Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Phil73805 10-25-07, 06:14 PM	Hi all, I'm new to the forum and fairly new to the DM'ing business. I'm about to start a campaign in the Moonsea area. The plan is to use the first adventure in Mysteries of the Moonsea (MotM) to take my players from 2nd to 4th level and then start the Sons of Gruumsh adventure followed by Cormyr, The Tearing of the Weave. I have carefully studied the first adventure in MotM, The Devil's Fire Tavern and there are a couple of problems. First of all there is a reference to the stats for Corwyn on page 18 which points you in the direction of page 15...but there are no stats for him on page 15, where are they? As adventures go there is not alot of detail, I assume that it's up to me to fill in the gaps? Secondly while I can figure out interesting ways to get my boys to the tavern I can't think how they'll get to the back of the tavern where the action is without alerting someone. I assume that taverns in the Forgotten Realms are open all hours that the gods send, so they can't wait 'til closing time and Corwyn's staff (and heavies) seem to be on the prowl constantly. Last but not least, there is a great deal of difference regarding details of Melvaunt's politics and rulers from MotM to The Sons of Gruumsh, which version is correct? Thanks for you help Phil
sillaric_culdanin 10-25-07, 06:36 PM	I'll try to tackle these in order, as I've actually run this module a couple of times now (the Devil's Fire portion, not the whole book). The stats for Jaffe are actually in the first wilderness quest (the one about infiltrating the pirate/bandit camp). With regard to sneaking in, there are a couple ways to do it. The first group that ran through the adventure ended up starting a massive brawl in the tavern when a rival walked in by chance and recognized them (they were spying incognito after the halfling Blackabuck paid them to). In the craziness Jaffe fled and the group followed him down. He escaped but they managed to follow his path of escape down the tunnel and into the caves (where a nasty ambush awaited them :]). They rescued the slaves then were sent to find Jaffe's hidden lair in the wilderness. With the second group (for which I had only three players) they didn't have a great deal of firepower or numbers so one of them entered the tavern to spy on things while the other found a small window opening into an alley behind the tavern. The sneaky one got in, did a little scouting then both fled the first night after causing a crazy ruckus and murdering the bartender. They returned two mornings later and snuck in through the window, meaning to catch Jaffe in bed, but he wasn't there. They ended up finding the secret door and exploring the lair below. They had a very hard time with the final battle. With regard to MotM vs SoG... I'd modify Sons of Gruumsh to match the political lanscape in MotM (its the more current source so likely considered canon). Those are my thoughts... GOOD LUCK :]. It serves as a great opening adventure campaign set in any coastal city (I set it once in Melvaunt, then used it again in Waterdeep).
Phil73805 10-25-07, 07:02 PM	Thanks Silaric, much appreciated! Any other tips or ideas from others that have run this campaign (or the others I've mentioned) would be appreciated. I'm a relatively new DM and a little nervous :) Phil
sillaric_culdanin 10-25-07, 07:30 PM	Phil, in the future feel free to the [RDM] tag when you start a thread like this. Its something me and a few others have recently come up with for DMs looking for help with DMing stuff :).
Brenigin 10-28-07, 06:45 AM	The politics in Mysteries of the Moonsea seem to line up better with the 2e sources. I'd go with those.