Starkad wrote:
It's a fairly dangerous adventure, as Tuannon is a fearsome opponent. A party that blunders straight into the barrow may have a very short adventure... But that's the risk, sometimes. You have to decide on the strength of your party and whether you're prepared for a TPK. As the wight is massively dangerous, I tend to tone down some of the other threats (the "rusting glaive", for example, is an almost certain party death). Mind you, I once ran it where the first thing the party did was break the chain guarding the dell - thus releasing Tuannon... Oops.
Legend, generally, is a very dangerous land in which to go adventuring and I do tend to tone things down from the published adventures (plus, characters can have a "defeated" condition from which you won't immediately die) - but not to the point that the lands are too safe (or healing too easy). I also like the adventurers to have a fighting chance - the rusting glaive is a perfect example of something the adventurers could never hope to prepare for, as there's not much foreshadowing of how dangerous it is. Without meaningful choices, death on the roll of die can just make a player feel cheated.
Starkad wrote:
One of the things I regularly change (from a setting point of view) are the railings around the dell - iron railings would cost a fortune in a medieval society as they would be incredibly hard to make. They only really appeared became possible in the real world in the 15th Century (as wrought iron) and one of their first uses in Britain was outside St. Paul's in the early 18th Century. They only became widespread in Victorian times. Iron railings right around a dell is simply massively anachronistic. But a fence of linked wooden stakes on the other hand, or boundary stones incised with a cross, or a dry stone wall with an opening barred by an iron chain, all these are possible...*
* You'd need sharp fence posts for Harald to impale himself, but he could instead have simply shattered his shoulder on one of the stones.
I hadn't even considered that, but it's a good shout - consider it appropriated
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Starkad wrote:
I don't always play the adventure to include Sir Beorn and his plot, as the Dell itself is quite atmospheric and can be set pretty much anywhere with just a bit of tweaking.
Actually, the Beorn plot was the weakest thing in it when I ran it with my last group - but I put that down to me being not particularly good at the social improvisation required for that kind of plot. I was toying this time of toning it down to be the headman in Norham that drove Harald to flee for the Dell.
Starkad wrote:
(I may have to pinch your Ballad of Gardener Jack for the next time I run this scenario...)
You're welcome - it was fun to make and I might do more of them. I certainly want to re-do the promotional videos on my channel and then continue the series for most of the available supplements. Even a two-minute video takes an inordinate amount of time, tho, so that's a project that never quite reaches the top of my list!