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I'm looking for some advice about how to convert the classic Gold Box AD&D PC game Pool of Radiance to Pathfinder.
I have a copy of the original printed AD&D module called 'Ruins of Adventure'.
For those who aren't familiar with the basic story, here's a simplified version:
The PC's are recruited (and paid) to help reclaim sections of the city of Phlan which have been overrun by goblinoids, trolls, giants, and undead. The monsters are following the commands of the mysterious 'Boss'. The characters advance by reclaiming the city, political maneuvering, and finding more information about the 'Boss'.
One major aspect of the campaign is that the PC's are asked to 'clear' different districts of the city. In the PC game this is represented by clearing a set of static encounters as well as clearing 15 random encounters. There's a Slums District, a Graveyard, Mercantile District, Temple District, etc.
So, I am set on the static encounters as they are in the the module. However, the module doesn't have any suggestions about how to represent the 'clearing' part of the campaign.
Honestly, I don't think my players or I would enjoy chewing through 15 random encounters in each district, but I would like to give them the feeling of making a difference and turning back the tide of monsters.
I am looking for general advice, supplement suggestions, or references to existing adventures which have this element.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
well you can make it 15 encounters throughout all the districts. Though random you can make the encounter still tie in with the play. One encounter might have a clue to the identity of the boss. Maybe they save a wealthy persons daughter and she falls in Wuv (Yes wuv) with one of them giving a little personal clout.
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I was trying to get something like Secret of the Silver Blades running. Throw some bewildered adventurers naked into a strange land and have them use their resourcefulness to survive and save the town.
I also have a copy of Ruins of Adventure and found it not very organized. Very sandbox like. Best way for clearing districts, I think, is to set up the total monster count in each part, then tick them off as they encounter and kill them. The static and randoms can use the same pool of creatures. If they dilly dally around, you can have the area slowly regenerate monster counts
I am currently running Pool Of Radiance campaign. Some generic information is available here and here. Rest of the notes are in Polish, however.
One of the main ideas I use that there are multiple adventuring parties in Phlan - PCs are only one of them. Remaining parties do their own quest and fulfill some of the tasks presented by the Council. For example early there were three main quests available: Scouting the library while escorting a famous sage; bringing Noriss The Gray, dead or alive (Council finished with bandit leader half eaten by otyugh which I put below the hideout where Noris and his minions were hiding and which gladly tried to eat the body after it fell into garbage pit) and the third one was checking what the hell is that garden full of strange plants (I add lots of extra quests and tasks that weren't in the game - while the game was fine, it would be a little to bland to just clear districts of monsters by killing them - more about it later). Players went to library first. On next session they hunted for Noriss. During this time another party examined the garden completing the task and removing it from the rooster of tasks available. It also voided the chance of gaining Druid ally in the process, instead they gained friendship of local absent-minded sage and masterwork weapons crafted by dwarven smith that was Noriss's prisoner.
After the initial tasks available were completed there was a session where PCs had to clear house of one of the party members (half-elf Bard whose father was elven poet and owner of the house prior to city's fall). Reclaiming the house marked the clearing of the first district. Another mission was cleansing of the Sokol Keep - which was foreshadowed on earlier sessions by tales of mist-borne skeletons assaulting ships and slowly cutting off the communication with rest of the world. Another two or three missions saw opening of a route through the western districts leading outside of the city and now the western district is being cleared of remaining monsters.
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I have always thought about running Ruins of Adventure as a military campaign. Have the PCs start as part of the force that takes the city itself, and then send them on missions for the rulership counsel as Special Operations troops to recapture the rest/work through the rest of the scenarios. Suits my group, at least.
I don't have any conversion material, but in addition to just porting over equivalent monsters, I would make great use of the NPC Codex, Monster Codex, and the NPC gallery in the Game Mastery Guide to sub in for stats as needed for Phlanites, rival adventurers, and advanced monsters.
I'd also make use of other systems Pathfinder introduces in the GMG and Ultimate Campaign to vary up gameplay and challenges. For example, instead of having to kill 15 wandering monsters, sub in some hazards or haunts to resolve. Introduce a chase. Invest skills and capital into fixing up a key building in a certain quarter. And so on. (And it doesn't have to be 15 of a thing.)
Yep. Way back when 3e was introduced, all they did was reverse the math so you were always adding rather than subtracting which is easier for the non-arithmetically inclined (like myself) to do in one's head. (Old) 0 AC = 20 AC (New)
I really like the chase rules in the GMG--definitely one of the best encounter subsystems Pathfinder ever introduced. It's a simple flow chart system and easy to adapt and apply. There's also the chase card decks to use to create infinite chases, if you're playing this at the table and have the cash to pick these up. There's this deck and a "chase deck 2" from Paizo as well as 3rd party chase decks.