(savaged) Second Darkness
Since Second Darkness seems to be the most detested of all the Adventure Paths that Paizo has produced, I wanted to give it a go with Savage Worlds and see if it was altogether as terrible as everyone makes out.
Here be spoilers... obviously. :D
Here be spoilers... obviously. :D
Impressions of Shadow in the Sky;
It was a little awkward justifying why all of the characters were attending the Cheat the Devil and Take his Gold gambling tournament, but it's no worse a beginning that the timeless 'so you all meet in a tavern'. The casino heist was fun and the ringleader had a memorable enough death. Alesander's player caught on quite quickly that Saul Vancaskerkin was up to badness, so the players were not as shocked by his betrayal as they could have been. It was nice to have an opportunity to use the Chase rules and the Mass Combat/Siege rules, although the latter are unforgiving and it was only through sheer good fortune (and the timely decision to set Pigsaw on Zincher's men) that the party won out.
Danforth ended up rolling on the Incap table, but we had agreed on a house rule where the PC's do not die unless their deaths have significance. Ultimately, he ended up with the Ugly hindrance and we agreed that he lost his lower jaw and now wears a scarf to hide his deformity. He can still talk, but his voice is a bit slurred.
Few of the players had bothered with either Swimming or Climbing at character creation and by the end of the adventure, I suspect some of them may have regretted not buying a token D4. The managed ok, although the BBEB did escape - the party will likely encounter her again on the Devils Elbow in Children of the Void. They did not kill Saul Vancaskerkin either (although they assume that Clegg Zincher will have had him put down), so he could also become a recurring enemy as the campaign unfolds.
It was a little awkward justifying why all of the characters were attending the Cheat the Devil and Take his Gold gambling tournament, but it's no worse a beginning that the timeless 'so you all meet in a tavern'. The casino heist was fun and the ringleader had a memorable enough death. Alesander's player caught on quite quickly that Saul Vancaskerkin was up to badness, so the players were not as shocked by his betrayal as they could have been. It was nice to have an opportunity to use the Chase rules and the Mass Combat/Siege rules, although the latter are unforgiving and it was only through sheer good fortune (and the timely decision to set Pigsaw on Zincher's men) that the party won out.
Danforth ended up rolling on the Incap table, but we had agreed on a house rule where the PC's do not die unless their deaths have significance. Ultimately, he ended up with the Ugly hindrance and we agreed that he lost his lower jaw and now wears a scarf to hide his deformity. He can still talk, but his voice is a bit slurred.
Few of the players had bothered with either Swimming or Climbing at character creation and by the end of the adventure, I suspect some of them may have regretted not buying a token D4. The managed ok, although the BBEB did escape - the party will likely encounter her again on the Devils Elbow in Children of the Void. They did not kill Saul Vancaskerkin either (although they assume that Clegg Zincher will have had him put down), so he could also become a recurring enemy as the campaign unfolds.
Impressions of Children of the Void;
I was really impressed by the atmosphere on the Devil's Elbow. I've run through Misgivings (the haunted house bit of Rise of the Runelords 2/6: The Skinsaw Murders), but I think this module was spookier, in a 'constant-oppressive-lurking-menace' kind of way. I was a bit worried that the players would not get to to the island at all when it became apparent that they had no way of fighting the fire on the Flying Cloud. Fortunately, there were some convenient NPC's hanging around who came to their rescue.
There were some great set-piece moments (specifically, the collapsing tower) too. Unfortunately, the Savage Worlds natural healing rules reared their head again and did cause some problems for the players, as there was no way they could complete the adventure and make their rendezvous with Captain Creesy when Danforth was going to be laid up for five days (only to fail his Vigor roll). I had to have Zincher's men capture the ship so that it would still be there when the players were ready to leave the island.
Finally, the players were not best pleased when Clegg Zincher effectively stole most of the skymetal that they had recovered from the Drow outpost - but this actually fueled a neat little plot development (which they will only learn of if they ever return to Riddleport). With the money he made selling all that skymetal, Zincher became powerful enough to usurp the existing Overlord and now he runs the whole city.
I was really impressed by the atmosphere on the Devil's Elbow. I've run through Misgivings (the haunted house bit of Rise of the Runelords 2/6: The Skinsaw Murders), but I think this module was spookier, in a 'constant-oppressive-lurking-menace' kind of way. I was a bit worried that the players would not get to to the island at all when it became apparent that they had no way of fighting the fire on the Flying Cloud. Fortunately, there were some convenient NPC's hanging around who came to their rescue.
There were some great set-piece moments (specifically, the collapsing tower) too. Unfortunately, the Savage Worlds natural healing rules reared their head again and did cause some problems for the players, as there was no way they could complete the adventure and make their rendezvous with Captain Creesy when Danforth was going to be laid up for five days (only to fail his Vigor roll). I had to have Zincher's men capture the ship so that it would still be there when the players were ready to leave the island.
Finally, the players were not best pleased when Clegg Zincher effectively stole most of the skymetal that they had recovered from the Drow outpost - but this actually fueled a neat little plot development (which they will only learn of if they ever return to Riddleport). With the money he made selling all that skymetal, Zincher became powerful enough to usurp the existing Overlord and now he runs the whole city.
Impressions of Armageddon Echo;
Since the AP requires that the PCs leave Riddleport, the players could not agree what to do with the Golden Goblin in their absence. Some wanted to sell it, some wanted to keep it open, one wanted to burn it to the ground and be done with the whole thing. Why Paizo encourage you to invest so much in your base only to make you abandon it two adventures into the AP, I do not know. I suppose I could have delayed their departure and made up some side-quests in Riddleport, but I wanted to crack on with the AP.
The battle for Celwynvian was fun, although maybe I didn't include enough random encounters to really deliver the feeling of chaos you would expect in a warzone. The PCs ambled from place to place with no real resistance, mostly because I didn't want to get bogged down by unnecessary conflict. Still, I am still sad that I din't get to run the fight with the maddened treant. :(
On the other hand, the party did get to fight a dragon! I think that's the first dragon battle I've ever run in my many years of fantasy roleplaying, so "yay" me! Initially, Razorhorn was only going to be a juvenile dragon, but I quickly realized that would not be enough of a challenged for a group of veteran characters and bumped him up to the adult stat block.
I added an additional encounter to the end of the adventure and had the Drow frame the party for the murder of Eviana Nirgassan. I thought it was cool at the time, it's only now dawning on me how much I will have to alter the next adventure to make it work. As written, Endless Night assumes the players infiltrate Zirnakynin wearing the horrible Drow suits, I've marooned my players there in their own skin, with no armour and no weapons (heh heh heh).
Since the AP requires that the PCs leave Riddleport, the players could not agree what to do with the Golden Goblin in their absence. Some wanted to sell it, some wanted to keep it open, one wanted to burn it to the ground and be done with the whole thing. Why Paizo encourage you to invest so much in your base only to make you abandon it two adventures into the AP, I do not know. I suppose I could have delayed their departure and made up some side-quests in Riddleport, but I wanted to crack on with the AP.
The battle for Celwynvian was fun, although maybe I didn't include enough random encounters to really deliver the feeling of chaos you would expect in a warzone. The PCs ambled from place to place with no real resistance, mostly because I didn't want to get bogged down by unnecessary conflict. Still, I am still sad that I din't get to run the fight with the maddened treant. :(
On the other hand, the party did get to fight a dragon! I think that's the first dragon battle I've ever run in my many years of fantasy roleplaying, so "yay" me! Initially, Razorhorn was only going to be a juvenile dragon, but I quickly realized that would not be enough of a challenged for a group of veteran characters and bumped him up to the adult stat block.
I added an additional encounter to the end of the adventure and had the Drow frame the party for the murder of Eviana Nirgassan. I thought it was cool at the time, it's only now dawning on me how much I will have to alter the next adventure to make it work. As written, Endless Night assumes the players infiltrate Zirnakynin wearing the horrible Drow suits, I've marooned my players there in their own skin, with no armour and no weapons (heh heh heh).
Impressions of Endless Night;
Impressions of A Memory of Darkness;