I seriously considered starting a new campaign at 1st level using the Shackled City adventures from Paizo Publishing. My players' attendance has been erratic and I have been struggling to create adventures for key characters when those PCs might not even show up.

However, I wanted to do the opposite of what I'd done in the past. Instead of starting over, I decided to push towards the end.

Pushing towards the end meant helping the PCs achieve higher levels faster so we can advance the storyline. I'd found several high level adventures in Dungeon Magazine I could run which would allow me to take a break from adventure writing. All without starting over.

I just had to get my PCs, all 7th to 9th level, to 15th level as soon as possible.

( The Big Adventure )

My solution was easier than I thought it would be. Most of my players had reached around 14th level playing D&D 3.5 before so I wasn't worried about them getting overwhelmed. On the other hand, I thought it would be cheesy to just bump them up. Doing so might kill the campaign by destroying my PCs feeling of having earned those levels and defeat my whole purpose.

So I made one more adventure. Eight encounters.

But these encounters were special. I planned each encounter to be worth fourteen times the experience one normal encounter provided. Ditto with the treasure.

The PCs would therefore level after each encounter. Getting them to 16th level quickly, but still allowing them to earn the XP and advance the storyline.

Will it work? I don't know, as I write this I'm planning for the big adventure for tonight's game. I'm sure it will go well.

( Campaign )

The eight encounters take place in the Lok Wood, an important forest near the raptoran town of Darkness falls and a floating island of the Overdark. In addition, a piece breaks off from the green comet Alhazarde and lands in the forest.

The PCs will travel from the fane of Tiamat (to wrap up the last adventure) to Darkness Falls to the Lok Wood and into the Overdark. Along the way they'll help set up an elven settlement, negotiate a treaty with the shadar kai, recover some powerful magic from the comet fragment, and learn of ongoing Cult of the Worm That Walks, warforged, and gnome plots.

These eight encounters will shape the world of Terra in a big way. The elves haven't lived in the Lok Wood for centuries. Their presence there may help convince the raptorans to finally ask to join the Great Kingdom. In addition, the Blackstone Mountains lie west of the forest.

No one has successfully crossed the mountains and returned to tell the tale. An elven settlement near by would make an attempted crossing easier. And many want to try.

For on the east side of the Blackstone Mountains lie the ruins of the Amperian Empire of the mishtai. Who know what magic and wonders (and terrifying horrors, let's not forgot the terrifying horrors) lies beyond?

I'm sure man was meant to know. Now I'm going to go into the back of my closet and write the Star Goat with a Thousand Young over and over in crayon on the back wall until the voices quit arguing in my head.

( The Githyanki Are Coming )

Two adventures I want to use are "Seekers of the Silver Forge" from Dungeon 125 and "The Lich-Queen's Beloved" from Dungeon 100. "Seekers" starts in a port town, and I'll probably use Darkness Falls. I plan to connect the githyanki there to the plot of the Lich-Queen from the next adventure.

The githyanki haven't played a role in Terra in recorded history. That situation is about to change. In a big way.

( Next Month )

May is our last month before taking off three months in the summer. I've asked rpg.net to let me have those three months off so I can have a further break.

Next month I'll write about how our big adventure went and if the PCs are likely to make Epic level (21+) before the summer.

I plan to start up again in September with a report on Gen Con. Hopefully, the supplement I wrote for Bulldogs! will be available as a PDF from Silven Publishing by then and I'll have finished up my current writing project and have gotten a good start on the next. If I'm far enough along, I'll include some comments on what I'm working on along with my Gen Con report.

Charlie