I have a few questions about the Pathfinder adventure paths. I am thinking of starting a subscription to these. I am assuming it will just start out with you receiving the next adventure in their current adventure path (Curse of the Crimson Throne, Rise of the Runelords, etc) but I am also assuming then that I would then have to go back and purchase the other ones in that series that came out before I subscribed, right?
Also, I don't know much about each path so far. Can I get a little info about each one released so far as to the region each s in and the typical theme of each?
How good are these paths so far?
Thanks!
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Right now we are in the midst of the 4th AP, Legacy of Fire, and I just received number 22. This leaves two more left, as each AP is 6 issues long. So this can influence if you wish to buy it or not.
The next AP comes out in August and it will be the first AP to be using the Pathfinder RPG system. Yet again this could be a reason to wait, or go back and get the ones you want.
Now this is my personal opinion so please take it with a grain of salt, but this is my take on the APs out at this time.
AP#1 Rise of the Runelords- This is the flagship AP and it was a blast to run and my players loved playing it. If you can get it, do so as quickly as you can. I can not recommend it enough. This is the Evil wizard wakes up from a long sleep and plots to take over the area he lives in to rebuild the Empire he knew into what he wanted.
AP#2 Curse of the Crimson Throne- I am currently running this AP now and again I can tell you if you get this read them all before you run it as there is some minor work that needs to be done, due to word count restraints by Paizo. Over all this is also a good one. This is the poisoned Monarch lead to his wife taking over and the players must over throw her in the end.
AP#3 Second Darkness- It has Drow and Elves and a great story. My personal thought though is that I find it hard to run and that things can get bogged down on certain parts if you have the right or wrong party. My group decided to opt out of running it as we could see part of it taking a good month to move forward a chapter. This it the Drow plan on dropping a meteor on the land to plunge it into another 1000 years of Darkness so they can eliminate the elves, and the elves are force to reveal their darkest secret about the Drow.
AP#4 Legacy of Fire- I haven't read it yet, as my wife is going to run this after our CotCT game. She said that it has a lot of fun options and gives a great Arabian Nights type feel. I can't wait to play it myself. As for the plot I am not sure.
I hope that helps.
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To add to what Deathboy has said, and answer your question on where each one is set;
Curse of the Crimson Throne is also set in Varisia, largely in the city of Korvosa.
Second Darkness begins in the Varisian port city of Riddleport and its environs, before moving on the elven village of Crying Leaf, the Darklands and Kyonin.
Legacy of Fire is set in the southern nation of Katapesh (at least for the first three adventures).
Is it true that each individual AP takes characters from level 1-20? so if each AP is 6 parts your characters will hit 20 by the end of one 6 volume adventure?
Also, what kind of things would I need to convert from 3.5 to Pathfinder for the APs that are out already? Is there a conversion guide to any of these APs so far?
Thanks!
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No, it isn't - those were the old adventure paths in Dungeon magazine. These APs run from 1st to about 15th level or so.
PFRPG is designed to be backwards compatible, so there should be very little conversion needed. Likely you might want to convert major NPC enemies for climactic battles, but the average stats of workaday enemies should require no conversion to be perfectly workable. That's partly the point of backwards compatibility. The powers-that-be have stated they will not produce conversion guides from 3.5 to PFRPG for that very reason.
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Is it true that each individual AP takes characters from level 1-20? so if each AP is 6 parts your characters will hit 20 by the end of one 6 volume adventure?
Also, what kind of things would I need to convert from 3.5 to Pathfinder for the APs that are out already? Is there a conversion guide to any of these APs so far?
Thanks!
The first three APs take the part to about level 16 or 17. This all depends on how much side trekking you do and actual starting party members surviving type stuff.
The latest one, and to my knowledge the rest of the APs will scale down that when the party finishes they should be about level 15.
but I am also assuming then that I would then have to go back and purchase the other ones in that series that came out before I subscribed, right?
Yes, the subscription starts right where you get in.
I do think a "back log" option would be good, though, i.e. get the option to get the older issues of the current AP at subscription conditions.
Also, I don't know much about each path so far. Can I get a little info about each one released so far as to the region each s in and the typical theme of each?
Rise of the Runelords: takes place in Varisia, a wild frontier region, where the bastions of civilisation are few and far between. You'll start in the town of Sandpoint, and will visit a couple of villages, a city (Magnimar, City of Monuments) and fantastic locations deep in the wild.
There's a major Giants theme going on, especially in later adventures.
The first half of the Path can seem a bit disorganised, as it served double duty as both an Adventure Path and the proper introduction of the Pathfinder Chronicles game world. But it's still very enjoyable!
One note: Some parts aren't for the faint of heart. One particular kind of enemy in there brings unwholesome, The Hills Have Eyes kind of horror to the table.
Curse of the Crimson Throne:
Another AP that plays in Varisia, though another part of the country. More than half of the Path takes place in Korvosa, the biggest city in Varisia, though you will go on an extended sojourn through the badlands.
The main theme for the first half of the path is Urban Adventure: You'll be confronted with civil war, plague, anarchy, before learning about an ancient evil and how to fight it.
Second Darkness:
This one, too, starts in Varisia (the lawless pirate port city of Riddleport), but you'll soon find yourself on a merry chase both on and under the world.
Unlike the other paths, where the scope is relatively minor, this one is a "save the world" Path (or, at least, a "save a sizable part of the world" Path). One of the major bad-ass races in D&D make their Pathfinder debut in there (I won't spoil anything, but if you have looked at the AP covers, you might get the hint), but prepare to meet the occasional Creature Beyond Mortal Ken (i.e. aberrations, and weird ones!). There are powerful, magical forces at work here.
How good are these paths so far?
I like them very much. The first one had some teething problems in the first half (requiring some GM intercession to weaken some enemies as they were made a bit too powerful), but even then, it was awesome - and they keep getting better and better.
It appears as though all the adventure paths take place in the same world, correct? I downloaded the complementary Curse of the Crimson Throne and it has a map of the main continent, Varisia. Is that where all the action takes place for each adventure path? I couldn't find some of the city names that KaeYoss was kindly describing.
Will these AP be upgraded once the corebook is published?
but I am also assuming then that I would then have to go back and purchase the other ones in that series that came out before I subscribed, right?Yes, the subscription starts right where you get in.
I do think a "back log" option would be good, though, i.e. get the option to get the older issues of the current AP at subscription conditions.
Also, I don't know much about each path so far. Can I get a little info about each one released so far as to the region each s in and the typical theme of each?
Rise of the Runelords: takes place in Varisia, a wild frontier region, where the bastions of civilisation are few and far between. You'll start in the town of Sandpoint, and will visit a couple of villages, a city (Magnimar, City of Monuments) and fantastic locations deep in the wild.
There's a major Giants theme going on, especially in later adventures.
The first half of the Path can seem a bit disorganised, as it served double duty as both an Adventure Path and the proper introduction of the Pathfinder Chronicles game world. But it's still very enjoyable!
One note: Some parts aren't for the faint of heart. One particular kind of enemy in there brings unwholesome, The Hills Have Eyes kind of horror to the table.
Curse of the Crimson Throne:
Another AP that plays in Varisia, though another part of the country. More than half of the Path takes place in Korvosa, the biggest city in Varisia, though you will go on an extended sojourn through the badlands.The main theme for the first half of the path is Urban Adventure: You'll be confronted with civil war, plague, anarchy, before learning about an ancient evil and how to fight it.
Second Darkness:
This one, too, starts in Varisia (the lawless pirate port city of Riddleport), but you'll soon find yourself on a merry chase both on and under the world.Unlike the other paths, where the scope is relatively minor, this one is a "save the world" Path (or,...
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It appears as though all the adventure paths take place in the same world, correct? I downloaded the complementary Curse of the Crimson Throne and it has a map of the main continent, Varisia. Is that where all the action takes place for each adventure path? I couldn't find some of the city names that KaeYoss was kindly describing.
Will these AP be upgraded once the corebook is published?
Same world. World of Golarion. This is the campaign setting for Pathfinder. The Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign setting is what details the world fully.
Varisia is not a continent - it is a nation/country on the Continent of Avistan - one of two major continets in the standard Golarion world campaign.
The first three APs all take place in that continent - in fact they all have significant ties ot the nation of Varisia - which is for the most part - a very "standard" sort of fantasy campaign world feel - but very uncivilzed and on the frontier with a lot of marauding beasts and goblinoids etc.
The fourth AP takes place in Katapesh - a country/nation in the southern continent - FAR from Varisia - in a setting very Arabian and ancient Egyptian feel.
EDIT: Paizo staff has commented on the record that they will not be re-doing the past APs for their Pathfinder rules - the one starting in Auguest will be fully PF-rules specific. BUT since PF-RPG is backwards compatible with 3.5, you can still run any or all of the APs on one or the other set of rules - with very minor changes.
Robert
CEO
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EDIT: Paizo staff has commented on the record that they will not be re-doing the past APs for their Pathfinder rules - the one starting in Auguest will be fully PF-rules specific. BUT since PF-RPG is backwards compatible with 3.5, you can still run any or all of the APs on one or the other set of rules - with very minor changes.
Just to be totally clear, we have said that we have no plans to update any of the OGL APs to the Pathfinder RPG rules once they are out in August. We have not said that we would NEVER do it, just that there are no plans currently. That could change 3, 4, 5 years down the road. I have no clue what the future will bring for Paizo and what we might want to do years down the road. But, as of right now, we have no plans to rerelease Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness, or Legacy of Fire using the PFRPG rules.
-Lisa
Also on the individual campaign boards, people are already converting to beta, and will to PFRPG in August/September, so much of the actual conversion work will be done anyway. Again though, it's not like it requires much.
I think the AP's are all amazing, I was gonna skip LoF because of cashflow problems, but my girlfriend got me the first two and now I'm hooked. I just really love the APs, even the ones I won't run, now or for ages, I just love reading through the whole path.
Thanks for the quick responses! I am really just curious about the updates to the AP. Definitely not a deal breaker. I have browsed the Paizo site in the past, but for some reason, I only *really* started looking at things in the last month, reading through the Beta book.
Thanks to Paizo for the very generous allowance of the pdf's that are available as free downloads. I believe that these books and adventures are incredible, just from the teasers and reviews I have read. The Beta book is incredibly polished. I am stunned to read that Paizo published four monthly subscription products! That is alot of material!
Even though I keep telling myself that I don't have room for another gaming system in my life, I think I know that I am I going to dive into Pathfinder.... ;)
EDIT: Paizo staff has commented on the record that they will not be re-doing the past APs for their Pathfinder rules - the one starting in Auguest will be fully PF-rules specific. BUT since PF-RPG is backwards compatible with 3.5, you can still run any or all of the APs on one or the other set of rules - with very minor changes.Just to be totally clear, we have said that we have no plans to update any of the OGL APs to the Pathfinder RPG rules once they are out in August. We have not said that we would NEVER do it, just that there are no plans currently. That could change 3, 4, 5 years down the road. I have no clue what the future will bring for Paizo and what we might want to do years down the road. But, as of right now, we have no plans to rerelease Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness, or Legacy of Fire using the PFRPG rules.
-Lisa
Thanks for the quick responses! I am really just curious about the updates to the AP. Definitely not a deal breaker. I have browsed the Paizo site in the past, but for some reason, I only *really* started looking at things in the last month, reading through the Beta book.
Thanks to Paizo for the very generous allowance of the pdf's that are available as free downloads. I believe that these books and adventures are incredible, just from the teasers and reviews I have read. The Beta book is incredibly polished. I am stunned to read that Paizo published four monthly subscription products! That is alot of material!
Even though I keep telling myself that I don't have room for another gaming system in my life, I think I know that I am I going to dive into Pathfinder.... ;)
Take a deep breath and come on in ... it only gets better the deeper you go :)
Thanks to Paizo for the very generous allowance of the pdf's that are available as free downloads. I believe that these books and adventures are incredible, just from the teasers and reviews I have read. The Beta book is incredibly polished. I am stunned to read that Paizo published four monthly subscription products! That is alot of material!
Now how can you say "no" to all this free (and legal) stuff?
Hollow's Last Hope
http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinder Modules/v5748btpy82qz
Revenge of the Kobold King
http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinder Modules/v5748btpy83w1
Rise of the Runelords players guide
http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/adventureP ath/riseOfTheRunelords/v5748btpy7xpx
Pathfinder Society guide
http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/scenarios/v5748btpy84k4
Savage Tide players guide (when they were doing Dungeon Mags)
http://paizo.com/store/magazines/dungeon/issues/savageTide/v5748btpy7t7i
Thanks to Paizo for the very generous allowance of the pdf's that are available as free downloads. I believe that these books and adventures are incredible, just from the teasers and reviews I have read. The Beta book is incredibly polished. I am stunned to read that Paizo published four monthly subscription products! That is alot of material!Now how can you say "no" to all this free (and legal) stuff?
Rise of the Runelords players guide
Savage Tide players guide (when they were doing Dungeon Mags)
I linkied them for you!