I'm planning on running this AP once one of our current games ends in a few months. I'm just curious if there are any major sticking points I should watch out for to prevent this AP from folding like my Wrath of the Righteous game.
A little info about the party I'll be running with:
The group will have two very experienced players and two very new players that are looking to get into the game. Here is what I know so far.
Player 1 - Very experienced, and one of my regular players. He will be running something of an unusual character designed to fit a specific role in the campaign. His character concept is that of a "Mentor" for the newer players - an expert on Thassilonian Magic. Outwardly he will be playing a Teifling Wizard specializing in Illusion magic. The catch is that he's not a Teifling, but a Cambion practicing sin magic with the long term goal of potentially becoming a Runelord himself. His prohibited schools will be Transmutation and Conjuration, so the amount of broken stuff he can do should be pretty limited, plus I trust this player to keep it down to a minimum and make the character interesting. The rest of the party does not know about his true backstory. Inter-party strife is something our group tends to enjoy, so I'm allowing this concept under careful supervision.
Player 2 - Also very experienced. I do not know what he will play but he is EXTREMELY good ad designing cool and fun character concepts. I trust him to play anything and make it a memorable roleplay experience.
Player 3 - A complete newbie to Pathfinder. She plans to play a Kitsune Ninja, and I've helped design the character. She is a good roleplayer with plenty of free-form roleplay experience. The game will be less about the combat and more about the fun of interacting in a story for her.
Player 4 - Also a relatively newbie. I know he has some limited 3rd and 4th edition experience but not much more than that. I do not know what sort of character concept he plans to run, and I don't know what kind of player he is. We have not played together before so he is the one I am most concerned about.
Depending on the characters that Players 2 and 4 come up with I may make a healer to run as a DMPC. Nobody likes to play the healer so I'll probably just bite that bullet myself so the party is not gimped unless someone takes it on themselves to run a healer.
The character creation rules are also designed to be forgiving to newer players. It will be a 15 point buy, only one stat below 10, but I'm modifying it so that each character in addition to normal starting HP also adds their full Constitution score to their HP total at 1st level. This will avoid 1-shots at early levels but won't make a huge difference later on. I'm also going to give them a "care package" from the Pathfinder Society in the form of allowing them to pick up to 1,000GP worth of non-magic adventuring gear, up to 50% of which can be potions or scrolls, subject to my approval. They cannot keep any unused cash.
Basically I want the inexperienced people to have a leg up to get through the lower levels, but by the time they hit 4th or 5th level it won't really be something that impacts them much. Player 1 will not have access to any of this for obvious reasons.
As I said, I won't be running this AP for at least a few months, so I am going to have plenty of time to work out the bugs, get very familiar with the story line and comfortable with the NPC's and villains.
Any thoughts to add?
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Honestly, from my experience so far, Shattered Star is really, really solid. Halfway through book three at the moment. The only thing that's struck me as a "Must be Changed" encounter is the Seugathi at the beginning of Book 3. Cause that would've totally TPKed my group if I'd run it straight. That being said, if your group has significant ranged fire power, this may not be the case for you.
Things to look at with monthes of prep time
-Magnimar. And by association all the NPCs, side quests and optional encounters that can happen here. Despite only book 1 and book 6 heavily taking place in here, this AP gives a ton of stuff to do and interact with in the city. Each book has two NPCs with a need that the PCs can take on as side quests to gain more exp and rewards. Thinking ahead how PCs can run into these NPCs, hear about them, etc, will help open up these possibilities without making them seem scripted or forced. The back cover has the monuments to add more flavor of the city. Book three has a number of optional encounters that can happen in Magnimar as well. I would strongly reccomend getting Magnimar setting book and really making the 'downtime' between modules experinces that the party can really enjoy, meeting with NPC friends and patrons they develop, slowly growing as hometown heroes of the city, etc etc. Lot's of potential here.
-Kaer Maga: Even if it's only for one book, Kaer Maga is just so weird and with so much to do, that it really sticks out as a place to be made special. Book three emphasizes several gangs and gives some very interesting hooks how to get PCs into the political maneuvering and such of the city as extra stuff to do.
-Rival Groups. The AP does lack a bit of urgency. If it's your thing, adding a rival group in some capacity can certainly add an edge to the AP in terms of making PCs think twice about the time they have to craft magic items, or if they can really trust the people who are so helpful in town and such. Potential Rivals are the Aspice Consortium, cultists/followers of the dragon in book five, or anybody that could reasonably know about and want the shards and their powers.
I have quite a few things to say since i am running this AP now (about to end book 5) but i can't do a long post right now.
@Carter Lockhart
Actually there is urgency, it's just that the players and the PCs have no way to know about it.
Actually there is urgency, it's just that the players and the PCs have no way to know about it.
Urgency the Players don't know about isn't really urgency. And the threat of the dragon is completely at the GM's call with no real dead set effect. Hence my suggestion of adding cultists of the dragon to foreshadow and give that sense to the players.
And if you're talking about the runelords, well, it's kinda a nebulous type of urgency. It's certainly not something players are going to worry about surprising them and causing damage if they don't put the sihedron back together. A rival party though? That could be just the right CR that the GM might have them grab the shard first and turn it into a chase quest.
No i was talking about the dragon.
OTOH, having an AP where you are not constantly on the clock gives room for long downtime stretches which can be filled with significant NPC's doing stuff or just time where not much happens. Not every AP needs to be over in a few months in-game time, after all. Although if your players are into crafting magic items, you might need to either put the kibosh on excessive money gains from that (the rule that you can only craft 25-50% of your WBL from Ultimate Campaign helps a lot with that) or you will have to increase the pacing of the campaign.
If there is one weak point which I've discerned from this AP (aside from its focus on dungeons, if that isn't your thing), it is that the modules are very tenuously connected with each other. Aside from "get the next artifact", the only NPC who turns up in each module seems to be Sheila Heidmarch and in the later modules she is more of a side-note than a main character. After running Carrion Crown, I am personally more than a bit leery of those kind of AP's, because I feel that the players are not really anchored into the story without some solid NPC's to bounce off. IMO, it tends to lessen the roleplaying experience for everybody if every NPC you encounter will not be seen again after the module is over.
Yes but the issue is that you can't enforce the guideline about crafting of ultimate campaign sort of putting invisible walls.
And yes there is a problem with the PCs not being tied to the story.
Yeah, I complained at length that SKR didn't bother to put any explanatory text into that section of Ultimate Campaign about why exactly those new limits on magic item crafting were suddenly there. No lore explanation, no rules explanation. Just arbitrarianism.
Anyway, I personally explained it to my players that crafting magic items cheaply puts a strain on the person who does it and thus only getting more personal power (i.e. higher levels = higher WBL) can give that person the ability to craft more magic items cheaply. Crafting items at full market price is still possible, so that they can still customize the equipment of player characters without breaking the game via item power inflation.
The number one thing the pcs have appreciated is the freedom to do stuff at their own pace, spending lots time doing city stuff and non of the annoying npc's often found in APs
I've had the Heidmarch's comment several times that they do have other groups doing things, and one of the most significant things happening is attempting to thwart the plotting of the cult of Lissala, who appear to be attempting to raise another Runelord. So that gives finding the shards a little urgency. And to further drive home that point, I'm going to have them end up facing off against a hit squad sent to Heidmarch Manor in an attempt to eliminate the Society. I'm expecting a chaotic battle.
I've had the Heidmarch's comment several times that they do have other groups doing things, and one of the most significant things happening is attempting to thwart the plotting of the cult of Lissala, who appear to be attempting to raise another Runelord. So that gives finding the shards a little urgency. And to further drive home that point, I'm going to have them end up facing off against a hit squad sent to Heidmarch Manor in an attempt to eliminate the Society. I'm expecting a chaotic battle.
I like this idea, and I think I may steal it. I want this campaign to be a bit more laid back for my players, with enough time for them to develop and feel like they can explore their own interests, but adding in an impetus to chase the plot is always a good idea. Especially since one of my players may have similar goals himself. I also like the hit squad idea and I think it would make a cool mid-level encounter.
Thanks for the ideas.
On what encounters on book 3 are you reffering Balgin?