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    Canonfire :: View topic - Updating the U series *possible spoilers to follow*
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    Updating the U series *possible spoilers to follow*
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    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
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    From: Mt. Smolderac

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    Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:31 am  
    Updating the U series *possible spoilers to follow*

    I'm considering the U series as something to update for a 4e campaign, but the main problem is one of the players is an old-timer with a good memory who played through it as a 1e module. I'd like to totally surprise him by changing everything around. Has anyone every done a reboot of the U series, or any part of it that totally turns the existing premise on its head. One thing I'm considering for U1 is having the haunted house be really haunted, but then that's going to be difficult to tie in with the rest of the series, or at least I'm not thinking of anything. Anybody got any experience or just any ideas they wouldn't mind sharing?
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Jun 11, 2009
    Posts: 39
    From: Wales

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    Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:09 pm  

    I haven't actually run the adventures yet but if you are looking to have the "haunted house" really haunted if you know anything about the old timers adventure in U1 you might want to include any of the original group that died in or near the house or even the pirates.

    One thing you haven't said is if it from you are looking to kick start the adventure off at 1st or not.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
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    From: Mt. Smolderac

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    Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:34 pm  

    Thanks for the reply. I don't know anything about the last time the "old-timer" went through it, other than it was back when everyone was playing 1e and 2e, so I wouldn't be relating back to that. This will be all new characters in an all new campaign, starting off at 1st lvl. Basically, I don't care if he remembers the basic layout - a 2 story haunted house on a cliff overlooking the sea, with caves that access the water underneath. What I'm looking to do is change the given premise - that the house isn't really haunted, but being used by a gang of smugglers who make it appear that way to keep people from interfering with their operations.
    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Feb 20, 2008
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    Thu Apr 22, 2010 3:41 pm  

    The U series is sacred to me. Be warned.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
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    From: Mt. Smolderac

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    Thu Apr 22, 2010 4:44 pm  

    chaoticprime wrote:
    The U series is sacred to me. Be warned.


    I see. Well in that case you leave me no choice but to rewrite it with as many skill challenges and dragonborn as I can fit into it. Oh yeah, and in the library the PCs will find a copy of "Why Succubi Are Actually Devils and Not Demons" by Tenser, along with "Strange Creatures of the Feywild" by Nystul.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 23, 2004
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    Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:13 pm  

    Last time I DMed it, beefed up the assassin in the house and gave him some invisiblity.
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    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Feb 20, 2008
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    Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:27 pm  

    Last time I ran it Ned was actually who he said he was and the smuggler's had been stealing arms from a merchant in Seaton.

    Of course if you are running it in 4E, the Rob Liefeld equivalent of the various incarnations of the game, you can just tell the PC's what happens before combat starts again.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    From: Mt. Smolderac

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    Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:25 am  

    Yeah, changing Ned would be a surprise for players who already know about him. I always felt that the old "I'll tie myself up/lock myself in a cell and pretend to be a prisoner" thing was kind of a lame anyway, and way too prevalent in published adventures.

    One idea I've had was, like I said, have the house (I'm changing it more to a fortified manor) be really haunted by the ghost of the wizard/alchemist, and have the crew of the Sea Ghost be undead formed from pirates that attacked the manor 20 years ago and killed the wizard; their undeath being the result of a curse he laid on them as he was dying. But then how to do that without it being too much like Pirates of the Caribbean? I also don't really see any way to lead into U2-3.

    The other idea is to have the abandoned manor be a center of worship for a Dagon cult that has ties in the town among some of the more prominent citizens. This could lead into U2-3 pretty easily, as the PCs fight their way up the hierarchy of the cult. U2 could be an older cult complex, and U3 could be played more as written, with the sahuagin being behind the cult.
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Aug 17, 2004
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    From: Computer Desk

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    Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:22 am  

    smillan_31 wrote:
    I always felt that the old "I'll tie myself up/lock myself in a cell and pretend to be a prisoner" thing was kind of a lame anyway, and way too prevalent in published adventures.


    Must remember this was the "heroic era" within much of the early material the assumption was the PCs were Galahads and Robin Hoods. IIRC; some suggestions in the publications urging the DM to nudge (force) the players to proper behavior when a few letters to editor mention the players killing or leaving him in the cell. Of course most did it because they had read the adventure but no doubt some did not want to be bothered.

    The cult link is an obvious plot hook, my 2 coppers, keep it murky as long as possible. A little mystery never hurts and provides some tension. Personally I would suggest Sekolah rather then Dagon. As for Dagon, your call but sometimes the incline can be overwhelming. Demon cultist and the abyss can be too much for 1st level. Try to crawl before running...keep it simple...a smal dungeon or a little sidetrack not everything has to be a vast tangled mess.

    At the beginning; a simple cllue within the library or a smuggler hint could offer a promise of more treasure which should be enough incentive to convince the PCs to travel anywhere.
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Feb 27, 2005
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    From: Winnipeg Canada

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    Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:37 am  

    How about having the "old time" the module was played 20 years in the past.

    Some grizzled oldsters in the area remember the happenings with a lot of embellishments thrown in (good fodder to get extra free drinks at the tavern from the new whipper snappers in town).

    So, the new PCs can find out that there was once some pirates using the cellars of the house as a base. But today the house is so derelict it's almost falling down... you could have the attic caved in, and most of the 2nd floor unstable to walk on for anyone other than a gnome or halfling due to weight.

    The main floor will in places cave through to the cellars.

    Perhaps in the interim the new smugglers have expanded the cellars and/or the secret caverns with worked and rough areas.

    Change it up in terms of the smugglers as well... perhaps their leader was a member of the band that was slain those years ago, and has learned a lot about how to make the position more defensible, etc....
    Black Hand of Oblivion

    Joined: Feb 16, 2003
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    Fri Apr 23, 2010 5:37 pm  

    You could have Ned just be a patsy. The real bad guy just happens to have a brain, and has been placing evidence that implicates Ned, just in case anybody ever catches on to the real bad guys doings. Poor Ned. Laughing

    That is just one thing you could do. There is a lot of info on Seaton/Saltmarsh out there to make use of.
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    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jun 25, 2007
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    From: Neck Deep in the Viscounty of Verbobonc

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    Sat Apr 24, 2010 6:35 pm  

    smillan_31 wrote:
    chaoticprime wrote:
    The U series is sacred to me. Be warned.


    I see. Well in that case you leave me no choice but to rewrite it with as many skill challenges and dragonborn as I can fit into it. Oh yeah, and in the library the PCs will find a copy of "Why Succubi Are Actually Devils and Not Demons" by Tenser, along with "Strange Creatures of the Feywild" by Nystul.


    You are an evil man, Smillan. An evil, evil man.

    But concerning the OP:
    I once ran an off-the-cuff version of U1 using the "new" version or Saltmarsh in the 3.5e DMGII - or PHBII, or whatever it was. Since some of my players, too, were familiar with the original, and since I'm a big fan of the Thieves' World series of novels, I transformed the haunted house into the home of...ta-da-da-DAAAAH...Ischade, the vampire wizard/thief. The pirates stayed pirates, but they took on a nastier, grittier mein, and were connected with a larger, more extensive network of thieves and cutthroats tied to the Slave Lords via Turrosh Mak. We never got to finish that adventure, but I intended to have the players eventually uncover a plot backed by the Pomarj. Ya see, Turrosh Mak had this plan to "buy" influence with certian Keoish nobles by getting them addicted to this sorcerous object that acted something like a cross between heroin and a palantir...
    GreySage

    Joined: Oct 06, 2008
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    From: South-Central Pennsylvania

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    Sat Apr 24, 2010 7:28 pm  

    bubbagump wrote:
    something like a cross between heroin and a palantir...


    Only a Hairfoot halfling in Swedish leotards could find a way to combine heroin with a Palantir!

    (Tolkien is rolling over in his grave!) Evil Grin

    Good to have you back, Bubbagump. Wink
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    Journeyman Greytalker

    Joined: Sep 14, 2009
    Posts: 171
    From: Laporte IN.

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    Sun Apr 25, 2010 2:51 pm  

    As far as U1 i would change up the weather first, have it raining or thunder storm ( giving more spookey-ness to the haunting) make the old alchemist skeleton undead. Change the code.

    U2 i would change up the bullywug ambush up, have it be their lair, a quick draw jobfor their lair and give them a "big" pet of some kind.Nice side trek Smile

    U3 theirs not much i would change except having all 3 floors underwater.

    The U series is a classic to me and i feel a little sick for making these changes.
    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Feb 20, 2008
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    Sun Apr 25, 2010 4:53 pm  

    I made the Bullywugs responsible for raiding a monastery on the road northwest of Bale Keep. The PC's tracked them back to their lair.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
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    From: Mt. Smolderac

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    Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:59 pm  

    All interesting ideas, especially yours, BG. Thanks for the replies. If I do go with this series and it turns out good maybe I'll post some of it up.
    Adept Greytalker

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    Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:37 pm  

    I should mention my minis company is making wugs, sea devils, and lizardmen. I like the U series.
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jun 25, 2007
    Posts: 951
    From: Neck Deep in the Viscounty of Verbobonc

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    Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:09 pm  

    Mystic-Scholar wrote:
    bubbagump wrote:
    something like a cross between heroin and a palantir...


    Only a Hairfoot halfling in Swedish leotards could find a way to combine heroin with a Palantir!

    (Tolkien is rolling over in his grave!) Evil Grin

    Good to have you back, Bubbagump. Wink


    (*gasp! sputter!*) THEY'RE NOT LEOTARDS, YOU ADDLE-PATED, KNOT-BEARDED, WINE-SOTTED CHEAP KNOCKOFF OF ELMINSTER! THEY'RE LEDERHOSEN!!!

    (Actually, thanks for the sentiments, Scholar - much appreciated. I'm not really back, though, at least not yet. I just somehow managed to find a few minutes to drop by. I'll be back as soon as I get my current challenges taken care of, though. Wink )
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jun 25, 2007
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    Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:10 pm  

    smillan_31 wrote:
    All interesting ideas, especially yours, BG. Thanks for the replies. If I do go with this series and it turns out good maybe I'll post some of it up.


    Kind words, coming from you, Smillan. Glad I could help. Good gaming!
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Jul 10, 2003
    Posts: 1234
    From: New Jersey

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    Sat May 01, 2010 6:51 pm  

    Make Ned a ghost his soul is trapped in the house because of what he did 20 years ago. The only way he can rest is if all of the original adventurers come back and offer their forgiveness. The actual adventure could be gathering the hero's. If you want to add another twist have the pcs somehow find a way to get a bullywug chieftain to forgive Ned because his actions caused the death of his people. The old adventurers might be the bargaining chip for the bullywug chieftain to give his forgiveness to Ned in exchange for revenge on the adventurers who killed his kind. However Ned will need everyones forgiveness in order to pass on to the afterlife in the end leaving the place haunted no more.
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