Slaying Stone Kiris Dahn Map

There wasn't any budget for new art or maps for The Slaying Stone, but I definitely needed a city map. So I made it myself, using more of a pictorial map style. There were a couple reasons for this: One is that I figured it would be faster, and the other that I think it works better for an adventure to focus on the important places in an adventure rather than show every little building. In theory, the map was supposed to go up on the D&D website, but it still hasn't (and I was laid off before the adventure came out, so there's not really much I can do about it).

Here's the process I used to make the map, plus a big, printable version at the end.

Drawing the Map
I drew the map separately from the "Kiris Dahn" name and the compass rose. Starting with a pencil sketch of the most important places (skipping details like the trees and the small buildings), I then went back in with a Memory brush pen. (It's kind of like a spongy material shaped like a brush for doing flowing lines with permanent ink.) Here's a photo I took during inking:

Detail Inking
After inking, I erased the pencil lines, then went back in with a brown pen brush to add details in a lighter value. On a separate piece of paper, I made the Kiris Dahn name and compass rose. (I just used cheap printing paper since I knew I'd be heavily photoshopping this.) I then scanned the maps. The WotC scanner had some solidified gunk on it that left some big dirt smudges in the scanned images. They looked enough like they could be wear and tear on the PCs' copy of the map that I didn't try too hard to remove them.

Making a Map
To put it on a semi-parchment background, I tore the edges off a manila envelope, crumpled it up, flattened it back out, and scanned it. After manipulating it in Photoshop to make it lighter and less saturated, I put together a document with the illustrations layered on top. Here's the raw background image alongside a detail from the final document:

The Final Version
I ended up with a map that does what I wanted it to: emphasize the important places of Kiris Dahn and look like a reasonable prop for the PCs to possess. Most RPG maps, in my opinion, look too modern to hand out and keep verisimilitude. Not many D&D NPCs would have Photoshop or satellite imagery to make their maps, nor would every city's cartographer be a master draftsman. Finally, here's the final map, at its original size (click for the full-size image):

Slaying Stone Skill Challenges

In threads about The Slaying Stone on RPGnet and ENWorld, and in a tweet by @NthDegree256, I've seen repeated comments that the skill challenges don't have clear failure results. For instance, Skywalker said, "The module as written doesn't give full details as to what a failed result entails."
(Then gives some good suggestions.) I thought I'd cover some of these challenges and give suggestions. (The Keep Hidden challenge already includes failure conditions.)

So MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD.

Sneak into Gorizbadd
If the PCs fail to enter the town by one of these options, they still have two other possible paths. Let them revise their strategy and try another way to enter the city. This is extra, and you probably shouldn't assign XP since they failed already. Consider making the second attempt require fewer checks, just so you don't spend too long in the challenge. Alternatively, if the PCs attempted to enter the kobold slums or the forest, they could enter the city at a location they didn't intend to (possibly after being swept down the river or getting lost). This could lead to a combat encounter or a tiring slog through mud or underbrush (causing them to lose healing surges or other resources).

Claim the Stone
If negotiations with Tyristys fail, the dragon commands the PCs to leave. Now, the dragon is still there. The stone is still there. Give your players some time to come up with a crazy plan to get it. I'll just cover a few eventualities:

• The dragon tells the PCs to prove themselves. If the PCs didn't totally bomb the challenge, the dragon might ask them to do something for her in return for the stone. This works especially well if the PCs didn't do much in Gorizbadd before heading to see Tyristys. Give the PCs a quest, possibly one that incorporates one of the setpiece encounters of the adventure that they might not normally see otherwise.
  
• The PCs wait until the dragon leaves to eat, then steal the slaying stone. Even though the dragon didn't care too much about the stone, she still has a dragon's pride. Anyone who steals from her invites her wrath, and she tears the town apart looking for the adventurers. Maybe the PCs need to escape or hide during an intense skill challenge chase. Or perhaps Tyristys just bides her time and causes trouble for the PCs later in their adventures.
• The PCs bribe the dragon. What diplomacy can't solve, gold might. If the PCs try to offer gold and loot, you should let it be successful only if the amount they're giving really hurts. They should be at a disadvantage later. You might have to give them away to make up their lost loot, but make them work for it.
  
• The orcs make a better offer. Since the PCs aren't the only ones after the stone, the orcs might go to talk to the dragon after the PCs' talks break down. The orcs might get the stone despite their obvious unworthiness. Perhaps Vohx offers up one of his underlings as a sacrifice to the dragon. If the orcs get the stone, it's time to fight it out. The orcs won't use it, or all the work they've done to get the damn thing and get paid will be wasted. Though they love to fight, an orc will run away with the stone if the Severed Eyes look like they're going to lose and die.
  

Keep in mind that this challenge has two parts. If the dragon thinks the PCs are trustworthy, but inept, she might behave differently than if she thinks they'll betray her.

4E Success or Failure: Epic Destinies

This is the first in what will no doubt be a sporadic series about some of the new concepts in 4th Edition. It will judge which aspects succeeded and failed, and rate how close the mechanic came to its goals and how beneficial it is to the game experience.

This is all my opinion, and your tastes or experiences might give you a higher or lower opinion of whatever I'm talking about. There's also a wide span between the great examples of each mechanic and the weakest, so I'll often qualify my opinion when I'm talking about the potential versus the reality. My first topic: Epic Destinies

I'm covering this first partially because I want to talk about paragon paths soon, and I plan to call back to some of the things I'll say here. The two have similar goals: They aim to enhance the feel and themes of each tier and provide more character differentiation.

Let's see what worked and what didn't.

Successes

• Epic Feel: Both the mechanical magnitude and story text of (well-designed) epic destinies get across the idea that epic tier is really different. The average destiny includes a way to cheat death, a burly power, and a way to flat-out break the rules. Often, they also increase one or more of your stats. All these go beyond the scope of most ordinary powers, which lets them truly feel epic. The emphasis on story also gives destinies an extra kick. Since a destiny needs a way to tie into a destiny quest, the designer has to think about how a destiny will fit into the story and who it will appeal to. It's good for different RPG widgets to point designers in the right direction via their format. It can be easy for a designer to create new stuff without really solid story foundation, but destinies have a way of pointing the designer in a creative direction. To be fair, there are some bad destinies out there, usually because they've been designed with the scope of a paragon path instead of the scope of an epic destiny.
  
• Big Impact with Few Additions: An epic destiny gives a minimum of four benefits over 10 levels, but each of these features and power have a strong impact. Because it's focused, a destiny requires each of its bits to work harder. It also helps that the designer has permission to go a little crazy with a destiny.
  
• Broad Acquisition Possibilities: A PC can take an epic destiny after aspiring toward it for many levels or through an in-game event. I'll dub these "aspirational" paths and "organic" paths. It's likely a wizard will look forward to Archamage for his entire career (an aspirational destiny), but a character might become a demigod either after a lifetime of religious devotion or by chance after completing a quest to help a deity.

Failures

• The Starting Batch: The biggest weakness of epic destinies has more to do with which ones appear than the format or concept of destinies. When the game came out, there were only four: One only a wizard could take (which is rare for destinies, and hardly ever a good idea), one that severely limited who could take it by requiring Dex and Cha of 21, one which was open to everybody, and one that was for people who don't want epic destinies. Demigod—a damn good concept, to be sure—had a disproportionate influence and prominence. The fact that it let you increase two ability scores meant that later destinies had to give a similar benefit to have a chance. This was an unintended consequence, but it's a real limitation.
• No Attack Power: I'm split on whether I should include this, but some destinies really feel like they should have attack powers. It's not universal, but a limitation is a limitation.

Miscellaneous

• Hard to Design: Yes, the format points designers toward the goal destinies try to achieve. Still, the requirement for a big, interesting concept and for breaking the rules can be daunting. The designer has to find the balance between "too good for powers or feats" and "too good to be in the game at all anywhere." I think this difficulty is a good thing overall, but that doesn't make them any less frustrating to work on.
• Most People Won't Get Them: This isn't really a weakness, but it's unfortunate that most people won't get to a high enough level to enjoy the benefits of taking a destiny.
• Hard Transition: Destinies suggest how the PC might fulfill a destiny quest, making the transition at the end of the campaign more smooth and interesting. Unfortunately, on the other end, the 21st-level end, there's not a similar transition. Everybody in a group flipping the destiny switch at the same time (since most groups will level together) doesn't really allow for a satisfying conclusion to the story arcs that lead to each character assuming his or her destiny. It might be more interesting if destinies kicked in at level 21 plus or minus 2, with each character getting a little more face time for this big moment.
• Less Connected to Your Theme: Your playstyle might determine whether you think this is good or bad, but it's hard to find a destiny that ties into a specific or narrow character theme. A winter wizard can take cold powers and a cold-based paragon path, but have a hard time finding a winter-themed epic destiny to continue the trend all the way through.

The Score
Though I think epic destinies achieve their goal, there are some less-than-stellar ones out there. Factoring the execution in, I'm going to give epic destinies a grade of:
B