Hello!
The tl;dr of this post is: I'm running a group through some best-of bits from several APs, going to level 20 and Tier 10. This post will be design ideas; after that it'll be the blog posts I write after each session, interspersed with some DM notes and thoughts. My name is Dave, and I'll be your Humble Narrator and Friendly DM today.
Hey Aaron, Chris, Jason, Paul, Zack - if you're reading this, maybe... don't? You've read almost all of it already on the blog, and the other stuff is behind-the-screen info.
Also - SPOILERS. I'm gonna try to alternate adventure log posts, and DM-thoughts posts, so there's MAJOR spoilers. Do I even need to say that in a Campaign Journal Blog? If I do, then consider it said.
Several months ago I went through several of the Paizo APs, making a spreadsheet of what happened at each character level and seeing if I could mash something up. Shattered Star, Rise of the Runelords, and Return of the Runelords all seemed connectable; I wanted to add Mythic so Wrath of the Righteous was a good fit, and Harrowstone and Illmarsh resonated with me so I added Carrion Crown. I made the assumption that one tier = one level, and that I could adjust hp and all on the fly to make encounters challenging.
What REALLY tied everything together for me was reading about DMs running games without XP - my last couple campaigns I'd been fudging the numbers anyway, and this felt... freeing, in many ways. It's turned out to be awesome so far - my group and I aren't bored with running a bunch of trash mobs to bulk up XP and get to the good stuff, and I can make bigger fights because the party hasn't spent resources fighting their way to the BBEG.
One of the things that's come from this is the party isn't motivated by XP - as an example, they broke into a lab (Vorkstag and Grine's Chymic works) and found the closet of skins - and instead of clearing the place out, they reported the crime to the authorities. Good RP, makes sense, and lets us get on with things - a win all around!
Mythic's making things weird, like I knew it would from creeping around these boards, but we're rolling through it. I find it refreshing, really - I don't have to fudge rolls if I get a long series of crits, and I can play the enemies as smart (focus on the healers first; don't spread the damage around but lock them down and then take them out one-by-one) and the party mostly can handle it. They make most of their saves, so no-one's shut down for a few rounds in combat, and everyone's REALLY feeling that power-fantasy thing. The cavalier recently did 94 hp on a single hit, at 7th level and 2nd tier. The rogues on the regular are doing 30 points on each hit, and have the potential to do several of those a round. Fights feel EPIC when they can dish out that much damage and monsters are still standing.
It also lets me focus on making things FUN for everyone, instead of REALISTIC - I just automatically ID treasure, let them buy whatever magic gear out of game, when the combat's down to just the scrubs we can call it a win instead of playing it out, etc. When there's a rules dispute I can say things like: "okay - evens you can do that, odds you can't" and we move on instead of looking everything up.
It's not for everyone, I suppose, but it works for my group.
They just got 8th level last night; they'll get Tier 3 the session after next. We play every week, and we've mostly been able to keep to that. We get 4/5 hours in at each session, which is pretty good for people with day jobs and kids. So far we've gone through the first three books of RotRL; the first book (and a half) of Carrion Crown, Lady's Light from Shattered Star, and they're just about to assault Drezen from Wrath. Nothing from Return of the Runelords yet - I think that one's higher-level stuff fits better.
Oh, finally, I make the swears in several of the posts:
If my swearing has offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have read blog posts here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, I will mend:
And, as I am a nice DM
The swears, I hope I have caught them.
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Dave a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And the Dave shall restore amends.
I sure hope I catch them all before posting them here! Let me know if I miss any and I'll sanitize things.
You can find my blog at: https://demonsandsins.blogspot.com - but I set it so the newest posts are at the top - the opposite of on here. That is easier to read for my players to stay current; this will be easier to read coming in fresh.
But I do drop some f-bombs (and a variety of other Bad Words) on the blog. Also, some of the Paizo APs can get a little rough - I don't think I've gone TOO far away from the boundaries set (Foxglove Manor is a Messed Up Place!) but keep in mind that some of the material gets a bit scary and tough.
Also - I've cribbed just a TON of ideas from other blogs and forum posts. I wish I could attribute all the other ideas, but at this point I don't remember where I heard most of them, let alone who said them first. I'd like to specifically mention Kol Korran and his Wrath of the Righteous summaries on the Giant in the Playground forums, and myxzplk on his Geek Related blog. Between them I realized that I wanted to run people through a bunch of Paizo APs.
I'm calling them out specifically because most of the rest of my good ideas are not really my ideas at all, but have come from these forums, or the APs themselves. I've been DMing for a long time, and I am continually impressed with Paizo's design and world building.
Thank you!
