I will be dusting off the 'ol dice later this summer and running a campaign for the first time in well over a decade.I've chosen Pathfinder for the rules set, and Golarion for the setting.
Now here's the crux of the issue: PF has so many different Adventure Paths (which at first glance all seem to be fully fledged campaigns), the Society adventures, which by the looks of them are sort of like the old 'Living' campaigns from my old Con-going days, and would take a hell of alot of work to make them into more traditional modules.
Where do I start?
Is there some sort of quick overview / 'general flavour' description of the various Paths that is readily available? For example, if some paths rely more on politics and intrigue, or if some are the straight-up dungeon crawls, or wilderness types?
Is there some way to easily switch back and forth between one or two of the Paths?
What Paizo has done with the old 3.5 is amazing, and i can't wait to expose my players to it....
Well if you want to stay with the Pathfinder ruleset, the only two that have been released thus far by Paizo is Council of Thieves and Kingmaker (which is still ongoing).
Adventure Paths are in six parts and there is an overarching plot that connects all of them. Each one varies in content and setting, but generally speaking,
Rise of the Runelords Wilderness exploration, murder mystery, invading army defense, one dungeon crawl of significance, facedown against BBEG in an ancient city
Curse of the Crimson Throne Heavy urban intrigue, some wilderness adventure, one heckuva dungeon crawl. Also battling against the plague
Second Darkness "It's the end of the world as we know it." Drow, demons, ancient aboleth magics, the Darklands (aka the Underdark), and dirty elven secrets.
Legacy of Fire Genies, wishcrafting, and a whole slew of Arabian Nights-inspired adventure. Face off against genie who wishes to impress Ymeri, the Elemental Queen of Fire, by awakening a Spawn of Rovagug.
Those four are all done in the 3.5 ruleset, but the last two are for Pathfinder RPG.
Council of Thieves Heavy, heavy political intrigue in an urban setting. Really showcases the nation of Cheliax.
Kingmaker Still being released, this is much more sandboxy than previous APs. Lots of wilderness adventuring, very "Keep on the Borderlands". Also includes kingdom building and running rules. Last issue will be in July, before...
Serpent's Skull Jungles! Serpentfolk! Dinosaurs! Oh my! Not too much known yet - I imagine we'll hear more as we get closer to its release date in August.
However, if you're cool with some 3.5 to PFRPG conversion, I would say Rise of the Runelords. It was the first AP put out by Paizo after the loss of the Dragon and Dungeon magazine licenses, and it is still a classic (for good reason). You may have some difficulty tracking down the issues, though, but it's got all the classic elements that made me like roleplaying games in the first place.
Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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Or, you could go with a series of related Pathfinder modules, such as the Price of Immortality trilogy:
Crypt of the Everflame
Masks of the Living God
City of Golden Death
All use the PFRPG ruleset. Crypt of the Everflame is an EXCELLENT starter module, both for GM and players new to Pathfinder.
Thanks for the excellent directions for me to take. Sometimes when you see so many options, you just can't make your Will save vs. the Wall of Text. :)
Or, you could go with a series of related Pathfinder modules, such as the Price of Immortality trilogy:
Crypt of the Everflame
Masks of the Living God
City of Golden DeathAll use the PFRPG ruleset. Crypt of the Everflame is an EXCELLENT starter module, both for GM and players new to Pathfinder.
I second this. I'm reading CotE right now and it has a lot of good beginner/refresher elements to it.
Start with that, and then move on to an AP when you have a party that's committed enough to play for a solid year or so. If you are lucky enough to have that, I recommend timing it so that you can get an AP subscription — it isn't really worth going back to the older ones, because they're more expensive for no additional benefit.
Or, you could go with a series of related Pathfinder modules, such as the Price of Immortality trilogy:
Crypt of the Everflame
Masks of the Living God
City of Golden DeathAll use the PFRPG ruleset. Crypt of the Everflame is an EXCELLENT starter module, both for GM and players new to Pathfinder.
+1
then go from there, many of the adventures and excellent
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If you want to convert, i second the vote for RotRL.
It goes from goblins to giants, and hits all the classic "DnD" tropes. I think there's even a SCRIPTED bar fight, although that could be wishful thinking.
CoT is excellent, but not really my suggestion for a new to PF group (and DM).
Haven't played the PFS adventures, though, so can't speak to their qualities.
Or, you could go with a series of related Pathfinder modules, such as the Price of Immortality trilogy:
Crypt of the Everflame
Masks of the Living God
City of Golden DeathAll use the PFRPG ruleset. Crypt of the Everflame is an EXCELLENT starter module, both for GM and players new to Pathfinder.
I ran my group through CotE and am currently running MotLG. The best benefit of this for me was the dungeon crawl feel of the first module and the more sandbox type adventure of the second module. This really gave me a good indication of what type of game my players are geared for. Right off the bat you get to try two very differently flavored styles in the same line and then decide how to plan the rest of your campaign from there.
My group is most definitely more of a dungeon crawl group, by the way. :/