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Enlarge Person, Rageing barbarian power attack Greatsword Crit. My players have a bad habit of killing big-bads before they can even monologue in the AE version.
If you get the beginners box set it has a level 1 dungeon crawl from Sandpoint in it. This could satisfy your party's goblin killing hunger for a short while, and give them a reason to return to town soon to collect the reward.
I really got into reading this after you posted on my thread, I found the length daunting at first. But I've read as far as my players have gotten so far and love the detail you used so I can compare to my players actions. It really makes me want to kidnap an 11 year old to play the goblins next week. Or I could just use one of my player's kid. I can't wait till I have more free time to finish this whole thing.
I hate to say this but this is a failure of possibly both the DM and this AP as a whole. There is a wealth of information provided for this story in sections of the books that only the DM will see. They never give a good way to give that info to players. For every page of encounter there is two pages explaining why that encounter is there. It is up to a DM to read and know that info and give it to players through notes left by bads, NPCs giving info, or information from research. With out this info players can be left lost for motivation.
This really comes down to how alive you make Sandpoint feel. After a raid like the one the goblins pull off the town would be set on shoring defenses and rewarding the heroes. The book gives a few ides in the encounter rap up and in the Sandpoint appendix for characters that could provide distractions to your players. You could also have a captured goblin to give the characters some local info and segue to the crypts.
Just downloaded the new update. The new additions as well as the corrections was a very pleasant surprise. Review score has been changed to reflect this.
Was very surprised and happy to have this delivered the day before it was listed to ship. It will be in action for week 3 of my RotRL AE campaign. Will post review after they see action.
My advice, and what really helped my players who I am currently running through this, is download the free Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition Players Guide. You can get it for free as a PDF on Paizo's website. It has a lot of hints and ideas for creating why your character is in Sandpoint. There is an entire page called "Character Tips" to help you. But yes the party's wizard gets to see some nice toys. And the campaign trait Scholar of the Ancients really helps a party get more of the lore and flavor.
No Erylium? Are you just not making pawns for tiny mobs, or is there another way to get her? She is a very unique character from very early in the AP and I don't have a good way from the first 3 pawn sets to represent her yet. Also no Hermit Crab or Tangletooth. I guess the Tentamort and Bunyip will be in the Bestiary 2 Box of pawns when that comes out. It just seems looking through the PDF that I just got there are a few semi-minor unique monsters missing. It defeats the reason I'm buying this set is I still have to get a paper minis set to fill the gaps. That being said this set should arrive in time for week 3 of our RotRL AE campaign and I can't wait to add them to the rest of my pawns.
Are you saying something about my verbosity? Or is that just my ego talking? ;-) Nothing of the kind. The great tails you and others have posted are what make me feel over critical of my own work.
For some reason the second half didn't post. After a dinner break in real life, we came back to finish out the night. With the news of the disappearance of their favorite bartender and a solid lead the heroes of Sandpoint wasted no time rushing to the glassworks and breaking in the door, by casually opening it from the inside., the Wizard's ability to look under the seal of the door of the loading dock and shift to the other side is a nice trick. A comedic battle of broken glass and Goblin singing ensued, and soon the players on a mission formed up a marching order and headed down the stairs. With a fifth player I added a few extra goblins to Tsuto's ambush in the basement. His sneak attacking bow and use of the corners lead the players into closing into melee with him. Only for the surprise of stunning fist to leave them reeling back for cover and the Rogue down and unconscious. They rallied and what seemed an even fight was ended the next round thanks to a combination of enlarge person and a raging Barbarian's greatsword. We ended the night after stoic Ameiko was freed and the players are standing at the entrance of the smuggler's tunnel. Between their notes and Tsuto's journal they were able to piece together a surprising amount about Nualia and her past, and what has the goblins organised. It was nice to see in action how much foreshadowing this adventure path has for players who pay attention.
After a dinner break in real life, we came back to finish out the night. With the news of the disappearance of their favorite bartender and a solid lead the heroes of Sandpoint wasted no time rushing to the glassworks and breaking in the door, by casually opening it from the inside., the Wizard's ability to look under the seal of the door of the loading dock and shift to the other side is a nice trick. A comedic battle of broken glass and Goblin singing ensued, and soon the players on a mission formed up a marching order and headed down the stairs. With a fifth player I added a few extra goblins to Tsuto's ambush in the basement. His sneak attacking bow and use of the corners lead the players into closing into melee with him. Only for the surprise of stunning fist to leave them reeling back for cover and the Rogue down and unconscious. They rallied and what seemed an even fight was ended the next round thanks to a combination of enlarge person and a raging Barbarian's greatsword. We ended the night after stoic Ameiko was freed and the players are standing at the entrance of the smuggler's tunnel. Between their notes and Tsuto's journal they were able to piece together a surprising amount about Nualia and her past, and what has the goblins organised. It was nice to see in action how much foreshadowing this adventure path has for players who pay attention.
Sorry if this comes off as dry. After almost a decade in the military everything I wright sounds like a after action report. Just facts. I'll try to add more feeling if I can.
DAY TWO
The "Grim News From Mosswood" section was probably my favorite part of this first book. I added Father Zantus to the meeting to be able to recount "The Desecrated Vault" event without the combat. The sheer amount of information that is available to players about the local goblin tribes and heroes, and the local world presented for the players to ask about was outstanding. A new tactical planning side to my players came out as they all started to take notes and discuss tactics to "smoke out" goblin lairs based off the 10 facts. The hardest part was keeping everyone from rushing off to find the nearest tribe that night. Luckily the Sheriff gave them an excuse to stay in town for a few more nights. Que great RP'ing sessions of Norah's challange, "The Harpy's Curse" in Sandpoint Theater, the usual group of patrons at The Curious Goblin, and information brokering in the parlor of The Pixie's Kitten. I've never been so grateful to have so much detail about a city as is provided in the appendices 2. A new maturity level was seen when it became evident my players think a brothel's primary function is to gather information, painting the Sheriff's relationship with the owner in a new light to me.
Second game this afternoon. Hope to get through the glass works and Catacombs of Wrath. I will try to remember to get pics of our map set up so everyone can get a good idea of how we play, and to show off me great dry-eraser skills.
I agree, the consistent corrections and updates are what keep me buying these paper mini sets. That and some really good artwork for the scale.
As others have pointed out there is no base for Belor Hemlock and he is misnamed. Also no name base for Chopper's ghost.
I can't afford the new miniatures unfortunately, but I can't wait until the pawn get sent. Till then I'm using the Sandpoint paper minis for most of the town. They really help my players get to know everyone in the town better. As for the inappropriate comments I have a few younger players that are more that willing to ignore plot movement and events if there is a chance they can "roll to get it in." They were warned about the sin points ahead of time so when it comes back to bight them they'll know why.
Started the real fun with the goblin assault. Barb and Cleric rushed into the fight to save the citizens with the Mage in back up. The Rogue, thanks to being a local black sheep, saw no reason to help. The first wave was a fast and funny bought of Goblin antics that left the players wondering if that was it. Just when they thought they could move on the Pyros set a cart aflame. This being the cart the Rogue was looking through for free food, he suddenly gained a new hate for the little guys. Thanks to grease and color spray this second fight was lopsided to the party; the little gobs just couldn’t make a save. The town sheriff sent the party North to check the gate while he went to raise the guard. Mostly out of spells at this point the party learned the pain of the mounted combat feat. After a few rounds of not being able to hit the mount they took out all the mook Gobs and focused on the commando. A rush at the commando taught a lesson about reach and downed the cleric at 0. Once the commando was flanked though his horse chopper became useless and he and the dog went down to an attack of opportunity and a Barbarian great sword. The night rounded out with the boar hunt to introduce Foxglove, leading right into the Rusty Dragon exposition, with only the players’ insistence on inappropriate comments about Ameiko being a problem. I had to start the monster in the closet faster than I would have liked, but we ended with a one-shot to Gresgurt and a somber procession back to the cathedral with the body. I loved the way this all ran taking goblins from jokes to grim threat. It left the players with a sense that even low level monsters could be dangerous and later encounters could be even more so.
This is my first time posting a campaign summery here, but after the first night of running Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, I think this will be an adventure worth keeping track of for me. Players range from new to pen and paper game to ADnD vets, and from story driven RPers to Min/Max power gamers. Making it a very hard game to keep fun for all. Characters were created using 4d6 drop and only the base book classes.
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