I am getting ready to run U 1- 3 but would like to add alot more Greyhawk flair to it...anyone have any ideas or other material theyu have used to add more Hawk flavor to these great moduels...
Thank
Kev
i never run/played the U series, but i think it depends on the year you are playing, pre- or post GH Wars.
firts part is suppose to be a haunted house, right?
maybe you could add elements like "pagan texts" (of evil religions), or symbols... if players are new to GH, you could introduce the world a little every adventure, adding elements famous to "everyone in the world", like "power groups" (knight os hart, scarlet brother hood, ect), gods and in last case famous NPC.
i say "in last case" because in my short experience as GH DM, if you start to "oh, in this adventure you found Tenser, in the next Mordenkainen and Bigy. Next week, it will be Robilar and..." you kind of create a feeling of "circus", like if you just want to show how cool they are, dont matter the story arc.
My group just finished U1-3 and had a blast. I added quite a bit of Greyhawk (and other) lore in to spice it up a bit.
--- Spoiler Alert ---
(I'm sure most folks have played or DM'd this already, but you never know)
My campaign is set in cy 576 and the Slavers are just starting to step up operations along the Keoland coast, but operate from the Hold of the Sea Princes to the Pomarj. They are mostly headed up at this point by the pirate captain John "Dogretch" Dogger.
The party was sailing to Gradsul, but was diverted by the Keoland naval blockade due to a Slaver assault on Seaton (lifted from Iquander's article "Starting in Saltmarsh." Once there they met a variety of interesting NPCS coming into town as refugees from Seaton. They roll into U1 and complete it but Ned Shakeshaft and Sanbalet escape. Sanbalet and Shakeshaft fall back to the smugglers' (a suborganization of the Slavers) offshore hideout and main smuggling base, but not before kidknapping Mayor Timerikos' son Talin to hold for ransom. Using the "Can Seapoint Be Saved" adventure from Dragon Magazine #75, the party is urged by the mayor and hired by Evald Ferrier to investigate a ship of his that was stolen and is suspected of being used to smuggle Talin Timertikos out of town. There they find documents and information confirming this and info about the smugglers' main base located in a small grouping of islands off Angler Island (taken from MA2-1 Evil Tide) After attacking the base and defeating the smuggler/pirates, capturing Sanbalet (doggonit, Ned got away again), rescuing Talin Timertikos, and discovering a huge cache of weapons and supplies bound for the lizardman lair, the party heads into U2.
In U2, I added Phoebus (reduced in level a bit), the reincarnated lizardman from the old 1E Rogues Gallery as the subchief of the lizardman lair and he accompanied the party back to Saltmarsh to help forge the alliance against the sahuagin.
From there U3 was ran pretty much as is (except they party actually participated in the grand assault on the sahuagin lar) and the seas ran red with blood as the human/lizardman/undersea alliance was victorious (but just barely).
I was considering using the MA2-1-2-3 adventures as a followup but the party is needing a break from sahuagin, so from here it's south to UK3 & 4 The Sentinel and The Gauntlet in the Sea Princes or possibly into the Hool for some modified versions of I2 Tomb of the Lizard King or I11 Needle.
The U1-3 series is great fun and there are quite a few articles on here that can add some serious favor to your game. I 'd recommend using Canonfire's Search for "Saltmarsh" and check out the info, maps, and adventure ideas there. As an aside, I used Yabusama's excellent map of Saltmarsh, but photoshopped in the famous "Nick's" down by the docks to fit the picture in the modules. Good luck and have fun!
I ran this module series many, many years ago as a more novice DM (early 90s), so likely I would have a different take now than I would at that point.
The best advice I can give to you is figure out what you want from these modules, how to best interest your players in the intrigue (it really is layered, as opposed to many 'dungeon crawls' of the era), and do some research on the region (political, religious, etc). Of course, I would agree fully with an earlier post-author that it is important for you to first decide when in the campaign world you wish to run these modules (pre-during-post Wars). This will surely impact your setting.
Nevertheless, with good DMing, I think you and your players will appreciate the intrigue and savage battles (esp. against the vicious sahuagin, which should offer stiff, savage, and lethal resistance) that this module series can offer.
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