Using the D&D terminology coined by Paizo, help me build an "Adventure Path!"
If you were starting up a new WFRP 3 campaign that was 1) full of players who were mostly unfamiliar with WFRP (but familiar with RPGs) and 2) Wanted to run mostly pre-written modules*. Which modules (from any edition of WFRP) would you run and in what order?
Discuss!
*with the occasional personal adventure thrown into the mix.
I think it would really depend on what type of characters where created and what their overall "group" think was in terms of answering the question "This is what we do". In which case its something I would test by starting them out somewhere where they can define those aspects of themselves in game naturally.
For example my instinct is to start every group in and around Ubersreik because Edge of Night defines the town so well that you know everything you really need to know about it in great detail. From here the group can kind of let you know "hey here is what our characters are interested in" and than choose the appropriate adventure.
I would avoid "dropping them" into an adventure.. aka … Hey you meet a guy, he gives you a job now your on your way their and adventure starts. I find if players feel like they have a say in where they go and what they do at the start of the game, the world itself becomes less linear in their perception, even if you ultimatly lead the horse to water.
As for in general, I find the first adventure tends to be a short one of my own creation designed to let them test out the mechnics rather than a published one. For example in my most recent campaign I started the group up as prisoners, being take to their execution and on the way their, the caravan is attacked and they escape only to find themselves in the middle of a local undead uprising. Their only goal is to survive and get the hell out of dodge. But it also offers an oppertunity for them to become heroes and decide to investigate. Having the option has given the campaign a feel of "we are in command of our destiny" and also it starts the group out together and broke with no assets so they are looking for food, water and ultimatly work.
For starters, here's a list of every WFRP scenario ever printed: gallery.rptools.net/v/contrib/emirikol7/
Second, yes, we need an idea of what types of characters are being played. Once we have that, you can string together your scenarios.
jh
I don't usually use publish adventures but I have considered creating an 'Adventure Path' as an excuse to play the 3rd Ed adventures I have never used. I like my players / characters to learn their environment as well as possible and so I would tend to keep all of my adventures close to Ubersreik to allow them to build up relationships with NPC etc. This requires a few changes to the publish adventures but also gives you the scope to make them more suited for your characters.
With that in mind my suggestion would be something like this:-
1) Eye for an Eye. Seems to be a popular starting adventure and introduces a nobles from Ubersreik which will come in useful later.
interlude: Events in Ubersreik which lead to the characters getting hired to find a missing merchant in Stromdorf.
2) Gathering Storm Part 1. The Lesser Evil. TGS can be a bit of a slog if you play it in the compressed timescale. One solution is to break it up into parts. It ruins the build up of the storm element of the story but it gives the characters more chance to explore Stromdorf. I would try and get the characters to adopt the Stromdorf as a base of operations for a while.
Interlude: use some element of Stromdorf's back story to develop a short interlude adventure - The trial of the culprits from Part 1 or the discovery of the affair between the burgomeister and Madriga Brenner would be obviously starting point.
3) Gathering Storm Part 2: A Time to Mourn
4) The Witch's Song. Stromdorf is next to a swamp and the witches song take place in a swamp. So to get this to work I would move Fauligmere into the swamps near Stromdorf. This would involve some changes to the adventure but would give an excuse to remove the dark elves from the end (to me the dark elf attack in this adventure is a bit of a distraction from the fun stuff involving nobles and witch hunters). The nobles of Fauligmere can be tied into the noble struggle in Ubersreik later in the campaign.
5) Gathering Storm Part 3. When Night Falls.
6) Optional Gathering Storm Part 4: Schulmann's Gambit. If you have kept this story element then you could insert this here.
Interlude: Return to Ubersreik
7) The Mirror of Desire. An opportunity to introduce the nobles of Ubersreik.
8) The Edge of NIght Part 1: The nobles vie for popularity and the PCs get involved. Can use connections with Aschaffenberg or Von Stauffer families.
9) Winds of Change: Move this from Altdorf into Ubersreik. Will need to increase the Magical Presence in Ubersreik but that is fairly simple (The Tower of Vane is a centre of activity of Celestial Wizards and is close to Ubersreik).
10) The Edge of NIght Part 2: The Masquerade Ball.
11) The Horror at Hugeldal. Following the events at the ball the nobles of Ubersreik would probably think that the PC known too much. They could easily be sent to Hugeldal to get them out of the area.
At this point your characters are probably at the point where they are generating their own adventures more often then not. Of course there is alway Black Fire pass or The Art of Waagh! to keep them occupied.
An Adventure Path obviously should be more than just a string of adventures. It should really have a particular theme and an overall plot to it. Whilst not every adventure should involve the master plot their should always be something going on in the background. To me the power struggle in Ubersreik would be the obvious grand plot. So off the top of my head is a basic story:
Hieronymus Bacher is a Celestial Wizard based at the tower of Vane who has seen too far into the future and seen the fall of man. He adopts a 'if you can't beat them join them' attitude and is lost to chaos. He sets himself the job of delivering Ubersreik to the forces of chaos. He uses the knowledge granted by his visions to start damaging the nobles of Ubersreik. He could easily have a hand in the background of Eye for an Eye, he could be behind the broken wheel cult, he could have given the Mirror of Desire to the Fenstermachers, and could have tricked his own apprentice Schulmann into pursuing the vortex near Stromdorf. Maybe he even manipulated the Von Jungfreuds into over steeping their bounds and so was the reason the emperor took the rule of Ubersreik from him? Once he has caused all of this chaos he sets in motion a plan to put his own puppet on control of the city. Chose a noble family and have Hieronymus steer them to power. The family could be innocent and unaware of the person manipulating events in their favour. Maybe Hieronymus has links to the family (he could be a young son who lost contact with them when he went to the colleges of magic).
I am doing the same thing right now, and so far so good. I am taking the old Enemy Within, and tossing in some current stuff, and also some of my own stuff. So far, I used Eye for an Eye to intro the game & the characters. They were all given background info that will tie into various parts (including one who is an agent for the family that is one of the bad guys in Shadows Over Bogenhafen!)
After Eye for an Eye, it was right into Mistaken Identity where it became clear that (for now..) the agent was going to be the glue of the party. He hired them to guard shipments from Altdorf to Bogenhafen. Also in Altdorf, the gambler got in a fight with two nobles, who will happen to be the two nobles found dead the next day.
On to Bogenhafen. They end up thinking the Bounty Hunter following them is a Witch Hunter, and during the fight with him (which he escapes) they feel very conflicted. I am now running Shadows over Bogenhafen (which is going very well! Including the agent learning that his boss is evil, which might drive the agent to become a Troll Slayer!), and that will segue into the adventure in the Winds of Magic, as one of the characters becomes schooled in the arts of Shadow Magic.
After that, it's Death on the Reik, but I have modified Etelka to be a Necromancer, and the part of the adventure in the Barren Hills will actually be a very modified Lure of the Lichemaster. After that, it's Power Behind the Throne. Instead of Something Rotten in Kislev, I am going to use a very modified Thousand Thrones to take up the time needed to lead into a finale for the whole campaign that I will likely crib from Empire in Flames.
Sprinkled in here & there will be some one offs (any WFRP campaign must include Rough Night at the Three Feathers, IMO) and some interludes that will come from the players themselves.
The conversion and such is a little work, but it's so worth it. The PCs have done some really inventive things that make me redesign ideas I had for them (there might not be a lot of riverboating going on with this group..) Being able to tailor your campaign to your players makes it more fun for everybody.
PS - My favorite thing that has happened is that the Demon from Shadows Over Bogenhafen has become a recurring villain, who keeps popping up in various doppleganger forms, recognizable to the PCs by his distinctive *sniff* *sniff* speech pattern. I made that up on the fly, and it's been a lot of fun so far. 2nd favorite thing was the purge of nobles that the PCs did in our last session, carving a path of carnage through many of the higher ranking members of Bogenhafen society, including one actual murder! The next session might start with a full on class war in Bogenhafen!
Captain, Ezra, great stuff! That's what I was looking for. It'll be a few weeks until I have an idea of what characters will be played in the new campaign, but I'm trying to massage some ideas around in my head on where I want to go - obviously modified by what kind of characters the players present and the kind of campaign they want to play. I'll post more when I've got some concrete ideas and characters!
Well, finally got characters generated! How things are looking right now…