As a GM who has always hated the Paladin Class, love the AP for it's potential to truly grind them down, force them to make moral decisions, and ultimately punish them vigorously with things that find them irritating-but-tasty!!!
I love the premise of the AP, and the idea is solid.
That said, I have done some tweaking as all GM's do when running an AP, to better customize the experience.
Mendev and the Worldwound, what comes to mind when thinking of the crusade? I know! A Meat Grinder.
Putting it simply, I established that the players could play their 10th level heroes from the start, and have one 4th and 1st level character each. Now this sounds like a terrible idea! Well follow along now, this is where it gets interesting.
When the wardstone falls, the high level PC's are in the thick of the action, and systematically get shredded along with the silver dragon! So yes the players are devastated, this is good! They also feel they soiled themselves. After all, what can a 4th level PC do that a 10th level couldn't? Except die well.
Now believe it or not I had some amazing RP interaction, 10th level guys and gals trying to save others, igniting the true feel of desperation, only to be cut down by a Demon.
Making the lower level characters panic as they sat in the tavern when the wardstone fell, each party was divided geographically, so they couldn't help one another. Some actually lasted long enough to interact with the lower level heroes, gear was pretty much abandoned in panic. Trying to grab that +2 longsword often resulted in being someone's dinner.
(this is how many of the 4th level PC's died)Simply because I baited the ones I knew would dive for higher level gear, allowing them the honor of feeding-a-demon day at the zoo.
Some survived long enough to make it to certain places that were still standing later in the adventure (they didn't know what locations they were, so it was a hoot!). Some were picked off by NPC foes, like:
1) LE Cavalier trying to get the attention of a demon or two.
2) Killed by Crusaders who lost their minds.
3) Wandering Demons.
Remember this takes place while the 1st levels are swallowed up by the earth. So they really are cut off from one another. Upon re-emerging from the catacombs, the formerly 1st levels are now dealing with what the 4ths have been fighting.
(only 1 of the 4th level pc's survived)
So largely I did follow the AP, but felt the magnitude of a wardstone falling was too light, and the horror of what they faced was glossed over. If surviving a low level dungeon crawl warrants one to "deserve" mythic tiers, then I felt they should understand just how much they did earn it. A lot of PC's died, simply because I refused to run the surface battle the same as the battle down in the catacombs. It just felt wrong awarding them mythic for something so unspectacular.
I'm trying to say simply, that this is the Worldwound pouring out, Kenabres is lost, and all I get to do is run the PC's through a dungeon Crawl to freedom, and the nightmares they witness afterwards.
Apparently the Worldwound has only so many demons in it. I mean, let's face it, it didn't feel like the abyss was opened up much at all. So I improvised with a surface battle that was not only horrific, but definitely caught the flavor of the Worldwound. Or at least I think so.
No disrespect to all of the wonderful staff at Paizo, but I felt this should be a higher level adventure path, taking you from 4th to 20th.
Or something like that.
Also Paladins, thank you for putting out the complexity of what goodness is in Champions of Purity. I now have an Asmodean Demon Hunter, Hellknight who is more virtuous than the paladin. Hey they can be LG. Heck even the Ranger and the Rogue are more pure of heart than the paladin. So when Iomedae gives her blessing she passed up the Pally for the Cavalier. HUZZAH!
Technically the Paladin already has Iomedae's blessing. So I refuse to empower that specific class further. Largely due to the player being more self-righteous than most tele-evangelists. Which brings me to the 2nd point...
Homosexuality in the game, doesn't bother me, but some players are way too sensitive IMO. The beauty of the AP is that it helps players and GM's put a more realistic spin on the game.
