Looking to start this AP... but how?

[karossii]

I have decided I want to run the Savage Tide adventure path; unfortunately I do not have any of the issues it is in; I have only read about it online.

I cannot find the issues for sale, nor can I find a hardcover of the AP as I see for Shackled City and Age of Worms.

So how do I get my hands on all the stuff I need to start and run this entire AP?

I know I could use some P2P software to search for digital versions, but I want to support WotC and Paizo; I just can't find where to buy the books I need for sale online. Please don't tell me the illegal route is my only option!

Aside from that, I will be running this for 3 players, 2 who are completely inexperienced in roleplaying, and one who is familiar with the rules, but not a tactical or strategic person.

I am assuming I will need to run a DMPC with the party; if for no other reason than to help guide the new players somewhat - but most likely a party of 3 won't be very effective from what I have been reading.

The two new players are both women (my wife and the other, more experienced player's wife), and both want to play some kind of spellcaster - I figure we will sort it out and get a divine and and arcane caster.

The other player is almost always a 'thief' (he cannot convert his thinking from AD&D and call them rogues), but has mentioned the possibility of a barbarian or fighter (or a multiclass)...

What guidance should I offer them in creating their characters? I have heard mentioned a rogue is not really a key character in this AP, but would it be possible to eliminate one entirely?

For the arcane caster; bard, sorcerer, or wizard? For the divine, druid or cleric? (Or what about other options - healer, favored soul, warmage, etc.?)

With just the three characters (if I do not run a DMPC), what style of fighter would work best?

I am not going to force any of them into anything, but I would like to help them to build a 3-person party that is strong enough to get by without an NPC or two or a DMPC for the majority of the game.

I'll probably have more questions, but this is running on long enough for now - I'll wait for some answers to the above before I muddy it up with more.

Thanks!

[catsclaw]

You can buy all the issues to date, here on Paizo's website. http://paizo.com/dungeon/products/issues/savageTide

Though, in truth, this is a tough AP for new players. I have had a similar situation as yours: my wife playing (inexperienced), my friend (very experienced), his girlfriend (novice player). I have had to provide a DMNPC, not necessarily to guide them but to provide firepower. This is definately a 4 PC series, unless you use some house rules to power up the PCs (give them all an extra feat, give them all extra skill points, or give them all 35 point buy, things like this)

Good luck on your endeavor!

[cthulhu_waits]

3 characters is probably too few for STAP, unless you tone down the encounters. One option would be to have gestalt characters, but with new players this is probably not the best idea.

As for class suggestions:

For the player who likes "thieves" I would suggest a scout instead. It's a class from Complete Adventurer that is like a wilderness rogue. Instead of sneak attack they get an ability called skirmish that relies up on moving and attacking.

For a divine caster, either cleric or druid would be good. Since this is primarily a wilderness campaign a druid is ideally suited, though if he is to be the party's only healer I would suggest the Spontaneous Healer feat (from Complete Divine) that will let him swap prepared spells for healing spells.

For divine caster, I would suggest sorcerer or wizard. Wizard is probably the best choice because of the versatility provided. Since you'll be short on characters a conjurer would not be a bad idea, to bring in summoned creatures to act as meat shields.

As for the DMNPC, it's never the ideal choice but sometimes you have to do it. I'd wait till they decide what characters they're gonna play and then make up a character to fill whatever gap they have. For a melee guy, swashbucklers (Complete Warrior) are a great choice for this campaign but fighters and barbarians are always a good choice, too.

Let us know how it goes, and good luck!

[karossii]

Is there not a hardcover (or even softcover) book for the AP yet? I was under the impression there would be, from what I had read on one gaming forum/blog.

Aside from the specific issues of Dungeon (which I might be ordering on Monday), and the player's handbook I have found (free pdf download here), are there any other supplements, articles in Dragon magazines, or other information available here or elsewhere for running this AP?

I have briefly reviewed the Shackled City and Age of Worms, and I don't like either all that much - more or less staying in a single city the entire campaign (SCAP) is not anything I or my group would enjoy. And we're not all that into the dark and macabre of an undead campaign (plus I have seen too many bad reviews of the AOWAP). Savage Tide seems much more like what we would enjoy playing, but the fact it is all in magazines and not a single book is a bit of a setback in my opinion - especially at $8 a pop for back issues (even my local gaming shops don't charge the full $8 an issue!)

For the moment I will be searching for another preprinted campaign; if I find nothing in the next few days I will revisit Savage Tide. Such a pity - it seems like such a great campaign, too... hopefully they will print a book in the near future and I can run it then.

[cthulhu_waits]

There probably will be a hardcover at some point, but it will not be for a while because the AP is not finished being published yet. The latest adventure to be published was "Serpents of Scuttlecove" and it is number 8 out of 12, so there are 4 more months to be published. Considering that AoW has yet to be published in hardback format, I wouldn't look for STAP to be done too soon.

There are indeed other sources for STAP: Dragon Magazine has a monthly series of called "Savage Tidings" that are tie-ins for the AP. And there are other little tie-ins in Dragon as well, such as the Ecology of the Kopru article that was published recently.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

I think that there is a 40% or less chance of there being a hard cover. There is only a hard cover of Shackled City. Age of Worms has no hardcover. Part of the reason to make a Shackled City a Hardcover was that some of the adventures were done in 3.0 while others were done in 3.5. The hardcover is all 3.5.

In anycase even if there was going to be a hardcover of Savage Tide that won't be for quite a while yet. I mean it still has six months of adventures coming down the pipe in Dungeon Magazine before its even finished. After that its would take at least a year before they choose to release a hard cover in the rather unlikely event that they release a Savage Tide Hard Cover before releasing an Age of Worms hardcover.