I'm just now getting back into RPGs after a 5 year hiatus. I REALLY love what Paizo has done with Pathfinder and can't wait to play. While trying to determine what Adventure Path to run I noticed that both Rise of the Runelords and Jade Regent Adventure Paths start out in Sandpoint. That's when a spark started in my mind. What if I allowed the players to decide during the course of gameplay what adventure path we would ultimately choose.
To this end I'm looking for suggestions on:
- How to create a "pre-quel" that would allow me to run a session then chose the Adventure path based on player choices.
- Unbiased opinions from people that have experienced both campaigns. Will I be disappointed in either one?
- Tips tricks that have worked well for you in either adventure path.
- I don't really care for the whole demonic flair in the first chapter of Rise of the Runelords. I'm hoping someone can provide some replacement ideas that won't ruin the thematic flair of the entire adventure path.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Jerry
The "problem" is that JR is set 3 or 4 years after RotRL, and the events there are history. Even if they don't come up very often, there's one NPC in particular that has to die in RotRL or afterwards, before JR starts.
I'm not really sure how you'd make a pre-quel adventure where the players decide what they do, since the basic setting is so different.
Maybe it would be best to present both ideas to them and have them decide?
If you'll be disappointed I can't say. Do your players like asian flavored stuff? Then they'll probably like JR. If they don't like that, then I kinda doubt it however.
If you want to play both eventually, I'd say play RotRL first, the PCs then become local legends and heroes, maybe the idols/mentors of the next generation of PCs who then go through JR. Throw in events and NPCs from the RotRL campaing here and there.
From my own campaign, introduced the players to Pathfinder with the Beginner Box, then moved to full rules and ran Burnt Offerings. After Burnt Offerings, I gave the players descriptions of several campaigns and the majority choose Jade Regent.
Burnt Offerings actually goes into Jade Regent fairly well. In BO Ameiko's Father is killed and she inherits the family holdings. I had her discover Whispering Shrike while going through her father's effects. As the players had saved her life and one was a long-time friend, she asked them to investigate Brinewall while she got estate and glassworks in order.
As for changing the theme of BO, Lyrie could probably become the main villian with a bit of work. She could be a crazed scholar attempting to gain the power of the fabled runelords. Attacking the town to fuel the sin-well to create her own army of sin-spawn is simply the first step.
As for changing the theme of BO, Lyrie could probably become the main villian with a bit of work. She could be a crazed scholar attempting to gain the power of the fabled runelords. Attacking the town to fuel the sin-well to create her own army of sin-spawn is simply the first step.
Thanks Lloyd. I've read through BO but I don't recall Lyrie. Where did that NPC come in? I'm trying not to read too far ahead as I might not be DM'ing all the way.
Lyrie is the Wizard Nualia has helping her with researching the ruins below Thistletop.
Opps. Sorry Liz.
Irnk's got it right
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Combining Burnt Offerings and Jade Regent 1 into a mega adventure is very doable and they could go down either path from there. However, RotR has zero story seeds taking you from one book to the next until books 4, 5, 6. Whereas JR will grab your players at the end of book one and send them to the other side of the planet. Hard for the PCs to not take that path.
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Combining Burnt Offerings and Jade Regent 1 into a mega adventure is very doable and they could go down either path from there. However, RotR has zero story seeds taking you from one book to the next until books 4, 5, 6. Whereas JR will grab your players at the end of book one and send them to the other side of the planet. Hard for the PCs to not take that path.
There are story seeds in RotRL that link adventures 1-6. Please, don't let your dislike of the AP get in the way of facts.
Combining Burnt Offerings and Jade Regent 1 into a mega adventure is very doable and they could go down either path from there. However, RotR has zero story seeds taking you from one book to the next until books 4, 5, 6. Whereas JR will grab your players at the end of book one and send them to the other side of the planet. Hard for the PCs to not take that path.There are story seeds in RotRL that link adventures 1-6. Please, don't let your dislike of the AP get in the way of facts.
What the toothy bag said.
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Combining Burnt Offerings and Jade Regent 1 into a mega adventure is very doable and they could go down either path from there. However, RotR has zero story seeds taking you from one book to the next until books 4, 5, 6. Whereas JR will grab your players at the end of book one and send them to the other side of the planet. Hard for the PCs to not take that path.There are story seeds in RotRL that link adventures 1-6. Please, don't let your dislike of the AP get in the way of facts.
+1
Furthermore, the only way the players know they have moved into a second module is if the GM tells them or if they see the GM open the second book. Otherwise, the transitions can be as see less as the GM desires.
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All the more reason to have these on an iPad while at the gaming table. They can never see you flip from one to the next, even if you are in multiple books. You just want to have your adventure there or pre-build your own box text and use it for backup if they do something unexpected. Don't go flipping through core books on the tablet if you need to reference them... as good as it is to read and keep all in one spot, you want your own copies of the real books for the baiting traps of the rules lawyers! But for the adventures and campaigns, tablets are a godsend!