Savage Tide

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The front cover of Dungeon Issue 139 (October 2006), illustrated by Dan Scott, wherein began the Savage Tide Adventure Path. TSR82139 180.jpeg
The front cover of Dungeon Issue 139 (October 2006), illustrated by Dan Scott, wherein began the Savage Tide Adventure Path.

The Savage Tide Adventure Path (or simply Savage Tide) is the third Adventure Path for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, published over twelve installments from October 2006 through September 2007 in Dungeon magazine. It begins in the city of Sasserine, just north of the city of Cauldron, which serves as the setting for the first Adventure Path, Shackled City .

An Adventure Path is a series of interlinked adventures (campaign) for tabletop role-playing games which can be played in succession and lead characters to advance from lower to higher levels, through a particular path of events.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> Fantasy role-playing game

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997. It was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry.

Role-playing game Game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.

Contents

Story

From the June 2006 promotional announcement in Dungeon Adventures:

[T]he Savage Tide Adventure Path [is] a 12-installment campaign designed to take characters from the heady days of first level all the way to the responsibilities of level 20. Running every month from issue #139 to the milestone Dungeon #150, the Savage Tide takes players on an ocean voyage that begins in the fecund southern jungles and leads deep into the heart of the treacherous Lower Planes. [1]

Setting

The story nominally takes place in the Greyhawk campaign setting, but is designed to be easily adapted to any of the other Dungeons & Dragons settings such as Forgotten Realms or Eberron . Much of the action is staged on the Isle of Dread, and Dungeon editor Erik Mona stated that, partially because of this, the campaign would contain a number of Mystara references, including specific monsters which had not previously appeared in the then-current edition of Dungeons & Dragons.[ citation needed ]

Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for Dungeons & Dragons—Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign predated it by over a year — the world of Greyhawk closely identified with the development of the game from 1972 until 2008. The world itself started as a simple dungeon under a castle designed by Gary Gygax for the amusement of his children and friends, but it rapidly expanded to include not only a complex multi-layered dungeon environment, but also the nearby city of Greyhawk, and eventually an entire world. In addition to the campaign world, which was published in several editions over twenty years, Greyhawk was also used as the setting for many adventures published in support of the game, as well as for RPGA's massively shared Living Greyhawk campaign from 2000–2008.

The flexibility of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game rules means that Dungeon Masters (DM) are free to create their own fantasy campaign settings. For those who wanted a pre-packaged setting in which to play, TSR, Wizards of the Coast (WotC), and other publishers have created many settings in which D&D games can be based; of these, the Forgotten Realms, an epic fantasy world, has been one of the most successful and critically acclaimed settings. Many campaign settings include standard sword and sorcery environments, while others borrow Oriental, Central American, swashbuckling, horror and even space-travel themes.

Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, Greenwood brought the setting to the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, as have various licensed products including novels, role-playing video game adaptations, and comic books. The Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular D&D settings, largely due to the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous role-playing video games, including Pool of Radiance (1988), Eye of the Beholder (1991), Baldur's Gate (1998), Icewind Dale (2000) and Neverwinter Nights (2002).

Summary

The campaign begins in the city of Sasserine and nearby environs, where the party discovers the first clues about an impending disaster called the Savage Tide. The action then moves to the Isle of Dread for the middle portion of the series, and the party must deal with the dangers of the island and unearth more information about the Savage Tide. After a short stop in the depraved pirate city of Scuttlecove, the final third of the campaign takes place in the Abyss, where the party must find a way to stop the Savage Tide and confront its architect.

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Abyss, or more fully, the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, is a chaotic evil-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) cosmology, used in the Planescape and Greyhawk campaign settings. The Abyss is also the name of one of the faith-based outer planes that form part of the Forgotten Realms cosmology. While the published 3rd-Edition source books indicate that the Abyss of the standard D&D cosmology is not the same plane as the Abyss of the Forgotten Realms cosmology, they are for all practical purposes identical.

The Savage Tide Adventure Path consists of the following installments:

ChapterTitleAuthorsIllustratorsLevelsIssueDate
1"There Is No Honor" James Jacobs Ben Wootten; Dan Scott (cover); Robert Lazzaretti (cartography for entire series)1–3139October 2006
In this opening adventure, the characters are drawn into a murderous family feud. Undead pirates and a powerful thieves guild feature heavily.
2"The Bullywug Gambit"Nicolas Logue Warren Mahy, B. Wootten3–5140November 2006
Hired to find a missing brother, the characters discover a secret hideout and witness the effects of the Savage Tide.
3"The Sea Wyvern's Wake"Richard PettW. Mahy, B. Wootten5–7141December 2006
The characters begin their journey to the Isle of Dread; the lost city of Tamoachan and a monstrous sargasso are featured highlights.
4"Here There Be Monsters" Jason Bulmahn W. Mahy, B. Wootten7–8142January 2007
Shipwrecked on the Isle of Dread, the characters travel south along the coast to the colony of Farshore.
5"Tides of Dread"Stephen S. Greer, Gary Holian W. Mahy, B. Wootten9–10143February 2007
Warned of an imminent attack by a pirate fleet, the characters seek to fortify the colony of Farshore.
6"The Lightless Depths" F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter W. Mahy, B. Wootten11–12144March 2007
On a quest underground to seek the source of mysterious pearls, the characters discover a horrifying city of slumbering aboleths.
7"City of Broken Idols"Tito LeatiW. Mahy, B. Wootten13–15145April 2007
Still seeking clues to the mysterious pearls, the characters travel to the taboo central plateau of the Isle of Dread, to confront the terrible creatures that live there.
8"Serpents of Scuttlecove"James Jacobs, Richard PettW. Mahy, B. Wootten; Tomás Giorello (cover)15–17146May 2007
The characters once again board the Sea Wyvern, this time to sail for Scuttlecove – a hideous city of pirates, slavers, cannibals, and worse – in search of clues to the final Savage Tide and the rescue of their patron.
9"Into the Maw" Robert J. Schwalb W. Mahy, B. Wootten; Mark Sasso (cover)17–18147June 2007
The party sails into the Abyss itself, seeking to infiltrate a demonic prison fortress and turn its fiendish factions against each other.
10"Wells of Darkness"Eric L. BoydW. Mahy, B. Wootten; Andrew Hou (cover)18–19148July 2007
To learn the secret of stopping the Savage Tide, the party must free Shami-Amourae, succubus-goddess and former consort of Demogorgon, from the Wells of Darkness, deep in the Abyss.
11"Enemies of My Enemy" Wolfgang Baur W. Mahy, B. Wootten; James Ryman (cover)19–20149August 2007
Our heroes travel to Hades, Arborea, and the depths of the Abyss in order to recruit allies against Demogorgon from the eladrin court, demons, and even other demon lords.
12"Prince of Demons" Greg A. Vaughan W. Mahy, B. Wootten; Wayne Reynolds (cover)20150September 2007
In the final chapter of the Savage Tide Adventure Path, an army of demons and eladrin stands ready to mount an assault on Demogorgon's Abyssal realm of Gaping Maw. The party must take advantage of this distraction and prevent Demogorgon from activating the Savage Tide and driving a world insane.

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References

  1. Mona, E., ed. (June 2006). "Savage Tidings". Dungeon Adventures. Bellevue, WA: Paizo (135): 8. ISSN   0890-7102.