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The Grand Conjunction adventures?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Mar 10, 2006 18:47:21 Ok so I thought I'd run a Ravenloft campaign, and I looked at the Grand Conjunction adventures, but one thing confused me about them. Why don't the signs in the adventures happen in order according to the suggested level of the party. For example the fourth event happens in Night of the Walking Dead which is for 4-6 players of 1st-3rd level, but the first event happens in Feast of Goblyns which is for 4-6 players of 5th-9th level. Is this poor planning or am I just missing something?
#2
twiceborn
Mar 10, 2006 22:31:10 Poor planning and haphazard development indeed. The solution? Play the adventures in logical sequence using their level range as a guide, and re-order the six signs accordingly. I would also recommend adding more of a backstory in order to build a stronger link between the adventures.
#3
solandras
Mar 11, 2006 3:44:22 I agree to adding more backstory to link the adventures. I am actually in the process of planning a series of adventures that will lead up to the Time of Unparelleled Darkness. Trying to find links isn't always the easiest of things
#4
gotten
Mar 12, 2006 8:02:51 Hey, planning has nothing to with this issue!

From what we know: the hexad and notion of the Grand Conjunction was started after the first few modules had already been published and the prophecy was retroactively applied to those.

As suggested, the solution to this continuity problem is to simply change the order of the hexad to suit the levels.

Joël
#5
humanbing
Mar 13, 2006 7:23:25 One solution is to add in a Kargat or Kargatane member to the adventures... subtly... so it's clear Azalin is manipulating the signs all along. If you're up to it, add in an item related to the Mists or something planar, and make it the Kargat member's goal to get that. The PCs get to fight the big baddie and claim the treasure, but the Kargat member who's been trailing them and maybe helping them gets to bring back the secondary item that Azalin wants.

When you get the PCs to From the Shadows (where Azalin's involvement is made clear) you can add in an extra element of Azalin showing them how they helped his Kargat officer collect the bits and pieces of information and items he needed to break through the Demiplane.
#6
zombiegleemax
Mar 14, 2006 21:35:15 IMO, the Grand Conjunction stuff is exactly as it is intended to be. The GC wasn't conceived to be a campaign-play sequence of events; they happen AROUND the PCs and as background. Maybe the PCs participate in a couple of the adventures; maybe they are around for the aftermath of a couple more. I don't think it's necessary for the PCs, especially in a setting like RL, to be present for and involved in every world-shaking event that ever takes place; let the PCs interact with a living world rather than being the drivers and movers and shakers of everything.

Dem dere's my two coppers' worth.
#7
rotipher
Mar 15, 2006 9:23:13 Another alternative I've seen done is to use more than one set of PCs, but link the groups in some way. For example, the mid-level PCs who complete the early adventures could meet up with some novice adventurers, who tag along like cohorts for the first few games. The novices could, for instance, be natives of the short-lived domain of Daglan (from FoG) who'd acted as the mid-level PCs' guides in that adventure ... only to see their homeland disappear from the Land of Mists, leaving them homeless and stranded! They follow the mid-level PC party around, searching for some way home or at least a new place to live; later, the novice characters get separated from the others on a trip through the Mists, and they wind up in Souragne ... just in time for the players to switch PCs, and run *them* during the low-level WD adventure. Lastly, after that sojourn of playing novices, the players switch back to their mid-level characters, and play out the end of the series, buffed up a bit by the levels they've gained and some (temporary) enhancement-effects which Azalin equips his chosen puppets with.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Mar 10, 2006 18:47:21	Ok so I thought I'd run a Ravenloft campaign, and I looked at the Grand Conjunction adventures, but one thing confused me about them. Why don't the signs in the adventures happen in order according to the suggested level of the party. For example the fourth event happens in Night of the Walking Dead which is for 4-6 players of 1st-3rd level, but the first event happens in Feast of Goblyns which is for 4-6 players of 5th-9th level. Is this poor planning or am I just missing something?
#2 twiceborn Mar 10, 2006 22:31:10	Poor planning and haphazard development indeed. The solution? Play the adventures in logical sequence using their level range as a guide, and re-order the six signs accordingly. I would also recommend adding more of a backstory in order to build a stronger link between the adventures.
#3 solandras Mar 11, 2006 3:44:22	I agree to adding more backstory to link the adventures. I am actually in the process of planning a series of adventures that will lead up to the Time of Unparelleled Darkness. Trying to find links isn't always the easiest of things
#4 gotten Mar 12, 2006 8:02:51	Hey, planning has nothing to with this issue! From what we know: the hexad and notion of the Grand Conjunction was started after the first few modules had already been published and the prophecy was retroactively applied to those. As suggested, the solution to this continuity problem is to simply change the order of the hexad to suit the levels. Joël
#5 humanbing Mar 13, 2006 7:23:25	One solution is to add in a Kargat or Kargatane member to the adventures... subtly... so it's clear Azalin is manipulating the signs all along. If you're up to it, add in an item related to the Mists or something planar, and make it the Kargat member's goal to get that. The PCs get to fight the big baddie and claim the treasure, but the Kargat member who's been trailing them and maybe helping them gets to bring back the secondary item that Azalin wants. When you get the PCs to From the Shadows (where Azalin's involvement is made clear) you can add in an extra element of Azalin showing them how they helped his Kargat officer collect the bits and pieces of information and items he needed to break through the Demiplane.
#6 zombiegleemax Mar 14, 2006 21:35:15	IMO, the Grand Conjunction stuff is exactly as it is intended to be. The GC wasn't conceived to be a campaign-play sequence of events; they happen AROUND the PCs and as background. Maybe the PCs participate in a couple of the adventures; maybe they are around for the aftermath of a couple more. I don't think it's necessary for the PCs, especially in a setting like RL, to be present for and involved in every world-shaking event that ever takes place; let the PCs interact with a living world rather than being the drivers and movers and shakers of everything. Dem dere's my two coppers' worth.
#7 rotipher Mar 15, 2006 9:23:13	Another alternative I've seen done is to use more than one set of PCs, but link the groups in some way. For example, the mid-level PCs who complete the early adventures could meet up with some novice adventurers, who tag along like cohorts for the first few games. The novices could, for instance, be natives of the short-lived domain of Daglan (from FoG) who'd acted as the mid-level PCs' guides in that adventure ... only to see their homeland disappear from the Land of Mists, leaving them homeless and stranded! They follow the mid-level PC party around, searching for some way home or at least a new place to live; later, the novice characters get separated from the others on a trip through the Mists, and they wind up in Souragne ... just in time for the players to switch PCs, and run them during the low-level WD adventure. Lastly, after that sojourn of playing novices, the players switch back to their mid-level characters, and play out the end of the series, buffed up a bit by the levels they've gained and some (temporary) enhancement-effects which Azalin equips his chosen puppets with.