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Running DDAL04 (Ravenloft) Adventures as a Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="jayoungr" data-source="post: 7609141" data-attributes="member: 6702445"><p><strong>Shaping the Second Half of the Campaign</strong></p><p></p><p>I'll get back to writing up my experiences with "The Marionette" and "The Seer" soon. But I just wanted to make a post about where I am in planning out the second half of the campaign, which is considerably messier than the first.</p><p></p><p>The biggest issue for me is the presence of beings that don't belong in my group's version of Barovia, since we're not using the "chunk of the Forgotten Realms brought here by the Mists" story hook. I also dislike the large number of seemingly random elements that crop up; I know some of them relate to other seasons of AL, but for my purposes, they might as well be completely random:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Random unnamed offstage vampire in "The Seer" (DDAL04-05).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Random incubus in "The Innocent" (DDAL04-07) whose motives for causing havoc are never adequately explained.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Half-troll-half-dragon ghost (related to DDAL season 1) in "The Innocent."</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Yuan-ti in "The Innocent" and "The Donjon" (DDAL04-11).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Orcs in "The Donjon" and "The Raven" (DDAL04-12).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cult of the Dragon member in "The Raven" and "The Horseman" (DDAL04-13) ... and <em>she</em> is the one who actually knows all about the main villain and her plans?!</li> </ul><p>So I'm looking for ways to combine, eliminate, or localize these elements. I've already laid the groundwork for some of it. Here's what I'm considering so far:</p><p></p><p><strong>The Yuan-ti:</strong> Replace them with a cult dedicated to the worship of a snake demon/deity (or can I tie this to the Evening Glory somehow?). Devotees of the cult gain certain physical abilities, giving them the same statblocks as Yuan-ti. The trolls in "The Innocent" will be giant serpents instead. This cult has been active near Oraşnou for many years, and the previous Lady Falinescu (Lucian Falinescu's mother) was rumored to be a secret devotee...</p><p></p><p><strong>The Ghost:</strong> The ghost is that of Gyorgi Falinescu, Lucian's older brother. He was born a tiefling--the older style, with more subtle demonic features than the current playable race; I'm thinking his eyes have vertical slits for pupils, like a snake's. His physical form was evidence of his mother's wickedness and unfaithfulness, which led his father to reject him in horror. Thus, we still have the daddy issues and empty heart.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Incubus:</strong> Instead of an incubus, he'll be a vampire--the same one who bit Lela Moslavaric in "The Seer." He is working to stop Esmae for reasons of his own. Maybe it's vampire politics; maybe she rejected him; maybe he wants Strahd too and sees her as his rival. Anyway, if he's deliberately out to stop Esmae, it will add an extra layer of irony to the already ironic fact that when the PCs stop him, they'll actually be helping her. I'm toying with having him tell the PCs the story of Esmae instead of the dragon cultist (allowing me to cut the cultist entirely), but I'm not sure how to work it in. If I could somehow get him to survive the adventure, I could even make him the one to take the PCs to the Amber Temple in "The Artifact," but I'm not sure I can make that work either.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Orcs:</strong> Replace them with the Vaduva clan, the wolf-shifters who live out in the forest. They sounded interesting, and I was disappointed that they didn't play any role in the story. I'll have to come up with a reason for them to get involved at this point in the story now, though.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>I also really dislike the fact that the Burgomaster's artifact, Tatyana's comb, plays no part in the adventure at all. We just have to assume that he obtains it and delivers it offscreen sometime before "The Artifact" (DDAL04-10). I'd like to find a way to work it into the game somehow, but without setting off alarm bells that will let the PCs keep or destroy it. If I could be sure that the PCs would take the Fidatov treasure in "The Tempter" (DDAL04-09), I'd hint that it was part of that; but my group can be pretty cautious, so I don't think I can count on that. Alternatively, maybe I could find a way to place it in "The Donjon," as the storyline for that module is going to have to be substantially rewritten anyway, and the yuan-ti (snake cult) labyrinth is pretty cool and creepy.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>And finally, there's the question of what order to run the adventures in. There are some odd bunchings of story beats and themes: back-to-back "the Burgomaster is a jerk to his love interest" storylines in "The Tempter" and "The Artifact," followed by back-to-back rescues in "The Donjon" and "The Raven." Although "The Innocent" is next in sequence for me, I'm thinking of starting the second half of the campaign with "The Broken One" (DDAL04-08) for two reasons. First, it will probably need the least amount of changes, and second, it sets a lot of the second half of the storyline in motion by establishing the urgency about collecting enough for Strahd's taxes.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>@<em><strong><u><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=3586" target="_blank">MerricB,</a></u></strong></em> @<em><strong><u><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=277" target="_blank">Jasper,</a></u></strong></em> @<em><strong><u><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=22103" target="_blank">GlassJaw,</a></u></strong></em> or anyone else: do you have any advice or suggestions?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jayoungr, post: 7609141, member: 6702445"] [B]Shaping the Second Half of the Campaign[/B] I'll get back to writing up my experiences with "The Marionette" and "The Seer" soon. But I just wanted to make a post about where I am in planning out the second half of the campaign, which is considerably messier than the first. The biggest issue for me is the presence of beings that don't belong in my group's version of Barovia, since we're not using the "chunk of the Forgotten Realms brought here by the Mists" story hook. I also dislike the large number of seemingly random elements that crop up; I know some of them relate to other seasons of AL, but for my purposes, they might as well be completely random: [LIST] [*]Random unnamed offstage vampire in "The Seer" (DDAL04-05). [*]Random incubus in "The Innocent" (DDAL04-07) whose motives for causing havoc are never adequately explained. [*]Half-troll-half-dragon ghost (related to DDAL season 1) in "The Innocent." [*]Yuan-ti in "The Innocent" and "The Donjon" (DDAL04-11). [*]Orcs in "The Donjon" and "The Raven" (DDAL04-12). [*]Cult of the Dragon member in "The Raven" and "The Horseman" (DDAL04-13) ... and [I]she[/I] is the one who actually knows all about the main villain and her plans?! [/LIST] So I'm looking for ways to combine, eliminate, or localize these elements. I've already laid the groundwork for some of it. Here's what I'm considering so far: [B]The Yuan-ti:[/B] Replace them with a cult dedicated to the worship of a snake demon/deity (or can I tie this to the Evening Glory somehow?). Devotees of the cult gain certain physical abilities, giving them the same statblocks as Yuan-ti. The trolls in "The Innocent" will be giant serpents instead. This cult has been active near Oraşnou for many years, and the previous Lady Falinescu (Lucian Falinescu's mother) was rumored to be a secret devotee... [B]The Ghost:[/B] The ghost is that of Gyorgi Falinescu, Lucian's older brother. He was born a tiefling--the older style, with more subtle demonic features than the current playable race; I'm thinking his eyes have vertical slits for pupils, like a snake's. His physical form was evidence of his mother's wickedness and unfaithfulness, which led his father to reject him in horror. Thus, we still have the daddy issues and empty heart. [B]The Incubus:[/B] Instead of an incubus, he'll be a vampire--the same one who bit Lela Moslavaric in "The Seer." He is working to stop Esmae for reasons of his own. Maybe it's vampire politics; maybe she rejected him; maybe he wants Strahd too and sees her as his rival. Anyway, if he's deliberately out to stop Esmae, it will add an extra layer of irony to the already ironic fact that when the PCs stop him, they'll actually be helping her. I'm toying with having him tell the PCs the story of Esmae instead of the dragon cultist (allowing me to cut the cultist entirely), but I'm not sure how to work it in. If I could somehow get him to survive the adventure, I could even make him the one to take the PCs to the Amber Temple in "The Artifact," but I'm not sure I can make that work either. [B]The Orcs:[/B] Replace them with the Vaduva clan, the wolf-shifters who live out in the forest. They sounded interesting, and I was disappointed that they didn't play any role in the story. I'll have to come up with a reason for them to get involved at this point in the story now, though. *** I also really dislike the fact that the Burgomaster's artifact, Tatyana's comb, plays no part in the adventure at all. We just have to assume that he obtains it and delivers it offscreen sometime before "The Artifact" (DDAL04-10). I'd like to find a way to work it into the game somehow, but without setting off alarm bells that will let the PCs keep or destroy it. If I could be sure that the PCs would take the Fidatov treasure in "The Tempter" (DDAL04-09), I'd hint that it was part of that; but my group can be pretty cautious, so I don't think I can count on that. Alternatively, maybe I could find a way to place it in "The Donjon," as the storyline for that module is going to have to be substantially rewritten anyway, and the yuan-ti (snake cult) labyrinth is pretty cool and creepy. *** And finally, there's the question of what order to run the adventures in. There are some odd bunchings of story beats and themes: back-to-back "the Burgomaster is a jerk to his love interest" storylines in "The Tempter" and "The Artifact," followed by back-to-back rescues in "The Donjon" and "The Raven." Although "The Innocent" is next in sequence for me, I'm thinking of starting the second half of the campaign with "The Broken One" (DDAL04-08) for two reasons. First, it will probably need the least amount of changes, and second, it sets a lot of the second half of the storyline in motion by establishing the urgency about collecting enough for Strahd's taxes. *** @[I][B][U][URL='http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=3586']MerricB,[/URL][/U][/B][/I] @[I][B][U][URL='http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=277']Jasper,[/URL][/U][/B][/I] @[I][B][U][URL='http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=22103']GlassJaw,[/URL][/U][/B][/I] or anyone else: do you have any advice or suggestions? [/QUOTE]
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