Sandboxing

Found this image online (ebay auction, I think)
I have all of these (the first 50+, actually) that
I'll draw from...

I've got 20 Dungeon Magazine adventures formatted and partially edited for the Highlands.... I have to finish editing them and co-ordinate things now - so that I can sandbox them.

Dungeon Magazine provides a pretty decent opportunity to piece together mini dungeons, villages, npcs... Lots of chaff, of course, but there's enough raw material there to build out an interesting setting by "filing the serial numbers off."

I've got tons of classic and non-classic modules that I can find some locations for as well... Filling out a whole world (or several corners of a world...)

The first "episodes" of what might be the Tyranny of Dragonlance Campaign is 60 pages including the maps of Newtown and the raider camp. Most of those pages are filled with events and random encounters beginning with the party's entrance to the city ("The Festival of Lucor") to the attack on the city - with the missions from Hoard available over the first 12 hours or so of the attack and fire - with "Hot Day at L'Trel" events and encounters used in the day or two after the attack (and during, as appropriate).

One of the options for the party is joining the Newtown Militia. If they do so, they can more readily be sent on missions but I won't force it. If they want to derail the "story" so be it. There's plenty to do...

The dragonarmies (adapted from the DL series) will be marching on the Highlands, so the party will have plenty of opportunities to interact with the Cult of the Dragon and uncover their plans.  They might not care about what the Cult is up to... but their machinations are going on in the background.

NEED:
Sketch out a timeline for the Cult's activities if the party doesn't intervene - this will allow some intersection points as the party decides what they want to do... Obviously, the actions of the party will change things (as it should be) but this will give me a general timeline...

Greenest In Flames and the Inn of the Last Home and...

Because of the nature of the campaign, the PCs begin in the small city of Newtown. Grennest in Flames from the Hoard of the Dragon Queen is combined with the Dungeon Magazine adventure "A Hot Day in L'Trel".

The map for Newtown is L'Trel, changed to in inland city on a river, rather than a coastal city.

Keep much of the background of L'Trel, but twist it to fit the new scenario.The wizard with the alchemical liquid in a storage tank explodes when the attacking dragonarmy ignites it, creating an explosion of far greater magnitude than the invaders expected - but still contributing to the chaos of the attack which is designed to gain treasure for the queen and to kidnap Leosin Erlanthar (this kidnapping may or may not happen off stage).

Finally, I added the three families from Specularum in "The Veiled Society" (B6), the Radu family and the Veiled Society being members of the Dragon Cult.

From Hoard:
Keep the first section pretty much intact - add the keep to the L'Trel Map - governor Nighthill - change to Petty King Drummond ard Gallien (called "The False King" by his detractors).
Missions: the "keep oriented" missions (Old Tunnel, Sally Port, Dragon Attack, Prisoners) can be more or less used as is. The "Save the Mill" motivation needs to be changed (since the whole city is on fire at this point) - maybe a peek at a Draconian and they are sent to investigate what this new creature is... or prisoners are being tormented or executed in a square in front of the mill - regardless, the desire is to lure the PCs to the mill - and the location must be close to the Keep.
 "Sanctuary" can be at any of the temples (which are changed in this campaign to temples which venerate saints).

From L'Trel:
Use the events in "Confusion and Catastrophe" as random encounters, keep most of the locations. Add locations from Hoard. Add "Inn of the Last Home" from DL1.

Newtown - modified map of  L'Trel

From DL1:
Begin with the events (up to the march of the dragonarmies, perahps). Introduce Goldmoon (name change) as an NPC. Side quest to the ruins of Xak Tsaroth to retrieve the Discs of Mishakal, a "book" that gives information about dragons and immortals in the realms. Use some of the locations to fill out the wilderness area. Don't introduce Draconians until after they are sprung on the PCs in the city somehow - though the Fewmaster Toede encounter can be inserted even on the PCs journey toward Newtown.

Add:
Dwarven mine/outpost which is the source of the oily substance (Dwarves of Warka, Dungeon #16 - remove the electrum dragons and replace with a pool of earthsblood - a tie in with I12, Egg of the Phoenix if desired- I'll be placing Empyrea - with a different name - to the West of the Highlands - there's a potential link to the slavers in I12, too - though it's more of a red herring).

Long Term Possibilities:
Slavers begin plying their trade in Newtown within days. Can tie in a thread to the Slavers series (A0-4), with the slavers kindapping people to deliver to the dragonarmies.

One of the possible results from the attack and fire is plague. Could adapt "Goblin Fever" from Dungeon 46 for this.

Random Encounters:
In Newtown - merge Hoard and L'Trel
Wilderness - merge Hoard and DL1 and B10, Night's Dark Terror

Background

Background
The Cult of the Dragon has been around for centuries, proclaiming that one day the Dragons would return to Daen Ral. For much of this time, the Cult has focused on gathering what dragon bones they could find, using necromantic magic, fabricating undead dragons. Mephista, dean of the School of Nekros (Dungeon #27), is a Red Cult member working in this region.  Recently, the Cult has changed their tactics from raising up undead dragons to bringing the dragons back from their millenium long exile.

The Immortal being, the great five-headed dragon known in Daen Ral as Asharath, has been communicating through dreams with the head of the Cult, an Adabi Warrior Sorcerer named Severus Sufjan. Sufjan has been recording his dreams for years, divining out the mysteries of the dragon exile. As such, he believes he has pinpointed the locations of the Five Masks of Asharath. Each of these masks is a different color, each color representative of the five elements (dragons in Daen Ral are tied to elements, and their color designations indicate which element: earth, green; fire, red; air, blue; water, white, darkness, black - dragons tied to such elements have shades of the colors in their scales, but the primary link is in their breath weapons). Individually, the masks will allow the wearer to communicate with dragons of each element and, if a will check is successful, control one or more dragons of said color (though this is a dangerous proposition, see descripton of the Masks of Asharath for more information). When all five masks are brought together, they form the Helm of Asharath or the Helm of Dragons. Asharath has been subtling hinting that the Helm will give Sufjan control over all dragons. And that is true...to an extent (again, fully described in the item section).

Sufjan has acquired the Red Mask of Asharath and has become the first of the Dragonspeakers. He has not used the mask to more than communicate (through the veil of the exile) with red dragons. Asharath has revealed another secret to Sufjan: some great stones found in the Endless Mountains are Draconic Cysts - eggs, of a type, which, if hatched properly, bring forth Dragonmen (Draconians). Sufjan has had agents scouring the mountains for more than a decade, and has been hatching a dragonarmy, which he will put on the march soon.

Through the power of the mask, and by virtue of his position within the Cult, Sufjan has forged a number of alliances and is beginning to put the Cult on the offensive, gathering resources (treasure, slaves, etc) for Her Majesty, the Great Queen, Asharath. As such, besides the cult (with such members as Mephista of the School of Nekros), Sufjan has forged an alliance with the King Under the Water (one of the Goblin Kings in the region) and a heritcal splinter group from the Holy Empire of the West known as the Red Monks. The Cult employs many mercenaries to act out its plans.

The Cult is organized in cells, ranging from a few members to very large groups, each with their own agendas and plans. Leaders in the Cult are known as the Indigo Brotherhood fot the shade of purple they are known to wear. While Cult members may wear special regalia denoting their position when enacting ceremonies and rituals, generally they are indistinguishable from the general public (though leaders are still likely to wear some item of indigo colored clothing).

Dragons
Dragons are the Children of the Firstfallen, powerful, nearly immortal creatures who were used as weapons in the Famine Wars, to the great devastation of the Midlands. After the Wars, the dragons were sent into exile - the "good" dragons went voluntarily, to the Veil Lands, the "evil" dragons were forced into exile in the Outer Darkness. In addition, the instigators of the Famine Wars, Asharath, the Wrath Queen and Alhamuen, the Light King, have been exiled as well. The Light King rests in eternal slumber in the Veil Lands while Asharath seethes in rage in the Outer Darkness, scheming a way to gain her revenge. All that is known to the peoples of Daen Ral is that dragons may have once existed, but they are no longer to be found.

The Region...

For the Tyranny of Dragonlance campaign:

The region of the Rosewood Highlands uses many of the locations from DL1 (Dragons of Despair) and B10 (Night's Dark Terror),O2 (Sword of Vengeance) and several UK modules, all suitably reframed. A number of Dragonsfoot modules are scattered throughout the Highlands, as well as a few classic modules (B5, Horror on the Hill, for example) but they have little impact on the geography. As necessary, they will be added to the landscape. Quite a few original locations are scattered about as well (The Hall of the Gnome King, the Shrine of the Fallen Angels, The Rusted Tomb), and may become places of interest for the overall "story" of the campaign, but certainly can be places the party chooses to plunder...

The Western region is loosely based on the regional map from I12 (Egg of the Phoenix) with lots of additions, renaming and revising.

The South and the East are not well defined at this point, though the Hamlish Empire to the East will feature in the background, so development work will have to be done eventually.

North of the Barrier/Endless mountains is the Land of the Northmen. Many locations found there will come from DF (Her Dark Majesty's Trilogy - DF18 - Where the Fallen Jarl Sleeps, DF21 - Beneath Black Towen, DF24 - Stormcrows Gather) and WGS 1 (Five Shall Be One) and WGS 2 (Howl from the North).

Map coming...

Rosewood Highlands

The campaign is based in a forested region known as the Rosewood Highlands. This vast woodland is is in the southern foothills of the Endless Mountains (also known as the Barrier Mountains).

The Rosewood Highlands remained largely unsettled for generations, haunted by goblins and firbolgs, fey and other monstrosities. As the civilized lands to the north and south of the Endless Mountains sought shorter connections for trade (before the Famine War), the Highlands were explored and became somewhat settled. As humanity delved deeper into the primeval woodland, the fey retreated to their own realms, hiding among the darkest places. However, the fey had been in constant war against the goblins and the other monstrous denizens of the Highlands, keeping the curse of the Darkness from spreading throughout the civilized lands. When the fey retreated, the Darkness began rising, pushing its progeny forward to wreak havoc on the world. Only the firbolg remained stalwart in their stand against the tide of the goblin hordes.

Geography
This heavily forested region is located just south of the Barrier Mountains (also called the Endless Mountains), east of the Kingdom of Hamlin, north of the Twin Cities of Ostaven and Westhaven, resting in the shadow of the great peak of Eversnow Mountain.


The region is largely hardwoods, dominated by its namesake, the Rosewood, a hardwood cherry tree whose spring blossoms look similar to roses. In addition to oak, cherry, maple, hemlock and various pines, small groves of kyak trees can also be found in the Highlands.

The forest is sparsely populated, compared to the civilized lands to the south, east and west. This is a frontier area, with isolated homesteads and fortified border villages, logging camps and trappers and hunters and those seeking adventure being the majority of the population. There are kingdoms, though the Emperor of the Kingdom of Hamlin scoffs at using such a lofty title for the warband leaders of the petty holds that dot the Highlands. Still, petty or not in the eyes of the great nations which surround them, the kingdoms of the Highlands can field some of the fiercest warriors in all the Midlands. This is no surprise, since life in the Rosewood Highlands is a constant struggle against the elements and predators which reveal nature’s hostility toward the encroachment of humanity, against the wild fay creatures that haunt the deepest parts of the forest, the wicked undead who are seen from time to time in the darkest of night, and the depredations of the goblins and their ilk who hide in their deep warrens.