Like it says in the title how would you run a kingmaker AP for an E6 or E8 campaign.
What are the very basic plot elements that need to take place that still foreshadow an evil fey creature trying to exert control over an area of untamed wilderness?
the world is not Golarion' but a Colonial North American rehash.
Heck, it actually wouldn't be too difficult running a SO1KS conversion, if you're willing to do a little book-work.
Most of the enemy statblocks can be remade easily just by swapping in some lower-level versions of the bad guy. Like the Horned Hunter for instance - A Satyr with 5 levels in a class is only CR 8, 9 if he has PC-level gear. The Worm That Walks template for Wriggling Man is only +2 CR; slap it on a top-level Wizard for whatever E_ game you're playing and he's done. Nyrissa could just be a regular old Nymph with a few extra Druid levels (not enough space in an E_ game to bother with the Sorc/Theurge route).
Swap out some of the monsters for logical lower-level variants, keep their appearances the same on a cosmetic level. For example, a Juvenile Red Dragon (CR 11 - a challenging but not unbeatable opponent for an E8 party) could be reflavored as Mister J fairly easily, just add in the Burble effect and maybe swap out its spell-like ability for scorching ray to emulate the Eye Rays. For an E6 party, go with the Very Young Red (CR 8) and add the Giant template, scorching rays, and Burble, bringing it up to CR 9 or possibly 10 - still tough, but not unbeatable.
Ilthuliak's probably the easiest swap in the entire bunch - just drop her down to a younger version of black dragon.
Thank you all so much!
Orthos - I like the sounds of what your saying, I feel like a goof tho, i dont know what SO1KS is? I would be more than willing to take a look at it.
Redcelt32 and Dudmeister: Glad to hear from some of the KM bigwigs about my idea. And Dudemeister is got just the stuff I was looking for.
My game with certainly include a heavy trade aspect (New France of course being based around the North America Fur Trade) and I hope I can keep the pressure up from the Iroquois/British agents trying to weaken NF from the south.
I was more thinking about which "pieces" should be included or excluded.
The PCs are agents of the Company of New France and sent to the Pays d'en Haut (The back-country)after a foul beast that has been terrorizing the countryside. They arrive at Forte Ste-Marie (Olegs) and have the adventures of Stolen Lands.
The bandits are replaced by Iroquois Raiders and English trappers, with a stag lord equivalent boss. (The beast is a fur trader that's been warped by the foul fey related changes in the Pays d'en Haut, and meet up with the Iroquois/English).
The Iroquois/English force is there to disrupt the natural order of the forest and basically try and once again to destroy the local native groups for the coming of the (Big BAD, evil fey creature).
Could most of book 2 be skipped? As long as there are lots of hexes to explore? And then maybe introduce the events of Book 3 rather early?
Any one of other ideas they might want to toss around?
It's Kingmaker's final chapter.
SO1KS = Sound Of A Thousand (1K - K is the Roman numeral for 1000 short for Kilo-, Greek prefix for a thousand) Screams.
Told you...I feel like a goof now.
Could most of book 2 be skipped? As long as there are lots of hexes to explore? And then maybe introduce the events of Book 3 rather early?
Any one of other ideas they might want to toss around?
Converting things into North American setting, you could play around with some of the local legends. Check out this thread for some advice and suggestions on where to start looking.
The main reason to keep Chapter 2 is that it serves as an opportunity to allow the PCs' colony to grow and thrive, dealing with internal threats and smaller rivals, before being called in to be the rescue party for their neighbor in Chapter 3. Skipping it would be a little jarring, in that while the PCs have proven themselves capable of hunting down bandits and monsters, they haven't done much else yet unless you take several years of quiet downtime to let their kingdom build up a little.
I also happen to really like Chapter 2 personally, mostly because of Dudemeister's alterations, and my group really liked Hargulka as a villain. (As did I, but that's because I like playing hammy villains, and Dudemeister's Hargulka was made to chew caves full of scenery.)
That said, you could probably bypass most of the one-off sidequests in Chapter Two. Ignore Candlemere Tower, The Lonely Barrow, et cetera. Keep the Hodag lair, if only because Hodags fit the North American setting too well to remove, being one of the few monsters currently in the game inspired by North American myths and cryptozoology. But most of the stuff not related to the plot can probably be dropped in favor of DM_D's alterations and additions, which in turn would streamline the chapter considerably.
DO NOTE THOUGH. Doing so will cut down on the amount of XP the players receive - which is fine if you don't use XP, just level them up as you feel appropriate so they're the requisite 5th level or so when they face Hargulka; if you do, though, you'll need to find a way to fill in the gaps caused by the missing/removed encounters.
I'd like to second Orthos - keep chapter 2...
I'd also add however - you could cull chapter 3 just as easily...or just
mush the 2 of them together, culling some, changing some & leaving some.
Consider working in the module Carnival of Tears, which is intended for 5th level characters and could easily be retooled to be the result of Nyrissa's meddling.
I was going to run Kingmaker as an E8 game, but ended up taking it in a very different direction, and used only about half of the first book. Still using the kingdom rules, though.
Why not P6? http://p6codex.com/
Here is a thread where the dude that put it together talks about it. http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2q1ra?P6-Codex-E6Pathfinder