Moving the Saga of the Shadowlord - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Moving the Saga of the Shadowlord

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
slashnull
Oct 13, 2007 10:50:03 My copy of X11 is somewhere in another country at the moment, and so until I can get my hands on it and remind myself what it's all about I thought I'd use the collective wisdom of this board again!

I'm running a campaign and trying to keep it fairly local to Karameikos. Is there a way to use X11 in this area? Is it too tied to a very different setting (I mean it's the first descriptions of Wendar and Denegoth), would it be too tricky to squeeze into the lands of the south? Everyones opinion is welcome!
#2
agathokles
Oct 13, 2007 12:48:12
I'm running a campaign and trying to keep it fairly local to Karameikos. Is there a way to use X11 in this area? Is it too tied to a very different setting (I mean it's the first descriptions of Wendar and Denegoth), would it be too tricky to squeeze into the lands of the south? Everyones opinion is welcome!

Saga of the Shadowlord has a feel that is not entirely appropriate to Karameikos. However, changing that part a bit could allow it to be repositioned, as the adventure itself is good.

You'll need an evil magician, who has some roots in an otherwise defeated kingdom, an evil temple, and an army. You also need to place the Cloud Giant and the Blue and Black Dragon encounters.

One option could be to replace the Elvenstar with the Sword of Queen Elendorath (from B12, it is a magical weapon that gives the user control over goblinoids). Assume that the sword was recovered and kept in Penhaligon, but Teldon recently advised Lady Arteris to send it to a powerful magician in Darokin city to have it destroyed. Lady Arteris organized a party, and sent it to Selenica and on to Darokin along with a merchant caravan.
Unfortunately, Iron Ring agents got wind of this, and ambushed the caravan north of the Cruth mountains with the help of a local goblinoid tribe, killing all the members of the party and taking the sword.
Only the merchant Akhitos is able to escape, and contacts the PCs -- the nearest Karameikan adventurers available. He asks them to track the thieves, and recover the Sword -- in the hands of the not-so-powerful Ilyana Penhaligon, the Sword was already dangerous, but the Black Eagle Baron, could use it to strengthen his army with the most powerful goblinoid tribes.

The PCs track the thieves up the Cruth mountains. They have to pass an old Traladaran tower, abandoned when the Kingdom of Darokin collapsed, as there was no more interest in keeping the way open or vigilating for an invading army from Darokin, and now inhabited by a lone Cloud Giant.

The PCs catch the Iron Ring members in a tiny village within the Karameikan borders, but controlled by the Iron Ring, which uses this less known mountain pass for smuggling (they have a standing agreement with the goblinoid tribes on the other side of the mountain). However, the Sword has been already sent to the Black Eagle Baron.
Replace Camla with an Iron Ring lesser master (Karllag, Golthar or Sverdlov, if one of these is known to the PCs, or one of your own making).
Replace the Denagoth soldiers with Iron Ring Hounds and Reavers -- you may assume that the Iron Ring issues "soldier pills" to the Hounds that act as Potions of Heroism, but cause permanent damage to the users (permanent loss of 1 Int and 1 HP), so that they will be on par with the Denagoth Lancers.

The Temple of Idris is replaced by a temple maintained by Iron Ring priests (if Rucker or Jolenta survived B10, you could have one of them replace the priest from X11). The Iron Ring priests might worship any evil Immortal you wish.
My suggestion is to have them import the cult of Kala from Sind (specifically, from Jaibul). Idris could then be a specific aspect of Kala worshipped by the Iron Ring cultists.

From there, the PCs need to reach Luln (if they want to resupply or get more information) or Fort Doom. They can pass through the swamps (and face the Black Dragon that lives there), or through the Keep of Riverfork, which has been already conquered by goblinoid tribes and is now held by a blue dragon charmed by Bargle the Infamous.

Once the PCs reach Fort Doom, they discover only minimal forces, as the Baron has sent his army (200 human cavalry, 200 werewolves, and more than 4000 goblinoids, mostly Bugbears, Orcs and Hobgoblins) to invade Luln and is going to take the command personally and move to Specularum. Given the increased morale of the goblinoids, the Duke's army has no chances.

Let the PCs infiltrate Fort Doom, and face a final encounter similar to the last fight in Teriak's tower, except that Bargle and Ludwig take the place of Teriak and his general. If the PCs have the upper hand, Bargle teleports away (he will be back as the Shadowlord in the second part of the adventure), while Ludwig may die fighting or be captured.
If the PCs lose and are captured, they are sent to the dungeons and you may stage a "Great Escape" adventure.
However, Stefan's army is defeated and Ludwig lays siege to Specularum.

For the second part, Bargle's teleport was not the result of a spell (IIRC, he doesn't know Teleport) but of a cursed magic item. As a result, Bargle is transformed into the Wraithlord. You could replace Drax Tallen with any ancient Traladaran or even Traldar or Taymoran ruin. Assume that the historical background is more or less the same, except that Bargle is not a descendant of the Essurian kings, but just discovered Essuria and Drax Tallen through research. The war of Teriak and Henadin happened in the distant past. Bensarian can be replaced with the Seer of the Lake of Lost Dreams (who is either old enough or knowledgeable enough to have the same information as Bensarian in X11).

The ruin itself can either be somewhere in the forests of Karameikos, or in the moors north-east of Kelvin.

Hope it helps,
GP
#3
eldersphinx
Oct 13, 2007 13:48:08
My copy of X11 is somewhere in another country at the moment, and so until I can get my hands on it and remind myself what it's all about I thought I'd use the collective wisdom of this board again!

I'm running a campaign and trying to keep it fairly local to Karameikos. Is there a way to use X11 in this area? Is it too tied to a very different setting (I mean it's the first descriptions of Wendar and Denegoth), would it be too tricky to squeeze into the lands of the south? Everyones opinion is welcome!

Fitting the entire hostile kingdom of Denagoth into the southern half of the Known World would be tough IMHO if you want to keep to established canon. Karameikos has friendly neighbors on all sides that Denagoth would have to march through in order to declare war.

I suppose it'd be possible to either plant Yet Another Magical Portal to the lands of Denagoth somewhere in the boonies of Karameikos. That'd allow somewhat for use of X11 material. The other alternative would be to dropkick the KW canon and just replace one of Karameikos's neighbors with the kingdom of Denagoth. Other than that, I'm not sure there's much chance to 'squeeze' X11 in.
#4
slashnull
Oct 13, 2007 14:37:14 Yup, I think you're right about 'squeezing it in' being a bit tricky, but changing the focus and a lot of the background like GP does could do the trick! I love that adventure and it would make a great climax to a conflict with von Hendriks and Bargle taking the place of Landryn Teriak! Although as you say, the 'feel' of the adventure is quite different. Still not sure where to go with it, but I love those ideas Agatholkes!
#5
twin_campaigns
Oct 16, 2007 6:04:18 For me the most interesting part about Saga of the Shadowlord was always the intimate involvement with history (Essuria, Henadin's tribe, Blackstick, the elven tribes, cult of Idris..). So on that account adopting the module anywhere else would be hard. But of course liberal adoption of the event structure is always possible.

Still, your plans so far have seemed so interesting that I'd suggest you keep the creative tumblewed rolling. Something much more interesting than an adoption of X11 is bound to emerge.

Play out the Karameikan campaign, and then start a fresh one, based on the wonderful new fan-written northern Gazetteers, so you can not only run X11 in the intended environment, but enrichen it!
#6
slashnull
Oct 16, 2007 8:39:33
Play out the Karameikan campaign, and then start a fresh one, based on the wonderful new fan-written northern Gazetteers, so you can not only run X11 in the intended environment, but enrichen it!

You know, that isn't that bad an idea, I may just have to do that!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 slashnull Oct 13, 2007 10:50:03	My copy of X11 is somewhere in another country at the moment, and so until I can get my hands on it and remind myself what it's all about I thought I'd use the collective wisdom of this board again! I'm running a campaign and trying to keep it fairly local to Karameikos. Is there a way to use X11 in this area? Is it too tied to a very different setting (I mean it's the first descriptions of Wendar and Denegoth), would it be too tricky to squeeze into the lands of the south? Everyones opinion is welcome!
#2 agathokles Oct 13, 2007 12:48:12	I'm running a campaign and trying to keep it fairly local to Karameikos. Is there a way to use X11 in this area? Is it too tied to a very different setting (I mean it's the first descriptions of Wendar and Denegoth), would it be too tricky to squeeze into the lands of the south? Everyones opinion is welcome! Saga of the Shadowlord has a feel that is not entirely appropriate to Karameikos. However, changing that part a bit could allow it to be repositioned, as the adventure itself is good. You'll need an evil magician, who has some roots in an otherwise defeated kingdom, an evil temple, and an army. You also need to place the Cloud Giant and the Blue and Black Dragon encounters. One option could be to replace the Elvenstar with the Sword of Queen Elendorath (from B12, it is a magical weapon that gives the user control over goblinoids). Assume that the sword was recovered and kept in Penhaligon, but Teldon recently advised Lady Arteris to send it to a powerful magician in Darokin city to have it destroyed. Lady Arteris organized a party, and sent it to Selenica and on to Darokin along with a merchant caravan. Unfortunately, Iron Ring agents got wind of this, and ambushed the caravan north of the Cruth mountains with the help of a local goblinoid tribe, killing all the members of the party and taking the sword. Only the merchant Akhitos is able to escape, and contacts the PCs -- the nearest Karameikan adventurers available. He asks them to track the thieves, and recover the Sword -- in the hands of the not-so-powerful Ilyana Penhaligon, the Sword was already dangerous, but the Black Eagle Baron, could use it to strengthen his army with the most powerful goblinoid tribes. The PCs track the thieves up the Cruth mountains. They have to pass an old Traladaran tower, abandoned when the Kingdom of Darokin collapsed, as there was no more interest in keeping the way open or vigilating for an invading army from Darokin, and now inhabited by a lone Cloud Giant. The PCs catch the Iron Ring members in a tiny village within the Karameikan borders, but controlled by the Iron Ring, which uses this less known mountain pass for smuggling (they have a standing agreement with the goblinoid tribes on the other side of the mountain). However, the Sword has been already sent to the Black Eagle Baron. Replace Camla with an Iron Ring lesser master (Karllag, Golthar or Sverdlov, if one of these is known to the PCs, or one of your own making). Replace the Denagoth soldiers with Iron Ring Hounds and Reavers -- you may assume that the Iron Ring issues "soldier pills" to the Hounds that act as Potions of Heroism, but cause permanent damage to the users (permanent loss of 1 Int and 1 HP), so that they will be on par with the Denagoth Lancers. The Temple of Idris is replaced by a temple maintained by Iron Ring priests (if Rucker or Jolenta survived B10, you could have one of them replace the priest from X11). The Iron Ring priests might worship any evil Immortal you wish. My suggestion is to have them import the cult of Kala from Sind (specifically, from Jaibul). Idris could then be a specific aspect of Kala worshipped by the Iron Ring cultists. From there, the PCs need to reach Luln (if they want to resupply or get more information) or Fort Doom. They can pass through the swamps (and face the Black Dragon that lives there), or through the Keep of Riverfork, which has been already conquered by goblinoid tribes and is now held by a blue dragon charmed by Bargle the Infamous. Once the PCs reach Fort Doom, they discover only minimal forces, as the Baron has sent his army (200 human cavalry, 200 werewolves, and more than 4000 goblinoids, mostly Bugbears, Orcs and Hobgoblins) to invade Luln and is going to take the command personally and move to Specularum. Given the increased morale of the goblinoids, the Duke's army has no chances. Let the PCs infiltrate Fort Doom, and face a final encounter similar to the last fight in Teriak's tower, except that Bargle and Ludwig take the place of Teriak and his general. If the PCs have the upper hand, Bargle teleports away (he will be back as the Shadowlord in the second part of the adventure), while Ludwig may die fighting or be captured. If the PCs lose and are captured, they are sent to the dungeons and you may stage a "Great Escape" adventure. However, Stefan's army is defeated and Ludwig lays siege to Specularum. For the second part, Bargle's teleport was not the result of a spell (IIRC, he doesn't know Teleport) but of a cursed magic item. As a result, Bargle is transformed into the Wraithlord. You could replace Drax Tallen with any ancient Traladaran or even Traldar or Taymoran ruin. Assume that the historical background is more or less the same, except that Bargle is not a descendant of the Essurian kings, but just discovered Essuria and Drax Tallen through research. The war of Teriak and Henadin happened in the distant past. Bensarian can be replaced with the Seer of the Lake of Lost Dreams (who is either old enough or knowledgeable enough to have the same information as Bensarian in X11). The ruin itself can either be somewhere in the forests of Karameikos, or in the moors north-east of Kelvin. Hope it helps, GP
#3 eldersphinx Oct 13, 2007 13:48:08	My copy of X11 is somewhere in another country at the moment, and so until I can get my hands on it and remind myself what it's all about I thought I'd use the collective wisdom of this board again! I'm running a campaign and trying to keep it fairly local to Karameikos. Is there a way to use X11 in this area? Is it too tied to a very different setting (I mean it's the first descriptions of Wendar and Denegoth), would it be too tricky to squeeze into the lands of the south? Everyones opinion is welcome! Fitting the entire hostile kingdom of Denagoth into the southern half of the Known World would be tough IMHO if you want to keep to established canon. Karameikos has friendly neighbors on all sides that Denagoth would have to march through in order to declare war. I suppose it'd be possible to either plant Yet Another Magical Portal to the lands of Denagoth somewhere in the boonies of Karameikos. That'd allow somewhat for use of X11 material. The other alternative would be to dropkick the KW canon and just replace one of Karameikos's neighbors with the kingdom of Denagoth. Other than that, I'm not sure there's much chance to 'squeeze' X11 in.
#4 slashnull Oct 13, 2007 14:37:14	Yup, I think you're right about 'squeezing it in' being a bit tricky, but changing the focus and a lot of the background like GP does could do the trick! I love that adventure and it would make a great climax to a conflict with von Hendriks and Bargle taking the place of Landryn Teriak! Although as you say, the 'feel' of the adventure is quite different. Still not sure where to go with it, but I love those ideas Agatholkes!
#5 twin_campaigns Oct 16, 2007 6:04:18	For me the most interesting part about Saga of the Shadowlord was always the intimate involvement with history (Essuria, Henadin's tribe, Blackstick, the elven tribes, cult of Idris..). So on that account adopting the module anywhere else would be hard. But of course liberal adoption of the event structure is always possible. Still, your plans so far have seemed so interesting that I'd suggest you keep the creative tumblewed rolling. Something much more interesting than an adoption of X11 is bound to emerge. Play out the Karameikan campaign, and then start a fresh one, based on the wonderful new fan-written northern Gazetteers, so you can not only run X11 in the intended environment, but enrichen it!
#6 slashnull Oct 16, 2007 8:39:33	Play out the Karameikan campaign, and then start a fresh one, based on the wonderful new fan-written northern Gazetteers, so you can not only run X11 in the intended environment, but enrichen it! You know, that isn't that bad an idea, I may just have to do that!