Campaign Conversion: Shadowdale -- the Scouring of the Land - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Campaign Conversion: Shadowdale -- the Scouring of the Land

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
damnedmage
Jan 05, 2010 17:35:50 I am working on converting the 3.5 Mega Adventure Shadowdale: the Scouring of the Land to 4th edition. Most of it is a fairly simple conversion; monsters, magic items, and so forth are very easy to translate, as are the interactions with the people of Shadowdale. However, there are two major mechanical portions of the game which I am struggling with converting, and I was hoping the good people of this thread might have some good ideas.

Of note, I am working on converting the mechanics to 4th edition; however, I am leaving the setting in the pre-4th-edition changes. Therefore, Mystra and the Weave are still alive, Shar is still trying to steal everything, and so on and so forth.

The Unwinding Weave
Described on page 12 of the Adventure, this mechanic deals with a Ritual that is taking place which negates arcane magic. Obviously I can't post the whole block here, but I will give a brief synopsis.

At stage 1, evocation, transmutation, and light spells take a -4 penalty to caster level. Other spells take a -1 penalty to caster level. Shadow Weave magic users are not affected.
At stage 2, evocation, transmutation, and light spells do not work. Other spells take a -2 caster level. Shadow Weave magic users are not affected.
At stage 3, the area is a dead magic zone. This functions as an antimagic field, except Shadow Weave magic users are not affected.

This is meant to be an ongoing problem that severely impacts the players and makes every part of the adventure much more challenging. They gain a boon at some point that helps them to ignore these effects; however, I would like to know how to adjudicate it properly.

I had a few thoughts for handling Stage 1, but Stages 2 and 3 have some difficulty:

Stage 1: Powers with the Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Radiant, or Necrotic keywords deal -2 damage. Arcane, Divine, and Primal powers take a -1 penalty to attack rolls.
Stage 2: Powers with the Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Radiant, or Necrotic keywords deal -10 damage. Arcane, Divine, and Primal powers take a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
Stage 3: Powers with the Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Radiant, or Necrotic keywords deal -15 damage. Arcane, Divine, and Primal powers take a -4 penalty to attack rolls.

I don't really like this solution, though; in some ways it feels too strong, and in others it feels like it just doesn't fit the theme of the original penalties. Any suggestions?

Shadow Weave magic users are not affected.

Weather
The second thing players face is harsh weather. The entire campaign takes place in the harsh weather of Deepwinter, including Blizzards, Snowstorms, and ice. Obviously resisting the effects of cold is a simple Endurance check (DC 15); however, I was thinking it might be more interesting if I created large area features which involved snow and ice. Does anyone have any simple suggestions for how to convert these?

Thanks for your help!
#2
Imruphel
Jan 06, 2010 7:53:07 Very cool, damnedmage. I was wondering if anyone would get around to converting this to 4E. There's some great stuff in this adventure and, in many ways, it's going to be easier to run in 4E than 3.5E.

The Unwinding Weave

Honestly? I think you have nailed it already. You could probably even make the effects more pronounced. I realise that's not exactly a "balanced" suggestion but it does fit the story. Have you thought about it having no effect on necrotic effects? It might creep out some players when their characters feel a shadowy chill in their bones as they use a necrotic power and realise that Shar has just touched them.

Will you be applying these effects to magic items too? (I would be tempted to give the attack roll penalty to anyone using a power with the weapon keyword to reflect the loss of magical plusses.)

Weather

The best way I have seen this handled in 4E is in the Dungeon adventure Menace of the Icy Spire. There is a skill challenge in there for dealing with a blizzard. I would recommend using that rather than simply starting from scratch. (If you do, I hope you will post how it went on here.)

Good luck with your conversion!
#3
damnedmage
Jan 06, 2010 14:19:13 Wow, there's some excellent material in Menace of the Icy Spire; not just the blizzard rules, but also rules for various terrain types, and a hazard. That's an excellent resource for how to handle cold climates. Thank you very much for the poitner, Imruphel.

I'm not so sure how I feel about letting Necrotic be directly associated with Shar. That would be like saying all Wizards in 3.5 who cast Shadow Conjuration are drawing on the Shadow Weave, too, or necromancy. I think I'd rather say that characters who have a Shadow power source (Assassins only, for now), whether by Multiclass, Hybrid, or Straight-class are unaffected. Handily, this will actually come up, since I have a Bard who has taken every single striker multiclass available. Should be fun to watch her squirm when she realises her Arcane magic is unaffected because she's secretly serving Shar. Especially with a Mystran priest in the group.

Sadly, with only the one Shadow class out, it won't be as dramatic as it could be, but I will deal.

If anyone else has any other advice on this conversion, please let me know! Thanks very much for your help.
#4
Imruphel
Jan 06, 2010 18:53:34 Yes, your comment on necrotic is probably right. I just thought it might be interesting at the tier 3 level, for example, to show the effects of Shar's corruption.
#5
damnedmage
Mar 29, 2010 13:17:52 So far so good. The bard thinks it's hi-larious that everyone else suffers these penalties and she doesn't. She hasn't figured it out, yet. She will when Syluné gets twitchy.

Speaking of Syluné, does anyone have any suggestions on how to convert a Nishruu? I know that magic-eating effects like that are broken in 4th Edition and generally ill-advised, but it's sorta important to that particular fight. And I'm almost there! Help?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 damnedmage Jan 05, 2010 17:35:50	I am working on converting the 3.5 Mega Adventure Shadowdale: the Scouring of the Land to 4th edition. Most of it is a fairly simple conversion; monsters, magic items, and so forth are very easy to translate, as are the interactions with the people of Shadowdale. However, there are two major mechanical portions of the game which I am struggling with converting, and I was hoping the good people of this thread might have some good ideas. Of note, I am working on converting the mechanics to 4th edition; however, I am leaving the setting in the pre-4th-edition changes. Therefore, Mystra and the Weave are still alive, Shar is still trying to steal everything, and so on and so forth. The Unwinding Weave Described on page 12 of the Adventure, this mechanic deals with a Ritual that is taking place which negates arcane magic. Obviously I can't post the whole block here, but I will give a brief synopsis. At stage 1, evocation, transmutation, and light spells take a -4 penalty to caster level. Other spells take a -1 penalty to caster level. Shadow Weave magic users are not affected. At stage 2, evocation, transmutation, and light spells do not work. Other spells take a -2 caster level. Shadow Weave magic users are not affected. At stage 3, the area is a dead magic zone. This functions as an antimagic field, except Shadow Weave magic users are not affected. This is meant to be an ongoing problem that severely impacts the players and makes every part of the adventure much more challenging. They gain a boon at some point that helps them to ignore these effects; however, I would like to know how to adjudicate it properly. I had a few thoughts for handling Stage 1, but Stages 2 and 3 have some difficulty: Stage 1: Powers with the Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Radiant, or Necrotic keywords deal -2 damage. Arcane, Divine, and Primal powers take a -1 penalty to attack rolls. Stage 2: Powers with the Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Radiant, or Necrotic keywords deal -10 damage. Arcane, Divine, and Primal powers take a -2 penalty to attack rolls. Stage 3: Powers with the Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Radiant, or Necrotic keywords deal -15 damage. Arcane, Divine, and Primal powers take a -4 penalty to attack rolls. I don't really like this solution, though; in some ways it feels too strong, and in others it feels like it just doesn't fit the theme of the original penalties. Any suggestions? Shadow Weave magic users are not affected. Weather The second thing players face is harsh weather. The entire campaign takes place in the harsh weather of Deepwinter, including Blizzards, Snowstorms, and ice. Obviously resisting the effects of cold is a simple Endurance check (DC 15); however, I was thinking it might be more interesting if I created large area features which involved snow and ice. Does anyone have any simple suggestions for how to convert these? Thanks for your help!
#2 Imruphel Jan 06, 2010 7:53:07	Very cool, damnedmage. I was wondering if anyone would get around to converting this to 4E. There's some great stuff in this adventure and, in many ways, it's going to be easier to run in 4E than 3.5E. The Unwinding Weave Honestly? I think you have nailed it already. You could probably even make the effects more pronounced. I realise that's not exactly a "balanced" suggestion but it does fit the story. Have you thought about it having no effect on necrotic effects? It might creep out some players when their characters feel a shadowy chill in their bones as they use a necrotic power and realise that Shar has just touched them. Will you be applying these effects to magic items too? (I would be tempted to give the attack roll penalty to anyone using a power with the weapon keyword to reflect the loss of magical plusses.) Weather The best way I have seen this handled in 4E is in the Dungeon adventure Menace of the Icy Spire. There is a skill challenge in there for dealing with a blizzard. I would recommend using that rather than simply starting from scratch. (If you do, I hope you will post how it went on here.) Good luck with your conversion!
#3 damnedmage Jan 06, 2010 14:19:13	Wow, there's some excellent material in Menace of the Icy Spire; not just the blizzard rules, but also rules for various terrain types, and a hazard. That's an excellent resource for how to handle cold climates. Thank you very much for the poitner, Imruphel. I'm not so sure how I feel about letting Necrotic be directly associated with Shar. That would be like saying all Wizards in 3.5 who cast Shadow Conjuration are drawing on the Shadow Weave, too, or necromancy. I think I'd rather say that characters who have a Shadow power source (Assassins only, for now), whether by Multiclass, Hybrid, or Straight-class are unaffected. Handily, this will actually come up, since I have a Bard who has taken every single striker multiclass available. Should be fun to watch her squirm when she realises her Arcane magic is unaffected because she's secretly serving Shar. Especially with a Mystran priest in the group. Sadly, with only the one Shadow class out, it won't be as dramatic as it could be, but I will deal. If anyone else has any other advice on this conversion, please let me know! Thanks very much for your help.
#4 Imruphel Jan 06, 2010 18:53:34	Yes, your comment on necrotic is probably right. I just thought it might be interesting at the tier 3 level, for example, to show the effects of Shar's corruption.
#5 damnedmage Mar 29, 2010 13:17:52	So far so good. The bard thinks it's hi-larious that everyone else suffers these penalties and she doesn't. She hasn't figured it out, yet. She will when Syluné gets twitchy. Speaking of Syluné, does anyone have any suggestions on how to convert a Nishruu? I know that magic-eating effects like that are broken in 4th Edition and generally ill-advised, but it's sorta important to that particular fight. And I'm almost there! Help?