Reworked Hexad for Grand Conjunction ?

[Kuffs]

With Halloween coming up, a couple friends have asked me to dip them into the Mists for a new campaign. One player has played there before, one has read quite a bit about it and the last has no idea what they are getting into.

I have lots of the old modules and with things becoming more hectic as I get older this may be the last chance to actually get some use out of them. I've always liked the earth shattering implications of the Grand Conjunction and Night of the Walking Dead is one of my favorite adventures so I'm going to start out there. The only adventures in the Hexad series that I have are Night of the Walking Dead, Touch of Death and Feast of Goblyns but that is actually just fine with me. Ship of Horror doesn't seem that great from when I read it and it definitely doesn't fit into the level spread and From the Shadows and Roots of Evil are pretty rough with the time traveling and mixing it up with the two big boys. So I decided to just toss those three out and replace them with three of the other modules I have.

The others I have are
Dark of the Moon ( lvls 5 - 9 )
Hour of the Knife ( 4 - 7 )
The Awakening ( 4 - 6 )
Howls in the Night ( 3 - 5 )
When Black Roses Bloom ( 4 - 7 )
Circle of Darkness ( 5 - 7 )
The Evil Eye ( 4 - 7 )
Bleak House ( 5 - 12 )
Servants of Darkness ( 4 - 7 )
Vecna Reborn ( 5 - 7 )

I also have Chilling Tales if something from there fits in nicely as I intend to have the characters be familiar with Van Richten. I also have House of Strahd but that plays much better as a one off than part of a campaign.

Looking at my choices there a few stand out that I'd like to use. Continuing with the theme of a massive event in the demiplane and the subtle weakening of the threads holding it together The Evil Eye and Malocchio seem to fit right in. I know the time isn't right but I can work that out without too much trouble. I like Dark of the Moon and it fits nicely into the level range but travel could be problematic. I may end up using it anyway because it may dovetail nicely into a character's background from what the player was telling me. Servants of Darkness seems right out because of the ties to the Shadow Rift that wouldn't exist yet and I'd prefer to use it a bit later to illustrate the changes the realm has undergone. I'd love to slide When Black Roses Bloom in there and it could lead to the release of a powerful Darklord further showing the weakening of the demiplane. Vecna Reborn could do the same but the feel of that module is all wrong to me. Hour of the Knife could work, basing a verse around the line of murders. One thing I know for sure is I'd like to end up in Bleak House because it makes a great ending for this arc in the campaign if not the campaign altogether. And the events therein could defintely tie into the hexad with the Vistani influence and Van Richten's dubious fate.

The biggest hurdle of all in changing around the hexad is in the prophecies themselves. So here lies my question:
What adventures would you use in a reworked Hexad series ?

Give some reasons and throw in a few good verses for those adventures to put in the prophecy.

If nothing else, this should spark some good discussion.

[Ail]

I haven't read all of the modules you mention here. Still, here's my opinion on them:

Dark of the Moon ( lvls 5 - 9 ): I have not read it, but the setting attracts me greatly. Being on an island of terror should not be a problem, since other modules of the GC also are. Not sure if the feeling would be right.

Hour of the Knife ( 4 - 7 ): I would do not do it, but only because I do not like such advanced domains.

The Awakening ( 4 - 6 ): I haven't read this, but it attracts me. However, if you already have Touch of Death, putting another ancient dead (if I recall rightly) might be overkill. You should have only of the two.


Howls in the Night ( 3 - 5 ): I read it, but I found it too local and picturesque to be part of a world-shattering series of prophecies.

When Black Roses Bloom ( 4 - 7 ): I find this could fit in. It is somewhat epic in that a whole domain is being destroyed; I find Soth an interesting villain (ok, I like Dragonlance) and it's different enough. I'd play this.

Circle of Darkness ( 5 - 7 ): I don't know it.

The Evil Eye ( 4 - 7 ): Another great adventure, full of juice, theme and I think it's right in level. I'd also play this.

Bleak House ( 5 - 12 ): Supposedly, this is another good one. Problem is you'd probaly kill Van Ricthen by the end, and risking a valuable NPC for the rest of the campaign. Also, it might be too high level by the end? I head it has 3 parts, so you could do just a partial adventure.

Servants of Darkness ( 4 - 7 ): I don't know this, but it might also be interesting, since it focuses on a different theme from the rest of the hexad and the connection to the Shadow Rift might also sound epic enough.

Vecna Reborn ( 5 - 7 ) : Anything Vecna for me is out of consideration, sorry.

These are just my opinions, and very personal at that. So feel free to disregard any, if you wish . But I hope this has been helpful.


Alex

[Sylaire]

Bleak House might make a good substitute for the end of the Hexad (since the last two parts are two of the ones you don't have); its flavor is sufficiently epic in scale to wrap things up. If you go this route, I'd strongly suggest inserting various "Chilling Tales" adventures into the campaign along the way, with at least one in between each stage of your revised Hexad. That way, the PCs get to know Van Richten as a character instead of just a name and theoretically have an emotional connection to him by the time Bleak House rolls around.

I agree with Ail that "Howls in the Night" is too much of a small set-piece for a Hexad-type situation. It's a good, quick adventure, though, but since you've already got Night of the Living Dead you don't really need another "introductory" type of story (unless you want to run it as a "fill-in" kind of game while the characters are traveling between points A and B--maybe the characters take ship from Port D'Elhour to Mordentshire?

Dark of the Moon is great, full of atmosphere, and features the vastly underappreciated Zolnik.

And IMHO, anything with Vecna isn't worth the saliva to spit on (the concept, I mean--the module might be awful or excellent for all I know, but putting Greyhawk big-name demi-deities into Ravenloft just isn't the kind of thing that should have been done to begin with).

[brothersale]

all the modules for the Hexad are still available for free on the wizard.com in the D&D download section under previous edition downloads, if that helps.
For my money i'd possibly include circle of darkness only as the core begins to break under the stress of the Grand Conjuction as the whole setting of it is in G'Henna after the GC.
Evil Eye is a good one to use though, see Stu Turner's campaign (on this site) for how it could be worked in.
Servants of darkness is a good module but to be effective it needs to be run after the GC, unless you really rework it.

the others are good choices but you may or may not want to alter the tone for Venca reborn (think robert howard/H. P. Lovecraft in your aproach to decribing the warped creatures and cultral differances in the burning peaks cluster) and it might come out ok.

[BlackBoxGamer]

I just have to say that while I really liked the plot and story of Dark of the Moon, the two different groups I ran through it both hated it. In both cases, they were annihilated by the Loup Garou when they finally got tired of being chased and tried to stand up to their tormentors (and having learned my lesson from the first group I really lightened up on my second try at it, to no avail).

Be careful you have the right sort of players for DotM because if you get one stubborn or stupid player they won't live the adventure (especially if it is ran as-is).

I also agree that Bleak House should end your campaign. I just wrapped up a RL campaign a few months back & I had the characters have a close relationship with Dr. Van Richten. When I ran them through Bleak House it was very personal for them and they were all very saddened by his entrapment.

A perfect ending.

-BBG

[HuManBing]

Ooh! Grand Conjunction! I'm always happy to help with a GC reworking!

Here's my philosophy on the GC. You have to have Azalin in there somehow. He has to manipulate the hexad somehow (meaning he's aware of it and wants it to happen). Thus look at your adventures and see if you can introduce something into them, preferably small, that would tie into an Apocalyptic feel. Specifically, something that weakens the bounds of the Demiplane works very well, because then you could argue that Azalin is watching these happen through the eyes of the PCs and studying the weaknesses of the Demiplane.

Here are the modules I'd suggest you run, and the alterations I'd make to them so they fit into the GC.

First, I'd suggest you add a minor NPC to the group who will help get them from one adventure to the other. If the NPC is a tomb robber or adventurer, you could have him take orders from a far off guild and let the PCs in on a generous cut of the money. This helps the adventure along if they get stuck or in between modules.

Secretly, the NPC is a Kargat agent (preferably a live one, like a doppelganger, so it won't attract too much suspicion) who is well aware of the Hexad and the purported locations of these important hints occurring. Azalin has sent him to recover magical items or to observe important events and report back, to feed into Azalin's own plane-breaking research.

Alternatively, if you really want to be devious, have Van Richten be the NPC himself, and have him use his various Knowledge (...) skills to save the PCs' bacon. He'll be following hints here and there in the Hexad, and he'll be sending back regular reports to his circle of friends. (Geldan Ironheart, Belinderissa, Shauten, etc. etc.) The catch is that Azalin is already one step ahead of VR and has infiltrated his circle of friends with a Kargat spy - perhaps a doppelganger who took the place of a friend. Thus, VR's research is directly going to help Azalin's own research.

This fits in nicely because then once that's all done, Azalin has no further need for VR and can allow the events in Bleak House to occur. Perhaps Azalin is even responsible in some way for allowing Baron Metus' spirit to rise again...!

I arrange the adventures in order of increasing party level, so it will scale well with progression.

• Night of the Walking Dead - This is a fantastic adventure, but doesn't have much regarding a breakdown in the fabric of reality. I ran this adventure first in my GC campaign because it's suitable for low level PCs, and I added in a small artifact called the Amulet of the Glass Man. This amulet merely makes whomever wears it ethereal after a few days. The effect is irreversible and permanent. Hazlik made the pendant in the short story collect Tales of Ravenloft and then forgot about it. It's possible that it went overseas to Souragne or wherever you want to base this adventure. The PCs do not have to collect this item, but they do find it on the Tarascon zombie lord's possession, and the NPC Kargat or Van Richten will step forward to claim it as his share of the treasure or as a worthwhile item for research by the circle of friends.
• The Evil Eye - Likewise a good adventure, well written. Even better, it features the birth of Mallocchio, so Azalin would clearly want to observe this prodigy. Run this adventure normally, without any special magical items. Azalin's Kargat servant (or Van Richten) would be purely trying to get a glimpse of Mallocchio's interaction with the demiplane. The PCs might be able to catch the NPC casting a few scrying spells on him, or Van Richten taking copious notes on the fiendchild's warping effects. Also, consider having Azalin really want Aderre to die, so he can observe scientifically what happens to the fabric of the Demiplane when a Darklordship passes hands. Thus, it's possible you can let her die and it would still be in keeping with the GC series.
• The Awakening - I personally enjoyed this, though I felt it should still be set in Har'Akir instead of Nova Vaasa. The crypt was a little too Egyptian for anywhere else, frankly. If they'd made it more generic, it would have done better. Put this into the series and have it such that Azalin wants a magical scroll in Sachmet's tomb. The PCs absolutely have to retrieve it, or the NPC will not pay them. (Or, in the case of Van Richten, the scroll is so important to the rest of the Demiplane that he won't leave without it, so he can someday copy it and distribute it to help others escape.) The scroll itself is a Scroll of Return - one of the few items capable of transporting a reader out of the Demiplane and back to their home plane.
• When Black Roses Bloom - Personally, I didn't like this adventure, though I thought it had good potential. I thought Soth was way too underused. This might require some rewriting (perhaps including a detour to the elvish hillsides, where a low-intensity uprising is perpetually underway against Soth's rule) so you can give Soth a more active role. But it does have a moment at the end where Soth's armor becomes a gateway out of Ravenloft. Azalin would doubtless be very interested in this.
• Circle of Darkness - One of the best Ravenloft adventures published, in my opinion. This adventure is truly amazing, with rival political forces fighting over a swaying theocracy, and even the possibility of a darklord's death. Azalin is interested in observing how the Demiplane reacts to outsiders' reality wrinkles, and anything the PCs can observe about Malistroi's reality wrinkle would be of great use to him. Even better (from Azalin's viewpoint) is if Malistroi kills Yagno and assumes his darklordship, as that would allow him to observe the power handover from the Demiplane's view.
• Bleak House - an excellent ending to eliminate Van Richten from the picture. You can also add in a few details (journal entries perhaps) hinting at Azalin's infiltration of the circle of friends of VR. You could even have an exciting post-adventure vengeance chase for the PCs to catch up with the traitor... and this could lead them straight to Castle Avernus, in time for From the Shadows.
• From the Shadows - this is my personal favorite adventure, if only because it's geared around my personal favorite darklord. This adventure can be played with a few changes and will fit right in. Instead of railroading the PCs with the Headless Horseman, tempt them in with a masked ball, or perhaps have them follow the traitor in here. Azalin and a good number of Kargat will be waiting for them, and will disable them with a few choice spells, letting the adventure being in earnest. Also, consider this post about Azalin's combat tactics and a surprising property of his phylactery and this thread in general for other analyses of Azalin's spells.
• Roots of Evil - This is required only if you want your PCs to go back to Ravenloft. Otherwise, you could end the entire campaign right at the end of From the Shadows with the theory that Azalin broke free from Ravenloft and took the PCs with him, and now they're back on their homeworld... with a nasty lich running around who really shouldn't be there!

The actual hexad itself, I would suggest you write in an evocative but non-rhyming fashion. The original hexad was corny in my opinion because they were straining words to rhyme.

This hexad would likely be told to them by Hyskosa himself. After all, Hyskosa wasn't particularly well liked by the Vistani and it's not as though he's got a cult following him around posting his hexad on walls. I'd suggest introducing the PCs to Hyskosa while he's a refugee in Darkon or somewhere similar. He'll be humble and shyly grateful for their help and friendship, and occasionally will enter trances and tell them of their futures.

At the end of the series, when Van Richten dies, Azalin also snatches Hyskosa and has him spirited to Castle Avernus, so that the PCs have a very real feeling of all their friends and allies collapsing around them while Azalin proceeds to the endgame.

Hyskosa's prophecies: (many of these are taken from the discussion in this thread, which was compiled about a year ago)

NotWD: "There are screams, bloodstains in the shady groves. But in the sandpits, buried footsteps quicken to the surface! He must be stopped!" He screeches, as an animal in pain. "O, stop him, lest the ghostly garotte tightens about the countryside!"

Translation: Screams and bloodstains refer to the murders. Buried footsteps quicken to the surface clearly refers to the stirring of undead in the marshes. The ghostly garotte is a reference to the Amulet of the Glass Man, but could also imply a ring of undead closing about a village (which actually is the case in Souragne).

Evil Eye: "With a glance, she fells the forebears. With a kiss, she poisons posterity. If she murders tomorrow by killing today, is there none who will help the orphan's mother?"

Translation: This refers to Aderre's ability to make men fight to the death over her or be unfaithful to their wives for her sake. Also, she "poisons posterity" with a kiss by driving the children of her adult victims insane (she kissed the Midnight Slasher on her head, driving her permanently insane and ensuring that the MS would try to kill Aderre herself). Aderre's minor infidelities and indiscretions will have reverberant future implications (murders tomorrow by killing today) and in the end the PCs actually are expected to help Aderre herself (otherwise she dies, and thus Mallocchio is indeed an orphan).

Awakening: [The verse should compare Ravenloft's terrain - specifically, the terrain where Sakhmet's tomb is to be found - against the yearning terrain of the PCs' homeworld. This is what I'd use for my own PCs, who come from my own homebrew world, but you may have to customize this.] "Wavering like water amidst the searing sands, a soul-house holds a scroll-box - the key back home to rolling barrows, blue skies, and seven fluttering pennants in the martial breeze." [You'll have to change this to reflect a) where Sakhmet's tomb is located in the Demiplane, and b) where your PCs came from originally.]

Translation: This is a straightforward reference to the fact that the Scroll of Return is to be found in Sakhmet's tomb, if you choose to alter the adventure the way I suggest above. (To make it even more challenging, have the scroll itself appear on her person as part of her funereal wrappings! Now the PCs can't use fire against her!)

Black Roses: "Though a mailed fist closes tightly about the realm, there are the ageless who will rally to a last stand. And though the warden himself slumbers at the prison's door, yet those who brave him shall find a way out."

Translation: The first part only works if you incorporate a low-level rebellion (and Soth's violent quashing) into the adventure. The "ageless" in that reference means the elves who populate the hills and whom Soth has been trying to exterminate for quite some time. The second part will refer to Soth's isolation in his own dreams in the mirrors of his castle. (As Sithicus' ruler, he is its "warden" in this metaphor.) Because Soth's armor becomes a brief gateway out of the Demiplane, those who "brave him" could indeed escape. (Though you should probably prevent this if you want the GC series to continue. Just allow an NPC or two to escape.)

Circle of Darkness: "Atop a rise of burnished stone, he breathed life into god, and set a devil among men. He culls fair from foul, and pure from sullied. But he must be removed from these playthings of the divine. He plays far too well."

Translation: Yagno Petrovna did indeed create his god, Zhakata, and formed a religion around this false god. Yagno also is tied to Malistroi, the demon who walks the domain. Less dramatically, Yagno also denounces citizens and transforms them into mongrelmen, holding the populace in fear of denunciation and transformation.

Bleak House: "To walk the path of deliverance is a lonely one indeed, for your companions will leave you one by one. Three departures from the way I see for you - and then my friends, Fate comes for you."

Translation: The PCs will lose friends three times over. The first will be Van Richten, who dies at the end of Bleak House. The second will be Hyskosa, who is forcibly removed to Avernus by Azalin's minions. The third will be the Kargat infiltrator who has been siphoning all of VR's findings back to Azalin. The PCs themselves will end up rather the worse for wear in Avernus later on.


All of the above verses will be made available to the PCs before they go to Avernus. Translations of the verses are available in Azalin's personal notes in Avernus, which will allow the PCs to see how thoroughly he has manipulated them.

Finally, Hyskosa will see them one last time, in the dungeons below Castle Avernus, and near-death himself. He is able to rasp out only the following line (by that time the PCs will already have experienced the first sentence):

From the Shadows: "Time, and time, and time once more to the beginning, then at one stride comes the end. But bear the master's life to the end of the prison, and you may yet win blessed freedom once more."

Translation: Azalin will send the PCs to the beginning (the moment in the past when the Demiplane formed) several times. After that, their use is seemingly over and he will likely execute them before long (at one stride comes the end). However, if they bear Azalin's phylactery to the edge of the Demiplane, they may release themselves from it and go back home.

Of course, Hyskosa fails to tell them that this "blessed freedom" will apply to Azalin and to everybody else in the Demiplane. But why quibble over details.

And there you have it. It's a bit long but that's the best I could come up with in an hour and a half.

[HuManBing]

...and this thread fades into silence after I give my advice.

Exactly like the other two or three Grand Conjunction threads did before this one.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

What can we say? It seems you're the proven expert on the subject!

BTW, have you looked at the death knight article on the WotC site, HMB? There's some passing mention of liches there, and how the new 4E death knight is becoming more melee-oriented. Sounds like they want to give liches center stage as the uncontested big-gun spellslingers among undead.