Contributor
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Hmmm. I may have to reconsider that then, huh?
You can probably roll with what you have for the moment, more or less. (Definitely worth the update, though.) It adds a tiny bit during the initial Gaedren Lamm section, including XP for Campaign Traits. Also, you'll want to keep track of what happens to Lamm's body...
I would definitely recommend using the updated Campaign Traits, though (available here). ^_^
Regardless of the version you run, and Kalindlara is correct it's a great rewrite of an already excellent series and everything is already converted to PF for you. Regardless of the version you need to get the players fully-invested in Korvosa. She is the most important NPC in the AP!
I have a lot of extra material I did for this campaign if you're interested. It is far and away my favorite of the first three post WoTC AP's.
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To be blunt? Significantly rewrite the beginning volume of this AP.
As written, it starts in a strained and rushed manner, the encounters in the Old Fishery are FAR too easy, there's just no motivation or reason to care about it -- ANY OF IT -- and it's all over before it even starts. Later, the XP point curve in Eel's End is potentially 100% utterly broken if the PCs resolve it via diplomacy (as frankly, they are intended to do). Above all, the PCs are not provided with enough opportunity to care about Korvosa, the Crown as an institution, or the Queen as a person. Story wise, it's a failure.
It's just a crappy introduction. There's no point in pulling punches. I think it's substandard work.
I like the rest of the AP a lot. I think Seven Days to the Grave, in particular got all the editorial love as it was being developed in the Pit between Wes and James J.. Problem is, Nick Logue's installment is one of the weakest introductory volumes in any Paizo AP ever written. I am sure there were VERY good business and practical reasons for this at the time (It was developed as Paizo's new incarnation as a business was being founded and RotRL and Golarion was taking up much of JJ's time, too) and I do not blame anybody for how Edge turned out. It was a very stressful time at Paizo. It was doubly difficult trying to get vol 1 written before the Guide to Korvosa was complete and having a Vol 1 to an AP written from outside of Paizo must have been a great challenge at the time. The fact that Seven Days to the Grave is so much better underscores this. Nick Logue is a great author, too; however, this just isn't up to his normal quality.
Still, the proof is in the pudding and I think Edge of Anarchy needs a substantial rewrite to make the grade as it is not otherwise up to the quality I have come to expect from Paizo. Its deficiencies are not addressed in the Anniv Edition.
Accordingly, in my own campaign, I have almost completely rewritten it. That was the right choice me me and my group. It may not be for yours -- but from where I sit, Edge of Anarchy is the part of the AP which demands heavy revision the most.
YMMV.
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Another note, for those who use Herolab, I have purchased the "GM Only" content for Curse of the Crimson Throne Anniv Ed AP and I am finding it very useful.
Most of my players are very experienced and tend to blow through most combat encounters as written with ease. Only you as a GM can best gauge how much to beef up encounters to provide the proper challenge to your players' PCs. Every group of players is different. I find I have to boost mine significantly; YMMV.
Having the encounters in Herolab via purchased content greatly facilitates my being able to revise statblocks and boost encounters quickly. As I also use Herolab's tactical console to run my combats, this is a great method for getting it all in there quickly. Lastly, I use a VTT to run my game and having the encounters in a form I can (mostly) revise and then export in D20Pro format saves me countless hours of work.
Short strokes: if any of this sounds like you, get the CotCT Anniv Edition "GM Only" content from Lone Wolf. It's worth it.
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Regardless of the version you run, and Kalindlara is correct it's a great rewrite of an already excellent series and everything is already converted to PF for you. Regardless of the version you need to get the players fully-invested in Korvosa. She is the most important NPC in the AP!
I have a lot of extra material I did for this campaign if you're interested. It is far and away my favorite of the first three post WoTC AP's.
DEFINITELY interested in the extra material you did.
We all talked last night during character creation and everybody is investing in several different parts of the city, as I told them they've got to really care about Korvosa, or the adventure won't work.
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Another note, for those who use Herolab, I have purchased the "GM Only" content for Curse of the Crimson Throne Anniv Ed AP and I am finding it very useful.
Most of my players are very experienced and tend to blow through most combat encounters as written with ease. Only you as a GM can best gauge how much to beef up encounters to provide the proper challenge to your players' PCs. Every group of players is different. I find I have to boost mine significantly; YMMV.
Having the encounters in Herolab via purchased content greatly facilitates my being able to revise statblocks and boost encounters quickly. As I also use Herolab's tactical console to run my combats, this is a great method for getting it all in there quickly. Lastly, I use a VTT to run my game and having the encounters in a form I can (mostly) revise and then export in D20Pro format saves me countless hours of work.
Short strokes: if any of this sounds like you, get the CotCT Anniv Edition "GM Only" content from Lone Wolf. It's worth it.
Duly noted. Thanks!
Duly noted. Thanks!Another note, for those who use Herolab, I have purchased the "GM Only" content for Curse of the Crimson Throne Anniv Ed AP and I am finding it very useful.
Most of my players are very experienced and tend to blow through most combat encounters as written with ease. Only you as a GM can best gauge how much to beef up encounters to provide the proper challenge to your players' PCs. Every group of players is different. I find I have to boost mine significantly; YMMV.
Having the encounters in Herolab via purchased content greatly facilitates my being able to revise statblocks and boost encounters quickly. As I also use Herolab's tactical console to run my combats, this is a great method for getting it all in there quickly. Lastly, I use a VTT to run my game and having the encounters in a form I can (mostly) revise and then export in D20Pro format saves me countless hours of work.
Short strokes: if any of this sounds like you, get the CotCT Anniv Edition "GM Only" content from Lone Wolf. It's worth it.
Shoot me a message here with an email and I will add you to the correct google drive folder.
To be blunt? Significantly rewrite the beginning volume of this AP.
As written, it starts in a strained and rushed manner, the encounters in the Old Fishery are FAR too easy, there's just no motivation or reason to care about it -- ANY OF IT -- and it's all over before it even starts. Later, the XP point curve in Eel's End is potentially 100% utterly broken if the PCs resolve it via diplomacy (as frankly, they are intended to do). Above all, the PCs are not provided with enough opportunity to care about Korvosa, the Crown as an institution, or the Queen as a person. Story wise, it's a failure.
It's just a crappy introduction. There's no point in pulling punches. I think it's substandard work.
I like the rest of the AP a lot. I think Seven Days to the Grave, in particular got all the editorial love as it was being developed in the Pit between Wes and James J.. Problem is, Nick Logue's installment is one of the weakest introductory volumes in any Paizo AP ever written. I am sure there were VERY good business and practical reasons for this at the time (It was developed as Paizo's new incarnation as a business was being founded and RotRL and Golarion was taking up much of JJ's time, too) and I do not blame anybody for how Edge turned out. It was a very stressful time at Paizo. It was doubly difficult trying to get vol 1 written before the Guide to Korvosa was complete and having a Vol 1 to an AP written from outside of Paizo must have been a great challenge at the time. The fact that Seven Days to the Grave is so much better underscores this. Nick Logue is a great author, too; however, this just isn't up to his normal quality.
Still, the proof is in the pudding and I think Edge of Anarchy needs a substantial rewrite to make the grade as it is not otherwise up to the quality I have come to expect from Paizo. Its deficiencies are not addressed in the Anniv Edition.
Accordingly, in my own campaign, I have almost completely rewritten it. That was the...
So, would you be willing to share your rewrites?
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...To be blunt? Significantly rewrite the beginning volume of this AP.
As written, it starts in a strained and rushed manner, the encounters in the Old Fishery are FAR too easy, there's just no motivation or reason to care about it -- ANY OF IT -- and it's all over before it even starts. Later, the XP point curve in Eel's End is potentially 100% utterly broken if the PCs resolve it via diplomacy (as frankly, they are intended to do). Above all, the PCs are not provided with enough opportunity to care about Korvosa, the Crown as an institution, or the Queen as a person. Story wise, it's a failure.
It's just a crappy introduction. There's no point in pulling punches. I think it's substandard work.
I like the rest of the AP a lot. I think Seven Days to the Grave, in particular got all the editorial love as it was being developed in the Pit between Wes and James J.. Problem is, Nick Logue's installment is one of the weakest introductory volumes in any Paizo AP ever written. I am sure there were VERY good business and practical reasons for this at the time (It was developed as Paizo's new incarnation as a business was being founded and RotRL and Golarion was taking up much of JJ's time, too) and I do not blame anybody for how Edge turned out. It was a very stressful time at Paizo. It was doubly difficult trying to get vol 1 written before the Guide to Korvosa was complete and having a Vol 1 to an AP written from outside of Paizo must have been a great challenge at the time. The fact that Seven Days to the Grave is so much better underscores this. Nick Logue is a great author, too; however, this just isn't up to his normal quality.
Still, the proof is in the pudding and I think Edge of Anarchy needs a substantial rewrite to make the grade as it is not otherwise up to the quality I have come to expect from Paizo. Its deficiencies are not addressed in the Anniv Edition.
Accordingly, in my own campaign, I have almost completely
Yes, I will. My notes were made for me and were consequently sketchy, but I've started to expand on them in order that others might make more sense of it all.
I hope to have the changes to Vol 1 ready in a week or so. There is a butterfly effect that carries through the other volumes which will take me a great deal longer to work out, but Vol 1? Absolutely. I'll put a link to it on this part of the boards when it is done.
Note: My notes reflect extensive changes I made to the AP itself in terms of altering the main villain and the motives for all tht follows. I'm not a fan of the inevitable spoilers that otherwise flow from an 8 yr old AP. I'll try to break out the changes so that a GM can use the document a la carte - take what they want and leave the other changes behind.
Hopefully, my players will exercise restraint and not look at it. It will ruin their run for them if they do. *sigh*
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I think the individual bits and pieces of the first adventure are great, but yes, a remix is required at the least. The PCs really should have two "Campaign Traits", in the same way that Hell's Rebels has the psuedo-traits for "Why are you at the protest?" as well as a trait that ties into the campaign as a whole.
Were I to run this again:
The PCs would also encounter Gaedren Lamm,rescuing a fellow orphan (perhaps Sabina Merrin?)
At the end of the adventure I'd have the PCs become adopted, by characters who have ties to various factions in Korvosa, and more solidly tie the characters to the location.
Sounds interesting!
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If you like the idea of 0-level characters, you can check my journal for some ideas. I had the PCs start off as lambs, giving them a reason to really hate the old guy ...
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If you like the idea of 0-level characters, you can check my journal for some ideas. I had the PCs start off as lambs, giving them a reason to really hate the old guy ...
Two of the characters actually were lambs, so we've sorta got that going for us.
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I think the individual bits and pieces of the first adventure are great, but yes, a remix is required at the least. The PCs really should have two "Campaign Traits", in the same way that Hell's Rebels has the psuedo-traits for "Why are you at the protest?" as well as a trait that ties into the campaign as a whole.
Were I to run this again: ** spoiler omitted **
Crazy good idea. I like it!
One thing that might be difficult for some groups - certainly mine - is assigning their stats via the Harrow reading. That really eliminates so many options the players may want to use and be excited about.
I think the individual bits and pieces of the first adventure are great, but yes, a remix is required at the least. The PCs really should have two "Campaign Traits", in the same way that Hell's Rebels has the psuedo-traits for "Why are you at the protest?" as well as a trait that ties into the campaign as a whole.
Were I to run this again: ** spoiler omitted **
Crazy good idea. I like it!
One thing that might be difficult for some groups - certainly mine - is assigning their stats via the Harrow reading. That really eliminates so many options the players may want to use and be excited about.
Not sure I understand what you mean by assigning stats via the Harrow reading? From what I recall each Harrowing gives bonuses to stat based checks based on the book; can't readily remember it ever affecting a PC's statblock
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Not sure I understand what you mean by assigning stats via the Harrow reading? From what I recall each Harrowing gives bonuses to stat based checks based on the book; can't readily remember it ever affecting a PC's statblockI think the individual bits and pieces of the first adventure are great, but yes, a remix is required at the least. The PCs really should have two "Campaign Traits", in the same way that Hell's Rebels has the psuedo-traits for "Why are you at the protest?" as well as a trait that ties into the campaign as a whole.
Were I to run this again: ** spoiler omitted **
Crazy good idea. I like it!
One thing that might be difficult for some groups - certainly mine - is assigning their stats via the Harrow reading. That really eliminates so many options the players may want to use and be excited about.
Okay!
So here's how you generate stats using a classic 9 Card Harrow Reading:
Players start with an 8 in each stat.
Lay out your cards in a 3x3 grid harrow reading.
For each true match of alignment Players gain +4 in that stat. For each partial match, +2 in the stat. For everything else: +1.
After that, your players may swap any two stats.
It's a bit of a mix of old school generation, and the idea is that the players growth is based on the results of the reading.
While I love this flavor wise, I would really run it by the players first since this could kind of mess with character concepts with regards to stats. (Ex. MAD class that only gets a few card alignments). Of course I've never tried this so anyone who has, your input would be appreciated
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Look, it's no good for optimizing. But Adventure Paths are balanced for 15 point buys.
The whole set-up is to decide on class after stat generation. Which for some groups is the wrong choice (totally understandable!) For other groups though, who want to play with a bit of added challenge, and learn something about their characters during generation it's a bit of fun.
I've done so with my Giantslayer game, and I have a pretty diverse party for it.
Right now it's: Dwarf Shaman (deceased), Half-Orc Fighter/Wizard [Going into Eldritch Knight], Half-Drow Undead Lord Cleric, Changeling Druid, Grippli Swashbuckler, Human Barbarian, Skinwalker Rogue.
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When I ran the game, I kept the children from the Fish house around as a gang that the PCs had close contact with, the Lambs, they basically became a group of street children/cult led by the low level oracle 'The Lamb'
It really helped bring some humanity to the unrest early in the game and the frantic, desperate side of the city and if you can get the right balance between criminal and innocent things can be fantastic.
Plus it gives the players investment in the city.
Best scene with the Lambs was them bringing back a dead horse killed in one of the riots and taking the entire thing apart for meat, the players thought something terrible had happened when they returned to their den and found a huge bloodstain on the floor only to end up getting dinner presented to them by a bunch of shy, desperate for approval children. That and one of the more benevolent players explaining to a little girl that they don't have to steal any more to avoid being hurt, that they'd look after them because they cared, after the girl presented them with a watch they'd stolen, having to actually convince the younger children was a great scene.
Think Gavroche from Les Miserables.
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Best scene with the Lambs was them bringing back a dead horse killed in one of the riots and taking the entire thing apart for meat, the players thought something terrible had happened when they returned to their den and found a huge bloodstain on the floor only to end up getting dinner presented to them by a bunch of shy, desperate for approval children. That and one of the more benevolent players explaining to a little girl that they don't have to steal any more to avoid being hurt, that they'd look after them because they cared, after the girl presented them with a watch they'd stolen, having to actually convince the younger children was a great scene.
Is this what diabetic coma feels like?
Steel_Wind did you have a chance to get your rewrite in a shareable form yet at all?
I'll be starting to GM this some time in January for my group and wanted to see if any of your ideas could help enhance my game,
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Steel_Wind did you have a chance to get your rewrite in a shareable form yet at all?
I'll be starting to GM this some time in January for my group and wanted to see if any of your ideas could help enhance my game,
No, I ended up changing WAY too much (not just in the Vol 1, but in the AP itself in terms of villans reasons and so forth) - and then this past ten days at work has been unpleasant.
I would like to get something out this weekend.
I did run part of the new add-on to vol 1, a costume ball at Palace Arkona based on much of the Demonskar Ball as inspiration and it worked out pretty well for those who are into a role-play heavy session (if not, then not). I'll be adding all of the Founding Festival Masquerade in to the text.
Also done: 16 new campaign traits, 2 new battlemaps.
Thanks Steel_Wind, I would be interested to see what you did so I can pad out my chapter one with some of your ideas.
Askren I have kind of been thinking the same. I'm trying to make Gaedren important to them and them have a desire to see him stopped but not have it at the level they feel it's anti-climactic.
I'd rather not go too far down the route of extra content before the Old Fishery as I am already struggling with the XP curve even after moving it from fast to medium (I added all the other Paizo content in the area or that fit). I like the idea of not having Gaedren at the fishery or having him BS his way out (dimension door trinket) but I worry that my players will then focus on him as their goal rather than starting the story of caring for the city.
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I'm still fairly early on the campaign but I have wrapped up the Fishery at this point. My battle with Gaedren was deliberately anticlimactic. Gaedren is an old man, well past his prime, I wouldn't expect him to put up a good fight, and he didn't. One of the party members was almost feeling sorry for him when he all but threw himself on the bloodrager's blade at the end. As the life was slipping out of him I had him chuckle one more time and mutter something about "seeing if Hell was any better than Scarwall". In my version, he was part of a group that traveled through Belkzen once upon a time and stopped by Scarwall to get out of a massive storm. That night all of his companions died and he barely got out alive. He was picked up by a patrol from Lastwall and eventually made his way to Korvosa. That experience started tipping him from 'selfish ass' to 'cynic with no regard for any life but his own.' This has allowed me to foreshadow Part 5 while adding some depth to his character. The party will encounter his old companions amongst the undead of Scarwall and can learn what happened to him there.
Don't know if this will help anyone, just my thoughts on the topic.
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Thanks Steel_Wind, I would be interested to see what you did so I can pad out my chapter one with some of your ideas.
Askren I have kind of been thinking the same. I'm trying to make Gaedren important to them and them have a desire to see him stopped but not have it at the level they feel it's anti-climactic.
I'd rather not go too far down the route of extra content before the Old Fishery as I am already struggling with the XP curve even after moving it from fast to medium (I added all the other Paizo content in the area or that fit).
I cannot emphasize enough that there is a significant XP problem in Vol 1 of this AP that arises because of the way that Eel's End is designed.
If the PC's resolve Eel's End as a diplomacy/bribery encounter -- and lets' face it, that is what it is intended to be and how it SHOULD resolve, then there is NET ~7800 XP in combat that the PCs will NOT earn. So they won't ding 3rd level when the adventure expects them to, won't hit 4th when they are supposed to in the DeadWarrens -- and the whole XP situation unravels into a bit of a mess.
You need to crunch the numbers and figure all of this out. (And the way to add encounters is through largely role-playing events and a heist with a modest Story Awards, i.e., context without too much combat.)
I'll explain how I deal with XP - which isn't ad hoc but FEELS ad hoc to the players in the first half of the AP so it unspools as planned.
My point: things aren't as bad as they seem on the XP front at all. There is a lot of slack due to Eel's End. It's probably best to assume combat does not occur there at all and to plan to resolve it as a social roleplaying encounter worth 1,500 XP - and that's it.
Yeah I have a GoogleDoc where I broke down the whole campaign XP including the extra modules I am running. TBH I am not too worried about them missing the XP from Eel's End as it's a five player group so being a bit behind in levels would help balance encounters a little.
The whole Eel's End scenario does bother me though. Everything leads the players to believe they need to be diplomatic, but all the rewards (including a bonus from Kroft) are for killing everyone.
Thanks Steel_Wind, I would be interested to see what you did so I can pad out my chapter one with some of your ideas.
Askren I have kind of been thinking the same. I'm trying to make Gaedren important to them and them have a desire to see him stopped but not have it at the level they feel it's anti-climactic.
I'd rather not go too far down the route of extra content before the Old Fishery as I am already struggling with the XP curve even after moving it from fast to medium (I added all the other Paizo content in the area or that fit).
I cannot emphasize enough that there is a significant XP problem in Vol 1 of this AP that arises because of the way that Eel's End is designed.
If the PC's resolve Eel's End as a diplomacy/bribery encounter -- and lets' face it, that is what it is intended to be and how it SHOULD resolve, then there is NET ~7800 XP in combat that the PCs will NOT earn. So they won't ding 3rd level when the adventure expects them to, won't hit 4th when they are supposed to in the DeadWarrens -- and the whole XP situation unravels into a bit of a mess.
You need to crunch the numbers and figure all of this out. (And the way to add encounters is through largely role-playing events and a heist with a modest Story Awards, i.e., context without too much combat.)
I have to admit, Steel_Wind, I think you're being a bit harsh on Edge of Anarchy. On one hand... yes, the link between Gaedren Lamm, the brooch and the rest of the adventure is something I have likened to being tissue paper and chewing gum gluing together otherwise excellent ideas... I would never call the book the weakest introduction to an adventure path.
If anything, Edge of Anarchy suffers from similar problems as Twice Damned Prince: Civil unrest in an urban environment demands a lot of detail and action, and a single adventure path installment doesn't have the page count to deal with it in a satisfying fashion, leaving the matter in the GM's hands to fill the blanks. This is, I would say, it's second greatest flaw. The main one being that while Gaedram Lamm is fantastic fuel for the imagination to create an interesting backstory and, hopefully, an interesting character... as you've stated, he needs greater involvement in the plot than purely as a warm up.
On the topic of XP: The greatest dearth was actually in History of Ashes, where it barely had enough XP to gain even one level. Given that no adhoc XP was suggested, and the lack of encounters, the GM was reliant on random encounters for almost two-thirds of the XP needed. There's a reason they added an entire dungeon into the Hardcover.
That said, I find milestone leveling generally more satisfying for both myself and my players, at it ensures they occur at dramatically appropriate moments in the adventure and reduces the "No! The XP is getting away!" mentality. Or the PCs being over-level when they solve Eel's End diplomatically... then go back in the night, kill Barvasi, Chittersnap and all the spiders, then take it over as the new owners.
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I stand by my views on Edge of Anarchy. You are entitled to your opinions of course.
There is no point in my repeating my views. I stand by them; if anything, I was far less forceful in my presentation and condemnation of the beginning of this AP than I really feel about it.
I cannot be any less clear than to state that I absolutely loathe the beginning of Edge of Anarchy. And yes, I think it is a design which is not defensible and not up to Paizo's standards.
As for XP... respectfully, no; it's not that easy.
XP is not a mechanical timer that merely tells you when to increase the power level of the party. If that's all it was, then it might be that arbitrary ad hoc experience is the way to go in every AP.
Many GMs do so. I have fallen back on it from time to time, too.
But at the end of the day, it is my players who remind me that ad hoc XP is a Very Bad Thing when used too often. And I confirm that view myself, when I am a player in other APs, when GMs try it there, too. I despise ad hoc XP as a player - and for good reason too.
If you as a GM prefer that approach, I have no qualms about your reaching that decision.
I must point out, however, that it isn't as easy as you suggest. Your view is premised upon the time you need to "tell YOUR STORY".
Respectfully, that's not what the game is about; or at least, that is only a part of what this game is about. The other part is that it's about the PLAYERS being able "to tell THEIR STORY" and to have their choices have an impact and believe that they are being rewarded for those choices. Once you go down the GM story railroad track with Ad Hoc XP only at the train station when you choose to give it, it's pretty hard for players to pretend they aren't on the GM choo-choo.
And that is the problem. When you reduce XP to ad hoc only, there are a large number of players who feel that they are on the GM Choo-choo. That their choices don't matter; that their failures and successes don't matter.
XP is a tangible reward system built into the game for over forty years and that reward system has a huge impact upon the enjoyment of the game by its players. It is one of the greatest reasons why D&D succeeds where so many other games have failed. To throw that to that wind puts the GM's story above the Player's needs and sense of satisfaction, agency and fulfillment.
And I am not sure that is something you can just hand wave away. In fact, I am very sure I won't do it and my players would not let me do it, either. They complain bitterly when they detect its presence in the game and I don't blame them for it.
I think that the best approach is to try and reach a happy medium. Design your encounters and story awards with more care so that the levelling happens at appropriate points in the story where you expect it; but that the thing can go off script and those events are not graven in stone. Sometimes, to get it back on track and provide appropriate challenges to players, you may need to just >>CHEAT<< on XP awards and CRs where it makes sense to do so. By increasing a challenge without increasing the reward by the correct mechanical amount.
Yup. Cheat if you need to, cheat long, hard and without remorse.
But like all cheating behind the GM screen -- once you get caught at it, the jig is up. So don't be so reckless as to get caught. You need design to go along with flexibility and story awards that make sense so that you aren't obviously leveling the party by GM fiat.
All by way of saying, there is no independent auditor who is going to come in to your game and say, "no, no, based on the adjusted CR of that combat, and number of foes that should have been 3,700 XP, not 1,200 XP. Change it RIGHT NOW."
Never happened at my table. Never, not even once.
So nobody's doing that. And if you deal with XP after the fact on a post via Facebook or in an announcement at the beginning of next session with an overall XP award, backed up by a notional breakdown if asked, then the players will have a sense they are being rewarded, without being fully on the puppet strings of the GM. And that's the key.
Like all GM fudging, its value-in-use is decreased greatly by talking about it. The social contract at the table is broken once you start talking about these things.
Some rambling thoughts..
Encourage your players to really read the Players Guide, let them know that they can tie their backgrounds into some of the NPCs/ locations that it describes. It'll payoff later when those folks pop up in the adventures.
I went through CotCT as a player and I thought that Edge of Anarchy, the beginning included, was great. I'm going to be running it and probably won't really change much. Taking out Lamm quickly was refreshing in that it didn't drag out and made us feel like heroes.
Also, our GM was upfront with us in letting us know that we were to make characters that cared about and were ingrained in Korvosa, so we had had built in reasons to want to see the city remain stable. So that may be something to keep in mind.
On XP: I happen to think that it is a crappy mechanic as it pertains to D&D/ Pathfinder, and that it forces too many combat encounters into written adventures. YMMV on that though, I know some folks like it as a tangible reward.
I'll give more input as I think of it.
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Thanks Steel_Wind, I would be interested to see what you did so I can pad out my chapter one with some of your ideas.
Askren I have kind of been thinking the same. I'm trying to make Gaedren important to them and them have a desire to see him stopped but not have it at the level they feel it's anti-climactic.
I'd rather not go too far down the route of extra content before the Old Fishery as I am already struggling with the XP curve even after moving it from fast to medium (I added all the other Paizo content in the area or that fit). I like the idea of not having Gaedren at the fishery or having him BS his way out (dimension door trinket) but I worry that my players will then focus on him as their goal rather than starting the story of caring for the city.
So just an update to your question; because I have not been ignoring it, I promise.
Most of my writing is done, though I have tweaks and edits to do. I also have three maps to finish, a bunch of art, and a fair bit of layout to complete. I have been teaching myself InDesign so it's going a little slower than I might prefer - but it is going. I have 14 pages done so far. It will go north of 40 when complete.
I will finish it over the Xmas vacation and plan to release near New Year's I'll post a link here.