So I was thinking to go to the Servants of Darkness / Shadow Rift arc. Been a while since I added feys to my campaign, now I want to go full throttle with this.
I will also add the 3e era material of course : NPCs, places, atmospherics.
And level will be adapted (from 4-6 as original adventure to the PC’s current level of 8-9). Meaning more powerful Inquisition forces.
Now that will be special for one of the players, the cleric Petrak. First, he was born with the Redhead feat (given at the time of the PC creation, in 2003. He chose Produce Flame for the free spell). In his background, he wrote that his parents were killed by goblins. But, also early in the campaign, he learned that he has a sister.
Session 5 (played in 2004), in Vincenzo’s House of the Mist in Evil Eye: “Petrak sees a similar scene, a very large barbarian goblyn emerges from the mists and attacks him (Petrak’s family was decimated by goblins). Petrak slays the creature and is struck with a new certitude: he has a sister somewhere. It is a surprise as he thought that the whole family except him was dead.”
Those are seeds I added nearly 20 years ago in real time but now they will be added to the story!
Now, to Servants of Darkness. Some parts are great, some others meh, or I think it will not work as written with my players.
Let’s go with a short wrap up of the adventure.
Scene 1 Intro – goblin attack, meet Ivan – OK, won’t change much.
Goblins will have fighter levels.
Scene 2 Viktal – OK, won’t change much, very good stuff here. Petrak is red headed and that will make the town people suspicious at first.
I will enrich the superstition side of the locals. Inquisition will be paranoid and xenophobic (they are deluded good people).
But I’ll make it that Bryonna is Petrak’s sister (He is 25, Bryonna is 18). Bryonna will be red head. When the goblins attacked Petrak’s family in the wood, he was the only survivor as he hid in the woods. He was about 6-7 years old. He believes the rest of the family was killed, but her young baby sister was brought by one of the goblins for a later snack. But this goblin was killed by a ranger which I will introduce later.
Other than her being red head too, Petrak will have no clues to learn by now that Bryonna is his sister.
Scene 3 is traveling between Viktal to Kellee – no change.
Scene 4 – Kellee, few change.
Loebe was a friend of Petrak’s father. He will mention his name when he speaks of Bryonna, and that will make Petrak understand who Bryonna is. Loebe raised Bryonna with his wife (who died a few years ago, one of the reason Loebe’s angry isolationist demeanor).
Marla the Weaver – no change. Will make her highly antipathic.
Scene 5 – in the adventure, they go meet Rima the vistana. That is a part I do not like much as written. I agree with the critics who said “oh, another mysterious vistani giving away what they need to know”. And I think the players would have trouble traveling to Castle Island with an undead (Aroun the geist), won’t work with my players.
So I was thinking to replace Rima with a well known NPC who might fit. I thought of Ermintrude the hag. She was the one who heard the baby cry in the forest and rescued Bryonna and killed the remaining goblins. But she didn’t have the time to raise a child so she found Leobe and his wife, and they raised her.
Ermintrude wants to help Bryonna and she hates the Three Sisters, so that make sense I think for her being in the adventure.
I need a reason to go to scene 6, if not it will be deleted from the adventure. Perhaps a book is to be found there, or a person with relevant information was last seen going to the island.
Scene 6 – Castle Island. I feel this is a cheap one trick pony adventure. The Lady of the Lake as a minor darklord has an extended background in 3e, but it feels like half baked “let’s add details to make it fit” and anyway there’s about no way people can learn about her before going there, and as written she isn’t of the talkative type.
Not sure I’ll keep her if I do not find a right way to make her fit in the story.
Same for the avanc. People go fish on the lake while there is this monster roaming around? Of course.
Also, I really like the idea of adding Jibaro to this campaign arc. Jibaro is a short film from Love Death and Robots, the highly thought of Netflix collection of short movies.
***** SPOILER for the first minute of Jibaro: a group of Inquisition-like men on horses pass near a pond. In this pond is a strange fey that looks cool as
hell: she is studded with trinkets that appears to be precious. The man look at her but then she wails and all men want her for themselves and start to fight.
See that short movie on how the animation was made, you will see her:
A similar fey like creature could be a fun replacement for the Sirine, no?
So they go to the island and find a clue there about what’s going on (a boowray is controlling Lorelei)
Other possible addition (from FoS board): haunts / ghosts of past victims of the lord of Castle Island. And bad weather, icy cold waters, and slippery surfaces. PCs with numbed fingers and poor footing cannot fight effectively. Fey creatures and animated plants could be tossed in.
Scene 7 – return to Rima (now Ermintrude) and card reading. Won’t keep that.
They learn that their enemy (the boowray) is invisible and make people do evil thing.
Ermintrude will lead them to the Three Sisters to get the tincture. Her interest in that is learning more about the 3 Hags, which Ermintrude hates.
Scene 8 – 3 sisters, won’t change much, fun as written. Will have to find ways to make them creepy and intimidating (will find fun quotes for them to say)
Scene 9 – back to Viktal to save Bryonna from the flames.
Think odd that the PCs would capture the boowray to make him talk instead of just slay it on the spot? Will have to make sure Wyan intervenes to ask for its capture.
They learn from the boowray that his master wants an item in Wyan’s possession, but nothing more.
Scene 10 – Vistani card reading again? Nope, won’t use that. And will not have Wyan arrive just when the reading is finished to say his magic item was stolen, too much deus ex machina.
So I have to find a way to let them know that the Prince of Shadow is on his way to Keening.
Then, they will learn that from Wyan that someone stole the Eye of Vhaeraun and that Lorelei is missing.
Scene 11 – travel to Keening. OK
Scene 12 – Umbra Caverns. Not sure. I thought Tristessa was mostly alone in her cavern and now it’s crowded
Will redo this part, or skip it if I do not have an idea that fits.
Scene 13 – Banshee’s temple. OK
Will have to think more about the possible battle there, to make sure the PCs do not derail the story
Scene 14 – Denouement. Trial of Lorelei. OK
And that will lead us to Shadow Rift!
Ideas? comments? Will have sidequests too, if there are any fun ones to add?
