Captain Battletoad |
So I'm a relative novice to Pathfinder and similar RPGs. I just finished my first AP (Council of Thieves) last night and am currently about halfway through a Legacy of Fire campaign. I am a fairly big Lovecraft fan and am therefore VERY excited for Strange Aeons, so I thought that it would be a great way to introduce myself to DMing my first AP. Since it is still 3-4 months away, I wanted to run a standalone module or two with the players I'll have for SA so that I could get some DM experience in a more relaxed setting before doing the full-blown thing. *Possible spoilers ahead*
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With the description of Strange Aeons that we've received so far focusing a good amount on the PCs experiencing amnesia, I had a thought. What if I ran a module where the players play the characters they plan on playing in Strange Aeons (possibly at a mid-high level) and then at the beginning of Strange Aeons, revert them back to 1st level due to the loss of their memory? If I did this, what would be a good module for me to run, thematically and mechanically? A few possible issues I foresee are: we don't know much about the amnesia afflicting the players so I'm not sure how well my plan would interact with that, I don't know whether to have the players create backstories for their characters or not, if it's only short-term amnesia would my level 1 reversion make sense and would the players all already knowing each other work? If this all ends up not working, I suppose I could have the party from this stand-alone module be a group that the SA party comes across, maybe alive or dead in the asylum or as kidnap victims in module 2?
Thanks in advance, all help is appreciated!
Dave Justus |
I wouldn't run a prequel to an AP I hadn't had a chance to read yet. Most likely anything done would end up being either irrelevant or even contradictory to what actually happens.
In addition, since your players won't have amnesia, having them play through events their characters don't remember will likely make it a less immersive experience.
I would just find a well regarded module or two and run them as their own mini-campaign to get your teeth wet, or even just wait and jump in the deep end when the AP comes out. You might screw a thing or two up, but it is unlikely that it will ruin the experience or anything.
Captain Battletoad |
Hmmm I'm conflicted. On one hand, I can see how me telling my players "Decide on your Strange Aeons characters now because that's who you'll be playing in this module, just trust me" could be a little off-putting. I don't necessarily know that I agree that leveling would be cheapened by having played higher level versions of the characters (if I did Carrion Hill then they'd only be at 5th level so not super high, and they'd be back at that point shortly after starting SA module 2), but then I've never really thought of that as a focus point in games for myself. As for the things in the module becoming irrelevant, I'm not really concerned with that since my players (I know them all pretty well) would be content with just seeing a reference or two in the full-on Adventure Path. The break in immersion is the only one that actually concerns me. I've been trying to think of ways around that (possibly at the expense of a bit of immersion in the standalone module, not having them use their characters names and instead use some other designation when communicating or something) but I'm currently undecided.
Ascalaphus |
I'm currently running Iron Gods, and I have to say, it's a real upside to run the AP when you already have all the parts to read through. That way you know what you're doing when you're foreshadowing.
I'm interested in Strange Aeons too. It's quite a challenge to merge Call of Cthulhu and Pathfinder gaming elements, so I wonder how they'll do that.
Meanwhile, there's Ultimate Horror (or was that Horror Adventures) on the horizon somewhere. It might be worth it to postpone campaign kickoff until that releases and you have a chance to absord its principles.
By the way, Ultimate Intrigue also has some stuff to offer a "Mythos" game; research rules and good GM advice for running investigation adventures when your players have divination spells.
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Anyway, as to Carrion Hill. There's an asylum that figures prominently in there. If you were going to go ahead with your amnesia experiment, I think that gives you a good hook.
I think there's something to be said for a "level 5 reset". At level 5 or so you're starting to cross the line from scrappy normal guy to real serious hero. This module could be a good first testing ground for your players - "This is who you were the first time around, before you lost your mind. Afterwards, during the *unspeakable* therapies, some of you stuck to the exact same path. Others, perhaps due to generous electroshock therapy, took a different path in their shot at a new life."
Ascalaphus |
Well, James Jacobs actually told me that it's a terrible idea (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2l7ns&page=1235?Ask-James-Jacobs-ALL-your- Questions-Here#61722) so I think I'm just going to pick any random module to learn how to DM and then roll Strange Aeons normally. Thanks for the input!
Huh. So apparently the AP plot already includes amnesia.
I should've guessed :P