Mongoose's "The Drow War I - The Gathering Storm"
- Thread starter Whizbang Dustyboots
- Start date
catsclaw227
First Post
Hey Cavalorn --
I'm looking forward to the next installment, is October still an accurate timeframe? Also, any word on whether some of the maps will be improved with a web enhancement for the first book?
Catsclaw
I'm looking forward to the next installment, is October still an accurate timeframe? Also, any word on whether some of the maps will be improved with a web enhancement for the first book?
Catsclaw
catsclaw227 said:
Not for me to say, I'm afraid - I'm only involved in the writing, not the production. I can't think of anything that would delay it, though.
Again, I'm just a writer, not an art director.
The Drow War was a freelance project. If you get in touch with Mongoose Publishing at their homepage, they can tell you more than I can.
catsclaw227
First Post
Either way.... HATS OFF! I really dig it, and my party is having a blast.
Oh, cavalorn... can you read this spoiler?
[sblock]
I haved a few questions.... When they get to Saragost (ch. 3) there aren't many scripted encounters, the mounted rider, the ambush attempt and then warning the council. Yet there are a TON of locations, NPCs etc, as well as some encounter opportunities. During playtesting, how much did the players generally to do before going off to the lost villages, and what did they do upon return? I have't read that far ahead, except for skimming, so many of my questions may be answered later.[/sblock]
Oh, cavalorn... can you read this spoiler?
[sblock]
I haved a few questions.... When they get to Saragost (ch. 3) there aren't many scripted encounters, the mounted rider, the ambush attempt and then warning the council. Yet there are a TON of locations, NPCs etc, as well as some encounter opportunities. During playtesting, how much did the players generally to do before going off to the lost villages, and what did they do upon return? I have't read that far ahead, except for skimming, so many of my questions may be answered later.[/sblock]
Thanks.
As for your question...
[sblock]
I've not had a full playtest report about what people did where - the playtesting isn't done by me, but by groups of dedicated testers. (I spend my time writing the books, so I don't get to test them too.) However, the Saragost section is deliberately overstuffed. I'd be surprised if anyone got to do all of the content in the city before the Chthonic Alliance were at the gates!
What I was aiming for was maximum freedom of choice for the players and GM, with plenty of opportunities to make up experience. Don't stick with the ten day limit if you don't want to - make it twelve or fourteen. You can always justify delays by saying that the northern villages slowed the army's progress, or that they took more time to advance because the island had obviously been forewarned.
Like starfighters in Babylon 5, the army moves 'at the speed of plot'. Narratively, the function of the army's arrival is to draw a line under the previous adventuring and move the story to the next stage. It's there to add urgency and keep the players moving, not to constrain the GM to a rigid timeline.[/sblock]
As for your question...
[sblock]
I've not had a full playtest report about what people did where - the playtesting isn't done by me, but by groups of dedicated testers. (I spend my time writing the books, so I don't get to test them too.) However, the Saragost section is deliberately overstuffed. I'd be surprised if anyone got to do all of the content in the city before the Chthonic Alliance were at the gates!
What I was aiming for was maximum freedom of choice for the players and GM, with plenty of opportunities to make up experience. Don't stick with the ten day limit if you don't want to - make it twelve or fourteen. You can always justify delays by saying that the northern villages slowed the army's progress, or that they took more time to advance because the island had obviously been forewarned.
Like starfighters in Babylon 5, the army moves 'at the speed of plot'. Narratively, the function of the army's arrival is to draw a line under the previous adventuring and move the story to the next stage. It's there to add urgency and keep the players moving, not to constrain the GM to a rigid timeline.[/sblock]
catsclaw227
First Post
Thanks... This is what I figured, and your text pretty much spells this out, but I quess I wanted some real world experience about how other groups did this. I imagine that in the world of adventure writing, "it all sounds good on paper, but in reality...." happens quite a bit -- thus playtesting.
One last comment...
[sblock]
I see that some of the encounters will be overpowered for my group, since I am basically doing the 1 level per chapter method of XP, with some slight modifications, despite the fact that my party has grown to 6 players, and XP and encounters need a bit of adjusting.
That in mind, though, the encounter with the Drow conspiritors headquartered on the ship in Saragost may be too much for them, so they may have to approach them later, but I will use that group to hound, tail, track, and harass them while their playing Paul Revere with the lost cities.
How do you see the players getting thrown in the Wharf Gaol
[/sblock]
Thanks!
Catsclaw
One last comment...
[sblock]
I see that some of the encounters will be overpowered for my group, since I am basically doing the 1 level per chapter method of XP, with some slight modifications, despite the fact that my party has grown to 6 players, and XP and encounters need a bit of adjusting.
That in mind, though, the encounter with the Drow conspiritors headquartered on the ship in Saragost may be too much for them, so they may have to approach them later, but I will use that group to hound, tail, track, and harass them while their playing Paul Revere with the lost cities.
How do you see the players getting thrown in the Wharf Gaol
[/sblock]
Thanks!
Catsclaw
catsclaw227 said:
Absolutely. That's why playtesters are the largely unsung heroes of the gaming industry. Mark Gedak and his team did the majority of the Drow War playtesting, and they were VERY thorough.
Your last comment...
[sblock]
Saragost should be manageable for your crew if they are careful. One thing I wanted to avoid at the Saragost stage was an artificially constrained level cap for the NPCs, friendly and hostile alike. That would have strained credibility too much. So, the three Drow conspirators are high level - they have to be, because they're responsible for the whole plot within Saragost, and that calls for tough characters. They are presented for the sake of completeness, not because they are a balanced encounter.
The point is that at this stage, the Players aren't powerful enough to take on the powers pulling the strings. They can strike against their minions (such as the traitor captain and the shadow agents in the city) but the bad guys are truly bad. However, it wouldn't have been fair just to say 'these are the bad guys, don't let the PCs fight them' because for all I know, the Players' tactics are so ingenious that they CAN take down one or more of the conspirators. So, they were fully described and statted up.
The most likely event to land the Players in the wharf gaol is their fight with the traitor captain at the start of the Saragost section. Other than that, the Washerwoman's agents could easily frame them for a robbery, or there could be even more agents in the city guard (loyal to Crastic) who would arrest them for trumped-up charges. I didn't want to belabour the 'wrong side of the law' aspects, because the Crescent City chapter is so full of lawless goings-on, and too much of the same kind of thing gets old.
[/sblock]
catsclaw227
First Post
Is there anyway to contact Mark? Maybe I should try the Mongoose Boards.
[sblock]I kinda like the idea of having one of my PCs end up in jail a couple of times, in Saragost and in Crescent City. Imagine a Lawful Good multiple offender?[/sblock]
Hows the writing coming for Chapter 3? I imagine Epic is realy tough to write because the characters are so over the top and not much phases them. There must be some truly BAD bad guys.
[sblock]I kinda like the idea of having one of my PCs end up in jail a couple of times, in Saragost and in Crescent City. Imagine a Lawful Good multiple offender?[/sblock]
Hows the writing coming for Chapter 3? I imagine Epic is realy tough to write because the characters are so over the top and not much phases them. There must be some truly BAD bad guys.
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