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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6271238" data-attributes="member: 3192">I believe any NPC can be substituted with a current NPC in the game if there isn't contradicting material already in place. Can some of the adventure material change to fit the campaign? I'd hope so, but we need to keep enough so the adventure module doesn't fall apart either. Personally I don't use NPCs as exclusively quest-givers or write adventures as quests, but that design example helps to understand where you're coming from. To the questions:-The adventure is the dragon cult, so you're adding it if it isn't there already. Is the existence of the king playable and key to the module? I'm guessing not, but Ducarde needs something on his side to offer or threaten the PCs with. Authority and a king's worth of holdings work nicely.- If I put a "paladin" in a module which isn't the official paladin, then it's a different subclass. The name likely will be changed, but the class design doesn't have to be barred.- Dacarde as presented isn't much setting at all. He needs to be written with an eye towards game rules, but these aren't always known to the module writer as different games can use the module. - I don't care for boxed text and wouldn't use it for interacting with NPCs beyond an identifying catchphrase or something. Dacarde should have his character defined to cover the gameable interactions with in the module. That means rumors, beliefs, goals, relationships, personality, goods, and even combat stats. He'd eventually get them anyways if the players focus on Dacarde, but he needs only what he needs for the module to work.- Quest adventures with quest-giving NPCs sound like 2e adventures that are somewhat scripted and adventure paths today. If that is the adventure design, than only give what little is necessary for it.- What I would do for Ducarde is fill out all the stats like I mentioned above as well as put him in a position where the PCs are likely to seek him out or vice versa. Then if the PCs ignore the quest offering, they can still investigate and play with him.Scale of an adventure is going to determine a lot of a game system's level of playability. Going on a quest to fight dragons is commonly high level in D&D and high level design should be accounted for. Dealing with kings is also usually high level, but certainly can be done at low levels too because PCs in an aligned kingdom have greater access to high level threats than an opposed aligned dungeon. I mean, king and kingdom are titles, but the creature's stats, sufficiently large holdings, and accompanying forces as defined in the game rules are what ultimately rates the whole force as one level or another. Your dragon cult without a dragon might be low level. Your kingdom middle level. And your sly dragon watching behind the scenes high level. But I'd agree adventure design should focus on a tightly-knit group of elements within a particular span of levels or we threaten to lose what modules do well, maybe are, and end up with a list of tenuously connected elements of vast level difference. I.e. largely setting material.IME adventure paths don't require as much balancing for adventures because the range of engaging with different elements is limited to a prepared course. This encounter is combat. Another is a discourse. A third is a trap to be discovered and removed. In this case, only prepare what is needed and don't worry about scale and threat levels outside of the path.I find one of the main keys to creating a sandbox campaign is that the adventure modules are designed and selected before the campaign setting. When a kingdom is to be added into a sandbox then game modules can be used to inform its design. That means putting in high level adventures like Dacarde's. IME sandbox games should have all levels of game play available to the PCs at start, but the lowest level is in full detail at the campaign starting area as that is the level PCs begin at. Sandboxes grow as the campaign grows and including high level adventures early means they are leveled into along the way as well as being altered by low level play beforehand.</blockquote>

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