AndyAction
Pie
(11/15/02 12:36:45 am)
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old school DM seeks advice on running 'Classics Campaign'
I've started a "Classics Campaign" in the World of Greyawk recently and I'm having a blast running my old fav's. I'd love to hear feedback from GM's who have run versions of the oldies.
Basically, I use the maps and floorplans as settings (I'm no cartographer), some of the loose plot-lines, some NPC's and some of the creatures, and link some modules together to form an over-arching plot (not a very original idea, I realize, but I'm a sucker for nostalgia and the way the old modules make me feel...).
here's where I've started:
all the play is set in C.Sargent's From The Ashes Campaign, post-Gygax bleak-Greyhawk (some dark business here!).
I'm currently running ToEE/A1-4/GDQ1-7 but it's a mixture of the original ToEE and the Return to the ToEE, as well as mixing in the Slavers supplement (but keeping the original A1-4 scenarios intact- interspersed within the new Slavers supplement).
I realize I have strayed far from cannon, but I think I can keep it it the realm of accpetable...
I have lots of ideas to flesh out Homlett/Nulb.
first off, I am viewing Lareth as a megalomaniacal delusional sociopath, confused and degenerate, obsessed with his appearance and with the actualization of personal power. as the 'Dark Hope' he leads a tandem organization to the Slavers (Council of Nine) called the Dark Contingency. this organization is loosely charged with the Northern-most expansion of the Slaver activities (in conjunction with Eclavdra/Edralve and other factions involved with the Cult of Tharizdun). I'm going for a very Lovecraftian version of the Aspect of Tharizdun/Elder Elemental Eye (think deep in the Hall of the Fire Giant King...those freaky pulsing temples and tentacle walls...)
the other protagonists (Slavers/Eclavdra and even Lolth and Iuz) are all manipulating him to some extent and are being used as pawns by Lareth at times as well. this way the PCs have more dynamic range of interactive potential with him- rather than just the obvious relationship dynamic of nemesis. Later, he evolves as the Champion of Evil, and that is a huge event for the priesthood of Tharizdun.
overarching is the Scarlet Brotherhood/Tharizdun connection- with an eventual climax in the Temple of All-Consumption, which I have set deep in the Pomarj (using the old I1 Dwellers if ther Forbidden City as an add-on to the various Pomarj settings).
whoa, I got ahead of myself.
for Nulb, I am basically fusing in N1- Against the Cult of the Reptile God with the RttToEE Nulb. the Naga is a lover of Lareth's who has used the Ghost town to her advantage to assume the "Snake Goddess" form- and as an extension of the Moathouse and Blackthorn as outpost of evil in civilized lands, all operating in subterfuge under the noses of the "powers that be."
I inserted the UK1/UK2 (Sentinel/Gauntlet)scenarios as a buffer between the ToEE/Velvadyvra area and the Wild Coast, with Adlerweg Pass as the geographic border/last bastion of security between those two regions (re-located in my campaign), the importance of the occupation of Adlerweg Keep becomes quite significant...
Lavinia is another lover of Lareth's and she is a good nemesis for low-level PC's.
throw in Castle Hydel from I12 and you have a network of cool illusionists (led by Parlee, the Dark Hoax)perpatrating the beginnings of a slave trade right in the middle of the Civilized Lands of Greyhawk/Dyvers/Verbobonc!
let me know if any of this inspires, or if you'd like me to elaborate or get more specific about anything.
I'd love to start a free-for-all forum for my own selfish purposes: to reap all you guys' great DMing ideas and hurl them at my PC's!
by the way, all three PC's are Elves (a Bladesinger, a Priest of Corellon Larethian, and a Strong as an Ox Sylvan Elf). they are all from Oakvein in the Welkwood (Gnarley). anyone have any backdrop on WoGH Elves?
I'll write more about them next entry...
yours,
-Andy Action, your new Game Master
www.CardiaMusic.com
ps. Cardia show next sunday in NYC @ the Mercury Lounge (11/24 10pm)- CD release
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-=A
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