
MaxKaladin |
Serpent's Skull has it's issues and from what I've read the Paizo staffers consider it to be not quite a failure but certainly not as good as it could have been. They took on board what worked and what didn't and learned from it.
I just started running that AP over the weekend. I'm curious if you can point out where you read that. (I'm not trying to be hostile or anything. I've got the impression it isn't well regarded and I'm just curious about what you read from that standpoint. )

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Osirion anything, as always.
Shades of Gray Nirmathas/Molthrune conflict.
Redemption-based anything, be it with monstrous tribes or involving a cult dedicated to causing a fiend to rise.
Every planet is gettin' ready to align, even Apostae.
Start on Golarion at a population center that could reasonably have a wide range of potential Golarion characters
Vercite Aethership crash along with a forboding Dominion of the Black appearance, crash site is a known dangerous locale
PCs get there and rescue the injured Vercite captain and possibly some of her surviving crew (giving the players a larger number of regular NPCs to interact with) from both the local dangers of the site.
Aeathership captain reveals that they're on a mission of great importance and that there's som Macguffin further down in a previously-unknown-to-local-scholars portion of the site that they have to retrieve for the safety of the surrounding area, and that their crash was caused by a sort of defense system left behind by the Dominion. PCs save the day, Aethership captain offers them the adventure of a lifetime if they help her complete the mission she can't carry out alone, journeying to each world in the system and recovering/activating these artifacts to prevent some terrible disaster related to the Dominion.
Aethership is completely busted, leaving only a back-up vessel that's kind of crap, but it'll do.
As they go from planet to planet, more and more of the Dominion's corruptive influence shows itself almost in reaction to their collecting/activating of these MacGuffins.
They also potentially gain new crew members from some of the worlds they visit, building an ever more motley collection of people from all over the system.
They first travel to Akiton, get into all sorts of trouble, maybe some arena matchs, and have to secure a meeting with the Contemplatives of Ashok.
Then the captain inexplicably changes direction and steers the ship to Castrovel, where they have to help the local Lashunta defend a city against a possessed, sentient jungle before they'll allow them near their artifact.
Then onto Aballon, where they have to weave between battling robotic forces to reach their goal.
Then after hesitating as long as the captain can, they head to Verces, where she and her crew are immediately arrested and the PCs are placed in confinement, until a Steward manages to get them released (with distant supervision). There they find out that the captain was herself a Steward that went off the radar and stole her ship and crew to take on her mission despite her governments forbiddance after she came across some archives on Darkside. While some in the government believe that the information she discovered bears investigating, they fear that her mission would instigate all out war between Verces and the undead planet Eox, where their mission would eventually take them. The PCs either manage to convince the government to allow them to carry on with their mission after some subterfuge adventures in the streets of Verces or they manage to break their captain and crew out. Either way, they gain access to a new and larger ship.
At this point the PCs likely take the lead over the captain as far as inspiring and driving the crew and mission on. She's still driving, but now she's depending almost entirely on them to save the system.
Then they cut through the Diaspora, not just hunting for the next artifact but also gaining help from the locals and trying to find a way to safeguard their mission on Eox.
The Eox mission should be tense affair, not just because they're trying to pull off a lightning raid or a stealth mission without igniting a war or because they're on the most hostile planet they've been to yet, but because they may find the biggest presence of the Dominion's footprint on the system yet, and it becomes clear that the Dominion is aware of their efforts. It could even drive home that (some of) the bone sages of Eox are worried about the Dominion.
Liavara's visit take them to Triaxus, where a bit of high fantasy dragonrider action can be engaged before setting off back into the wild and crazy.
Bretheda takes them to a floating metroplis and/or ruin, where the local Brethedans need their help against a Dominion-corrupted legion of their own kind.
Apostae has them having to teleport blind into Apostae from its surface, and from there they have to manage to weave through or negotiate peace with warring and disparate bands of Ilee, not only to reach their artifact, but to gain a wildly and insanely genetically varied army to fight the Dominion(as the Dominion's tactics and corruptive influence seems to tend to depend on regular patterns of genetics, behavior, and culture. That could be a thing with the Dominion, they read and manipulate patterns, guiding life itself to fit their purpose. This could make the Ilee a wild card.)
Then Aucturn, Dominion-influence Central. Where Eox as tense and full of dread, Aucturn might be a place of absolute horror. The cost this place takes from the heroes should probably be terrible, but it should also make clear the depth of what's at stake for the PCs and every world in the system.
(maybe a quick stop by Numeria for some recovered equipment from the Silver Mount, which turns out to be a ship from another system that the Dominion has already dominated, could be good, pulling in some help from those who have fallen already to the Dominion)
Once every artifact is gathered or activated, the PCs, their crew, and any other allies they've managed to gather have one last place to go: The Sun. There, as the planets align, in an ancient city of crystal hanging within the burning fires of their home sun, they'll find the ancient remnants and/or remains of the beings born from the Sun and system before the coming of the Dominion. And the Dominion arrives as well.
All out war between the PCs, their allies, and the vanguard of the Dominion(along with their corrupted creations and the spawn of Aucturn) breaks out within the city, all the while with the PCs running towards the final artifact, one that can be used to either attack the heart of the Dominion and drive them out of the system, even if only for a time, or used by the Dominion itself to darken the very sun, and immediately remake the system in its own horrible image.
reads back over post
Maybe with the ME influence not so obvious? >_>

gbonehead Owner - House of Books and Games LLC |

I'm 100% behind a sword and planets AP.
I would also love to see an adventure path set against the backdrop of a full-scale no-holds-barred war, even to the point of perhaps having the characters conscripted or otherwise involved at the outset.
Think Deed of Paksenarrion or the siege of Minas Tirith.
Makes me want to pull out my old War of the Ring game from SPI :)

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I am waiting for the epic dragon AP. That one where your knights, wizards and thieves can save the village, then the duchy, then the kingdom and finally the world from the dragons, all the while dancing away with the ginormous piles of loot!
And also, I have a wonderfully painted army of orcs and yet we haven't seen many in the AP's. Perhaps a "Here comes the Orc Army" AP?

Uri Meca |

When I first read about the Shattered Star AP, I misunderstood the Sihedron to be the Starstone. I thought, "That could be great fun!" A number of my friends ran campaigns in different systems where the players are of divine descent.
An AP where the players search/vie/wrestle for the Starstone, pass the Test of the Starstone (whatever that is), ascend and take legendary actions and manage followings to maintain a threatened multiversal reality could be great fun.

Jacen |

I would love to see an adventure path set in ancient azlant that deals with the events that lead up to earthfall, and pitches the players as epic heroes in the vien of Hercules and Achilies. Obviously this type of campign would use mythicl rules and be epic on a timeline changing scale! haha
Another good one would be a wild west style game set in the Mana Wastes where magic takes a backseat to firearms and steal punk elements.

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Thoughts on a Nirmathas/Molthrune AP: It has to be painful.
It could certainly cater to heroic characters, and those are probably the ones that would get the most dramatic payoff out of it, but it has to be an emotionally rough AP. The thing that sets the Nirmathas/Molthrune conflict apart is that it isn't a straight up good vs. evil(though yeah, Molthrune pretty much are the aggressors for the most part). There should be truly good and bad(and everything in between) people on both sides of the conflict.
No matter which side one takes, there should be no shortage of sympathetic characters on the other side for them to see. Characters that they would easily have considered friends if not for the war. And there should be plenty of people on both sides that fall short of their own supposed ideals, giving the other side "justification" for their animosity.
It's easy to sympathise with the Nirmathi guerillas fighting to hold onto the freedom their fathers have already bled for, and it's also easy to do the same with the various monstrous armies of Molthrune whose loyalty stems from the rare acceptance that nation has given them. And that still leaves plenty of room for truly despicable characters on both sides.
Less LotR and more....heck, Mobile Suit Gundam I guess? Something where the big guys the players will face off against may very well be people they understand and actually respect. They're just stuck on different sides of a war they both want to be done with. You could even have factions within both sides, some more sympathetic to players on either side than the others. You may very well wind up with situations where Nirmathi PCs actually sway an honorable Molthruni general to listen to them to stop one of his subordinates that is threatening to cross several lines that general never would, to stop an atrocity against numerous innocents from occuring. And they may very well wind up facing that same general on the field of battle later down the line.
tl;dr version: It should be an AP that causes manly tears.

MrVergee |

Hold of Belkzen: savage orcs, mind-shattering monsters, dwaven secrets hidden inn the deep.
Political AP: I'd rather see it as an urban campaign (Absalom), but Galt works too. Combat-light, intrigue heavy.
I would certainly love a roleplay heavy urban campaign with political and/or mercantile intrigue!
An AP centered on dwarven citadels and the Hold of Belkzen would be nice as well.

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Thoughts on a Nirmathas/Molthrune AP: It has to be painful.
It could certainly cater to heroic characters, and those are probably the ones that would get the most dramatic payoff out of it, but it has to be an emotionally rough AP. The thing that sets the Nirmathas/Molthrune conflict apart is that it isn't a straight up good vs. evil(though yeah, Molthrune pretty much are the aggressors for the most part). There should be truly good and bad(and everything in between) people on both sides of the conflict.
No matter which side one takes, there should be no shortage of sympathetic characters on the other side for them to see. Characters that they would easily have considered friends if not for the war. And there should be plenty of people on both sides that fall short of their own supposed ideals, giving the other side "justification" for their animosity.
It's easy to sympathise with the Nirmathi guerillas fighting to hold onto the freedom their fathers have already bled for, and it's also easy to do the same with the various monstrous armies of Molthrune whose loyalty stems from the rare acceptance that nation has given them. And that still leaves plenty of room for truly despicable characters on both sides.
Less LotR and more....heck, Mobile Suit Gundam I guess? Something where the big guys the players will face off against may very well be people they understand and actually respect. They're just stuck on different sides of a war they both want to be done with. You could even have factions within both sides, some more sympathetic to players on either side than the others. You may very well wind up with situations where Nirmathi PCs actually sway an honorable Molthruni general to listen to them to stop one of his subordinates that is threatening to cross several lines that general never would, to stop an atrocity against numerous innocents from occuring. And they may very well wind up facing that same general on the field of battle later down the line.
tl;dr version: It should be...
The 08th MS Team was my base idea. Something you just find yourself stuck in.

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Me and my group are waiting for a LOOOONG time for a decent (and working) EVIL campaign.
The difficulty probably would be to make the players NOT want to kill each other at the first promising opportunity...
Way of the Wicked from Fire Mountain Games is your best bet then, as Skull & Shackles is said to be about as close as Paizo will ever get to an "Evil" AP.

Sub-Creator |

I would love to see an adventure path set in ancient azlant that deals with the events that lead up to earthfall, and pitches the players as epic heroes in the vien of Hercules and Achilies. Obviously this type of campign would use mythicl rules and be epic on a timeline changing scale!
Wouldn't really be timeline changing though, since we already know that it happens, and you can't really create an AP that would alter established canon. That's just bad juju.
If ever they were to do a historical AP, my personal preference would be have it be the dwarven search for Sky. It plays off dwarven culture, which we've got absolutely nothing about from the APs as yet, and can also be an awesome jaunt through the Darklands, or deep places of the world, which are full of mystery, adventure, and excitement. Easy to kill a couple birds not yet really played much with here.
Only downfall would be having to play dwarves, of course, which many people wouldn't buy into (though I'm not one of them). However, couple this with the fact that Mr. Jacobs hates dwarves, as well as the fact that he's said on a few different occasion that the team isn't interested in doing any historical APs at all (that being APs set in the distant past), and that makes for a difficult sell on either of our ideas. ;)
However, to highlight a glorious idea that has been spoken on a couple of different times above: A fey-based AP that takes place in (or primarily in) the First World would be marvelous!

Necromancer |

Things I'd like to see and would probably re-subscribe for:
1 - An urban Adventure Path that takes place in Cheliax, Isger, Galt, Ustalav, Taldor, Lastwall, Nidal, or Razmiran.
2 - A megadungeon-esque Adventure Path set in Andoran, Galt, Isger, the River Kingdoms, Mendev, Lastwall, or Cheliax.
3 - A sandbox Adventure Path wherein the PCs reclaim and restore an old Molthuni keep near Nirmathas (think Kingmaker).
4 - An Adventure Path focused around an undead plague set entirely in Galt, Cheliax, or Taldor.
Things I know will never make it into an Adventure Path, but damn it, I'm listing them anyway:
5 - PCs struggle to establish a thieves' guild in Taldor, Cheliax, or Lastwall.
6 - Large number of orc refugees from a Belkzen not-so-civil war enter Ustalav and generate local unrest.
7 - Portal to an extraplanar megadungeon appears inside a average-to-small mage's guild; PCs sent in to retrieve apprentices foolish enough to enter the realm. After the PCs enter, the portal vanishes.
8 - PCs exiled to massive Grimrock-eqsue dungeon in lieu of execution.
9 - PCs join a fleet of experimental airships as crew/guards/consultants/etc.
10 - PCs are buried in the Boneyard after death - time to break out!

Generic Villain |
In order from what I'd most like to see:
-Numeria: Aliens, Technic League, Kellid savages, a journey to Silver Mountain, and possibly (though not required) Distant Worlds stuff.
-Aboleths and Azlant: A glimpse at the aboleth meta-plot and a journey to the sunken continent of Azlant.
-Nex/Geb: Alas, we probably won't see this anytime soon. Nex is Erik Mona's thing, and according to JJ, until he has the time to develop Nex more, this is unlikely to happen.
-Pretty much anything that would shed light on Casmaron, Vudra, Arcadia, or Sarusan.

Fire Mountain Games |

As Gorb said Way of the Wicked by Fire Mountain Games is a very good evil AP.
Hey thanks for the recommendations everybody for "Way of the Wicked". Greatly appreciated. If you have any questions about that adventure path, this is not the place to ask. But this is.
And just to keep this on point, I for one would LOVE to see "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" the adventure path.
Numeria.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

DMRaven |

I'd like to +1 the following:
1) Something set in the First world
2) Planet-hopping
3) Alkenstar
I trust Paizo to write a decent story, setting though is what will get me to buy another AP. Anything exotic in a non-traditional setting even if the setting or story is stereotypical. I think the current AP is completely boring simply due to where it's being set, although the story and plot are unique and interesting. I'll buy the Worldwound AP simply for where its set and the idea of a demon-centered campaign.

Bellona |

Eventually, as either an AP or a series of modules, I would like to see a series of planetaray adventures. (Yes, I know that (Ro)Winter is coming - but I want more!) This could include Numeria.
More exploration of Golarion's other continents: southern Garund, Casmaraon, Vudra, Arcadia, Sarusan, and islands/archipelagos in between.

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-Apocalyptic AP featuring the Tarrasque as the final villain.
- Orcs of Belkzen invasion with mass combat
- Ruins of Azlant featuring aboleths
- Urban campaign with PC's working for Thieves' guild.
- Campaign with PC's sent to explore & colonise new continent using kingdom rules
- Campaign set in Geb

JrMercury |

In no particular order:
-Under the sea; Something I was looking forward to in SS that never materialized. Some underwater exploration and adventuring, befriending merfolk and fighting aboleths.
-Sword and planet is always cool; Hopefully with alien languages and magic that are different from what our players are used to. I think it would be lame if we got there and all they had was four armed aliens who speak aklo and cast fireball. I mean really play up that alien vibe.
-Goblinoids/Orcs of Belkzen! : I would love to see these guys as an active enemy again/ working as these monstrous races. Personally I almost always imagine orcs as klingons, with their warrior nature. So you know for Belkzen against it, its all good.

magnuskn |
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I would really, really love to see a more diplomacy/intrigue focused AP, centered in Andoran.
I find the country very fascinating, from it being an approximation of "What if the French Revolution would have worked really well?", to its location putting it between the Byzantine Empire ( Taldor ) and a diabolist police state which also is filled with intrigue. It being nearby to Druma, Absalom and ( farther away ) Quadira, Osirion and the Five Kings Mountains makes it incredibly suited for players being mediators with those realms, especially since Andorans form of government makes it very unique and thus viewed with suspicion.
I think a great AP could be made out of those elements, one which also could give us a better look at the inner workings of Andoran and some of its neighbour states. If I were to prepare my own homebrewn campaign, I'd probably focus it on Taldor and Cheliax managing to work together to try to crush Andoran by more subtle means than sending in their armies.
Then the freedom-loving PCs from Andoran have to infiltrate those countries to stop the nefarious plot, culminating with a last ditch attempt at invasion by the Taldor/Cheliax coalition. Add some elements of opposing factions within those states and Andoran and an interesting campaign happens. At least in theory. ;)

atheral |
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Because someone asked and I was bored current totals (give or take a couple I couldn't figure out how to classify in one or two words basically you can add or subtract one to any of these)
Numeria 14
Space/Planets 12
Absalom 9
Galt 8
Vudra 8
First World 8
Vikings 8
Grand Expidition/Journey 7
Nex/Geb/ManaWaste 7
Belkzen 6
Osirion 6
MegaDungeon 5
Taldor 5
Darklands 5
Planes 5
Nirmathas/Molthune 5
Guild/Faction Building 5
Arcadia 5
Azlant 5
Time Travel 4
Tian 4
Nidal/Kytons 3
Kyonin 3
Garund 3
Casmaron 3
Iblydos 2
Darkmoon Vale 2
Druma/Merchant 2
Colony Building 2
Starstone 2
Dragons 2
Dwarves 2
Jalmeray 1
Varisia/Viperwall 1
Gnomes 1
Dreamlands 1
War 1
Evil 1
Apocalpyse 1
Andoran 1

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Callous Jack wrote:...Yeah that's a mistype on my part as they were pretty much always paired when Lastwall was mentioned I just counted them for the same it should be Lastwall/Belkzen.Nice job, atheral!
(My one note is that you forgot Lastwall, although maybe that got folded into Belkzen?)
I gotcha. So then it looks like that would bring Lastwall/Belkzen up to 8 total! (Granted that seems to include people who want Dwarves in there too.)

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Kelesh or anything in Casmoren!
The Padishah Empire of Great Kelesh overrun by the latest Spawn of Rovagug. Leng or other Dark Tapestry guys using (releasing?) the Spawn as a distraction to bring an Old One to Golarion. Will the young, newly ascended Sultan accept the Western pathfinders' help or will the political machinations of the Valideh Sultan and the Harem destroy her son's efforts to stave off global disaster?
Imagine, the Sultan uses all of his multitudinous genies in a last ditch effort to turn back the Spawn, leaving the genies decimated and the Empire exposed to the nefarious Servants of Leng.
Scimitars, sorcery, genies, and otherworldly evil encroaching upon the goddess Sarenrae's favored land!

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For me it's:
- Something set on one of the other planets--not planet-hopping, pick one planet and use the AP to tour/explore it in more depth
- Something culminating in a mega-dungeon run into the Gallowspire, my absolute favorite in Dungeons of Golarion.
- World Wound, possibly including some Darklands
- Osirion!

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I see you left out political intrigue. I counted 11 direct requests for it. I did not include requests that described intrigue but didn't say it.
Also, there were several more requests for mercantile intrigue but, as I wasn't looking for those I didn't count them up; either as part of political intrigue or as a separate topic.
Because someone asked and I was bored current totals (give or take a couple I couldn't figure out how to classify in one or two words basically you can add or subtract one to any of these)
Numeria 14
Space/Planets 12
Absalom 9
Galt 8
Vudra 8
First World 8
Vikings 8
Grand Expidition/Journey 7
Nex/Geb/ManaWaste 7
Belkzen 6
Osirion 6
MegaDungeon 5
Taldor 5
Darklands 5
Planes 5
Nirmathas/Molthune 5
Guild/Faction Building 5
Arcadia 5
Azlant 5
Time Travel 4
Tian 4
Nidal/Kytons 3
Kyonin 3
Garund 3
Casmaron 3
Iblydos 2
Darkmoon Vale 2
Druma/Merchant 2
Colony Building 2
Starstone 2
Dragons 2
Dwarves 2
Jalmeray 1
Varisia/Viperwall 1
Gnomes 1
Dreamlands 1
War 1
Evil 1
Apocalpyse 1
Andoran 1

atheral |

I see you left out political intrigue. I counted 11 direct requests for it. I did not include requests that described intrigue but didn't say it.
Also, there were several more requests for mercantile intrigue but, as I wasn't looking for those I didn't count them up; either as part of political intrigue or as a separate topic.
My apologies I didn't intend to leave anyone out. Looking back through again. I do realize how it happened. When I compiled the tick marks I looked for locations first and themes second. So if there was a vote for "political intrigue in x" I counted it as a vote for x instead of a vote for political intrigue. Also I know I counted anything that mentioned a guild or faction intrigue as part of Guild/Faction building instead of intrigue. Maybe once there are a few more vote posts I'll recompile it to two lists one with locations and one with themes.

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Id like to see:
1. Time Travel - bring us back to some of the cool eras in Golarions history as see some of the great events like Earthfall.
2. Space - Lets get something that uses the awesomeness of Distant Worlds!
3. Taldor - Some Game of Thrones style political infighting among all the great noble houses of Taldor.

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I really hope we dont end up with planet hopping politucal intrigue. Sounds too Phantom Menace >>
I'm pretty sure that a company owned by two total zany Star Wars fans can pull out a better plane hopping intrigue than that clone of George Lucas did.

Umbranus |

I want another sandbox one, similar to kingmaker.
But more important, what I don't want to see again:
- An AP where you get bonus XP for high Charisma stat like JR
- Fights where, if you lose the enemy miracously saves all the PCs to gloat over them and then some NPC kills him with one strike to rescue the players (we had that in CC)
Those two of the top 5 of bad Adventure design ideas.
I don't know other APs yet but 1 supercool and 2 bad isn't encouraging.