Now I did think that I might just play up the wierdness of the inhabitants and give the PCs the moral question of whether they should destroy Zargon (leaving the population helpless but free) or not (leaving the population mad but protected). But now I'm leaning towards turning this into a Masters level monster-bash. Zargon needs to be massively up-powered,as do the other creatures there, and the encounters need tobe very different. Ultimately this adventure will lead the party to the shocking truth about Zargon, the Master (in my campaign synonymous with the Egg of Coot) and one other, ancient, evil creature who has often opposed them...
So this is the question. What would you do to convert B4 into an action packed Masters level adventure?
So this is the question. What would you do to convert B4 into an action packed Masters level adventure?
You could have a look at the DM's Guide to Cynidicea in the Vaults:
http://pandius.com/cynidgaz.html
It restyles Zargon as a greater servitor of the Outer Beings (see Geoff Gander's works) and adds another high-level villain, making Cynidicea suitable for master-level adventures.
A couple of suggestions:
1) You might try tying in Cynidicea with Barimoor- not the mage himself, per se, but the old Alphatian wizard should have many powerful wizards and creatures running around in his underground caverns that could offer a challenge to adventurers. Perhaps they are a third faction that is seeking information on Zargon in opposition to the PCs (with Zargon himself being the second faction against them).
2) Since most of Zargon's followers are low-level (normal) human/Cynidiceans, perhaps you might consider that he has caused mutations and things in many of them over the years, such that the actual undercity of the Lost City is populated by more powerful beings and classed Cynidiceans, to provide a greater challenge.
To go along with both ideas above, I might consider (if you're running the entire module) making the remnants of the factions in the Pyramid (Usamigaras, Madarua, and Gorm) into high level characters. IIRC, there were relatively few of them, and these could represent the "elite" members of those factions that have been able to survive in the upper levels against your more powerful monsters.
In any case, I think a good key to running it (at any level) is to play up the factions and the NPC interaction beyond what was given- really flesh it all out- and make it as much (if not more) of a roleplaying experience than simply a hack 'n slash one.
Basically, you can't treat any Masters level game as all hack and slash. There's very little they can't hack and slash their way through. But as they've been doing the whole diplomacy thing for months, I'd love to give them a chance to swing their sword arms. Modifications to B4 ought to allow for that
Basically, you can't treat any Masters level game as all hack and slash. There's very little they can't hack and slash their way through. But as they've been doing the whole diplomacy thing for months, I'd love to give them a chance to swing their sword arms. Modifications to B4 ought to allow for that
That's also true. BTW, you could add some extra action by sending the characters into one or more of the missions outlined at the end of B4 -- most interesting of them being the search for a cure for the Cynidiceans' madness (send them in the catacombs!), and the search for the true heir of the Cynidicean kings.
While I don't think it is advisable to power-up too much the Cynidiceans themselves (they are mostly a nuisance even in the low-level version), you could concentrate more on a few characters (Darius, for example), and on the undead that populate several areas of Cynidicea.
Also, the lower pyramid could well be fully redesigned for master-level characters, since it wasn't that good to begin with.