E6 advice for MegaAP

[Fletch]

I've long wanted to combine several APs into a series of epic quests for the same party of characters, but am faced with the obvious difficulty of how to challenge PCs with something as simple as a shipwreck after they've become powerful enough to defeat a Runelord.

Is E6 the answer? On the surface it looks like it allows the PCs to become more skilled without gaining access to too-powerful magics or abilities. If that's the case, I can imagine scaling up the challenges on Smuggler's Shiv without having to worry too much about PCs having easy access to teleport spells which would negate the hazards entirely.

Is this feasible? I'm not opposed to having to put a lot of work into this. I'm not planning on converting every encounter of every book, only the real set-piece encounters or those which really add to the AP's story.

What I'm really looking for is if the E6 model, combined with Pathfinder's monster scaling rules, allows for a 15th level adventure to be pared down to challenge 6th level characters even if they have a bunch of feats and skills.

What's more, am I underestimating the power of an experienced E6 character and would they really not be challenged by a 1st level encounter even if the monsters and traps were bumped up.

[ShadowcatX]

A 6th level character isn't going to be challenged by a 1st level encounter, unless you force them to be. Want them to be challenged by a ship wreck? Be mean about it. Flying debris, a whirl pool created by the sinking ship, perhaps someone knocks over a lantern and the flaming oil spills into the ship's powder room.

That said, I think you'll find yourself doing more work converting a large number of adventures to the target levels than if you just made your own adventure.

[Helaman]

BIG fan of E6. That said, part of the E6 atmosphere is 'gritty' and as APs can be tough, prepare for body counts.

Most of the first 2 APs in each series, even the 3rd are playable as is or with minor tweaks for E6 (with PF, I prefer E7 - the capstone class feature at 7th works better and you can just not award 4th level spells, instead grant a flexible spell slot like that given by an arcane focus). After the 3rd arc they require major stat/treasure re-writes to play.

That said pushing a few APs together may work well. 1-2 of the carrion crown then with #2 of Crimson throne, arching into #3 from Council of thieves could work.

However E6/7 works best with HALF AP's, or 3/4 AP's, by wrapping up at the 3rd or 4th ep, else you start to move into territory where PCs are getting a tonne of feats and its more work than play to make the APs fit.

For E6 you may want to check out these optional rules for leveling... better at controlling the pace and growth.

http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/misc/AlternativeLevelAdvancement.pdf

[Helaman]

Fletch wrote:

What I'm really looking for is if the E6 model, combined with Pathfinder's monster scaling rules, allows for a 15th level adventure to be pared down to challenge 6th level characters even if they have a bunch of feats and skills.

What's more, am I underestimating the power of an experienced E6 character and would they really not be challenged by a 1st level encounter even if the monsters and traps were bumped up.

The key to GOOD E6 is keep it 'real' - Town guards are never better than 1st/2nd level warriors, professional soldiers maybe being 1st level fighters.

If an encounter is something that said town guards with a level 1 cleric and level 1 magic user supporting them is going to find lethal without being 'rocks fall, everyone dies' autoloss? Then you've nailed the base line.

Tweak from there, traps, environmental hazards, skill challenges mid combat and so on for higher levels than 2 or 3.

Consider then the 'mid level' of E6, or base level PLUS. This is the level where the ruler of the land has sent out a troop of 10 knights to do the quest... and they didn't return. This is the stuff that is going to REALLY challenge the party at low levels or challenge them as mid level (3-4).

An intelligent ogre with some support is pretty tough without throwing in 'extras'. Good end monster encounter for levels 1-2. Good 'meat' challenge for levels 3-4.

You can work it from there for levels 5-6+.

The important thing is to keep the base line constantly returning - it makes the characters feel heroic. What challenged them BADLY as level 1-2 will be much easier (even with challenges mid encounter) at the top levels of E6 - you have to let them experience that.

Fortunately, unlike Tolkien, you can use something other than Orcs for that baseline experience.

That said, guidelines for paring down the last two eps in an AP from 15th to 6th? Don't exist. Prepare for a massive amount of re-writing... which is why I said earlier that half AP's seem to work best if you want to minimise your work.

[hogarth]

I agree with Helaman; this would essentially require rewriting half of every adventure path you want to convert. Certainly you could minimize your conversion work by chopping out everything except the four or five coolest encounters before doing your conversion; that's what I planned to do with a Shackled City campaign at one point. But there's not really a formula you can follow.