Why do you run Adventure Modules / Paths?


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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4

Just something I've been wondering: why do you play Adventure Modules/Paths? Or why don't you?

Every GM I know, including myself, ends up running homebrew campaigns and adventures. I believe this might be in part because there's littles access to Adventure Modules, Campaign Settings and Adventure Paths in Brazil, since everything has to be imported and it's just not as practical as going to your local store and picking something up. So, people basically get the Core books and start playing homebrew. However, I don't know if local gamers just prefer to run their own settings or if it is really a matter of supply.

How does it work for you guys? Do you sometimes play Adventure Modules to take a break from an ongoing campaign (or even include them in your campaigns to save some preparation time) or do you play mostly homebrew too?

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Lack of spare time and imagination + laziness = premade modules and APs are cool.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

+1 Gorbacz...


I run Pathfinder's material because they are well done and fun. I like their world as well. This is the first world I set my adventures in and not a homebrew as I like the setting.


I do a mix of things. We have a home brew world and almost all of us who DM get a campaign goal in mind. Some sort of epic conflict that is the overarching plot arc (which never comes to fruition because we always fizzle out after a few weeks and it takes forever to get around to play again). Once we have the rails to the campaign we need to start advancing the characters so taht they can one day face off with the evil we intend. If there is an actual formula it is a rule to be broken but generally we introduce the players to each other and run them on a 1st level adventure often this is a module. Short plot reveal of the campaign arc like the arch villan's henchman, or a battle that reveals some sort of regional conflict. Then its time for another module or several modules before a face off with with BBEG.


I tend to GM most of the time and once burn out hits, I switch to premade adventures. I started running the Age of Worms for the first Pathfinder game I ran and now I need to finish it because we're having a lot of fun with it.

After running dozens of different game systems for the last 30+ years, I sometimes run out of ideas and need a boost. With life needing more attention than the games, I also need some help.

Besides, if I didn't buy Paizo products, how would they be able to keep producing more great products?


Modules are a lot of fun. They are also usually a lot shorter then a homebrew campagin. A adventure path or module usually doesn't take more then 8 months (1/week sessions) to complete at the most. A homebrew campaign can take years...heck I know one that has been ongoing for almost 2 decades.


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Mainly because paizo come up with better stories than I would.


They are good, saves people time, and provides money to paizo.

Sovereign Court

I used to homebrew mainly years ago. My players absolutely love the APs. They get into the settings and role play with much more interest much to my dismay. Not because the APs are not great but because I cant get such enthusiasm for my AP :(


@ Bob Loblaw: +1

I mainly homebrew but grab and adapt old modules/dungeon adventures because after 30 years and dozens of different gaming groups I've had my share of Writer's Block. Add to this the wife, kids, work projects and general need to take a minute once and a while for myself and sometimes you need some help.

I have never run a whole AP or any modules from PF. I have however run a couple Savage Tide adventures out of Dungeon. The players liked 'em and I enjoyed the break they gave me. Plus when you pepper stuff in like that it might set the party off on some completely random thing you weren't expecting.

Currently I'm planning a reboot at 1st level and the first few adventures are homemade; the party's going to go after some goblins and their Asmodean overlords. But then I thought why not look for a module set in Cheliax and run a one shot just to let the party know where the devil-cult in their land came from. If it works maybe I'll have them follow that adventure arc for a while; if not I've got an Oni waiting to destroy their world.


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Several reasons.

First, homebrew adventures and campaigns take a lot of time and effort, at least if you want to make them good. I don't always have the time and life can often burn me out to where I don't always want to expend the effort.

Second, developing a good campaign world can take even more time and effort. Which is why, even when I do write my own adventures, I often set them in existing worlds like Golarion. Buying modules set in worlds I like provides additional material for when I write adventures set in that world, and since I already paid for a very well written adventure, I might as well run it.

Third, there's really no reason modules and homebrew creations need to remain separate. I often incorporate my own material into pre-written adventures, and steal ideas from modules to use in my homebrew stuff. So, again, buying adventures makes my homebrew stuff better.

Fourth, in the case of APs (and this kinda goes back to the first point), as a GM, it's sometimes nice to know how a campaign is going to end before it starts. When doing my own stuff, I often just let the players do whatever they want. When I do try to come up with an overreaching plot, my players tend to go wildly off the rails and I'm faced with the choice of abandoning my ideas and writing the adventures they want to go on, or reigning them back in to play they adventures I want to run. With an AP, I find they're more well behaved in that respect, which can make my life easier.

Really, what it comes down to, is: I'm buying the adventures anyway, so I need a reason NOT to run them.

The Exchange

Pedro Coelho wrote:

Just something I've been wondering: why do you play Adventure Modules/Paths? Or why don't you?

Every GM I know, including myself, ends up running homebrew campaigns and adventures. I believe this might be in part because there's littles access to Adventure Modules, Campaign Settings and Adventure Paths in Brazil, since everything has to be imported and it's just not as practical as going to your local store and picking something up. So, people basically get the Core books and start playing homebrew. However, I don't know if local gamers just prefer to run their own settings or if it is really a matter of supply.

How does it work for you guys? Do you sometimes play Adventure Modules to take a break from an ongoing campaign (or even include them in your campaigns to save some preparation time) or do you play mostly homebrew too?

just curious, can't you get the PDFs and run them that way?

In answer to your question, in pathfinder I'm running Jade Regent and playing in Kingmaker. In addition, I'm playing in 3 other bi weekly campaigns in other game systems, one of those is a homebrew (traveller)

I as a judge I've run homebrew games before, in star wars and cyberpunk 2020 systems, "back in the day." Homebrew games can be absolutely awesome, and when you have lots of time to prepare, they're great. But later in life I don't have the free time I used to when I was younger. running jade regent I'm usually prepping for a game for at least as long as it takes to play that session. so for a 4 hour game I might spend 4-5 hours reading, preparing materials, etc, for the session. If I'm writing the plot, then it can go two ways - No prep and totally improv, or heavy plot and lots of writing. With enough experience you can do both successfully. But good plots are more rewarding and in my experience take about 3 times the prep. So, with little free time as the factor, I find myself falling back to using published materials, hence the adventure paths.


Quantum Steve +1

I like to game in a "starting from storebought" kind of way. I like my games (as both player & GM) to be very culturally-diverse and rich with very different-feeling NPCs, cities, adventure locations and the like. Taking advantage of a staff of writers helps me focus on either coming up with the character I want to play, or the plot I want to GM, without having to think about important, but mundane, stuff like economies and political systems, or whole-world tech-level & climate/geography.

I particularly like to read/pull from the Paizo CS/APs/modules/scenarios, because I really like Golarion as a setting, incl. all the cultures/religions, nations/politics, wacky NPCs, et al. But I still like to personalize it with my own creations, and certainly pull stuff from other sources (D&D, books/pop culture, history/folklore).

You need to have a good foundation to hang all the other stuff on though, and that's where the setting material comes in - and not all the setting stuff is in the "Campaign Setting/Chronicles" line.

Dark Archive

Lots of good reasons here. My players have largely chosen Golarion as their fantasy world of choice, and I figure, since we're there, we might as well take advantage of all of the materials available for it.

Having said that, one of my favorite things about this hobby from a nostalgia point of view is the shared language that some of the classics invoke. Tomb of Horrors, Queen of Spiders (The Giant / Drow Series), Ravenloft, Temple of Elemental Evil ... the list goes on.

Part of the appeal for me in the APs is that I'm helping to create a new generation of shared language for my players who never played the classics - I think adventures like the Rise of the Runelords AP, Age of Worms, etc will be seen as classics of their time, and as much as I want my players to enjoy my content, I also want them to be able to have the shared experience that a good AP brings.

EDIT: Time also seems to be a large factor, the more I think on it. When I was younger, I didn't have so many things competing for time, and as I've gotten older I find that I enjoy filling my time with several hobbies, and not dedicating my spare time to just one. Published materials help me use my time more effectively.


The reason I run with AP's in Paizo's setting are pretty much the same as most of the people above me already listed:

1)I don't have time to devout to fully fleshing out the adventure each week. While I do add things to the AP and change things to better suit my play group, I don't have time to develop and fully flesh out the plot of my campaign and still play frequently.

2) I love Golarion. It's very close what I'd want in my own setting. I do have a couple of homebrews that I've played with in the past but Golarion hits all the right notes for me. It also allows me to fill in details on certain regions and places, I have plenty of room to expand as I need to.


I have a homebrew world thst started in 1975. I have put a lot of work into it over the years. I have had several "generations" of players in the game. This has allowed me to stick with my own material, occasionally "recycling" ideas / concepts. I use PF and homebrew rules for my setting but the adventures and setting are pretty much all mine. I have cribbed ideas from commercial products (mostly going back to old TSR material) as well as books and historical events over the years. By the time it's ready for use in my world it's often very different from it's inspiration. Anyway, it takes time, it slows down my game but I find doing my own adventures (and setting, NPCs etc.) the most satisfying and fun.

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

The assumption that a GM runs APs because they are "lazy" is patently ridiculous. Feel free to look up my Kingmaker Expansions some time, and that's just the work I can share, there's a bunch of stuff specific to my group that I won't be putting up online. I put plenty of prep time into my game to customize it and make it my own.

The idea that APs are shorter to run than homebrews is almost true: Except I've been running Kingmaker for 2 years and we've only just finished book 3.

Here's how I explain it: Running a weekly game means entertaining people for 4-6 hours. A weekly television show has a writers room of like 10 people and a cast and crew of hundreds and they only provide one hour of television. An AP takes some of the burden off the GM's shoulders every week by providing fantastic, well-written entertaining encounters and story. Leaving the GM's prep time to customizing, and adding content to wherever they see fit. If I was running a pure home-brew I can take months to perfect the first adventure, really knock it out of the park. But the next week, I might have 6 hours to put something together (an hour a night between working and living a life). The quality will drop, and the weekly model rapidly becomes unsustainable and breaks are called and then the game falls apart.

Also: The writers and developers of Paizo's APs are really the best there is at what they do. I learn to be a better GM reading and running games by these people. A GM who doesn't even read pre published adventures is doing a disservice to him/herself and his/her players. A writer should be a voracious reader, an artist should be hip to the art scene. A GM should know adventures and be unafraid to borrow, appropriate or steal ideas for their own games. Homebrew or otherwise.


>>Except I've been running Kingmaker for 2 years and we've only just finished book 3.

Eerily similar to my own group.

I used a lot of your KM additions and added my own and the 6 player adventuring party additions. :o.

We just started book 4 a few months ago. I am very anxious to get to the tournament in book 5!


There are numerous reasons to use an AP that made sense for me when I was running Pathfinder (I'm only playing at the moment):

1. The first AP I ran was when I came off of a campaign where I was trying very hard to tailor the campaign to the specific characters in the game, and just got burned by a player leaving the campaign while the party was exploring her "leg" of the overall story.

2. Pathfinder, like 3.5 before it, has a ton of options. The narrowed focus helps to streamline the time a GM might lose in trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to do, what NPCs to use, and what monsters to showcase.

So essentially, I could tailor parts of the AP to players, but not worry about a major story arc falling apart if someone left, and while I could always replace and/or customize monsters and NPCs, if I did not want to do so, I did not have to, because there was an assumed baseline.

As has been said, its not really laziness that drives a GM to use an adventure path. In many ways, they allow you to channel your creative energies more specifically instead of on the broader aspects of the campaign.

On the other hand, those APs that have gaps in there that say "the GM can fit something in here to bridge this gap" do tend to be less attractive if you want your extra work to be "above and beyond" and not "needed to keep the campaign going."

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4

Chernobyl wrote:
just curious, can't you get the PDFs and run them that way?

Yes, the arrival of *.pdf has made things easier, but I think by now we lack the habit of running modules and paths. In my group, I believe I'm the one who's most interested in them, but we haven't really played any so far. Still, since the cost of tablets such as iPads and Galaxy is a little prohibitive here, the habit of reading and using *.pdf files is still in its early stages. I might print something in the near future, though. ;)


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It's easier to see a completed 50 page adventure and build on it than it is to write a 50 page adventure and then build on it. Contrary to popular belief, writing a 50 page premade adventure for your own use in 7 point font that is concise and interesting, sticks to the theme and gets the PCs from level 1 to 4 or 7 to 9 is actually ridiculously difficult.


Pedro Coelho wrote:
Chernobyl wrote:
just curious, can't you get the PDFs and run them that way?
Yes, the arrival of *.pdf has made things easier, but I think by now we lack the habit of running modules and paths. In my group, I believe I'm the one who's most interested in them, but we haven't really played any so far. Still, since the cost of tablets such as iPads and Galaxy is a little prohibitive here, the habit of reading and using *.pdf files is still in its early stages. I might print something in the near future, though. ;)

I wouldn't equate using pdfs to using them live at the table. Printing out what you need is sometimes the better option. Also, they're useful as an organizational tool. PDFs that you've bought can be "unlocked" so that you can mix/match different parts of scenarios, make highlights or comments, and insert additional monster blocks or setting info directly where you're going to need them. Keeps your digital "bookshelf" tidy, and I don't think it violates Paizo's security/rights, so long as your modified version is yours, for your use only.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Well, premade adventures and worlds just serve as a useful shortcut to me. Of course there is a lot of on-the-table customization still involved, but the age where I had the free time to write up all-original adventures is sadly a thing of the past. I still do so occasionally, but for the bread and butter play, the price of the premade is just less than the time I'd need to invest for the DIY

Additionally, a known setting is just a very useful shorthand to the players. Say "Numeria" and most PF players know what you mean. Say "Chasim", and you need to remind everyone about that strange land of ultra-biology with the vaguely religious undertones about evolution.


Creating your own world from scratch is *a lot* of work. and by Lot I mean a freaking metric ton.

Keeping a large scale coherent interesting complete campaign world going is nearly a full time job all by itself- not counting the time sink of DM'ing the campaign's adventures. Can it be done? sure. But they've already done the legwork- and did it very very well and you can make it your own with minor tweaks. (don't like guns? Done! want more guns? Done! make it so!).

in short- they have awesome material that takes alot of the work out of the work.. so why not use it? :)

-S


As a GM --> Like Quantum Steve noted, I find adventure paths to be a time saver, and I like the idea that everyone can get on board with the campaign moving in a particular direction from the start. I also like the idea that many people have looked at the campaign (both before and after it's been published) and have come up with suggestions (in the editing room or on these message boards) as to how to patch over the weak spots.

As a player --> I like that I can avoid campaigns that have been poorly reviewed. I like that the GM doesn't need to make up material as he goes along (whether it's logically consistent or not). I also like that it's somewhat less likely for the GM to suffer from total burnout trying to keep coming up with new challenges on the fly.


I run virtual tabletops, so having large collections of related, thematic maps and artwork is essential.

After that, I quickly realized that I was being a more "fair" GM when running someone else's story. I was able to customize the narrative as much as I wanted to, but I never felt obligated to let the PCs live just because I had put all the effort into writing the story.

In the end, I also think it is a little more challenging to run an AP than to do homebrew. The designers sometimes have you stepping out of your comfort zone, having to master a variety of rules you might ordinarily hand-waive or avoid.


Because I am 50 next month, have been married for 2 years and sudden have step kids and grandchildren. My writing time has shrunk to very little. Its difficult to get time to play let alone write.

I am not the only one in my group who has had drastic changes. In the past we use moduels as fill ins and insparation (sic) How we run APs. Savage Tide, KM and SS.


Pedro Coelho wrote:
Just something I've been wondering: why do you play Adventure Modules/Paths?

1) Saves time (as opposed to designing/building an entire campaign on my own)

2) Ideas that I never would have come up with.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

Generally, I run homebrew adventures. Generally if I had something pre-written, the players would push the whole thing off the tracks, so it's better for me to sandbox it with my particular group.

That said, I have started collecting a handful of modules for short games and demos, because--yeah, time is a factor. Plus sometimes they can be good hooks to get into a longer game.

I've never in my life used or bought an Adventure Path, though I'm thinking of subscribing to Skull and Shackles. My next campaign planned was going to be a seafaring game, and had a start even supposed to be somewhat similar to the hook described for the AP. I figure it might be useful in at least helping me determine the general shape of the campaign--and have some good rules for running a ship-based campaign--even if I don't use the exact line of the plot as laid out. And who knows, maybe I will! Always time to try something new.


Steve Geddes wrote:
Mainly because paizo come up with better stories than I would.

Same here. I am a good storyteller and can clearly plot out an adventure and its highlights, but I have one terrible weakness: I am overly rational. My homemade villains have sensible motives and back away from unnecessary conflicts. My homemade monsters are part of a balanced ecosystem and would seldom reside in interesting places such as dungeons. My MacGuffins could be duplicated in a properly equipped arcane laboratory.

An exciting roleplaying adventure needs to be over the top. It has to put fantastic into fantasy. Paizo writes that better than I do.

DeathQuaker wrote:
Generally, I run homebrew adventures. Generally if I had something pre-written, the players would push the whole thing off the tracks, so it's better for me to sandbox it with my particular group.

Yep, my players derail the adventure regularly. Then I start writing new details to map out that road less traveled. Eventually, that road will lead back to the adventure path. I estimate that only about half of the material I use in my games is the adventure path as written. One quarter I rewrite due to the players leaving the predetermined path. Another quarter I rewrite to squeeze in more encounters in which the player characters can show off their special strengths.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4

Mandisa wrote:
I wouldn't equate using pdfs to using them live at the table. Printing out what you need is sometimes the better option.

I've said before that here in my country access to the printed books is kind of hard/non-practical, whereas indeed *.pdf files are easier to acquire. Do you guys in the US choose printed books over *.pdf, since availability is less of an issue? Mandisa's post got me wondering that, since I too would rather have some printed notes then flip through a *.pdf file during game (does it actually slow down play?).

Dark Archive

Selgard wrote:

Creating your own world from scratch is *a lot* of work. and by Lot I mean a freaking metric ton.

This.

In the span of time needed to run a full AP (averaging 18+ months for my gaming group), I manage to write down at most half, usually only one third of the equivalent homebrew stuff - work, females, reading, painting minis, tabletop games, drinking, watching movies, sport, playing VGs and work again usually has a nasty habit of throwing unexpected monkey-wrenches in the gears.


Evil Lincoln wrote:
After that, I quickly realized that I was being a more "fair" GM when running someone else's story. I was able to customize the narrative as much as I wanted to, but I never felt obligated to let the PCs live just because I had put all the effort into writing the story.

I was also going to mention something about "fairness", but I thought that would be kind of insulting to people who like to run homebrew. It's interesting to know that someone else thinks along the same lines.


Arnwyn wrote:
Pedro Coelho wrote:
Just something I've been wondering: why do you play Adventure Modules/Paths?

1) Saves time (as opposed to designing/building an entire campaign on my own)

2) Ideas that I never would have come up with.

I agree with this. I just dont have the time anymore to write my own adventures. And lets face it, sometimes a team of proffessional adventure writers will come up with really cool ideas I never would have.


Pedro Coelho wrote:
Do you guys in the US choose printed books over *.pdf, since availability is less of an issue? Mandisa's post got me wondering that, since I too would rather have some printed notes then flip through a *.pdf file during game (does it actually slow down play?).

When I'm at home and my library is within arms reach, I choose the printed book. Of course, some items I only have as PDF, so I'll print only the pages I'll need. I do the same for some of the reference material in the back of an AP (like encounter tables). I put all of this in a three-ring binder.

I've also got a large binder with all of my PFS Scenarios printed out in case I need to run a one-shot that evening.

When I'm at someone else's house (as a player), I may bring a laptop with all of my PDFs. There is usually a supply of printed books, but I may be able to search for an obscure reference faster.

Bottom line - as a GM, I prefer some form of printed word, but as a player, the PDFs can be useful.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

hogarth wrote:
Evil Lincoln wrote:
After that, I quickly realized that I was being a more "fair" GM when running someone else's story. I was able to customize the narrative as much as I wanted to, but I never felt obligated to let the PCs live just because I had put all the effort into writing the story.
I was also going to mention something about "fairness", but I thought that would be kind of insulting to people who like to run homebrew. It's interesting to know that someone else thinks along the same lines.

The trick for me with this is to put the effort in making the world itself living and breathing, not coming up with a set-in-stone story that I will take personally if the players disregard and take in another direction. The world is unlikely to be utterly destroyed (though with my players, only "unlikely") and as long as the PCs interact with it, the ego's fed. The villains I make to enjoy seeing how the PCs come up with ways to defeat them.

Liberty's Edge

Laziness mostly, though generally by the time I finish tinkering with it you'd have a hard time figuring out where it came from.


Time.

When I was younger I ran Rolemaster, V&V, Champions, Amber, etc. and I created my own material - or took bits from pre-made stuff and incorporated it into my campaigns.

Now, between work, the house, and other obligations, I just don't have the time.

That's one of the things that drew me to Pathfinder. The APs remind me of the material that Chaosium put out when I used to run CoC. Well written, and requiring little to no modifications.


hogarth wrote:
Evil Lincoln wrote:
After that, I quickly realized that I was being a more "fair" GM when running someone else's story. I was able to customize the narrative as much as I wanted to, but I never felt obligated to let the PCs live just because I had put all the effort into writing the story.
I was also going to mention something about "fairness", but I thought that would be kind of insulting to people who like to run homebrew. It's interesting to know that someone else thinks along the same lines.

Obviously, I intend no insult to homebrewers, since I'm only talking about my own behavior. That said, if you are a homebrewer, and you experience trouble remaining impartial due to your investment in the story, I do recommend trying an adventure path at least once. The experience has taught me a great deal about impartiality that I will carry back to my homebrews when the time comes.


Pedro Coelho wrote:
I've said before that here in my country access to the printed books is kind of hard/non-practical, whereas indeed *.pdf files are easier to acquire. Do you guys in the US choose printed books over *.pdf, since availability is less of an issue? Mandisa's post got me wondering that, since I too would rather have some printed notes then flip through a *.pdf file during game (does it actually slow down play?).

I get access to the physical books through my shared subscription with my brother, or at my local game store. If I collect an entire AP I know I will run one day, I buy the PDFs from Paizo (a little too expensive for me to do for volumes I don't plan to run). So far, I've only bought three APs in PDF: Runelords, Legacy of Fire, and Kingmaker.

PDFs + MapTool = A very memorable game indeed.


DeathQuaker wrote:
hogarth wrote:
I was also going to mention something about "fairness", but I thought that would be kind of insulting to people who like to run homebrew. It's interesting to know that someone else thinks along the same lines.

The trick for me with this is to put the effort in making the world itself living and breathing, not coming up with a set-in-stone story that I will take personally if the players disregard and take in another direction. The world is unlikely to be utterly destroyed (though with my players, only "unlikely") and as long as the PCs interact with it, the ego's fed. The villains I make to enjoy seeing how the PCs come up with ways to defeat them.

One of the good things about homebrew campaigns is that the players have the freedom to bite off more than they can chew. But one of the bad things about homebrew campaigns is that the players have the freedom to bite off more than they can chew. :-)

So what does a GM do when the PCs are in over their heads? If you give them the "tough love" treatment, the campaign might end abruptly, but if you give them the "kid gloves" treatment, it can end up equally unsatisfying.

But with an adventure path you don't have to worry about that so much, since everything has been pre-designed to scale up with the party; in theory, the party should never be getting in over their heads. (In practice, however...)

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

hogarth wrote:
DeathQuaker wrote:
hogarth wrote:
I was also going to mention something about "fairness", but I thought that would be kind of insulting to people who like to run homebrew. It's interesting to know that someone else thinks along the same lines.

The trick for me with this is to put the effort in making the world itself living and breathing, not coming up with a set-in-stone story that I will take personally if the players disregard and take in another direction. The world is unlikely to be utterly destroyed (though with my players, only "unlikely") and as long as the PCs interact with it, the ego's fed. The villains I make to enjoy seeing how the PCs come up with ways to defeat them.

One of the good things about homebrew campaigns is that the players have the freedom to bite off more than they can chew. But one of the bad things about homebrew campaigns is that the players have the freedom to bite off more than they can chew. :-)

So what does a GM do when the PCs are in over their heads? If you give them the "tough love" treatment, the campaign might end abruptly, but if you give them the "kid gloves" treatment, it can end up equally unsatisfying.

But with an adventure path you don't have to worry about that so much, since everything has been pre-designed to scale up with the party; in theory, the party should never be getting in over their heads. (In practice, however...)

I do not ever underestimate my players' ability to bite off more than they can chew regardless of the source of the adventure. :) But frankly, I also do not underestimate their ability to find some miraculous way out of a seemingly mortal situation. Usually I'm struggling to challenge them than trying to avoid TPK... who knows, if I do get that AP and try it out, maybe I'll find adventures become much more lethal....


DeathQuaker wrote:
Usually I'm struggling to challenge them than trying to avoid TPK...

I probably shouldn't be using the word "fair" since the opposite is "unfair" which has a negative connotation. Maybe I should be saying "impartial" and "partial" or something like that (even though "partial" has a bit of a negative connotation as well).

For instance, a "partial" GM will adjust the campaign on the fly to increase or decrease the challenge to the PCs (so-called "rubber band" difficulty).

An "impartial" GM will let the chips fall where they may (whether that means that the challenges end up being easy or hard).

Scarab Sages

I'm running Kingmaker (We start Part 5 Wed night...).
I actually wanted to play in it, but since my nickname is 'The Eternal DM', I (Once again) got stuck DMing. It is fun, if a bit all-over-the-place.
Honestly, I usually run my own material, and the players (3 of the 5) who have gamed with me have been hinting that they can't wait for KM to be finished, so that we can get back to our former games (Characters converted from 3.5 to PF, of course...).
I doubt that I'll run another AP, honestly. they just don't move fast enough for me (I prefer a more Improv style, going where the players try and take the story, often on the fly).
Still, I think that the APs are Grade A material, and a great read.

-Uriel

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