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| Erekose13 |
 Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:24 am Post subject: 4E Zobeck Conversions |
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| I'm starting a new campaign this weekend after having TPKd the party with the first Scales of War adventure (damned nasty dino swarms). I was looking around for source material to draw from for the first game and of course though of Zobeck first. Has anyone tried converting the adventures in Tales to 4E yet? I'm going to do the first one Plague of Shadows because I can already see a lot of potential for interesting skill challenges and encounters. |
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| Eyebite |
| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:21 am Post subject: Re: 4E Zobeck Conversions |
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| Erekose13 wrote: |
| I'm starting a new campaign this weekend after having TPKd the party with the first Scales of War adventure (damned nasty dino swarms). I was looking around for source material to draw from for the first game and of course though of Zobeck first. Has anyone tried converting the adventures in Tales to 4E yet? I'm going to do the first one Plague of Shadows because I can already see a lot of potential for interesting skill challenges and encounters. |
Awesome! If you get a chance, I would love to hear how the conversion goes, and how you (and your group) liked Plague of Shadows. |
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the encouragement. I'll post all conversion notes as I write them. Up first is the star of the show, the Shroud. I based him on the wraith and wyrm-wisp and used Asmor's Monster Maker and Monster Math Cruncher. I wasn't sure if I wanted to drop him to level 1 or not. I'll have to try him out as is to see how 1st level characters do against him.
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| Eyebite |
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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Bad ass! I love the conversion!
My gut feeling is a level 2 lurker feels appropriate. Let me know how the PCs do. |
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| terraleon |
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:41 pm Post subject: avatar... |
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Love the avatar, Erekose13...
Go Guards! (Incidentally, the scene with the Apiary was the inspiration for Wickerbell in Wrath)
-Ben.
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progressio sine timore aut praejudica - Spectemur agendo |
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Okay here is probably one of the two biggest changes to 4e for the adventure. I thought the entire Ashmill section of the adventure would work really well as a Skill Challenge. It took quite a bit to work this in but I think it'll flow well. I drew a lot of inspiration not only from the source material (which was amazing) but also Mike Mearl's recent Skill Challenge articles. The format below is mostly notes on how to run the challenge itself, but includes informal points on how to incorporate the existing material without reproducing that here.
Over the Rending Wall; Skill Challenge; Level 2; XP 475
Characters have to figure out why they are there and where they are headed. Follows the chapter of the same name in Plague of Shadows.
Sequence
After 2nd success or 1st failure, run Kobold Stinkrunners
After 3rd success, reveal information from Table 1-1, The Girl and the Manse, DC 8.
After 4th success or 2nd failure, run Shrouds in the Alley
After 5th success, reveal information from Table 1-1, The Girl and the Manse, DC 10.
After 6th success or 3rd failure, run The Charlatan and the Lynch Mob
After 7th success, reveal information from Table 1-1, The Girl and the Manse, DC 15.
Complexity 3 (requires 8 successes before 4 failures)
Primary Skills Streetwise, Diplomacy, Thievery, Intimidate, Heal
Other Skills Athletics, Insight, Stealth
Victory If the PCs achieve 8 successes before 4 failures, they make it to the Koppa estate.
Defeat If the PCs get 4 failures before attaining 8 successes, the Shrouds in the Well of Darkness are at full hit points and they each lose one healing surge.
Special Athletics can only be used outside of Ashmill.
Diplomacy DC 5 (1 success, max 3 successes; see Insight)
PCs speak kindly to a resident of Ashmill, either selling food or trying to get by in the plague ridden streets or offer to help someone who is exhibiting signs of the plague.
On a failed check, the PC takes a –2 penalty to his or her next Streetwise check. If the PC hands out food or gives out 15 gp or more, he or she gains a +1 bonus to the check.
Special After 1st success unlocks Goat Milk's Seer
Heal DC 5 (1 success, maximum 2 successes)
PCs offer to heal someone suffering from the plague.
Intimidate DC 15 (1 success, maximum 2 successes; see Insight).
PCs try to force information from the frightened inhabitants. It works until they get a reputation, then people shy from them and lock doors.
On a failed check, the PC cannot make any further Diplomacy or Intimidate checks in this challenge.
After 1 success, PCs know that they can continue down this path, but it may hinder future efforts.
After 2 successes, PCs cannot make any further Diplomacy or Intimidate checks in this challenge.
Streetwise DC 10 (2 successes, maximum 3 successes)
If a character hands out food, gives out 15gp or more, he or she gains a +1 bonus to the check.
Special After 1st success unlocks use of Thievery.
Thievery DC 10 (1 success, maximum 1 successes; see Stealth)
This check can be made only by a PC who has previously made a successful Streetwise check.
Athletics DC 10 (1 success, maximum 1 success) Climb over the wall to avoid having to get the plague-mark from Viden.
Failure on this skill check results in each character losing 1 healing surge.
Insight DC 10 (0 successes). With a successful check, the character gains a +2 bonus to his or her next Diplomacy or Intimidate check.
Stealth DC 10 (0 successes). On a successful check, the character gains a +2 bonus to his or her next Streetwise or Thievery check. On a failed check, the character takes a –2 penalty to his or her next Streetwise or Thievery check.
Sub Challenges:
Goats Milk Seer Diplomacy DC 10 or Intimidate DC 10 (1 success)
Kobold Stinkrunners run encounter
Shrouds in the Alley run encounter
The Charlatan and the Lynch Mob Diplomacy DC 15 or Intimidate DC 10 (1 success) |
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:47 am Post subject: |
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I'm unsure if I want to use this or not. It adds a lot of danger to an encounter with the Shrouds if they also inflict Creeping Dark on a hit. Perhaps I'll have it inflict only on a critical. I'm also unsure how to balance a really low level disease. I based this on the lvl 9 Blinding Sickness from the DMG but I dont know many other ones in other sources. Filth Fever is presented in Goodman Games' Sellswords of Punjar as a lvl 3 disease but its much harsher than this one in its difficulty and its final effects. Does this sound at all plausible/too difficult/too easy?
Creeping Dark
Level 2 Disease
Attack +5 vs. Fortitude
Endurance improve DC 15, maintain DC 10, worsen DC 9 or lower
The Target is cured
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Initial Effect The target looses on healing surge and cannot regain until cured.
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The target looses another healing surge and cannot regain it until cured. The target begins showing signs as per pg. 3 of Tales of Zobeck.
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Final State The target is weakened. The target cannot loose the status until his/her condition improves. |
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| Eyebite |
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:31 am Post subject: |
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Really nice work on converting Ashmill to the skill challenges.
I love what you've done with the Creeping Dark, making it an actual disease. I don't see anything wrong with it - it will definitely make the Shrouds tougher foes. I think draining healing surges is perfect.
I think the mechanics between 3e and 4e are different enough that this works. Let me know how the PCs' do when they encounter the shrouds.
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| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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Nice work Erekose!
I think the DC 5 elements may be just too easy (80% chance of success untrained, 95% if trained). But that's just nitpicking.
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:28 am Post subject: |
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| Eyebite wrote: |
Bad ass! I love the conversion!
My gut feeling is a level 2 lurker feels appropriate. Let me know how the PCs do. |
Thanks!
I actually just saw the new Wisp Wraith minion in Open Grave today. Makes me wonder if it would work. I think I like mine more. Minions would not be as effective in keeping the original flavor of the Shrouds.
Last edited by Erekose13 on Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:31 am Post subject: Re: avatar... |
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| terraleon wrote: |
Love the avatar, Erekose13...
Go Guards! (Incidentally, the scene with the Apiary was the inspiration for Wickerbell in Wrath)
-Ben. |
I'll have to keep an eye out for Wickerbell. I haven't gotten that far in my reading of Wrath cause my players wont be there for a while. Have you seen the new Mouse Guard RPG? Its by Luke Crane of Burning Wheel fame.
Last edited by Erekose13 on Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:33 am Post subject: |
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| Eyebite wrote: |
Really nice work on converting Ashmill to the skill challenges.
I love what you've done with the Creeping Dark, making it an actual disease. I don't see anything wrong with it - it will definitely make the Shrouds tougher foes. I think draining healing surges is perfect.
I think the mechanics between 3e and 4e are different enough that this works. Let me know how the PCs' do when they encounter the shrouds. |
Still torn on how to get the disease going. Do you think they should inflict it on a crit? or on a regular hit? or instead of sneak attack damage? |
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:35 am Post subject: |
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| Wolfgang wrote: |
Nice work Erekose!
I think the DC 5 elements may be just too easy (80% chance of success untrained, 95% if trained). But that's just nitpicking. |
Thanks! I really appreciate having everyone's feedback on the process. The DCs were based on the erratta'd numbers from WotC but that does sound way too easy. Maybe I'll go with 8 (65%/90%). I liked the old numbers better. Or I could bump everything up to a medium difficulty (10 according to the new table). |
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| Eyebite |
| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:38 am Post subject: |
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| Erekose13 wrote: |
| Eyebite wrote: |
Really nice work on converting Ashmill to the skill challenges.
I love what you've done with the Creeping Dark, making it an actual disease. I don't see anything wrong with it - it will definitely make the Shrouds tougher foes. I think draining healing surges is perfect.
I think the mechanics between 3e and 4e are different enough that this works. Let me know how the PCs' do when they encounter the shrouds. |
Still torn on how to get the disease going. Do you think they should inflict it on a crit? or on a regular hit? or instead of sneak attack damage? |
I'd probably go with "instead of sneak attack damage." My fear otherwise is that these guys will tear up a party of 1st level PCs. Although, I really like inflicting it on a crit too.
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| Erekose13 |
| Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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Okay I've finally managed to get the group together to run this. Its been like 3 months since we sat down to create characters.
The players enjoyed the mystery set out in the dreams and took to trying to dig up information. They got quite a bit of interesting pieces in the first day but nothing concrete. The second night scared the heck out of them when the shrouds attacked.
Gotta say weakness inducing attacks and insubstantial = bad idea. That means that all opponents had 4X hit points. Thankfully I scaled them back to 75% (as per some of Mike Mearls suggestions on how to make 4e combats go faster). They fled when bloodied which worked well too. The three caught asleep all were affected by the Creeping Darkness because that was the only time the shrouds had combat advantage against them individually. That worked out perfectly.
The second day was spent in more earnest trying to source out the clues in the dreams. Trips to the Arcane Collegium to visit the Professor of Onieromancy as well as a trip to the City Hall to the Watch's department of missing persons didn't leave them with much new information.
They scoped out the Deadgate early on and figured that getting branded was probably a bad thing. So they spent quite a bit of time trying to find another way in. I created a location where people could jump across between buildings and hopefully not fall on the Rending Wall. Leary to try that they went to talk to kobolds carrying away the nightfall load of bodies. I ran the Stinkrunner encounter outside Ashmill to create some excitement. It worked really well and was fun to see the paladin grab a hold of the cart and heave on it with an action point.
They went to sleep paranoid and hopeful that they wouldnt get attacked again over night. Little did they know that three had been infected. One got better overnight, but the other two developed boils. They resigned themselves to going into Ashmill but still didnt want to get stuck with the brand. So they hopped the fence as it were and started through my skill challenge above. With some diplomacy and intimidate they have some leads on where the Koppa estate is but want to sneak in for some reason.
The other two party members decided not to try going into Ashmill yet so they split up. They had decided to go to the Archives at the Collegium to research the cart ways hints that were in the dreams. On the way there I ran the Raben encounter. I grabbed two of the shrouds who had already been damaged in the earlier fight. Thankfully. They would've crushed two PCs. As it was they burned through most of their healing surges and dailies. Admittedly there were a lot of bad rolls on the PCs part.
And thats where I left it. I figure I'll have the two outside find the entrance to the cartways as the other three finish the skill challenge and confront Orem. Then its just a matter of getting the three inside out and they have two ways (jumping the fence or the kobolds who they are already friends with).
Also of note, the fighter was given an elixer against the plague by one Silas the Alchemist. Muahahaha! |
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