Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Cyber-Dave Feb 07, 2015 12:09:56	Title says it all. I am just wondering, from someone who has played through them both with a group, if they make for good sandbox adventures.
#2 pukunui Feb 07, 2015 15:07:35	There are five Sundering adventures. Which two are you asking about? They are, in order of release, with spoilers:   1) Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle: This is a campaign consisting of four adventures set around Daggerford that are supposed to take PCs from level 1 to level 10. The adventures involve chasing after Red Wizards who are busy recovering keys hidden in shrines dedicated to the Princes of Elemental Evil. While the individual adventures themselves look quite fun, the metaplot is something of a railroad because the PCs cannot stop the wizards from recovering the keys. The campaign culminates in a battle in the ruins of Dragonspear Castle, which was previously featured in the AD&D module Hordes of Dragonspear Castle. As far as I can tell, it's not a sandbox, as there's a specific level range for each adventure, so you can't do them in any order you want.   2) Murder in Baldur's Gate: Set in Baldur's Gate, this adventure is themed around the return of Bhaal, the god of murder. I haven't played it, but I hear that it is light on combat and heavy on the intrigue. Probably a bit Game of Thrones-ish. It is supposed to be a sandbox adventure, though, and comes with a fairly comprehensive campaign guide to the Baldur's Gate region.   3) Legacy of the Crystal Shard: Set in Icewind Dale, Legacy is an event-based adventure, insofar as the PCs are presented with three different plot threads involving three different villains. The different plots range in scale, from establishing an organized crime ring to bringing about eternal winter. It is very much a sandbox in that the PCs are free to choose which threads to pursue and how to go about pursuing them. They are free to range all over Icewind Dale. The catch is that they can't be everywhere at once, so at least one of the villains should be able to bring their plans to fruition before the PCs can stop them. While one of the threads deals with the eponymous issues, the adventure culminates in a confrontation with a Chosen of Auril, the Frostmaiden, who is seeking to increase her power during the Sundering. I am currently running this adventure for one of my groups (upscaled for levels 3-5 instead of 1-3). My players have been enjoying pretty well it so far. My one complaint would be that many of the encounters and locations are really vague, with no maps and very little description.   4) Scourge of the Sword Coast: This adventure sees the PCs adventuring in the Daggerford area again, this time on several seemingly unrelated quests. By the end, however, they find that the Red Wizards have taken the keys they acquired in Ghosts and built a portal to Thay through which they hope to bring their armies in order to conquer the Sword Coast. It also builds on Hordes by including the spirit of a fiend partially defeated in that original Dragonspear module (which is inadvertantly freed by the PCs at the end of Ghosts). This one also looks pretty fun, and I am tentatively planning on running it after my Legacy of the Crystal Shard campaign finishes. [Unfortunately, you can't have the same PCs from Ghosts play through Scourge as they'll be too high level.] This one isn't overtly a sandbox, but you could probably run it as one, possibly even including some of the adventure locations from Ghosts as sidequests and the like. The Sword Coast - and specifically the Waterdeep-Daggerford area - has a lot of content available for it, so you're spoiled for choice here really.   5) Dead in Thay: This is a direct sequel to Scourge, in that it begins with the PCs attempting to destroy the Red Wizards' portal only to be sucked through it into the Doomvault under Thaymount as it collapses. There, in order to escape the vault alive, they must work with some rebel Red Wizards who are trying to stop Szass Tam from becoming a god. The adventure was originally written as a multi-party D&D Encounters event, but it can be adapted to suit a single group easily enough (as the difficulty ramps up depending on the number of groups participating in the adventure in the first place). It is specifically called out as an homage to killer dungeons of the past like Tomb of Horrors. Again, I haven't played through it, but it looks like it is something of a self-contained sandbox, insofar as you can tackle the various sections of the dungeon in just about any order you want. Looking at the provided bestiary, it also seems to run the gamut of classic D&D beasties, from beholders and behirs to golems, oozes, and vampires. The only things missing are dragons.     I hope that helps!
#3 Zardnaar Feb 07, 2015 14:50:43	Where do you get the adventures from?
#4 Zardnaar Feb 07, 2015 14:50:49	Where do you get the adventures from?
#5 pukunui Feb 07, 2015 15:08:14	Zardnaar wrote:
#6 Rhenny Feb 07, 2015 15:11:32	Cyber-Dave, I'm running Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle for my group and I like it because it has a lot in it, although as Pukuni mentioned it is a linear, railroad.     (Spoilers)   Also, it has a weird backstory that entails Dwarves who are conquered by Orcs who bread with them producing Half Orcs that are half Orc, half Dwarf.   It is a little weird, so if I had to run the campaign again, I might just make the Dwarves subjugated by the Orcs, rather than become their breading partners.   It's been easy to run online using Fantasy Grounds.  There is a nice mix of roleplaying, exploration and combat, but I find that I still have to think more about the way NPCs/monsters will act/roleplay given certain situations that occur.    Also, in the first 2 episodes/chapters, the PCs basically have the prize (elemental relics) stolen from under their noses, which hasn't upset my group so much, but I could see some groups getting frustrated by it if it seems as though the PCs should get secure them.    To the adventure's credit, in the 3rd chapter, when the PCs find the elemental relic in Iron Axe hall, the adventure does say that if pressed, the main bad guys (a Raksasha who is impersonating a Red Wizard that was actually caught and hanged in the first chapter) will let the PCs leave with the relic because he has other plans that include using the PCs to get to another NPC.   We are currently still playing in Chapter 3.
#7 Devils-Advocate Feb 07, 2015 17:05:36	I've only run MiBG, but it was great! It centers around three prominent NPCs that can all be seen as allies or antagonists to the PCs, depending on their perspective, and will all try to enlist the PCs help in their schemes against each other. I have a group of playes that loves splitting up the party, so they each joined with a different NPC at first and encountered each other naturally through conflicting goals, which was when they started to realize no side was entirely in the right, and banding together as a party. That worked AMAZINGLY for us, but I would only recommend it to a group that enjoys inter party conflict and can handle it maturely. It's set up as a series of events, that occur at certain times whether or not the players are present for them. If they are, they can influence the outcome of those events. Whatever the outcome, it always either advances or hinders the goals of one or more of the three rival NPCs in some way, so if the players are clever they can manipulate all three sides quite effectively. The events are also timed such that, without splitting up, the PCs cannot always be present for all of them. Sometimes they have to make choices about what to get involved in and what to let happen, or risk spreading themselves thin trying to do everything at once. I is a great way to handle a high political intrigue adventure in my opinion, and it does a great job of leaving things extremely open and flexible, while still giving the DM plenty to work with. It also comes with a fantastic setting guide for Baldur's Gate, so even if you don't end up using the adventure itself, it's still a great buy for anyone who wants a good setting for their urban adventures.
#8 BRJN Feb 08, 2015 18:59:47	I'm playing in MiBG.  It is easy for the players to get lost as three mutually opposing factions all start doing stupid stuff (IMthbHO) to antagonize each other, all at once.  The most desirable plotline (to me) - investigate and prevent Bhaal's resurrection - is not supported in the packet (according to my DM).  We are trying to figure out how to protect ourselves from the inevitable civil war explosion.    We are also fitting this into the HotDQ plot arc, so "leave town for a week and wait for this to blow over" is not an option.
#9 Kazadvorn Feb 09, 2015 7:32:09	Cyber-Dave wrote: