[Opinions wanted] Running kingmaker again. Adding some changes [spoiler warning]

[He Who Seeks Opinions]

Good Evening all. I am looking to run kingmaker for a 4th time. half the players in it would be repeat runners. They did not win the first time. I am adding some changes to it so i thought i would get opinions.

This time around i will be using the Ultimate campaign books kingdom rules.

Slow XP Chart:

Slow XP Gain, which can be made up in other ways, but also allow for more additions and a longer campaign. The first few levels are the hardest When on slow exp, so the exploration will be worth Experince per Hex to make up for the slow xp.

I also want to do a CotCT or CoT thing where they adventure in their own city. Maybe Just a 1/2 AP Worth. Let them get to know the Lesser NPCs and interact with things. Im thinking In the middle of Book 2. If they get to know their city, build good relations with the people, They will be more inclined to do what ever it takes for them.

Mythic:

Thinking it will be Mythic. I was originally going to do it right from the start, but am thinking 2nd book after they have established their First town. I am thinking a Meteor is going to hit, a few hexes away. Cratering a Hex and the air blast will damage the city. What they will find Im thinking may be Nyrissa in the center of the Crater after being cast out of the First World. She will be encased in a Crystal prison. Its emanating magic that is making the first world blossom around them. The only way to stop it, will be to release her. It will be at this time, that she decides she needs to take over the stolen lands.She might even be friendly to them at first. The Crystal Prison, created by the eldests will put the party through ascension, and Nyrissa.

She will use a chunk of the crystal to make the bottle, as well as to ascend other baddies the party faces, and will allow the party to Ascend their new characters that they make if they die.
[/Mythic]

[spoiler=Monster Kingdom]
Love the idea of a monster kingdom to compete with. It forces them to have a standing army, or to rip in to it themselves. Thinking that the troll leader though will be more than just a troll. He will have an Intellect Devourer in him. Then Ascending the troll body to give it the Mythic troll aspects. This will make him very Intelligent as well. This will make for some interesting Role Play opportunities.

City Adventure:

After the Meteor Hits, the city is damaged. The party will start their city adventure by helping out, and finding that there is a Thief who uses Violence to get what he wants. He will "stab" Wives, children, or young men to threaten people and get what he wants. Once he gets it, he apologizes for the pain and casts a healing spell on them. In Reality he is actually biting them, but healing them so there are no marks. This is an odd Lycanthropy though, as they will not trigger till a Certain night. This idea was taken from Razor Coast. They will have a Plague of Were-rats on there hands, but if they catch the thief early the damage will be limited. Either way, there will always be a few left hiding in town.

Will post some more idea's later.
Thanks for your input everyone.

[Goraxes]

Reserved for updates

[Maynotcare]

I was busy yesterday, and am frankly amazed you haven't gotten any feedback yet, so... here's a few things I would suggest in a more general format to change things up, keep it interesting for those who are replaying the campaign, and maybe make it more mythic.

1. If Nyrissa isn't even present yet in Book 1, then the Stag Lord should have a connection to Pitax instead. Perhaps make him one of the city's former lordlings ousted by Irovetti's takeover of the city, thus explaining his belief that he has a right to claim lordship over this new territory, explaining the funds with which he equipped his mercenaries, and why he has resorted to drinking himself into oblivion. From there, you can re-contextualize a lot of the actions of the bandits, perhaps even Happs is perfectly aware of who and what the Stag Lord is, but they're mercenaries from Pitax, not knights of some Brevic noble, so he's still going to be motivated by greed and lust.

2. I would make sure that if Nyrissa is interacting with the players even early on, that you really play up the fey angle with her, and remember that she has multiple motivations. She wants to appease the Eldest by bottling the Stolen Lands as a gift... but she also wants to discover what happened to her lost love, Count Ranalc, and now that she's no longer in the First World, finding him might become a greater urgency, especially to find allies. To play up the fey angle, I would start by playing her as if she believes herself to be the protagonist in a faerie tale, spinning a tale of woe at how she was mistreated by her peers and wishes only to return home and tend to her loyal subjects... how her peers were jealous of the undying love she shared for her beloved (never have her actually name him) and banished him so that they could no longer be together. But most importantly, she shouldn't seem evil per se. Honestly, the most insidious thing you could do is try and get Nyrissa a seat on the new kingdom's council. It would seem obvious that she would want to be a ruler, but she fits really well in several other positions as well, from High Priestess (urging the people to worship her) to Grand Diplomat. Your players may recall her being the big bad final boss, but if you play your cards right, you just might convince them that she's going to be 'good' this time through with a new enemy. Perhaps even the Eldest will be their mythic opponents!

3. After book 2, stop the hex-crawling and make that all dealt with through edicts. Especially in a mythic campaign, riding around mapping the place doesn't really fit, and you're going to want to instead focus on amping up the adventure at the encounter sites. When word arrives of some problem in Varnhold, it would make sense for the party to not just ride out on their own, but to muster their troops and march them over there as a show of strength/solidarity. The party would be able to move much faster, arriving first to deal with the monsters settled in the town, but then their troops would arrive, garrisoning the abandoned town and beginning the process of scouting the surrounding terrain. After all, a dozen scouting parties can chart terrain much faster than just one, and the party can then quickly react to discoveries, rushing out to negotiate with the centaurs or to lead a small force of troops against a suitably more mythic opponent than would normally be found. The real point though, is that you want to keep the players engaged with their kingdom. Give something for their people to do at all times, even if it's just finding encounter sites, making sure they have well-supplied base camps to return to, etc.

[Jason Nelson]

You definitely want to check out Kingdom-Building AP Plug-Ins and, if you're using the kingdom-building and mass combat elements of Kingmaker, these Ultimate Plug-Ins, written by the same authors who wrote most of the AP and support articles and adding an incredible amount of detail and flavor, rules, and adventure options for jazzing up your Kingmaker experience.

There are plenty of reviews for both product lines posted right here on Paizo.com.

[Dragonchess Player]

Note there is an outline for running Kingmaker as Mythic, including stat blocks.

Also, I'll second the need to play up the "fey menace" throughout the first five installments: Highlight Nyrissa's machinations (by emphasizing existing connections and adding ties with the Dancing Lady, Hurgulka, the spriggans, and Ngara) frequently.

[RelicBlackOUT]

He Who Seeks Opinions wrote:

I also want to do a CotCT or CoT thing where they adventure in their own city. Maybe Just a 1/2 AP Worth. Let them get to know the Lesser NPCs and interact with things. Im thinking In the middle of Book 2. If they get to know their city, build good relations with the people, They will be more inclined to do what ever it takes for them.

This is a great idea. That could be fun, and make their city/kingdom "real"