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Is it a Sanctioned AP? All of the Sanctioned APs have specific areas of content that are playable for PFS credit when played with PFS legal characters; each chapter has a single level's worth of content. Alternatively, if you're playing through the entire AP in "Campaign Mode" there are downloadable character sheets that apply a level's worth of credit as if they'd played pre-gens.
There is no way to play a single AP start to finish outside of campaign mode without dipping into other sources, though a few APs can be combined to get you from level 1-12+ running only APs.
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Each book is tiered like a module and XP is granted just like a module (3XP, 4 PP).
The real question is are they wanting to play the full AP or just the sanctioned bits? For APs you have two options really:
1. Society Play: PFS play with PFS characters or Pregens. You only play the sanctioned portions of each installment of the AP.
Pros: You will finish the AP much quicker and folks get to play their PFS characters.
Cons: You miss out on some of the story which may make the series of adventures feel a bit disjointed.
2. Campaign Play: Non-PFS characters. You play through the entire AP.
Pros: You experience the full story and the PCs can be built without adherence to the PFS guidelines (hello 30 pt build, Hero Points, and Scarred Witch Doctor).
Cons: It is a MUCH bigger time commitment (you are signing up for a campaign, not just six 8-10 hour adventures).
For option 1 you just run the sanctioned bits for PFS characters of legal level for the adventure and give them 3XP and 4PP if they complete it.
For option 2, it is basically a home game where you get to apply chronicle sheets to a PFS PC when you complete the sections. The official wording for this is on pg29 of the Guide to Organized Play:
Alternatively, if you are participating in a Pathfinder Adventure Path with an ongoing group undertaking the entire, six-book campaign, you may receive credit for playing the sanctioned portions of the adventure as if you had played a pregenerated character. In this case, GMs running the Adventure Path are not bound to the rules of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign (such as 20 point buy, unavailability of hero points, etc...) when running the campaign or the sanctioned portion of the adventure. Pathfinder Society characters and characters
from an ongoing Adventure Path campaign may not play in the same adventure.
Hope that helps.
EDIT: Ninja'd by a wolf. ;)
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Hence the time commitment listed in the Cons section for Campaign mode. ;)
I've heard folks say they have completed an AP in 6 months, but honestly, expect at least 11 months if not closer to 18; assuming you and the players get into the story and roleplay and all that entails.
That said, I do like a full story arc. I've run RotR twice (and the first two books three times), played in CotCT and am currently playing in JR and Kingmaker. For RotR, one group finished before it became PFS legal. The other is in book 5 and should be done sometime soon (we've been taking our time with it though ... this will be year 3 for this one I think ... we've been taking breaks and running scenarios as well).
And you can try out the not-legal-for-PFS options out there. Always fun to try something you otherwise would not be able to. :)
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Hence the time commitment listed in the Cons section for Campaign mode. ;)
I've heard folks say they have completed an AP in 6 months, but honestly, expect at least 11 months if not closer to 18; assuming you and the players get into the story and roleplay and all that entails.
That said, I do like a full story arc. I've run RotR twice (and the first two books three times), played in CotCT and am currently playing in JR and Kingmaker. For RotR, one group finished before it became PFS legal. The other is in book 5 and should be done sometime soon (we've been taking our time with it though ... this will be year 3 for this one I think ... we've been taking breaks and running scenarios as well).
And you can try out the not-legal-for-PFS options out there. Always fun to try something you otherwise would not be able to. :)
I think you did a good job of explaining; I just thought the added caution was warranted as your advice got repeated and translated ;) I've GMed 4 AP chapters and couldn't imagine running them without a solidly dedicated group.
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Note: One of the newer modules, The Dragon's Demand, also offers play in both PFS mode and campaign mode. While it only (only!) covers 1st to (potentially) 7th level play, it can take a while to play through in campaign mode, as well. But campaign mode offers a bonmus chronicle, if you put all 4 chronicles on the same PC...
We are still waiting to see if the newest module, Wardens of the Reborn Forge, offers the same modes and potential extra chronicle. Note that this is a module that runs from 12th to 15th level...
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Did I understand this correctly:
I can play the AP with as many house rules as I want and switch it around as I want (usual home game stuff - making this monster stronger, making that monster weaker) and give my group chronicle sheets for completing certain sections of the AP which they can apply to their PFS characters?
I always thought the "PFS-characters-only"-ruling was the only option there.
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Did I understand this correctly:
I can play the AP with as many house rules as I want and switch it around as I want (usual home game stuff - making this monster stronger, making that monster weaker) and give my group chronicle sheets for completing certain sections of the AP which they can apply to their PFS characters?
That's absolutely right. I'm GMing Rise of the Runelords as a home game for 15-point buy characters. The chronicles work almost exactly like GM credit.
Another data point for duration: our sessions include about 3 hours of play (maybe just over) and we completed the first three chapters (i.e. half the AP) in 32 sessions.
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Awesome to hear. Now, the quoted part doesn't really spell it out, but I assume GM credit is applied as well?
Side note: It took my group about 4 sessions to finish the first module of The Carrion Crown with about 8 hours per session.
The second module took them quite a bit longer - we're about 6 sessions in and it will take at least two more.
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Addressing a few things which have come up:
In PFS mode, you have to leave the content as is. In Campaign Mode, you can modify things, though I haven't seen any specifics as to how much could be modified. I doubt anyone would question too thoroughly as long as you don't say "Ok, you all are gathered at the Inn... and you get a Chronicle Sheet!" without a single monster fought ;)
Dragon's Demand does have a Campaign Mode option, but similar to an AP would require outside content to be applied to the same character. There's a one level gap which can be filled by, say, the first chapter of Reign of Winter, the first level of Thornkeep, or any of the level 1 modules.
I don't think that Wardens of the Forge will have a campaign mode, but I would imagine that Tears at Bitter Manor (another SuperStar Super-long) will have a Campaign Mode if the Campaign Organizers were happy with the way Dragon's Demand worked out.
And each is worth 2 table credits towards your GM star rating......which has the dubious distinction of almost certainly being the slowest way possible to earn GM credit.
I think that GMing two non-sanctioned APs has the dubious distinction of being the slowest way to earn GM credit. Come on second star ;)
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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I just wanted to chime in about campaign mode for Dragon's Demand.
My group had a great time with it. The players were split down the middle—half had never played Pathfinder before and half were experienced gamers. By running it in campaign mode I got to show the new players how a homebrew can vary compared to a game of PFS, it's various benefits and the drawbacks. They got to sandbox it up in the game, and ended up taking their characters in a decidedly unique direction. It was great to award their creativity with chronicle sheets that carried over into PFS, where they could begin exploring how higher level games operate in PFS, armed with the game mechanics they had learned playing Demand.
I hope to see many more APs and modules adapted to run in campaign mode, as it has been a resounding success here.
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I'll second that, Walter. Dragon's Demand actually makes for a pretty solid intro adventure for newer players. You do cover a fair amount of the mechanics through the game (including darkness rules, potentially underwater combat rules, etc.), so new players who play through the adventure should be in a stronger position rules wise once they complete it.
And yeah, Paz & Wolfspirit, running APs in campaign mode is the slowest way to get GM credit, but you do have a lot of fun getting there. :)
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And each is worth 2 table credits towards your GM star rating......which has the dubious distinction of almost certainly being the slowest way possible to earn GM credit.
And, from the other side, you can get a lot of table credit, quickly, by only running Free RPG Day modules, which are also worth two table credits, but are 4 hour duration...
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I grant you that Thornkeep adventures are much shorter than the typical 3 xp module, but calling them the same [way] as 1 XP Free Game Day modules is really a stretch. In my experience, the FGD modules can run in about 3-4 hours normally, while the Thornkeep modules are more like 5-6 hours without any extra roleplay in the village.