I've introduced some friends to Pathfinder and run them through a couple of very short adventures to get them a feel for how the game works. I've run both Master of the Fallen Fortress and Silent Tide, along with a couple sessions of some basic dungeon diving for them. This is the extent of my experience as a GM. My players are okay with the basics, but still have quite a bit to learn.
We're looking to start an AP, and I'm not sure which to do. The party will consist of a Paladin, Oracle, Druid, and Wizard. I, as a player, am currently playing through Carrion Crown and Serpent's Skull, and early on in them, so those two APs are out. Everything else is fair game, and they all sound pretty damn interesting.
Anybody have any suggestions on an AP that would work well for new players?
I'd suggest Curse of the Crimson Throne or Kingmaker, myself. Both are very sandboxy, and thus they accommodate and encourage new players' excitement and curiosity about the world. Rise of the Runelords, however, does have an EXCELLENT first two sections, however, so that's a good choice too. Great starter town, great BBEG back story and great goblin goodness, with a haunted house adventure for #2
|
From what I've read on these boards, all the APs are pretty top-notch. It's mostly an issue of what type of story path your players are interested in. Are they interested in a more classic fantasy story? Maybe Rise of the Runelords? A more urban adventure? Perhaps Council of Thieves or Curse of the Crimson Throne. Do they like the idea of becoming rulers? Perhaps Kingmaker.
I suggest getting a "sound bite" for each AP and run them by your players, and see which ones sound exciting to them. And of course, they should be exciting to you, too. You're going to be running it, after all!
I'm playing in two AP's currently with two different groups (a couple of people are in both with me), under two different DMs; Rise of the Rune Lords and Second Darkness.
Of them, I think Rise of the Rune Lords is the most consistently good. It covers a wider area, involves city, dungeon, and overland adventure, and has more npc's that are "party friendly".
Darkness has some sections where you don't know who to trust and I think at least once we've killed someone we were possibly supposed to ally with. (Those things happen when the party gets so paranoid that everyone seems like the enemy)
Both are 3.5 and require some conversion for monster stats.
Our groups are:
Rise- Barbarian, Eldritch Knight, Witch, Druid, Wizard, Ranger.
Darkness- Rogue, monk, barbarian/fighter, wizard, inquisitor.
I think a paladin will really struggle with Second Darkness, since good guys/bad guy npc's seem to be more a question of the level of crimes they're involved in. I'm playing an Inquisitor of Asmodeus exiled from Cheliax and he's still usually on the moral high ground compared to most npc's of the city of Riddleport.
I would say Kingmaker, it's sand boxey, and allows them to actually set up their own minor kingdom eventually.
I've introduced some friends to Pathfinder and run them through a couple of very short adventures to get them a feel for how the game works. I've run both Master of the Fallen Fortress and Silent Tide, along with a couple sessions of some basic dungeon diving for them. This is the extent of my experience as a GM. My players are okay with the basics, but still have quite a bit to learn.
We're looking to start an AP, and I'm not sure which to do. The party will consist of a Paladin, Oracle, Druid, and Wizard. I, as a player, am currently playing through Carrion Crown and Serpent's Skull, and early on in them, so those two APs are out. Everything else is fair game, and they all sound pretty damn interesting.
Anybody have any suggestions on an AP that would work well for new players?
All of the AP's have difficult points in them. I like Rise of the Runelords, but it will require conversion work on your part.
If you don't want to convert then I would go with Carrion Crown.Kingmaker is sandboxy and harder for new group IMHO. It is fun though so I would suggest getting back to it at a later date.
|
My recommendation is to get a little more experience under your belt by playing some (albeit loosely) connected mods as a form of adventure path. Recommendations include:
Several of the Pathfinder Society mods like the Shades of Ice trilogy.
|
My recommendation is to get a little more experience under your belt by playing some (albeit loosely) connected mods as a form of adventure path. Recommendations include:
Several of the Pathfinder Society mods like the Shades of Ice trilogy.
I'm with Joela on this one. If your new AP's are not where you want to start. there realy good modules for starting dm's and players. Some of the encounters are a bit hard. But only if they don't carry weapons with difrent damage types.
My best suggestion for starting DM's Price of Immortality Trilogy.
Crypt of the Everflame (Levels 1-3)(Clasic Dungon Crawl)
Mask of the Living God (Levels 3-5)(Urban Cloak and Dagger)
City of Golden Death (Levels 5-7)(Sand box exploration)
I am currently halfway through running the Price of Immortality trilogy and I have to say it's excellent for a starting gm. Planning to run Red Hand of Doom after and placing it in Lastwall. My only drawback is the fact I have to wait until it's finished to run Kingmaker!
I would suggest against sandbox aps such as kingmaker and serpent's skull because they require feats of gm improvisation to make them great and imo only experienced gms are able to tackle that well.
Sandbox adventures can be very bland and boring if ran purely as written.
I've heard Rise of the Runelords is nice but I can't really comment on that as I don't own it.
If you're new then I would avoid any of the 3.5 AP's to avoid the conversion work. Rise of the Runelords is likely out due to cost anyways; I've seen the first book alone go for $75 to $100 on the secondary sales and auction sites (like eBay and Amazon).
I'll second the motion against the sandbox AP's. They can be a blast but it isn't the type of game I would recommend running if you're just coming over to the system; even if you're already familiar with 3.5.
I would say run a couple of the standalone modules first. That will give you a good idea on how you're group plays and what they like (from a PF point of view). Then you can move onto the AP that you think will be the most entertaining for your group.
SJ
When our group switched from 4e to PF, I ran the modules that are connected to Darkmoon Vale. It's very easy to put together an adventure path with them.
I started with Crypt of the Everflame and had it lead them to Darkmoon Vale. Then I linked these modules together in the story line:
Into the Huanted Forest
Hollows Last Hope
Crown of the Kobold King
Revenge of the Kobold King
Hungry Are the Dead
Carnival of Tears
The Last Baron
Except for Crypt of the Everflame, they all are set in Darkmoon Vale already, and it's easy enough to figure out an order based on level and story hooks.