I had a more thorough post explaining my question in detail, but the forums ate it. [grumble/complain] Here's the condensed version: Is it possible to use the rules for kingdom building without using the AP as a whole? I want to use something like that for my group, but I'm a poor kid so I gotta spend my money very carefully (or I end up eating a single sandwich everyday for two weeks like I did when I bought new minis. :/)
Also, is the material from that part of the adventure adaptable in a sense? Could I slip into it like I might do with a module, albeit with some reworking of names and such? Or is the adventure such that one must have run the 1st part to run the 2nd and so forth?
Anytime you're going to do adaption, etc, it's going to take work, careful planning, etc.
That being said, yea, it's pretty easy to rip it out and do your own thing. The kingdom building rules have been taken out and plugged into (for example) RotRL and LoF by fans on these boards, as a proof-of-concept.
The events/quests/etc of KM#2 (which is where said rules are) also all basically orbit around the idea of "you just started a kingdom" and have little to do with the "overarching plot" of Kingmaker. So very "pluggable" if you need to. Can fit into your homebrew campaign easily.
There is basically nothing in KM#1 that is required to do the kingdom building rules. You lose out on a lot of plot background and map details that are important for running the AP, but it sounds like you don't care about that at all.
The only thing that's really "missing" from KM#2 are the mass combat rules. Those are in KM#5 and are only intended for "high level" kingdoms.
In short: plow ahead with your plan! I see no reason why it would not work.
Excellent! Thank you! :D This is exciting news.