Sorry about possibly looking like setting up 'combat' and 'RP' as opposites like that; it's just to keep things simple for the title. ;)
What's the (very approximate) weighting of various aspects, in general - things like overarching plot, small-scale combat, large-scale combat, dealing with the physical environment (inc. traps), loot/items, intrigue, investigation, other PC-NPC interaction, puzzles, player-level problem-solving etc.? Also, how much do individual adventures vary?
I know, it's a pretty broad querying going on here, but if you could indulge my curiosity to any extent, that would be most helpful. I would love to find some adventures that would work for my second group - a new one - and that have roughly the kind of balance I and they would prefer. So, if it's not too much trouble...
Thanks. :)
Huh. Knew I posted something like this a while back.
Would still like to hear some opinions, if anyone's up for that.
Cheers, and happy new year y'all. :)
~shrugs~ I would say that the RP possibilities are there, but like everything else RP based, you almost have to tailor it to your party. Stuff that doesn't work for one group on the RP end might for another. I think the trick is to get your Players to like or dislike the NPCs, but make it to where they can't kill the villains. That is where the RP comes in. Make them think "Oh crap! I can't fight, so now what?" and make them think. Despite what people think, combat does not make you think as much as RP does.
~clears my throat and gets off my soap box~ My honest opinion is all RP has to be winged to one degree or another. That brings up the question of how well can you wing it with the RP?
Kind of depends on what we mean and what we are comparing them too. Compared to pretty much any other product out there that I am aware of they are RP heavy. But that does not really mean that you'll necessarily have RP as the focus of most encounters, at least not as they are written. Most of the encounters are combat orientated. Also the amount of RP tends to go up and down pretty heavily depending on the issue. The first four issues (especially the 4th instalment) of Curse of teh Crimson are exceptionally RP heavy while the last two instalments are much less so.
They also tend to have lots of interesting bits in them that the DM can run with to expand out the none combat portions of the adventure.
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The cop-out answer is that you get out what you put in.
I know, that doesn't help, but I think you got no answers because you weren't specific. Are you asking about the Adventure Paths, the modules (that used to be the Gamesmastery line), or the Pathfinder Society scenarios?
Because they are different products, with different aims.
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If the players are interested, they'll look for opportunities; if they're not, then you can line up social encounters, and they'll ignore them, try to get them over with quickly, or try to carve through them.
Same with puzzles and traps; some people lap these up (usually the player of the Rogue), others find them tedious.
A lot of players have their PCs start pointless fights, because they feel it's futile to try otherwise, due to having no relevant skill. I ignore the Rogue-only Trapfinding restriction, so everyone can join in, rather than make dice towers or yack about last night's TV. And social encounters don't have to depend on Diplomacy; you can impress someone with your Knowledge, know the right contacts via your Profession, or Climb up a tree to rescue someone's cat.
If the players believe their skill points haven't been wasted, they'll keep their eyes open for ways to use them.
Here is a great quote that covers what this game is all about...
"Ultimately, the players cannot ruin your game; they are the game."
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I'd agree with Jeremy MacDonald in that the encounters themselves they aren't necessarily RP heavy (with the notable exception of the first issues of CotCT). But there are tons of hints and advice of how to include role-playing into your campaign. (escpecially in the Pathfinder APs and the Chronicles Products but also in the Pathfinder Modules- there it's less but that's probably mainly because of space restrictions).
Generally the low-level volumes tend to be more RP-orientated but even in the giant dungeon crawl that is "Sins of the Saviors" (PF #5) you can get lots of interactions with the NSC if you work with the hints given by the author.
I'd also like to add that the AP-Subforums are a treasure of ideas if it comes to RP questions. Which is another advantage of the Pathfinder adventures as far as I'm concerned.
I'm going to answer by ignoring your categories. I think the key strong point of the Adventure Paths is that they are story-focussed. There is far more thought into what the NPCs are doing "behind-the-scenes" and why than pretty much any comparable product I've seen.
I think that means they are easier to bend into an RP-heavy style of play if that's what you want - there's more for the DM to work with than most adventure modules (even those more campaign-like or a "series of modules" - usually they are a series of combats in a very railroady style). However, you can still run them as pretty much pure hack-n-slash if you want to.