Looking at it, I don't see anything too deadly, and so far my PCs have had a fairly easy time of it. I think at low levels all it takes is a few bad dice rolls and you have a TPK, a few good rolls and the same thing looks like a cake walk.
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Some nice DM aids here, thanks to everyone!
In my case, I need to add some extra encounters because I'm not using 3E as my system, so XPs are a bit harder to come by and it takes more to level up. I want the PCs to be at least 2nd level before they attempt Thistletop, and I'm a little worried about 1st level PC in the Catacombs of Wrath.
I have a couple lined up, during the boar hunt,which I moved to Mosswood, the party will stumble upon some ruins, with some small creatures, (giant rats, stinger monkeys, a bugbear and a ghoul.) Also, IMC, the Kaijitsu family have been using goblins to work the limestone quarries in the Devil's Platter (unknown to locals), well the goblings stumbled upon an abandoned dwarven gold mine and hit upon a small vein of gold. They have then been sending the gold to the Kaijitsu's, in exchange for high quality weapons and armor, (which they then trade to the other goblin tribes). Sometime after the Glassworks, the party will find enough clues to lead them to the mines and another battle with goblins. Later still, Pendleton, a small town I placed on the Thistle River, just north of Mosswood will be attacked by the Mosswood Goblins, and many captives will be taken. PCs following the trail will return to the ruins found earlier, this time a large force of goblins will be there, using the captive townfolk to excavate something buried in the ruins, (Perhaps another Runewell).
Kicking off the campaign on Monday, this will be great. (I was going to sing this myself, my players will enjoy this much better)
Isn't TSR selling to WOTC what kept DnD alive though? True, but that was one game company being bought by another game company. WotC being bought by Hasbro was a game company being bought by a corporation, and that is where things really took a downward turn, IMHO.
I hated the 3.5 method, so my vote goes with the 3.0 way.
I'll be running this using the Castles & Crusades rules, so I will need some extra adventures so the PCs can keep pace with the suggested levels. I plan on starting off with "Legends are Made, not Born" from Goodman Games, before getting the PCs on to Sandport. I also found two nice, low level adventures in Dungeon #94 (The Excavation and The Last Hunt) which I will run during or after Burnt offerings, before getting started with the Skinsaw Murders.
I'll miss the Mags far more than I'll miss 3E.
My group got together and rented this on DVD, and I still felt like I wasted money. A complete waste of time.
Encounters like this makes this AP top notch, it really makes players rethink what they know about an old standard.
Goblins and such have always been some of my favorite monsters, I really like the flavor Paizo have given the standards of the game.
Thanks for all the replies, now if I can get my players to give 3E a try, I'll give 3E another go.
I think the Wilderlands from Judges Guild/Necromancer games had an alternate XP chart for leveling up. I remember 2nd level wasn't reached until 2000 xp, but I liked it a lot more than the btb chart, it did give you time to develope your character.
How much material (feats, prestige class's, ect) are from books other than the core books (PHB, DMG, and MM)? I was planning on converting RotR to C&C but may consider running it as is (3.5) if it can be done using only the core books.
I suppose. Hey, if you're willing to pay $20 for a blank book I think we're willing to produce one for you. :D LOL I'll add my pat-on-the-back, Sandpoint is a great starting town for new PCs, and really has an air or realness to it. Fine work. The abortion clinic was kind of surprising, I really didn't see the need for this, nothing like this ever comes up in my game, but not a big deal. The same sex couple? I must have missed that, I'll have to look over it again when I'm awake.
I think training in more logical, especially when dealing with multi-classing, but allowing instant levels is easier. I normaly go with easy over logical.
I was a little worried of subscribing, the cost was a bit more than I wanted to pay each month, the cost of one Pathfinder is equal to six issues of my other game magazine. But I'm glad I took the took the chance. I am very satisfied that I am getting my money's worth. Quality wise Pathfinder is top notch and I 90+ pages of game material, plus the players guide and the PDF all for 17 dollars and change.
If you have them, I'd check out old issues of Dungeon, look for high level modules, find some that you like abd can fit into the Pathfinder campaign world. Next set some hooks for these adventures towards the end of the AP.
LOL Sorry about that, not meaning to rub the salt. I hope you recieve your copy soon.
Mine finally arrived today, and after a quick glance, all I say is great job, a real top of the line product. (Now to spend the rest of the day reading it over.
I got the email on the 20th, downloaded the PDF the next day, and the print copy arrived today. (and it looks great.)
I've never used the point buy before, I always like rolling up stats for Pcs, I am tempted however, just for a change of pace and there always seems to be one person whose stat just plain stink. With the point buy at least everyone will be pretty even at the start.
I'm hoping mine arrives today, with all the good things being said about Pathfinder, I really want to get this into my hands and have a look for myself.
Unless these characters were already being played, and your are just moving them into the RotRL, I'd make them all start at first level. If they are active PCs moving into the Sandpoint area, I'd just add a few normal goblins to each encounter and a level or two to the major villians. I'd also beef up the traps, and the DCs for certain things. I'd not bo overboard though, the goblins are meant to be more annoying than a series threat, making them too tough would alter the feel of the adventure. Plus sometimes its nice just to let the PCs show off, and wipe the floor with a little sword fodder. I would aslo cut back on any XPs, and after a few sessions, the PCs should be nearer to the levels suggested in the next adventure. (Of course this one may also need a few bump ups to some monsters but it should be closer to the PCs level.
Nice review, now I'm even more anxious to get my hands on my copy. (I can't stand to read more than a page or two online).
Official conversion for C&C and True20 are more exciting news to me than the announcement of 4th edition.Me, too; I don't care about 4E at all. However, I run C&C and OD&D(1974), so news of a C&C conversion is great. I hadn't intended to buy Pathfinder, but a C&C conversion may just hook me. I've already subscribed to and am looking forward to Pathfinder, now hearing a C&C conversion will come about just makes it all the better. Nice work Paizo, this is big step in keeping me as a loyal customer for years to come.
I'm excited about 4E, and my group as a whole is open to the idea of giving it a go, but that is probably because we gave up on 3/3.5 several years ago. So when 4E arrives we will get a PHB or two and see what its all about. As long as the print products are solid and useable without anything from online, no problem. If I have to download things and subscribe to their website to get full value from my books, then my foray into 4E will be even shorter than my one into 3E. For me D&D is and always will be a face to face game. If the new version doesn't offer a better face to face game than my current system (C&C), then I have no use for it.
I like the idea of 4th edition, I left 3/3.5 behind a couple of years ago, I grew to dislike the system so much that I had quit gaming altogether, then I stumble across Castles and Crusades and it bought me back into active gaming. (Plus it was easy to convert any edition of D&D over to C&C). I'll probably run Pathfinder (a great setting/campaign can easily be adapted no matter what the system) using C&C. I'll take a look at 4E when it comes out and see if it will fit better with my group, I'll convert if not I can keep using C&C. As long as Pathfinder stays top notch I don't care what system Paizo uses. I know I won't be buying the dozens and dozens of complete class/race/element/setting books that WotC will throw out, PHB, MM, and DMG will be about it, and any adventures if they look decent.
Good to hear, hopefully it will make it some time early next week, and start reading over it.
if that is true, Pathfinder continues to rock. I agree, free is always good.
My thoughts (for what they are worth) 1. I don't see this as being a problem, only about half of each Pathfinder is set to be the adventure, the rest is background/world info and additional info for the DM. My group plays once a week (normally and I think we would have little trouble getting a 48 page adventure done in 4 sessions.) 2. This could be a problem, some APs might not appeal to a particular DM or group, but since all Pathfinder APs and Game Mastery modules are set in the same world, the half of each months issue that contains the supplemental info is still valuable. This means that even if your not running a particular AP, each Pathfinder expands the Pathfinder world. 3. I don't think this will be any more of a problem with Pathfinder than with Dungeon magazines, maybe even less so, since each issue of Pathfinder expands on the Pathfinder setting. Even if one DM in the group is running the AP another may find it useful just for the supplemental info. 4. This would seem unlikely to me, while Pathfinder may fail (no matter how good it is) stopping it in the middle of a AP would be a very bad business decision on Paizo's part. As a smaller RPG company they can ill afford to upset their loyal fan base. (What happened with Dungeon and Dragon was not something they could control, and I think WotC has/will feel the backlash over that). Paizo has always struck me as being very fan friendly stopping an AP unfinished or putting out sub-par products would seem out of character for them.
This sounds good, I wont be kicking off the this campaign for a while, so I should have these in my hands before I start RotR.
I think multiclassed PCs are a good idea. Reduce the the level/HD of some of the foes. Cut back on the number of bad guys. Allow a NPC or two to tag along. I normally use a straight fighter or even a warrior(easy to run) and/or a cleric (focused on healing). Animals companions (like a war dog or two) are really helpful at low levels. When running small groups I liked having the PCs a level or two higher than the suggest levels.
Normally I wait until the players have their characters rolled up before working on any backgrounds, a lot of times they will create their own links to each other.
I'm torn here as well, I'm very happy with C&C but part of me wants to give 3E another try, and with this AP sounding so good, it would be the perfect place to give it another shot.
A real good CJ, You are really doing a great job selling the AP (at least to me). Looking forward to more updates.
Troll Lord Games
Bravo, on the additional Pathfinder books, all four products sound like great ideas and a nice way to expand the Pathfinder line.
I would only do this if you let the player know in advance what is going to happen, I've played in campaigns that began in similar fashion, and I really did not care for it. If they build characters thinking they are going to play in a Greyhawk campaign and then "bang" the first night they are no longer in a Greyhawk campaign things are off to a bad start. I think the players guide makes it real easy to start a group right in the new setting.
Good to hear, I'm really looking forward to this. (So much so that I am thinking of giving 3E another try)
I was stunned when rumors of NGs demise were floating about, this is indeed good news. Now with the end of Dragon and Dungeon, and the arrival of Pathfinder, perhaps a Necormancer Pathfinder series is in the future.
I for one curse WotC for this, Dragon and Dungeon are ICONS of the game and for them to remove them like this really sickens me. My hats off to the folks at Paizo who took two magazines that WotC didn't want and turned them into something that fans of 3E really enjoyed. Unlike most folks at WotC the folks at Paizo always have sounded like gamers, who cared about the game (past, present and future). I have no love for 3E, I gave up on this a long time ago but the Pathfinder series had got my attention, and I plan on giving it a shot, 20 bucks sounds a bit steep when compared to a magazine price, but 20 bucks for a 96 page soft cover book, with very few ads sound like a pretty good deal. Plus Paizo has done something that I wish all companies would take not of, the small players book is a huge thing for me. Having a seperate book with players info is a great idea. As a DM I hate trying to explain all the little details of a new campaign to my players, and allowing them access to the DMs notes and books is not good either, too much info. Best of luck to everyone at Paizo, I hope Pathfinder takes the game world by storm.
We have been playing C&C since it was released, and have loved it. It puts a lot more control back in the DMs(CKs) hand. It plays a lot faster than 3E and uses consistant mechanics than earlier editions. House rules are easy to add to customize the game to individual tastes. |