After reading a few fantasy novels about mercenary companies, as well as being a huge fan of comics like Secret Six, and on top of all of that, often making my fighter types retired/on the run mercenaries that fall into an adventuring company, I got to wondering about using the mercenary company as a jumping off point for an AP.
Given that, for example, in Council of Thieves you are basically the trained adventuring arm of another organization, I'm wondering if it would be feasible to have the adventurers be a band of "special agents" of a mercenary company on a mission that dovetails with the AP's main storyline.
I can see where a set up like this could fall apart, but I also think it might be a lot of fun if it worked out right. Plus, I like that Paizo revisits its old "sub systems" once in a while, such as having haunts in Rise of the Runelords and Council of Thieves, so it might not be a bad place to revisit the mass combat rules from Kingmaker.
I'm just curious if anyone thinks this could work out for a whole AP.
The Black Company AP?
I'll buy that.
It's not too hard to do this with most of the APs. My PCs tend to take a mercenary type view of things.
Possible Spoilers for Second Darkness, and Legacy of Fire.
It's be really simple to do Kingmaker with the PCs being a Mercenary Company hired to pacify the Stolen Lands.
+1 - pretty much any of the APs could be played that way. Pitch it to your loving GM and maybe he'll push the idea through all the way.
That said:
A sandboxy military-themed campaign, full of medium to large scale battles, shadowy intrigue and gritty drama? Maybe with an adventure based on a full-blown siege? Paizo style?
OK, I'd be all over it. Do want.
+1 I'd be all over that too
A sandboxy military-themed campaign, full of medium to large scale battles, shadowy intrigue and gritty drama? Maybe with an adventure based on a full-blown siege? Paizo style?
OK, I'd be all over it. Do want.
+1, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. Assuming I wasn't subscribed to the APs already.
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A sandboxy military-themed campaign, full of medium to large scale battles, shadowy intrigue and gritty drama? Maybe with an adventure based on a full-blown siege? Paizo style?
OK, I'd be all over it. Do want.
+1! And Mendev would be the place to do it! I'm already working on a campaign of this sort for my friends at the FLGS. They wanted a campaign where a Cavalier character could really shine!
+1! And Mendev would be the place to do it!
Amen brother! A campaign centered around the Mendevian Crusades could include a ton of different elements. Mercenary companies, witch hunts, demonic incursions, Heroes of Battle, lots of mass combat, missions behind enemy lines, celestial allies/enemies, factions (crusaders, mercenaries, demons, etc.). With such an adventure path on my shelf, I can die a happy man!
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Mendevian Crusade or Molthune/Nirmathas Warfare AP? Sounds great, I can't wait!
For the whole "Merc Team" feel, just start any of the AP's that way, and you're golden. They each have a pretty transparent reason for the party to be together anyways, so just scrub that and make 'em newbies in the Company, looking to earn some extra scratch & rise up the ranks.
Let me clarify, because I can see that I could have been a bit murky. I would love to see an adventure path whose premise, to begin with, is that the PCs are a unit in a larger mercenary company, so that the built in background of the AP has to do with the PCs interacting with their mercenary company, and that the adventures have to do, in part with how the mercenary company is hired and what tasks they are suppose to be doing.
Let me clarify, because I can see that I could have been a bit murky. I would love to see an adventure path whose premise, to begin with, is that the PCs are a unit in a larger mercenary company, so that the built in background of the AP has to do with the PCs interacting with their mercenary company, and that the adventures have to do, in part with how the mercenary company is hired and what tasks they are suppose to be doing.
An excellent idea, in my opinion. One of the things I like about the APs is that they explore new ways of 'being adventurers' - that's as important to me as them visiting new areas of Golarion.
We pretty much ONLY play in mercenary company groups.
The players are much happier with Neutral type characters, they are in it for reward, respect and renown.
My wife like to play a paldain, but enjoys rogues and witches all the more.
I like Gishes.
most of the other players would be chaotic evil demon worshipers that burnt every village if we let them...
An AP designed around the idea of killing six different major figures would be pretty cool. Each module an assassination mission for the PCs involving intelligence gathering on location, defenses, and the like to track down and kill a particular figure. You get hired in the first module and as you succeed, they keep hiring you. That would be pretty fun if done right.
You usually end up killing some BBEG at the end of most modules anyhow. Why not make it that you were actually sent to kill that guy.
Usually the BBEG gets to talk smack to you about how he's going to destroy you and conquer the world. Tells us all how powerful he is and the like.
It would be great to get to the end of the module with the BBEG and instead the PCs get to say, "I've come for your head. I was paid to take it. I aim to earn my coin."
Let the BBEG quake in his boots as he realizes that someone paid a group of high-powered, big gun PCs to hunt him down and take him out. Then work in an actual cool world effect from the assassination as well.
I think that would be one heck of a fun AP if done well. I bet you the Paizo AP designers could do a good job with an idea like that. It would one of the best APs for all classes.
You have the straight up killing you need the fighter for. You have the wizard for dealing with magical defenses and countermagic needs. You have the priest to keep people alive and deal with religious scenarios. You have the rogue for intel gathering, infiltration, and getting around security systems. That would be a blast of an AP.
I'd love to see a DM play a BBEG as frightened of the PCs. That would be fun.
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Would love something Malazan-inspired.
As to the 6 BBEG, a friend of mine ran a game in which we had to defeat a barbarian and his 7 sons, each tougher than the last. We played it out over about 5 years and it was awesome. We traveled a good portion of the Forgotten Realms around Riatavin and operated out of that city for most of it.
Each son was different and tougher than the last, and the culmination of the story was fantastic. It involved a large siege and a God and demons and lions and tigers oh my.
Combine the Mercenary Company idea with an AP where long distance traveling and fast movement are required, give the riding character classes and skills a chance to have an AP where they can really kick it.
A Dragoon style raid/pillage campaign where fast strikes over long distances and speed and surprise and a fast get away are necessary, as the PCs level up they can get a chance to ride hippogriffs or giant eagles etc.
Cavaliers, Rangers with mount companions, Samurai, Druids with mount companions etc etc would all see alot of useage and it would be different and fun.
Rough Riders, Horse Lords, Cavaliers, Samurai/Ronin, Rangers/Druids...theres really only the cleric and the arcane casters that are left out.
Clerics could take animal domain, Arcanists could get good use out of mount and phantom steed.
If the scenarios included troop movements for mass combat, etc., then the "teleport effect" at higher levels might not be as disruptive as it can be. After all, no sane spellcaster wants to try to teleport an entire army (or even sizable portions) from point A to B - everyone will have to "hoof it". (Of course, this only lasts until either permament magical portals are found or the equivalent high-level spell is cast.)
Red Hand of Doom comes to mind. You've played that already, I assume?
There are a few threads on converting to Pathfinder, but it could run as is.
I have always been a fan of Glen Cook's Black Company books.
This would make a great idea for an AP.
Remember to have the players start as simple soldiers and work their way up to leadership of the mercenary company.
The previous leader could be killed or better yet, betray the company to their enemies and have the players pull everyones fat out of the fire.
Our Second Darkness campaign more or less works this way. The PCs are the remains of two squads of special agents of the Winter Council (an elfish agency).
Such a campaign set up would make it really easy to rotate new characters in and out, to accommodate character death or players not making it to game for various reasons.
I would love to see and AP along the lines of a mercenary company. It would also give a good reason to use the Faction Guide. Either a faction presented via the AP or allowing the DM the chance to make one up he might think the players would enjoy.
Yeah, I'd go in for this. The military conceit would be different from the usual and I'm in favor of anything that lets me scream "YOU MAGGOTS" at my players.
I wouldn't mind APs having more starting points like this, often they try to be super generic, "the five of you random people have suddenly decided to go save some city together" - it would be fun to have APs where part of the setup is "you are all in a merc company, military unit, pirate crew, troupe of traveling entertainers..." (I've used the pirate crew and troupe of entertainers before and they work well.) I think they're strangely hesitant about doing that, given that everyone gens characters at level 1 specifically for an AP and then play through it.
