Remixing B11 King's Festival and B12 Queen's Harvest (and a bit of B2 and B5)
by Anarion_ElendiliSpoilers to follow, obviously.
So if you are new to things, you could do a whole lot worse than run B11 first, since it is an excellent hand-holding module for not only new players, but new GMs as well.
However, we are not new, so I started thinking what shenanigans could I get into to make B11 and B12 tie into one another more firmly rather than just one note. Also, the PCs in our campaign are already 3rd level (4th by the time they get to B11).
So here is what I did:
1st Adventure: The Wizard's Dungeon (first half of B12)
As funny as the idea of needing to get the items for the Heir's hot date, I decided to do something different. Instead, the Butler (whom I named Basil), was trying to hire the PCs because of the recent sudden death of the Wizard meant that the Heir was not able to access his inheritance. And this whole thing needed to be handled quietly, since if Lady Penhaligon heard about this situation, she might use it as an excuse to claim that the Wizard had intended to disinherit his adopted son, and reclaim the estate and all the magical items. Sure, the PCs might smell a rat (one of mine did), but be that as it may, the Butler was offering 100gp per person for a quick evening job, plus the hospitality of the manor. However, as the idea was to clear the dungeon of monsters and traps and get the treasury open so that the heirloom two-handed sword could be recovered, the PCs did not get looting rights. (I am GMing a more cash-poor campaign. Feel free to ignore in your campaign.) Also, once the PCs got to the manor, the Heir was not present. Alas, they didn't ask about that, which might have led them to be potentially more suspicious, as the Butler would have told them that the Heir is meeting with his prospective father-in-law in Kelvin (which would be the truth, but still).
Tweaks that I did:
a) No self-sealing dungeons, since that is simply stupid since it was obvious that with the guest rooms and such, the Wizard was entertaining people here. Also, I hate self-sealing dungeons.
b) Since the Butler is the baddie and hiring the PCs essentially to do a burglary, there is no other party breaking in. Indeed, there is no other entrance (see above for not self-sealing). Also, since there is just one way in, no pair of NPC thieves, either, as much as I like the idea of recurring pair of female thieves. Without the NPC party bringing in the Knock Scroll, I instead allowed the PCs to find it in the lab, mixed in with the lab notes.
c) I changed some of the room descs around (see d, too), such as making the big room into the monster room (and the doors leading to it made with bronze fittings rather than iron, and letting the rust monster eat the iron statue there), moving the lab to the previous monster room, and making the wizard's bedroom the uppermost one, with the meditation chamber becoming a bathroom. Minor reordering, but it made more sense. I also added a living statue to suckerpunch the PCs entering the bedroom.
d) A big change that I did was move the Gargoyle and the armoury to the treasury (and enlarging it), as well as have the magic weapons in the racks out in the open, so that the PCs could rush in there and use them against the Gargoyle (which was lurking in the ceiling, dropping on the first PC in with a high chance of surprise). I also changed the dwarven plate mail into a human one, with Penhaligon insignia, while the tiara remained as a 'maybe'. The spellbooks I moved to the bedroom, but with a Wizard Locked drawer, so they were 'safe'. There was also a very difficult lock on the treasury door in addition to the Wizard Lock, but the keys were in the wizard's bedroom in an unlocked drawer.
e) I removed the green slime. It didn't fit into my idea what the mage would have allowed to lurk in the guest bathroom.
Anyway, once the PCs finished clearing out the dungeon, the Butler debriefed them, to ensure that everything was checked out, as well as catalog the traps that they found. He then told them that the guest rooms were prepared for them to rest for the (rest of the) night, and trays of food (mainly bread, cheese, cold cuts of meat, apples) would be sent up for them to eat, as they no doubt were already hungry. Also good wine was provided, although it was poisoned with the sleeping draught (save vs poison or sleep 12h). The Butler said that he would catalog the treasures in the dungeon and compare it to the inventory that he had, and in the morning, they would settle the reward. However, since he was a baddie, the Butler got the valuable stuff (in particular the magic stuff) in the next three hours or so, loaded it on the horses he had ready, and ordered the guards to open the gates so that he could take it to Penhaligon Castle for safe-keeping because he didn't trust the PCs. This was just a cover story, for as soon as the Butler would get away, he would turn to ride north towards Stallanford... Meanwhile, the PCs who didn't succumb to the temptation or the wine or succeeded in their saving throws, had a small chance (1d20 vs. WIS/4) to wake up to the horses leaving in the wee hours of the morning. Alas, in our campaign, enough PCs were snoring away that they likely won't be able to pursue, even though they saw the Butler leaving (and got very paranoid that they'd be attacked in their sleep).
Now, things could go different here. If the PCs insist that they talk to the Heir before they hand over the loot, that would put a kibosh on the Butler's plan. He would obviously try to hide his dismay and hope that the poison knocks the PCs out so that he can sneak into the correct guestroom to steal the sword (and the armor) at least. He'd likely also have the guards ready to try and help him is the PCs do wake up and get violent with him. He might even order the guards to try to arrest the PCs as they sleep. Alternatively, the PCs might wake up in time to pursue him. Definitely if they are paranoid enough to have someone stand guard at all times, they would see the Butler carrying stuff to the stables, and that would give them time to intercept him. Or if they have their own horses, they could catch up to him on the road, although they likely would have to threaten/defeat the guards.
The Heir is actually returning around Noon the next day, and he is not happy to find out that he has effectively been burglarized by the PCs, at the behest of the Butler. Still, with some use of truthfinding spells and prayers, as well as the fact that the Butler is gone but the PCs were left behind, drugged, it would be easy to establish their innocence.
As to where the Butler is going... He is going to meet up with Petrides in the Orc caves in B11, as he has been promised a rich reward if he can bring the sword (and the armor) to Petrides. More of that later.
2nd Adventure: B11 King's Harvest
So the Butler is heading to the Orc Caves. The PCs might be in pursuit or they might not. In my case, the PCs have an escort mission that they are doing at the same time, so I think I will have the NPC kidnapped instead of the priest, and this will surely cause the PCs to venture to the orc caves, where they will find the Butler, too. However, absent of such a thing, I would likely let the PCs simply follow the Butler's trail to the orc caves.
Now, Petrides is double-crossing the Butler. As soon as he gets the magical items, he will just capture the Butler and lock him up for now (in the place of the priest). After all, why should he keep his promises to the Butler? However, all that treasure is going to be set ASAP to the bigger boss in the Castle (B12, latter half), where the heirlooms will bolster Ilyana's claim, and the other treasure can be sold to pay for mercenaries as well as the refurbishment of the Castle. (I might downgrade the castle a bit, make it more of a wooden palisade construction, which makes more sense for something out in the wilderness, built relatively quickly.) Thus, it would no longer be there when the PCs defeat Petrides, but there would be enough correspondence to reveal that there is this bigger plot going on, a planned invasion by humanoids, under the banner of the 'rightful heir of Penhaligon, Ilyana'. It would also hint at the Caves of Chaos as well as the Hobgoblin King being if not allied yet, at least courted for alliance, perhaps with some of the treasure/magic items gained from the Wizard's Dungeon.
Point is, the PCs will get the chance to have revenge against the Butler (or drag him back to Penhaligon), as well as find out that there is something big and dangerous going on here. Also, I am putting a recurring enemy that the PCs failed to defeat at Castle Mistamere to B2, in place of the cleric of evil chaos, hinting at her existence in the correspondence with Petrides, which will hopefully inspire the PCs to go settle some scores.
Given the higher level PCs, I will likely double the number of orcs, as well as beef up Petrides and his undead legions. Maybe even some gnoll skeletons and zombies to give them extra oomph.
3rd Adventure: Harvest of Death (latter half of B12)
Now, I am actually planning on putting some adventures in between, like B2 and B5, but if just talking about B11 and B12, this is where the conclusion would go. Ilyana would have those heirloom items (if the bad guys have been successful), and if one wants to be more sneaky with it, the heirloom sword might be an intelligent/cursed sword making its wielder more megalomanic, which explains why the current Lady Penhaligon left it in her uncle's care. This would potentially allow the PCs to save Ilyana, rather than just kill her.
Naturally, I want to balance this adventure to my PCs, but I would portray it as a consequence of them succeeding/failing in stopping the original theft. In our case, they failed, so the fight will be difficult because they failed. Had they succeeded, the fight would be difficult but still winnable, since the bad guys' plan didn't go off without a hitch. Kinda the same thing with them neutralizing B2 and B5 beforehand, without which the humanoids could have concentrated under Ilyana and launch their invasion sooner.