So I'm planning to adapt the 4e Tomb of Horrors adventure (by the esteemed Marmell and Gray) for use in the FR game I'm running. My PCs have a few levels before they're appropriately matched for it, but it never hurts to start the planning early.
I have my own ideas from reading through the book, but I thought I'd post on the forums to see if anyone else has ideas. Also because someone else might see this and go "OOOH! I need to do that in my campaign!"
Also IF YOU'RE ONE OF MY PLAYERS GET OUT OF THE THREAD NOW!!! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!
Good then! I'll put the rest of this first post in spoiler, just so people don't accidentally see what I'm going to say next. Don't feel the need to do that yourself.
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So I'm thinking in my game, the great BBEBG behind the adventure--originally billed as Acererak--is really going to be (yeah, you guessed it) LARLOCH, who has survived the Spellplague as (yes) a demilich. His motivations are also a little different from Acererak's as presented in the book, but the results will be remarkably the same: in the absence of Mystra, Larloch sees an opportunity to become the new god of magic, and so this is his bid to do so.
Obviously, references to core gods throughout the book are going to be converted into Realmsian equivalents. I think Vecna's role (which is fairly substantial) will be taken over by Shar (who makes a great villain), and the Eye of Vecna will actually be some great artifact of Velsharoon.
I'm altering the Tomb of Dead Gods at the end to be a procession of FR dead deities ('cuz gods/goddesses know there are a lot of those), including Nerull = Myrkul, god of Justice = Tyr, etc., etc. I plan on having my PCs fight aspects of dead gods, both good and evil.
So. Other ideas that people have got, to help me with this endeavor?
Obviously, references to core gods throughout the book are going to be converted into Realmsian equivalents. I think Vecna's role (which is fairly substantial) will be taken over by Shar (who makes a great villain), and the Eye of Vecna will actually be some great artifact of Velsharoon.
I'm altering the Tomb of Dead Gods at the end to be a procession of FR dead deities ('cuz gods/goddesses know there are a lot of those), including Nerull = Myrkul, god of Justice = Tyr, etc., etc. I plan on having my PCs fight aspects of dead gods, both good and evil.
So. Other ideas that people have got, to help me with this endeavor?
Any suggestions? Thoughts? Things about the Tomb that really appeal to you, so you want to make sure I share the "love" (i.e. hate) with my PCs?
Cheers
I'll read it over today and see what particularly 'fun' parts stick out in my sadistic..er...creative brain and let you know my opinions. I'm sure some of the others will throw out some ideas that you can tell your players to blame on them instead.
For the Eye of Vecna, why not have it as the Eye of Myrkul and place it in the remains of the Mere of Dead Men north of Waterdeep? That way you might even be able to squeeze in the good bits from 2E's Mere of Dead Men series.
If Larloch (or anyone else) is going to become the new deity of magic I think he also needs a way to "harvest" areas of active Spellplague. This would also mean that the Order of Blue Fire needs to be involved (assuming you agree with this). I would be creating another eldritch engine in the middle of a Plagueland as the "harvester".
Could I ask what you have your group doing by way of adventures prior to the first ToH adventure?
I was planning on Szass being involved--my plan was to re-set chapter 3, Skull City, in Thay. Play up the necropolis to the next extreme.
For the Eye of Vecna, why not have it as the Eye of Myrkul and place it in the remains of the Mere of Dead Men north of Waterdeep? That way you might even be able to squeeze in the good bits from 2E's Mere of Dead Men series.
Good call. I don't suppose it would make sense to use, instead of the Eye of Vecna, the Crown of Thorns?
If Larloch (or anyone else) is going to become the new deity of magic I think he also needs a way to "harvest" areas of active Spellplague. This would also mean that the Order of Blue Fire needs to be involved (assuming you agree with this). I would be creating another eldritch engine in the middle of a Plagueland as the "harvester".
I did kinda want to use them. This would be a great way to do it.
Could I ask what you have your group doing by way of adventures prior to the first ToH adventure?
Sure. I've run through the available Realms stuff, mostly as my way of forming my own opinion about its quality (and been quite pleased with the results), including the Loudwater stuff presented in the FRCG (in the town proper as well as the slaver stuff), followed by Scepter Tower of Spellgard, then the characters ended up in Waterdeep, where they have been ever since. Our game in Waterdeep utilizes several of my novel characters, and a few guest stars from the other Eddie Presents Waterdeep series.
Actually, one of my players (Ben) posts a regular journal from his character's perspective (Suriel, a drow-scarred elf invoker), which is a pretty fun read.
His first entry (from back in January) is here: community.wizards.com/zephsright/blog/20...
As you can see, there are numerous entries. They've gone from level 1 to level 7 over the last nine months. That's not so unreasonable, is it, if we play every two weeks or so? I expect them to be paragon by our one year anniversary.
His most recent entry, ending a major campaign arc, is here--some of the entry contains an adapted summary I wrote as well: community.wizards.com/zephsright/blog/20...
I'm thinking their exploits in Waterdeep are kinda winding down, and I'd like to step them up to the next (paragon) level, where they start doing more traveling and Realms-shaking.
Cheers
Hmmm, alternatively it might be a good place to send them to during the paragon tier to find out more about what is happening? There are some interesting ideas for spellweaver ruins in one or more of the 3.5E Shackled City adventures, together with an Ecology article in Dragon.
The Crown of Horns might be a more canon substitute, in a sense, for the Eye of Vecna/Myrkul and could even provide an alternative BBEG in due course. Will you be including its links to Skullport and Nhyris D'hothek (sp?)?
(I've always thought that Jergal has a bigger scheme in mind than what has been apparent in Realmslore to date. What if he manipulated Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul from the time of their apotheosis, through the Time of Troubles until now all with the goal of supplanting Mystra and possibly even Ao? Eric Boyd postulated a theory in the FR-ification of the Age of Worms AP that Jergal was actually a spellweaver and this could tie back nicely to the spellweaver ruins near Loudwater and their connection to the harvesting of the plaguelands... and even their proximity to the ruins of Karse.)
There is also an LFR adventure set in Elturgard that involves an advancing plagueland. I cannot recall the name as I have only read a few campaign journals referring to it but it's the great big interactive that is played at Cons. You might be able to steal some ideas from it to cover any plagueland-related adventures plus it has the advantage of being set near the site of Bhaal's demise if you want to tie that particular dead deity into the storyline also.
As for involving Szass, what if he is merely a pawn of Larloch? After all, I seem to recall that he bargained with Larloch at some point so perhaps the dread rings that he is building are actually at Larloch's behest?
OK, I'm rambling at this point but, in my defence, it's after 3am here and I'm jetlagged after travelling haflway across the world and back. I'll have a fresh look at this thread tomorrow and see if I can't rewrite my thoughts so that they're clearer.
I might be able to use Stormkeep after all, should my PCs have to *pay a visit* to their old friends (who drove them out of town as entirely too dangerous for Loudwater).
I do rather like the Dread Ring connection, and I've always liked Jergal. Hmm!
Cheers
There are a couple of hooks there for the ideas I posted. I wonder if it would be too cruel to have those plaguechanged "mongrelfolk" also taken by yuan-ti slavers? Perhaps the BBEG needs them for his eldritch machine that will be used to harvest the plaguelands because he first he wants to try it on the plaguechanged.
As for the yuan-ti slavers themselves, why not have them serve the wearer of the Crown of Horns? I seem to recall that 2E had a yuan-ti abomination named Nhyris D'hothek as the last wearer. The fact that he is yuan-ti provides a nice connection to the yuan-ti slavers.
(The Crown of Horns had the power in 2E, at least, to transform its wearer into a lich. IMC, Nhyris D'hothek is a devourer [the 3.5E kind] rather than a lich. When he captures an enemy in his ribcage he can drain that enemy of life and use it to fuel his more powerful abilities. I did a rough draft of this some time ago which I can post if you are interested. I specifically bought the bone naga miniature to represent him.)
This really is an interesting thought exercise as it ties together some of the ideas I have had. I hope you post more about the direction your campaign is going to take so I can see what I can steal!
Firstly, I love the idea of Larloch being the BBEG. I was thinking of using Szass Tam but Larloch is a much better fit.
For the Eye of Vecna, why not have it as the Eye of Myrkul and place it in the remains of the Mere of Dead Men north of Waterdeep? That way you might even be able to squeeze in the good bits from 2E's Mere of Dead Men series.
If Larloch (or anyone else) is going to become the new deity of magic I think he also needs a way to "harvest" areas of active Spellplague. This would also mean that the Order of Blue Fire needs to be involved (assuming you agree with this). I would be creating another eldritch engine in the middle of a Plagueland as the "harvester".
Could I ask what you have your group doing by way of adventures prior to the first ToH adventure?
In my game I'm considering using Myrkul as well. I discovered that Dungeon mag #73 is all about the Eye of Myrkul.
In my campaign, the PCs defeated a wizard /alchemist who managed to create two vials of liquid spellplague. One vial Jarlaxle took from them and the other they are hunting down. The vials of liquid spell-plague are so powerfull that one drop placed in an ever-smoking bottle has the potential of creating a plagueland.