Most recommended AP for 'classic' party?


Pathfinder Adventure Path General Discussion


I've played through two AP's all the way through (SnS and RotRL) and am in the middle of a third (WotR). I've also been a part of two abortive campaigns that ended after book 1 (RoW) or book 3 (Second Darkness)... that's my full experience with AP's, which we've played almost exclusively since our discovery of them.

Now if I had a group who wanted to run an all-time 'classic' party (see below), what AP would you most recommend? My first impulse is to say RotRL but I'm aware that there are a number of others out there that I haven't tried.

Party:
Human Fighter (Greatsword)
Dwarven Cleric (Shield and Warhammer)
Elven Wizard (Blaster & utility)
Halfling Rogue (TWF)
Half-Elven Bard (Archery & Buffs)

The characters would be core races, core classes with no archetypes, solidly built but not particularly optimized.


Runelords seems like an easy choice - every class you listed would have some really excellent moments to shine, as well as entire books where they'd lead the way (Gnome rogue might be better - defensive training). The Wizard gets the most out of it of course.

Other than that...
Curse of the Crimson Throne fits pretty well, although Fighter and Cleric might ache a bit sneaking and jumping around town.
Kingmaker can work with most every group, and particularly with a diverse one like that, but you would need some Survival specialists.
Carrion Crown is pretty generic on requirements, but a Paladin or Ranger is almost required in ways.
Reign of Winter should work from what I know, as would Shattered Star.

I'd say NOT: Council of Thieves, Serpent's Skull, Jade Regent, or Wrath of the Righteous.

Scarab Sages

Majuba wrote:
I'd say NOT: Council of Thieves, Serpent's Skull, Jade Regent, or Wrath of the Righteous.

Can you elaborate? (I haven't played those four, so I'm curious)


any will do:)


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Shattered Star is pretty good for the standard set-up, in the vein that it is very dungeon heavy (yet has a large roleplaying element, too).

Scarab Sages

I’ve only played Shackled City, Runelords, Reign of Winter, Carrion Crown and Kingmaker. I think the ‘classic party’ would do alright for any of them.

Kingmaker Note – Druids are the kings of this AP, but any caster will do well most of the time as you’ll only be having 1 or 2 encounters per day. You may want to replace the fighter or rogue for a Ranger as you’ll be spending a lot of time in the Wilderness

Webstore Gninja Minion

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Runelooooooooords! :D


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Man, no wonder the Shattered Star forum has so few threads, even most of the Paizo employees like other AP's more. ^^

And it's pretty unfair, IMO, because from what I've read, Shattered Star happens to be one of the best AP's out there.


Runelords anniversary edition for the iconic "classic" adventure

Grand Lodge

Why do you think it got a bum rap?


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Helaman wrote:
Why do you think it got a bum rap?

I don't think so much that it has a bad reputation, but rather that its heavy focus on dungeons put people off. Which is a shame, it has a great storyline.


I was going to suggest Shattered Star, actually. SS and Runelords have the most "classic old school D&D" feel to them, and would work well with a classic old-school D&D party!


magnuskn wrote:

Man, no wonder the Shattered Star forum has so few threads, even most of the Paizo employees like other AP's more. ^^

And it's pretty unfair, IMO, because from what I've read, Shattered Star happens to be one of the best AP's out there.

I've been wondering why there is so little activity too. I'd like to think the sign of inactivity is that the AP has so few problems or issues with it. Shattered Star is very solid and consistent, perhaps the most consistent of the APs in my opinion, and despite being labelled as a Dungeon AP, it has some major breadth to it and tons of options to expand into urban campaign with Magnimar and Kaer Maga, as well as some outdoors with the mushfens and the traveling.

I would also recommend Shattered Star for the classic set up. Though it is also very monk friendly (amulets of natural weapon, monks robes)

Scarab Sages

Carter Lockhart wrote:
magnuskn wrote:

Man, no wonder the Shattered Star forum has so few threads, even most of the Paizo employees like other AP's more. ^^

And it's pretty unfair, IMO, because from what I've read, Shattered Star happens to be one of the best AP's out there.

I've been wondering why there is so little activity too. I'd like to think the sign of inactivity is that the AP has so few problems or issues with it. Shattered Star is very solid and consistent, perhaps the most consistent of the APs in my opinion, and despite being labelled as a Dungeon AP, it has some major breadth to it and tons of options to expand into urban campaign with Magnimar and Kaer Maga, as well as some outdoors with the mushfens and the traveling.

I would also recommend Shattered Star for the classic set up. Though it is also very monk friendly (amulets of natural weapon, monks robes)

I'd guess it's because Shattered Star doesn’t have an obvious theme or gimmick like most of the others. Buzzwords like ‘kingdom building’ or ‘pirates’ are bound to grab attention.

Reading the SS synopsis, it just sound like a generic “Collect the artefacts to prevent an ‘ancient evil’ returning” (which I guess it returns anyway so the PCs can fight it).


Macona wrote:


I'd guess it's because Shattered Star doesn’t have an obvious theme or gimmick like most of the others. Buzzwords like ‘kingdom building’ or ‘pirates’ are bound to grab attention.

Reading the SS synopsis, it just sound like a generic “Collect the artefacts to prevent an ‘ancient evil’ returning” (which I guess it returns anyway so the PCs can fight it).

Yeah, with most groups probably looking at 1-2 years to play through an AP, "collect the pieces of the maguffin" is probably not the strongest hook to get people interested in such a commitment. It seems like a shame as it's by all accounts so solid an AP, and I love the idea of running a sequel to my Crimson Throne and Runelords campaigns. Whereas Kingmaker has a great hook, but my impression from (eg) what players have told me is that it doesn't fully live up to the hype and has some major issues.


S'mon wrote:
Macona wrote:


I'd guess it's because Shattered Star doesn’t have an obvious theme or gimmick like most of the others. Buzzwords like ‘kingdom building’ or ‘pirates’ are bound to grab attention.

Reading the SS synopsis, it just sound like a generic “Collect the artefacts to prevent an ‘ancient evil’ returning” (which I guess it returns anyway so the PCs can fight it).

Yeah, with most groups probably looking at 1-2 years to play through an AP, "collect the pieces of the maguffin" is probably not the strongest hook to get people interested in such a commitment. It seems like a shame as it's by all accounts so solid an AP, and I love the idea of running a sequel to my Crimson Throne and Runelords campaigns. Whereas Kingmaker has a great hook, but my impression from (eg) what players have told me is that it doesn't fully live up to the hype and has some major issues.

I have Kingmaker, any problem it has is directly the result of the individual group and GM.


captain yesterday wrote:
I have Kingmaker, any problem it has is directly the result of the individual group and GM.

A friend of mine complained that his Druid PC was ridiculously overpowered, due to the wilderness focus and infrequent combat. He also thought the fights were far too easy. Looking at just the early books, I'd tend to agree. Another issue was the huge rewards for mundane fetch quests ("mushrooms for dinner" type stuff) in book 1. Later on, another complaint I heard was the troll army that is no real threat to the PCs, the lack of politics, and some think book 6 comes out of left field.

My main issue with it is just that so much of Golarion seems so flamboyant and pulpy-fun, the River Kingdoms look drab by comparison.

Liberty's Edge

magnuskn wrote:
Helaman wrote:
Why do you think it got a bum rap?
I don't think so much that it has a bad reputation, but rather that its heavy focus on dungeons put people off. Which is a shame, it has a great storyline.

It, and RotRL, both suffer from having fantastic episodes but roigh connection between them. As a player you feel more like you are bumbling from great setpiece to great setpiece. Opposed to CotCT or WotR which are very cohesive; or KM where the lines between books are near invisible.

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