Scales of War finale!
- Thread starter Klaus
- Start date
Still he was dead for a time, or?
The Little Raven
First Post
In his wisdom, he understand Tiamat's plan and set aside a portion of his essence to be protected in case she succeeded. He never fully died.
TarionzCousin
Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
Hopefully a drow goddess will take over his portfolio until he can secretly regain his Wand and reclaim his place as the Lord of Undeath...
... or something like that.
Windjammer
Adventurer
Since people are already reminiscing about the entire Scales of War adventure path (exactly what I was actually hoping for in clicking on the thread), I'd like to hear some redeeming features you found when reading/playing it over the past 18 months. Beyond the obvious one (PirateCat's adventure), what adventures or (even) individual encounters would or did you consider worthy to be dropped into your own campaign? And did really no one try to run it as a unified experience?
Pbartender
First Post
Umbraforge can have a surprising amount of role playing potential, if the DM and players let it... First, in the investigation around Overlook, and then later as they move around the mercenary camps in Umbraforge trying really hard to not attract attention.
Simply casting several of the ostensible "bad guys" (especially Sarshan) as "not really bad but not especially good either, just very mercenary and very likely currently dealing with the wrong people" turns a few of the unnecessary combat encounters into absolutely fascinating role playing encounters.
Also, for my players, Rufus the Necromancer (as played by Peter Lorre) is undoubtedly the most memorable NPC to yet come out of this adventure path. He's the only guy in town who can get them any magic they need, but he's so creepy to deal with, that they only use him as a last resort. I'll likely keep him on as a recurring character for later campaigns.
Simply casting several of the ostensible "bad guys" (especially Sarshan) as "not really bad but not especially good either, just very mercenary and very likely currently dealing with the wrong people" turns a few of the unnecessary combat encounters into absolutely fascinating role playing encounters.
Also, for my players, Rufus the Necromancer (as played by Peter Lorre) is undoubtedly the most memorable NPC to yet come out of this adventure path. He's the only guy in town who can get them any magic they need, but he's so creepy to deal with, that they only use him as a last resort. I'll likely keep him on as a recurring character for later campaigns.
FourthBear
First Post
Oh, I think there's a lot of worth within Scales of War. It's a pity that it chose to lead with the weakest and blandest adventure of the whole lot.
Siege of Bordrin's Watch is a good adventure all on its own, with a example of how to mix a fairly linear series of encounters with a sandbox environment. I think the city of Overlook and the surrounding areas have a lot too offer. Overlook itself has a lot of interesting conflicts (religious, political, criminal), a decent history and some fun NPCs. It's too bad that the first town of Brindol was never described this way in the first adventure.
Shadowrift has some very odd plot assumptions and railroading, but also has a very interesting site in the Umbraforge, IMO.
Lost Mines of Karak has a nice scene in Dunesend with the Warden. Very Thundarr the Barbarian.
The Temple Between is a great example of a big, ambitious adventure with a great mix of exploration, investigation, combat and role-playing encounters. I wish more adventures would emulate it.
Beyond the Mottled Tower may have some irritating plot issues, but I've heard several people note that the various combat encounters are a lot of fun. The scenes dealing with the disaster early in the module seem like they could be transferred pretty easily to any campaign.
I think the entire arc from Haven of the Bitter Glass to Tyranny of Souls is exactly what I wish the rest of the campaign had been. It's straightforward, has a good narrative moving things forward, lots of chances for the heroes to play a political/social role and a good climatic ending. I think at the end, the players should feel like they really accomplished something. If you're interested in a Paragon-tier invasion/war campaign, I would give it serious consideration.
The Epic Tier feels like it's disjointed and starts with too much happening without the PCs properly motivated. Again, the authors choose to keep the players in the dark about what they're trying to accomplish for the first half of the tier. The locations and encounters seem fine. I think a DM could liven up the plot and NPCs without too much trouble. Monadhan and the Mantled Citadel both have some interesting locations and oddball effects. The bits in Hestavar could be expanded out pretty well with the Dragon article, as could the City of Brass.
Siege of Bordrin's Watch is a good adventure all on its own, with a example of how to mix a fairly linear series of encounters with a sandbox environment. I think the city of Overlook and the surrounding areas have a lot too offer. Overlook itself has a lot of interesting conflicts (religious, political, criminal), a decent history and some fun NPCs. It's too bad that the first town of Brindol was never described this way in the first adventure.
Shadowrift has some very odd plot assumptions and railroading, but also has a very interesting site in the Umbraforge, IMO.
Lost Mines of Karak has a nice scene in Dunesend with the Warden. Very Thundarr the Barbarian.
The Temple Between is a great example of a big, ambitious adventure with a great mix of exploration, investigation, combat and role-playing encounters. I wish more adventures would emulate it.
Beyond the Mottled Tower may have some irritating plot issues, but I've heard several people note that the various combat encounters are a lot of fun. The scenes dealing with the disaster early in the module seem like they could be transferred pretty easily to any campaign.
I think the entire arc from Haven of the Bitter Glass to Tyranny of Souls is exactly what I wish the rest of the campaign had been. It's straightforward, has a good narrative moving things forward, lots of chances for the heroes to play a political/social role and a good climatic ending. I think at the end, the players should feel like they really accomplished something. If you're interested in a Paragon-tier invasion/war campaign, I would give it serious consideration.
The Epic Tier feels like it's disjointed and starts with too much happening without the PCs properly motivated. Again, the authors choose to keep the players in the dark about what they're trying to accomplish for the first half of the tier. The locations and encounters seem fine. I think a DM could liven up the plot and NPCs without too much trouble. Monadhan and the Mantled Citadel both have some interesting locations and oddball effects. The bits in Hestavar could be expanded out pretty well with the Dragon article, as could the City of Brass.
Windjammer
Adventurer
Thanks for those helpful comments!
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