Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
I run a 4e game where the players are students at a magic university, similar to Hogwarts from Harry Potter. For this adventure, they are new level one students, and going on a one-shot adventure into a land where fairy tales are true, though often a bit warped.
I'd like advice and comment on any aspect of the adventure. Though this is 4e, I am looking for advice both on rules to adapt the concepts, and also ways to play the NPCs, potential challenges, anticipated unexpected moves by the PCs, music, suggested voices, suggested atmosphere, food, and pretty much anything people can think of. The more comments, the merrier.
I am adapting some of the Goodman Games module "Escape from the Forest of Lanterns" concept (Dungeon Crawl Classic #38), for the start of the adventure. However, I am not using anything actually in that module except for part of the concept - since none of it really fit what I am going for except maybe a small part of the gingerbread cottage.
Here is the synopsis of the concept:
A mysterious magic book has transported the heroes to the Summerlands, a magical demiplane where the fairy tales in the magic book are alive, and taken on lives of their own. To escape, the party must first obtain Jack's Magic Beans to grow a beanstalk up the sky, then climb the beanstalk and win the magic harp from the Giant's castle in the clouds, to open a gateway back.
For background music, I am using tracks from the first two Shrek movies, the movie Enchanted, Pan's Labyrinth, and maybe some Disney stuff and fairy tale animated shows from the 70s.
This is a one-shot, intended to be completed in one session. So, I've made the adventure modular. The party just needs to complete one quest to obtain Jack's Magic Beans, then use the beans to complete the final quest to escape through the giant's castle in the clouds.
The party is given what seems to be a choice among 8 possible Jack's Magic Beans quests to complete. But, to save me time (since they will only need to choose one path), I've actually written it so there are only four quests with minor variation depending on the road they choose to go down. I still waste some time writing up 3 quests they party won't likely pursue, but I wanted to give the group at least some free will to choose paths, rather than a total rail road. Plus, if they complete a quest super fast, or want to go two nights, I can throw a second or third quest at them and I won't be unprepared. And it was fun to write this stuff up, so not really a waste.
Path 1&2: Cinderella & Hansel and Gretel (Both paths lead to Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, who sends party on quest to obtain ritual ingredients she needs so she can turn a pumpkin into coach, mice into horses, rat into coachman, lizard into footmen, and Cinderella into short-term Princess. Ritual Ingredients are owned by the witch who lives at the gingerbread house. On obtaining ingredients, Fairy Godmother gives them Jack's Magic Beans).
Path 3&4: Sleeping Beauty & Snow White (One path leads to 7 dwarfs variant, who offer to give Jack's Magic Beans if the party can rescue Snow White from the enchanted castle and the clutches of the witch. Other path leads party to Prince variant, who will pay party with Jack's Magic Beans if they will rescue Sleeping Beauty from enchanted castle and the clutches of the witch. Both enchanted castles and princesses are the same).
Path 5&6: Goldilocks & 3 Little Pigs (One path leads to Three Little Pigs variant, in their remaining brick house. They offer Jack's Magic Beans to the party if they can convince the Big Bad Wold, the sheriff of Summerland, to not evict them from their house, where they are technically squatters. Other path leads directly to the variant of Sheriff Bigby Wolf (taken from Fables comic books), the big bad wolf, who will either a) agree to not evict three little pigs if they will do a quest for him, or b) agree to give them Jack's Magic Beans in exchange for quest, if they arrived directly on the road to his office variant. Either way, quest is to stake out Three Bears house and catch the thieves who keep breaking into their cottage. Thieves are the Goldilocks Gang, a gang of female goblins).
Path 7&8: Little Red Ridding Hood & Rumpelstiltskin (Both paths lead to Kings castle. King will pay party with Jack's Magic Beans if they will obtain the true name of the evil dwarf, Rumpelstiltskin, before three nights pass and he comes to claim their first born. Dwarf lives up mountain. On way up mountain, party encounters Little Red Ridinghood being attacked by a pack of werewolves at grandma's cottage. She gives them cloaks of invisibility if they rescue her, which will come in handing for the Rumpelstiltskin quest. Party then must obtain Rumpelstiltskin's true name, by stealth or steel).
Final quest of Jack the Giant Slayer is to plant Jack's Magic Beans, climb them, enter the giant's castle in the clouds, and obtain his magic harp which can play a tune to send them back home. They can also find other magic items in the castle if they succeed, including a magic belt, magic boots, magic hat, magic sword, magic trumpet, cloak of invisibility (if they didn't get them from Red Riding Hood), golden eggs, and bag of gold, all taken from various actual fairy tales about Jack the Giant Slayer.
So, any words of wisdom?
I'd like advice and comment on any aspect of the adventure. Though this is 4e, I am looking for advice both on rules to adapt the concepts, and also ways to play the NPCs, potential challenges, anticipated unexpected moves by the PCs, music, suggested voices, suggested atmosphere, food, and pretty much anything people can think of. The more comments, the merrier.
I am adapting some of the Goodman Games module "Escape from the Forest of Lanterns" concept (Dungeon Crawl Classic #38), for the start of the adventure. However, I am not using anything actually in that module except for part of the concept - since none of it really fit what I am going for except maybe a small part of the gingerbread cottage.
Here is the synopsis of the concept:
A mysterious magic book has transported the heroes to the Summerlands, a magical demiplane where the fairy tales in the magic book are alive, and taken on lives of their own. To escape, the party must first obtain Jack's Magic Beans to grow a beanstalk up the sky, then climb the beanstalk and win the magic harp from the Giant's castle in the clouds, to open a gateway back.
For background music, I am using tracks from the first two Shrek movies, the movie Enchanted, Pan's Labyrinth, and maybe some Disney stuff and fairy tale animated shows from the 70s.
This is a one-shot, intended to be completed in one session. So, I've made the adventure modular. The party just needs to complete one quest to obtain Jack's Magic Beans, then use the beans to complete the final quest to escape through the giant's castle in the clouds.
The party is given what seems to be a choice among 8 possible Jack's Magic Beans quests to complete. But, to save me time (since they will only need to choose one path), I've actually written it so there are only four quests with minor variation depending on the road they choose to go down. I still waste some time writing up 3 quests they party won't likely pursue, but I wanted to give the group at least some free will to choose paths, rather than a total rail road. Plus, if they complete a quest super fast, or want to go two nights, I can throw a second or third quest at them and I won't be unprepared. And it was fun to write this stuff up, so not really a waste.
Path 1&2: Cinderella & Hansel and Gretel (Both paths lead to Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, who sends party on quest to obtain ritual ingredients she needs so she can turn a pumpkin into coach, mice into horses, rat into coachman, lizard into footmen, and Cinderella into short-term Princess. Ritual Ingredients are owned by the witch who lives at the gingerbread house. On obtaining ingredients, Fairy Godmother gives them Jack's Magic Beans).
Path 3&4: Sleeping Beauty & Snow White (One path leads to 7 dwarfs variant, who offer to give Jack's Magic Beans if the party can rescue Snow White from the enchanted castle and the clutches of the witch. Other path leads party to Prince variant, who will pay party with Jack's Magic Beans if they will rescue Sleeping Beauty from enchanted castle and the clutches of the witch. Both enchanted castles and princesses are the same).
Path 5&6: Goldilocks & 3 Little Pigs (One path leads to Three Little Pigs variant, in their remaining brick house. They offer Jack's Magic Beans to the party if they can convince the Big Bad Wold, the sheriff of Summerland, to not evict them from their house, where they are technically squatters. Other path leads directly to the variant of Sheriff Bigby Wolf (taken from Fables comic books), the big bad wolf, who will either a) agree to not evict three little pigs if they will do a quest for him, or b) agree to give them Jack's Magic Beans in exchange for quest, if they arrived directly on the road to his office variant. Either way, quest is to stake out Three Bears house and catch the thieves who keep breaking into their cottage. Thieves are the Goldilocks Gang, a gang of female goblins).
Path 7&8: Little Red Ridding Hood & Rumpelstiltskin (Both paths lead to Kings castle. King will pay party with Jack's Magic Beans if they will obtain the true name of the evil dwarf, Rumpelstiltskin, before three nights pass and he comes to claim their first born. Dwarf lives up mountain. On way up mountain, party encounters Little Red Ridinghood being attacked by a pack of werewolves at grandma's cottage. She gives them cloaks of invisibility if they rescue her, which will come in handing for the Rumpelstiltskin quest. Party then must obtain Rumpelstiltskin's true name, by stealth or steel).
Final quest of Jack the Giant Slayer is to plant Jack's Magic Beans, climb them, enter the giant's castle in the clouds, and obtain his magic harp which can play a tune to send them back home. They can also find other magic items in the castle if they succeed, including a magic belt, magic boots, magic hat, magic sword, magic trumpet, cloak of invisibility (if they didn't get them from Red Riding Hood), golden eggs, and bag of gold, all taken from various actual fairy tales about Jack the Giant Slayer.
So, any words of wisdom?
