my friends and i will be playing in a game soon and we are planing on using an adventure path, it will be the first adventure path we have ever used.
i was curious what adventure path you would suggest for first time a.p. users we want to start out low level, we have been playing dnd for 10 years so we are not newb's to gaming just using a.p.'s i was also curious how much a.p.'s cost on average
my friends and i will be playing in a game soon and we are planing on using an adventure path, it will be the first adventure path we have ever used.
i was curious what adventure path you would suggest for first time a.p. users we want to start out low level, we have been playing dnd for 10 years so we are not newb's to gaming just using a.p.'s i was also curious how much a.p.'s cost on average
All of the APs start at 1st level, so that's not much of an issue. Most go to 16th level, although Council of Thieves tops out a little lower at 13th.
I would recommend you look over the descriptions of the APs to find a theme your group likes. Each AP has a flavor or theme because they are self-contained campaigns.
Aside from Kingmaker, they can be a little railroad-y. There is an over-arching plot that the PCs need to resolve, so it would be best if the group agrees beforehand that they want to try to complete the AP's overall mission. If not, it might be better to mine the AP for ideas and set piece encounters instead of running it as-is.
While they can be adapted to other settings, they fit "naturally" into Golarion. Using another setting will require some adjustments from the GM.
Depending upon how fast your progress is likely to be (if you play long sessions frequently, for example), you may want to select one of the APs that has been published in full. The Serpent's Skull has 3 of 6 available now, with the remaining 3 coming monthly. By purchsaing all of the parts, the GM can read it all through and get a better picture of what needs to happen throughout.
Note: The GM may need to drop in some additional encounters here and there to keep the party advancing at the expected pace. If you have more than 4 players, some adjustments will be needed to keep things on-track.
Also, there are forums here on the message boards for each of the APs. There are a lot of good notes in the messages there, such as warnings for GMs about spots where people have had issues.
As to cost.. the APs are monthly publications that include the advanture and support material. They are composed of 6 parts each, meaning you will need all 6 parts to complete the AP. The price and availability of older ones is iffy.. some have reported seeing high prices for parts of the Rise of the Runelords AP on eBay. More recent APs, like Kingmaker, should be available for list price.
If you're using the 3.5 rules set, the 1st 4 APs from Paizo would require no adjustments ... but might be pricey as Rise of the Runelords (the 1st AP) is out of print (I believe).
These are the Golarion APs:
3.5 rules in Golarion
Rise of the Runelords (ancient evil stirs threatening a small town in Varisia), Second Darkness (plots from the underdark and secret elvish history, set in Varisia), Curse of the Crimson Throne (political intrigue and curses, set in Variais), and Legacy of Fire (Genies and Gnolls in the deserts of Katapesh).
Pathfinder rules in Golarion
Council of Thieves (gritty urban adventures in Cheliax), Kingmaker (sandbox make-your-own-kingdom in the River Kingdoms), Serpent's Skull (lost cities and ancient secrets in Mwangi), and the forthcoming Carrion Crown (horror-themed adventures in Ustalav)
There are also APs from the Dungeon Magazine (Shackled City, Age of Worms, and Savage Tide) that may still be available.
thanks for the help, i appreciate the input
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It depends on if you are running 3.5 or Pathfinder and mind doing conversion work.
I think Curse of the Crimson Throne or Legacy of Fire might be the easiest two to run out of the box to those new to AP's and both are already out. So you could buy the whole run in advance and read them all first, before running them. Which really helps.
Rise of the Runelords is good but starting to get hard to find.
Council of Thieves is fairly urban focused and that doesn't appeal to everyone.
Kingmaker is very sand boxy. Which appeal to some people and not others.
I would recommend Serpent's Skull if you are running Pathfinder and don't want to do conversions. If it was all out but it's not yet and I really think for your first time you should run one that is all out already. So you can read the whole thing in advance. It just makes it so much easier to run things and make adjustments if need be that way.
we will be playing pure pathfinder, we have played home brewed pathfinder games before but never an A.P.
As an FYI, you can get the conversion documents for chapters 1 thru 5 for Legacy of Fire from The Archives of Nethys
Help a ton for my campaign, that is just now starting chapter 6.
-- david
Papa.DRB
If you're talking about price alone, by far the cheapest adventure path would be the Shackled City hardcover. It's 3.5, though, so you might need to convert some things.