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Savage Tide Adventure Path
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<blockquote data-quote="touc" data-source="post: 8007270" data-attributes="member: 19270"><p>Interesting timing on the thread resurrection! <strong>Background: </strong>I converted and ran Savage Tide in 5E a few years ago and am currently running it (moved to another state, new group). </p><p></p><p>If you're serious about running it, you need to visit the Savage Tide, Dungeon Magazine, subforum at the Paizo.com website (they published the Dungeon Magazine campaigns). TONS of DM and developer responses on those, a treasure trove. I can't iterate this enough: <u>you owe it to yourself to check them out</u>. It turned the campaign from good to awesome. Some of my old input is probably on there, and I've got all my notes and conversions through Farpoint. If you need notes, I can send you what I've got.</p><p></p><p>You also need to know that IF players don't loathe Vanthus and come to care for Lavinia, Savage Tide won't work. Players won't care. The forum will help quite a bit. Also, it's not a pirate campaign or really a sea-faring campaign. Yes, you spend 3 months on a boat, but there's only 1 time ship-to-ship combat comes into play (it's not the focus, see below).</p><p></p><p><strong>1st Go: </strong></p><p></p><p>Ran the adventures largely as-is, but again really boosted up Vanthus and Lavinia's stories. Boosted NPC content. Sasserine is a fantastic setting, and you'll need a reason players will be willing to leave it. For me, I use in all my campaigns "background links to the campaign" that players can pick through and add to their character story (e.g. you're obsessed with the Isle of Dread and have collected lore from people claiming they were actually there, handouts from Dragon magazine). Others had strong links to Lavinia, such as having gone to school with her. I then ran a roleplay prequel (wherein players roleplayed how they did Lavinia's family a solid, justifying why she later called on them).</p><p></p><p>Otherwise, early on savage creatures are NASTY. It's very easy to die at levels 1-2.</p><p></p><p>In Module 3, there's nearly 30 NPCs to track. I made a visual with pictures for each. If someone died (and some will), we could mark them off. Each NPC has a short backstory, and on the long ship ride (it's 3 months, and most of that time, nothing is happening, just like a real sea voyage), it's crucial social stuff is going on. Your campaign can slog down, and you can't be "spicing it up" with a fight on the seas every other day. You'll also want to change the ship wreck. Players hate the idea the DM scripted it so that no matter what they do, it's going to happen. For us, it affected who survived. The social part is important so the PCs will be inspired to protect those NPCs on the Isle.</p><p></p><p>On the Isle, it's not set up for hexploration. At Farpoint, the PCs pre-battle prep should have a heavy impact on how the battle goes. </p><p></p><p>My players wiped at level 11 deep below the ground in a heroic sacrifice to stop black pearl manufacture. We ended there, feeling pretty good. It's a LONG campaign. If you play to level 20, that will likely take 2-3 years. Players were ready for something new. </p><p></p><p><strong>Things I learned: </strong>Getting to level 20 just isn't realistic for most groups, and at the higher levels, this one turns into a lot of fights, albeit interesting ones, and less role play. You need to have a stop point in mind, or consider chopping down everything past Farpoint (9th level and on), and shrinking it to level 12-15. </p><p></p><p><strong>Things I'm doing differently now: </strong>I inserted Ruin of Tamoachan from Yawning Portal instead of the abbreviated version. No changes needed other than a plot item, just an adjustment in leveling (I use milestone, they started at 5th and exited at 6th level). It gives a lot of loot. I'm also ending it at saving Farpoint. I've considered perhaps after shutting down pearl manufacture, but it's my first go with this group and there's a fatigue factor trying to hit level 20 with your first major campaign.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="touc, post: 8007270, member: 19270"] Interesting timing on the thread resurrection! [B]Background: [/B]I converted and ran Savage Tide in 5E a few years ago and am currently running it (moved to another state, new group). If you're serious about running it, you need to visit the Savage Tide, Dungeon Magazine, subforum at the Paizo.com website (they published the Dungeon Magazine campaigns). TONS of DM and developer responses on those, a treasure trove. I can't iterate this enough: [U]you owe it to yourself to check them out[/U]. It turned the campaign from good to awesome. Some of my old input is probably on there, and I've got all my notes and conversions through Farpoint. If you need notes, I can send you what I've got. You also need to know that IF players don't loathe Vanthus and come to care for Lavinia, Savage Tide won't work. Players won't care. The forum will help quite a bit. Also, it's not a pirate campaign or really a sea-faring campaign. Yes, you spend 3 months on a boat, but there's only 1 time ship-to-ship combat comes into play (it's not the focus, see below). [B]1st Go: [/B] Ran the adventures largely as-is, but again really boosted up Vanthus and Lavinia's stories. Boosted NPC content. Sasserine is a fantastic setting, and you'll need a reason players will be willing to leave it. For me, I use in all my campaigns "background links to the campaign" that players can pick through and add to their character story (e.g. you're obsessed with the Isle of Dread and have collected lore from people claiming they were actually there, handouts from Dragon magazine). Others had strong links to Lavinia, such as having gone to school with her. I then ran a roleplay prequel (wherein players roleplayed how they did Lavinia's family a solid, justifying why she later called on them). Otherwise, early on savage creatures are NASTY. It's very easy to die at levels 1-2. In Module 3, there's nearly 30 NPCs to track. I made a visual with pictures for each. If someone died (and some will), we could mark them off. Each NPC has a short backstory, and on the long ship ride (it's 3 months, and most of that time, nothing is happening, just like a real sea voyage), it's crucial social stuff is going on. Your campaign can slog down, and you can't be "spicing it up" with a fight on the seas every other day. You'll also want to change the ship wreck. Players hate the idea the DM scripted it so that no matter what they do, it's going to happen. For us, it affected who survived. The social part is important so the PCs will be inspired to protect those NPCs on the Isle. On the Isle, it's not set up for hexploration. At Farpoint, the PCs pre-battle prep should have a heavy impact on how the battle goes. My players wiped at level 11 deep below the ground in a heroic sacrifice to stop black pearl manufacture. We ended there, feeling pretty good. It's a LONG campaign. If you play to level 20, that will likely take 2-3 years. Players were ready for something new. [B]Things I learned: [/B]Getting to level 20 just isn't realistic for most groups, and at the higher levels, this one turns into a lot of fights, albeit interesting ones, and less role play. You need to have a stop point in mind, or consider chopping down everything past Farpoint (9th level and on), and shrinking it to level 12-15. [B]Things I'm doing differently now: [/B]I inserted Ruin of Tamoachan from Yawning Portal instead of the abbreviated version. No changes needed other than a plot item, just an adjustment in leveling (I use milestone, they started at 5th and exited at 6th level). It gives a lot of loot. I'm also ending it at saving Farpoint. I've considered perhaps after shutting down pearl manufacture, but it's my first go with this group and there's a fatigue factor trying to hit level 20 with your first major campaign. [/QUOTE]
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