Topic: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

I'm running my first LotFP game tomorrow, and in anticipation of it going well, I've tried to create an arc that allows me to take the PCs through everything that's been released.  Some of it's obvious, but some of it's subjective.  I'm interested in hearing thoughts, suggestions, etc., from those who have run some of these adventures (like if you see one that references a later adventure and it's out of order, or if you see that my character levels are off...)

My goal is to tie them all together into a single campaign world (creating a hex map as we go) and having previous results impact the world permanently.

A Stranger Storm (1st level)

Tower of the Stargazer (1st level)

Better Than Any Man (beginning level)

The God That Crawls (levels 1-2)

LAMENTATIONS OF THE GINGERBREAD PRINCESS (levels 1-4)

The Grinding Gear (“low level characters”)

NO DIGNITY IN DEATH: THE THREE BRIDES (“low level characters”) / PEOPLE OF PEMBROOKTONSHIRE

Death Frost Doom (levels 1-6)

DUNGEON OF THE UNKNOWN (1-10) / Isle of the Unknown

Hammers of the God (levels 3-5)

Quelong (levels 4-6)

Weird New World (levels 4-7)

Death Love Doom (any level?)

Fuck for Satan (any level?)

Green Devil Face #1 (any level?)

THE MONOLITH FROM BEYOND SPACE AND TIME (any level)

Carcossa (any level?)

Random hooks, encounters, traps, challenges, etc.:

TALES OF THE SCARECROW (small encounter)
THE MAGNIFICENT JOOP VAN OOMS (npc, hooks)
Green Devil Face #2, #3 (traps, challenge)
Green Devil Face #4, #5 (encounters, charts, supplemental material)
VORNHEIM: THE COMPLETE CITY KIT (city design)
The Dungeon Alphabet (dungeon creation)
The Esoteric Monster Creator (monster “manual”)
Seclusium of Orphone (seclusium generator)

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

Speaking of permanent effects on the campaign world.. Death Frost Doom, Hammers of the God, Death Love Doom, and Monolith from Beyond Space and Time (at the very least) can each have big ones.

Also, about Carcosa, I think you should put a lot of thought into whether or not you want to let "normal" (heh) LotFP character mix with Carcosans. Things might get very weird, especially if you let clerics and elves/magic users maintain access to their spell lists while in Carcosa.

I might also recommend having tangible character/player rewards for surviving multiple dungeons/modules with a single character, lol.

Last edited by Yuritau (2013-08-13 01:13:35)

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

I did something similar back when only half the current LotFP material was published. Due to TPK often being the end result of these modules, I had each of them set in the same campaign world and new characters and a, sometimes considerable, time skip (or rewind) after each module.

Chronologically I think I set them up as something along the lines of - No Dignity in Death > The Grinding Gear > Death Frost Doom > Hammers of the God > Weird New World (Played last) > Tower of the Stargazer (played first, but in the timeline that was created it was the last one).

It worked remarkably well and led to a few regional disasters in the various regions visited by my players.  The furthest fringes of civilization ravaged by human vs dwarf war (Pembrooktonshire); the empire covering the continent being considerably weakened by massive hordes of the undead being unleashed, leading to its eventual collapse around the time Stargazer was set; the dwarfish civilization being nearly extinguished by a massive civil war over shocking new revelations about the Old Miner, etc. All of these and many smaller things contributed to the backstories of the characters and NPCs and the setting itself in Weird New World, making the short-lived ship voyage that much more interesting.

With the newer modules set in the real world of the 17th century, I've simply made each new module a part of a sandbox world the players are free to roam with various larger story hook here and there in a more overal plot (which they are free to ignore).

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

I really recommend opening with Stargazer; it's a rather forgiving module which still serves as a very good introduction to the "style" of the LotFP universe.

That being said, I really don't think you should fence your characters/players in like this. Let their actions and how they move around in your world determine which hornet's nest they kick next. smile

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Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

If you really want to punish any players that dare to explore the wilds, take the Isle of the Unknown map, and secretly place every module on the map, then just let the players find them as they explore. big_smile

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

Yuritau wrote:

Speaking of permanent effects on the campaign world.. Death Frost Doom, Hammers of the God, Death Love Doom, and Monolith from Beyond Space and Time (at the very least) can each have big ones.

Good to know!  (I don't own everything yet, most of this list is based off of research, descriptions, reviews, etc.)

Yuritau wrote:

Also, about Carcosa, I think you should put a lot of thought into whether or not you want to let "normal" (heh) LotFP character mix with Carcosans. Things might get very weird, especially if you let clerics and elves/magic users maintain access to their spell lists while in Carcosa.

This is one I own and after looking over it, this is why I put it at the end - it seems like a radical departure, and would be a good end/beginning for a different world.  If any characters have survived to this point, maybe I'll let them try taking them into Carcosa, but most likely they'll probably need new ones!

Yuritau wrote:

I might also recommend having tangible character/player rewards for surviving multiple dungeons/modules with a single character, lol.

You mean surviving a LotFP module isn't reward enough? smile  I'm thinking maybe the survivors get to keep all the loot, including that on their dead comrades (still only getting xp bonuses for treasure gained the way laid out in the rules...)

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

Goldsmith wrote:

I did something similar back when only half the current LotFP material was published. Due to TPK often being the end result of these modules, I had each of them set in the same campaign world and new characters and a, sometimes considerable, time skip (or rewind) after each module.

Chronologically I think I set them up as something along the lines of - No Dignity in Death > The Grinding Gear > Death Frost Doom > Hammers of the God > Weird New World (Played last) > Tower of the Stargazer (played first, but in the timeline that was created it was the last one).

It worked remarkably well and led to a few regional disasters in the various regions visited by my players.  The furthest fringes of civilization ravaged by human vs dwarf war (Pembrooktonshire); the empire covering the continent being considerably weakened by massive hordes of the undead being unleashed, leading to its eventual collapse around the time Stargazer was set; the dwarfish civilization being nearly extinguished by a massive civil war over shocking new revelations about the Old Miner, etc. All of these and many smaller things contributed to the backstories of the characters and NPCs and the setting itself in Weird New World, making the short-lived ship voyage that much more interesting.

With the newer modules set in the real world of the 17th century, I've simply made each new module a part of a sandbox world the players are free to roam with various larger story hook here and there in a more overal plot (which they are free to ignore).

This sounds like exactly what I want to do!  I'm starting with The Stranger Storm and The Tower of the Stargazer so players can get an idea of how this game works (vs, say, Pathfinder or D&D 4E, which is what they're used to) and then Better Than Any Man will put them in a more sandbox-style world.  My idea is that this will be the main setting for a while, and I'll pepper it with the other modules, whether within this territory or on its outskirts.

It hadn't occurred to me to skip around in time - that's a great idea for when a new module doesn't fit at all with the current state of the world.

Did your players ever go back to areas that killed them to try again?  (I watched The Gamers: Dorkness Rising for the first time and in that they played the same "campaign" over and over - that never occurred to me either, it seems like many surprises would be ruined, but on the other hand, maybe players need that boost to get through it...)

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

Storapan wrote:

I really recommend opening with Stargazer; it's a rather forgiving module which still serves as a very good introduction to the "style" of the LotFP universe.

That being said, I really don't think you should fence your characters/players in like this. Let their actions and how they move around in your world determine which hornet's nest they kick next. smile

I agree with this!  My thoughts are they may need a bit of handholding at first, but by the time we get to Better Than Any Man, I hope to just let them have at it.  It has a number of locations, encounters, and things to explore built right into it, but it also has the overarching story that will impact the world whether they interact with it or not.

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

Yuritau wrote:

If you really want to punish any players that dare to explore the wilds, take the Isle of the Unknown map, and secretly place every module on the map, then just let the players find them as they explore. big_smile

Punishment aside, this might be a better use for the Dungeon/Isle of the Unknown actually.  (As opposed to me just using it as an actual island that they travel to and explore for who knows how long...)  If they go "off road" when exploring the world in Better Than Any Man, I could apply a random location from the Isle of the Unknown to that hex.  Just another way to flesh out the world!

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

Crunk Posby wrote:

Did your players ever go back to areas that killed them to try again?  (I watched The Gamers: Dorkness Rising for the first time and in that they played the same "campaign" over and over - that never occurred to me either, it seems like many surprises would be ruined, but on the other hand, maybe players need that boost to get through it...)

With the way many of the modules ended this proved impossible, though they did plan to do so. For Hammers of the God the Old Miner compound had become a regular temple of the Old Miner in the decades following party visitation; the Duvan'Ku stronghold didn't have anything much left but some wandering undead dwelling there in the decades after the horde poured out of there to attack anything alive.

I think the inn and the complex of the Grinding Gear was really the only exception that still stood, but only because the owner purposely rebuilt an exact replica of the inn after the party burned it down. The complex he just restocked. But knowing what a trap it was, they simply didn't want to go back there (some of them made it through there the first time, but they only got a part of the loot).

I did make rough outlines for a post-war Pembrooktonshire, but I never bothered to actually flesh it out in any real way.

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

This is something I would like to do as well but decided it's something I would like to do three times. Once in a pure fantasy world where I would adapt the modules in a way similar to what is being suggested here (possibly all within Isle of the Unknown), Once in a pure historical world where I adapt all the older more fantastical modules in ways that would fit a historical campaign, and what I am currently doing now which is historical fantasy where it starts out as slightly modified history but the weird creeps into it mid-way through.

My plan was to have all the modules with dates happen in that order but many of them are set very far apart in time. I'm guessing it will end up being like one of the previous poster suggestions where after a total party kill, time can be skipped forward or backward.

About doing everything sandbox style...
Thats basically how I am doing it now, but modules tied to events have a specific time window. If nothing is done about it during that time window, the relevant consequences happen.

In my world, Europe is the same as it is historically (for the most part) but exploration to the west takes one through Wierd New World (which I've yet to get) and the Isle of the Unknown is there as well. Qelong (which I don't have yet) would be Asia, to the east of Europe.

Worth mentioning is that in the Isle of the Unknown, there is a means to travel (and see) through time. Joop Van Ooums supposedly has the power to do that to the characters as well. There is also the Monolith from Beyond Time and Space which I believe does that. So considering all these, I suppose time period isn't really something that needs to be worried about and in a time-traveling campaign, all kinds of crazy history-changing antics could happen which undo the effects of some modules and cause all kinds of weirdness of it's own.

Of course, time travel is probably the best way to wind up in Carcossa.



Also, What is 'A Stranger Storm' and 'The Dungeon Alphabet' ? I've never heard of those products before.

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

I just picked up the Dungeon Alphabet on PDF recently. For each letter of the alphabet, there is a short paragraph or two about a Dungeons & Dragons related thing, such as "G for Gold" or "T for Traps." The advice and insight is good, and each entry is also accompanied by old-school art and a random table related to the item (such as a list of odd book titles for "B is for Book").

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

A Stranger Storm is an intro adventure that's in the Grindhouse version of the ref book.

Re: The Completionist: all LotFP modules in "order?"

Bear in mind that Weird New World, even though it is relatively small as adventures go, it covers a lot of ground... let me rephrase that a LOT of ground.

If you're playing an earth-centric game, I placed a number of the locations of adventures on a map here that might help:
http://www.lotfp.com/RPG/discussion/top … eal-world/