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![]() Having recently reached mythic archmage myself I find the question in need of answering and I'm inclined to go with the "prepare as cleric" school of thought.
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![]() The truth of it is that I've been having doubts as to the possibility of this venture hence why I sought other opinions. Make no mistake I'll be giving it my all regardless... I'm just hoping to gauge the scope of it all, Replies have been really helpful so far and now I'm off to sleep on this before I make any real choices about what to do. ![]()
![]() "During your travel from ORIGIN to DESTINATION over the next TIME you see INTERESTING DESCRIPTION and along the way ENCOUNTER at LOCATION and ENCOUNTER at OTHER LOCATION. You learn INTERESTING TRIVIA and whilst the PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER was taxing none of you are worse for wear as you approach DESTINATION." What I meant was to build in the random encounters to narrative description of journeys. This way they players know that the world is alive and full of danger but random encounter are very seldom lethal. They would however know that whenever I did make them work through a seemingly random encounter that it was infact... not. It's like telling the players how they have to hack their way through zombies to reach a necromancers layer as opposed to making them fight it. I mean, they're zombies so after a certain level it's pretty much auto win. Maybe tax them a few charges of a cure wand. ![]()
![]() I have used GMPCS on several ocassions and I will admit that I've found that they can really add to the experience. However I have made myself a few rules which govern how I play these npcs. 1) They are not the heroes of the story.
2) Their role must not overlap with a player character.
3) They cannot be the face of the party.
4)They guide but do not steer.
5)They consume no resources.
6)They have a place and a purpose and then they leave.
7)They are optional and at players request.
8)They act as the players require in combat.
An example: In a certain AP my party had released an evil outsider from imprisonment in exchange for information. This information was provided as the outsider wanted the adventurers to succeed in order to vanquish those who imprisoned it.
DMPC's are wonderful things. Just remember that the focus should ALWAYS be your players and their characters. ![]()
![]() So, a few points on how I planned to approach this.
Now I've run AP's before. Infact i've run ROTRL to almost the very end. So I know that what i've put foward here looks almost impossible and that's really why i'm seeking advice. As has been pointed out the biggest issue is actually that the GM has to do as much prep upfront and will be constantly reading ahead and looking up as the game progresses. This isn't a huge issue for me as I work well from pre-written material and have a bunch of tablets for a GM screen all with companion apps. I appreciate people sharing their experience and timeframes and they all lineup with the research i've already done. I'm still going to give it a try though as this is a special event for a friend. What I'm taking away from this is that I should focus on a more 'linear' AP and just trim the fat wherever I can. Hmm, it's a poser for sure, but any further advice would be happily received. ![]()
![]() My question is in the title. Basically I have been asked by a friend to GM an adventure path for a special event and it has been suggested that we try taking one from the START to the FINISH. Not in one session obviously but we've got a little over a week to do this in. I can't remember the numbers but I was quoted something along the lines of assuming there'd be ~120hrs of play in that time. Now, assuming my players are veteran gamers and have their characters planned 1-20 and dont get bogged down in rules or looking things up, which AP's are possible? Because honestly, i've got my doubts at it being achievable. I do, however, want some other opinions on this. The current shortlist as requested to me is, in order of preference:
I also need to think about how i'd go about prepping and running such an event... but the AP choice comes first and I feel it of critical importance. ![]()
![]() My group, a rather new to PF bunch but solid RPG fans, are about 1/2 through The Skinsaw Murders and about to head to Misgivings. We've got a Gnome Sorcerer, Shoanti Druid and Generic Human Fighter with the additional options to call NPC support when needed. Here's the funny bit and it's about them piecing together the clues about who the Skinsaw Man is, I never saw their top suspect coming. See the Gnome is a suspicious sort. He's really getting into the Thassilonian stuff and basically became Quink's apprentice shortly after meeting him. Having a mentor who leaps to conclusions and uses flimsy evidence has not been good for him. After the onset and hints at an undead foe he becomes convinced it's Chopper returned from the grave in some foul manner. I have it explained that Chopper's remains were incinerated, scattered and all his possessions destroyed as i'm hoping to not derail into what I know is a dead end. Now at was at this point that I accidentally fanned the flames of suspicion. A lot of the local knowledge my players' characters have is from patrons at The Rusty Dragon. They happily tell tales of the terrible murdermaw who eats ships whole and goblins who'll raid towns just for their firewood as it's still burning. Wild exaggerations, ofcourse. Getting them to talk on the Late Unpleasantness is a somber thing but the tall tales still creep in. The popular version of Chopper's Demise is that Hemlock himself storms the house alone and duels the axe-wielding fiend as the house burns. So, the thought process in my dear gnome player goes like this:
The weird thing is, with the world as I have presented almost everything points to Hemlock being a serious contender. The only flaw is he's not undead and has no motive, though i'm sure if he was an evil undead mastermind he'd have solutions to that. I swear next session is going to be interesting... I think I might need to rush them along to Misgivings, but they've mainly been taking order from Hemlock so far! |