I know someone posted some tweaks they were using or going to use for starting a RtL campaign at silver level. However, given the general suckiness of the search function here, finding that thread has been a major waste of time. So, anyone have comments or tweaks for starting a campaign at silver level? I remember reading about suggestions that the OL get to spend the initial 100 conquest before starting. I think there was some suggestion about picking one city and razing it. Anything else to balance it out?

(Given the current situation in our campaign the heroes are considering going to the tavern and drinking themselves silly while Tamilar crashes down around them. If so, we are trying to decide what to do. Restarting at silver has been one suggestion.)

edroz said:

It is my thread, and will probably continue in the next 2-3 weeks as we get some more game time (families and holidays have intervened the last couple of months).

We started allowing the OL to spend his 100 CT (+ the 5 for razing a city), but not allowing him to buy anything he couldn;t buy in bronze level (eg no gold upgrade) and not allowing him to save any CT. That gives the same starting flavour as bronze level, where the OL and players are reasonably balanced for the first few weeks until the OL can get his first upgrade. You still will get the early-level boost for the OL in Gold level when he upgrades immediately to Diamond with saved CT, at least in theory.

We allowed the OL to raze any one city - that is pretty critical, both for the CT/week, for limiting the heroes' options (it is very easy to get super skill combos) and for increasing the general pressure on the heroes. We chose to let the heroes choose a single city/secret master area first, then the OL to raze, then the heroes can choose their second area.

In general, we felt that the overall setup gave the heroes a slight edge. The have a hefty edge in being able to speed-run from the start, having good/great skill combo options (eg, it is trivially easy to set up a Swift/Acrobat with a fatigue boost, or a Precise Rapid Firer with 6-7 fatigue, Archer's Charm and Ripper), but the OL can put out 3-4 Lts on his first turn and with a few good rolls can speed-raze several cities if he has a good starting spot. That really puts the pressure on the heroes (and also hurts significantly CT wise).
If the OL has a bad starting spot you might consider allowing him an extra city raze - or starting his Lt's anywhere on the Map maybe (say hello to early Tamalir raze...)

We were also trialling a feat payment system(s) for the OL drawing cards when feats were played/drawn. But the latest FAQ put paid to that. I think removing Telekinesis and Bear tattoo means feats being 'free' is not as bad as it was. It is still something for nothing, but the Herooes lost as much or more than they gained (Telekinesis was hands down the best skill in the game by the time a single secret master training had been done).