Umbrage Saga Question

[obatron]

The group is up to Module A2, The Slag Heap. I think one of them just hit third level. The modules so far seem only loosely connected, and I wasn't sure if there was an overarching plot, or was it more here's an area and some adventures linked by location and a bit of incidents from the previous module.

I ask, not as a critique, but as a curiosity because I haven't really seen it as such. As a result, I haven't read the whole thing, concentrating more on the module at hand. In case I was wrong, I've been GMing them as tightly linked. I've not introduced much of my own stuff in order to avoid a break in the level progression and needing to retool a module or even skip one.

Anyone create any interesting game aids for the series? I made a Cast of Characters for Botkingburg for my reference, and for my players reference when they are looking for someone.

Bob

[Treebore]

If you interact with the NPC's, they are all interconnected.

[mbeacom]

This is a good question. I'm about to run this campaign for my group starting with A0 Rising Knight. It starts in Malforten, an outskirts-of-civilization style village. There are a LOT of characters listed in this module if you are looking for local flavor. I was surprised at how many (more than a dozen for a level 1 module is alot IMO). I assumed this was a series of stories that were grouped by location where certain interests will influence the adventure throughout but not necessarily drive it. Basically, your party is tasked with slowly but surely cleaning up the area and in the process they explore local dungeons and get drawn into local drama, feuds and the like. So far, I'm loving the setting and the detail that is going into each of the presented personalities. I can already see lots of good RP options as well as subplots, helpful and hindering NPCs and the like.

If you want to get an idea for the NPCs presented in Rising Knight, check out my C&C campaign On Epic words here.

http://www.epicwords.com/Road-to-Aufstrag/npcs

I've started detailing the NPCs (there are several yet to add) and locations in anticipation of the campaign I'm about to run.
Don't click on the large logo below as that links to my older more developed 4E campaign and I wouldn't want to give anyone fits as I know how 4E is perceived in some quarters.

[Treebore]

That is probably a much clearer way to explain it. If you interact with the NPC's, and utilize the relationships they have with other NPC's in the module series, you will get pulled along. You will then also get pulled further and further into the mechanizations of the big threat of the area. Once you recognize the threat, and decide to do something about it, you will get pulled further along by your own investigations. If not, the NPC's will ask you to investigate, if the players refuse those requests, then the region gets over run.

[Omote]

The Umbrage Saga box set seems to put a bit more emphasis on the linking of the adventures together, but only just. The CK will have to do some work to glue them together. Though, as Treeb notes the NPCs are the largest linking factor to these modules.

~O

[obatron]

So, I'm interpreting this as, the adventures themselves are more independent events that are linked by location and peoples and symptomatic of a larger issue in the region which is more a theme of the saga than an adventure over arching plot. That's cool, I just wanted to be sure I was reading it right. I originally started it with the idea that it was like a Paizo Adventure Path series, but was having a hard time linking the modules together and thought I might be missing something important. I now know to put some more effort towards the region and people interaction than the individual adventures, not to say that the latter are unimportant, just that they don't necessarily have to flow from one to another.

Thanks!
Bob

[Treebore]

Yeah, look at the NPC's, especially the Baron of Botkinburg and the current Baron of Ludensheim as well as the rightful Baron, and you will see how you can draw the PC's along, but only if they role play. If they kill everyone and everything they may very well kill the rightful Baron without ever finding out about him. Other than that, they will eventually see that these disparate events are actually orchestrated, but that only starts to become obvious in A2, and then is pretty much blatant by the end of A3, and is then driven home by A4. By A4, if you have taken care of everyone by that point, the PC's have made themselves "Public Enemy Number 1", so even if they want to ignore the events going on, they will now be hunted down, so either have to take care of the master puppeteers, or leave the region to get beyond the reach of them.