Your Twists on the Cradle?

[ViktorD100]

I want to run the Cradle scenario for some friends in the next month or two, but while I was going through it, I got curious. What kind of twists have you thrown into the Cradle? Changing characters? Events? The amount of Lunars? What have you done to make your run of the Cradle special? I'd love to hear about your twists, and maybe take some ideas if that's okay with you.

[John Biles]

Perhaps some Mostali dream of having a giant to help with their repairs of the World Machine and try to hijack the cradle down to... is it Slon?  In the SW of the world?

 

[jajagappa]

On 11/6/2024 at 3:16 PM, ViktorD100 said:

I want to run the Cradle scenario for some friends in the next month or two, but while I was going through it, I got curious. What kind of twists have you thrown into the Cradle? Changing characters? Events? The amount of Lunars? What have you done to make your run of the Cradle special? I'd love to hear about your twists, and maybe take some ideas if that's okay with you.

Although it did not reach the conclusion, see chapters 5 & 6 from the webcomic Prince of Sartar as that will give you one possible perspective (fairly in-line with the main scenario). Introduction – Chapter 5 – Prince of Sartar and Introduction – Chapter 6 – Prince of Sartar 

 

[Soccercalle]

My PCs had hired Griselda (that Griselda) as a guide in the Rubble before i ran the Cradle. The PCs were Haraborn (from 6SiS) hiding in Prax.

I was influenced by the Griselda story ”The Lady of Alone”. The PCs met Griselda after they lost the Cradle to the Lunars near Pavis. So she did as she did in that story and helped them retake it.

 

[Erol of Backford]

Likely you don't have time to connect all these items but:

Have one of the PC's be an unknown descendant of Florencia and her child, Golden Fintalen and such they'd have a close tie to fire/movement/change runes (guessing) as a Gold Wheel Dancer. 

This PC undergoes some sort of transformative change spiritually and magically, runic enhancement, something, either as they spend more time on the Cradle or next to their distant kin, Pinchining - Spinning Wheel. You'd need to develop the actual family tie...

There could even be opportunities to have the PC's meet Gonn Orta at the end of the Raus Saga and stick around to help make the cradle (Orta senses that the PC is part Gold Wheel Dancer) with dwarvish and Gold Wheel Dancer assistance. (There will likely be timeline corrections required.)

Heck, have them meet Isidilian at Dwarf Run earlier in the campaign somehow dropping hints/clues to the Boat House Ruins and somehow the PC's get their hands on the letter from Florencia-Sillinhalia written on magical golden paper? (by Eric Rowe) see link: v941110p1

"Talallia held part of the soul of his newborn son. After
the council ended Talallia agreed to travel with the baby to the
underworld to attempt to raise it properly. While the Giants trained
Talallia in their ways, our people constructed for them a great
magical craft. It would take them down a long river from the home of
the Giants all the way to the great water filled rift, and there float
down to the center of the world."

As I understand it Talallia was a Gold Wheel Dancer and held part of the baby giant's soul?

 

For me the River of Cradles leads to Raus and some Sun Dome scenarios followed by a later requested trip to Gonn Orta by Raus. They then travel back down the river in the Cradle?

You could also insert some Balazar scenarios after meeting Gonn Orta and on their way back to Prax from Balazar they take the Cradle on river?

Sorry if this is somewhat convoluted.

 

[davecake]

The only major changes I made where that I fitted in a lot of other characters mentioned in Prax and Pavis sources (for example, the fight to reclaim the cradle at Pavis featured Derenx the Handsome and Radak the Iron Centurion), and particularly the Coders were prominent in the final showdown. 

 

[soltakss]

On 11/6/2024 at 8:16 PM, ViktorD100 said:

What kind of twists have you thrown into the Cradle? Changing characters? Events? The amount of Lunars? What have you done to make your run of the Cradle special?

I used RQ3's Coders as a special forces unit.

The Lunars had a squad of exploding broo (Chaos Feature of Explodes upon death doing nD6 damage) that they put into catapults and fired at the Cradle, they either hit the deck, spalt, boom, or they landed awkwardly and were attacked by the defenders, stab, bash, slice, boom. It was better when they were fired together, or were in a group, as killing one could set the others off.

In our River Voices campaign, the River Voices were the ones that found the Cradle and revigorated the Giants, removing the blocker that had stopped them from reproducing. Basically, they found Death Cradles, containing slaughtered baby giants who were undead, so they took a Death Cradle down the Zola Fel and used it to stop a sea monster that was causing problems. That unblocked the fertility and allowed the giants to reproduce again. Then they took the Cradle down the Zola Fel and into Hell where they found and restored the Boat Planet.

[ViktorD100]

Wow, there's a lot of good ideas here already. Might do something with the Mostali (maybe a bit of Lunars vs dwarves vs Garrath and co.?), and possibly Coders and broo squadrons. Definitely featuring Derenx and Radak, and maybe others too. Those seem like the easiest things to throw in. But I have time, and I'm sure many people have plenty of twists to throw in still.