Best adventure path to jump in at 4th level?

[Doug Maynard]

Hi, all -

I've been DMing a D&D 4th edition game for a bit and it looks like we're going to convert over to Pathfinder, having found the former lacking after giving it a fair chance.

My campaign thus far has been homebrew, set on a small, sparsely inhabited subtropical island. The PCs have just achieved 4th level.

I don't have time to continue doing the homebrew campaign thing, so I've been thinking about two options:

- Dropping this campaign into Forgotten Realms and finding adventures from the 3.5 line for that. Pro is I have a lot of FR stuff and the players know a bit about the world (well, one knows a lot, and the others are vaguely familiar). Con is that I'm not sure there's a lot of interesting adventures for FR 3.5. Of course, there's all my old Dungeon magazines...

- The other option is to find an PF Adventure Path to jump into. We know nothing about this campaign setting, but no biggie. My question is, given all this, is there a particular AP that would be relatively easy to drop into at 4th level? Anything that would fit the locale as I've described? Or does one AP seem to be many peoples' favorites.

(As a bonus, an AP with an engrossing plot, good character development, a chance for all types of PCs to shine, not too many dungeon crawls, and one that avoids the tired linking of one adventure to the next with the "You just killed the big bad guy, but WAIT! There's a note from HIS boss" formula would be great!)

Thanks!

[0gre]

Of the APs I've read I really enjoyed the second book in Second Darkness, probably the most. The problem is it's not otherwise my favorite AP. If you like underdark it's pretty fun though.

[Cold Napalm]

I would use the kingmaker AP. They will probably trounce through the first book, but some of the random encounters will still give them a run for their money. The second book on will pretty much balance out.

[Bellona]

If the climate zone is important, then I would suggest the Serpent's Skull PF AP (which starts this August, I believe) as the action starts on a tropical/sub-tropical coastline and island, and then goes on to inland jungle/rainforest. Serpent's Skull is the most "southern" PF AP to date.

If deserts and genies are more your thing, then Legacy of Fire is a possibility. It is the last 3.5 AP which Paizo made before going over to PF.

There is also 3.5's Savage Tide from Dungeon magazine, but it might be hard to complete now if you don't already have it. On the other hand, there is still tons of good advice for that AP on the the sub-forum dedicated to it here at Paizo, including where to place it on Golarion.

By the way: nice avatar, Cold Napalm! :)

[Alexander Kilcoyne]

Hmm... I wouldn't wait for Serpent's Skull; the first chapter will likely cover levels 1-3 like most AP's, so you'd be waiting for chapter 2.

[voska66]

I've run the Council of Thieve AP. You could easily drop 4th level Character in with a little tweaking for the second part. The players would be 1 level higher than they should but that part of the adventure was probably the toughest for my players. The first part is more about leveling up and little background but nothing you can't narrate you players though to give them background.

[Kolokotroni]

voska66 wrote:

I've run the Council of Thieve AP. You could easily drop 4th level Character in with a little tweaking for the second part. The players would be 1 level higher than they should but that part of the adventure was probably the toughest for my players. The first part is more about leveling up and little background but nothing you can't narrate you players though to give them background.

I agree about council of thieves as long as you can fit a westcrown/cheliax like location into your current setting (unless you are going to full blown convert to the pathfinder chronicals setting). Just start with the second book. You can pretty easily narrated the first book, or run through the important parts in a single session. The only issue is getting players to care enough to want to act if they arent particularly good or citizens of westcrown.

[Joey Virtue]

I really like second darkness and I have a thread that converted the entire second darkness over to pathfinder

[Joana]

I'm going to +1 Second Darkness. The second book "Children of the Void" takes place largely on a deserted island. While it's not written as tropical, the climate could easily be changed.

Children of the Void:

It deals with the aftermath of a meteorite hitting the island, and treasure hunters searching for valuable skymetals come to the island; their ships could provide a way for your group to get back to the mainland and the rest of the adventure.

EDIT: Also, the events of the first book of the adventure only loosely tie in to what happens in the rest of the campaign so your players wouldn't be missing out on a lot of backstory.

[Doug Maynard]

Thanks everyone for your advice! I'll check out these APs.

I will know in a week or so whether our group is going to just start over at 1st level with new characters or convert their 4th level characters to Pathfinder.

[Galnörag]

Third vote for the Second Darkness, the beginning of the second module can hook from anything, and the setting feels right for your geography.