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My group is now rolled up and awaiting Kingmaker coming through the post. My question is, how well suited is it for running 6 players, and how much tweaking will it need encounters wise etc.
Will it unbalance the kingdom roles somewhat?
As much feedback from the designers as possible would be appreciated.
Alex
My group is now rolled up and awaiting Kingmaker coming through the post. My question is, how well suited is it for running 6 players, and how much tweaking will it need encounters wise etc.
Will it unbalance the kingdom roles somewhat?
As much feedback from the designers as possible would be appreciated.
Alex
Not much, if any tweaking. If you did anything, it would be to add something like an extra bandit or two to an encounter. This is an AP that can easily handle slightly larger parties. Six PCs might actually be optimal.
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I've also got 6 PCs for this one, and so far, the math's adding up pretty good. A few extra bandits, or comboing some encounter areas later (like the Stag Lord's fort) seems the best way to do it. And you can always throw some extra random encounters their way; that's how I'm planning on making up the XP and treasure shortages.
We'll see how later adventures look, but so far, this one's shaping up nicely for larger groups.
As for kingdom roles, it should make things a bit easier for them, since most adventurers have higher stats than NPCs, depending on how you do your stat rolls. The extra NPCs look like they are designed to fill a couple of different possible spots as needed, so the group can pick the choice roles and let the NPCs handle the "boring" jobs. So I don't think it'll mess up the kingdom; you'll just have a few NPCs left over, most likely (maybe for cohorts or something).
Creative Director
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My group is now rolled up and awaiting Kingmaker coming through the post. My question is, how well suited is it for running 6 players, and how much tweaking will it need encounters wise etc.
Will it unbalance the kingdom roles somewhat?
As much feedback from the designers as possible would be appreciated.
Alex
Actually, the kingdom rules can easily handle up to a party of 12 with no problems at all.
I've also got 6 PCs for this one, and so far, the math's adding up pretty good. A few extra bandits, or comboing some encounter areas later (like the Stag Lord's fort) seems the best way to do it. And you can always throw some extra random encounters their way; that's how I'm planning on making up the XP and treasure shortages.
We'll see how later adventures look, but so far, this one's shaping up nicely for larger groups.
As for kingdom roles, it should make things a bit easier for them, since most adventurers have higher stats than NPCs, depending on how you do your stat rolls. The extra NPCs look like they are designed to fill a couple of different possible spots as needed, so the group can pick the choice roles and let the NPCs handle the "boring" jobs. So I don't think it'll mess up the kingdom; you'll just have a few NPCs left over, most likely (maybe for cohorts or something).
Well, with extra bandits, you'll need to print out extra Kingmaker Paper Minis... (Shameless Plug...)
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I've also got 6 PCs for this one, and so far, the math's adding up pretty good. A few extra bandits, or comboing some encounter areas later (like the Stag Lord's fort) seems the best way to do it. And you can always throw some extra random encounters their way; that's how I'm planning on making up the XP and treasure shortages.
We'll see how later adventures look, but so far, this one's shaping up nicely for larger groups.
As for kingdom roles, it should make things a bit easier for them, since most adventurers have higher stats than NPCs, depending on how you do your stat rolls. The extra NPCs look like they are designed to fill a couple of different possible spots as needed, so the group can pick the choice roles and let the NPCs handle the "boring" jobs. So I don't think it'll mess up the kingdom; you'll just have a few NPCs left over, most likely (maybe for cohorts or something).
Should I make up for the XP and treasure shortages? Surely they might be lower level but there is 6 of them; so that makes up for it? Thankyou for the input so far
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CEO
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Should I make up for the XP and treasure shortages? Surely they might be lower level but there is 6 of them; so that makes up for it? Thankyou for the input so far
I am personally running a six person group through Rise of the Runelords and when we are done, we will be doing Kingmaker. What I have done to great effect is keep them a level behind where the adventure says that they should be. That seems to do the trick in terms of keeping the threat level high enough for the game to be fun.
-Lisa
Should I make up for the XP and treasure shortages? Surely they might be lower level but there is 6 of them; so that makes up for it? Thankyou for the input so farI am personally running a six person group through Rise of the Runelords and when we are done, we will be doing Kingmaker. What I have done to great effect is keep them a level behind where the adventure says that they should be. That seems to do the trick in terms of keeping the threat level high enough for the game to be fun.
-Lisa
My only concern with keeping them a level back, is sometime in an AP you run into a situation where a certain type of spell or ability is needed and the entire group is just too low. Examples i've seen in other adventures are not having dispel magic or healing spells being too far under the damage an enemy can do in a round. All in all i'd prefer to add a bandit here or there, some custom treasure ( often there is at least one player that feels left out because they chose something exotic)
random encounters at the wrong time (for the pc's) are great for extra xp and to keep them on their toes.|
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All in all i'd prefer to add a bandit here or there, some custom treasure ( often there is at least one player that feels left out because they chose something exotic)
random encounters at the wrong time (for the pc's) are great for extra xp and to keep them on their toes.
I'm doing a bit of that myself; I'm hoping to hand out some fancy masterwork/magic gear possessed by random bandits, and my only heavy-armor character (the cavalier) will get to piece together her set of masterwork full plate from bits she finds adventuring, getting the whole ting assembled sometime in her 3rd level.
On the challenge front, we didn't get super-far into the campaign last night (our first session), but...
This was all before they'd had a chance to act, of course. :P
I'd thought of adding more to this encounter, but I first off enjoyed the idea of the PCs showing off in front of Oleg and Svetlana, and I like my groups to get a feel for their PCs and their abilities before getting smacked around by some APL +3 encounter or something.
I expect later bandit fights, where the PCs are outnumbered and lack tactical advantage, to be suitably challenging.
This AP is all about empowering the PCs, having the first encounter be a pushover isn't a bad thing, because it means the players get to feel kick-ass right out of the box.
To an extent. You also want to feel a sense of accomplishment. If you've got a bunch of fresh off the wagon adventurers steamrolling a set of seasoned bandits with no challenge, it kind of takes the fun out if it.
This AP is all about empowering the PCs, having the first encounter be a pushover isn't a bad thing, because it means the players get to feel kick-ass right out of the box.To an extent. You also want to feel a sense of accomplishment. If you've got a bunch of fresh off the wagon adventurers steamrolling a set of seasoned bandits with no challenge, it kind of takes the fun out if it.
"Your overconfidence is your weakness"
How about the opposite extreme? I really want to run Kingmaker, but I only have two (very experienced) PCs on board. Can the AP be scaled back to two players (plus one or two NPCs, I expect)? What classes would be optimal?
How about the opposite extreme? I really want to run Kingmaker, but I only have two (very experienced) PCs on board. Can the AP be scaled back to two players (plus one or two NPCs, I expect)? What classes would be optimal?
I'd let the player's run secondary characters or gestalt.
I'd let the player's run secondary characters or gestalt.
What does "gestalt" mean in this context? I know it as a psychological term, but not in RPGs.
What does "gestalt" mean in this context? I know it as a psychological term, but not in RPGs.
I'd let the player's run secondary characters or gestalt.
It's a variation of the rules that lets players build higher powered characters by blending the abilities of more than one class at level up.
Works well when running a game for one or two people.
I'd love a gestalt inquisitor/rogue or an alchemist/barbarian.
add sneak atack and bane=drool
Mr. hyde rages= scare the ogres
*click*
*blink, blink*
*drool*
Thanks!
If you dont do gestault (or even if you do) consider recommending multi role classes to the players. Druid, Paladin, Bard, Inquisitor, Summoner, (and there are lots of 3rd party or 3.5 classes as well depending on what you allow in your games)
A party of a druid and a bard for instance have most of their bases covered, and can manage with the support of an npc or a henchman.
A gestault paladin/summoner and Druid/Bard is probably ok all on their own.