My Pathfinder group has been together for a while, and we have never played CotCT. Now that the hardcover is announced, I'm excited.
Based on what I've read on the boards here, this is an amazing AP an I really want to run it for my group.
Question: with all the new classes / options available, what do those of you who have run this (as a GM or player) believe would be the most fun or thematic?
Cavalier without a mount using Order of Lion is a great option. One of my CotCT PCs is playing a Daring Champion and enjoying it. The rest of the group kinda just did whatever, so we have a sorc, a juggler bard and a witch, none of which I think are all that specific to the story or mechanics, just what the players wanted to make. If people want to stretch their RP, worshipers of Asmodeus are not out of place in the starting city, but then again neither are followers of Abadar. Barbarians and skalds can easily tie themselves to story elements, as can rogues in different ways. Vigilante is an amazing choice in this path, you could even wind up with a mentor in that field if you play your cards right.
I'm running mine with Unchained rules like wound thresholds, auto progression and disease tracks. As such, mortality rate will end up being high (particularly at the end of part 2 which we're fast approaching) so I've asked my PCs to think on replacement characters. Someone mentioned paladin of Abadar, which I think is a great fit.
Occultist, all the way.
Occultist, all the way.
I would neve advocate not having an occultist (they're quickly becoming my favorite class), but I'm curious as to why specifically for this campaign? PM me if you don't want to spoil anything publicly.
Nothing specifically, they seem to fit the gothic style of Curse.
I would also seriously consider Medium, or any occult class really.
It may, or may not be (it is) my favorite supplement for pathfinder. :-)
Pick classes you enjoy, but know that cooperation with evil companions is a possibility (sorry, Paladins!) and that a Druid is going to spend the opening of the campaign wanting to leave.
It's a very urban AP for the most part, some wilderness parts, but mainly set in or around Korvosa.
An urban Ranger goes well, a very good AP to play as a Swashbuckler. A Brawler would work also.
In general, tell your players to play what they want. Any party can work, there's a very diverse set of encounters so everyone will have their chance to shine.
A lot of the adventure path takes place in the city, and I think the entire AP rewards character backgrounds tied to Korvosa. Save "A druid who prefers secluded woodland groves" or "A barbarian who can't read and just walked into the city last week" for another adventure. It's not that those characters can't work, they can ... but players of those characters are going to miss out on a lot of fun role playing opportunities.
The best advice I can give (as a current Crimson Throne DM) is to encourage your players to build roots in Korvosa. The more they feel like Korvosa is their home, the smoother your adventure will be. And there are many encounters which can be resolved through role-playing instead of violence. If that's the kind of game your players like, they'll love this.
And yes, there are plenty of situations which are not exactly black and white. Korvosa is a Lawful city, and some of the people who make it work and keep it safe are Lawful Evil. There is a Paladin in my party, but he's smart about it. The stereotypical "Detect Evil; Smite Evil; repeat" kind of meathead will absolutely be a liability.
|
You do probably wind up working/making deals with some evil people. But it's for the greater good and thus Paladin safe unless your GM is a dick or your Paladin is an idiot.
Beyond that, it's a primarily urban adventure. So some social skills are useful to have, but not everyone in the group needs 'em. Urban focused characters will definitely have fun (my game had an Urban Druid, who enjoyed herself immensely).
Later on, you wind up isolated for a while, so having a Cleric, Oracle, or other in-party healer is very nice. And/or someone with Teleport on their spell list.
That's...probably all you need mechanically.
In terms of theme, having a melee character who's definitively Good aligned is actually pretty solidly in-theme. As is having at least one Varisian or Shoanti character, as those minorities and the prejudice against them come up.
But most importantly, what you want is people with an investment in the City of Korvosa. And making it a better place. Without that investment, things are gonna probably go badly. I highly recommend having your players read the Guide to Korvosa if you can get it. Only the last chapter contains spoilers of any sort, with the rest written in-character, and it gives you a very good idea of how the city works and makes you feel like a resident to some degree.
I've been considering the following (Core, APG, UM, UC, UCG, and Unchained character options):
Gnome arcanist (occultist); Framed/Dropout campaign trait (will concentrate on celestial creatures/good outsiders as "payback"); will probably take the Familiar exploit and Improved Familiar feat for a pseudodragon
Half-elf (Varisian) ranger (divine tracker; worships Ashava, Darkness and Good blessings) 4/shaman (speaker for the past; Heavens spirit); Love Lost/Missing Child (nephew, Zellara's half-sister?) campaign trait; strong ties to the Harrow
Human oracle (warsighted; Fire mystery, worships Sarenrae; VMC paladin); Love Lost/Widowed campaign trait
Human rogue (unchained) 3/bard (arcane duelist); Drug Addict/Friend (possibly making Grau's situation a bit darker) campaign trait;
One thing your party will want - something I just now realized that the party I DM for is missing - is a Lawful Good Sword wielder.
(Very mild spoiler):
My party has a Paladin (who prefers to fight as an archer), a LG Monk (who prefers to fight unarmed), a NG Wizard who prefers to fight as far away from any threat as possible, a NG Bard who is built more for spellcasting and buffs, and a CG Inquisitor of Cayden Cailean, who does like fighting on the front lines with a greatsword, but is personality-wise the worst possible fit for the Sword in the party.
It's going to be interesting, I'll let you guys know how my party ends up dealing with it ;)
|
|
Eh. I think a CG wielder works fine for that. You should have a Good aligned melee character, preferably a sword-wielder, though.
The Warsighted Oracle mentioned above would be fine, for example.
That's how it played out in my entirely Chaotic party, anyway.
One thing your party will want - something I just now realized that the party I DM for is missing - is a Lawful Good Sword wielder.
(Very mild spoiler):
** spoiler omitted **It's going to be interesting, I'll let you guys know how my party ends up dealing with it ;)
When we played the 3.5 version of this years ago, I ran into the same issue. I simply changed the weapon to a different type (sword to polearm) to fit the party, but I can see where your group is a bit trickier. Though honestly I'll agree with deadmanwalking, in that it actually seems like a good enough fit. You could even reflavor it a little to make it better.
Re: Later developments
The AP works best with two PCs that have good melee combat ability: One Str-focused (leaning toward LG, as mentioned) and one Dex-focused (Weapon Finesse, leaning toward CG; see the spoiler in my post above).
Yeah, I suspect that the CG Inquisitor is going to end up being the bearer of Serithtial, just by default because he's the only real sword-wielding melee character. She (Serithtial) isn't going to be happy about it, and she and the player will probably have to come to some kind of understanding. Serithtial can only communicate by empathy, but I might just wave my DM wand and have her show up in his dreams.
She'll want irritating-but-not-deal-breaker stuff ... like, "No lying, no sleeping around, fight with honor and valor, and especially, definitely, no torture*". That kind of thing. "What would Iomedae do?"
Basically my goal is to prevent the plot from getting derailed while still letting my players and I have some fun with this.
* So far he's been pretty good about not actually torturing anyone, but he has a high intimidate score and is pretty free about threatening to.