I am the DM (GM?) of two separate games right now, one of which is homebrew, and the other of which is the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. I wasn't sold on using Adventure Paths until one of my player's bought me that book. (As a nice bribe to get me to DM for him.) Now, another batch of players is petitioning me to start a third game. I don't have the time to homebrew this game. (At least, not if they want it before 2017.) And so I'm looking into getting another Adventure Path.
That being said, I have done some preliminary looking abouts, and I don't think Kingmaker is for this group. (And I personally don't want to do another Runelords game.) So, what is a good adventure path, the group RPs well, so that isn't an issue. Keep in mind I would like some small reason why you liked the game. (Not trying to be difficult, but more than simply 'its good' would be helpful.)
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Without knowing your group's preferences I would say you want a relatively low prep campaign, so my answer is Jade Regent. Sweeping story, really great adventures, and you can move the caravan to the background with ease.
Otherwise Shattered Star, it's big dungeons, interesting locations and straightforward quest (find and fix a broken artifact). I've not run it yet but it snuck up on me as a surprise favorite.
Another thing to consider: do you want to tackle a 3.5 AP, like Curse of the Crimson Throne or Legacy of Fire? Some conversion is needed (and might already be done somewhere on-line), but the stories can lead into the later APs - specifically, a group which the party encounters in Shattered Star has its origins in the events of CotCT. Likewise, your current RotRL group might in the future get a kick out of re-visiting Sandpoint (with a new party of characters) for the start of the Jade Regent AP.
Like Dudemeister said above, knowing your group's preferences would be helpful. Legacy of Fire has strong 1001 Nights flavour, Skull and Shackles is not for paladins/law-abiding types, Carrion Crown is a tour of various horror tropes in a gothic horror/Ravenloft-like setting, etc.
Well, the party is going to be relatively new guys, with one experienced player (about 4 years now), and me DM'ing (about 7 years of DM'ing experience). And what I will say is that I won't convert (as Dudemeister said, I need a low-prep adventure for this to happen), but the experienced player likes 3.5, and the new-ish guys have only ever played 3.5, so it wouldn't be trouble at all just to play it in 3.5.
As for the tastes, all I can say is that the group would not be suited to Kingmaker. (Mostly due to the fact that they are relatively new and I don't want to introduce them to a whole lot of new concepts.) Between those two things, what would be a good one? I was looking at Jade Regent, but I'm not sure how well they would like the overtly-Japanese-ness of the whole AP.
All-in-all, we have a group that can really go any way.
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I think Shattered Star is an excellent starter AP then, it's full of dungeony goodness, doesn't require a lot of prep-work, and makes a great intro to the Varisian region of Pathfinder Campaign Setting. If you downplay the "sequel" elements and just present them as written you've got a winning campaign for mostly new players looking to see what makes Pathfinder a fresh new experience.
I think Shattered Star is an excellent starter AP then, it's full of dungeony goodness, doesn't require a lot of prep-work, and makes a great intro to the Varisian region of Pathfinder Campaign Setting. If you downplay the "sequel" elements and just present them as written you've got a winning campaign for mostly new players looking to see what makes Pathfinder a fresh new experience.
I am going to +1 this.
It also has the advantage of having very few limitations on what kinds of characters they may want to play (as many of them will be pulling ideas from movies or books). The "only" requirement is that they be members of the "Pathfinder Society." :)
Another idea to consider: Rise of the Runelords. :) You already know it, and likely have done most of the prep-work that you would need to do for it (and, it is already "paid for"). The only reason not to us this AP, is if there is cross-over between the two groups.
Of course, if there is cross-over, then the "sequel" aspects of Shattered Star become useful. ;D
I am going to +1 this.It also has the advantage of having very few limitations on what kinds of characters they may want to play (as many of them will be pulling ideas from movies or books). The "only" requirement is that they be members of the "Pathfinder Society." :)
Another idea to consider: Rise of the Runelords. :) You already know it, and likely have done most of the prep-work that you would need to do for it (and, it is already "paid for"). The only reason not to us this AP, is if there is cross-over between the two groups.
Of course, if there is cross-over, then the "sequel" aspects of Shattered Star become useful. ;D
I think it will end up being Shattered Star, and the only reason I don't want to do Runelords again is because, well, I loathe stagnation. Thanks for the input, I'll have my players look about for that as a... gift... to me.
Well, it seems like you're going with Shattered Star, and I rather approve it. It is straight forward while still allowing some excellent and interesting roleplay points and some fun and cool NPCs for players to interact with. I agree with this choice. Prepwise, no big surprises, no wonky sub-systems (except a fairly straight forward Pathfinder Prestige program that could easily be removed if you wish), it's about as light as you can expect for an adventure path, and as far as I'm aware no particular book that needs rewriting.
I would've advised against Jade Regent purely for the third book. While so far I've had alot of fun running it and the players have enjoyed it, we've universally ditched the initial caravan system, and I'm having difficulty in preparing the third book because a large portion of it is random encounters with quite a lot of integration with the original caravan rules. Suffice to say, my prepping of it to keep to the quality of fun from the first two books has not been easy.
If your players are comfortable staying 3.5 and you want another option, I will also add Curse of the Crimson Throne. I haven't run it yet, only read through the first two books, but it has awed me. I have no doubt that when I get a chance to run it, it will be one of the best and funnest campaigns of my time as a GM. I don't believe it to be difficult prepwise, but mostly in running it the need to be a bit flexible in player approach, as it is an urban campaign to start with and therefore not as linear as working through a dungeon.
Anyway, Shattered Star or Curse of the Crimson Throne are my suggestions. As a note, Book two of Shattered star has some very clear sequel elements in it to Curse of the Crimson Throne, and the story behind it is a fair spoiler for significant parts of Crimson Throne, so if you do plan on running CotCT, I'd recommend it be with a group who has not played Shattered Star (and for that matter, a group that has played CotCT first will really truly appreciate the sequelness of Book 2 of Shattered Star)
