D&D 5E Troubleshooting Princes of the Apocalypse

[pukunui]

Some internet search pulls up that they are detailed some in the 2E Sourcebook Cloak and Dagger.
Who are they and what are they doing?

The 3e FR book, Lords of Darkness, has about a page of info on the Kraken Society. Here's the gist of it:

- They're information brokers who "use their knowledge to influence events in coastal countries along the Trackless Sea.
- Their agents are not above kidnapping, murder, and torture.
- The goal of their leader, a "very old kraken wizard called Slarkrethel", is "the control of a great undersea and shore kingdom ranging for thousands of miles.
- The society has ties to the Church of Umberlee - eg. Slarkrethel is a Chosen of Umberlee and wishes to become a deity himself.
- The structure of the society is loose, with each level in the organization allowed to develop its own methods. "This flexibility means that the best way to uproot a particular cell varies widely, since each cell has different methods of handling and acquiring agents."
- Its headquarters is Ascarle, the submerged ruins of an elven city destroyed centuries ago by drow. It is located somewhere in the far north of the Trackless Sea under sea ice (so maybe underneath the Sea of Moving Ice?). The HQ is run by a mindflayer named Vestress.
- Is symbol is a purple squid.
- Other notable agents (from the 3e era): Rethnor, the founding "father" of Ship Rethnor in Luskan; The Skum Lord of Skullport; and Semmonemily, a doppelganger who presides over the Dessarin River Valley (bingo!).
- The Harpers are one of the society's main enemies.

Does that help at all?

 

[HobbitFan]

The 3e FR book, Lords of Darkness, has about a page of info on the Kraken Society. Here's the gist of it:

- They're information brokers who "use their knowledge to influence events in coastal countries along the Trackless Sea.
- Their agents are not above kidnapping, murder, and torture.
- The goal of their leader, a "very old kraken wizard called Slarkrethel", is "the control of a great undersea and shore kingdom ranging for thousands of miles.
- The society has ties to the Church of Umberlee - eg. Slarkrethel is a Chosen of Umberlee and wishes to become a deity himself.
- The structure of the society is loose, with each level in the organization allowed to develop its own methods. "This flexibility means that the best way to uproot a particular cell varies widely, since each cell has different methods of handling and acquiring agents."
- Its headquarters is Ascarle, the submerged ruins of an elven city destroyed centuries ago by drow. It is located somewhere in the far north of the Trackless Sea under sea ice (so maybe underneath the Sea of Moving Ice?). The HQ is run by a mindflayer named Vestress.
- Is symbol is a purple squid.
- Other notable agents (from the 3e era): Rethnor, the founding "father" of Ship Rethnor in Luskan; The Skum Lord of Skullport; and Semmonemily, a doppelganger who presides over the Dessarin River Valley (bingo!).
- The Harpers are one of the society's main enemies.

Does that help at all?

Thanks for the assist! Good stuff. Covers alot of my questions.
The doppelganger and aboleth are especially interesting as is the tie with Umberlee worshippers.
Why wouldn't at least some of that be in Princes of the Apocalypse?
It seems like these guys, water cult, harpers...throw together and you have interesting stuff. Why pass on that in writing the adventure?

 

[pukunui]

Why pass on that in writing the adventure?

My guess would be space reasons.

 

[jamesjhaeck]

My guess would be space reasons.

And, technically, over 100 years have passed between 3rd and 5th edition.

 

[pukunui]

And, technically, over 100 years have passed between 3rd and 5th edition.

Which is probably peanuts in terms of a kraken's lifespan.

 

[Fildrigar]

No published adventure, ever, can detail every single thing and possibility. Sometimes little dangling bits of info get added, specifically for a DM to flesh out and add more stuff for their specific campaign. I really like having these types of things added in. They can give me a jumping off point to make more adventure, or can be completely ignored, if I so choose. Just about every adventure ever published has things that exist but are not fully fleshed out.

 

[Agamon]

No published adventure, ever, can detail every single thing and possibility. Sometimes little dangling bits of info get added, specifically for a DM to flesh out and add more stuff for their specific campaign. I really like having these types of things added in. They can give me a jumping off point to make more adventure, or can be completely ignored, if I so choose. Just about every adventure ever published has things that exist but are not fully fleshed out.

Agreed, this is a feature rather than a flaw, in my eyes. Any adventure or setting book that is 100% self-contained isn't very well written, I don't think. Extra stuff helps make it more of a living, breathing world and gives the DM ammo for continuing the story.

 

[Nemio]

Another thing that doesn't quite track. Chapter 6 has a side trek with agents of the Yartar thief guild the Hand running afoul of the Kraken Society which is a secret network that somehow has a Sahuagin working for it.
Wouldn't some detail on who the Kraken Society is and what they are doing be pertinent?
We know they are interested in a destruction orb...

Some internet search pulls up that they are detailed some in the 2E Sourcebook Cloak and Dagger.
Who are they and what are they doing?

Chris Perkins replied to a twitter question about them.
[MENTION=13127]chrisp[/MENTION]erkinsDnD Princes of the Apocalypse Ch. 6, Kraken Society. Who are they? What is their agenda? Sidetrack doesn't say much...

The Kraken Society is a widespread organization of scoundrels and slavers working for a kraken. (1/2)

They are like SPECTRE in the James Bond franchise and figure much more prominently in a future story.

https://twitter.com/ChrisPerkinsDnD/status/589074838922211328

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

If you're having trouble shooting the Princes of the Apocalypse, I recommend casting Bless and Greater Invisibility at the beginning of combat.

 

[Warunsun]

I agree that this module is very light on details about the Elder Elemental Eye. This morning I typed out six page of introductory history for the players to read about the previous three rises and falls of Elemental Evil in Greyhawk (Battle of Emridy Meadows, first Temple module, and then Return module). Most of my players through the years have played at-least one of these modules and some played all three. It was good to jog my brain about it as well. I also agree that Faction use in this module is a big fail. Seriously, the Harpers are supposed to be replaced with Mordenkainen? Yikes. And I can barely even find mention of the factions. I have previously established several factions in my Greyhawk campaign so I will use them. But I haven't really found any faction quests to convert over. LOL.