Share your experience/advice running Slavelords of Cydonia

[argo]

So I am gearing up to run Bad Axe Games' mega-module Slavelords of Cydonia in a few weeks time and I thought before I do I would ask if any other GM's have run this for their groups and would care to share their experience. I plan to run it using the Conan ruleset (and actually starting the campaign in the Hyborian age) which of course necesitates some minor tweaks to adapt it to the rule set and flavor I want. I am not so much concerned by that. What I would like to hear about though is how you GM's handled the twists and turns of the campaign and how your players responded.

What excuse did you use to get the party together and to Andros' campsite in the first book?

In book two did your players enjoy being gladiators or did they escape and join the rebels?

Did the mass combat in chapter four work well or did it bog down the pace of the game?

What endgame scenario did your players go for or did they come up with something else all on their own?

The Red Cadre seem vastly under-utilized, only showing up late in the campaign and then with not much to do. Did you expand their role?

And my biggest question. How did your players react to having the rug pulled out from under them at the end of book 1 and getting wisked off to another world? Quite a supprise wasn't it?

Please don't feel that you have to limit your responses to my questions though. I'm interested in hearing any other thoughts or experiences you have to share. Espically things you would like to do differently if you ran the campaign over again and any supprises that your players pulled on you.

Thanks.

 

[argo]

I'm sure that a few ENworlders have run this module. Nobody has anything to share?

 

[Psion]

Well, there are some major Grim Tales fans lurking around here... but I've not heard of any of them running this adventure. I liked it, but it's one of many long campaign products that I'd love to try if I only had the time...

That said, my two cents are that not only does Slavelords allow for a bit of adaptation, it almost requires it. So take the bull by the horns! As it requires a bit of GM investment anyways, you may as well make it your own.

 

[argo]

That said, my two cents are that not only does Slavelords allow for a bit of adaptation, it almost requires it. So take the bull by the horns! As it requires a bit of GM investment anyways, you may as well make it your own.

Mmmm, yes I intend to. As mentioned I am using the Hyborian age as a spring-board so taking the players to Barsoom, er, mars is a bit too far afield for me. Instead Cydonia will be an underground lost-world (taking the inspiration here from the HPL tale "The Mound") populated by the decadent and corrupt remains of and elder race of snake-men. The Siless themselves will not be animorphs as written but will all appear to be humanoids with snake features, only the abominations will be animorphic.

And so forth, I have some other plans as well. It's just that reading through the campaign it becomes apparent to me that by the final third the PC's should have enough contacts and resources that they can start writting their own script. Which I'm ok with, thats the entire point. I was just curious to hear what tactics other groups took. Also many of the major NPC's are given only thumbnail sketches of their personality, I was curious how other GM's decided to play them.

I thought for sure that somebody here has run this campaign though. Maybe I was wrong, sigh...

Thanks.

 

[Khairn]

Argo, I'm planning on running Slavelords in the near future so if you want someone to bounce idea's and concepts off of, let me know.

 

[ragboy]

Pop over to the Slavelords PbP game in progress (link in my sig) (though the game's a bit stalled right now). It's being run by the brain behind Grim Tales (Wulf Ratbane).

I haven't run it (or even read the whole thing) because I'm playing in the PbP game.

 

[argo]

Dude! Thank you.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Sorry I missed your first post, I've been sunning on the Cape.

I'm back and ready to help.

What excuse did you use to get the party together and to Andros' campsite in the first book?

Definitely check out the PbP (thanks ragboy).

In book two did your players enjoy being gladiators or did they escape and join the rebels?

I think they enjoyed it. This book gives you a chance to get the PCs acclimated to Cydonian politics, to introduce key NPCs and organizations, etc. Use it for that purpose and don't let it overtake the story. Make sure that you EMPOWER the PCs through this book. Remember, they're slaves-- don't beat them down over that fact, show them how it actually empowers them.

I think you can see how I tried to do that in the PbP (assuming the posts still exist).

Did the mass combat in chapter four work well or did it bog down the pace of the game?

Don't let it. Again, use it to empower the PCs-- let them be decision-makers, and use the mass combat solely to randomize the consequences of their decisions.

What endgame scenario did your players go for or did they come up with something else all on their own?

I am not sure what portion of my players have read the module (2/5? 3/5?), but I can tell you that the endgame I have in mind deviates from the book significantly.

The Red Cadre seem vastly under-utilized, only showing up late in the campaign and then with not much to do. Did you expand their role?

It will be easier for you, running in Hyboria, to incorporate magic. Think of the Red Cadre as the necessary skeleton to support a more magic-oriented game and go from there.

And my biggest question. How did your players react to having the rug pulled out from under them at the end of book 1 and getting wisked off to another world? Quite a supprise wasn't it?

Hope so!

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I'm a player in Wulf's PbP game (and rarin' to get going again). I bought Slavelords when it came out and skimmed it. I've been a good boy so far and haven't even taken it off the shelf since the PbP game started.

The key (I think) is pacing. As Wulf mentioned, keep it moving. There are large chunks where the actions of the characters will be somewhat constrained. If you don't keep the pace flowing, it will end up seeming like a railroad to the players instead of setbacks to be overcome.

This module puts a great deal on the shoulders of both the DM and the players. If you have players that are of the type that will fold at the first setback, they aren't going to enjoy this. If you have players that will do things just to piss off the DM, it's going to be a chore.

But if you have players that like challenges and coming up with creative solutions to problems, that like games with a good mix of RP and action and political intrigue, it's going to be a blast. Just remember to stay flexible, and give the players a lot of leeway during those parts where it seems like there is only one course of action.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Just remember to stay flexible, and give the players a lot of leeway during those parts where it seems like there is only one course of action.

The campaign is written to anticipate as many player actions as possible; I insisted on this during the design process. There's a lot of detail provided to support the GM when the PCs go "off the rails;" if there's not a specific adventure to cater to what they want to try, then you should at least have enough support material to fill in the blanks. (That was the design criteria.)

The key thing though is that you WILL need to fill things in.