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So my group is BLAZING through Rise of the Runelords (started yesterday, and they're about to find the Brotherhood of the Seven), so I started wondering...what AP should I do next?
My GMing style:
-Loves roleplaying, clues/maps, stuff like that.
-Combat is a bit of a headache, so an AP that minimized or gave ways to avoid/circumvent combat would be excellent.
-Preferably completed, as I love poking through and inserting foreshadowing.
My players like:
-Heroic action.
-Clever/unique NPCs
-A well-done story/ways to completely circumvent combat.
What AP would be best for our group?
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^I vote for Curse of the Crimson Throne. But first, see this thread. And yes, it does have quite a bit of combat, but quite a bit of roleplaying in it. Of course, I think that the rewrite therein is awesome, so I might be a bit biased. But they should hire Inspectre to do Curse of the Crimson Throne Anniversary Edition.
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Kingmaker Pros:
* Tons of NPC potential. You'll have a blast with all the RP, and every playthrough somehow has a different ruling council.
* Workarounds. Books 1 and 2 are very strong in this area, allowing alternate solutions to problems. Book 4 has one mission in particular that leaves the method of success open-ended to allow the group to plan out their own strategy.
* Kingmaker has TONS of clues. Many enemies of Book 6 are foreshadowed early on by allowing the players to discover the creature's aftermath (unicorn, skeleton, and cairn - you all know the ones). Make sure someone takes Knowledge (History), because it will come up. A LOT. If your players are particularly crafty, they'll use all the clues to prepare for encounters and get the upper hand.
* Engaging story. Nothing brings a group together like building a kingdom and protecting it from the dangers of the world as it grows. Whether you use the kingdom rules or not, you should have no problem getting the PCs interested.
Kingmaker Cons:
* Lack of cohesive story. Despite the foreshadowing, the books all have villains that seem to be completely isolated. It is only in Book 6 that you discover how all the events leading up to the finale were related, and by then it isn't enough to save the plot from being more like a Shyamalan movie than an actual scenario.
* Weak Encounters. My group finished Book 4 in two sessions for a few reasons - enemies couldn't fly and had no ranged options, so as long as Fly was prepared there was no reason to run combat. Book 2 has similar issues, but Books 3, 5, and 6 are really good at negating those advantages.
* Complex mechanics. If you don't want a headache, skip the kingdom-building and simply ask your players what buildings they want in their city. Start small and build up to truly remarkable things. If you do decide to delve into kingdom-building, for the love of Sarenrae, use the Ultimate Campaign rules - Kingmaker's rules are broken and favor magic item economies that don't exist outside of Katapesh.
* Background info. There is a LOT of backstory info about the villains and history of the Stolen Lands that there are simply no methods of discovering, none more noticeable than Book 3. The final villain is hardly going to waste time explaining his history and motives, but there are whole pages dedicated to it and you'll never get to show it off unless you work something in.
* 15-Minute Adventuring Day Syndrome. There is no reason (beyond time constraints that don't exist) to not take a rest after every hex combat. Nova builds will absolutely wreck encounters that aren't part of the dungeon crawl at the end of each book. I embraced it and found it hard to challenge the players, but the dungeons gave them a run for their money every time. Find a way to deal with it, or accept it as a fact of life.
My Changes:
* Mention the BBEG a few times in passing. Despite mentioning in Book 6 that many of the local fey know and fear her, none ever mention it in the story. Drop a few hooks about fairy tales and children's bedtime stories to get their attention - they'll appreciate it once Book 6 rolls around.
* Do something cool with dreams (or Dreamlandia, as my party came to call it). Book 6 has numerous nightmare-themed monsters and it's just too juicy to pass up, especially once you read the BBEG's backstory. Look for the initials "CR". One of my players had an amnesia backstory that I worked into the nightmare theme with some homages to the Silent Hill franchise. Look up the Nightmare template - you'll enjoy toying with it.
* Brevoy's political issues are a constant backdrop in this AP, and although it isn't until the end of Book 6 that things (potentially) become violent, you stop receiving aid from Restov in Book 3. I set up a big celebration post-Book 1 using Redcelt's Game of Thrones in Brevoy as a guideline, having the party make alliances in exchange for the starting funds needed to run the kingdom.
Kingmaker is a very divisive AP - while I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, there were times when I could tell my players were bored (mostly kingdom-building, but what would it be if it wasn't Kingmaker?). However, the payoff was fantastic, and dungeons are (mostly) well-designed. Just don't let one player wander off to explore that last bit of dungeon while the others count treasure - the same guy was grappled and eaten twice as a result. NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY.
For Skull & Shackles see this PbP. This PbP got the massive rewrite to the beginning that:
1. Enables the AP for use with Good characters, and does so in an interesting way, fitting in an important piece of the Inner Sea region that hasn't yet been explored in APs (and is not scheduled in any future AP that has been announced).
2. Removes the completely cheesy railroad start that was in EVERY OTHER PbP I have seen in favor of what is admittedly still a railroad, but one with a much more interesting track layout.
Unfortunately, this PbP has gone inactive. RIP. Still, they should hire DM Barcas to do Skull & Shackles Anniversary Edition.