This is an open request for advice (And also, maybe a sticky if this takes off...), not just from players of the Anniversary Edition, but from all readers of this section of the Paizo-verse, for advice on running Rise of the Runelords as it pertains to the Anniversary Edition.
Well, maybe especially from others using this Tome instead of the AP Books or PDFs. Or have the AE and one of the other.
This is mainly because it can be hard to sort some of the Old Reign's rules conversations from the New King's system. (I know I could work from the later pages, and I enjoy many anecdotes along the way, but really, it can still be a mixed bag looking for Crunch sometimes.) Particularly in the AP Specific, already stickied posts that have 150+ posts already.
I plan to, as I find them, try to add or link relevant suggestions (New or Old) I find in other posts along the way, and I'm sure there are others doing the same thing, and all perspectives are welcome to add.
Anyone at all have any notes, suggestions, or otherwise any interest in this topic?
Hopefully mabye some weekend traffic...
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Well, I don't know about advice, other than reading through the AP in its entirety first.
I am running it for the second time, with the same group, kind of doing a alternate reality/time paradox thing.
In my first run-through I made the PCs champions of the big K, that had been put into hiding for the day that he returned, but the 10 millenia that followed, weakened their minds and magic. They forgot who they were, and had to start all over. Slowly, as they met the big X, and L, their history was revealed. In the end, they rebelled against Lord K and ended his threat.
However, they overlooked a principal player that was smart enough to hide and escape. He used the lens, which was still intact for about a month after the end of the campaign, and used it to contact himself in the past...
Now, I am running again. This time, the champions of Shalast were charged with treason (for no apparent reason) and locked away in the prisons of Kaer Maga. The plan was for them to kept alive, but drained of their experiences and skills by some Intellect Devourer-type creatures... Earthfall came, and they were all but forgotten... until one day, the daughter of Xanderghul, who had escaped Earthfall through some interesting reincarnation magics (effectively turning herself into a Samsaran), woke them. They all remember the last campaign as a dream, remembering their time together, growing, overlapped with the memories of the time before Thassilon's fall. Now, they must relearn what they have lost, or perhaps learn new skills and stop K again. As they will learn, not everything will happen the same as it once did... as the wings of a butterfly cause typhoons thousands of miles away...
My advice is to find some kind of twist that makes this campaign YOURS! Have fun with it! Also, you'd best work at finding ways for you to really get your players to like Sandpoint and its residents. Maybe not all of them, but enough that they will want to come back!
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A few things:
Really make full use of Sandpoint and its environs. Get to know all the key NPC's (Hemlock, Ameiko, Quint) and at least a handful of others - perhaps one per PC so that each person gets a 'friend' to engage them in various RP aspects, a friend you can later use to dramatic effect in a variety of ways. Also, thoroughly read the little blurbs written about the region around Sandpoint - lots of interesting things there and the source of several 'side quests' that My PC's enjoyed during the campaign.
Don't be afraid to fudge rolls. The campaign is particularly deadly in places, and losing a character you have spent so much time developing is fun for no one. I'm not saying take it easy on PC's - they like a challenge - but don't let a single dice roll ruin someone's fun.
Prepare as much as possible, at the very least understand key villians tactics, strategies, motivations and the role they play in the larger picture.
Don't be afraid to shake things up. In our campaign Tetsuo was not in love with Nalia but with his half-sister and was trying to save her from the town's destruction... and the Aldern obsession was in fact a triangle - he was lustfully obsessed with Shayliss who had a relationship with a particularly heroic PC and Enviously obsessed with the PC himself. Just a couple of examples, but they provided a lot of fun for the characters involved.
Its easier to answer questions about specific aspects of the AP than it is to throw out general advice, but I hope this helped.
I haven't actually run the game yet, but from what I've read it definitely seems very important to get the city of Sandpoint absolutely right. I've been hoping to run it for a while now, and the approach I've taken is just to read the articles about Sandpoint and Magnimar as much as I possibly can. I make notes on every single important character in the towns, and I draw a bunch of maps and diagrams to make it absolutely clear to me exactly where everything is. It's a bit like the approach I took with Greyhawk back in the old 2.0 days. It might sound strange to compare it to Greyhawk, because Sandpoint is obviously SO much smaller, but I feel like it's really important to capture the feel of the place as an actual living city.
Basically, I think of it as a mini living city campaign, but with an actual adventure to go to when they get bored of hanging around at The Rusty Dragon.
Also, there's this little side adventure that I found on the forums somewhere that tracks down Chopper's ghost.
Link here: http://www.dorkistan.com/dorkistan/PFRPG/creatures/chopper.htm
If I ever get the chance to run ROTRL, I am definitely going to include this. It's quite short, but I really like the way it delves into the grim history of Sandpoint and its "Late Unpleasantness". I imagine it will help a lot to get the players really attached to the town.