So I am trying to find a group of players for a home game, (I have found one) I came up with idea of running a continuing campaign at the local game shop. Until I can find the 2 or 3 more player that would be good for a home game. Why I am going to use an AP is im hoping this will only take a few of month only a couple of books then the rest of us can finish the AP.
The flaw is there will be a lot of player turn over I think and lots of new players coming and going so I would like to find one that changes in players would hurt the story the least.
I own all the APs so choose any of them that you think will work best for this.
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I'm running Hell's Rebels, and I've thought it would be good for a group in flux because i
A.) it's all in one place, so people could be working or something and miss a session and be fine
and
B.) people can just get promoted to officership from general rebellion ranks and have an idea what's going on
I just dont like to run APs without the entire AP already released but that is a very good point, and idea.
Skull and Shackles is great for this.
I would recommend Shattered Star, the Pathfinder tie in makes characters jumping in and out of the game less jarring.
There are also no large, long, and complex plots that a new player needs to be brought up to speed on to jump in the game.
For skull and shackles don't you think the ship to ship combat might be a drag for the new players who are not familiar with things?
Shattered Star that is a good point but doesn't it build a lot of the previous APs
I'm running Hell's Rebels, and I've thought it would be good for a group in flux because iA.) it's all in one place, so people could be working or something and miss a session and be fine
and
B.) people can just get promoted to officership from general rebellion ranks and have an idea what's going on
In actual practice, the Council of Thieves PbP that I followed from start to finish seemed to work pretty well for this. (And it also had the vibe of the PCs having day jobs -- in fact, that was quite important for the overall flavor of the campaign for the first considerable part of it.)
For skull and shackles don't you think the ship to ship combat might be a drag for the new players who are not familiar with things?
Shattered Star that is a good point but doesn't it build a lot of the previous APs
Ship to ship combat is largely optional, it can easily be resolved with fights vs opposing ship officers, a little goes a long way with ship to ship combat.
^Speaking of additional subsystems more generally, does anybody have a summary of which APs have additional rules subsystems? I'll give it a start, but I'll warn in advance that I might have missed some, since I have just been following the APs in PbP form and don't actually have them, and the Player's Guide doesn't always tell you of the system, or it might have been forgettable enough that I forgot it, or the GM in the particular PbP might have decided to bypass it, so be wary of any where I list "None?":
Ruse of the Runelords: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Curse of the Crimson Throne: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Second Darkness: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Legacy of Fire: None? Doesn't seem to need one. (But see Mummy's Mask, below.)
Council of Thieves: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Kingmaker: Map hex exploration, and the Kingdom building subsystem superceded by that in Ultimate Campaign, which reportedly is actually quite decent (and looks okay to me on d20pfsrd.com) for backporting to the AP.
Serpent's Skull: None? Doesn't seem to need one. But beware of Book 1 of this AP taking FOREVER without actually accomplishing much.
Carrion Crown: Harrow Points -- I almost missed this one, and haven't heard of anyone actually using this, even though I have seen Harrow-related stuff in PbPs of some other APs.
Jade Regent: Really clunky caravan subsystem. Fortunately, most people seem to think it's entirely optional.
Skull and Shackles: Ship combat subsystem.
Shattered Star: Pathfinder Society Fame and Prestige subsystem. Haven't heard of anyone actually using this in the AP, but such things are big in PFS (I am not in on PFS, so I am not sure how much the PFS version of this subsystem has evolved relative to what is in the Shattered Star Player's Guide).
Reign of Winter: None? But it introduces a bunch of cold weather/cold environment stuff, including new Animal Companions/Familiars.
Wrath of the Righteous: Mythic Rules. Fortunately, some people have come to the conclusion that this is entirely optional and best removed, although this probably involves a fair amount of GM work.
Mummy's Mask: None? But introduces some hot/desert environment stuff, which probably should have also gone into Legacy of Fire (above, although keep in mind that Legacy of Fire, like Second Darkness, had no accompanying free Player's Guide).
Iron Gods: Technology Rules, although this is partly a new general subsystem and only incidentally campaign-specific.
Giantslayer: None? But introduces some hill/mountain terrain stuff.
Hell's Rebels: Rebellion management subsystem derived from Ultimate Campaign organization rules. Haven't started following a PbP of this yet (because it is so new), and not sure what to think of this yet, although it seems clunky and overly restrictive for managing a city-scale rebellion (even if okay for managing things over larger regions, like nation building in Kingmaker).
Runelords has a sin shtick you keep track of.
Serpent's Skull, has a wilderness survival, and archaeological site exploration mechanics.
Stuff that starts late enough in the AP that the Player's Guide doesn't feel the need to mention is stuff that I would have missed. Although the Council of Thieves PbP that I followed went all the way from start to finish (which was awesome, by the way) didn't use any specific fame and prestige subsystem -- it just roleplayed everything (which was a large part of why this AP that often gets bad reviews was actually awesome).
Kingmaker is perfect. A frontier town where adventurers come to find their fortune and make their reputations. Lots of places to explore and the hexploration is perfect for short sessions with characters coming and going from the group.
^Speaking of additional subsystems more generally, does anybody have a summary of which APs have additional rules subsystems? I'll give it a start, but I'll warn in advance that I might have missed some, since I have just been following the APs in PbP form and don't actually have them, and the Player's Guide doesn't always tell you of the system, or it might have been forgettable enough that I forgot it, or the GM in the particular PbP might have decided to bypass it, so be wary of any where I list "None?":
Ruse of the Runelords: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Curse of the Crimson Throne: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Second Darkness: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Legacy of Fire: None? Doesn't seem to need one. (But see Mummy's Mask, below.)
Council of Thieves: None? Doesn't seem to need one.
Kingmaker: Map hex exploration, and the Kingdom building subsystem superceded by that in Ultimate Campaign, which reportedly is actually quite decent (and looks okay to me on d20pfsrd.com) for backporting to the AP.
Serpent's Skull: None? Doesn't seem to need one. But beware of Book 1 of this AP taking FOREVER without actually accomplishing much.
Carrion Crown: Harrow Points -- I almost missed this one, and haven't heard of anyone actually using this, even though I have seen Harrow-related stuff in PbPs of some other APs.
Jade Regent: Really clunky caravan subsystem. Fortunately, most people seem to think it's entirely optional.
Skull and Shackles: Ship combat subsystem.
Shattered Star: Pathfinder Society Fame and Prestige subsystem. Haven't heard of anyone actually using this in the AP, but such things are big in PFS (I am not in on PFS, so I am not sure how much the PFS version of this subsystem has evolved relative to what is in the Shattered Star Player's Guide).
Reign of Winter: None? But it introduces a bunch of cold weather/cold environment stuff, including new Animal Companions/Familiars.
Wrath of the Righteous: Mythic Rules. Fortunately, some people have come to the...
CotCT has the Harrowing rules
Kingmaker, definitely. I have a regular group, but we essentially do this. Each player can have multiple PCs in my game, but any particular "expedition" they can only bring one character each. Since the campaign has a kingdom and a capital city to call home base, it's easy to say anyone that is missing is back at town.
The open wilderness leaves plenty of room to expand the campaign with more side quests to let extra characters level up. You could easily have a low level group that takes care of the "little problems" that the higher level group doesn't have time to deal with anymore.
CotCT has the Harrowing rules
Forgot about that -- I have seen Harrowing in several APs, so I didn't think of it as being specific to CotCT.
Mummy's Mask also has a library research subsystem, which is pretty great IMHO.
Run a mega dungeon (Emerald Spire or Rappan Athuk or The Grande Temple of Jing) and read The Alexandrian on Opening your Game Table..
Run a mega dungeon (Emerald Spire or Rappan Athuk or The Grande Temple of Jing) and read The Alexandrian on Opening your Game Table..
I agree with the part about letting people drop in and out of a game. I disagree that a megadungeon is at all required to encourage troupe style play.
I mean, if megadungeons are your bag, that's great. But they aren't for everyone.
You don't need to use a (mega) dungeon. But it helps with a lot if problems of player fluctuation. Sandboxy and/or urban stuff will do too. You can do it with other APs but only if you can plausibly introduce new players constantly or have others drop out and maybe later rejoin.