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What in your opinion is the best Adventure Path so far? It would be interesting to include also the "old" Dungeon Adventure paths in this poll.Rise of the Runelords
CotCT
Second Darkness
Legacy of FireDungeon: Shackled City
Age of Worms
Savage Tide
it really depends on your likes/dislikes do you prefer dungeon crawls or setting aside rules for a good cut scene? Wilderness or city, or underground? more modular adventures or ones that fit the big story better?
Savage Tide, no doubt about it.
It's got so many different types of adventures that you can't get bored with it. There's dungeon crawl, urban, jungle, city-building, exploration, negotiation, at-sea...
Mix in a great dastardly, reoccuring villain who just keeps getting more evil as he battles the PCs, a good mix of rival NPCs to keep the non-combat portions from getting dull, and a capstone enemy as iconic as the 1st Edition Monster Manual and the campaign is tops to the very end.
For dessert there was a great set of Savage Tidings articles in Dragon Magazine to go along with it to help keep the players involved in the developing campaign.
"Hey, there's this article about upgrading our ship, should we be looking into that?"
"Why yes. Yes you should."
For me it's:
1) Age of Worms
2) Curse of the Crimson Throne
3) Rise of the Runelords
4) Savage Tide
5) Second Darkness
6) Legacy Of Fire
7) Shackled City
I'll only list the ones I've run.
1. Crimson Throne
2. Second Darkness
3. Runelords
4. Age of worms
I've only played/run Runelords and Age of Worms.
I put Runelords first, but I might just be infatuated with Golarion.
Interesting that so many people rank CotCT so high, because I believe that we're gonna start it in about a month.
I've only played/run Runelords and Age of Worms.
I put Runelords first, but I might just be infatuated with Golarion.
Interesting that so many people rank CotCT so high, because I believe that we're gonna start it in about a month.
CotCT is Curse on the Crimson Throne, Pathfinder AP #2.
We start CoT, the Council of Thieves in a month, however both are urban with chelexians as the main human ethnicity in the area. So while they'll be totally different, but should appeal to the same fans.
My favourite AP is always the current one, it may seem cheesy, but I just think each one is a little bit better than its predeccesors, I'd love to see AoW done now for example, I think it could only be improved. I have a soft spot for that AP as it was my first.
Interesting that so many people rank CotCT so high, because I believe that we're gonna start it in about a month.
CotCT is Curse on the Crimson Throne, Pathfinder AP #2.We start CoT, the Council of Thieves in a month, however both are urban with chelexians as the main human ethnicity in the area. So while they'll be totally different, but should appeal to the same fans.
I think he meant his gaming group was about to start CotCT in about a month
So far I have only ran RotRL and really like it. I am about to start a CotCT game and another gaming group I play in is going to probably run with SD or LoF soon. I really love all the APs so far and like them all for different reasons.
Less a specific AP, I've really enjoyed all the opening parts to each AP - part of that is the newness of that corner of the world, and partly for my love of love level adventuring...
Not a definative answer I know.. but there all damn good!
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Savage tide rocked! The use of pocket dimensions and the city of brass immediately elevated Legacy toward the top of the list even without its last installment. Runelords rates so highly because the depravity of Skinsaw and Hook Mountain are hard to beat. CotCT falls to last for me because I felt that while each adventure was good, the overall path lacked focus.
1. savage tide
2. rise of the runelords
3. legacy of fire
4. second darkness
5. shackled city
6. age of worms
7. CotCT
By far the most exciting to me are at the top:
Age of Worms
Savage Tide
Rise of the Runelords
Legacy of Fire
Dungeon: Shackled City
Curse of the Crimson Throne
Second Darkness
Answering this question is like deciding what toppings I like on my pizza. I like just about everything.
1. Rise of the Runelords - did a fantastic job of recasting typical monsters in a new light, established the Pathfinder brand in a big way.
2. Savage Tide - the adventure path that does everything, goes everywhere, and interacts with everyone. WotC has made some bad decisions over the last few years, but letting Paizo bring this one to a close was one of their best.
3. Age of Worms - this was my favorite path to DM. My only regret is that we didn't make it past the Champion's Belt. Kings of the Rift is the Chuck Norris of adventure path episodes.
4. Legacy of Fire - has the potential to break through to jaded players, quite likely the next path I'll run.
5. Curse of the Crimson Throne - a solid contender, although less variety that some of the paths above.
6. Second Darkness - faced a tough challenge overcoming everyone's drow fatigue. I enjoyed reading it, but I can't see myself running it anytime soon.
7. Shackled City - nostalgia aside, the quality of this path varied greatly. There were some very memorable characters and adventures.
My favourite so far is Savage Tide, but maybe that's just because seekerofshadowlight is an awesome DM. :-D
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Well, certainly. Which of your keywords can be attributed to any of the paths?
it really depends on your likes/dislikes do you prefer dungeon crawls or setting aside rules for a good cut scene? Wilderness or city, or underground? more modular adventures or ones that fit the big story better?
Derek's post above me has a decent description of the paths I'll put my two copper in.
Shackled City was the first AP, so they were still figuring out the best way plan out an adventure path. I havn't played or read this one, so can't say much.
Age of Worms has too much undead for me. Has the best 1st adventure in the dungeon paths. good mix of wilderness, dungeon crawl, and city adventures. There are one or 2 adventures that could be completely cut without hurting the plot
Savage Tide: Pirates! Includes underground, overland, oversea, city, and invasion adventures. There are a few spots where rules may have to be thrown out the window to further the plot.
Rise of the runelords: The first of the pathfinder APs, the writers weren't all aware of the new format. many people have said that some of the middle adventures seem to stray a bit too much from the plot. Small town, city, wlderness, redneck, and dungeon treks.
Curse of the Crimson Throne: Urban path. Mostly urban adventure. One wilderness adventure and one dungeon crawl. There are a few "cut-scenes" that the PCs can't really influence, as they don't really follow the rules. This path is very story-heavy, in that everything that happens influences the plot, even if the PCs don't know or notice. Some new rules were introduced
Second Darkness: Very elf/drow heavy. introduces riddleport, the world's pirate town. (don't have much info on this one as I don't plan to play it)
Legacy of Fire (not complete yet) aribian knights type path, lots of genies and such. You go to the elemental planes of fire (city of brass) and meet some really annoying Gremlins.
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Having read all the Pathfinder APs and AoW, I'll only rate those.
1. Curse of the Crimson Throne - The plot in this one just drives me to love this adventure so much. Being an urban adventure helps a bit, mostly because it was laid out so well. If the AP didn't make the adventurers love the city so much then it wouldn't have been as good. Loved the new rules introduced.
2. Rise of the Runelords** - I loved this adventure. It had good plot, made you like the first town, and introduced a vast history for Varisia. Love the horror elements as well.
** I actually rated this higher than I probably should have. If RotRL was released today as the next adventure path I'd probably rate it lower at the third slot. However it was the first AP that I fully read and therefore adore it.
3. Legacy of Fire - Very close runner up. I feel like the story is epic and adds a vast history to the Elemental Realms/Katapesh/Qadira that we didn't know before. In addition the art is absolutely beautiful (Best art out of all the APs so far in my opinion, by a long shot). Finally it seems to make the characters truly want to run through the adventure, even if it's because their only so annoyed at the BBEG. Set-pieces got better, but still don't like them.
4. Second Darkness - Liked the adventure alot. The downfall actually comes from making the characters like the Gold Goblin / Riddleport *too* much and then stripping the location away from them. Past that I liked the interesting story quirks that were brought up in the 3rd/5th adventures, especially how they tie in with each other. However I did not like the set-piece adventures that were introduced and they seemed a little disjointed from the main story.
5. Age of Worms - While the story seemed epic and good, for some reason I just couldn't get as attached to the story as the Pathfinder APs. Maybe it's the art or relative lack of support articles (Pathfinder APs tend to have alot more support for the world around them than the Dungeon APs). That being said I prefer how this AP goes all the way to 20th level and slightly beyond. Really makes me wish that more than RotRL got even close to 20.
Caveats: Only played a little and DMed a little of Age of Worms. Only played 1/3 of RotRL, DMed about half of CotCT, and getting close to halfway through playing Second Darkness. Have not started Legacy of Fire yet (plan on DMing that one). However I've fully read all of them except Age of Worms which I've only read a bit, still working through it as I'll be DMing the rest).
What in your opinion is the best Adventure Path so far? It would be interesting to include also the "old" Dungeon Adventure paths in this poll.
This is very subjective, based on individual preferences, so I'll cover them in published order:
Shackled City (Hardcover)- Pretty solid, with strong use of recurring NPC allies/adversaries and the city of Cauldron; a lot of neat ideas and minor plot elements that can be developed further, but some issues with coherence and pacing.
Age of Worms- Excellent for "classic" dungeon crawl style play, with a strong focus on a few types of monsters (undead mostly, with aberrations and evil outsiders also making many appearances); a lot of references to old-school Greyhawk lore and 1st Ed AD&D adventures, but requires some extra work for those who value NPC interaction.
Savage Tide- Strong story and good use of recurring NPCs, with an excellent mix of adventuring styles and locations, make this the best AP, IMO; the pirate/lost world theme may not appeal to everyone, however, and the strong story may feel like "railroading" to some.
Rise of the Runelords- Combines some of the best elements of Age of Worms and Savage Tide, with a "classic" feel, focus on a few types of monsters, and a strong story/central theme as well as each installment with its own style/theme, in the second best AP, IMO; as the first Golarion AP, the need to detail/develop the setting stole some of the focus, and there was only minor use of recurring NPCs (this may be because of design considerations to make each installment able to be run as a "stand-alone" as well as part of the AP).
Curse of the Crimson Throne- Great for the urban/political style of play, with some diversions into the wilderness and several dungeon crawls, this is my choice for the third best AP; as with Savage Tide, the strong story may feel like "railroading" in some instances, and the heavy focus on urban/political style of play (while well done) narrows the appeal somewhat.
Second Darkness- An excellent choice for a gritty/morally ambiguous style of play (perfect for players who enjoy "anti-hero" characters), with mix of urban, underground, and wilderness locations; the central story/theme revolves around a very specific "monster," which can drive away some people who don't like elves/drow.
Legacy of Fire- So far, a great AP for "Arabian" themed play, with a good mix of styles and locations; as with Second Darkness, the central story/theme revolves around a very specific type of monster, which can limit the appeal to some.