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Superfriends wrote:

Yeah, I understand that more NPCs are likely coming... I have some reservations about that structure when a group of characters plays an important role in the first/second chapter, but I get that there are limitations.

People have different tastes, and it must be extremely challenging to balance them for an AP. The reason I'm commenting this time is because I feel like there is a bigger disconnect than usual between my expectations and desires versus what is presented.

I echo Zapp's sentiment- would have loved more portraits, side quests, soapy love triangles, petty rivalries, etc!

By all means, build off of what your players find interesting for all those soapy love triangles! If we included a paragraph for each of the dozen-plus performers hinted at on the inside cover as we did for the members of the Sideshow of Everyday Marvels (at the start of chapter 2), there'd be little room left for the adventure! So feel free to expand a bit on anyone you or your players find particularly compelling. Without spilling too many of the beans, we'll be doing something like that on the blog later this week.

EDIT: Jason beat me to this response by mere moments!

Thanks for the feedback Ron and Jason. I get it, and thanks for your communication. The work you and your peers put into adventure path's is fantastic, and I'm always eager to see what the writers put on paper. That's where my disappointment stems from- a thirst to see and get even more... especially when you are exploring such interesting and unique themes and locales.

You do what you can, and I appreciate it.

Definitely would have appreciated this. That said, I'm going to wait and see in terms of my grumbles on the NPC-lightness. It would be awesome to see NPC side-quests/love-triangles/rivalries/etc develop through-out the campaign, and kind of hoping they start to emerge from book 2 onwards. That said, what sounds like a very light NPC base (my book hasn't arrived yet, the woes of being a Brit) has me a little worried.

Your mileage may vary- I hope there is enough that you won't be disappointed. I hope I'm just being overly critical.

We'll see... I'd love to see it expanded in a big way in future chapters. There is definitely a disadvantage to not waiting till all AP installments are in-hand.

Yeah, I understand that more NPCs are likely coming... I have some reservations about that structure when a group of characters plays an important role in the first/second chapter, but I get that there are limitations.

People have different tastes, and it must be extremely challenging to balance them for an AP. The reason I'm commenting this time is because I feel like there is a bigger disconnect than usual between my expectations and desires versus what is presented.

I echo Zapp's sentiment- would have loved more portraits, side quests, soapy love triangles, petty rivalries, etc!

I had read your post (and Ron's subsequent reply) weeks ago, and it got me quite excited!

If you're saying the circus isn't filled to the brim with wondrous and colorful NPC characters that's a super disappointment!!!

That certainly seems to be the case currently. There are several tricks in the inside covers which depict an NPC performer- but there isn't any information on them beyond their tricks.

It seems like there will be more NPCs to come... Adventure Paths often do a pretty good job of that... but damn it would have been nice to have some interesting and elaborate NPCs to start.

I would have loved to see what the author's interpretation of characters that are a part of a circus troupe on Golarion.

Really, really disappointed at the lack of fleshed out members of the Circus of Wayward Wonders... or even a list of members with super short descriptions. Seems like characters are the most important part of a campaign whose players are supposed to care for members of the circus... but other's opinions may vary!

I wonder if I've missed something...

As was brought up in another threadthat shall remain nameless, but seems a potentially legitimate complaint, there seem to be significantly more female love interests available in the APs than male ones. If true, this is obviously a problem...so is it true?

I haven't read all the APs...I'm holding out hope for playing some of them, but of the ones I have read (CotCT, SD, LoF, Serpent's Skull, and Wrath of the Righteous) I do seem to recall less potential male romantic options than female ones...though as a straight guy, I am perhaps only remembering those relevant to my interests.

So, let's see if this is true. Over the next week or two, I'm gonna go through the above listed APs and try and spot at least somewhat fleshed-out characters who might be likely to serve as a PC love interest. I'l then post numbers, with a list of who those people are in spoiler tags. I'd appreciate others doing the same for other APs (or ones I haven't gotten to yet).

Let's see if this is really a problem that needs to be addressed.

I'm not sure I see an issue here. I'm not sure if it's a problem at all... Certainly not one that should offend anyone.

Here are some reasons why I think this:

I feel like demographics probably play a part in it. I am probably right smack in the middle of the target demographic... However, I'd like to think myself very understanding and sensitive to other people's wanting to be represented, since I am a minority in quite a few aspects of my life... But I've never really understood why some folk demand representation, and get offended when they are not catered too. (I'm not implying that the OP is one such individual)

Secondly, the GM is the one that should be very aware of the demographics around his table. I think it's the GM's responsibility to adjust things of that nature for his individual group... Just like so many other aspects of the hobby.

In any case, how does one define a love interest? If the writer of the book tells you it is? Why limit yourself? APs are chock full of npcs of all sorts, that can interact in so many ways with PCs... You just have to think outside the box and have abit of intuition into what your PCs need.

I don't know, I don't see basis for a witch hunt here.

When should subscribers have access to the PDF? Are the gencon delays affecting that too?

Remember, folks, there have been in-game influences from Earth in Golarion from the start. Not only is Baba Yaga a direct import of a legendary/mythical figure from Earth, but there are several deities worshiped on Golarion who are or were worshiped on Earth as well—the big two being Lamashtu and Asmodeus.

I'm not sure HOW we would have explained those three alone if influences from Earth weren't somehow able to reach Golarion.

In any event, while I knew some folks would be unsettled by some of the developments in Reign of Winter, what we came up with for this Adventure Path and, in particular, for "Rasputin Must Die!", is really pretty neat. Everyone at Paizo is excited about how it's going to work out, and over the past several years, that's almost always translated into being something that overall folks are excited about as well.

So... no need to panic! We'll make it awesome!

Will there be a sidebar advising GMs on how to proceed if they are not interested in dealing with this weirdness?

/signed on everything Timothy has said

edit: Assuming there is weirdness at all, of course. Since we don't actually have any details, I guess it's a wee bit silly of me to be asking if there will be sidebars addressing it.

Thanks for the replies!

I look forward to see what you came up with, Drogon.

It seems quite clear that it's very difficult to avoid the world-hopping, and it may end up being something that I and my players are going to have to get over.

I think I'll man up, take a leap of faith, and start throwing some ideas down on paper...hopefully you'll post "a whole bunch of stuff" before I get my prep done!

Maybe I'm going about this wrong. Maybe the key to creating a campaign using the scenarios will be to select them based on location.

Running scenarios in Absalom, then, move to Kaer Maga for City of Strangers and The Godsmouth Heresy module and create my own metaplot to tie in all of these scenarios/module(s)

thanks guys.

Now that the metaplot is sorted out, I still find it difficult to run these scenarios as part of a campaign.

Lets take season 3, for example.

Actually creating a cohesive campaign out of the scenarios that involve the plot seems very difficult to me. It takes the party to Katapesh, Tian Xia, etc.

To have the party hop to every corner of Golarion in the span of a few sessions seems odd to me, it just seems too...Video-gamey? Like the scenarios are simply "level 1, level 2, level 3"...

Maybe I'm just being difficult

interesting, I had no idea there was a metaplot to the seasons. would you suggest I read all the scenarios in a given season? I assume that the scenarios allude to this metaplot in a subtle way?

Salutations,

The time has come for me to create a new campaign (my group is currently running all eight adventure paths- the ninth,second darkness, has just been completed...and 3 others are nearing completion). I have decided to create a Pathfinder themed campaign, by chaining together a bunch of pathfinder society scenarios.

So, I post on these here messageboards to collect some wisdom on this subject. I want to use as much published material as possible (gone are the days when I had the patience or time to build a campaign from scratch).

The challenges I face are numerous- Society Scenarios are globe-spanning, short, and often independent from one another. There is no metaplot.*
*as far as I've seen, but I'm not expert

The pathfinder society rules are unimportant for the purpose of this campaign, though I do plan on using the faction progression presented in the Faction Guide.

I would like to start the campaign in Absalom with the Pathfinder Society Scenario Intro to introduce the lodges, and really drive home the fact that these PCs are fledgeling members of The Society. I've considered starting the campaign before they are initiated, and play through the initiation, but have opted to start after it, due to the lack of information about the process and finding it to not make great campaign material.

My group consists of RP junkies, so the "travel-fight-travel-fight-travel..." setup doesn't go over well.

Here are the questions I'd like to present to all of you:

1. What Scenarios should I chain together? which ones would go well together, which ones tie into each other, which ones are your favorites?

2. How to deal with the immense amount of travel? Teleportation is lame (but may be inevitable)! Should the Scenarios used be all in a similar area, to reduce the amount of travel? Does anyone have any interesting suggestions on how to make the travel meaningful, but fast?

3. zomgMETAPLOT - How to create a metaplot using these scenarios? Is there already little metaplots which I could build on?

4. Has anyone run something like this in the past? Is there any place on the web where I can find resources for this project?

I think that pretty much does it, I'm looking forward to hear what people have to say! Any and all discussions/suggestions are appreciated!

posted this on the general section, but received no feedback, second time is the charm?

bump, anyone?

Salutations,

The time has come for me to create a new campaign (my group is currently running all eight adventure paths- the ninth,second darkness, has just been completed...and 3 others are nearing completion). I have decided to create a Pathfinder themed campaign, by chaining together a bunch of pathfinder society scenarios.

So, I post on these here messageboards to collect some wisdom on this subject. I want to use as much published material as possible (gone are the days when I had the patience or time to build a campaign from scratch).

The challenges I face are numerous- Society Scenarios are globe-spanning, short, and often independent from one another. There is no metaplot.*
*as far as I've seen, but I'm not expert

The pathfinder society rules are unimportant for the purpose of this campaign, though I do plan on using the faction progression presented in the Faction Guide.

I would like to start the campaign in Absalom with the Pathfinder Society Scenario Intro to introduce the lodges, and really drive home the fact that these PCs are fledgeling members of The Society. I've considered starting the campaign before they are initiated, and play through the initiation, but have opted to start after it, due to the lack of information about the process and finding it to not make great campaign material.

My group consists of RP junkies, so the "travel-fight-travel-fight-travel..." setup doesn't go over well.

Here are the questions I'd like to present to all of you:

1. What Scenarios should I chain together? which ones would go well together, which ones tie into each other, which ones are your favorites?

2. How to deal with the immense amount of travel? Teleportation is lame (but may be inevitable)! Should the Scenarios used be all in a similar area, to reduce the amount of travel? Does anyone have any interesting suggestions on how to make the travel meaningful, but fast?

3. zomgMETAPLOT - How to create a metaplot using these scenarios? Is there already little metaplots which I could build on?

4. Has anyone run something like this in the past? Is there any place on the web where I can find resources for this project?

I think that pretty much does it, I'm looking forward to hear what people have to say! Any and all discussions/suggestions are appreciated!

apologies if this is in the wrong section, wasn't quite sure where to put it.