Zanzek Oandor's page

This is my favorite AP so far. In fact, I'm running two different groups through it, and they are telling very different stories. The core encounters are the same, but it feels like two very different campaigns.

As a player, you have a role to play (tip your waiter - try the veal!) in making the story engaging, too.

I like the idea of a anniversary/collector's edition of something. Maybe a hardcover AP a la RotRL (maybe Curse of the Crimson Throne, which seems to be much loved, though I haven't played it).

I'm personally not that big on a repackaging/rebundling of rulesets (though I know my own tastes don't necessarily reflect the market), as the more introduction points there are, the more difficult it becomes for people to unravel how to get into the hobby, particularly when it comes from transitioning from the introductory products to the core rules (I'm not sure how many posts I've seen on here asking what to do after the Beginner Box, for example).

I'm sure the Paizo marketing people are watching quite closely, and I have absolutely no reason to doubt their strategy based on their track record to this point. I do think that overreacting to a presence that hasn't even (re)entered the market yet is not the way to go, and the best path for them is sticking to and reinforcing the unique competencies and innovative business model that they bring to the table.

There are some really good ideas in this thread, and I think any of them can work. My opinion would be to try to figure out with your players what would be fun:

1) Beginner Box - if learning the game is priority #1, this is a darn good place to start
2) Module - Crypt of the Everflame is recommended a few times above, and that was the module that got our group into Pathfinder. It is good, and has a couple of follow-ons, if you want to continue that story afterwards
3) Adventure Path - no need to commit to the whole thing, but even the first book gives (at least to me) a much deeper association to a story and the Pathfinder setting. My group started with a module, but wished in retrospect that we started with an AP.
4) Do-it-yourself - I resurrected by GMing career (DMing, actually, since that was D&D) trying it this way, and, while I learned a ton, I can't say it was the easiest experience for me and my group.