After months and months of collecting Dungeon issues, I'm ready to begin DMing the Savage Tides campaign with a handful of players. Before we get things started I just wanted to find out, is the whole campaign reasonable with four PC's, or should we beef up the party a little more?
And I've seen some good suggestions about what classes work well and don't work well for the campain on the boards here, but is there any class or classes that you would all consider essential for success in the campaign?
4 should be fine but make sure these are some pretty good characters. If you have optimizers as players and you allow lots of splat books thats probably fine. If you don't play with splat books then you might want to be quite generous with the point buy. If you don't play with splat books and your players are not optimizers you should probably give them something like action points to help them out a bit.
its a bit of a balancing act - this campaign is tough - however its not impossible and its a lot of work for a DM if he gives the players to much and then finds that the players are way to powerful. Try hard to judge whats right for your group in terms of play balance but if your in doubt I'd edge slightly toward making the characters too weak. You can always help them out by having them find some cool magic items a little beyond their level but this sure ain't an option if they are too strong. Then your stuck modifying every encounter they are ever going to have just to make the game challenging.
IMHO the first part of the STAP is easy for the PCs to follow and survive. As the Adventure Path progresses it get munch harder for PCs who are not optimized/ min-maxed. By the end it is a meat grinder. While this will prove to be a fantastic campaign for your players (one they will talk about for years!) it can become a TPK at many points. You might want to adjust the game slightly for your style and party make up. I would also suggest that you encourage PCs to lean toward characters with a flexible moral compass (Paladins are not the best fit).
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Also, and if you've read the other topics in this board, you'll notice that alot of characters went in, expecting a swashbuckling adventure with alot of role play and all that. While that's true, you should also stress that it's also a VERY combat extensive module, as well as heavy role playing. Show them the ST Player's Guide (downloadable for free here). They'll probably ask why one of the meta-orgs is one based on fighting outsiders, and, hopefully, they'll get the hint.
Also, on your end, read through the adventures, make sure that you know what's coming up, and how to adjust when your players knock everything loose.
Sect gives very sound advice, as do the other above posters.
While the AP does require characters with a surprising range of skills versatility to do reasonably well, raw firepower/hitting power is in the end ultimately important in order to resolve the sheer nastiness of what they will run into.
The Players' Guide gives a few, very few, hints that the highly attentive will pick up on. I've put together a "Dummies' Guide to Savage Tide" for an upcoming campaign which I will truncate as the first post for that campaign's journal on this lovely website. This Dummies' Guide will reveal a bit more as to what kind of meatgrinder the characters are likely to face and perhaps - perhaps - give my more cognitively-challenged players at least a slim chance to put together a character concept that stands at least a fighting chance of making it to the BBEG at the end.
One thing I will say here is to consider awarding 1 or 2 extra skill points per level to permit the group to sail and repair thier ship, as it tends to get mauled rather regularly.
More when I get the Dummies' Guide up.
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Sect gives very sound advice, as do the other above posters.
While the AP does require characters with a surprising range of skills versatility to do reasonably well, raw firepower/hitting power is in the end ultimately important in order to resolve the sheer nastiness of what they will run into.<snip> More when I get the Dummies' Guide up.
- With only 4 PCs, suggest that you drop hints that they should take Leadership feat and pick up cohorts ASAP. Cohorts may be a good way to pick up some of the skills (Profession:Sailor; Knowledge:Geography/Nature/The Planes/Local; etc.) that might not be so useful for the PCs.
- Before they get to that level, suggestions that money spent on mercs/hirelings (see related thread) might be a better investment than a custom +1 flaming burst Spiked Chain.
And Sect - I loved the Dummies' guide.
I only have two pcs for mine--one wants to be a ranger + some other spellcaster type I think and the other wants to be based out of the Dragon Magic book and also have a dragon companion.
I only have two pcs for mine--one wants to be a ranger + some other spellcaster type I think and the other wants to be based out of the Dragon Magic book and also have a dragon companion.
Only two players ? Oouch .. that will take some heavy modifications. Otherwise, they'll be zombie snacks.