I'm oficially kicking off WotBS early next month for a group of 4 (using FG since we are all scattered across the US). However myself and 2 players will be ready to do something next weekend. Having read through The Scouring I've decided to start the party off at 2nd level when we oficially start.
What I'm fishing for is some prologue ideas for 2 players (one of which is going to be an Eladrin wizard, the other undecided at this point) of 1st level. Ideally I'd like to run prologues for all of the characters to more fully tie them into the Resistance- but that may or may not happen.
I did a two session prologue, although it wasn't tied to the resistance, I did manage to throw in a couple extra bits. I think it worked well to start Scouring at 2nd level because it allowed me to cut out quite a few encounters which I felt built more momentum in the plot.
For the prologue I used the WOTC free dungeon "Kyber's Harvest". I set it in Reagesia as a mission to rescue a merchant's nephew. The fighter ended up with the Coat of Eyes which is connected to a trillith... so I've been playing up apocalyptic visions and stuff for that character.
I liked that I introduced the idea of Ragesia as this massive Orc ruled empire and also the Gate Pass merchant as their patron right away.
Oh, I also established that "Gate Pass" was also a nexus for interplanar gates, which explained the presence of all the weird PC races... of course these were shut off by fire upon their return to the city...
Thanks- that might be the way to go- do something that is only related to the resistance or Gate Pass in an ancillary fashion. I'm still thinking about it. I'd almost do something where they aren't playing the characters that they will be- the characters they initially play will die getting some intelligence to the resistance or some such (these players would be fine with that). Still up in the air about how I want to handle this.
I'll echo Durn's sentiment, the vignette stuff worked like gangbusters with my group. I used a kind of story arc throwing a few skill checks in here and there with no combats. We ended up playing for about 5 hours using this method, AND I was able to impart much of the Player's Guide info to the players in a way that was organic and effortless on their part ( I had 2 players who seem to have an aversion to reading material )
This Prologue also allowed mt to coax the 2 new players into the RP'ing aspect of the game, as we roleplayed backgrounds and such.
The more I read of the modules I have (1 - 3), the more I am impressed. I rarely run modules. Of the games I've run over the past 20+ years only a handful have been modules and never in that time have I actually been stoked to run a module, until now. This is some freakin' inspired work.
That said, on to the prologues. I believe I'm going to handle it by running solo (perhaps duo) prologues with each of the players to enmesh them not only into the setting but also into the specific events that happen during the first module. For example, one of the characters will have some meaningful personal/business contact with Mirabel that shows up in Quest 2 of Scene 3 Act 1. Just little things like that to tie them in on a personal level to the myriad events that unfold in Gate pass.
Forewarning, if you are any of my players (which I doubt) read no further on pain of death.
Ok I have two firm characters thus far.
The first is an Eladrin Wizard. Background wise I'm going to tie him into Shalosha in a friend/spy role (His father is a Castellan for her father in Calanis). Will his ties/allegiances to Shalosha cause major problems further into the campaign?
The second is a Halfling (of all things) Barbarian. He is part of an almost sub-species of Halflings that were geographically isolated in the Mountains of Kelaquois. They have evolved socially quite different than the bulk of the halfling race. The population of the tribes there is fairly small and their mobility and agility are keys to their continued survival in those harsh lands. At any rate I'm looking for ideas to provide a strong impetus for him to be involved with the main plot. I've a feeling that it might be good to have is tribe have been displaced by the Rags and the Scourge Prison and his people have sent him south in search of something or some way to rid themselves of that blight. I've not gotten further than that and since I only have the first two three modules I'm unsure of how to fully flesh this out.
Shalosha is one of those "can we trust her" sort of characters. She works for what could be an enemy side, or she could be your ally, but you have to work at it to win her trust. Having a bit of pre-established relationship could help make that storyline even more interesting. Still, the PCs won't see her for two whole adventures, so if you want the player to remember her, make the prologue have a strong impression.
Like, I dunno, ten years earlier, the PC is at a party, and Shalosha -- who probably by rights shouldn't be mingling with non-nobles, but who has the classic "chafes under her father's restrictions" princess schtick -- is showing him around, pointing out Coaltongue and her father from a distance, making disapproving noises about her father's advisor Aurana (
dark haired sorceress, secretly a vampire, mentioned in adventure 7, shows up in adventure 9
), complaining about the fact that her swordfighting instructor is taking things easy on her because she's a woman and because her father will kill him if he hurts her.
Then someone tries to assassinate Shalosha, and maybe the PC spots the assassin's blade, takes a hit for her -- or keeps his mouth shut because he already hates her and hopes she dies.
As for halflings near the prison, maybe the PC could know some halfling mage/shaman/etc. In the prologue, a few weeks before the campaign begins, you could have a scene where that NPC expresses worry that the inquisitors are looking for mages, and he wants his friend (the PC) to escort him south to Seaquen. He received a sending from Seaquen, telling him to meet a contact in Gate Pass, who can get him out of Ragesia.
But then the day that the PC and NPC are set to head out, the NPC never shows up, and another person comes to the PC and tells him that an inquisitor and his bodyguards came and took the NPC away, and they're looking for the PC too. The PC's a dead man if he stays behind, and the closest thing he knows to a safe place is Gate Pass.
