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Hiya,
I'm an old school D&D guy who has become extremely intrigued by Pathfinder.
I was a DM for OD&D and 1E back in the day, and I've been a D&D collector for years now. So, I've got plenty of history and experience with RPGs in general.
Recently, in an effort to find the "perfect" old school clone, I stumbled across Paizo's website.
And although 3.5 D&D never piqued my interest, Pathfinder definitely has.
The quality of the Core Rules and the Bestiary (I own both) and the Adventure Path modules is incredibly impressive. And the fact that Pathfinder has shelf space at bookstores is huge for me.
So, I was hoping for advice on how to set up a small dungeon crawl (heavy on traps, riddles and mind games) plus some unique monsters (i.e., not orcs, giants or ghouls).
I'd also be interested to know whether there are any good play-by-forum sites for old fools like me who'd like to at least try to "upgrade" their gaming to 3.5, or 3.75, as it were.
Thanks for your help.
Keith
I too am an old school gamer and Pathfinder has brought back a lot of old ideas in a few way. I love this game, pathfinder is great.
The Dungeon Crawl I have had some good luck my converting thing for some of my old ad&d books. and I have an encounter that I used not to long ago I will share. It was fun, not the best but fun.
I had a devourer in a room and Every time the devourer died, Time would turn back to just before the PC entered the room. Any effects on the Devourer ended, but the effects on the players stayed (negative levels, ability drain)but dead characters where still alive after the reset. SO the player had to figure out how time was reset and stop that be for killing the devourer. I had a fairly easy puzzle that opened a box containing an amulet of second chances (once a day, you can turn back time and redo the last round) not to over powering but a good reward for 10th level an above. Not sure what the level of Dungeon is but you could change the Devourer to something else.
not sure if this is a help but I really liked this encounter and thought i might help
You can also find quite a few "classic" modules that have been upgraded to the new rules for use/inspiration.
And welcome back.
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I too am an old school gamer and Pathfinder has brought back a lot of old ideas in a few way. I love this game, pathfinder is great.
The Dungeon Crawl I have had some good luck my converting thing for some of my old ad&d books. and I have an encounter that I used not to long ago I will share. It was fun, not the best but fun.
I had a devourer in a room and Every time the devourer died, Time would turn back to just before the PC entered the room. Any effects on the Devourer ended, but the effects on the players stayed (negative levels, ability drain)but dead characters where still alive after the reset. SO the player had to figure out how time was reset and stop that be for killing the devourer. I had a fairly easy puzzle that opened a box containing an amulet of second chances (once a day, you can turn back time and redo the last round) not to over powering but a good reward for 10th level an above. Not sure what the level of Dungeon is but you could change the Devourer to something else.
not sure if this is a help but I really liked this encounter and thought i might help
Yeah, that's exactly the kind of encounter/puzzle I like to run.
I appreciate the tip. Very cool. Thanks.|
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Welcome Keith!
There are PBPs on this very site, I'm sure someone needs another player.As for unique monsters, do you own any of the AP books? There are some great monsters in each one!
I don't own any AP books yet. The PF rule book & Monster manual were not exactly cheap, so it may be a while. Although some appear to be available in PDF.
In addition to mind games, I love having PCs encounter an *interesting* monster with an *interesting* hairdo, to quote Bugs Bunny.
And thanks for the welcome, folks.
I appreciate the advice.
Keith
All,
Let me bump this for a moment and ask --
1. Are any of the AP module sets designed for beginners?
2. Where are on this site can I find play-by-forum info?
Having a little trouble getting oriented to the website.
Thanks!
Keith
Welcome!
All of the APs and modules are available as PDFs here on the site.
As for a "beginner" AP, there isn't one of those per se, but the Price of Immortality module series (Crypt of the Everflame, Masks of the Living God, and City of Golden Death) come close. Particularly the first one, Crypt of the Everflame ... this one is specifically designed for "newcomers" (though there is more for people used to playing 3.5 and needing a bit of help with the changes from that).
Also, Master of the Fallen Fortress is a short adventure for getting new players interested.
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All,
Let me bump this for a moment and ask --
1. Are any of the AP module sets designed for beginners?
2. Where are on this site can I find play-by-forum info?
Having a little trouble getting oriented to the website.
Thanks!
Keith
If you are looking for a one evening adventure for beginners I would recommend the Pathfinder Society scenarios. While they are written for Organised Play this shouldn't detract you. The beauty is - they are self contained and should run in four to ice hours. Season 0 are still written using 3.5 rules - season one onwards are specifically for Pathfinder.
They are PDF and for 3.99 you can't really go that wrong with them. You even get a starter scenario for free that introduces the new classes of the Advanced Player guide. Off course this could be one step too far as the old classes are much more classic D&D.Enjoy and welcome
Thod
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WELCOME TO THE BOARDS and welcome back to D&D!
In addition to the Paizo Modules just mentioned, check out Necromancer Games and Goodman Games. They're good friends with Paizo and they publish stuff exclusively with an "old school feel." You can find their products here on the Boards. Necromancer now owns the rights to Judges Guild from back in the day and redoes lots of their old stuff.
Also, Pathfinder has made some smaller Monster books that you may be interested in; Classic Monsters Revisited and Dungeon Denizens Revisited take some of our favorite old AD&D monsters and reinvision them with some cool "Fluff" so they're not as stale as the old goblin, kobold, ogre, etc. Paizo will publish another in this line called Misfit Monsters Redeemed in a couple months with the old Flumpf and Carbunckle and other old school LAME monsters. It should be really cool.
1. Are any of the AP module sets designed for beginners?
I'm doing Rise of the Runelords for an inexperienced group soon, it seems to be better oriented toward the players not knowing much about D&D or the world of Golarian from what I can see of it.
2. Where are on this site can I find play-by-forum info?
Having a little trouble getting oriented to the website.
I suggest starting here and looking under Play-by-Post, Play-by-Post Discussion and Gamer Connection.
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RotRL (Rise of the RuneLords) is great but keep in mind it's 3.5, not Pathfinder -- easy to update but if someone is new to the whole d20 system, going back and forth between 2 slightly different systems may be tricky.
Kingmaker may be a better AP to first get into. But I'd still start with a couple of the modules, playtesting the rules and such.
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All,
Crypt of the Everflame certainly sounds like the right kind of module for intro play, and may well be what we start with.
Curiously, Stolen Land (Kingmaker 1 of 6) is one that I've been reading at the local B&N, but seemed to be geared more toward wilderness adventure; at this point an old-fashioned dungeon would probably suit us better.
I've been impressed with Goodman Games products I've seen and read; as a collector I enjoy reading RPG material as much as playing it.
Master of the Fallen Fortress sounds *perfect* at this point because it's, well, free :-)
Think I'll download it.
Thanks much for the advice!
Keith
P.S. -- Like D&D 3.5, Pathfinder is a complex game. And yet PF has sparked that intangible, right-brain fascination that I had as a teenager reading 1E. Curious.