I'm interested in this because I have bought Marauders and intend to run it.
I suggest we look at it in 2 ways, General and Encounter Specific.
General Adjustments
There are at least 3 things we need to address, Plot Hooks, Treasure and Role Playing.
I'll start with the plot hooks.
Plot Hooks
Adventure Beckons:Asked to search for stuff? Really? Asking? That works on Athas? I don't think so. Hired seems more appropriate.
Merchant Caravan: House Shom is trying to trick you! It's obvious, otherwise they wouldn't give you something to read. Seriously, you should change this so either the PCs are already involved with a merchant house (like Vordon) and either instructed or hired (if unattached) to investigate missing caravans.
Still seems rather weak, but it's probably the best we can do.
Nightmares in the Waste: The weakest of the 3, IMHO, but it does have a reference to Yarnath. I'd suggest changing this into a more Yarnath focused hook. After all, if it's something he finds interesting, it might be worth looking into.
Merchant Caravan: House Shom is trying to trick you! It's obvious, otherwise they wouldn't give you something to read. Seriously, you should change this so either the PCs are already involved with a merchant house (like Vordon) and either instructed or hired (if unattached) to investigate missing caravans.
Still seems rather weak, but it's probably the best we can do.
Nightmares in the Waste: The weakest of the 3, IMHO, but it does have a reference to Yarnath. I'd suggest changing this into a more Yarnath focused hook. After all, if it's something he finds interesting, it might be worth looking into.
Suggestion by Nyarlathotep
Everyone with more than a little Psionic potential is being plagued by nightmares. The more Psionic the individual, the more intense the nightmare.
The Veiled Alliance is also looking into the situation and one of their divinations results in the rhyme also present in the House Shom hook.
The Veiled Alliance is also looking into the situation and one of their divinations results in the rhyme also present in the House Shom hook.
Also, there's a big chance it'll be updated as I run the adventure and see what works and what doesn't. Perhaps if other people who also DM it (with personal adjustments) share their experience and ideas, we can create a wealth of material that can enhance the module.
As for now.. feel free to post
K-man
Additional note (and expect more of these).
I've noticed that my mind kinda wanders back and forth through the adventure, so I may not be quite linear in posting my adjustment, or readjustments.
To keep things somewhat more coherent and just to let you know what's up and all, I'll include the (new) tag when I update a previous idea.
Just as a side note, I'll include other people's suggestions (with reference) in my above post.
Also, there's a big chance it'll be updated as I run the adventure and see what works and what doesn't. Perhaps if other people who also DM it (with personal adjustments) share their experience and ideas, we can create a wealth of material that can enhance the module.
As for now.. feel free to post
K-man
Good post and thanks for the spoiler text. So far, all I know is that the adventure has a river in it which is something I hope my DM fixes
I direct him to this post right away.Awsome thread. I am about to post a spoiler block on how I think the river should be fixed... but first I have to figure out how to make spoiler blocks.
Spoiler blocks are rather easy:
[ spoiler ]text[ /spoiler ]
Show
text
Show
Ok, so, the river is not actually a real river. It is described as a magically created river inside the Face of the Stone. The quest even makes a point of mentioning that this river should be explained as strange and alien to the players. The only real problem is that this river is essentially, in Dark Sun, a massive renewable pot of gold (capable of being used to buy epic level items, no less!). The solution is simple. Any water gathered from this river turns to silt once it is removed from the Face in the Stone. Additionally, when the fragment of the Crown of Ul-Athra is removed from the Face in the Stone, the entire river should turn into silt.
Ah. I see. In that case:ShowOk, so, the river is not actually a real river. It is described as a magically created river inside the Face of the Stone. The quest even makes a point of mentioning that this river should be explained as strange and alien to the players. The only real problem is that this river is essentially, in Dark Sun, a massive renewable pot of gold (capable of being used to buy epic level items, no less!). The solution is simple. Any water gathered from this river turns to silt once it is removed from the Face in the Stone. Additionally, when the fragment of the Crown of Ul-Athra is removed from the Face in the Stone, the entire river should turn into silt.
Ah. I see. In that case:ShowOk, so, the river is not actually a real river. It is described as a magically created river inside the Face of the Stone. The quest even makes a point of mentioning that this river should be explained as strange and alien to the players. The only real problem is that this river is essentially, in Dark Sun, a massive renewable pot of gold (capable of being used to buy epic level items, no less!). The solution is simple. Any water gathered from this river turns to silt once it is removed from the Face in the Stone. Additionally, when the fragment of the Crown of Ul-Athra is removed from the Face in the Stone, the entire river should turn into silt.
Not sure if all those interested saw my previous updates/additions as I only edited my first post, and didn't actually post anything. So from now on I'll always include a small "update/bump" post after I alter something, which will be deleted when I "bump-up" next.
K-man
As I started running Marauders a few weeks ago, I thought it might be nice to keep you all updated on my experience. You can read my blog, to see how the story unfolds, and I'll update post #1 as I work on the encounters/issues.
In the meantime, if anyone else is also running Marauders, feel free to post your ideas/solutions/experiences. The original idea was, after all, to create a repository of suggestions here. I'll be sure to include all your suggestions in the first post.
K-man
K-man