Planning to run Age of Worms AP - Anything I should know about before I start?

[Olaf the Stout]

After 3 years of play my group finally completed the Shackled City AP a week or so ago. I gave them a few different options and it looks like Age of Worms will be the next campaign we play.

In order to make this the best game possible I plan on taking my time to really prep beforehand. I'm going to read through all of the adventures and the Age of Worms Overload document.

For those that have played or run the campaign before are there any problems that need to be fixed?

Are there any points in the plot that are a bit disjointed and could be improved upon?

Do any of the main bad guys or NPC's need to be foreshadowed better in earlier adventures so that they don't seem to appear out of nowhere when the PC's finally encounter them?

Is there anything else that I should read up on or think about before we start the campaign?

Thanks to a lot of help from other DM's on Paizo's Shackled City board, I made a number of changes to the campaign that improved the game a whole heap. This included removing some of the minor bad guys, foreshadowing many of the NPC's better, adding in basically 2 new adventures, creating my own final adventure and changing the ending of the campaign considerably.

So, given that, I'm not afraid of putting a lot of work into the game to make it a better overall experience for my players. At the same time, if others have already gone before me and done the work, I'm not too proud to "borrow" heavily from it! :-D

Olaf the Stout

MODS: I wasn't sure if this thread should be in General or the D&D Legacy forum. Please move it if you think there is a more appropriate forum for it.

 

[Stalker0]

To the legacy forum with you post haste!

 

[the Jester]

The biggest problem is that rogues are 75% useless due to the high number of undead, which is a constant throughout the entire path.

Fix that and you have a thing of beauty. Ugly, worm-riddled, apocalypse-bringing beauty.

 

[TheFindus]

I am playing this AP in 4E (Eberron) at the moment.

I do not know if you plan to run it in 4E with DDI support as well. If you do, you would have to change the encounters of course, which, since it is 4E, is not so much of a problem.

What I find hardest about the individual adventures, though, is how to get the story to the players and the basic setup of what is going on. Sometimes, it does not make any sense to me and the story does not come across if you play the AP as written.

I give you one example (Spoiler Alert!).
In the third adventure, the PCs encounter lizardfolk that are influenced by a dragon. This is THE story of the adventure and leads to everything else in the campaign, since the main enemy, certain undead, are revealed truly for the first time. However, what exactly the very important relationship between the dragon and the lizardfolk tribe is, can only be revealed by a lizardfolk druid/shaman, which is most likely killed by the PCs in a regular encounter. So if you do not change that, the PCs will not know a lot about this very important story. Which is a shame, because the story is quite cool.

So, the most important advice I would give you is that you always have to think about what part of the story you want to tell the PCs at which point and how you will present it to them in the adventure. Be prepared that you have to heavily change the NPCs behaviour and how the PCs meet them in order to tell that story. Also, if you really do not want to loose the story, make sure the PCs can go to all the places where the story actually happens. Not always are the adventures designed in a way that the PCs actually have a chance to go there, unless you as the GM do something about it. Things like: if the king is dead, everybody will try to kill the PCs so they will not have time to go to that one really really important part of the "dungeon" where they can actually save everybody. So, you will have to change that, too, for the story to really work.

I can also say that using knowledge skills to the fullest and graciously has helped my group a lot.

Also, if you are playing this AP in 3e, sneaking will be problem, because the major opponents are undead. I played a rogue in 3e in this AP and special "Grave Strike" weapons were neccessary to make the charakter really work and not feel useless.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

The biggest problem is that rogues are 75% useless due to the high number of undead, which is a constant throughout the entire path.

Fix that and you have a thing of beauty. Ugly, worm-riddled, apocalypse-bringing beauty.

There is either a weapon crystal or a magical weapon enhancement (possibly the "Grave Strike" ability mentioned by TheFindus) that allows you to sneak attack undead. I will make sure that the Rogues in the party get access to these weapons so that they don't feel totally useless in combat.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Crothian]

There is I think a swarm in the first adventure that might have caused more TPKs then any encounter in and of the AP's. This is from reading around the new the most deadly of the AP's so might want to be on the lookout for encounters that are a little unfair.

Best of luck, I've heard great things about it but we didn't even get through the first adventure.

 

[Squire James]

Yeah most swarm encounters in a level 1 adventure go like this:

1. Does the wizard have any Burning Hands spells left? (Yes go to 3, No go to 2).
2. Does the party have any alchemists fire left? (Yes go to 3, No YOU LOSE).
3. Did the Burning Hands or alchemists fire kill it? (Yes YOU WIN, No go to 1).

 

[Rechan]

THere's also a feat that lets you use SA damage on undead (but I think it cuts a percentage down).

Be aware the adventure is a real grindfest.

Also, the author said that he wanted to marry the adventure to The Rod of Seven Parts, having the Rod be a weapon against Kyuss. You might want to look into working the Rod into the adventure somehow.

 

[Southern Oracle]

I ran "The Whispering Cairn, The Three Faces of Evil, Encounter At Blackwall Keep, The Hall of Harsh Reflections," and "The Champion's Belt" in 3.5E. Our group took a break when 4E came out, and now we're gearing up to return to the Age of Worms, but in 4E. I've already converted "A Gathering of Winds" and I'm working on "The Spire of Long Shadows."

The number one complaint through all of the 3.5E adventures was how useless the rogue was because of the undead. Our rogue took levels in skullclan hunter (and cleric) in order to be more effective.

In 4E, sneak attacking undead is not an issue.

I could write loads more, but I don't want to bore you...

(I LOVE the Age of Worms adventure path!)

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

So instead of making the rogue work to find feats/items/abilities to hurt undead...

Just let him sneak attack undead.


Seriously, not that hard. Rogue's a pretty weak class in combat normally, nevermind an undead heavy campaign.