Best Volume Six

[W E Ray]

Over the years lots of folks have voiced that the APs often get weaker near the end. I've felt that and feel it's as much an intrinsic problem with high-level design as it is having writers simultaneously yet separately writing adventures in the same Campaign (Logic implies earlier ones would be easier to do than later ones since you're writing later parts of a Campaign not yet written.). Whatever the case, it made me want to start a poll about the best Volume 6 AP adventures.

My list:

1) "Shadows of Gallowspire" A -Brandon Hodge .... Carrion Crown

2) "Sound of a Thousand Screams" A -Richard Pett .... Kingmaker

3) "Descent into Midnight" B- -Brian Cortijo .... Second Darkness

4) "Sanctum of the Serpent God" C+ -Neil Spicer .... Serpent's Skull

5) "The Final Wish" C- -Rob McCreary .... Legacy of Fire

6) "Spires of Xin-Shalast" C- -Greg Vaughan .... Rise of the Runelords

7) "The Empty Throne" D+ -Neil Spicer .... Jade Regent *(I should note that I'm just not a fan of "Oriental" adventures.)

Note: I've not read Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, Council of Thieves Adventure Path or Skull and Shackles Adventure Path so they're not available on my list.

[Timothy Hanson]

What is your grading system based on? Is it a stand alone thing, is it relative to all the AP volumes or based around just the Final Adventure? And finally is it based on the rest of the AP, and how it finishes off the Path?

My problem with the last AP is of the ones I have read, they always just seem like the final dungeon crawl. There is much less variation in last APs then there are in the first APs. Part of that I think is lower level characters are easier to control, and you can do more stuff that you know for certain they can not hand wave past, but I would like to see so more variation in the later adventures of a path.

That being said, I agree that Carrion Crown has been the best one that I have read so far. I think you are a little hard on The Empty Throne to be honest, as I thought it was on part with all the other end cap adventures I have read. I do have high hopes for the last Skull and Shackles, but I fear it might focus on the Dungeon Crawl too much like all the rest.