Just in case: my players shouldn't read this!!
FoundryVTT
I had Foundry VTT for a while now but being mostly a player recently I had not really spent time with it.
In the last sale I bought a lot of the newer modules I had not bought when I initially started with Foundry.
Setup was easier than expected as self hosting worked without any port forwarding needed.
The players gave me their characters as json file. Using the new Optolith import module it was easy to import from json files made by Optolith and by the self calculating pdf character sheet.
For setting up my NPCs I used a mix of options: some I quickly remade in Optolith (like Cordova Gravesalve, just had to give him some more AP) and imported like a character, others I remade in Foundry (like Aldare Boccalino) and then the robbers of Cordovans band of robbers I made using the randomiser in the TDE GM toolkit module, as I hadn't had stats or names for them yet anyway, only pictures.
Map making
In addition to the maps in the bought modules, I used Keynote (overlays and sketches), Inkarnate ( the white vagabond) and Dungeondraft (battlemaps)
Adventure Planning
I decided to go ahead with the sidetracks as starting point. I moved the start to Havena, planning for the heroes to be hired there to follow the trail to Honeyngton by coach.
The first combat encounter was to be with the band of robbers under Cordovans command. Just short of Honeyngton they will ambush the heroes and in the likely event that the heroes capture at least one of them, I can spread a bit of information on Morenas background.
I am still undecided if I want to use the alternate timeline where the heroes can meet Eolan before the ritual or not.
In any case I want them to first focus on the fountain of youth storyline with only hints that there might be more things going on in Honeyngton. Perhaps in their last night in the white vagabond before they want to travel back with the freed Eolan, they might encounter some rats?
Next steps:
I have at this time already run the first two sessions, their writeups will be online on 13th and 27th of January and it's planned to play session 3 on the 9th.