Combining Adventure Settings (SGoS and RHoD spoilers) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Combining Adventure Settings (SGoS and RHoD spoilers) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ebonarc
02-13-08, 07:38 PM Hello all. I'm soon going to be DMing a campaign using Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde followed by Red Hand of Doom. (If you want to avoid spoilers to either of those adventures, stop reading now.)

I'm considering making the Valley of Obelisks and the Elsir Vale the same place. I like the Elsir Vale more than I like the Valley of Obelisks, and I think it will work as a setting for SGoS just as well as the Valley of Obelisks would.

The PCs are all going to be natives of the Valley of Obelisks, unless of course I combine the two, in which case that would be a nickname for the Elsir Vale. The Elsir Vale would then gain the three dungeons from Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde, as well as some random obelisks, in order to keep the parts of SGoS that are strictly necessary.

So what do you think? Are there any problems that I might be overlooking in doing this?
SupaTalka
02-22-08, 12:14 AM I used SGoS as a setup to RHoD and so far it's been working well.

What I did *not* do was use the Valley of Obelisks as Elsir Vale.

Basically, I felt the players had already spent 7-8 session doing SGoS (we game for 9 hour stretches each session) so I kind of felt that they were becoming bored of the locale and wanted to see something else, with new NPCs and what have you.

I definitely see the possibility of transposing the maps. Brindol = Sumberton, the mysterious Castle Grief = Vraath Keep and so on. Lots of the locations are relatively similar. The Thornwaste = The Slaughterscar?

There are good possibilities for meshing the two maps easily.

The one thing I caution you with is what I said above: if your players have been doing SGoS for a while, it might be more fun to introduce new NPCs and new locations. However, if they LOVE your NPCs and other such features of your SGoS campaign, you could easily and safely combine them.
Ebonarc
02-22-08, 10:42 PM Well, the entire campaign would take place in the Elsir Vale. I'd just port over the three dungeons, the two organizations, and whatever else I needed from the Valley of Obelisks and place wherever necessary.

For instance, I plan to start the campaign in Drellin's Ferry, which will be the homebase for a while. The laboratory will be nearby, and the goblin bandits within will be recent refugees from the Wyrmsmoke mountains, possibly from the Blackknife goblin tribe.

Part of my reason for combining the two locations is that it felt wierd to me to have an entire arc of the campaign take place in one valley, then have the next arc take place in another valley. It just struck me as odd that we would have two consecutive valleys like that.

Furthermore, I wanted the characters to have a feeling of connection to the Elsir Vale. To that end, I made them natives of the area (lived there their whole lives), and decided that they should adventure in it (during SGoS) and get to know some of the NPCs in Drellin's Ferry and Brindol.

That way, they'll feel all the more determined to save the Vale when the Horde comes crashing down on it.:schemes:

I've combined the Lions of Brindol and the knightly organization from SGoS whose name escapes me. They'll be based in Brindol. The guy playing the party fighter, on hearing about the organization, decided that part of his character's background was that he was once a low-level member, but he left because they were too lawful for his taste (Chaotic Good character).

I agree with the three transpositions you mentioned, and I'm doing those. I'll put Slaughtergarde temple near Brindol, so they'll have a reason to go there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ebonarc 02-13-08, 07:38 PM	Hello all. I'm soon going to be DMing a campaign using Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde followed by Red Hand of Doom. (If you want to avoid spoilers to either of those adventures, stop reading now.) I'm considering making the Valley of Obelisks and the Elsir Vale the same place. I like the Elsir Vale more than I like the Valley of Obelisks, and I think it will work as a setting for SGoS just as well as the Valley of Obelisks would. The PCs are all going to be natives of the Valley of Obelisks, unless of course I combine the two, in which case that would be a nickname for the Elsir Vale. The Elsir Vale would then gain the three dungeons from Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde, as well as some random obelisks, in order to keep the parts of SGoS that are strictly necessary. So what do you think? Are there any problems that I might be overlooking in doing this?
SupaTalka 02-22-08, 12:14 AM	I used SGoS as a setup to RHoD and so far it's been working well. What I did not do was use the Valley of Obelisks as Elsir Vale. Basically, I felt the players had already spent 7-8 session doing SGoS (we game for 9 hour stretches each session) so I kind of felt that they were becoming bored of the locale and wanted to see something else, with new NPCs and what have you. I definitely see the possibility of transposing the maps. Brindol = Sumberton, the mysterious Castle Grief = Vraath Keep and so on. Lots of the locations are relatively similar. The Thornwaste = The Slaughterscar? There are good possibilities for meshing the two maps easily. The one thing I caution you with is what I said above: if your players have been doing SGoS for a while, it might be more fun to introduce new NPCs and new locations. However, if they LOVE your NPCs and other such features of your SGoS campaign, you could easily and safely combine them.
Ebonarc 02-22-08, 10:42 PM	Well, the entire campaign would take place in the Elsir Vale. I'd just port over the three dungeons, the two organizations, and whatever else I needed from the Valley of Obelisks and place wherever necessary. For instance, I plan to start the campaign in Drellin's Ferry, which will be the homebase for a while. The laboratory will be nearby, and the goblin bandits within will be recent refugees from the Wyrmsmoke mountains, possibly from the Blackknife goblin tribe. Part of my reason for combining the two locations is that it felt wierd to me to have an entire arc of the campaign take place in one valley, then have the next arc take place in another valley. It just struck me as odd that we would have two consecutive valleys like that. Furthermore, I wanted the characters to have a feeling of connection to the Elsir Vale. To that end, I made them natives of the area (lived there their whole lives), and decided that they should adventure in it (during SGoS) and get to know some of the NPCs in Drellin's Ferry and Brindol. That way, they'll feel all the more determined to save the Vale when the Horde comes crashing down on it.:schemes: I've combined the Lions of Brindol and the knightly organization from SGoS whose name escapes me. They'll be based in Brindol. The guy playing the party fighter, on hearing about the organization, decided that part of his character's background was that he was once a low-level member, but he left because they were too lawful for his taste (Chaotic Good character). I agree with the three transpositions you mentioned, and I'm doing those. I'll put Slaughtergarde temple near Brindol, so they'll have a reason to go there.