Here’s a question for the powers that be at Paizo; did a forum search but I can’t see the topic being discussed since 2009 and I wondered what thoughts on the subject might be at the moment. Is there any scope within the current publishing model for longer format adventure modules? I understand the necessity for a uniform page count with regard to production and fairness of subscription, but do Paizo ever see themselves producing something more substantial than the current 32 page modules? That’s not to say I don’t enjoy them – having a blast at the moment with Godsmouth Heresy, but I hanker for something that will take slightly longer / be more involving, yet not require the 1-2 year commitment of an Adventure Path, which demands a lot from players and GM. Something akin to the Hall of the Rainbow Mage, or the Vault of Larin Karr, or anything that could take up two to three months of playing time (or be dipped in and out of). I realise that there are linked series of modules, but, excellent though they are, they don’t seem as ‘unified’ in design as the aforementioned.
Difficult, I know, because the production schedule already seems pretty punishing, and there’s the necessity for keeping up on subscriptions, but do the folks at Paizo ever see anything like this hoving into view? What do other people think – is there any demand for anything like this, or should 3pp step in and fill the gap?
Contributor
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Most of the individual instalments of an Adventure Path work pretty well as a stand-alone adventure. I could see a few "super-modules" working, but that would require a new product line for Paizo, which may not be feasible at the moment. That or dropping one into another line, which could cause problems, too.
That said, I'd pay for a well-done longer adventure a la Red Hand of Doom or even the Expedition series of late 3.5. I'm just not too sure how well it would jive with Paizo's current product lines.
Most of the individual instalments of an Adventure Path work pretty well as a stand-alone adventure. I could see a few "super-modules" working, but that would require a new product line for Paizo, which may not be feasible at the moment. That or dropping one into another line, which could cause problems, too.
That said, I'd pay for a well-done longer adventure a la Red Hand of Doom or even the Expedition series of late 3.5. I'm just not too sure how well it would jive with Paizo's current product lines.
Yes, I agree; I don't think it fits at all well with the current line, but I wondered whether that didn't have an inbuilt inflexibility that would preclude a 'one off' like that in the future. Not that I'm complaining about the current line, excellent products all. I can just see a gap here.
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Yes, I agree; I don't think it fits at all well with the current line, but I wondered whether that didn't have an inbuilt inflexibility that would preclude a 'one off' like that in the future. Not that I'm complaining about the current line, excellent products all. I can just see a gap here.
I think that the printing method used means that they need to have a pagecount dividable by 8 (and it may be 8 double sided)
Chief Technical Officer
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I can just see a gap here.
There is a gap, yes, but filling it would either mean adding more work to our already full workload, or not doing something that we're already doing. And since we do already have two solutions that appeal to some of the folks who work in this gap (AP volumes run individually, or linked Pathfinder Modules), it really doesn't make a lot of sense for us.
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Chief Technical Officer
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I think that the printing method used means that they need to have a pagecount dividable by 8 (and it may be 8 double sided)Yes, I agree; I don't think it fits at all well with the current line, but I wondered whether that didn't have an inbuilt inflexibility that would preclude a 'one off' like that in the future. Not that I'm complaining about the current line, excellent products all. I can just see a gap here.
Yes—signatures are 16 pages. Which means adventures can be 16 pages (like our Free RPG Day modules), 32 pages (like our regular Modules), 48 pages (pretty much like the adventure content from single AP volume), 64 pages (like a linked series of 2 Modules), 96 pages (like linking the adventures from any 2 AP volumes...), and so on. In short, any reasonable page count we can do, we've already done adventures that size—just maybe not in one book.
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Contributor
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I think that the printing method used means that they need to have a pagecount dividable by 8 (and it may be 8 double sided)Yes, I agree; I don't think it fits at all well with the current line, but I wondered whether that didn't have an inbuilt inflexibility that would preclude a 'one off' like that in the future. Not that I'm complaining about the current line, excellent products all. I can just see a gap here.
Yes—signatures are 16 pages. Which means adventures can be 16 pages (like our Free RPG Day modules), 32 pages (like our regular Modules), 48 pages (pretty much like the adventure content from single AP volume), 64 pages (like a linked series of 2 Modules), 96 pages (like linking the adventures from any 2 AP volumes...), and so on. In short, any reasonable page count we can do, we've already done adventures that size—just maybe not in one book.
I think the odd 96 page adventure could have a home- maybe 2-4 times a year. A book the size of an adventure path, but self-contained with more focused extras in the back- i.e., no fiction, the bestiary just covers extra monsters in the book, a supporting "article" about a site. That sort of thing. Basically following the AP format, but self-contained.
I can just see a gap here.There is a gap, yes, but filling it would either mean adding more work to our already full workload, or not doing something that we're already doing. And since we do already have two solutions that appeal to some of the folks who work in this gap (AP volumes run individually, or linked Pathfinder Modules), it really doesn't make a lot of sense for us.
Thanks for the response, that's pretty much what I surmised. I understand that the nature of the business at the moment would mean it would either stretch resources to breaking point, or cut out something that's already popular in favour of something that might have a more limited appeal. Can't really argue against that, I certainly wouldn't want Paizo to compromise on the material you produce at the moment, and in any case there's still a wealth of 3PP stuff going back to 3.5 ripe for conversion.
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I think the odd 96 page adventure could have a home- maybe 2-4 times a year. A book the size of an adventure path, but self-contained with more focused extras in the back- i.e., no fiction, the bestiary just covers extra monsters in the book, a supporting "article" about a site. That sort of thing. Basically following the AP format, but self-contained.
I support this.
There are quite a few of the Pathfinder modules that are sequential, often having 2 or even 3 adventures in a series. Granted, they are separate books, but they tend to go together rather seemlessly. Would that work for what you're looking for?
To a point (I have the Crypt of the Everflame trilogy, and am looking forward to playing it). I know there are some others, but it's sometimes difficult to track down which go with which, or find somewhere with an overview. I think part of the issue with sequential mods is that they still have an imperative to be standalone - you can play them together, but you don't have to - in order not to put off folks who aren't looking for a series; and I'm not sure that doesn't limit the degree to which they can connect into one adventure. But, really, I understand that a good GM can do the work to link even the most disparate of adventures together. I'm just being lazy :)