New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

General discussions about role-playing games. Share stories, ask for advice, talk about the industry, etc.
FuzzyBoots
Posts: 2396
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:20 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by FuzzyBoots »

As per the Ronin Army thread and the Ronin Round Table entry, we're getting new adventure paths.
NetherWar is a six-part adventure series for Mutants & Masterminds—five main stories and a prequel—that pits the heroes against the rising tide of evil magic on Earth Prime. The champions must prove their mettle by defending the world from newly-empowered villains and uncovering the legacy of protection Adrian Eldrich created before his terrible death. But they’re racing the clock as a diabolical shadow from the Master Mage’s past works to unravel those protections and rise on Earth-Prime as a dark god!

Over the coming months, you’ll run through the harrowing challenges and ultimately save Earth-Prime. The adventure begins with a flashback in this week’s Master of Earth, written by me, then continues next month with John Polojac’s Assault on the Nerian Nexus. The months to come will unveil The Pentagram Peril, Broken Strings, Bound by Gold, and finally conclude in Three Made One. There’s plenty of space in between each adventure to add your own adventures and plot points, or you can run the entire series back-to-back as an extended mini campaign, and each volume of the NetherWar arc will work as a standalone adventure if you only want little a magical peril. As a treat.
If you’re worried about magical mayhem overload, don’t fret! We’ll have plenty of Astonishing Adventures to come that offer some mystical relief! Take off to the stars, battle aliens, and stop a supernova in the cosmic adventure Prodigal Sun, or take your campaign back to high school for a LARP gone terrible wrong in Bite Club, or confront a mischievous cosmic imp as you journey Into the Idiot Box! All these and more lie in the future!
FuzzyBoots
Posts: 2396
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:20 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by FuzzyBoots »

I picked up Master of Earth. It's a fairly solid entry, although over half of its 31 pages are taken up with stat blocks, legal disclaimers, and the cover.
User avatar
Tattooedman
Posts: 2767
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:09 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by Tattooedman »

I got the Nether War Series Guide, if the separate parts are as good then I'd say it is something to pick up.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by greycrusader »

Though I have yet to see the final edit (and apparently there are some changes planned), the word is Assault on the Nerian Nexus (the second in the series) is a fast-paced, bombastic adventure which sets the stage for everything to follow. Just a rumor, though.

All my best.
Last edited by greycrusader on Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
neoX17
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu May 07, 2020 10:41 am
Contact:

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by neoX17 »

hello guys,
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by greycrusader »

Welcome aboard!
FuzzyBoots
Posts: 2396
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:20 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Huh! There are four more Adventure Path adventures from Green Ronin. I have ordered them and will review.
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by greycrusader »

Just as I've done with the Wild West material from Time Traveler's Codex, I'm going to be posting a few options and deleted text from the second entry in the Nether War series from the Astonishing Adventures line, The Assault on the Nerian Nexus. Oh, and just to save anyone the trouble of looking up the word (as I had to do), "Nerian" is an obscure term that means "to protect or safeguard" (so the M&M line developer introduced me to a new term).

So, the adventure is set in the Freedom City universe, tied to specific events in that campaign's timeline; while transplanting the events to a different locale within the same setting is easy enough (and the option is covered in the text), running it in a game world outside the canonical M&M campaign requires a bit of substitution. If Seven, Medea, and the other characters do not exist in your campaign, simply replace them with similar figures, though in some cases (such as Medea) the GM could assume the heroes simply never encountered them before, and introduce them in the adventure (this works best in Medea's case, though the prize pursued by the Greek sorceress would be tempting for any similar villain); any fairly formidable magic-user can be substituted for Seven, the ex-Master Mage; alternately, the GM might assume the edifice containing the Nexus originates from a parallel world (if that's a concept used in the campaign), with the conclusion seeing the mansion returned to its plane of origin.

If none of the PCs on the team have the Expertise: Magic skill (which is invoked a few times in the adventure), simply default to Perception checks instead, perhaps with a -2 circumstance penalty applied to the rolls unless the heroes have another relevant skill (occult/paranormal lore, folklore & mythology, etc.).

All my best!
FuzzyBoots
Posts: 2396
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:20 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Oh, huh, were you the fellow in the Livecast then? I asked if there was a forum name we'd know you better as, but I never saw a response.

By the by, I like how the adventure has a structure for what happens if the players waste time on the way in. It always bugs me when the boss acts the same if you took 5 minutes, or spent 80 hours doing side-quests, to get to them.
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by greycrusader »

I'm sorry we didn't have time to address all the questions; they were quite a few we never got to respond to; but yes, that's me. A pretty rare appearance, as I'm not a full-time writer, and normally just go about living my regular life.

And yes, we came up with a mechanic which makes the final encounter tougher the longer it takes for the heroes to reach the final scene.
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by greycrusader »

A bit of a recap on a discussion about scaling the adventure to different Power Levels:

First, if the issue is simply accommodating a larger team of heroes, a PL 11 group, or a team where several members have ranks in Regeneration (or one has Healing powers, meaning the heroes are going to be at full strength in every encounter), the simplest solution is simply adding more foes to battle and harass the heroes. In the opening scene, perhaps Prof.Jackanapes is on hand with a couple henchmen, seeking to stake his claim to the mansion's secrets. The adventure already includes suggestions about various minion-types the characters could encounter inside the Nexus-cultists, minor demons, SHADOW agents, and the like; one of the mansion's rooms could serve as a pocket-dimension prison for supernatural villains and monsters (Myrmidon from Rogues Gallery was specifically mentioned as imprisoned for years by Adrian Eldrich), and Medea might well free them to serve as additional obstacles for the heroes. The Irish dullahan Kathryn the Red cannot be constrained by any walls or locks, so maybe the characters encounter the vengeful headless rider and her steed thundering through the corridors. And in the final confrontation, its easy enough to justify boosting Medea's PL a level or two, as she attains greater mastery of the Nexus' magic.

If the PCs are PL 12 (for example, if they are playing the Unity team from Super-Team Handbook), all of the above applies, just throw even tougher opposition at the heroes-perhaps inside the mansion they come across the Master Mage's workshop, and find Dr. Azoth and his alchemical creations purloining the laboratory of its secrets. Maybe the undead gunslinger Kid Grimm has tracked down the gold coins which will free him from his curse to one of the rooms inside the Nexus. Throw more formidable monsters at them-the Brute and Hybrid archetypes from Gamemaster's Guide work well for this, along with various creatures from the Supernatural Handbook. Allow Medea to set up hazards/traps along her path through the Nexus, or reactive the structure's magic defenses to impede the heroes' efforts.

At very high power levels, start the adventure off with a supernaturally induced catastrophe-a raging tempest (perhaps guided by the Harbinger of the Far-Tide, drawn by so much dark magic congregating), or the fleeing crowd being attacked by ghosts, demons, or rampaging golems. Use the "villain army" option to add a slew of PL 8-10 mystic villains (treating them as minions which the heroes can dispatch with one blow) in addition to the more formidable foes in the opening scene. Replace Medea with a higher PL malefactor-Princess Sola (a Dark Lord in her own right) may be seeking the Umbral Star within the corridors of the Nexus, or one of the Annihilists has betrayed Omega, and wishes to seize the Nexus as a source of power to oppose his former master.

Next up-scaling down to PL 7-8 and making the scenario work!

PS: The various bad guys mentioned above are found in the Threat Report, Rogues Gallery, and Freedom City 3rd edition books.
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by greycrusader »

Running the adventure with a team of PL 9 requires just a bit of adjustment; Abra Cadaver, the first villain they encounter, works just fine, but replace Sandstone with an appropriate PL 10 or 11 bad guy, such as Shatter, and consider tagging the Born Loser/Pestilence with a -2 penalty to Toughness checks and Cueball/War with a -1 penalty, representing prior injuries from the ongoing brawl. Adjust most of the listed Difficulty Classes in the Challenge scenes down 2 levels, and reduce the Hazards encountered in the Nexus to DC 8-9. Have the player characters encounter 2 PL 10 foes (or even a PL 9 and a PL 10) in the Combat scene which occurs mid-adventure (The Dealer works well as a substitute for the PL 11 villain in the encounter). Drop Medea's Favored Environment advantage during the adventure's conclusion, and do not give her more than one ally. Consider having Medea so focused on her ritual that the heroes surprise her, leaving the witch vulnerable for a round.

Altering the scenario for PL 7-8 is more difficult, in part simply because not as many lower power-tier villains have seen print, let alone those oriented towards the occult/supernatural; adjust Cadaver's PL downwards to PL 10 using the guidelines in the Hero's Handbook (assume the gruesome ritual he is in the midst of is to replenish his dark magic), and only include the two Devil's Advocates, injured as above, without any additional villains involved in the brawl. Reduce the skill check DC's by 5, and the Hazard DCs to 6-8. Swap out the PL 10 bad guys in the adventure (except for Medea) with similar PL 8-9 opponents (the Gamemaster's Guide and Supernatural Handbook are good sources of archetypes for creating lower-level arcane villains. Be cautious about the various extra Advantages Medea can access during the final show down.
RainOnTheSun
Posts: 1152
Joined: Wed May 03, 2017 7:20 am

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by RainOnTheSun »

Oh, Sandstone's in this one? Neat, I always liked her.
FuzzyBoots
Posts: 2396
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:20 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by FuzzyBoots »

By the by, has anyone bought Masters of Earth off of the Green Ronin store, and can verify whether they have the complete set of HeroLab files? The DriveThruRPG package is missing a few of the listed character profiles and I wanted to check to see if they were in the Green Ronin release before I complained.
FuzzyBoots
Posts: 2396
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:20 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New Green Ronin adventure paths Starting with NetherWars

Post by FuzzyBoots »

I have got confirmation from others that the characters are missing in the Green Ronin package as well. I also finally got a chance to get players together for playing Masters of Earth last night and things got rougher in the midst of play. One of the ways the adventures are written are that abbreviated stat blocks are in the sections of the adventure themselves and suggest referring to the character profiles in the back, which resulted in a lot of paging back and forth to get details. And... Bres isn't in the back. So if you want to get his skill values, what his Affliction actually does, or what the power Scarlet Shades of Sirrion does, you need to get your copy of Rogue's Gallery out, and then adjust for his PL 12 stats in the adventure. I'm going to send an email, but you guys know how little errata gets written.

Gameplay-wise, it went alright. My villains kept rolling spectacularly, and Seven kept rolling abysmally, so after hours of play, Kada'vrus and crew stalked off bruised, but not all that beaten (it didn't help things that the players didn't take my hints of Cayrne regenerating due to that they kept leaving him lying in the midst of the cobblestones, or that Slymme avoided the rain barrels in town during the fight). The separate PL 12 and PL 8 fights didn't go nearly as smoothly as I would have liked. It didn't help that neither of them wanted to play Seven, so she was being run as a GM PC.
Post Reply