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My wife is currently running the Legacy of Fire adventure path for me and two of our friends. She's not really enjoying it much, due to the module giving out too much treasure, and us steamrolling everything in it. So she's looking for something else to run. Ideally it will be 3.5 so she doesn't have to do much adaptation (she doesn't really enjoy putting a lot of work in outside of game time) and will offer a good challenge to a moderately optimized group of 3 players (possibly gestalt), with decent mix of combat, roleplaying, and puzzles/traps/others. It will also ideally take us from the early game (1st-3rd level) to the late game (18th-20th level).
She's looking at the other pathfinder adventure paths right now (Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, or Second Darkness), or possibly the older adventure paths which were first published in Dungeon magazine (shackled city, age of worms, or savage tide).
Has anyone played any of these and can recommend them, or do you have any other recommendations of something that might fit the bill?
Age of worms for the challenge! Took my group years to finish it but man it was a kick ass ride.
Shackled city was awesome too and I think it was a better story but its close.
My wife is currently running the Legacy of Fire adventure path for me and two of our friends. She's not really enjoying it much, due to the module giving out too much treasure, and us steamrolling everything in it. So she's looking for something else to run. Ideally it will be 3.5 so she doesn't have to do much adaptation (she doesn't really enjoy putting a lot of work in outside of game time) and will offer a good challenge to a moderately optimized group of 3 players (possibly gestalt), with decent mix of combat, roleplaying, and puzzles/traps/others. It will also ideally take us from the early game (1st-3rd level) to the late game (18th-20th level).
She's looking at the other pathfinder adventure paths right now (Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, or Second Darkness), or possibly the older adventure paths which were first published in Dungeon magazine (shackled city, age of worms, or savage tide).
Has anyone played any of these and can recommend them, or do you have any other recommendations of something that might fit the bill?
Yeah, for sheer challenge Age of Worms fits the bill. We are just starting the last module in that series and it has taken us almost 4 years and 10 character deaths to do so. If not that, Rise of teh Runelords is probably your best bet.
or...
Just skip some of the treasure.
GMing any adventure path requires some willingness to "customize" things to your liking.
Beyond that suggestion, there is Rise of the Runelords. I normally don't suggest it since it's out of print and people seem to favor it for arbitrary reasons, but treasure-heavy it is not.
It seems to me that whatever your wife runs, since Paizo adventures are geared towards four man parties, after the first few encounters a three man party is going to be ahead of the curve in terms of treasure and XP. I think some good advice on adapting four man adventures to three man situations might be more useful than 'run this path' or 'run that path'.
This brings up a question I've had in my mind. I just finished off my last campaign and now plan to start Age of Worms later this summer. I expect to have 4 characters regularly, a 5th off-and-on and a 6th later on, possibly in the new year. How should I handle XP? Will 5 or 6 characters split up the XP too much so that they can't progress fast enough to stay on the path? This will be my first time running a full-on adventure path, so I'm not sure how tight the XP constraints are. (My last campaign involved cobbling together stand-alone adventures.)
One idea I had was to give the PCs XP assuming 4 characters regardless of the number that are there for the game. That way they progress at the rate desired for the adventure path. (Also, I use modified dying rules where they don't lose a level for a raise dead, they get a special "negative level" that can't be removed, and only goes away when they get their next level.) It's not RAW, but I figure what the player's don't know won't hurt them. I've thought about not giving XP and just telling them when to level up, but I know my players like to track their XP and like to know when they are getting close to levelling, so that's a no-go for me.
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Greg
>> She's not really enjoying it much, due to the module giving out too much treasure
The AP's give out standard treasure so not sure how you'd end up with too much. If that's really the problem, you just hand out a little less treasure. Moving to a new AP isn't going to solve it.
>> moderately optimized group of 3 players (possibly gestalt),
You're steamrolling everything now by are going to gestalt? Sounds like you're headed for unhapppiness again.
>> How should I handle XP?
Ignore XP for monsters. The AP is designed for the players to be a certain level at certain times. Give out some XP each session. If they get ahead of where they should be, give out less. If they are behind, give out a bump to get them where they need to be.
This brings up a question I've had in my mind. I just finished off my last campaign and now plan to start Age of Worms later this summer. I expect to have 4 characters regularly, a 5th off-and-on and a 6th later on, possibly in the new year. How should I handle XP? Will 5 or 6 characters split up the XP too much so that they can't progress fast enough to stay on the path?
First, I'd like to say that I've never DMed. That being said, adding another PC or, especially, two "throws off" the balance of power. The more people you have for an encounter set for 4 players, the easier it will be combat wise. You may want to consider adding another NPC here and there to bring things back around. The DMG should point you in the right direction.
If I remember correctly, Paizo APs seem to be a bit more geared for 5 players, but I don't remember where I saw this.
First, I'd like to say that I've never DMed. That being said, adding another PC or, especially, two "throws off" the balance of power.
I understand your point, but it's not my biggest concern. I should have mentioned that I've taken this group of 6 from 1st to 20th level already. I've seen them overpower some encounters meant for 4 PCs and then completely fall apart in others, all at "appropriate" levels. All the while I've been able to adjust things by picking adventures that were specific to the level they were at at the time, while handing out XP normally. The problem with an AP is that I want to follow the story, with little deviation, but I'm worried about there not being enough XP to go around. But then, maybe with 6 it will all balance out in the end?
Ignore XP for monsters. The AP is designed for the players to be a certain level at certain times. Give out some XP each session. If they get ahead of where they should be, give out less. If they are behind, give out a bump to get them where they need to be.
This is a possible option too. Much to think about.
Greg
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I had good results running Curse of the Crimson Throne by marking certain "story advancement" points throughout the AP. I would simply get to the right place and tell the party to level up. Completely got rid of exps. That way the party is always the level you want them to be and there is less math to worry about!
I had good results running Curse of the Crimson Throne by marking certain "story advancement" points throughout the AP. I would simply get to the right place and tell the party to level up. Completely got rid of exps. That way the party is always the level you want them to be and there is less math to worry about!
How did you handle XP-cost spells? The rules as written, say you can't spend XP that takes you below your level, the implication being that players have a pool of XP above and beyond what was required to get to their current level. Did you change the requirements of those spells or remove them (the spells) entirely?
Greg
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or...
Just skip some of the treasure.
GMing any adventure path requires some willingness to "customize" things to your liking.
Beyond that suggestion, there is Rise of the Runelords. I normally don't suggest it since it's out of print and people seem to favor it for arbitrary reasons, but treasure-heavy it is not.
When we played RotR it was reasonably treasure heavy.
Sure it was the stuff from the various party members that got squished, but...