An end and a beggining.

I have decided an attempt to rewrite this module and the entire series is really going to be such a larger undertaking than simply writing a series of adventures from scratch.   So I'm putting a hold on this project.  When I run them I'll run them and simply adjust on the fly for the gapping plot holes.

I am starting another 4E project so expect that to show up pretty soon.

Encounter XP Analysis

I think it would be very useful to analyze the encounters in The Keep on Shadowfell for difficulty as it relates to level.   I made certain assumptions about the order the players would have the encounters and when they would level.  Truthfully no matter what order they run the encounters in they will level at about the same place.  I haven’t noted which encounters are which below as I was more interested in encounter difficulty as relates to level.   Note: I am using the free pdf module on the WotC website not the original printed module for this analysis.

Total Encounters from level 1

1 Level 1 standard
2 Level 1 Standard
1 Level 1 Standard
6 Level 1 hard
2 Level 1 standard

Keep level 1

2 Level 1 Standard
2 Level 1 Standard
2 Level 1 Standard

Players hit level 2 here

4 Level 2 Hard
3 Level 2 Standard
1 Level 2 Standard
1 Level 2 Standard
4 Level 2 Hard
2 Level 2 Standard
5 Level 2 Hard
3 Level 2 Standard

Players hit level 3 here

4 Level 2 Hard

Keep level 2

4 Level 3 Standard
3 Level 3 Standard
3 Level 3 Standard
3 Level 3 Standard
2 Level 3 Standard
5 Level 3 Hard
4 Level 3 Standard
6 Level 3 Hard

Players hit Level 4

So to Summarize we have 8 encounters to get to level 2, 8 encounters to get to level 3, 9 encounters to get to level 4.  This is not counting any xp gained from major or minor quests or any additional encounters from optional web enhancements.   Clearly this adventure in this form provides far more xp than needed to get to level 4 and may in fact run the risk of placing the party at or close to level 5, especially if the optional web encounters are used, which is higher than the recommended starting level for the next adventure.

Also I did run some analysis on the xp from individual encounters and some of the encounters had some strange xp numbers especially as relates to the level of the encounter as printed.

As well the level 6 encounter at level is perhaps a bit much.  I’m not sure of that yet.  The original of that encounter was much discussed on the Internet.  I have not analyzed the encounter in the free pdf version yet but my hunch is that I will still find some problems with it.   I will likely be cutting some of the encounters out to bring the xp and encounter build more in line with what is in the DM guide and to help the plot and flow of the module.

The Lord Padraig Problem.

There are a few problems with motivating the characters to get to the keep and hooked into the adventure and still ensure that they go to certain encounters in a certain order. One of the biggest problems for me is with Lord Padraig (an old English version of Patrick I’m told but I can’t verify that piece of trivia).

The problem with Padraig is he wants to hire the party to stop the kobolds because he can’t get any of the local villagers to form a party to investigate or handle the problem even though some of the kobold’s are raiding some of the farms and striking on the road which is a source of trade for the village. The implication here is the villagers who are directly or indirectly being seriously threatened and are not taking this seriously. Too me that does not ring true. From a meta-game perspective the real purpose here is to provide a reason the villagers are not involved and therefore Padraig needs the party to solve his problem. The secondary purpose is to reinforce the idea that Padraig is the local lord but does not have absolute authority. This attempt just seems awkwardly and badly done. Surely a better way can be had.

Before we can determine the best way to deal with the situation we have to define what our goals are. Goal number one, get the party investigating what is going and doing something about it. Goal number two, explain why the locals can’t do it.

Let’s tackle goal number one first. Padraig asks the party to investigate and offers some reward for doing so. That is going to get most parties right there. Anything beyond that really should be handled by the dm through some improvisation as it’s going to involve the motivations and desires of individual characters.

Goal number two explaining why Padraig hasn’t been able to convince the villagers to aid him in investigating the raids. There are two very general reasons why the villagers aren’t helping Padraig. These to general reasons are simple to sum up. Either the villagers can’t help or they won’t help. Where it gets interesting and where the bulk of our work lies is determining the more specific versions of those reasons. The first column is pretty small the villagers are physically incapable of doing so. For reasons of involving the level of the adventure and the number of potential villagers I decided this was not a very fruitful category to look in. The second category yields some much more interesting possibilities. The villagers won’t help because, they are afraid to, they are protecting their own homes and possibly Winterhaven as well, or they simply don’t believe the kobold raids are a threat. The last reason I have discarded in light of some of the villagers having their farms raided and the trade caravans (surly and important thing to a village like this) being attacked. That leaves us with protecting their homes or fear. I think it this case I’ll go with protecting their homes and Winterhaven. It also solves another part of the Padraig problem I don’t like, the vagueness of how much authority Padraig actually has. This makes it seem like he is more in charge even if he is naïve an inexperienced. It also explains why he hasn’t sent the few guards he has to investigate the problem, he needs them to protect the village. Suddenly now we have changed what in my opinion is a somewhat flimsy reason for needing the adventures into a vital one. We now have Padraig NEEDING the adventures to solve the problem as Winterhaven cannot hold out forever. This also sets up the possibility of optional encounters at farms or as one of the rewrites on the web has suggested an interlude involving an attack on Winterhaven.

There you have it the first entry and piece of this project. Those of you reading let me know what you think.

Time to get this party Started.

I've decided how I'm going to approach this.   It won't seem very systematic or organized but it fits how my mind works.

What can you expect to see in the next post?  Well it's a little thing I call the Lord Padraig problem.

Delays, Delays, Delays

Sorry about the Delays.  Still reading the the revised version of KotS.   Real life is busy rearing it's ugly head, so it's slowing me down.

Project Update.

I just realized I've not read the pdf from of The Keep on Shadowfell WotC has released.  Currently reading that to see exactly what issues it addresses.

At the beginning of course

The thing to do here is to make sure we have the over arching story in place for this series of 9 modules.   At the moment I'm rereading the back story of all 9 modules to make sure I have them in mind.  Then I'm going to rewrite to some degree or the others this back story to make sure these modules are all connected via the overarching Orcus storyline.    I'll also make sure the "hooks" are in place to connect these modules being that theme.   The danger is of course that the players will get tired of this being about Orcus.   The solution I think is to make sure that pieces of the adventures can be used as side quests, I think.   If anyone is reading this I'm open to ideas suggestions and comments.

Where to Start

It’s time to start work on the first project for this blog.   However, I first need to pick the project.

Picking the first project is easy.   A Rewrite of the modules H1-H3, P1-P3, E1-E3 will be the first rewrite.   I’ll start with H1 The Keep on Shadowfell.

Why start there?  Well the biggest inspiration is easily the blog written by Greg Tannahill.   He pointed out a number of flaws in the design of the adventure.   I was aware of some myself and others I felt that something was wrong but could not articulate quite what was wrong.  Other inspirations are the conversions here, and a very good one by Mryhdraak on the WotC boards.

The next question would be in light of these excellent conversions and sources of information why do my own.  This question is particularly relevant to me considering the free PDF version of this adventure attempts to address some of the flaws in the original print module.  There are several parts to the answer.   I want make sure that the conversion I do fits with my DMing style.  This also makes really good practice.  It’s been several years since I’ve written an adventure from scratch and I’ve never done it for 4th edition at all.  This seems like a good way to stretch my legs so to speak.   Plus the conversions that have been done are very good by not done they way I’d want to do it for my game.

Anyway there is what my first project is going to be.   Next time I'll post I'll actually start working on the project itself.

What in the world is this?

This is a blog that I hopefully will use to chronicle and discuss my role-playing game projects.  The initial inspiration has come from a project inspired by an other blogger but I intend to use this for more than just that project.


Please comment on my posts, but all I ask is be constructive.   If you are here simply to spew venom go elsewhere.  If you don't like something I post that's fine, say why but please be constructive.

Anyhow, hopefully this will be a fun constructive experience that I can use to improve my game.

Also this is my attempt at becoming a bit more active in the hobby that has given me so much enjoyment over the years.