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| hedgeknight |
 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 7:37 am Post subject: DM Quandry: What to run next? |
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Morning folks - I have two games that will be shortly coming to an end and I am torn as to what adventure to run next. One game is a homebrew campaign set in the Forgotten Realms and the other is the Red Hand of Doom mega-adventure (both are 3.5).
I am planning to run another printed adventure but here is where I'm stuck: I have too many choices. Thus, I would like your feedback as to which YOU (as a gamer) would like to play in. Here is what I have on the shelf at home:
1/ Castle Shadowcrag - very cool, high-level adventure set outside of the Free City of Zobeck.
2/ Empire of the Ghouls - another massive adventure full of undead and Underdark nasties; same setting.
3/ Blood of the Gorgon - horror fantasy with a bit of clockwork thrown in; set in Zobeck.
4/ Six Arabian Nights - new desert type series with a classic feel; great setting and story line.
(Can you tell I'm an OD patron yet?) 
5/ Freeport Trilogy - I recently purchased the new edition of this mega-adventure along with a couple of other accessories for this setting. Looks really good. Starts at 1st level (or higher if you want) and goes from there. Could be set anywhere.
6/ Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh - revisited in the 3.5 DMG II - another coastal adventure that could lead into Freeport or be a stand alone; nice revamped setting.
So you see...I really don't know what to do next. And I want to start planning now for what I expect to be an early Spring adventure kick-off.
Comments, suggestions, advice - all welcome!
-g- |
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| Stormborn |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:37 am Post subject: |
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| I would vote for Blood of the Gorgon as my first choice followed by Empire of the Ghouls. Mainly because I haven't played in a really dark campaign in a while and would like to do, also there are so many undead hunter or infernal themed character ideas I would love to try some out. |
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| varianor |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: |
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Note that Blood is an 8th level adventure. So it's perfect for just before starting Empire.
I would like to play in all of them. Truth to be told, if I were playing in a game I'd want someone to run 6AN because I'm quite fond of that genre right now. (However, I'm too familiar with every adventure in that book and Empire and Blood.) It's loosely set in the same world as Zobeck, so you could cross over into Tales.
If someone didn't want to run 6AN, I'd love to play in Tales of Zobeck, especially as a) it includes first level adventures and b) it's in Zobeck. (Valmiras would have to write up his kobold submarine adventure for my DM though!) |
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| terraleon |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:47 am Post subject: |
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First and most important question:
"What level range do you want?"
Second very important question, and some might say more important:
"What sort of playing style does your group prefer?"
Both answers will alter the recommendation.
-Ben.
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progressio sine timore aut praejudica - Spectemur agendo |
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| hedgeknight |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:03 am Post subject: |
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| terraleon wrote: |
First and most important question:
"What level range do you want?"
Second very important question, and some might say more important:
"What sort of playing style does your group prefer?"
Both answers will alter the recommendation.
-Ben. |
Traditionally, I prefer any level at or below 12th; beyond that, I get a little lost and the game drags.
My players (and I) prefer a high degree of action over role-playing. We love combat and "outdoor" adventuring with minimal time in a dungeon.
Also, I need to mention that this game will be online, either via email or on a forum. Seems that my days of f2f gaming are over.
-g- |
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| terraleon |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:34 am Post subject: |
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What level will you start at? And do you want a campaign or an arc or just an adventure?
-Ben.
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progressio sine timore aut praejudica - Spectemur agendo |
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| hedgeknight |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:37 am Post subject: |
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I love starting at 1st level, but don't mind starting around 4th or 5th. And for now...I'm done with epic campaigns. I just want a "boxed" adventure or even one or two related short adventures.
-g- |
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| terraleon |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:14 am Post subject: |
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Hmmm, how to do it up...
If I were going to start at 1 and go forward...
I'd want to wait a little longer and get Tales of Zobeck, and start there. Open it up with "Plague of Shadows," continue with "Knave of Parts" and "Devils you know" or "Maiden in the Glass" into "Madman at the Bridge."
Then you could run "Tail of the Mouse King," and consider shifting off to Six Arabian Nights, and run "Oasis of the Blood Moon," then run "The Sand Pirates" into "Bottled Desire" and maybe "Gravebinder's Daughter."
It might be fun to jump back to Zobeck at this point, and run "Redcloak Ruckus," as part of a larger plot of carrying messages between Siwal and Zobeck. In taking back the reply, you'd run "Cult of the Howling God," and then I'd consider going back to Zobeck for Blood of the Gorgon, in fact you could use the alchemist in BotG as part of the message carrying subplot. With the conclusion of BotG, you could take one last trip back to Siwal with "Wishbound."
At this point you'd be a pretty solid 10th level, developed up from 1st.
Having established your group and their reputation, powering along at 10th, you could tackle Shadowcrag, and then consider delving into Empire of the Ghouls., which would carry you through to 12th.
But that's just me. 
-Ben.
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| hedgeknight |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:17 am Post subject: |
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Yowza, Ben! You've been thinking about this! Thanks so much for doing all of the work for me! I need to get Tales of Zobeck first though and work from there I guess.
Looking forward to hearing what others have to say - any takers for Freeport?
-g- |
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| m8adam |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:13 pm Post subject: Online? |
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I'm curious how you play online. By email, IM, something else? I just can't really figure how you would work that.
~Adam |
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| hedgeknight |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject: Re: Online? |
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| m8adam wrote: |
I'm curious how you play online. By email, IM, something else? I just can't really figure how you would work that.
~Adam |
Playing by email is really easy - it just takes some set up and some committed players. I have five players in my email game (started with seven, but two had to bail) and I post 1-2 times a week, more often when in combat. I use maps and type up the posts in a Word document in which I often insert pics and even small maps. I try to be as visually descriptive as possible to help my players "see" what is going on.
Rolls are handled by me right now through an online dice roller. But in the past, I've had players send me a list of rolls to use in the game.
I also run a game in an online forum which is great for archiving posts, maps, and such. |
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| ephealy |
| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:00 pm Post subject: Re: DM Quandry: What to run next? |
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| hedgeknight wrote: |
| 5/ Freeport Trilogy - I recently purchased the new edition of this mega-adventure along with a couple of other accessories for this setting. Looks really good. Starts at 1st level (or higher if you want) and goes from there. Could be set anywhere. |
You could use the Shadows of Cthulhu book to enhance the feel of the Yellow Sign elements of the Freeport adventures - run a Freethulhu campaign.
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