D&D 5E Murder in Baldur's Gate - how did it go?

[CapnZapp]

use sblock

It's not that easy - in the browser, sblock but not spoiler works; in the app spoiler but not sblock works.

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[Shiroiken]

When I ran MiBG, I had to cut it short and shotgun the party through the final few chapters just to get it done in the allotted 16 weeks (it was assumed to only take 10). This adventure is an excellent starting point for a campaign based in Baldur's Gate, but not really as a side plot. If you want to use MiBG, I'd suggest just reading the city guide, and maybe doing a single session adventure there.

One option that can be a bit interesting, but might distract the group from the AP, is to have the party arrive mid-adventure. Most events are already in motion that the party has nothing to do with, but as the city descends into chaos, the characters can get caught up in some of the events (the riot comes to mind). Carefully done, this could be only a session or two, but if you get the players too focused on the city, they are less incentivized to continue the AP.

 

[Charles Rampant]

Thanks so much for the commentary, everyone. It sounds like my worry was correct -that MiBG is just a bit too much, too long, for use as a sidequest.

It's not that easy - in the browser, sblock but not spoiler works; in the app spoiler but not sblock works.

The app has some weird side effects. I noticed when doing my constant Volo's Guide updates that it doesn't show Bold and Italics correctly. It also renames the XP and Laugh buttons, which I find makes me want to use them less. Nice to use on the tablet, but definitely not a replacement for the website.

When I ran MiBG, I had to cut it short and shotgun the party through the final few chapters just to get it done in the allotted 16 weeks (it was assumed to only take 10). This adventure is an excellent starting point for a campaign based in Baldur's Gate, but not really as a side plot. If you want to use MiBG, I'd suggest just reading the city guide, and maybe doing a single session adventure there.

I think that this is what I'll do. The city guide is amazing, and if I carefully avoid bringing any of the big three into things too much while the players are there, and keep Duke Abdel alive in the background, I can always run the adventure for the group at a later point. It shouldn't be too hard to take enough plot hooks and locations from the city guide to fill a single session.

When we reached the Council of Waterdeep, one of our new-joined members met with the Baldur's Gate delegate and told him that most of the persons who so damaged his city were dead (character-wise, this was true), and the survivors were being sent on suicide missions against the Cult of the Dragon (not true at that time but may be true in the future) in order to redeem their honor.

That's pretty hilarious. Out of interest, do you think that your group failed the adventure because it was inserted into Tyranny of Dragons, or was it just generic party disagreements?

I wanted to give the PCs something to do while they waited in Baldur's Gate as well, so I incorporated a few of the shorter AL adventures from the Tyranny of Dragons season. I took Dues for the Dead and placed it in the main cemetery outside of town. I also used The Scroll Thief to great effect. To finish off, I had Mondath attempt to ambush the PCs.

Interesting. I find it very hard to parse the DDAL adventures on the DMsguild, so I tend to just ignore them. I'll take a look - the game is tomorrow, so some last-minute prewritten stuff might help!

 

[pukunui]

Dues for the Dead is a simple dungeon crawl with a Red Wizard as one of the main bad guys. My intention was to have this be Azbara Jos, but I'm not sure that it ever really clicked for my players. I also used one of the mini-adventures from the first AL mod, involving a trapped crypt with the remains of a necromancer's lair (complete with dracolich notes) beneath it. I attempted to use this as foreshadowing that not all of the cultists are on-board with the new direction. I think I loosely tied in the Scroll Thief with this idea too (the thief was working for the cult, attempting to find info that would help locate the crypt).

If you want to know more, check out my recaps at A Hoard to Remember.

 

[Eltab]

use sblock

Fixed. Thank you !

 

[Eltab]

Out of interest, do you think that your group failed the adventure because it was inserted into Tyranny of Dragons, or was it just generic party disagreements?

In no particular order,
- Generic party disagreement
- Some unfamiliarity with each other (I had just joined the play group, attendance varied from week to week)
- DM was a previous player trying out this adventure to see how DMing went (MiBG is NOT an 'intro' adventure)
- Long-term DM played a temp-character whose goal was to promote chaos in city
- 'What the adventurers are supposed to do' is not clearly spelled out in adventure
- The character who serves as Advisor To The Adventurers has only advice, not resources, to offer
- A couple of scenarios can come down to a single critical Skill Roll; fail it and you are permanently hosed

Several of us finally realized that the Cult plotline meant we would be leaving town shortly, so it became less important - unimportant in practice - to preserve the town in good shape.

 

[Eltab]

my party is currently chilling in Elturgard, about to get the boat to Baldur's Gate

If it's not too late, try some or all of these:
- pick a scenario from Chapter 4 and use it on the boat trip.
- the PCs see evidence of Cult activity while on the boat (raided village?). This can be just a description, or a chance to have a night-long side adventure
- Cult tries to attack the PCs' boat because 'every copper helps', not because the PCs are on it - SURPRISE to both sides!
- Introduce a member of the Classic Cult (a local Thieves Guild squad w/ an undead 'tank/muscle') who thinks the Tiamat Cult is crazy. This is foreshadowing for later.

 

[CapnZapp]

use sblock

Again, this doesn't help the half of the readership on mobile!

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[FitzTheRuke]

If I were you, and I wanted to cram at least part of MiBG into HotDQ, I would forget about Bhaal, and make it Dragon Cultists infect the guy with an evil Dragon spirit, that then transfers to someone else, and the party has to track down who.

Use all the factions, but don't worry so much about the party joining one, so much as allying with one. Make the Dragon Spirit spread greed, more than murder.

And then rush through it. Just use the best of the story beats. You have another campaign to run, after all.



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[CapnZapp]

Okay, spoiler warning ⚠ since it feels like reading about an entirely different scenario... I realize I need to speak openly and directly here.

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The scenario *isn't* about who dunnit!?

The campaign starts with a public murder, but then almost immediately drops that investigation, to instead expect the characters to do errands to curry favor with local potentiates.

It's suitable as an almost Warhammeresque city campaign where the characters are local nobodies that dream of climbing the social ladder(s).

Outsiders, especially outsider heroes, and *especially* outsider heroes on missions of their own must be among the *least* suitable characters...?

Either I'm missing something here, or the thread is getting recommendations from people that haven't familiarized themselves fully with the material and are essentially just guessing...


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