Shackled City: In My Hands

[scourger]

Does the book detail the monsters that are not from the MM (but from other WotC books)? These were sometimes available in web enhancements from Paizo. It would be nice if they were detailed better.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

According to the introduction it has everything.

I am interested, I need a good adventure module for running Iron Heroes characters through, but I don't know if this is it.

I was really looking forward to the political character of the Warlords of the Accordlands adventure series, but I don't think that'll be out for like three or four months.

So my remaining questions are:

How terrificly intense is this adventure path?

Is it all in the city or does it move around a fair amount for glorious variety?

 

[Maliki]

Although I am not a fan of 3.0/3.5 I liked what I saw of this campaign. I am tempted to buy the hardback and work on a conversion.

 

[JoeGKushner]

How much detail is given about the Ebon Triad? What links, if any, are there to the Wind Dukes, the Rod of Seven part and Kyuss?

Kyuss is mentioned and there are some of his servants in the section I've read. However, the book does not have a huge dealing with the undead from what I've read.

The Ebon Triad is given the same basic details as Age of Worms, but we also get a few cultists who are messing around and the players may think that the Ebon Traid is actually the big baddies of the campaign focus.

I haven't seen anything about the Wind Dukes or Rod of Seven Parts yet.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Does the book detail the monsters that are not from the MM (but from other WotC books)? These were sometimes available in web enhancements from Paizo. It would be nice if they were detailed better.

It looks like every monster that's been customized or isn't from a core book, like a dark creepr or skulker, is in the appendix four. One bad thing about that, is instead of giving a page number, they just say, appendix four. On the other hand, anything striaght out of the mosnter manual, is listed with a MM and a page reference. So far from what I've seen.

Note that there's also an appendix for new monsters that have been collected throughout the series.

 

[JoeGKushner]

One of my big questions, which is general to the adventure path and not the book:

What's the flavor like?

From what I've read ... with Cauldron and fallen angels and "shackleborn" and the like, it seems to have a very definate flavor to all of the goings-on. Sort of a Cthulhupunk-ish tone, almost.

Contrasted against, say, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil ... which had a big interdimensional bad-guy and all these element-oriented themes but still seemed VERY "standard D&D, standard Greyhawk".

Does it seem like Cauldron is going to be very kitchy? I'm not a fan of kitch.

--fje

As far as the fallen angel... as far as I can remember, (haven't gotten to it yet in the book), that comes in at the tail end.

The shackleborn are a plot device and I don't see them being a huge problem.

Cauldron itself seems to be a fairly normal city in terms of fantasy with a unique location. It has 41 locations detailed, as well as numerous other locations that the party comes into contact with throughout the adventure.

Could you give me more of an idea of what you mean by kitchy?

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

By kitchy I mean like: Every time the PCs turn around we're reminded that Cauldron is in a volcano and that it's somehow IMPORTANT that it's in a volcano. I'm sure the end has something to DO with the volcano, but I'd like for that aspect to fade into the background and the INHABITANTS and goings-on in the city to take to the foreground. I.E. is the fact that Cauldron is in a volcano the major foreground element ... no Salamanders running the weapons shop, every bar is called The Stagnant Caldera, etc.

I don't have a Dungeon sub, so I only started hearing about Shackled City in the ramp-up to the HB release. But the intro download on the Paizo website seemed interesting, but a little too ... Planescape, for my tastes. The blood war, planar infighting, fallen angels, demodands, etc. Planescape was very planar-punk and noir, with the Lady of Pain and Sigil and the rest. While I really liked Planescape for what it WAS, I wouldn't try to run an "average D&D campaign" in Planescape ... they have very different flavors. The flavor of Shackled City seemed to be very Planescape-esque ...

So I guess what I'm really asking is does this adventure path turn into Planescape? Can a cleric of Pelor, a barbarian, a rogue, and a wizard all adventure around fighting evil without interdimensional doorways popping up around every corner, are there demons named Bob sitting down to have tea with Devas, and the average adventurer is expected to know what a Babau is at 1st level and what kind of toppings they like on their pizza.

--fje

 

[JoeGKushner]

First adventure has the PC's exploring two levels of ruins.

Second adventure has the PC's hunting down goblins.

Third adventure has the PC's fighting in a "wayside Inn" so to speak and then hunting down some magic wands to fight a flood.

Just starting the fourth adventure.

So yeah, it seems pretty normal for the most part.

 

[Nightfall]

What Joe said. Quite honestly the PCs do get to learn about demons and stuff, but there's nothing like "weird" or unusual about the city inside the volcano. Well other than the city being in the volcano anyway.

 

[Timeboxer]

What I'm curious about -- are there conversions to the Forgotten Realms and Eberron in there?