Serpent's Skull session 1
Last week we started the Serpent Skull AP. I'm doing things a bit differently by allowing the players the option of keeping their 10th level character from Council of Thieves or starting a new character at level 1. One player started a new character and I think everyone was shocked but how challenging the first adventure was even though it is for for 1st level characters and most of the PCs are not. I did limit their magical items to one of their choice. Actually, that was the only item those higher level characters started with. It sounds insane and like I don't know what I'm doing, but the genius is that everything is set up for fun.
None of the characters are going to excel away from the urban environment. Their high skills will help, but only one of the PCs had any points in Survival and only one has points in Knowledge Nature. They are fish out of water. Also, the classes are Bard, Inquisitor, and Rogue for the high level characters and no one is going to accuse those of being ground breaking classes. The rogue is the one I'm worried about most because she can do a lot of damage. I know the spells picked by the Inquisitor and Bard and not going to be very helpful outside of healing. And the healing is hit points only. There are poisons, diseases, and attribute damage the group has to worry about that they can't heal quickly.
I also knew that the magical item picked by the players would be anything but ground breaking. Instead of choosing something that might have some versatility two of them picked magical weapons and one picked a magical belt (a plus to her strength and dex). The weapons are helpful but I was ready to start the campaign with the group having no weapons. But without any armor their ACs are lower then a first level Wizard's. So, that means while the group can do damage in a fight they also get hit all the time and that means fort saved from poison and diseases a lot of the times.
Serpent Skull starts with a fort save. I didn't like that so I spent about an hour or so introducing the different NPCs, describing the locals the ship stopped at, and allowing for some role playing. And then we got to the fort save. Basically the ship wrecked, the group wakes up on a beach being attacked by large crabs, and the fort save indicated who wakes first and in what order the rest wake.
I think I've done a good job establishing the NPCs. A couple of them have been sick since they arrived on the island. The group has to go one quests to unlock the NPCs and allow the NPC to train them in something. It actually works out better then that description and I upped the reward from a little +1 bonus to something that people lost track of to a full fledged feat. Yes, it is more powerful but I balance that with removing pretty much all the magical items the group should have found by now.
Like most low level adventures there are potions and scrolls to be found that would greatly aid in this circumstance. I removed those and added in more powerful but odder items. They found a magic pistol that they don't know what it does with a magically waterproofed powderhorn. They also found a powerful battleaxe that none of the party can use or wanted so an NPC is now using it. There will be more magic and treasure to be found but I'm changing that up. In Ultimate Equipment they have tables for treasure so when the players find the treasure we will roll it up right then so it could be anything. And I won't limit or edit it. If they get something awesome and powerful great, but if they get something boring and useless to them then that's what they get. I'm going old school on that.
This week will be more exploration and probably solving more NPC problems and gaining those benefits. There are NPCs on the island I expect them to encounter and start figuring out some of the mysteries.
None of the characters are going to excel away from the urban environment. Their high skills will help, but only one of the PCs had any points in Survival and only one has points in Knowledge Nature. They are fish out of water. Also, the classes are Bard, Inquisitor, and Rogue for the high level characters and no one is going to accuse those of being ground breaking classes. The rogue is the one I'm worried about most because she can do a lot of damage. I know the spells picked by the Inquisitor and Bard and not going to be very helpful outside of healing. And the healing is hit points only. There are poisons, diseases, and attribute damage the group has to worry about that they can't heal quickly.
I also knew that the magical item picked by the players would be anything but ground breaking. Instead of choosing something that might have some versatility two of them picked magical weapons and one picked a magical belt (a plus to her strength and dex). The weapons are helpful but I was ready to start the campaign with the group having no weapons. But without any armor their ACs are lower then a first level Wizard's. So, that means while the group can do damage in a fight they also get hit all the time and that means fort saved from poison and diseases a lot of the times.
Serpent Skull starts with a fort save. I didn't like that so I spent about an hour or so introducing the different NPCs, describing the locals the ship stopped at, and allowing for some role playing. And then we got to the fort save. Basically the ship wrecked, the group wakes up on a beach being attacked by large crabs, and the fort save indicated who wakes first and in what order the rest wake.
I think I've done a good job establishing the NPCs. A couple of them have been sick since they arrived on the island. The group has to go one quests to unlock the NPCs and allow the NPC to train them in something. It actually works out better then that description and I upped the reward from a little +1 bonus to something that people lost track of to a full fledged feat. Yes, it is more powerful but I balance that with removing pretty much all the magical items the group should have found by now.
Like most low level adventures there are potions and scrolls to be found that would greatly aid in this circumstance. I removed those and added in more powerful but odder items. They found a magic pistol that they don't know what it does with a magically waterproofed powderhorn. They also found a powerful battleaxe that none of the party can use or wanted so an NPC is now using it. There will be more magic and treasure to be found but I'm changing that up. In Ultimate Equipment they have tables for treasure so when the players find the treasure we will roll it up right then so it could be anything. And I won't limit or edit it. If they get something awesome and powerful great, but if they get something boring and useless to them then that's what they get. I'm going old school on that.
This week will be more exploration and probably solving more NPC problems and gaining those benefits. There are NPCs on the island I expect them to encounter and start figuring out some of the mysteries.