There are lots of things I did do, and didn't but could have, to modify the game. Below I outline what I did, what I could have done, and some of the resources I used.
First, the resources. I found a few things that helped me.
1) NPC cards. As a player I always had problems remembering and keeping NPCs straight. Between Knots, Patrons, Potential Allies & a pile of enemies (lots on the watch wall) I decided to spare my PCs my misery and I came up with a lot of NPC cards. Please note, I got a lot of art work from deviant-art.com & the D&D site, so credit goes to all the fine artiest there.
2) There are a lot of rumor cards. I took the NPC card idea and expanded it to rumors. And I modified them to fit what my group did.
3) Timeline. I came up with one for Act 4 in Book 1. And in hindsight,
Finally, below is a blow-by-blow of each book individually.
Book 1:
I left Act one alone pretty much. You could consider toning down the intro, if you have a small unbalanced group. It can be a little rough at times and a small group with limited resources could turn south fast. Also, there's so much bonus content for Grumblejack it might be worth trying to keep the ogre alive. My players got him out alive, but I could see other groups easily losing him.
Act two I did change a little. I played up Knot Seven a bit. Adding some extra scenes with them. It made Book Two's betrayal grander. Also, I threw in an old set of recurring NPCs, a necromancer wizard and his vampire friend and dominated bride. One thing I would have done. Allow interested party members to be bitten from the vampire. The five feat vampire chain (along with optional bonus feats) is way too much if you wait until the end of Book 3/beginning of Book 4.
Act three I left alone for the most part. I didn't play up much the encounters with the tribesman. If you wanted, you could leave it as an opening. Maybe followed by having the Knot run into more tribesman when they search the burning city of Daveryn in Book Four. Also, I didn't do much with the Oracle & her allies. I did find it amusing that the Players assumed the prophecy of the Oracle said "Sun" when it really was "Son". I could have left a plot seed about the underwater city of Tritons. But I opted not to.
Act four I kept pretty much the same. It's insanely good. I did create a timeline to help keep things straight. The one thing I did do, which I wish I hadn't, I tried to fake some background about the Havelyn's. I ended up revealing more about the family then I meant to and some of my more observant players guessed a lot more of the background then I meant.
Act two I did change a little. I played up Knot Seven a bit. Adding some extra scenes with them. It made Book Two's betrayal grander. Also, I threw in an old set of recurring NPCs, a necromancer wizard and his vampire friend and dominated bride. One thing I would have done. Allow interested party members to be bitten from the vampire. The five feat vampire chain (along with optional bonus feats) is way too much if you wait until the end of Book 3/beginning of Book 4.
Act three I left alone for the most part. I didn't play up much the encounters with the tribesman. If you wanted, you could leave it as an opening. Maybe followed by having the Knot run into more tribesman when they search the burning city of Daveryn in Book Four. Also, I didn't do much with the Oracle & her allies. I did find it amusing that the Players assumed the prophecy of the Oracle said "Sun" when it really was "Son". I could have left a plot seed about the underwater city of Tritons. But I opted not to.
Act four I kept pretty much the same. It's insanely good. I did create a timeline to help keep things straight. The one thing I did do, which I wish I hadn't, I tried to fake some background about the Havelyn's. I ended up revealing more about the family then I meant to and some of my more observant players guessed a lot more of the background then I meant.
Resources:
WotW: NPCs of Balentyne
WotW: NPCs of Balentyne
Book 2:
(Coming soon)
Book 3:
(Coming soon)
Book 4:
(Coming soon)
Resources:
(Coming soon)
Resources:
Book 5: (Coming soon)
Book 6: (Coming soon)
Awesome stuff I really like the cards idea.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear. I tried it for a home campaign before this one & my players loved it, so I kept using it. And it lets me show off more of the beautiful portraits in the book.
ReplyDeleteJosh,
ReplyDeleteGreat tips!
I have started rereading your blog as I am about to start WotW up. I am mashing it with Paizo's Wrath of the Righeous. It's going to be on a home brew world and have a lot of the names changed. The players are going to be both good and evil parties. There is also going to be a bit of time flipping, so it's not going to be completely linear for either path...
I am on your session 14 and look forward to catching up, as I have not checked out your blog in a couple of months.
Your tips, experiences, and advice are really valuable. If you think of anything else, in the behind the curtain section,I'd love to hear about it.
take care,
David S.