I'm thinking about DMing Serpent's Skull once I finish Carrion Crown (even though we're only on second chapter now, I like to plan ahead), but before buying the AP, I'd like to know what are the glaring plot holes of this AP? Or what is considered to be the worst part campaign? Or a thing that people have come to a conclusion that definitely has to be changed?
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City of Seven Spears is a horrible exercise in boredom and 4E-style delve hack-and-slash-and-move-to-the-next-hack-and-slash. Barely any plot or memorable situations that Paizo APs are famous for. Blergh.
Adventures 4 and 5 are also nothing special.
Overall, this AP just lacks the mojo, in my opinion. Not a trainwreck like Second Darkness, but a missed opportunity much like Council of Thieves was.
Personally, I would go for Jade Regent instead.
I'm one of those people who hate asian culture in their medieval fantasy, so I'd rather not.
Didn't know Serpent's Skull has such a bad rep, last chapter seemed really fun to me.
We are nearing the end of the second book at the moment and I have to say that it tends to be *very* combat heavy. You will need to play up the NPCs (of which there will be plenty who stick around for as long as the players like them to). Also, the second book is quite the railroad, if your players don't like being walked through one encounter after the other there is little to gain here.
The group will need to join one of five (IIRC) factions at the start of book 2 and there is little to make their choice really matter as written so you will also need to come up with some stuff the other factions might do to interfere with their expedition in a way that seems unique for the respective party.
All in all, if you don't want to have this AP turn into a slash-fest you will find yourself changing and expanding a lot of it.
On the other hand there is much good to be said about it. We are definitely having fun (though I have to admit that my players enjoy combat probably more than negotiation or general peaceful RP) and almost every NPC has some quirks already built into that makes her/him easy to become a well remembered personality. The first book is very entertaining with its survival and "Lost" feeling.
I think with all the other excellent APs out there I would rather point you elsewhere but to say that Serpent Skull is boring is (at least to the point where we are now) would be unfair. It just needs some work, sometimes more, sometimes less.
We're at the end of the fifth adventure, and I have the following thoughts on Serpent's Skull:
Pros:
- This is a great AP for a non-good party. The best motivation for this AP is "become rich and famous" and the plot line does not require any "we'll do this because heroes should" (which IMO a lot of the other APs do, for example Council of Thieves and Carrion Crown).
- It's a great "non-standard" setting (consider putting in guns, if you like guns)
- There a lot of room for GM-made stuff and "outside the rails" RP
Cons:
- To make the most of the RP opportunities and the sandbox stuff, you need to work a bit as a GM. Part 3 and 4 is "Kingmaker light", and needs a lot of on-the-spot improvising (for maps, NPC reactions, NPC-on-NPC interaction)
- A lot of the NPCs are evil, and a good-aligned party will have trouble finding someone to work with
Buy this AP if:
- You want to GM the "evil campaign"
- You want to tinker and put in your own stuff. This AP is a bit "outside the mold", part rails and part sandbox with room for a lot of homegrown stuff.
If you are unsure:
- Buy Smuggler's Shiv. It's a GREAT standalone adventure, easily my favorite after the Sixfold Trial. If your group wants a challenge or just a diversion for a bunch of sessions, drop them on the Shiv without gear. Just look at the forum for a bunch of great ideas with the shipwrecks around the island.
About part 3:
This part is VERY sandboxy, and can easily get boring. The trick is focusing on the diplomatic possibilities and not seeing the other tribes and factions as "walking encounters". Because almost all are evil, this best suits an evil group. But IMO it's not worse than Kingmaker part 5 so if you lived through that, you'll survive this.
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Most of what I have to add is complete agreement with jorgenporgen. He said it very well. I'm only on Part 2, so I can only comment on those sections but...
Part 1 is EXCELLENT. I would run it multiple times as a standalone in a heartbeat. The survival aspect, NPC quests and keeping the other castaways alive were all well done.
The only change I made was I did NOT give them the map of Smuggler's Shiv. My players had a lot more fun exploring the island and not knowing what was beyong the next cove (other than being able to see Red Mountain from anywhere on the island of course). This required a bit more map drawing on my part but worth it.
As others have pointed out, this is a great adventure path for a non-good party. I have a mostly Neutral party and they're enjoying walking on the shadier side of adventuring.
Part 2 needed just a bit of work. As a straight raidroad, what was there was excellent to capture the mood of the Mwangi. But if you really want to stress the "race" portion of the adventure, plot out the courses of the other scouts and expeditions. Give the PCs the chance to overtake them or slow them down as they find shortcuts for their own expedition. This required adding in a few more encounters and bookwork but -again- worth it.
Finally the factions in Part 2. I had the most fun by individually approaching each PC with faction offers that I knew they'd jump for (background-wise). Managed to get the party openly leading one group, while half of the players are supporting the other 4 behind the scenes. They were on the lookout to improve their own faction prestige and recieving tasking via sending spells and the like. Much fun had.
Anyway, all I can comment on for now! But I think parts 3-6 actually still look like a LOT of fun and I look forward to them. *shrug*
To make it fun for a number of players whe have had to have an alignment shift (NG to N, CG to CN) otherwise you just wouldnt deal with these people
Part 2 seems to be going on forever
I did have high hopes for part III, but mnay posts are putting me off