adventure I've ever Dm'd. And one of the best adventures period.
The party manged investigate in such an way , that whenever they got near a combat. They would go follow another clue. Leading to a very long stretch without any combat. However the players loved it. And it worked out well in the end.
The skyseer Nevard was the only difficult point. The players wanted to clap him in irons, and drag him off to jail. For hanging around with bandits, terrorists. I used it as an opportunity to show the party things arn't what they seem. And plant the seed of conspiracy. However I could see the whole adventure going off course if that had gone wrong.
We had one character die with the encounter with the arsonists. which was defiantly difficult after the combat on cauldron hill. And the witchoil lab encounters need to be a little stronger. It felt a little bit easy,a bit of a let down for the final fight, especial after the fight with the mayor.
Overall an absolutely excellent adventure.
Digging for lies
After the dying skyseer this was a little bit of a let down. Adventure two was very organic, while adventure three I had trouble keeping the players on track for the first two acts. If I rerun the adventure , I would try and try and give the Obscurati a better action plan. Their behavior seemed a little static. And I'd have Rock Rackus trying to find adventures at the fair to go with him to the Ziggurat. That wouldn't of happened, because he got arrested. But would of helped point the PC in the right direction. Overall still a decent adventure.
Always on Time
Overall an excellent adventure. The train trip had a very good murder on the orient express feel to it. The players had some difficulty investigating while on the train. And used the overnight stops to try and find out what was going on. If a re ran it. A think I would give an extra night stop. There was complete panic when Luc got on board. The players all though he would see through their disguises. And the lantern scene could of been set up better. The idea of a train ride in purgatory, jumping from car to car, to destroy a magic lantern should of been epic. And didn't turn out that way. Part of the problem was my DMing. And if a Re ran it. I'd make a great effort to set it up as an Epic scene. I ran the extra adventure Crypt of the Heretics, which was fun. The party managed to go through it in a strange order. And with a do over I'd try and have them meet giovanni earlier instead of almost last.
Cauldron Born
This was an Ok adventure. Players had a terrible time with it. Mostly with the problems pointed out in the adventure, and some bad skill checks. And the 2nd PC death of the campaign against the Borne prototypes.
If I re run it, I would have the B team higher level, and let the party mix and match characters as they see fit.
Mouth of a Madman
This adventure didn't go well.
Start was ok. Players liked the courtroom stuff with Glaucia Evora. And i wish as was able to make it a bit longer. Once we got to Brakken things went wrong. The players took an immediate dislike to Bruse. One PC actively began a plot to overthrow him. The party didn't like the maze or the railroad challenge. They didn't think it was necessary, and they were expecting the OB to cheat and wanted to kill them , and to hell with the consequences. I rushed thru the railroad challenge and used their dislike for Bruse to plan a coup with Cavello.
So when they returned to court they were already going to assassinate Bruse when Pemberton tries.
This was mentioned in the avoid the railroad section. I think it would of been better if there were some alternatives sketched out. In a rerun I would try and do some sort of political intrigue section with Cavello ,Bruse and the OB, rather than what was written.
The final in the volcano worked out well. Although I switched the entrance to the pump room. So the PC have to cross the room to get out.
Schism
Great adventure, and written well.
The party initially wanted to go after Pemberton, and have started to get paranoid about spies in the RHC. And I used Delft to direct the through the adventure.
The docks scene went fairly well, and left the party with lots of questions about the Fey, Beshela and Copperhat.
Tracking leone was a good session. Although as laid out it tended towards alot of dice rolls rather than role play. I much prefer my skill scenes to be more along the format of if the make the skill check they are successful. And if they don't make the check then I give them something. Not they have to make a dice roll for me to give them info. I had great fun with El ExtraÑo, who was an excellent npc.
The players had great fun planning to stop leones train. The module detailed the train station , but the was nothing to deal with stopping the train away from the station.
The glacial rift went very quickly. partially because of player tactic, and partial because of the party make up, they can avoid alot of minor problems . The players found the lich a big let down. If I re run it, I'll probably have them fight the Lich.
The Ob palace went well, the players enjoyed it. Although it was a difficult to run. We had an entire session without any combat and only a few skill checks. And then the following session was almost all combat. The party tried to avoid any contest with their hosts. No one considered joining the OB. They all thought the Ob are a bunch of wackadoddles. In a rerun I would of tried to take for time over the murders. The idea of a who dun it murder mystery during a meeting of bad guys, while being infiltrated by cops possessing bad guys bodies. With different guys also infiltrating the meeting was a great idea. The players found all the proposals a little crazy.
Diaspora
Overall good adventure, with some excellent moments but difficult to DM.
The search through the jungles was thoroughly enjoyed. And a good change of pace. When it came to exploring Kasvarina memories , the party weren't keen of doing it. There thoughts were they might restore the memories of an OB leader, and end up with another enemy. And they wee put off teleporting , by the possible breakdown in teleporting. So they didn't want to visit any other places. I managed to muddle through and eventually they decided to go to Methia. But it was a difficult section And the tower scene was an excellent session. I think I could of handled the ghosts on the assent better.
The scene ended with the party deciding to leave after 9 rounds. With Borne trying to demolish the tower. Borne also killed Nicodemus. Kasvarina went mad and attacked the party, and Grappa fell off the tower. Although it ended being an excellent session, it felt difficult to run trying to balance everything going on.
Also at this stage of the campaign. The party have the abilities to bypass alot of stuff if they think it not relevant. Which also means they can bypass relevant sections by mistake.
Last starry sky
Good adventure from start to finish. Compared to the other muder investigations , the one in act one was easier. But still enjoyable.The end of act one felt a little railroaded. Acts two and three were good solid adventures.
Godmind and Gorged on Ruins
I'll do these together because I had to prep them out of order, as the party seemed hellbent on doing them backwards. And then ended up doing them in order.
They had a great time with the Titans. I think more information about Titans motives would of helped.
The new conspiracy was ok, as was Shackled thoughts and the Drakr army of doom.
The party weren't interested in the trials, and just broke into the vault.
Grinding gears and Avatar
I'll do these two together as the players pretty much did them back to front.
The climax although good, wasn't as cinematic as some of the other adventures. This was because at this stage the party is doing things there way. But still enjoyable.
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