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Message: <blockquote data-quote="darkbard" data-source="post: 7004400" data-attributes="member: 1282">WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE ADVENTURE Murder in Baldur's Gate. Read ahead at your own risk!I read the D&D Next adventures Murder in Baldur's Gate and Legacy of the Crystal Shard when they were released and was very impressed by the (1) structure and (2) presentation of a dynamic world both presented, but I never got a chance to run them. Lately, I've been thinking about how the former might make a very interesting entree into the political upheaval and machinations of post-assassination (of the Sorcerer-King Kalak of) Tyr in Dark Sun, with some alterations, of course, so I'm looking to bounce some ideas around.I should note that I play 4E and presume the setting adheres to what is presented in the 4E DSCG, though that should make little if any difference since what I'm addressing here and looking for feedback regarding are plot elements.My thought is that the target of the opening assassination scene (Duke Abdel Adrian in the original) is Rikus, the mul gladiator and champion of the people who inflicted a fatal wound to the Sorcerer-King Kalak and now serves as part of the City Council to King Tithian and leader of the Crimson Legion. His assassination is attempted by a member of The True, a secretive group loyal to the former Sorcerer-King that believes in his eventual return. Justifying the transformation of the loser into the Bhaalspawn Slayer is simple enough: when Rikus wounded Kalak, a portion of the latter's life force was transfered into the gladiator; if it's Rikus who dies, this essence is freed, engendering the transformation; if it's the assassin, the life force is still freed, but it warps the agent of its release rather than its captor. (I am thinking of using the 1st level solo monster Id Fiend mechanically in this scene as the Bhaalspawn Slayer.)As to the three patrons, I think Jossi the Juggler makes a fine substitution for Rilsa Rael (with Shivrin, the half-elf leader of Tyr's freed slaves as her superior within Tyr's Eyes, replacing Nine-Fingers and The Guild, another easy subsitition); Neeva, a human ex-gladiator and former arena partner to Rikus, makes a logical replacement for Ulder Ravengard, making her motivations for revenge even more personally motivated--this also slots her in nicely to replace Rikus as leader of the Crimson Legion; finally, any leading noble, though Shoshana Beryl jumps to mind, can replace Torlin Silvershield, as the nobility look to curtail any democratic uprisings among the newly freed slaves and general populace of Tyr.Sadira, the half-elf former slave and sorcerer and secret member of the Veiled Alliance, can replace Coran as a possible source of information and alternative patron to the PCs.Now, all this conjectured and my having read various threads about some of the pitfalls of the middle parts of the adventure, I am curious what changes others might make to the adventure to cut out the less exciting or less logically connected filler scenes between the opening presented above and the final stages of the adventure, where violence and chaos come to a head. The smokepowder plot seems  a bit out-of-place for Dark Sun, so that likely needs some alteration. Tyr does have city walls that separate the populace from the privilege that rankles the underclass, but those walls do not exist between the nobles and commoners but rather between the nobles and commoners together on one hand and the bureaucratic and police agent Templars of the King on the other. In any event, if you've played the adventure (or, better yet, considered such a conversion), what elements do you view as essential to retain or alter given what I have presented here?(As a side note, one of the motivating factors of a Druid character in our group is eventually to gain access to the King's Gardens, a rare landscape of greenery behind the walls of the city-within-a-city that is the refuge of the Templars. The longterm story arc for this character involves receiving a map which brought her to Tyr in the first place, with the goal of gaining admittance to these gardens, wherein lies the next piece of the puzzle in her quest to restore some life from Athas's previous ages to the Burnt World. Thus, any plot elements dealing with the Golden City of the Templars need to be the fruit of the adventure's arc, not among its stages.)Thanks in advance for any ideas or input you may have!</blockquote>

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