Haven't experienced PACG yet. I run the S&S AP. I want to want this but not sure if it really appeals.
Is this fun?
How replayable is this? If it's just a one-shot, I'm out for sure. I can't justify a game that's only playable once.
If someone dies, what happens?
If one character out of a multi-player group dies, how does that player keep playing with the same group?
I'm just so incredibly on the fence with this. Thanks in advance for any input.
1. There are a bunch of different characters in the box and with the Character Add-On Deck that you can try out in different playthroughs. The Class Decks also offer a number of additional character options. That being said, the scenarios in the box will remain the same no matter how many times you play through it, so you'll be seeing the same storyline each time. There are, however, two additional storylines you can try out: the Season of the Shackles Organized Play scenarios (separate purchase required) and an unofficial AP for S&S called Bloodlust Corsairs (free). Both of them can be ran with a so-called "home game" so you don't need to worry about different Organized Play rules.
In all, I personally think it has replayability (I've played through the base scenarios already and playing them a second time with a different group, and have played through the Season of the Shackles as well. Easily 100+ hours put into the game between the three of those).
2. By RAW (Rules As Written), that person needs to start over. They can pick the same character or a different one, but they build their deck from scratch as if they were just starting out, and they lose all their feats. They can either replay all the previously finished scenarios to get themselves back to the level of the rest of the party, or just continue along as-is with a lower power level and acquire additional cards and feats as the rest of the party does. This may be too harsh for you, so if you want to houserule something else go for it -- one such houserule is that they have to rebuild their deck from scratch but keep their feats.
3. See #2.
Different characters and different size groups also give the game a different feel. I've played through RotR at least 4 times. I'm working on time #4 through S&S.
If you have a chance and it is near you, you could check out guild play to get a taste of the game without the expense of the base set. Then, if you like it, you can purchase it.
For #2 & #3 teammates will find time to step back and re-run the scenarios with our friend.
I have played through the base AP twice as two different characters and found myself utilizing completely different cards which made it feel like a very different game to me. There were cards that I hadn't even seen the first go around. I play with two tables who are hopefully going to be finishing the SotS tonight and can say that those scenarios offer a totally different feel as well. Overall, I wouldn't be surprised if I play through it again.
Great game and definitely worth replaying several times. Well worth the money!
Chief Technical Officer
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That being said, the scenarios in the box will remain the same no matter how many times you play through it, so you'll be seeing the same storyline each time.
I have to point out that only *some* things remain the same when you replay a scenario. The main storyline points will be the same—for example, you'll be in the same locations fighting the same villain and the same henchmen—but that only accounts for 10% of the cards you could encounter during a scenario. The other 90% of the cards you might encounter are randomly drawn from the box in a fixed proportion. That is, each time you play a typical scenario (assuming you have the same number of players), you will pull the same number of weapon cards and the same number of spell cards (and so on) from the box, but the actual weapon cards and spell cards you draw will vary. And since you don't necessarily always face all the henchmen in a scenario, you may even occasionally run into a "new" henchman (that is, one that was there but you never saw it) during a replay.
There's a *lot* of replay value in this game.
Yes, I was typing on my phone so my post was a bit more concise than I would have liked. I was referring to the story aspects remaining the same (and hoped that I got that impression across when the following sentences were focused on the story as well). In this case, story aspects are the flavor of the scenario meaning scenario powers, locations, and overall flavor. Of course the cards themselves are randomized and you can encounter entirely different things on a different playthrough :)
If you play through with different player sizes, even the locations will be different (in the sense that more players = more locations generally), so you can get a different overall feel from the same scenario with a different group size.
Overall, there is a ton of replayability in my opinion, and if you're the type that wants a different storyline to toy around with there are the two options I mentioned above -- Season of the Shackles and the unofficial Bloodlust Corsairs.
There's a *lot* of replay value in this game.
*Love it!* :) :)
Thank you everyone for your input. This is on the short list for my next game to get.
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I'll preface this by saying that a swashbuckling maritime setting is my absolute favourite flavour of fantasy (it might have something to do with growing up landlocked). Pirates, buried treasure, ship battles, sea monsters -- love all that stuff. Some folks didn't care for the nautical theme of S&S, preferring their adventures on solid ground (or under it, as the case may be), but it was right up my alley.
That said, without fun and functional game mechanics, even the richest setting will fall flat. And I can honestly say, I can't. Get. Enough of Skull & Shackles!
I ran a Class Deck Kyra through the entire Organized Play Season Zero, and Tontelizi (Fighter Class Deck) and Darago (Wizard Class Deck) through parts of it. I didn't even crack the scenarios in the box until completing the OP. And once I did, they did not disappoint.
I've run a team of Jirelle, Seltyiel, and Oloch through the entire Adventure Path, and it was a blast! I'm most of the way through a second run with Lirianne, Ranzak and Heggal (Cleric Class Deck -- that guy was MADE for S&S!). And I'm already looking ahead to a third try with Feiya, Lini, and Merisiel. (I might wait until Feiya's Iconic Heroes mini and the associated card comes out. That'll give me a chance to play through Wrath!)
Each group has had different strengths and weaknesses, and each character has pursued different deck-building goals. With the inherent random factor in the location decks, even familiar scenarios have a different "feel" every time you play them.
I would not hesitate to recommend S&S! I wish you clear sailing!
S&S was my first experience in the Pathfinder world and I got hooked. I played the scenario a few times now. Normally, my buddy and I take two characters each to fight through the scenarios. I find that more entertaining than one character each. Once you start, I suspect you will find yourself running out to get the expansion decks. That being said, S&S was the first base set released. I have noticed the game has evolved with the newer base sets.
Personally, I prefer Wrath of the Righteous now. Small tweaks, like the monsters scale better as you move up levels. For example, a monster might have need 8 damage to kill in S&S, but when you reach higher levels, that is your bonus(ie. no need to roll). In Wrath of the Righteous, a similar monster might be 8 plus twice the adventure deck number. For for Adventure Deck 5 that would be an 18, not an 8.
Also, they added a trait call corrupted, which makes using blessing more interesting (or at least more costly).
As for dying, it is your game and you can do whatever you want. I know when we started, we played a "time travel" rule for dying. If someone died, we just reset the level. No one was allowed to keep any acquired cards from that failed level. We did that because we were learning the game and figured we would make stupid mistakes.
Whichever one you start with, I think you will enjoy it.
That being said, S&S was the first base set released. I have noticed the game has evolved with the newer base sets.
Pedantry alert: S&S was the second base set. Rise of the Runelords was the first. Wrath of the Righteous is the third and is only halfway released as of right now (AD4 is coming out soon, and some subscribers already have it. AD6 won't be out for another two months). Mummy's Mask is the fourth and is not out yet.
Each set has some sort of "gimmick" to it to cement the flavor. For S&S, it's the ship mechanic. For WotR, it's Abyssal locations and the Corrupted trait. MM will have something else that is unique to it.
I have one suggestion if you want to change it up during a replay that won't cost you a cent: random locations. Since you already know the basic story, for most scenarios, it doesn't really matter which locations are out, so just determine the locations randomly with a d8 (and you can always keep a few important ones if you think some specific locations are needed for a certain scenario).
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I've done that with a 4 player party, it works pretty well. I shuffle the locations up to the current adventure, and dealt out six random locations. It definitely changed things up more than you'd think.
If a scenario card, or the villain / henchmen for the scenario, mention a location by name I always made sure that was one of the six.
And then after dealing, I of course realphabetized them because locations always need to be in order in the box, and I have no desire to disrupt the order of the universe.