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I'm just going to start a runelords game this saturday with my friends. It is the anniversary edition. I have a few questions, and any additional advice you can give me would be most welcome.
- What point buy should i go for?
- Should i encourage players to make specific class choices?
- What parts of the AP should i take note of as potentially trozblesome?
20 point buy, its basicly what it's made for, at least, that's what I'm going whit atm.
Classes should be all right, gunslinger doesn't really fit, but could be ok to use, some sort of arcane caster might be a good idea to have in the party, for a..shall we say, key retrieval later in the campaign.
There is a fight whit a flying demon in the catacombs, and she can be quite troublesome if no one comes prepared or aint a paladin.
she can be quite troublesome
Read through the adventure and then go back and read it again. I missed some things when I ran it.
spoiler for me
Thanks, I was a player and dont own the Adventure. She is the one thing that really stands out from that adventure path, being she nearly TPK'd us on 3 different occasions.
So to the OP, my comment stands for the Adventure path as a whole.
All Adventure Paths are actually built for a group of 4 PCs with a 15-point buy.
There is a TON of advice, maps, art, fan-made side-quests, and just about everything you could hope for in the Runelords discussion forum. The mods will probably move this thread there too after a fashion.
It must be the most well-supported campaign in history. You can always ask really specific questions about the plot, and even fill people in on your party and your campaign, and you'll almost always get a brilliant, informed answer. It's like having a team of writers on hand.
Those AP-specific sections are easily my favorite part about the Paizo forums. Use them, and success is assured!
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What EL said.
I would just give them the players guide, answer questions and see what they come up with. It is an amazingly flexible AP with regards to what parties it can handle. As long as everyone can get along with each other, the hooks are solid enough you don't have to worry much.
At least that was my experience.
Now if you are feeling really ambitious, mix CotCT in and run them concurrently...that was a fun campaign...
For player class choices and advice on what they might find helpful and fun to bring to the table, ask your players to read through the free RotRL player's guide that is available here on the Paizo site.
Let them know that giants will figure heavily in the campaign. They are piles of hps and damage, being prepared for that can make the potential grind a lot more dynamic.
My recommendations:
For the Players:
Print out the two Sandpoint pages from the original player's guide. Don't use the new player's guide, when I read it it seemed way to spoilerific and made Thassilonian language and history seem more common.
Emphasize the variety of languages and ethnic variety of the region, have some of the locals not know common and only their ethnic language ie. Varisian, Shoanti, and Chelaxian. There should be some slight tension between the Chelaxians and the Shoanti, ie Belor and his brother's attitudes (see white deer tavern).
Randomly roll a 1d50 often while players are in town, flip to the building and have the npcs run into the players while they are in town.
Absolutely, use the Community Created rumors list and Sandpoint festival games from Wayfinder 7, its got alot of great things on it that will relate to the two Sandpoint pages from the original guide.
For the DM:
Go with the heroic point buy at least, this is a hard adventure and its always more fun for me as a player if I have "extra" so I can build for a profession.
I wouldn't tell them what classes to take, but I would warn them that there are alot of dungeons in the adventure.
As far as the adventure the demon in the catacombs, Xanesha, and Foxglove's Manor were very challenging.
Lastly, use the community created content. It's great!
My recommendations:
Emphasize the variety of languages and ethnic variety of the region, have some of the locals not know common and only their ethnic language ie. Varisian, Shoanti, and Chelaxian. There should be some slight tension between the Chelaxians and the Shoanti, ie Belor and his brother's attitudes (see white deer tavern).
I agree wholeheartedly, but one minor nitpick: Chelaxians speak Taldane (Common). By canon, there is no Chelaxian language. (Although, in my game, the Chelish accent is distinctive.)
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Well, some development. Last night's session was the first, and it went good. Only three of six players came however, because the other three were sick (the flu is killing my country at the moment). Next Saturday will see them all in the game.
They finished the glassworks with an ingenious stunt by the rogue, who ripped up his bag of gold and tossed it amongst goblins who were swarming him. I ruled that they began squabbling over gold immediately forgetting about him, which gave the wizard a chance to incinerate most of them with a well placed burning hands.
Party composition
1. Half-elf Rogue (gonna go arcane trickster, always plays incredibly suboptimal characters, so not of much use overall)
2. Human Ninja (western flavor), did the most damage in the session
3. Human Wizard
late arrivals:
4. Human Paladin (tower shield and longsword, so tank pretty much)
5. Dwarven ranger named Jack with giants as favored enemies (he always plays comic relief characters)
6. I have no idea what this guy will be playing. Hopefully a divine caster of some sort.
Let them know that giants will figure heavily in the campaign.We-ell, ogres are a big thing in the third module, and giants most definitely dominate the fourth. After that, not so much.
Doug M.
Flipping through, there are a decent amount of scripted encounters with giants in the sixth module as well. At least at the end parts. Plus, there is a 35% chance that a random encounter in the sixth module will include giants of some kind. I'm looking at the Anniversary Edition though, so if you're referencing the regular version, it might be different.
Let them know that giants will figure heavily in the campaign.We-ell, ogres are a big thing in the third module, and giants most definitely dominate the fourth. After that, not so much.
Doug M.
More than a third of an AP qualifies as heavily for me, sorry.
You don't even have to specialized to wreak lots of havoc Confusion is the perfect spell for having hordes of giants take out each other, and fear -- also a fourth level spell -- is marvellous too.
Giants have weaknesses, just like every other monster.
I'm not close to suggesting they don't have weaknesses, or that there aren't ways around them. I'm running the original 3.5 version and we're in book four now. The damage output makes them dangerous and a burden for any healers. Their hit points have turned more than one fight into a slogfest. There is an enchanter in the party, but spells are limited.
Going back, I would have informed them of the abundance of giants, and maybe the players would have made choices that would have helped to stop mook fights from turning into deadly grinds. It's the same way I would tell players that an Age of Worms campaign is undead heavy, or Savage Tide is demon heavy.
Going in I wouldn't have thought giants would be problem monsters, but there are so many. I don't think a little warning so that maybe the fighter was a dwarf instead of human, or that a giant-bane weapon was a worthwhile investment, would break the campaign.
I tend to agree. Keep in mind that as a GM you could certainly replace inappropriate stuff with useful-to-them stuff (e.g., drop a giantbane weapon sometime in part 3) or after the raid on Sandpoint PCs might be advised by a local to get a giantbane weapon or consider how to fight them.
If they don't take the hint, it's not your fault.