Early Pathfinder Experiences
Initially I tried running Pathfinder as a natural progression from custom D&D 3.8 house rules firstly in the Outsea setting and then briefly in the city of Absalom. When I run games I really enjoy designing my own campaigns and rarely use premade material, so when I hadn't been feeling inspired for some time after being the one who was usually the GM one of the other guys in our group offered to run one of the Pathfinder Adventure Paths. As far as I'm concerned this is something I'd never have wanted to do myself, no matter how good the material, simply because the creative outlet of campaign design is far more enjoyable to me personally given the amount of time one ends up investing in these games. Obviously though we were never going to get a true feeling for Pathfinder without actually playing an Adventure Path, as this seems to be the defining characteristic of the game. Indeed conformity into this common culture appears to be a driving force in general and why the setting of Outsea appeals to me so much as a place that challenges norms and really tries to find something unique, a key trait of China Mieville's. Anyway, so the idea of being a player for a while nevertheless appealed, and as an amusing echo of the Outsea Campaign I had been infrequently running I created an aquatic elf character for Rise of the Runelords.
RISE OF THE RUNELORDS
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Characters in our Campaign;
Zerrin Stormtide - Aquatic Elf Druid
Lady Tessara - Elf Witch
Argus Peabody - Human Magus
Ricgold Dryadson - Human Rogue
Wex - Human cleric of Desna
Lehhi Greyanvil - Dwarven Inquisitor
Tino Scarletti - Human Fighter
CAMPAIGN BEGINNINGS
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Our GM got things started with the module Murder's Mark which provided a good chance to roleplay and interact during the initial representation of our characters and the formation of the group. Most of our characters were then bound together by mishap as a lead-in to the adventure path.
KEY FEATURES
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Most of the characters were initially submitted to the GM in digital format via a spreadsheet on Googledocs. We have been using Rolld20 and Google Hangouts to incorporate players who cannot be there in person but are still available to play. The prevalence of material for the chosen adventure path has been convenient for adding tile-maps to Rolld20, which our GM has combined with LCD monitor screens lying face-up on the gaming table to create a digital gameboard. The preference so far has been to continue to use actual miniatures on top of this , combining hand-painted miniatures for most of the characters, Rise of the Runelords minis & other miniatures in support. So far Zerrin and Wex have hand-sculpted miniatures made and painted by their respective players.
AT PRESENT
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Currently we are about to engage in battle against Warchief Ripnugget and his goblin forces at Thistletop, having already defeated Nualia & Malfeshnekor. Most of our characters have only just reached level 3.
An account of the battle of Thistletop by Zerrin Stormtide.
Where did Argus and Tino get to we wondered as we closed in on the goblin forces gathering amidst the palisades above. Our dwarven inquisitor advanced with his firearm poised to blast as many of the cowering creatures as possible. Their warchief cast vehement threats in our direction, rallying his followers from atop his reptilian mount, the force of his words greatly troubling me. To drown out his warcry I caused a sphere of flame to erupt around him, scorching him mercilessly. Lehhi roared judgment at the goblin crowd as the survivors of his initial blast leapt bodily upon him, dragging him down by weight of numbers. I could hear Tessara cast her baleful hexes against the warchief as he struggled to escape the wrath of my flames, and Ricgold our party 'accountant' seemed beset by a wave of ill fortune in his attempts to keep the goblin forces at bay. Wex hurled his star-knife into the fray with Desna's blessing upon it as Shalelu fired arrow after arrow at the snarling mob. Manoeuvring out of the fire and around the battlefield their leader appeared at the top of the palisade above me upon his steed, attempting to flank us from above. I felt a storm of vengeance stir within me as though lightning coursed in my veins, lancing a deadly strike with my longspear that stole the life from the warchief. As their leader fell lifeless to the ground the tide of battle turned, the party cutting down goblin after goblin with grim determination. Tessara strangled goblins with her animated hair and Ric's fortunes lifted as his short blade began to savour goblin blood. The goblin I suspected was a nature shaman wisely sought to flee, but such short legs could not escape the fleet-footed priest of Desna and was brought down in the end. As thoughts of setting Thistletop ablaze began to form in our minds we turned to explore the remaining depths of the fortress in search of any last remaining secrets, as well as our errant companions...