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D&D 5E Princes of the Apocalypse campaign recaps
- Thread starter Nebulous
- Start date
orderofthings
First Post
love your recaps. I think since the server reboot I am a new member again and can't post links until I get some more XP, but if you're interested, we are in feathergale spire right now;
www.randomnumbersrpg.wordpress.com
edit: looks like I CAN post links...
www.randomnumbersrpg.wordpress.com
edit: looks like I CAN post links...
Nebulous
Legend
Thanks Order! We love this campaign too, myself and my players. Despite the faults of Princes it's a really superb adventure, one of the better ones I've run. The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep probably still trumps it though, but it's close.
Edit: I modded the CRAP out of Nyarlathotep too, so it was more Indiana Jones and the Lost Temple of Nyarlathotep.
Last edited:
orderofthings
First Post
You've got to. I wanted to run the adventure as close to true as I could, but customization is unavoidable.
I was tempted to make everyone start at level 1 with new characters just so we could walk through all the introductory missions, starting fresh seems like the only way to really use the book completely as-is. That's obviously why Red Larch is so well mapped-out, it's a mini-setting. But we all had 3rd or 4th level characters who had just completed the starter set LMOP (which was great, our current Halfling Fighter was the DM that time and I really enjoyed playing a forest gnome ranger) and tying the two adventures together is just so seamless...
I'm trying to insert our storyline into the book without disrupting too much, I think the book is great. The only things I find myself changing are the bad guys. The characters started out a little high-level for the stock "cultists" and "bandits", but I'm trying to challenge them more with tactics than numbers. The Crushing Wave Bandits attacked their caravan as a campaign opener, and I had them act like a bunch of sailors who have no idea how to successfully raid anything that isn't floating, to ensure an easy encounter. The Howling Hatred Cultists have developed multiple strategies for tossing people off the roof and have managed to do it four times already (Feathergale spire is turning out to be a lot of fun) and for some reason the "boss" bad guys are all real good at getting away.
I had read that a lot of players did not take the "Delegation" bait, and that it was a weak hook. I'm glad I read that before I started the campaign, it gave me time to think of a way to make the hook sharper.
I had the characters run in to the delegation in Triboar, before arriving at Red Larch. The party's Dwarf ended up spending an evening drinking with the delegation's Dwarves and made friends. They planned to meet up in Red Larch, and when the party got there it did not take the player long to ask "hey, are those Dwarves I met in Triboar around? They said they'd be here." I didn't even have to push, he started looking for them on his own. Simply drop a rumor about freshly dug graves, and he's off to Feathergale Spire...
The stolen books were there for him to find as well, and if they had simply gone to the tavern across the street instead they would no doubt be at Riverguard Keep rather than the Spire right now. My guys are going through it like a railroad so far, and it's not my fault or intention. They just keep making extremely logical decisions, methodically finding and following leads, and the story tells itself...
The fact that I can novelize our recaps is due to the fact that they actually do the things characters would do in a good fantasy novel, I don't have to roll my eyes while narrating some absurdity...
I was tempted to make everyone start at level 1 with new characters just so we could walk through all the introductory missions, starting fresh seems like the only way to really use the book completely as-is. That's obviously why Red Larch is so well mapped-out, it's a mini-setting. But we all had 3rd or 4th level characters who had just completed the starter set LMOP (which was great, our current Halfling Fighter was the DM that time and I really enjoyed playing a forest gnome ranger) and tying the two adventures together is just so seamless...
I'm trying to insert our storyline into the book without disrupting too much, I think the book is great. The only things I find myself changing are the bad guys. The characters started out a little high-level for the stock "cultists" and "bandits", but I'm trying to challenge them more with tactics than numbers. The Crushing Wave Bandits attacked their caravan as a campaign opener, and I had them act like a bunch of sailors who have no idea how to successfully raid anything that isn't floating, to ensure an easy encounter. The Howling Hatred Cultists have developed multiple strategies for tossing people off the roof and have managed to do it four times already (Feathergale spire is turning out to be a lot of fun) and for some reason the "boss" bad guys are all real good at getting away.
I had read that a lot of players did not take the "Delegation" bait, and that it was a weak hook. I'm glad I read that before I started the campaign, it gave me time to think of a way to make the hook sharper.
I had the characters run in to the delegation in Triboar, before arriving at Red Larch. The party's Dwarf ended up spending an evening drinking with the delegation's Dwarves and made friends. They planned to meet up in Red Larch, and when the party got there it did not take the player long to ask "hey, are those Dwarves I met in Triboar around? They said they'd be here." I didn't even have to push, he started looking for them on his own. Simply drop a rumor about freshly dug graves, and he's off to Feathergale Spire...
The stolen books were there for him to find as well, and if they had simply gone to the tavern across the street instead they would no doubt be at Riverguard Keep rather than the Spire right now. My guys are going through it like a railroad so far, and it's not my fault or intention. They just keep making extremely logical decisions, methodically finding and following leads, and the story tells itself...
The fact that I can novelize our recaps is due to the fact that they actually do the things characters would do in a good fantasy novel, I don't have to roll my eyes while narrating some absurdity...
Uller
Adventurer
Yes. If you want to us the book as is you pretty much have to start in Red Larch with 1st or at least low level PCs. My group came from the North and ended up following clues to Beliard then to the Earth stronghold amd things fell out from there. I eventually got them to Red Larch and they did explore it a bit before the Earth Cult obliterated it.
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Nebulous
Legend
My players are smart and have gone through the campaign as logically as possible, following clues and making the best decisions based on the current evidence. It's not until now, well over halfway through the campaign, that's they're seeing the full brunt of the water cult (who I have beefed up considerably), and they haven't even met the fire cult yet, so thematically i'm going to make them as different as possible from the water cult. We are all really enjoying it, and it's going to take some months yet for us to finish the campaign. We are almost at 50 sessions now, so that's over 100 hours of gaming.
Hey all,
My campaign has continued after breaking for the summer. We're at about session 20 and the characters are at level 7. They had finished clearing the air temple and had to fight a glabrezu left behind by Aerisi. I've also been using the cursed weapon plot from Critical Role on the party barbarian.
The party had some choices. They could continue down to the Fane of the Eye, they could head into the Fire temple, or they could try meeting with the Dark Lady shadow dragon. They chose the Fire Temple.
They managed to bluff their way past hobgoblin guards and gain the pass phrase, which they used on the cultists to convince them they were bringing prisoners as a gift from the air cult (they were dressed in air cult robes). Once they got to the prison area, they turned and began staging the prison break. They found two of the delegate Teresial's elven attendants and they ended up freeing the salamanders but not the azers. I gave out salamander cards for them to control.
The cult discovered them in the midst of this and fighting erupted. During this battle, I had things take a turn for the worse when the barbarian's cursed great axe possessed him and he began attacking the players. The party tried remove curse and it worked but he wasn't moving. The paladin tried lay on hands but I described it as his soul being gone. So it was a sad scene. (The player controlling the barbarian wasn't going to play anymore so it was saying goodbye to a colorful character).
The group stormed into the forge area and drove off the efreeti. The salamanders killed off the azers and tried to communicate a small thanks before leaving. At this point, the party has moved further, taking down cultists as they go. One of the players is using the shadow sorcerer from UA as well as the dark magic from UA and cast super darkness on a group and then summoned a shadow demon into it. I had a great time describing the sounds of terror and gore that came flying out from the cloud of darkness as the cultists got ripped apart.
My campaign has continued after breaking for the summer. We're at about session 20 and the characters are at level 7. They had finished clearing the air temple and had to fight a glabrezu left behind by Aerisi. I've also been using the cursed weapon plot from Critical Role on the party barbarian.
The party had some choices. They could continue down to the Fane of the Eye, they could head into the Fire temple, or they could try meeting with the Dark Lady shadow dragon. They chose the Fire Temple.
They managed to bluff their way past hobgoblin guards and gain the pass phrase, which they used on the cultists to convince them they were bringing prisoners as a gift from the air cult (they were dressed in air cult robes). Once they got to the prison area, they turned and began staging the prison break. They found two of the delegate Teresial's elven attendants and they ended up freeing the salamanders but not the azers. I gave out salamander cards for them to control.
The cult discovered them in the midst of this and fighting erupted. During this battle, I had things take a turn for the worse when the barbarian's cursed great axe possessed him and he began attacking the players. The party tried remove curse and it worked but he wasn't moving. The paladin tried lay on hands but I described it as his soul being gone. So it was a sad scene. (The player controlling the barbarian wasn't going to play anymore so it was saying goodbye to a colorful character).
The group stormed into the forge area and drove off the efreeti. The salamanders killed off the azers and tried to communicate a small thanks before leaving. At this point, the party has moved further, taking down cultists as they go. One of the players is using the shadow sorcerer from UA as well as the dark magic from UA and cast super darkness on a group and then summoned a shadow demon into it. I had a great time describing the sounds of terror and gore that came flying out from the cloud of darkness as the cultists got ripped apart.
Nebulous
Legend
Well, we played last night, nearly killed 2 characters, it was really luck that they survived, but that's the kind of fight I like sometimes, the players are genuinely scared for the lives of their characters. The barbarian was making death saves and the druid was down to 4 hit points, and there were a number of swingy rolls where the battle could have tipped either way.
NOW I have to start strategizing on how to hurt the elf rogue, his hide skills are off the chart, he's often rolling a 25+ on hide and practically invisible. I think to find a good trap that he can't hide from, something that can sense him or sniff him and hiding doesn't help.
Oh, another question for you guys: if you polymorph a druid with a spell, can they just turn back to their normal form using an shapechange?
NOW I have to start strategizing on how to hurt the elf rogue, his hide skills are off the chart, he's often rolling a 25+ on hide and practically invisible. I think to find a good trap that he can't hide from, something that can sense him or sniff him and hiding doesn't help.
Oh, another question for you guys: if you polymorph a druid with a spell, can they just turn back to their normal form using an shapechange?
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