Help with some old 2nd edition material [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help with some old 2nd edition material [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
cigaran
04-12-04, 01:31 AM Well, let's hope this is the right spot for this. I'm planning on running a long and far reaching campain to go back into some of the Realms past. A big part of this is due to the fact that most of my current players are post 3rd Edition and have no clue of what's gone on in the past. While I'd gladly take the time myself to do this, I figure maybe someone has tried this at least once before. I'm looking to see if the Avatar Trilogy has be converted to 3rd or 3.5. If not, then I guess I'll be looking for a spot to post my own conversions in the next few weeks. I'm also after the Marco Volo Trilogy and the Castle Spulzeer adventures as well. Anywho, any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Kuje31
04-12-04, 01:57 AM Originally posted by cigaran
Well, let's hope this is the right spot for this. I'm planning on running a long and far reaching campain to go back into some of the Realms past. A big part of this is due to the fact that most of my current players are post 3rd Edition and have no clue of what's gone on in the past. While I'd gladly take the time myself to do this, I figure maybe someone has tried this at least once before. I'm looking to see if the Avatar Trilogy has be converted to 3rd or 3.5. If not, then I guess I'll be looking for a spot to post my own conversions in the next few weeks. I'm also after the Marco Volo Trilogy and the Castle Spulzeer adventures as well. Anywho, any help is appreciated! Thanks!

The Marco Volo Trilogy and Castle Spulzeer can be downloaded, for free, on the link below. :)

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/downloads
Zanan
04-12-04, 04:24 AM At the same link you'll find material which has Arcane Age written all over it. They go back to the days when Faerūn was still "young" ... at least from humanity's point of view. The days when elves battled demons and what have you during the Fall of Myth Drannor for example ...
Lashan
04-12-04, 12:18 PM Personally, I think this is a great idea. I've done it numerous times for my players. I feel it is better to have the characters go through all of the great history for FR. People complain about how the time line hasn't advanced yet. Well, you just need to start a bit further back in the history, and that gives you much more time to get up to speed!!!

Now, I know that there are a lot of conversion sites for old modules to get updated to 3E. If you are at least a little comfortable to 3E, you can do it yourself. Still, for the lazy, if you do a google search, you can find a conversion document that people have posted out there online. It is great when trying to use the old modules.

The question to ask is when do you want to begin the old game? There are some good and bad points in using the old modules. For one, most people agree that the old Time of Trouble modules series is poorly written. It really steamrollers you through things and the players aren't given much choice. Still, you can always have your players play in the ToT without having to go through that module. Or, you can change the module enough to make it more enjoyable.

Another thing that you have to think about is what modules you want the party to go through? There is a great boxed set adventure about the Horde. You know, that giant mongul invasion of Faerun. The series of modules start at one level and continue through another. You either have to seriously change the levels of the modules or the timing so that it fits your players at that exact time. There are so many modules and things to go through, that it is hard to plan the adventures to match timeline and party levels.

Personally, I would (and have done) several campaigns in the past history of FR. This way, you can start off way back in the past (for me, it's now 1340 DR) and work your way forward. This one campaign can end, but still no be up to date! You can start another campaign roughly around the same timeline and continue the overall story of FR. This way, you can go through almost every part of the history of the game world and your players will get it all. Just a thought.

I hope this helps. I have run one campaign that was set in Lashan's war of the Dalelands and can always give what modules I used and ideas I incorporated. Let me know if you want any ideas.
cigaran
04-12-04, 01:19 PM I'd be glad to hear any ideas that could enhance the game! For those first posters, perhaps you miss my intent here.

I'm well aware of the free downloads from WOTC of the old material and I have physical copies of 75% of all FR material that is in or has been in print. What I'm after is the adventures converted to 3rd edition or 3.5 so that I could save myself a hell of a lot of time and trouble.

My intent is to use the ToT adventures to intoduce the main aspects of the Realms. I'm well aware (sadly) that those have a feeling of "go here, do this, get that item" quests. I'm hoping to add in some stuff that will come into play later on in the campain. My intention is to begin with the ToT and the do a couple of Undermountain runs after that since the PC will be in Waterdeep as it is. After that, I'm hoping to run the Marco Volo series to give them a little trip around the Realms. After that, it's off to Castle Spulzeer to have a few more adventures. From here, if all goes well, they'll be in Ravenloft. I'm hoping to run a few 'Loft adventures to lead up to using Die Vecna, Die to get them to Sigil to send them on the For Duty or Deity module.

While I know that this is a very epic plan, I'm hoping it will go well. My group may be a little low on Realm info but they do love a good story and I've always thought it a very odd coincidence that with the exception of having to run some Undermountain, all these adventures stop at a level where the next one would begin and it leaves the PC's in pretty much the exact location that they need to be. Again, any thoughts or suggestion are very much welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!
Lashan
04-12-04, 04:38 PM Personally, if you start the adventure with the Time of Troubles, you loose a lot of the grandoiseness of the adventure. I think that the Time of Troubles is something to shake a FR game. It's not the best way to introduce the setting. One would think that gods come and go all the time in FR. Personally, I would start for a while before that, and then work your way up there. In fact, if you wanted to do a string of campaigns, such as a mini-campaign to get your characters in the mode for FR, then run one before the whole ToT. Having gods die is nothing if you don't know who those gods are.

Now, I have run a game that was set around Lashan's attempt to take over the Dalelands. This way, you can see the Elven Retreat from Cormanthyr, the politics of the Dalelands, and have a big enemy that isn't one of the boring staples of the game. I always found it a great part of FR history. Plus, at the end, you can hunt down Lashan in Myth Drannor, which is a great module!

The way I start that game is that Lashan is the young, new Lord of Scardale and he is taking the Dale to new heights. The bustling port seems to have more business then ever before. New artisans come to down and new construction is happening all over town. Also, Lashan is hiring adventurers for various jobs and is paying well. The party is a group of hopefuls that is trying to get hired by Lashan. Perhaps they all know each other, or they all meet up in Scardale Town and decide to band together.

Now, the backstory is that Lashan is getting ambitious and is trying to start to invade the rest of the Dalelands. He wants to acquire as much magic as he can to help his military campaign. Lashan will have to rely on lots of mercenaries, and if he can make it a swift victory, then he has to pay them less. So, he hires adventurers to get lots of lost magic from all over the Dragon Reach. It's a great way to explore the surrounding area. Also, the party gets to hunt various magic items, but doesn't have to keep them. This way, the party doesn't get overburdened with magic. Personally, I run a "magic light" campaign.

For me, I wanted to a run a game that tested the players "character". I mean morals when i say that. Lashan is going to hire them for relatively standard missions. Slowly, though, the easy magic items are going to be gotten. Lashan is going to try to hire them for harder missions and more morally ambigious missions. Perhaps they have to raid an elven tomb to get some crystal wand to help out in things. The daughter of this elf is still alive and the party must fight her and the guardians of the tomb. It can get more vicious and more vicious until it comes to obviously murdering innocent people. At some point, a good party is going to have to say NO. Of course, if the party really has no heart, they can follow everything. I found it really interesting to run this game b/c it challenged the party to stand up to the DM and say "NO! I refuse to do this mission!". It's not your standard "the dm is going to lead us along the path" type of campaign. So, the point of the campaign was to have the players eventually stand up and turn against Lashan (and eventually find out about his war plans) or end up joining Lashan in his dreams of conquest (and of course end up on the loosing side). I found this to be an extremely interesting concept.

The great finale for the adventure would be the module that was in a Dragon magazine of yore, and was also in the old Grey Boxed set. It is a lvl 6 adventure (but could be easily tweaked) were Lashan's forces get defeated and Lashan flees to recently unguarded Myth Drannor. The party gets hired to track him down and stop him. It's a great module and a great conclusion to the game. What the players do can really have an effect on their status after the whole endevour. Still, though, the party should not really have an overall effect on what happens in the campaign storyline. Lashan will go to war, he will almost win, and then he will loose. I also found that part to be interesting b/c no matter what the pcs did, that would happen. It's kinda like being a german solider in WWII. No matter how good you fight, you will eventually loose. Overall, though, the party can't be too far over lvl 6 or the last adventure will have to be changed a lot.

Now, I think this is a big enough post for now. This is one campaign that I thought about for years. I've got a lot more details that I can give you, but I am not sure how much you want to hear. I've got NPCs that I worked on. I've got modules that I used. I've got back stories that I used. You name it, and I got it. If you like the idea, I can help you flesh it out more with what I used. Still, if you want to use something else, that's fine too.
cigaran
04-12-04, 04:58 PM Lashan,

Sounds great! If you don't mind, I'd be happy to hear any ideas! I've kind of been leaning to doing a few quick mini adventures myself and you make a very good point about the PC's not caring about what gods die since they wouldn't really have know about them.

Not to sound lazy but I'd love to take a look at what you have. Avdenture Moduels, maps, NPC would all be appreciated if you'd care to share. If nothing else, I could see the role of the NPC's and sub with one that I've got for later that fits the role. I'll PM you with my e-mail so we can get in touch. Thanks a bunch man!

:D
Lashan
04-12-04, 06:03 PM I don't mind blabbing about this campaign idea b/c I spent so much time on it. I got your pm and I will send you an email with more detail. It will be later tonight or tomorrow as I am leaving work at the momment.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
cigaran 04-12-04, 01:31 AM	Well, let's hope this is the right spot for this. I'm planning on running a long and far reaching campain to go back into some of the Realms past. A big part of this is due to the fact that most of my current players are post 3rd Edition and have no clue of what's gone on in the past. While I'd gladly take the time myself to do this, I figure maybe someone has tried this at least once before. I'm looking to see if the Avatar Trilogy has be converted to 3rd or 3.5. If not, then I guess I'll be looking for a spot to post my own conversions in the next few weeks. I'm also after the Marco Volo Trilogy and the Castle Spulzeer adventures as well. Anywho, any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Kuje31 04-12-04, 01:57 AM	Originally posted by cigaran Well, let's hope this is the right spot for this. I'm planning on running a long and far reaching campain to go back into some of the Realms past. A big part of this is due to the fact that most of my current players are post 3rd Edition and have no clue of what's gone on in the past. While I'd gladly take the time myself to do this, I figure maybe someone has tried this at least once before. I'm looking to see if the Avatar Trilogy has be converted to 3rd or 3.5. If not, then I guess I'll be looking for a spot to post my own conversions in the next few weeks. I'm also after the Marco Volo Trilogy and the Castle Spulzeer adventures as well. Anywho, any help is appreciated! Thanks! The Marco Volo Trilogy and Castle Spulzeer can be downloaded, for free, on the link below. :) http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/downloads
Zanan 04-12-04, 04:24 AM	At the same link you'll find material which has Arcane Age written all over it. They go back to the days when Faerūn was still "young" ... at least from humanity's point of view. The days when elves battled demons and what have you during the Fall of Myth Drannor for example ...
Lashan 04-12-04, 12:18 PM	Personally, I think this is a great idea. I've done it numerous times for my players. I feel it is better to have the characters go through all of the great history for FR. People complain about how the time line hasn't advanced yet. Well, you just need to start a bit further back in the history, and that gives you much more time to get up to speed!!! Now, I know that there are a lot of conversion sites for old modules to get updated to 3E. If you are at least a little comfortable to 3E, you can do it yourself. Still, for the lazy, if you do a google search, you can find a conversion document that people have posted out there online. It is great when trying to use the old modules. The question to ask is when do you want to begin the old game? There are some good and bad points in using the old modules. For one, most people agree that the old Time of Trouble modules series is poorly written. It really steamrollers you through things and the players aren't given much choice. Still, you can always have your players play in the ToT without having to go through that module. Or, you can change the module enough to make it more enjoyable. Another thing that you have to think about is what modules you want the party to go through? There is a great boxed set adventure about the Horde. You know, that giant mongul invasion of Faerun. The series of modules start at one level and continue through another. You either have to seriously change the levels of the modules or the timing so that it fits your players at that exact time. There are so many modules and things to go through, that it is hard to plan the adventures to match timeline and party levels. Personally, I would (and have done) several campaigns in the past history of FR. This way, you can start off way back in the past (for me, it's now 1340 DR) and work your way forward. This one campaign can end, but still no be up to date! You can start another campaign roughly around the same timeline and continue the overall story of FR. This way, you can go through almost every part of the history of the game world and your players will get it all. Just a thought. I hope this helps. I have run one campaign that was set in Lashan's war of the Dalelands and can always give what modules I used and ideas I incorporated. Let me know if you want any ideas.
cigaran 04-12-04, 01:19 PM	I'd be glad to hear any ideas that could enhance the game! For those first posters, perhaps you miss my intent here. I'm well aware of the free downloads from WOTC of the old material and I have physical copies of 75% of all FR material that is in or has been in print. What I'm after is the adventures converted to 3rd edition or 3.5 so that I could save myself a hell of a lot of time and trouble. My intent is to use the ToT adventures to intoduce the main aspects of the Realms. I'm well aware (sadly) that those have a feeling of "go here, do this, get that item" quests. I'm hoping to add in some stuff that will come into play later on in the campain. My intention is to begin with the ToT and the do a couple of Undermountain runs after that since the PC will be in Waterdeep as it is. After that, I'm hoping to run the Marco Volo series to give them a little trip around the Realms. After that, it's off to Castle Spulzeer to have a few more adventures. From here, if all goes well, they'll be in Ravenloft. I'm hoping to run a few 'Loft adventures to lead up to using Die Vecna, Die to get them to Sigil to send them on the For Duty or Deity module. While I know that this is a very epic plan, I'm hoping it will go well. My group may be a little low on Realm info but they do love a good story and I've always thought it a very odd coincidence that with the exception of having to run some Undermountain, all these adventures stop at a level where the next one would begin and it leaves the PC's in pretty much the exact location that they need to be. Again, any thoughts or suggestion are very much welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!
Lashan 04-12-04, 04:38 PM	Personally, if you start the adventure with the Time of Troubles, you loose a lot of the grandoiseness of the adventure. I think that the Time of Troubles is something to shake a FR game. It's not the best way to introduce the setting. One would think that gods come and go all the time in FR. Personally, I would start for a while before that, and then work your way up there. In fact, if you wanted to do a string of campaigns, such as a mini-campaign to get your characters in the mode for FR, then run one before the whole ToT. Having gods die is nothing if you don't know who those gods are. Now, I have run a game that was set around Lashan's attempt to take over the Dalelands. This way, you can see the Elven Retreat from Cormanthyr, the politics of the Dalelands, and have a big enemy that isn't one of the boring staples of the game. I always found it a great part of FR history. Plus, at the end, you can hunt down Lashan in Myth Drannor, which is a great module! The way I start that game is that Lashan is the young, new Lord of Scardale and he is taking the Dale to new heights. The bustling port seems to have more business then ever before. New artisans come to down and new construction is happening all over town. Also, Lashan is hiring adventurers for various jobs and is paying well. The party is a group of hopefuls that is trying to get hired by Lashan. Perhaps they all know each other, or they all meet up in Scardale Town and decide to band together. Now, the backstory is that Lashan is getting ambitious and is trying to start to invade the rest of the Dalelands. He wants to acquire as much magic as he can to help his military campaign. Lashan will have to rely on lots of mercenaries, and if he can make it a swift victory, then he has to pay them less. So, he hires adventurers to get lots of lost magic from all over the Dragon Reach. It's a great way to explore the surrounding area. Also, the party gets to hunt various magic items, but doesn't have to keep them. This way, the party doesn't get overburdened with magic. Personally, I run a "magic light" campaign. For me, I wanted to a run a game that tested the players "character". I mean morals when i say that. Lashan is going to hire them for relatively standard missions. Slowly, though, the easy magic items are going to be gotten. Lashan is going to try to hire them for harder missions and more morally ambigious missions. Perhaps they have to raid an elven tomb to get some crystal wand to help out in things. The daughter of this elf is still alive and the party must fight her and the guardians of the tomb. It can get more vicious and more vicious until it comes to obviously murdering innocent people. At some point, a good party is going to have to say NO. Of course, if the party really has no heart, they can follow everything. I found it really interesting to run this game b/c it challenged the party to stand up to the DM and say "NO! I refuse to do this mission!". It's not your standard "the dm is going to lead us along the path" type of campaign. So, the point of the campaign was to have the players eventually stand up and turn against Lashan (and eventually find out about his war plans) or end up joining Lashan in his dreams of conquest (and of course end up on the loosing side). I found this to be an extremely interesting concept. The great finale for the adventure would be the module that was in a Dragon magazine of yore, and was also in the old Grey Boxed set. It is a lvl 6 adventure (but could be easily tweaked) were Lashan's forces get defeated and Lashan flees to recently unguarded Myth Drannor. The party gets hired to track him down and stop him. It's a great module and a great conclusion to the game. What the players do can really have an effect on their status after the whole endevour. Still, though, the party should not really have an overall effect on what happens in the campaign storyline. Lashan will go to war, he will almost win, and then he will loose. I also found that part to be interesting b/c no matter what the pcs did, that would happen. It's kinda like being a german solider in WWII. No matter how good you fight, you will eventually loose. Overall, though, the party can't be too far over lvl 6 or the last adventure will have to be changed a lot. Now, I think this is a big enough post for now. This is one campaign that I thought about for years. I've got a lot more details that I can give you, but I am not sure how much you want to hear. I've got NPCs that I worked on. I've got modules that I used. I've got back stories that I used. You name it, and I got it. If you like the idea, I can help you flesh it out more with what I used. Still, if you want to use something else, that's fine too.
cigaran 04-12-04, 04:58 PM	Lashan, Sounds great! If you don't mind, I'd be happy to hear any ideas! I've kind of been leaning to doing a few quick mini adventures myself and you make a very good point about the PC's not caring about what gods die since they wouldn't really have know about them. Not to sound lazy but I'd love to take a look at what you have. Avdenture Moduels, maps, NPC would all be appreciated if you'd care to share. If nothing else, I could see the role of the NPC's and sub with one that I've got for later that fits the role. I'll PM you with my e-mail so we can get in touch. Thanks a bunch man! :D
Lashan 04-12-04, 06:03 PM	I don't mind blabbing about this campaign idea b/c I spent so much time on it. I got your pm and I will send you an email with more detail. It will be later tonight or tomorrow as I am leaving work at the momment.