Alright, so, my kids group have been "tooling around" in Rappan Athuk for a while now, so they've got PF down pretty well (over a year of play at this point) and aren't afraid of a challenge. We've decided that starting over at 1st level would be fun (they started RA at 4th level) and they like the immersive story elements present in the various APs. I'm currently running RotR with my regular group (2X per month) and running Jade Regent with an online group (weekly) so I'd rather avoid those.
Given that the kids are happy to mow down Bad Guys in a combat heavy story and aren't as strong in investigation and nuance, which AP do you think will suit them best? Don't get me wrong, a couple of them have been RPGing for 5 or more years and played all sorts of stuff (White Box, 1E, Champions, etc.) so they're pretty clever, but a railroad game won't bother them in the least. A good story, good fights, and straightforward order of events will keep 'em happy?
So, your thoughts?
How old are they and what are their interests?
If you think they're mature enough and up to the challenge, Reign of Winter could be fun. You might want to moderate the environmental aspects as it can be too much, however (perhaps combats happen when it's not snowing or the like).
Likewise, there are Big Bad Hero aspects to both Wrath of the Righteous and to Serpent's Skull. That group may enjoy either of those APs.
Looking over S*, I actually think that might appeal to them as it seems to be just a big chase the artifact, dungeon chase. I love the idea of RoW, and really want to run it, but how much problem-solving is involved?
Also, WoR features the Mythic rule which, probably doesn't work so well for 6 players.
Anyways, specs are 5 kids and one of the Dads. Kids range from age 6 (she loves to play fighters and bash stuff) to 13, they like the dungeon crawl nature of Rappan Athuk, but I didn't really setup any motivation for them.
Thank you for your response by the way.
Reign of Winter doesn't use any Mythic Rules. People have worked to incorporate them, but the only Mythic character is Baba Yaga, whom the PCs never fight and are in fact trying to save.
There are a couple situations where puzzle solving may be required. Sometimes riddles as well. But there's multiple solutions so if they can't solve the puzzle, brute force may work. ;)
The only real issue is that this is old-style fairy tales. The ones where Red Riding Hood is eaten, or the mermaid is turned to foam. So you may want to gloss over sections.
Hows about Skull & Shackles, every kid loves pirates:) especially if you get the map folio with the pirate map of the shackles.
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Shattered Star sounds like an excellent choice - LOTS of straightforward fighting, with enough role playing thrown in the mix to keep things fresh. Some of the dungeons are really, really cool.
Now there IS some adult content you would probably want to soften up for the 6 year olds... but that's true of many APs.
In particular, the second adventure has a lot to do with the Tunelord of lust, and there are some suggestive descriptions... and the violent, abusive relationship between an alu demon and the leader of the soldeirs stationed in the dungeon should also be downplayed.
Other than that, it's all good.
Again, many thanks for the advice.
I'm afraid that Skull & Shackles may be too "sandboxy" for them, but I'll give it a look as well. Yeah, everyone loves pirates.
I forgot about the Sin of Lust bit which I should have expected to make an appearance in that AP. I may have to take a look at Book 2 of S* and see how much RetConning I'll have to do to it to make it a go. I'm currently reading books 1 of S* & RoW so guess I need to pick up S&Sh #1 and give it a read.
How heavy is the problem solving bits in Carrion Crown? I've read that there is a fair bit of investigation involved. Oddly enough, my kids love smashing undead and they all dig Scooby Do. Jinkies!
Carrion crown could probably be scooby doed fairly easily. The problem solving/investigative aspect of it really depends on the group and as a GM its quite easy for you to dump the key clue in the party's lap if you feel things are lagging. Plus there's a variety of helpful NPCs for each adventure that can provide aid.
Yeah oddly enough the horror AP would probably be one of the better APs to tackle with kids (though not sure what to do with Wake of the Watcher, the lovecraftian adventure)
How old are the kids in your group? I've run some games for my sons, 8 and 11, and the biggest problem for me is attention span (mainly the younger one), but it sounds like you've played quite a bit with this group and don't need to worry about that.
The youngest is 6 and she only plays about half the time as she is scooted off to bed at a convenient point during most sessions. For the most part, they are 9-13. Their attention span is quite surprising since the older ones (excluding my 6-year old daughter) have been playing RPGs for many years. They do better though when the campaign is very clear cut with obvious progressions. Sand box style flummoxes them pretty badly.
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Carrion Crown with a Harry Potter feel is pretty good.
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Legacy of Fire requires updating to Pathfinder rules, but it has a great Arabian nights feel to it with Genies and wishes and such. It also doesn't have too much adult material that you'd need to tone down.
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Well, the kids have spoken and much to my surprise, they've voted for Reign of Winter which is fine by me. I've been wanting to run it so that's cool. It appears to be light on dungeons, but maybe they'll be OK with it. It looks like we get away from the typical dungeon denizens that they've been dealing with so I think they'll enjoy some of the strange new foes.
Thanks for the suggestions folks.
Don't forget: Reign of Winter has a leash to keep them moving in a specific direction. If they don't know what to do next? Once they've met the Black Rider, Have the Mantle/Geas give them a helpful little tug so they know which way to go. It's Baba Yaga after all.
While there are sandbox elements in the campaign, the first part is fairly linear (you follow a path with a trail that remains despite a day's worth of snow) (personally I'd turn off the snow as it can get frustrating rather quickly, or maybe have "lulls" happen every couple of rounds) and once you have the Mantle... that gives you a means of giving helpful hints on which way to go.
Good luck! (Also, small suggestion on Rokhar - give him one level of Rogue and eliminate one level of Cleric (and give him a potion of Invisibility to make up for the lost spell). Otherwise he's too powerful.)
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Legacy of Fire requires updating to Pathfinder rules, but it has a great Arabian nights feel to it with Genies and wishes and such. It also doesn't have too much adult material that you'd need to tone down.
Actually I'd say Legacy of Fire is not an optimal choice for a group who likes to keep things simple. The first module largley depends on the players coming up with a strategy to conquer a town from a tribe of hostile humanoids - when I ran it the players had a great time debating courses of action and coming up with plans, but they DO have to be proactive, unlike the kids described by the OP who like to just go for a fun ride. Also, the 5th adventure is kind of a campaign killer.
You're right, I had not considered that.