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...birth of a new one.
As the semester here at college ends, my RotRL campaign is falling apart. I'm in love with the adventure path however, and I'd really like to run it with my group from home.
So does anyone who has run/is running RotRL have any advice for kicking off the first adventure. I've run through it once already, so I feel like I have a handle on it, but the roleplaying aspects felt a bit stale.
My prospective players will probably be:
A female human bard (a bit of a gossip and history buff)
A male human fighter (ala Valeros. TWF and all that)
A dwarf cleric?
TBA arcane spellcaster
So does anyone who has run/is running RotRL have any advice for kicking off the first adventure. I've run through it once already, so I feel like I have a handle on it, but the roleplaying aspects felt a bit stale.
My prospective players will probably be:
A female human bard (a bit of a gossip and history buff)
A male human fighter (ala Valeros. TWF and all that)
A dwarf cleric?
TBA arcane spellcaster
First, go back through the archives in the messageboards for this path. There is a TON of great ideas. Right off, there is a great post with *speeches* written out for the swallowtail ceremony.
Second, yes yes yes - get the roleplaying going early. That first game of RotRL is still the best day of role-playing I've had in years and years and years (if not ever). I devised a link-in for each of the players, even if it was small.
My female half-elf bard met
It all played out well over time.
Third, see first note, there is TONS of stuff! Here's a badge I reproduced (never could find the original post again) for after the first battle: Hero Badge
And 2nd for after PF2: Badge 2
And 3rd after I ran Carnival of Tears: Badge 3
Really read that section on Sandpoint and let your imagination run! :) Roleplay tie-in's are not my main strength, and this made it easy!
Well, to get the ball rolling, let every player tell you why their characters are there to begin with.
If you want to use Character Traits (as they were formally introduced for Second Darkness), I have created a number of Campaign Traits for Rise of the Runelords, based on the Feats of Varisia from the Player's Guide (there's also Campaign Traits based on the background traits from Curse of the Crimson Throne)
You can find them here
The basic rules for character traits, as well as 40 general ones, can be found as a free download (under the My Downloads link on the top of the page here).
Additional Traits (like Campaign Traits for later APs, as well as Regional, Racial and Religious Traits) can be found in Pathfinder Companions.
And, to give you an early heads up: The first 2-3 adventures in Rise of the Runelords had some teething troubles, you might prepare for them early.
Spoilers for Runelords Plot follow. Don't read if you're a player.
Burnt Offerings:
My personal advice in that fight: Give them one warning (maybe not that subtle) or two that they might be in over their head. If they insist on attacking a critter with enough power to kill your average character in one round, play the barghest to the hilt. It should still be easy enough to replace characters at this point, but they'll learn the lesson that they can't assume that they are the most powerful buggers around)
The Skinsaw Murders
Hook Mountain Massacre
After that, it all evens out - the AP (and later APs) found their pace. And the stories are still great. Top notch material. They just require some extra work at first.
Well, to get the ball rolling, let every player tell you why their characters are there to begin with.
I think this is the main one. I would suggest having all of the PCs be from Sandpoint, and/or strongly connected to NPCs in Sandpoint. I would suggest giving your PCs a copy of the Sandpoint gazetteer. This will make your DM life much easier down the road.
Good luck!
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Thanks everyone! And keep the suggestions coming if you have 'em.
I love the badges and I'll definitely be using them in my campaign.
And I'll strongly be recommending that at least some of the PCs are from Sandpoint. Or at least from the Lost Coast. That's one problem I had the first time I ran the campaign. The players eventually forged their own ties to the town, but I felt it could have been easier if they were local. So I wrote up a quick handout on Sandpoint and sent it out to the players
The player who wants the run a human bard read through the handout and has expressed some interest in playing the youngest daughter of the Valdemar family. Any thoughts on this?
The player who wants the run a human bard read through the handout and has expressed some interest in playing the youngest daughter of the Valdemar family. Any thoughts on this?
Let her do it. You could even allow her to start as an aristocrat and multiclass into bard, if she wants the extra starting wealth. Make sure you give her extra information about noble politics in Sandpoint, and since she's almost certainly been to Magnimar (what with her having important relatives there) you could prep a handout on that city for her.
Strong ties like this are great for keeping her coming back to Sandpoint (which she'll need to do after volume three and then again after volume four).
The player who wants the run a human bard read through the handout and has expressed some interest in playing the youngest daughter of the Valdemar family. Any thoughts on this?
If you're going to use traits, she might qualify for the "Rich Parents" trait.