This is my first 4th Edition campaign. I'm in the process of updating an old favorite to the new system. I thought I'd post up my ideas so far. Any questions, comments, suggestions are welcome whether you're familiar with the Bloodstone Pass or not.
Technically the campaign takes place in the Forgotten Realms, but we're still using the pantheon from the PHB as well. (Our group usually allows pretty much any deity, so Thor could show up, etc.) For the most part the group will stay in Damara and Vassa, -maybe- they'll get a chance to visit Impiltur, I don't see visiting other parts of the Realms as necessary unless the players want to. This will be set in the old timeline, but everything in the new editions will be allowed. Magic.
The heroes are all friends from the farming village of Ostrav in the Duchy of Arcta. I'm starting them off with the Scale of war adventure path since it's right on the lines of how I wanted to start the campaign, hordes of humanoids massing an army in the nearby Galena Mountains. Death Priests of Orcus have set into motion a plot to revive the evil Witch King of Vassa and are preparing for his imminent return by mustering an army of evil beings to conquer Damara, it's richer neighbor to the south.
The Players (currently lvl 2):
Aramil - Eladrin Paladin of Raven Queen
Dendil - Human Priest of Pelor
Keridan - Human Warrior
Shilo - Halfling Rogue
(we lost our 5th player, I'm contemplating making a tiefling wizard to fill in myself. Since our group doesn't really role-play I think this won't cause any problems).
Dendil - Human Priest of Pelor
Keridan - Human Warrior
Shilo - Halfling Rogue
(we lost our 5th player, I'm contemplating making a tiefling wizard to fill in myself. Since our group doesn't really role-play I think this won't cause any problems).
Would you have any interest in partnering to develop our campaign(s) together? I'm pretty capable when it comes to encounter design, etc. but definitely have some weak spots you might be able to help fill in.
If you need advice for specific parts of the adventure, explain them in more detail and I'll see what I can do. I never played the 3E module, so I may not be as helpful as some others, but I can try.
Party (as it started):
*Human (now goblin) wizard/apostle of peace
*Human (giant build) barbarain/paladin chain fighter
*Human ranger archer
*Dwarf Cleric of Clangeddin
*Gnome wizard/rogue/arcane trickster
*Human monk of the Yellow Rose
Party changes:
*Human archer ranger left after the Dungeon of Death
*Dwarf wizard/runecaster/initiate of 7-fold veil joined after Dungeon of Death
*Gnome wizard/rogue left after the Speaker in Dreams module.
*Human rogue assasin (former member of the Guild of Assassins), joined in Nightfang spire adventure. He was capture, and first as redeeming joined us, whilst the Apostle of Peace converted him to good.
Our characters started of in the south-west of damara, near the monastry of the yellow rose. Where we met in an inn and set out to adventure in an updated version of the Sunless Citadel. In the grove level one of the players got a sort of legacy item. With which he unknowingly set the vampire gulthias free.
Then we travelled to Osdrav (I can't remember why) and ventured into the Dungeon of Death (2E module), which was made into a base of operations by demons. Here we got the first hint of Orcus.
Then we went to Valls, where we landed into the Speaker in Dreams adventure. Ending with riots in Valls and the Temple of Tyr beign set on fire by the demons within. Which we defeated. If I remember correctly it was in this adventure we got a connecting with the Guild of Assassins. Which we investigated for further information by going after a Rakshasa, who was hiding amongst some cave trolls in mines in teh Galena Mountians. I don't know which module this was. Probably a 2E one.
The information of the Raksasa set up on the track of Gulthias again, who was building up a support for the armies of Vaasa in the Heart of the Nightfang Spire. Even though this is a v3.x adventure is did update a lot to make things more interesting. The final battle was probably the 5th time we actually fought him. And with a 2-2 score in "wins" it was a very tense battle. As we really wanted to defeat this hated enemy once and for all.
Upon defeating Gulthias and destroying the heart of Ashardalon, Gulthias' coffin, we were attacked by an Orcus priest, who cursed us, making teleportation and long distance magical communication impossible. And marking us as targets for Orcus worshippers, whilst others would think we worshipped Orcus.
Escaping the priest through a magic mirror present in the heart room, we landed outside, only to see a massive Vaasa army and an enormous Blizzard. We fled upon advice of a master of one of our characters, who was there to harrass the army. And went to the Shrine of the Weird in the middle of the Glacier of the White Worm. A long walk through the blizzard, brought us to what seemed to be it's center. I don't know which module the actual shrine was, but we eventually found the weird, and freed her from possession by a ghost of a druid from the great glacier.
The weird asked us to go to this druids people and restore his honour. We did, (again I don't know the next module) and found the eskimo's. The druid was a touchy subject as he had committed mass murder. But at the time the eskimo's had instated a new god, which we happened to recognize as Orcus in disguise. After clearing the druids name, and helping them see their folloy of following Orcus we returned to the Shrine of the Weird.
We then travelled to Valls, only to find out Damara had fallen. Goliath was lost, and all nobels had been assassinated in one night. Orcus was now everywhere in the land, trying to "help" the people.
In Valls we helped the Dr. Thrundels circus recapture it's animals. After some needed re-equipping in Hillsafar Halls (2 Characters are Dwarf, 1 is from this city). After this event we were enlisted by 2 young boys, who asked us to come to the aid of the village of Bloodstone. After turning down on the offer of Thrundels to become his lackeys, we teleported to Osdrav and set out to Bloodstone. We are now travelling.
I hope I've been any help. I'll notify our DM of this thread, maybe he can help you even more (and fill in some of the module gaps), but I don't know if he will make a direct post, knowing I'm lurking here as well.
I liked the Bloodstone modules, and it seems a decent plan, not sure how Tiamat fits though.
In the original Bloodstone Pass modules, the Wand of Orcus could only be destroyed by dipping it into the blood of Tiamat's heart.
Go 1st Edition! These were actually pretty fun modules. Never did finish them my players, but they were epic and full of old school DnD fun. I think I still have the 4th one kicking around somewhere...
Oh yeah, and IIRC, the campaign says it can up to level 100 or something.
There were hundredth level pre-gens if I remember right.
I gotta tell you though, as wacky as those things were, I loved 'em. Especially the Assassin's Run.
Oh yeah, and IIRC, the campaign says it can up to level 100 or something.
-Yup. That's "quite a few levels", alright.
From the modules text I got the impression that you were not really supposed to use 100 level pc's in the adventure but you could if you wanted to. With AD&D rules, characters around level 20 needed hundreds of thousands of xps each level to raise. You could not raise your char from level 18 to 100 during the course of this adventure.
That said there were a few nice battles to be fought, like 100 type III demons
led by 1 type V as soon as you stepped into Orcus's layer. Or the city with 50 liches, 10 death knights and 5 demi-liches. (There could have been more liches but 50 at least) The module suggested using Battlesystem rules for large fights.
I never got to run it but I used it a few times to see which layer of Abyss my PC's stumbled. I really liked the layer of depection where it turned out everything, including the terrain was hostile and tried to kill you if you saw through the illusion of it being your home.
This thread is nostalgia central for me.
Swinging back to jayemkay22's overview, I have a question. Jay(e), it looks like you have the original modules. Is #25 on your outline the point where the PCs fly to the location that bears what was my favorite place name in D&D, albeit one based on a gently willful mistranslation, Al-Amo, the Fortress of Love?
I am almost done running the second module myself, I had to make some massive metaplot changes and some basic changes as a result of the hokiness of some of the material included but overall a very enjoyable story.
I think the OP's ideas to introduce the modules and the plot timeline through the adventure (I think some of the nuances that are changed from the modules make a great deal of sense) are all very solid (I am still running 3.5 not 4.0 so I cannot speak to the 4.0 specific comments).
I would note that on Point 29 that Orcus must really be defeated in order to eliminate the threat he poses to Damara or at least the portal in the Mines and the portal in Castle Perilous should be permanently sealed. The module is written in a way that would seem to indicte that the characters must defeat Orcus and Tiamat.
I also think that is part of the reason why it is listed to level 100 as the threat level is so great. Of course it took MILLIONS of experience to even get to level 20 much less higher in 2 Ed and the character power differential from 20 to really any level above that was not very wide. No more HD only con bonuses to HP being one example.
Yes, I'm running an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons High Level Campaign: The Bloodstone Pass Saga.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodstone_Pass
H1 lvls 15+: Bloodstone Pass - The heroes are hired to protect the Village of Bloodstone from the army of The Grandfather of Assassins.
H2 lvls 16-18: The Mines of Bloodstone - The heroes delve into the mines to restore the wealth of the Bloodstone Barony and unearth a secret temple of Orcus in the process.
H3 lvls 17-20: The Bloodstone Wars - The Guild of Assassins returns with a vengeance with an attempt on the heroes lives, when that fails they start a war. The heroes must but down the puppet barons and counts serving the Witch King and reunite the good people of Damara and the banner of Bloodstone. Finally, there is a climatic showdown with the Grandfather of Assassins in his deadly trap filled lair.
H4 lvls 18-100!: The Throne of Bloodstone - The good armies of Damara are in a stalemate with the evil hordes of the Witch King. The heroes must infiltrate Castle Perilous then locate and destroy the source of the Witch Kings power... The Wand of Orcus.
In addition to these modules I also have The Bloodstone Lands FR accessory written by R.A. Salvatore.
Yes, as this is an old school style adventure, it features plenty of instant death traps (heck there's a section in the DMs info with the heading 'Never cut 100th lvl character an even break'. My how things have changed, eh?) and some silly stuff like... A halfling village with a yellow brick road and of course the Al-amo and St. Sollars the Twice Martyred whose sign is the Lone Star... Heh. Anywho, I'll be changing the silly stuff as my players don't appreciate that sort of stuff in game. The halfling village will be a well hidden tree town in a heavily wooded bayou. I'll be replacing the part of St. Sollars with The Raven Queen, as I think she would be very interested in orchestrating Orcus' demise. Thoughts?
As a lot has changed since AD&D I've had to modify the lay out of how the modules play out (see OP) I'm fairly happy with the general guidelines to lvls 15+ (which is pretty much all module stuff), what I'm concerned about (besides the current lack of rules for warfare) are the early levels. Getting them to the Bloodstone Pass and introducing aspects of campaign: The assassins, Death Cultists of Orcus, Giants, Humanoids, etc. The Kings Champion who eventually betrays him, I want the characters to be indirectly involved with that and/or the resurrection of the Witch King. Inadvertently tricked into helping... but not in a blatant way that might leave a bad taste in the PC's mouths, there's no angst in D&D you know! That's the domain of White Wolf.
This Sunday we continue Rescue at Rivenroar. I've made some simple cosmetic changes: Rivenroar is a in the Galena mountains (the same mountains that separate Vassa and Damara) and instead of the previous occupants secretly worshiping Vecna, it will be Orcus.
As for Drow, I don't -recall- them showing up but they might in the Bloodstone Mines. They're easy enough to throw in anyway, heck Drow are kinda like the Zombie Nazi Velociraptors of D&D. Everyone loves killin em. For the levels in the Abyss, I was thinking of doing Graz'zts, Demogorgons, and Lloths, before they get to Orcus so they'll at least have some Drow fun in the Demon Web Pits. On this topic I was thinking of having the entrance to Orcus' layer barred so the PC's will have to go to the other planes to find artifact keys to unlock the gates to his level. Basically I want to make sure they're level 29ish by the time they get there instead of letting it be totally random like in the module (which features the possibility of stumbling into the level of Instant Death for non evil creat
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Huh. I guess there's a limit on how much you ramble.
Oh yeah, and IIRC, the campaign says it can up to level 100 or something.
Yep.
I've played through The Throne of Bloodstone. We must of had something like 16 characters (run by four players) go on that adventure.
Too bad it ended in characters slaying other characters.
As for Drow, I don't -recall- them showing up but they might in the Bloodstone Mines. They're easy enough to throw in anyway, heck Drow are kinda like the Zombie Nazi Velociraptors of D&D. Everyone loves killin em. For the levels in the Abyss, I was thinking of doing Graz'zts, Demogorgons, and Lloths, before they get to Orcus so they'll at least have some Drow fun in the Demon Web Pits.
WotC producted a lot of 3E material on these guys, including Expedition to the Demonweb Pits. Obvioulsy you're using 4E, but the maps and plotlines might help out some.
creatures). Does this sound too lame or rail-roady?
Instant death is a no-no I think for 4E (my how things have changed indeed, eh? ;)) but I think if your players are cool with it and/or you throw in hints/divinations/etc...that such dangers exist, then go for it.
Some players like matching wits with the DM to try and overcome instant-death encounters.
As an aside I'd like to say your adventure overview for the three tiers of play is pretty impressive. Much more advanced than my game!
As for Drow, I don't -recall- them showing up but they might in the Bloodstone Mines.
-They wouldn't be in the modules, as that was before they were Realmsisized. Anyway, the Drow in the Galena Mountains (and below the Galena Mountains) are primarily Kiaransaleean Drows, who hunt down and kill the cultists of Orcus, for obvious reasons. Kiaransalee's Acropolis of Thanatos, the former Drow city of V’elddrinnsshar, her strongest seat of power, is located in the area, beneath the Galena Mountains.
Instant death is a no-no I think for 4E (my how things have changed indeed, eh? ;)) but I think if your players are cool with it and/or you throw in hints/divinations/etc...that such dangers exist, then go for it.
There is a misunderstanding here, and I realize I'm not the most coherent and logical poster so I apologize. When I mentioned the instant death stuff, I was just going over some of the interesting features of the original modules in response to a few posters who were discussing that topic. To be clear, I am attempting to reimagine this campaign setting completely to the letter and feel of 4th Ed.
I started playing D&D with the red box and I've played every edition since then, I really like the direction 4th Ed is going in. I never enjoyed save or die effects as a player or a DM and I'm glad to see them go.
I'll be replacing the part of St. Sollars with The Raven Queen, as I think she would be very interested in orchestrating Orcus' demise. Thoughts?
I like it, but you'll probably have to tweak the Raven Queen a bit for the Realms (or, make her your Realms deity of death), because in the 4E core cosmology, her hatred of Orcus has to do with the fact that she is the goddess of death and Orcus would like to steal her throne.
There is a misunderstanding here, and I realize I'm not the most coherent and logical poster so I apologize. When I mentioned the instant death stuff, I was just going over some of the interesting features of the original modules in response to a few posters who were discussing that topic.
Sorry about that jayemkay22. That was my bad.
To be clear, I am attempting to reimagine this campaign setting completely to the letter and feel of 4th Ed.
Well in that case, drop the save or die. ;)
Have you considered how to integrate skill challenges into your campaign?
-As we've done plenty of discussion about her, the Raven Queen, in the Forgotten Realms, could be the deity of death, while Kelemvor is the deity of the dead. A subtle, but distinct difference. And, this goes well with the entire "ravens/crows (don't remember which one off hand) are harbingers of death". She's the Realms equivalent of the Grim Reaper, and brings souls to the Fugue, while Kelemvor judges them and does whatever else that needs to be done. They both can coexist happily. Maybe the Raven Queen in Kelemvor's new girl, after having Mystra die, and stuff?
-Maybe she could be that Drow Goddess that got erased? What was her name again Special K. :D Maybe the Raven Queen is her human aspect, kinda like Selune and Sehainie(sp)! :embarrass
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-Maybe she could be that Drow Goddess that got erased? What was her name again Special K. :D Maybe the Raven Queen is her human aspect, kinda like Selune and Sehainie(sp)! :embarrass
I'd argue that it'd be unlikely for the Raven Queen* to be a cover for Kiaransalee, because the RQ hates undeath and considers it an avoidance of one's proper fate (that is, death). In that respect, the two goddesses are total opposites.
Remember, the Raven Queen is not evil, but unaligned (in pre-4E terms, she'd be either Lawful Neutral or True Neutral).
*Assuming one wants to use a version of the Raven Queen that's anything like the original, 4E core RQ.
-Maybe she could be that Drow Goddess that got erased? What was her name again Special K. :D Maybe the Raven Queen is her human aspect, kinda like Selune and Sehainie(sp)! :embarrass
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-Kiaransalee. No, I really don't see many similarities between the two. If they were going with the "No, [Insert Deity] is actually [Insert Another Deity]" thing in her case, Kiaransalee and Orcus/Tenebrous would much better go together. Those two are inseparable.
-The Raven Queen, she doesn't like Undeath, since it allows one to avoid death, which is her thing.