What products would be of benefit to run the kingmaker campaign?
Guide to the River Kingdoms is useful if you want to expand on the PCs souther boarder. It is in no way required. There has not yet been a major publication on Brevoy that I know of. Most of the information you need for it is in the AP, can be found on the pathfinder wiki, or you can make up if the PCs care.
Really, it can be run with the adventure path, the core book, and the bestiary. Everything else is just added fluff.
Guide to the River Kingdoms is pretty much it. There is some really general info on Brevoy in the Golarion campaign setting but nothing you can't find in the AP or the Guide.
What products would be of benefit to run the kingmaker campaign?
From the accessories standpoint the Bandit Outpost Flip Mat and the Kingmaker Map Folio can be useful. Not required though.
I got Guide the River Kingdoms and I felt a little cheated by it. There's *some* useful info in there, but not a whole lot. It might be more useful in the 2nd half of the AP as the PCs get more interested in international politics, but it doesn't offer up anything for the first half of the campaign. I guess the sidebar on Gyronna is pretty useful for earlier on in the game - and it's hard to find info on that deity elsewhere.
I printed out the Brevoy and Iobaria gazeteers and handed them out to my players. (They really liked this: the description of the houses in there is so much better than in the player's guide!)
If I had Clerics or Paladins in my group I would have done the same for the diety articles (but I didn't have those chars). On that topic: there are only 5 deities relevant to this campaign:
Abadar, Pharasma, Gorum, Erastil, and Gyronna. (And a cameo by Cayden's followers). The AP itself writes up Erastil and Gorum. So if you want detailed info on the others, you'll have to hunt down those sources (CotCT #2 for Abadar, Guide to RK for Gyronna, and SOL for Pharasma).
Basically: there's not much to get. I mean, you need the PHB and Bestiary. And lots of hex paper. But that goes without saying. ;-)
The new arms and equipment guide is fun :)
the map pack, purely so you can make great use of the pdf
various flipmats we have also bought
A bit of a thread necro, but here goes. I am new to Pathfinder and new to GMing. I will be running Kingmaker as my first adventure path. My players are also brand new to this, so I want it to be an awesome experience for them and to hook them on Pathfinder forever!
There is almost too much info out there (at least by forum searching) on Kingmaker campaigns. Any further tips on a good GM blog or site to read for advice? Or game aids to buy to really make the game pop? I was going to buy some flip mats (other terrain aids I should buy?) and I just picked up a bunch of DnD Heroes minis. What about monster minis? Any other suggestions? Thanks for your help.
A bit of a thread necro, but here goes. I am new to Pathfinder and new to GMing. I will be running Kingmaker as my first adventure path. My players are also brand new to this, so I want it to be an awesome experience for them and to hook them on Pathfinder forever!
There is almost too much info out there (at least by forum searching) on Kingmaker campaigns. Any further tips on a good GM blog or site to read for advice? Or game aids to buy to really make the game pop? I was going to buy some flip mats (other terrain aids I should buy?) and I just picked up a bunch of DnD Heroes minis. What about monster minis? Any other suggestions? Thanks for your help.
Necroing threads now, are we? :)
Well, as I'm not sure how much of these forum posts you've read, here's some general advice:
-Read ALL of the six KM books ahead of time (at least the AP parts). Knowing what's coming up will help tremendously and give you ideas on cool bits to toss in the game as foreshadowing and whatnot.
-Take the time to do some prep work before game day begins. I ended up grabbing a box and storing all my stuff in there for quick access. I'll fill out Initiative cards for monsters ahead of time (for those I know the PCs will encounter) and make notes where I can. A pad of paper is nearly essential for making notes and marking the number of travel days, hexes explored, etc.
-Figure out how you want to handle the mapping aspect. There are a number of good ideas on the boards. I printed non-marked maps from the pdfs, stuck them on cardboard, printed out a bunch of hexes of the same size as are on the maps, then pinned them to the map itself. As the PCs explore the map, I take away the pin and paper, exposing the terrain underneath. Time consuming to build, but the players like it. There are other ways, depending on your setup (using a computer/TV, etc.). There's also a site called Hexographer, I believe, which is pretty easy to figure out and use.
-When kingdom building, grab one of the excellent Excel sheets from these boards. You'll thank yourself, believe me!
-Don't fear changing things from the way they're written. Kingdom building ain't doing it for the players? Ditch it and have it in the background, etc. Make your primary goal a Good Time Had By All<tm>.
-For the first two books, there are paper minis that are pretty cool and easy to print and put together. Some of the major baddies from later books are finally out as metal minis. (One of them came out a month after I ran the encounter. Grr...:)
-Lastly (okay, not lastly, but my post is getting long, so if you've more questions or want more info, just ask), some excellent posts on the KM forums you might want to check out/search for:
The Fey pranks--Can be peppered throughout the module
Six-player conversion--If you've six or more players
The Obituaries--Gives a good idea on some tough encounters to watch for.
The Kingdom Building spreadsheets--See above. They're a BOON!
And, if you can, I know they are many, but scroll through the forum posts for Kingmaker and take a gander at a few that catch your eye. If you spend an hour reading through a few, you may be well rewarded.
Oh, and lastly (did I say that already? Ah well), don't hesitate to ask questions. I've been running KM for over a year, and this board is the first place I go when I need answers. The folks here are great!
Good luck, and have fun!
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Just my few copper about what I've used and such. Keep in mind, I got pretty ambitious and really wanted to make this a long term and memorable game for my players.
- I type up notes as opposed to playing directly from the book. The notes let me know exactly what to read to my players as description. I use a little of the books, a little of my own. Also, any events where a skill check is to be expected I write in a description of what each DC would tell the players.
- I write up note cards for EVERY enemy in the book before we player. Almost all the combat relevant info is there. Its a ton of work, but makes things run really smoothly. (I started typing the cards up for Book 3 and 4 if anyone wants to google docs access or a copy of the generic fill in cards) Because of this and my notes, I rarely crack the AP book while playing so I'm not searching for a page number, specific description, etc.
- I print (on card stock) a picture of all the enemies/npcs that will come up and cut them out before each book. Again, alot of work, but I think it adds a nice touch. I haven't used, but hear great things about the paper mini sets for KM. If they make the later books, I'll use them.
- When you know something is coming up, predraw the map out for it. The same goes for things like the Fey pranks. Have a list you want to use before they players get into it.
- It helps to have and read all 6 APs before you start but sometimes its difficult/impractical. But ALWAYS read at least the whole of the AP before you start. KM can go so many different directions at the drop of a hat you need to be prepared.
- As stated above, use the forums. KM is so unique and so much fun to tweak here and there to keep your players on their feet. These boards have SOOO many great ideas and people willing to help. Use them.
Thank you. This is very helpful.
(I started typing the cards up for Book 3 and 4 if anyone wants to google docs access or a copy of the generic fill in cards)
Uh... yes, please? :)
I'd love a copy of those notes for book 3 and 4 as well.
My players use a combination of physical books and .pdf files (a couple use laptops).
I use a combination of the following:
- physical books
- the PFR app on my iPhone/iPad, and other .pdf files. I also bought the iCrit and iFumble apps, but we haven't really been using those.
- graph paper. I drew in the 1" squares using a fine sharpie marker and made 50 copies at Kinkos. I then had 20-25 of those blank copies laminated. When I have time, I try to predraw up the planned encounters in the AP, as most of them are small enough to occur within the 8"x11" area. I intend to use the remaining copies to draw up encounter sites (plains, forest, river, etc) for future use.
- I recently bought quite a few D&D minis on eBay and plan to buy the pewter minis for the BBEGs. I also go through the random encounters and try to buy minis that match what they will face.
- Gamemastery Initiative Tracker
I started typing the cards up for Book 3 and 4 if anyone wants to google docs access or a copy of the generic fill in cards) Because of this and my notes, I rarely crack the AP book while playing so I'm not searching for a page number, specific description, etc.
Yes please? :D
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I started typing the cards up for Book 3 and 4 if anyone wants to google docs access or a copy of the generic fill in cards) Because of this and my notes, I rarely crack the AP book while playing so I'm not searching for a page number, specific description, etc.
That would be great! Thanks for the offer
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Sorry about the delay guys. Hopefully this helps everyone out.
The first link is to the NPCs & Monsters of Book 3: Varnhold Vanishing. They should all be there. Disclaimer though, I do sometimes tweak a few things to make games for my twinky building players a little harder/interesting. I don't know exactly where I do a few of these tweaks at but for example:
The second link is a generic 4 cards to a sheet. You can print them out and hand write things on them if you prefer.
My players finish book 2 next week so I'll prolly do the monsters for book 4 soon.
Again, hope this helps people out cause its super convenient for me.
The first link works great. The second link just goes back to Paizo. Can you check the second link or tell me what I am doing wrong? Thanks!
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The first link works great. The second link just goes back to Paizo. Can you check the second link or tell me what I am doing wrong? Thanks!
Probably my own stupid fault. Try this link.