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Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition (PFRPG)

4.50/5 (based on 26 ratings)
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition (PFRPG)
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In the sleepy coastal town of Sandpoint, evil is brewing. An attack by crazed goblins reveals the shadows of a forgotten past returning to threaten the town—and perhaps all of Varisia. The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path begins with this goblin raid and takes players on an epic journey through the land of Varisia as they track a cult of serial killers, fight backwoods ogres, stop an advancing army of stone giants, delve into ancient dungeons, and finally face off against a wizard-king in his ancient mountaintop city. This hardcover compilation updates the fan-favorite campaign to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules with revised and new content in more than 400 pages packed with mayhem, excitement, and adventure!

Celebrating both the fifth anniversary of the Pathfinder Adventure Path and the tenth anniversary of Paizo Publishing, this new edition expands the original campaign with new options and refined encounters throughout, incorporating 5 years of community feedback.

    The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition contains:
  • All six chapters of the original Adventure Path, expanded and updated for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
  • Articles on the major locations of Rise of the Runelords: sleepy Sandpoint, the ancient Thassilonian city of Xin-Shalast, and others.
  • Revelations on the sinister magic of Thassilon, with updated spells, magic items, and details on tracking sin points throughout the campaign.
  • A bestiary featuring eight monsters updated from the original Adventure Path, plus an all-new terror.
  • Dozens of new illustrations, never-before-seen characters, location maps, and more!

The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is not part of any subscription.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-436-8

FAQ:

Q: Will you be doing hardcover compilations of all of your Adventure Paths?
A: No. This is a special celebration of our very first Adventure Path on its 5th Anniversary. Several of the original volumes of Rise of the Runelords have been unavailable in print for a long time, yet it remains one of our most popular adventure paths; that circumstance presents a unique opportunity for us to expand and update it for use with the Pathfinder RPG, and to apply lessons we've learned about making Adventure Paths over the last half-decade. Our other adventure paths are largely still in print, and many of them were designed for use with the Pathfinder RPG to begin with; we have no plans to recompile them.

Q: Is there anything missing from the original AP volumes?
A: Yes—otherwise, this book would be more than 600 pages long! Some of the monsters and other things created for Rise of the Runelords are now part of the official Pathfinder RPG rules, so they're not reprinted here. The original volumes also included monster ecologies, bestiary entries, and other campaign setting material that isn't directly used in the adventure itself; those items are also not present in this collection. The Pathfinder Journal fiction featuring Eando Kline is not presented here either, but it has been compiled—along with the installments from the subsequent two Adventure Paths—as The Compass Stone, now available in ePub form. We have also replaced some of the artwork from the previous edition, and replaced the six individual introductions with one new one.

Q: What is included in the digital version?
A: In addition to the full version, the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition download includes the Interactive Maps and a Lite version for reading on portable electronic devices.

Download the Web Enhancement! - (180 KB zip PDF)
Originally posted to the Paizo blog for Pathfinder Adventure Path #5.

Bring your campaign to life!
The Rise of the Runelords Mega SoundPack from Syrinscape is a complete audio solution for playing through the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.

Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules and Chronicle sheets for running this Adventure Path are available as a free download (438 KB zip/PDF).

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Roll20 Virtual Tabletop
SoundSet on Syrinscape
Archives of Nethys

Product Availability

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Unavailable

PDF:

Fulfilled immediately.

Non-Mint:

Unavailable

This product is non-mint. Refunds are not available for non-mint products. The standard version of this product can be found here.

Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at store@paizo.com.

PZO1002

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Epic introduction to Golarian, updated beautifully.

5/5 —

This is a beautiful update to the first Golarion based AP Paizo released. It consolidates all the volumes of the original into one easy to use book. Lots of the artwork has been updated significantly improving on many of the pieces from the original. The original stuff wasn't bad, just a big cartoony. It also updates the stats of everything using the Pathfinder 1st edition rules.

It was what kicked off the world's introduction to Golarion. This volume gave it a facelift and nice boost. My group took about 2.5 years to play through it to completion. Right around 500 hours of play. So tons of game play in it. It was the first campaign I've ever "completed" as a GM. It was only the 2nd campaign I've ever "completed" as a player or GM. I've played in dozens of other campaigns that never completed and only fizzled out. My players loved it and still talk about it and we are 1/3 of the way through Skull & Shackles having been playing it for a year.

Of all the APs Paizo has released this one likely has the most official and unofficial support for it. There are thousands of pages of fan material done for it. Paizo message boards, Facebook groups, fan pages, fan zines (Wayfinder #7 is completely devoted to it) and more have been done for it. Giving GMs unparalleled resources and support for it. It's no wonder it is one of the most popular APs they've done. I highly recommend all the additional support for it. Especially the fan stuff, it fills in lots of missing holes that just couldn't be filled in the AP itself.

I'm not sure how I feel about the construction quality of the book itself. We played for 2.5 years, but we played virtually via Fantasy Grounds with the data module for it there. A lot of my referencing and work was done through the module on the computer. I'd say in the end I only used the printed book about 1/3 the time I would have if I would have played through it in person. The binding is very loose for what I consider a small amount of usage. Other than the binding the cover itself is in good condition. I've got a feeling that had it gotten nothing but in person play and reference the binding would have fallen off by now. I'm not hard on my books, I always use the proper method of easing the binding of a new hardcover book, and I'm not rough in my handling of them. So this feels like it isn't made with the quality I would expect.

Book construction quality aside, this AP checks all the high adventure checkboxes. Wizards, dragons, goblins, magic, ancient civilizations, epic treasures, giants, ogres, dungeon crawls, sieges, wilderness exploration, haunted houses, city based stuff. You name it. This fully deserves the 5 stars I give it.

A Legendary Campaign Receives the Deluxe Package it Deserves

5/5 —

NO SPOILERS

I honestly don't even know where to start in reviewing this book. It was my bible for the longest campaign I've ever ran, and I've paged through its 428 pages so many times, I'm surprised my copy is in as good of shape as it is. Equalled only by the Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover compilation, the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is the most detailed, impressive, and gorgeous presentation of a campaign I've ever seen. It's a testament to James Jacob and the wonderful visual and art design folks at Paizo for putting it together. In addition to the core adventures, the book includes an incredible array of supplementary material throughout its appendices: gazetteers, bestiaries, new magic items, and more. And interspersed throughout are full-colour, detailed maps, high-quality artwork of NPCs and monsters, handouts, useful sidebars to help the GM in running particular scenes, and more. I really can't rave enough about it.

I've already reviewed the substance of each of the six chapters of the adventure path in my reviews of issues # 1-6 of the monthly publication they originally appeared in (available on the Paizo website). This Anniversary Edition is no lazy cut & paste compilation or mere updating of the original 3.5 rules to Pathfinder. Everything has been refined, revised, polished, and packaged together to make a whole that is even better than the sum of its original parts. James Jacob read through countless posts on the forums about the original adventures and added encounters, explanations, and more to help everything flow even better. I've compared the original versions to this revised package, and with only a couple of exceptions, the revisions are a sound improvement.

As far as I'm concerned, this is the best presentation of a classic fantasy role-playing campaign available. You'll get hundreds of hours of gameplay out of it, experience characters growing from battling goblins at level 1 to battling the greatest threats the setting has to offer at level 18. It's a satisfying, meaty, epic campaign, and this Anniversary Edition does it full justice.

Also on Fantasy Grounds!

5/5 —

I don't understand why this is not mentioned here but by paying 60$ you get both the pdf version of the adventure as well as the Fantasy Grounds VTT plug in that saves you TONS of prepping. This adventure is excellent, with a lot of scary and funny moments and is a must-buy for all Pathfinder fans out there!

They all need this treatment

5/5 —

I have the original softcovers. I collected them up to the 50's and when I changed jobs money was tighter and I couldn't keep up. Recently going back to pick up some of the ones I missed I was shocked to see prices as high as 234.00 for a single softcover. There are a lot of Pathfinder fans who didnt get the softcovers when they were first released and these hardcovers are excellent as well as being affordable.

The book itself is solid. Takes up less space on my shelf, is a great first series of adventures, looks beautiful, is fun to play and is just overall well worth the money i spent on it. I will also be picking up Crimson Throne hardcover and hope they continue on and it was the adventure paths that drew me to PF in the first place.

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Paizo Employee Creative Director
Kohl McClash wrote:

So will the Runelord be a bit tougher than in the original verison, ie stats and higher level?

I'm on book 2 of the original books so this is great to see coming out as I don't have to adjust the 3.5 version to pathfinder.

Well...

Spoiler:
Karzoug is still 20th level. All 20 levels are in wizard now, though. And while he himself isn't that different aside from that... his final encounter area has a LOT more going on now...
Liberty's Edge
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I imagine the final fight going something like this.

Out of curiosity, I remember an old complaint on this AP about the lack of treasure early on - if the PCs don't scavenge every last bit of equipment for sale, they wind up behind on the wealth curve. Has there been any work done on addressing this?
Paizo Employee Creative Director
1 person marked this as a favorite.

There's a fair amount more treasure in Runelords now than there was... not so much early on... but that's kinda by design. We DID say specifically in the text, though, that the evil magic items that folks find can be sold as bounties to the city watch or good temples.
Liberty's Edge
Vic Wertz wrote:
Yes, the PDF will be available separately. Only AP subscribers who preorder the print edition will get the PDF free, though.

A previous poster mentioned that if pricing followed standard procedures, the pdf would cost $42. Is there official confirmation of the price of the pdf for non-subscribers? Also, if the hardcover is being released mid-July, is there an expected official release date for the pdf? Thanks.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Since this is sort of considered part of the AP line, what is the discount going to be for a subscriber?

$42 for a pdf seems like a lot to pay.
Dark Archive
Shalafi2412 wrote:
$42 for a pdf seems like a lot to pay.

the hardcover is over 400 pages

PDFs for modules that are 32 pages go for $10
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Justin Franklin wrote:
Since this is sort of considered part of the AP line, what is the discount going to be for a subscriber?
Product Description wrote:
The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is not part of any subscription, but Pathfinder Adventure Path subscribers who preorder this book will receive a free PDF edition of this book when the print edition ships. (Note that you will need to have an active AP subscription at the time the Anniversary Edition ships in order to receive the PDF for free.)

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
steerpike65 wrote:
Is there official confirmation of the price of the pdf for non-subscribers? Also, if the hardcover is being released mid-July, is there an expected official release date for the pdf? Thanks.

We have not determined the PDF price yet.

We always release our PDFs on the same day as the product's official retail release date, but we won't set that until we have a confirmed delivery date from the printer.
Silver Crusade
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Here's to hoping that RotRL anniversary follows the "10$ and g#* d&#n the torpedoes!" pricing scheme of the previous Paizo hardcovers. If it will be so, it's an instal-sale for me, despite having all RotRL parts in print and PDF.
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

I've updated the cover image and description to match the finished product.
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.

VERY cool cover!
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Vic Wertz wrote:
I've updated the cover image and description to match the finished product.

Oh. My. God. That's an awesome cover.

Silver Crusade
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Oooh shiny.
Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

Two weeks until my AP subscription kicks in and I can order this ...

Then I just need to find somebody local who's heading to Paizocon, and beg them to take it with them to get it signed.
Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

My gods, the art is so awesome I think I've gone blind

Great art!

@Chops, your point still does not take away that $42 would be expensive for a pdf.

I am so glad I preordered this from my FGS.
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Lazaro wrote:
My gods, the art is so awesome I think I've gone blind

casts remove blindness/deafness

Awesome art, Seoni, me like.

It would be nice if Lini would get some hardcover art love as well.
Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Very nice artwork on the cover! I must say, though, that I am a little disappointed by the layout of the title of the AP. Having the Thassilonian runes is a nice touch, but the way they are positioned makes them look like part of the title is in some language I can't read. To me, it looks like it says, "Rise of the !@#*$& Runelords".

*shrug*

I'm sure what's inside will still be awesome, though! :-)

Do want.

I wanted to debut my Pathfinder GM'ing with Rise of the Runelords. Was all set to go then I heard about this anniversary edition so I started with Carrion Crown instead. Really looking forward to this release.
Tamago wrote:
Very nice artwork on the cover! I must say, though, that I am a little disappointed by the layout of the title of the AP. Having the Thassilonian runes is a nice touch, but the way they are positioned makes them look like part of the title is in some language I can't read. To me, it looks like it says, "Rise of the !@#*$& Runelords".

Yeah, same impression here. Can't wait anyway.

Contributor
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Tamago wrote:
To me, it looks like it says, "Rise of the !@#*$& Runelords".

I'm sure the designers, developers, and layout were all cursing it at some point during its development, so this may be more apt than you know...

Tamago wrote:
To me, it looks like it says, "Rise of the !@#*$& Runelords".

There are almost certainly many players who have said exactly the same thing...

[Edit] Ninja'd (sort of) by Liz...
Silver Crusade

This was my first introduction to Pathfinder... I am so going to be on this thing.
Liberty's Edge

The Rise of the Runelords at the bottom looks lower res or just off. Love the picture though, is this new art?
Sovereign Court
Shalafi2412 wrote:

Great art!

@Chops, your point still does not take away that $42 would be expensive for a pdf.

I am so glad I preordered this from my FGS.

I thought the point was very well-made: you're paying for a lot of ideas and work-hours by some impressive creative minds: that still costs, regardless of the format.

$42 dollars would be a snip, compared to buying, for example, Slumbering Tsar in pdf form.
Sovereign Court
Laschoni wrote:
The Rise of the Runelords at the bottom looks lower res or just off. Love the picture though, is this new art?

Accounting for thickness of spine, will be centre of front page.

That's my guess.
Paizo Employee Creative Director

The cover is indeed new art.
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
Laschoni wrote:
The Rise of the Runelords at the bottom looks lower res or just off.

The letters have a textured background that reads just fine at full resolution. Scaling and JPG compression just aren't doing it any favors.

Any chance of a poster of the cover?
Liberty's Edge

Just pre ordered. Can't wait. I heard good things about this AP.
Gorbacz wrote:
Here's to hoping that RotRL anniversary follows the "10$ and g%# d*#n the torpedoes!" pricing scheme of the previous Paizo hardcovers. If it will be so, it's an insta-sale for me, despite having all RotRL parts in print and PDF.

Agreed 125%.

Scarab Sages
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I want this so badly. So beautiful. Would be perfect for my Current Runelords campaign. My PCs should be on the end of the second module by the time this comes out.

I like the quality of the artwork of the new cover but I would have liked to see different iconics featured. Those two are already on the covers of the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting and Pathfinder Campaign Setting Inner Sea World Guide.

Not like it will stop me from buying it or anything, and I do like Seoni, but I would have preferred maybe the paladin woman and the dwarf ranger. (I'd keep it with the core classes for RotRL cover.)

i usually just buy single issues of APs to get the extra monsters to add to my games and pick up some ideas, but something tells me i need to have this book.
Liberty's Edge
Gorbacz wrote:
Here's to hoping that RotRL anniversary follows the "10$ and g#@ d%&n the torpedoes!" pricing scheme of the previous Paizo hardcovers. If it will be so, it's an instal-sale for me, despite having all RotRL parts in print and PDF.

Meh, not likely. Considering a single AP PDF is $13.99, I'd reckon the hardcover PDF would be more as well.

How much was the Shackled City PDF when it was available? I would imagine it would be similar.
Liberty's Edge
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Adventure Subscriber

Cover art is awesome!

I can't wait....

Wish I had something more profound to add, but seriously, I can't wait.
Contributor
HangarFlying wrote:
How much was the Shackled City PDF when it was available? I would imagine it would be similar.

Shackled City was never available in a collected PDF form, alas.

Threeshades wrote:
i need to have this book.

Yes, yes you do...

Sovereign Court

Just woundering, iam going to buy this great book, but are there traits /background traits in this new version?

Along the same lines as Marcus' question. Will the Player's Guide be updated? The format has changed quite a bit since the original.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Veering off topic again...

I am aware that you are not planning hardcover edition on bringing your other pre-PF APs (updated to PF rules). Question is, what incentive would you need to at least consider, say, Curse of the Crimson Throne (which seems to be pretty popular, despite its age)?
Silver Crusade
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Midnight_Angel wrote:

Veering off topic again...

I am aware that you are not planning hardcover edition on bringing your other pre-PF APs (updated to PF rules). Question is, what incentive would you need to at least consider, say, Curse of the Crimson Throne (which seems to be pretty popular, despite its age)?

Next anniversary?

Gorbacz wrote:
Next anniversary?

Question is, which one will Paizo celebrate? 15th? 20th? 25th?

Liberty's Edge
Midnight_Angel wrote:
Gorbacz wrote:
Next anniversary?
Question is, which one will Paizo celebrate? 15th? 20th? 25th?

The eleventy-first anniversary.

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Midnight_Angel wrote:
I am aware that you are not planning hardcover edition on bringing your other pre-PF APs (updated to PF rules). Question is, what incentive would you need to at least consider, say, Curse of the Crimson Throne (which seems to be pretty popular, despite its age)?

I assume another factor involved in the decision to reprint RotRL is the number of other Paizo products which directly relate to RotRL, especially the events of the book 6.

Jade Regent and Shattered Star both tie into this, and I've seen at least one Chronicles/Setting books reference it as well.

Overall, I don't think the other adventure paths will have the demand behind them to justify the man-hours required to update and reformat them in the manner that they deserve. RotRL has enough other products that build after its storyline to keep awareness high, while being published at a time when Paizo was a smaller company.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
6 people marked this as a favorite.
Marcus Gehrcke wrote:
Just woundering, iam going to buy this great book, but are there traits /background traits in this new version?

You'll have two options for campaign traits with this book... but neither will be IN the book.

Option 1: You can use the sample campaign traits from the Advanced Player's Guide. Those traits are custom-built for a campaign that starts in Sandpoint.

Option 2: I believe the plan is to have a free Rise of the Runelords player's guide that'll have a few more traits plus a short player-friendly gazetteer to Varisia in it.
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