The kings and queens of Korvosa have long ruled under the shadow of the Curse of the Crimson Throne—an infamous superstition claiming that no monarch of the city of Korvosa shall ever die of old age or produce an heir. Whether or not there is any truth to the legend of the curse, Korvosa's current king is but the latest victim to succumb to this foul legacy. Now, the metropolis teeters on the edge of anarchy, and it falls to a band of new heroes to save Korvosa from the greatest threat it has ever known! This hardcover compilation updates the fan-favorite campaign for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, including new and revised content and nearly 500 pages packed with mayhem, excitement, and adventure!
This hardcover edition of Curse of the Crimson Throne contains:
All six chapters of the original Adventure Path, expanded and updated for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
An in-depth gazetteer of the city of Korvosa as it exists under the rule of its new queen.
An array of new rules options for characters, ranging from campaign traits to spells to magic items.
An expansive appendix with statistics, descriptions, backgrounds, and rules support for the 12 most important NPCs in the campaign.
A bestiary featuring nine monsters from the original Adventure Path making their debut under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules.
Dozens of new illustrations, never-before-seen characters, location maps, extensive new encounter locations, and more!
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-890-8
Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Sanctioned Content Curse of the Crimson Throne is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild.
This AP is widely considered one of the (if not THE) best Adventure Paths for good reason. It really is that good. Tons of really interesting NPCs and storylines. Lots and lots and lots of room for a GM to add their own touches. An excellent story that makes the PCs feel like heroes. Villains they really want to beat. Heck, it's even a good introduction to the pathfinder system and world.
Not only that, but since it's so popular, there's tons of advice about what changes to make, what to keep an eye on, and how to make changes that can improve it. This edition is a fantastic deal and an excellent campaign and I can't recommend it highly enough.
I wrote fricking long review about great time I had with running the whole campaign(and post campaign) and then it got deleted by the fricking "too much backtracking" page dagnabbit
I'm not gonna write the entire thing again, so here is in short: This campaign has great recurring NPC cast(most of later APs have problem with introducing cool NPCs and then rest of books never mentioning them again), great themes, great villains, Kazavon's awesome hair, allows multiple approaches to different situations(such as infiltrating with sneaking or talking through places instead of just fighting through them. Kinda reminds me of Deux Ex computer games in a way), awesome locations, awesome post campaign potential and is one of my favourite APs ever.
Short Version: A smart buy but held back by structural issues.
It's hard to get better adventure value for your dollar than this or the Rise of the Runelords collected edition. If I were reviewing on that alone, this would be 5 stars and then some. But there's more to an adventure than that.
The AP's hook is quite good, but almost immediately discarded in favor of saving the city. This can be helped a good session 0, but still feels artificial.
Even looking at the new plot, many elements feel shoehorned in. People point to volumes 4 and 5 for this, but there are sections in 2 that exist only to kill time as the plot advances and an entire dungeon in 3 that is cool but can seem forced if the players don't kick in the door right away. Any of these alone would be fine, but each makes the next more obvious.
That being said, there's a lot of cool stuff going on here, it just takes at least a star's worth of work to stitch it together.
I´m gonna list the differences between the original AP#7s chapters and it´s adaption into the hardcover edition:
Inside front cover:
The "Korvosan Hierarchy" overview is not reprinted.
Part 1:
The illustration on page 6 is exchanged for a cartoony new one on page 12 of the HC.
Page 10 of AP#7 has a map where the 8 locations in Korvosa that are important for book 1 are marked and named. This map is reprinted on page 400 of the HC but that one shows ALL important locations of the campaign at once, marked with letters and numbers.
"Lamm´s Lambs" stats are upgraded to young human on page 18 of the HC.
"Yargin Balko" now has a full body illustration instead of an upper body one. "Hookshanks Gruller" gets a full body illustration. "Giggles" gets a fbi. "Gaedren Lamm" gets a fbi.
Part 2:
King Eodred Arabasti gets a head illu. "Imps and Dragons" gets an illustration. "Meet the mob" gets a "Amin Jalento" head illu and his battle stats.
Part 3:
The illustration of "Sabina Merrin" on page 25 is not reprinted (she gets a new one on page 455).
Part 4:
"Cressida Croft" gets a head illu (and fbi on page 443). The Queens gets a new veiled head illu (the old one is more mysterious). The "renegade guards" stats in "All the Worlds Meat" get new stats. "Verik Vancasterkin" is upgraded from fighter 3 to fighter 4.
Part 5:
The "Ambassadors Secret" gets a new head illu. The fbi of "Vencarlo Orisini" from page 34 is not reprinted. The fbi of "Devargo Barvasi" on page 37 is replaced with a new one that is very much less impressive. He is upgraded from rogue 4 to rogue 5. "Majenko" is changed from pseudodragon to house drake. The illustration on page 41 is replaced with a new one (page 57). Both are equally creepy.
Part 6:
The "Trinia Sabor" fbi from page 43 is not reprinted (she gets a new look on page 460, but the old one is flashier). She is upgraded from bard 4 to bard 5. "The Shingle Chase" gets a better illustration. Curiously it features the old flashier Trinia Sabor outfit instead of the new.
Part 7:
The Owlbear skeleton gets gorgeous art on page 59 of the HC. The cool illustration on page 52 is replaced by a cool new one on HC page 61.
Cabbagehead´s head illu is replaced by a fbi. The "Gaekhen" head illu is not reprinted. "Vreeg" gets a much better new fbi.
Concluding the adventure:
The famous "green dress Illeosa Arabasti" illustration from page 56 (on which the first miniature is based) is NOT reprinted!
The Blackjack illustration from page 57 is replaced by a much better one on HC page 67.
Appendixes:
The 4 page Harrow article is updated to a 14 page one!
The 8 page "people of the road" article about varisians is not reprinted.
The 6 page Pathfinder´s journal is not reprinted.
Bestiary:
The illustration of the "Dream Spider", the only creature that hasn´t been adapted to a Bestiary yet, is not reprinted from page 82 but it´s stats are.
Inside back cover:
The "Korvosas enemies" overview is not reprinted.
While the new edition HC is better overall and everything needed for playing the campaign is included, updated and streamlined, quite a few cool things are left out.
I´m glad i got the original AP #7 too.
It was perhaps inevitable that Curse of the Crimson Throne would one day also receive a similar treatment to Rise of the Runelords. There’s no special anniversary to celebrate this year, but does there really need to be? Much like its Runelords predecessor, the new hardcover compilation of Crimson Throne updates the adventure path to Pathfinder rules and also expands on the story where beneficial and streamlines in other areas. It also takes advantage of the most recent rules supplements, making use of newer monsters, classes, and feats where appropriate.
At nearly 500 pages in length, it is actually a substantially larger tome than the hardcover Runelords (a good 50 pages or so longer), and its extra length is certainly put to good use. Indeed, it manages to make one of the best adventure paths even better.
I hope Shattered Star, Second Darkness and one to two more of the older paths (I hope either Carrion Crown, Serpents Skull or Skulls and Shackles) go this way in a year or two. I love that you guys update them and add some new material. Great call!
Don´t hold your breath for other updates. James said as much in another thread. IF this happens at all, my guess would be that it would be the remaining two 3.5 APs, nothing newer.
EDIT: ninja´d by Gorbacz (where in Poland are you anyway?)
Dont speculate too much. They did say that the chances of them doing a edition of other APs like the Rise of the Runelords anniversary edition were slim to none, leaning firmly to none.
Will this get a new Player's Guide as well, like RotR did for the anniversary edition?
Unlikely, since I was able to fit all that information into the book itself. I suppose it's possible to release the character traits as a mini-pdf or something... but at this point there's no plans that I know of to do a new Player's Guide for it.
Will this get a new Player's Guide as well, like RotR did for the anniversary edition?
Unlikely, since I was able to fit all that information into the book itself. I suppose it's possible to release the character traits as a mini-pdf or something... but at this point there's no plans that I know of to do a new Player's Guide for it.
Will this get a new Player's Guide as well, like RotR did for the anniversary edition?
Unlikely, since I was able to fit all that information into the book itself. I suppose it's possible to release the character traits as a mini-pdf or something... but at this point there's no plans that I know of to do a new Player's Guide for it.
Fair enough. Some new character traits would be nice, though, if it can be arranged. ^_^
That cover art ... I really miss that picture of her in the green dress. She looks too much like a BBEG on this version of the new cover.
You have a point there. If this is indeed the final cover art, she is pretty much clearly the BBEG. I like her green-dress image as well. OTOH, the beautiful (and, ahem, well-endowed) woman as ultimate evil is not exactly a new idea.
Defiler82, can you (or anyone else) explain why this AP is so great? What sells me on it?
As a background, I loved Runelords for the classic feel, and I loved the start of Giantslayer (the town investigation and defense) but not the hack & slash of later modules. I played a ton of PFS modules and didn't like a bunch of them, but some of the more roleplay-heavy modules were fun (such as Murder on the Throaty Mermaid, and School of Spirits). Why would someone like me want to buy this book? What is the general gist (with no or only light spoilers) of the story, and setting? Why is it fun?
... Okay, this many spoilers is starting to get a bit ridiculous! :)
On the other hand, a large number of potential new players probably have arrived on the boards due to the Humble Bundle offer, and yet others may have avoided the original version of this particular AP simply because it was 3.5. Therefore it might still make sense to keep certain plot points secret.
Will this get a new Player's Guide as well, like RotR did for the anniversary edition?
Unlikely, since I was able to fit all that information into the book itself. I suppose it's possible to release the character traits as a mini-pdf or something... but at this point there's no plans that I know of to do a new Player's Guide for it.
Fair enough. Some new character traits would be nice, though, if it can be arranged. ^_^
Not really necessary though; they've been tinkered with and adjusted a little to make them work more like modern traits, but adding more? The original options covered the necessities quite well I felt. No need for more. I focused on the additions to the content elsewhere.
That cover art ... I really miss that picture of her in the green dress. She looks too much like a BBEG on this version of the new cover.
She still owns that green dress, but she IS a BBEG so that's kinda the point... the image is NOT from her at the start of the campaign, but closer to the end.
And yeah, that does mean, to a certain extent, that the cover is something of a spoiler, but it's a necessary one so that players aren't going in completely blind.
There's certainly such a thing as keeping TOO many secrets from your players, and teasing them with certain plot elements is good to build excitement. I mean... the TITLE of the AP pretty much informs anyone that something bad is going on with the throne, so it's hardly a huge step in logic to realize that the person who SITS on the throne might be part of the problem.
But yeah... the fact that the queen is the BBEG of Curse of the Crimson Throne is not really meant to be a "shock" or "surprise" at all. The sooner the PCs catch on to that, in fact, the better. In fact, if the players assume she's bad at the start, they may well be put off and confused by the initial scene in which she appears; that first scene is more or less built to make her seem somewhat sympathetic, after all.
'Surprise' BBEGs can be problematic anyway. The Iron Gods Players Guide points out that the Technic League serves as an antagonist - a character whose ambition is to become a Captain of the League is going to have a bad time.
Likewise,:
If you think Ileosa is supposed to be the good guy, you might make a character that is a loyal servant of the crown...and promptly be left with a character that is opposed to the adventure hooks.
To be fair, they put Karzoug on the cover of the last one.
James Jacobs wrote:
Not really necessary though; they've been tinkered with and adjusted a little to make them work more like modern traits, but adding more? The original options covered the necessities quite well I felt. No need for more. I focused on the additions to the content elsewhere.
This updating is what I was looking for. Thank you! ^_^
Since most players seem more interested in their own character's powers and builds anyway, I'm not so sure story spoilers are nearly as much as a game killer as most GMs fear they are. I can certainly understand the fear that a player might be disappointed to learn too much about a game before hand, but that's never, to me, seemed to be something that would cause someone to not play a game. Indeed, knowing a little about an upcoming campaign's storyline in advance tends to make me MORE likely to want to play the game than not.
AKA: The fact that Ileosa's the BBEG isn't the secret you want your players invested in learning... it's WHYT she's the BBEG that's the secret you want them to be invested in learning, and having the players know from the start (even if their characters don't learn until a few sessions after the first one) that she's bad news can build anticipation much better than keeping them entirely in the dark.
Of course, every table is different, and if it's a concern, then by all means hide the cover of the book. You might want to avoid telling your players the title of the adventure path too, though. And hopefully they've not been paizo fans over the past decade and haven't learned via osmosis about one of the most popular and well-known villains we've ever published...
I *WAS* planning to cancel my AP sub after Hell's Vengeance, but if I want this in print and PDF, I'm better off extending my sub a couple more months! (Between the AP sub discount and the free PDF!)
There is a note at the top of the page indicating that this volume will *NOT* be part of the AP subscription... though AP subscribers WILL get the free PDF if they pre-order. So just no AP sub discount.
I *WAS* planning to cancel my AP sub after Hell's Vengeance, but if I want this in print and PDF, I'm better off extending my sub a couple more months! (Between the AP sub discount and the free PDF!)
There is a note at the top of the page indicating that this volume will *NOT* be part of the AP subscription... though AP subscribers WILL get the free PDF if they pre-order. So just no AP sub discount.
You still at least get the 15% discount from Pathfinder Advantage with an AP subscription.
I *WAS* planning to cancel my AP sub after Hell's Vengeance, but if I want this in print and PDF, I'm better off extending my sub a couple more months! (Between the AP sub discount and the free PDF!)
There is a note at the top of the page indicating that this volume will *NOT* be part of the AP subscription... though AP subscribers WILL get the free PDF if they pre-order. So just no AP sub discount.
You still at least get the 15% discount from Pathfinder Advantage with an AP subscription.
Yep, went and checked my order confirmation to make sure :3
I *WAS* planning to cancel my AP sub after Hell's Vengeance, but if I want this in print and PDF, I'm better off extending my sub a couple more months! (Between the AP sub discount and the free PDF!)
There is a note at the top of the page indicating that this volume will *NOT* be part of the AP subscription... though AP subscribers WILL get the free PDF if they pre-order. So just no AP sub discount.
You still at least get the 15% discount from Pathfinder Advantage with an AP subscription.
Exactly. The amount I save by keeping the 15% discount and getting the PDF for free by still being a subscriber is more than what I would spend on the next couple AP issues.
I'm excited about this. I only have 3 issues in print of this AP. I do hope if they make more hardback compilations they do Legacy of Fire next. That was my first AP to play :3
Since most players seem more interested in their own character's powers and builds anyway, I'm not so sure story spoilers are nearly as much as a game killer as most GMs fear they are.
I'd like to think that even players who are into builds and such care about the plot to some extend <_< Like, if the players are like "I don't care whether villain is zombie cyborg Reagan or evil lich" then it kinda sounds like you might as well just play without a plot or roleplaying at all and make the game into purely tactical combat game