Welp, my friends,
I have a weakness for Paizo stories and that's no doubt,
I've been a faithful subscriber to the first two paths, and lookin' forward to th' third. But lately, I've been considering expanding my collection to the Game-Mastery adventure modules.
I picked up the most excellent Hangman's Noose on helpful recommendation for the Sharn mystery campaign I'm running with Nick Logue's St. Damian trilogy as the centerpiece.... and as I said... the adventure was most excellent, which has whetted my appetite for more modules.
I've already got an ongoing subscription poised in my shopping cart... but I also have to ask, do any of you have back-issues that you'd recommend in particular?
I know I need to grab 'Entombed with the Pharaohs,' as it's named after a Lovecraft story I'm fond of, and I really dig alternative real-world-influenced settings in a fantasy game (gives a sense of tangible culture, I think.) I admit to a fondness for Nicolas Logue as a writer, and James Jacobs as well. I have a tendency to enjoy non-standard fantasy propositions, such as a mystery adventure, or an urban trawl, or a diplomatic mission; over clear-out-the-humanoid-tribe-and-stop-the-cult tropes.
So... which ones should I grab first? Please don't say "All of em." My pockets aren't so deep.
A top-three recommended list from each poster would be ideal.
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Also, if you think I should subscribe to a different Paizo product other than the Modules, I'm curious about that as well.
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I don't have all of the modules myself, just a few that I've picked up from the local store and the last three on subscription. Of those I'd probably recommend Flight of the Red Raven (W3), Tower of the Last Baron (LB1), and Gallery of Evil (U1).
Flight of the Red Raven is an interesting low-level chase scenario, with all sorts of opportunities for the PCs to get confused over exactly who the bad guys are. There's a nice mix of potential role-playing negotiation and deal brokering mixed with simple monster bashing.
Tower of the Last Baron is an infiltration adventure, where the PCs need to get into the bad guys fortress after making contact with some sympathisers in the surrounding town. I'm hoping to run this as the middle section of a Last Baron min-campaign. So far, I'm planning on upping the intrigue by trying to come up with a "secret mission" for each of the PCs. With luck I'll be able to get a little bit of extra espionage from each one...
I like Gallery of Evil simply because the idea of a jealous artist killing his rivals with magic paintings really tickled my fancy! There are some really neat ideas in this one, although I think that it would work much better as part of an on-going story where the PCs already know the people being threatened.
Hope that helps,
U
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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I know it's more than three, but hear me out and you'll be a little more interested.
Have you thought about the "Darkmoon Vale Modules":
D0: Hollow's Last Hope 1st Level
Is no longer available in print, but you can get it as a free .pdf.
D1: Crown of the Kobold King 2nd Level
Is a sequal to D0, but fits as a stand alone.
D1.5: Revenge of the Kobold King 5th Level
A sequal to D1. It is available as a free .pdf, or a print version for $5 (it's a bargin at that price by the way).
E1: Carnival of Tears 5th Level
Not a (fully) linear adventure, it is Event Based and they can be handled as your PC's come to them.
These adventures also take place in the Vale of close by:
TC1: Into the Haunted Forest 1st Level
Takes place in a forest right next to Darkmoon Vale.
LB1: Tower of the Last Baron 5th Level
Takes place on the outskirts of the Vale.
Also, if you are subscribing, you will get this one anyway, but I thought I'd mention it for the sake of completeness:
LB2: Treasure of Chimera Cove 7th Level
The sequal to LB1.
I know it's more than three, but hear me out and you'll be a little more interested.
No prob, it's cool.
D1: Crown of the Kobold King 2nd Level
Is a sequal to D0, but fits as a stand alone.D1.5: Revenge of the Kobold King 5th Level
A sequal to D1. It is available as a free .pdf, or a print version for $5 (it's a bargin at that price by the way).
See, I have been considering about these two adventures, since they were written by Nick Logue, (one of my fave adventure authors,) but they seem to lean a bit more on the 'Clear out this tribe of bad bad humanoids' trope than I'm interested in lately. Call me burned out, if you wish.
On the other hand, something in me digs on the idea of the Kobold King as a re-occuring villain. A tough little kobold bastich who just won't stay dead.
If I ran these adventures, I'd probably start contriving reasons for him to pop up again and again almost randomly (Like Ultros from Final Fantasy 3/6) in my party's later endeavors, gibbering about revenge. I would be compelled.
I can think of two cool ways to bring him back already. Perhaps I should start a thread for it.
I'd probably recommend:
Hollow's Last Hope (probably my favorite, although only the Free pdf is available now),
Crown of the Kobold King,
and
Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale.
So those are my picks. I like when an older idea is given new life in a kick @ss way!
This may seem simple, but all of them. They are that good, oooh yeah and I will go old school Paizo (if there is such a thing) and recommend Shackled City Hard Cover, and the dungeon mags for STAP and AOW.
See, I have been considering about these two adventures, since they were written by Nick Logue, (one of my fave adventure authors,) but they seem to lean a bit more on the 'Clear out this tribe of bad bad humanoids' trope than I'm interested in lately.
And you'd be absolutely right. But where these adventures really win you over is in the creation of a really memorable location. Falcon's Hollow is one of those place that I suspect you and your players will want to endure the tired old "clear the monster" quests just for the sake of spending some time with Boss Teedum, Kabran Bloodeye, and learn the dark history of the local dwarves and fey.
For what it's worth, though, Carnival of Tears is a huge deviation from the dungeoncrawling you're trying to avoid.
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I have a question regarding LB1. Could it be run for a single player with a single character (possibly with henchmen to fill necessary roles) without too much trouble?
Scaling/converting doesn't scare me. I want to know how the plot is group-dependent or requires this or that class or race to function properly, however.
Anyone, please?
As for my module picks, I would consider D0, D1, Gallery of Evil and Entombed with the Pharaohs to be the best I've read so far.
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I can recommend Entombed with the Pharaohs as a pretty good one, although at least half of the playing time seems to take place in town rather than in the desert :)
At this point I have mixed feelings about LB1. It's very much a sandbox, but there are a few problems here and there that could use some fixing/fleshing out. I'm predicting it won't take more than 2-5 sessions to complete, where Pharaohs looks like it will take 7-8.
Red Death, as the product description for LB1 implies, it's an infiltration adventure. So, if a PC is geared for infiltration, it could be a very interesting time.
They are all good IMO, but if you are only looking for a few, I suggest the following:
Read the descriptions on the module pages and get the ones that appeal to you and your gaming group the most. The modules include several different styles and types of adventures, so go with what you are most likely to use.
This may seem simple, but all of them. They are that good, oooh yeah and I will go old school Paizo (if there is such a thing) and recommend Shackled City Hard Cover, and the dungeon mags for STAP and AOW.
Hah! Beatcha to it! I have the Shackled City Hardcover (well, my roomie has that one, but I ran the campaign,) and the complete run of AoW and STAP. Though... to be honest, a lot of AoW doesn't really work for me more some reason I have trouble pinning down.