Lords of Oblivion? [Possible Spoilers]

[Simplicity]

I haven't actually read any of the Dungeon adventure path modules- are they pretty good? How is it as a series?

You're missing out. The Shackled City adventure path is quite good. I recommend JollyDoc's Shackled City Storyhour if you're interested in getting a feel for it. Most of the Mega-adventures that you find in modules are really Mega-dungeons. The Shackled City is much more city-based.

Basically, the campaign is based around the machinations of an evil group known as the Cagewrights in the town of Cauldron. The Cagewrights seek to turn Cauldron into a gate-town for the plane of Carceri (essentially a giant, permanent gateway into hell). In order to accomplish this feat, the Cagewrights must forge a set of thirteen soulcages, and imprison within them thirteen people known as the Shackleborn.

Mix into that warring churches, a beholder overlord masquerading as a nobleman, dragonspawn, a quick jaunt to the Abyss to redeem a fallen plane... Great, great stuff.

 

[the Jester]

Thanks! I'll have to check it out- I'll look into JollyDoc's SH.

 

[ltclnlbrain]

Well, the Jesters of the Last Laugh are now really annoyed at the PCs, after they kill one of the Jesters. Embril Aloustani is still out there, and she must be REALLY unhappy after the last adventure (her temple got ransacked). The Shackleborn have all been kidnapped by the Cagewrights, who have started the Rite of Planar Junction, the location of which is unknown. People in Cauldron are starting to go mad (some are running around claiming to be Adimarchus... hmmm...).

Embril is not back yet...thought that she'd be at least a bit involved in Lords of Oblivion judging from a few sentences at the end of Soul Pillars. Ah well, I guess they'll save at least one of the BBEG's for later.

Claiming to be Adimarchus, eh? Ha! I can't wait to see where that goes...

Once again, thanks for all the info; hopefully my issue will arrive soon.

 

[Erik Mona]

I'm enjoying this thread. Nice to see so many people following the Adventure Path so closely.

I'm currently working on plans for the next Adventure Path, and I'd be really curious (if no one minds a thread hijack) to hear the thoughts of people who've used the Shackled City adventures.

What have you liked about the Adventure Path? In what ways have you been disappointed? Given your experience with the first Adventure Path, what lessons should we apply to the second?

I appreciate your time and consideration.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon Magazine

 

[RichGreen]

Hi Erik,

I haven't run the Shackled City series yet (no time!), but I've really enjoyed reading it.

I've liked the fact that the campaign has been based around a city (and one in a cool location inside a volcano with lots of dungeons beneath it) and that there have been recurring NPCs. The various villains and the overall Cagewright plot has been interesting and enjoyable to follow. The little campaign seed sidebars have also been good.

For the next one, I would recommend setting the story in its own mini-setting as with Shackled City (a border fortress, an island, a valley, a forest, a mountain range, a desert, whatever) with some key NPCs for the PCs to get to know. Then, as the adventures progress, the PCs can venture further afield.

If possible, the Adventure Path should not require any other adventures to be run in between the published ones to get characters to the next level. Player maps of the setting should be posted on your website. Oh, and include advice on where to set the series in Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms and Eberron.

I'm looking forward to the end of Shackled City and the start of the next one!


Hope this helps


Richard

 

[Liolel]

I like reading the adventure path but I have one complaint. Your using a good deal of monsters form the fiend folio and monster manual two, and I don't have the fiend folio. Maybe I'm not looking close enoughth but while you have statistics you seem to have left out one vital part in running these monsters, and that is what they look like. When I tell a party that they are attacked I need to be able to describe the monster so they have an image of what their facing. If you can't fit it in the adventure then please put it in a web enhancment which I know can be done as you made one for the first two adventures.

Just needed to get this off my chest, I find this happening in a lot of adventures not just the ones from dungeon and it really annoys me.

 

[Ozmar]

I'll second what Liolel said. While I do have the FF and MM2, it took me forever to find the desciptions of the Dark Creepers/Stalkers (not sure why... I just couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be?) And I also recall being really confused about the "Alleybashers" in Flood Season. I thought they might be creatures, and looked forever to find their descriptions, but then I finally found the section in the adventure where it says they are just humans from a particular theive's guild.

But overall, the AP has been awesome! I've only run the first adventure, and it was a bloodbath. My careless players lost about 20 PCs before finally finishing it. We've since tabled that game for others, but I plan to run the entire AP for my current campaign, once they are ready to begin Flood Season.

Later!
Ozmar the Adventure Path Fan

 

[ltclnlbrain]

Erik,

Running the Shackled City adventure path has ranked among some of my favorite D&D experiences of all time. It has been one of the most cohesive and innovative campaigns I have run in a long time, and both my players and I are constantly surprised by the interesting twists the story takes.

Recurring NPCs are important so that the players can create deeper bonds with them and the world at large, and these adventures do not disappoint. I enjoy the way that events in past adventures come back in ways that defy expectations; for example, the half-dragon minotaur in Secrets of the Soul Pillars who was the offspring of Dhorlot in Zenith Trajectory. I also like the fact that the adventures use many creatures from the Monster Manual II and Fiend Folio, because it gives me a chance to use these books that I don't really make use of very often.

One thing I will add is that these adventures are a bit on the bloody side, at least the way I've run it. Our party consists of six characters, and all of them save one have died at least once during the course of the campaign, some of them multiple times. Granted, my players enjoy a challenging campaign, but some encounters may need to be toned down a bit. For some reason, the players never seem to die at the supposedly dangerous climactic encounters but instead to lesser enemies along the way. This may be due to carelessness or bad rolls on their part; ah well.

The city of Cauldron is a great place for a series of adventures, so I hope the next adventure path has a setting that is equally interesting and engaging. The overall plot behind the adventures needs to be as cohesive and epic as this path's plot has been. What I would like to see is a bit more variety in dungeon settings (after the fourth foray into the caverns beneath Cauldron, my party has begun to wonder just how many ancient civilizations built cities beneath the fair city) and perhaps a bit more wilderness adventuring for the druids and rangers of the world.

That's about all I've got to contribute at the moment, except to say keep up the amazing work on the magazine!

 

[Longbow]

Heh, "I am Adimarchus!", that´s great. I jumped out of my chair as I read that. Too bad we still don´t get anything else that relates to Occipitus. Three adventures to go after Lords of Oblivion.

What I like about the AP: As other people have said I love the recuring NPCs and the epic story. I also enjoy the mix of adventuring in the city (Zenith Trajectory: the whole encounter in the cusp of sunrise) and traditional dungeons (favorite one in The Demonskar Legacy, the hags with their trickery and the mirror were great).
What I don´t like are some of the very lethal combats (Glabrezu in Demonskar Legacy, even with warning; assassins in Soul Pillars, even when scaled down without the metamagic rods they are much too hard, even more so when they use smart tactics; the three combats in Zenith Trajectory in short order against the Kuo-Toas, their cleric and the erinyes in the hall with the big statue,).

Oh, and the art ist great (but not always, Smoking Eye and Soul Pillars were terrific, Oblivion fell a bit short IMO), especially the picture with the main NPCs (BTW, I miss Meerthan on that picture).

For a future adventure path I´d like to see roleplaying and combat encounters in a good balance, dungeons with interesting features (the fountain and the mirror in Demonskar), strange places (Occipitus) and great NPCs (Saureya, Striders of Fahrlangh, Orbius Valanthru). So you´re doing very good with the current adventure path. Thanks for some great adventures.

 

[Simplicity]

I'd say that overall the Shackled City is terrific. The campaign seed sidebars are great. My main complaints have already been addressed:
1) Too many "lost civilizations" under Cauldron
2) The battles are nasty, as already stated.
3) While NPCs are recurring major plot elements are sometimes not:
- Occiptus... Please tell me this is going to be fleshed out some.
- The Soul Pillars... Kind of pointless, really.
Once you're the ruler of a plane... that plane should start playing a factor in the adventure.