I was considering starting the Savage Tide AP fairly soon, but I would like to know how useful Stormrack has been for those already involved in the STAP. Should I buy it? I looked at it in the store but was indecisive. I have Frostburn (which seems pretty-good), but not Stormrack or Sandstorm. I have heard that the other two were iffy. So what's your take on Stormrack (or even Sandstorm)?
Thank you in advance.
Cheers
My personal opinion, and only that, is that Stormwrack is of incalculable value if you plan on emphasizing the "ocean" aspects of the D&D game.
Seriously, for me at least, I find naval or sailing based D&D without Stormwrack to just be "D&D on water". With Stormwrack, the Savage Tide path can become, with a little work, somethign more like Pirates of the Carribean meets D&D.
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I agree with the Black Bard. This Adventure Path is going to run 12 issues, and in my experience each issue is about 5 or 6 gaming sessions (although of course that depends on a lot of factors, like the group and the length of time you play and so on). So that's 60-72 nights of gaming, more if you are planning on throwing in some side quests (like I am).
The focal setting of the entire campaign is the ocean and seagoing vessels and such. That's EXACTLY the sort of thing Stormwrack is for. Given the aforementioned number of nights you'll be using it, the question isn't whether or not to buy one, it's how many you should have available at the table. I told my group that if they were totally new to D&D and could only buy one book, to get the PHB. If they could get 2, get the PHB and Stormwrack. None of my guys were new, and most had their own PHB, so I encouraged them all to get Stormwrack. We have 3-4 copies at the table most nights, and there are times when they are all being used. There's a section the sorceror looks at almost daily, because it tells what spells have what affects on ships. Good to know.
Another book I'd recommend is "The Seafarer's Guidebook" by Fantasy Flight games. You can find it here on Paizo's store. Lots of really useful material here too, including ideas on how to adjust skills for use underwater, new feats, spells, and so on. It's not by WotC, so it's not official, but as the DM you can go through it and make sure it fits with what you're doing. I thought it was all pretty reasonable and it's pretty much all allowed for my game.
In short, I think you'd be crazy to run a game like this and NOT own a copy of Stormwrack. As the DM, I'd also highly recommend you get your copy enough in advance that you can read through it before starting the AP.
I'm a little mixed, actually.
I think it's a GREAT resource, but it really depends on your group. Do your players really want to immerse themselves in the setting, playing aventis (essentially aquatic humans) or wavecrest gnomes, or do they want to play a typical mountain dwarf or forest elf? Do they want to pursue ocean related prestige classes and pick up feats devoted to fighting in or on the water? Do you want to run a campaign where you pay attention to the details of water travel and water combat? Do you want to add in your own encounters with sea-related monsters and obstacles?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then Stormwrack would be an invaluable asset to you. But the STAP can easily be ran without it. Honestly, most of the adventures take place on land, and so any "fully" aquatic content would be improvised by the DM. The third adventure, "The Sea Wyvern's Wake," is really the most aquatic-themed one so far. The others could honestly be run without any thought to aquatic mechanics, races, classes, feats or anything, and probably would benefit only slightly from them.
This isn't to say that Stormwrack doesn't have nifty stuff. I think it does. Just consider how your players will react. If, when you introduce the swashbucklery, pirate-filled romp that is the STAP, they look at you cross and tell you about their temperate-climate, castle-dwelling wizard who likes to wear thick robes, then maybe it won't be that useful. Although, it will still have nice things for YOU, the DM, to fantasize about.... I'm still contemplating throwing a Scylla at them, just based on the book cover.
I just happened to be looking at the art gallery to Stormrack, and I wanted to know more about the apes In Pirate garb (Hazaru)? Would they be suitable In STAP? Are they good are they evil? Will we seem them at all In this adventure path? Just looking at the Illustrations I can totally picture them worshipping Demogorgon, and giving our heroes a hard time. I liked the rest of the Illustrations as well maybe I'll pick It up.
DAve
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I just happened to be looking at the art gallery to Stormrack, and I wanted to know more about the apes In Pirate garb (Hazaru)? Would they be suitable In STAP? Are they good are they evil? Will we seem them at all In this adventure path? Just looking at the Illustrations I can totally picture them worshipping Demogorgon, and giving our heroes a hard time. I liked the rest of the Illustrations as well maybe I'll pick It up.
DAve
Yeah, they're called "Hadozee", and they work great in the STAP. They are a PC class, meaning they can be good or evil, but they tend toward Chaotic Good. They have underarm flaps that allow them to glide like flying squirrels, which they use to get around ship riggings very quickly. I think they're one of the more inventive new races to come along in a while.
My favorite illustration is the dragon turtle coming up from the water to attack the ship from the point of view of the crewman in the crow's nest. I'm definitely going to pull that out when I throw a dragon turtle at the ship, although of course that won't be for a while, they are really really nasty.
Thanks dungeoneers for all the info.
I went out and bought the Seafarer's Handbook and hope to pick up the Stormrack book later.