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I'm running CotCT for the first time tomorrow, and I've been looking through the threads here, and seeing that many people think certain elements of the game should have been either:
Changed
Removed
Improved/Updated/Converted
Added
Just so I can run a game with a full deck so to speak, I wonder which of these things you would have done? Of course, no need to pick just one!
Also, in regards to the Harrow points, how important are they really? The method for doing Harrow readings seems needlessly tedious and boring; at least, boring for my players. I've been using Action Points since they were introduced in D20 Modern all those years ago, and feel Harrow points would complicate things; how did you do the Harrow readings? Zell seems like a useful plot train engineer, but also doesn't seem to bring much to the story.
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There aren't that many things I would do diferent (I ran CotCT twice).
Zellara was fun for me, but if you don't think she'll be fun then wind her down after she brings the party together. My first party wasn't that interested in her after everything got going and were not that fond of the harrow readings. My second party was much more enamoured with her and at least thought of the readings as useful intelligence gathering.
Both groups found Scarwall to be a bit tedious and draining. Make sure that the big undead grind castle is what your players want and enjoy. If not, you may want to find ways to speed it up.
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From just one player's perspective (CoCT was one I got to play in and not run) I think our GM ran the mod almost exactly as written. That said, there were only a couple of issues:
1) We ended part 3 a few levels behind track. Still not sure how this happened but just something to look out for. It was an easy fix though. Just add Seven Swords adventure in Kaer Maga on the way north. Caught us up no problem.
2) Scarwall WAS a bit of a grind, but once our GM reminded us that we didn't HAVE to clear the entire place, we're just there looking for the plot device, it was a bit better (NOTE: think we almost cleared the place anyway, but it still felt better knowing we were just looking for something and could leave just as soon as we found it. shrug)
3) The campaign BBEG went down kind of easy in book 6. Make sure the bad guys are fully buffed, consider beefing them up a bit and maybe some extra front line mooks.
Other than these (minor) issues, the campaign was GREAT and ran very well straight as written.
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If I run CotCT again I would cut Skeletons of Scarwall entirely and just give the PCs the McGuffin. Then when they get back to Korvosa, I would run the rebellion with street fighting and mini-dungeons to deal with the Grey Maidens, The Acadmae and the Church of Asmodeus. I'd also grab the stuff about undermining the devils contract Illeosa has, somewhere on the boards and incorporate that.
If the PCs go into book 6 a little lower leveled it's no big deal. PFRPG characters are tougher than their 3.5 counterparts.
I have my PC's (7 total) through the first 3 chapters and everyone is enjoying it. I wouldn't change to much, but I did a lot of reading on the boards and made some alterations that corresponded to my PC's backgrounds, ie personalized it. Overall, the only thing I would probably get rid off is the total number of "guide plot devices" there seems to be in the story. They're fine if you have a 4 or maybe 5 player group but they are just a pain in the butt for my size group, for example, Shadow Count guy is gone. If things change I will reintroduce Laori but otherwise I have seriously minimized this sub-plot.
This is a very minor plot smoothing suggestion. In the beginning of Chapter 2, don't mention the ship to the PCs. Many latch onto that one item like a pit bull. Let it come up later in the story where it is mentioned again. It just helps keep the party off the scent for a little while.
I mentioned it in the middle of a bunch of other rumours. My players put two and two together eventually and that was sweet.
I maintain an in game newspaper "The Korvosa Chronicle" and it was the headline for that "day". The players were suspicious but to their credit role-played it out. It was a lot of fun because it kept their anticipation level high. They new they were going to end up there, but not the how or when lol. When Yelloweyes told them her story they were all like "Yep we knew it!"
I also had the Sable Company maintaing a vigelance over the wreck site (to keep looters away) to deter any early investigation. The party ended up going to Cressida to ask for "a pass" incase they were interrogated as to their presence at the wreck site. Over all this was a great scene.
I went through as a player - we finished about a year ago and with some perspective I would say it is a great adventure. Our group's main complaint is that the adventure path spends too much time outside of Korvosa. Events and intrigues in Korvosa with Illeosa and company are reaching an interesting point with lots of good momentum and then all of a sudden you are outside the city for months (both in the story line and in game time).
I LIKED Scarwall. Our GM did a great job on the creep factor. One change you should seriously consider is moving the Scarwall section to be underneath Castle Korvosa. I think this could be pulled off with out too much work and it would bring the characters back into the city sooner. The whole group believed we would eventually have to delve into the dungeons there and it was a bit of a disappoint when we didn't.
Agree with Douglas Muir 406 - the Shoanti are huge fun and we loved that part of the adventure as well.
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This isn't from experience, but my future-running of CotC will include changes and additions to get the PCs more connected to the city of Korvosa before things start to turn sour.
SPOILERS FOLLOW (of course).
SERIOUSLY...SPOILERS.
I'd delay the King's death for a couple adventures, so I'd delay the anarchy parts of 'Edge of Anarchy' and replace them with the Golden Goblin scenes from Second Darkness' 'Shadow in the Sky.' Not only does this give the PCs a chance to live in the city under the king, but the inheritance of the Goblin would give them a connection to the city and a reason to care about its wellfare.
My second major addition is to add 'Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale' to the AP after 'Seven Days to the Grave.' Mostly because the adventure's awesome, but mostly because I want to see my players' faces when they succeed at their mission, return to the city to receive their promised grant of nobility, and discover the city in chaos after the death of the guy who was going to knight the lot of them. Heheh.
There are some other minor changes to help this make sense. I kind of want to use the king's brother Venster as the scapegoat for his murder rather than the painter, and I'm pretty sure I'd want the final showdown to be at Castle Korvosa rather than outside the city.