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Hi all,
As an addendum to my earlier discussion, could anyone familiar with both APs recommend one over the other, or perhaps highlight the key differences? I know the basic plots are similar (urban-centered, plot to overthrow oppressive ruler), but that's about it.
Thanks in advance for any info!
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I've run the first three books of Crimson Throne, and read up through the beginning of the fifth book for it. (This was the 3.5 version, just before the updated hardcover came out.) I've also read most of Hell's Rebels, but I haven't run or played in it.
The Adventure Path store pages have a synopsis of each adventure, so I'll try to get a little more in depth about what each one is about.
I'd say that Hell's Rebels has a stronger through-line for it, as it's established within the first scene of the adventure that Barzillai Thrune is the villain, and needs to be overthrown. The PC's are tied to an organization and a mostly single location throughout the adventure path. Hell's Rebels' unique mechanic is the rebellion rules.
The thing that intrigued me most about Hell's Rebels was reading some spoilers about Barzillai from the end of the adventure path. He is an interesting villain, but his motives don't become completely clear (even to the GM) until then.
In Crimson Throne, the party isn't supposed to cotton on that the queen is the baddie until the end of book two. There are also adventures that leave the city (Books 4 and 5). The CotCT unique mechanic is the Harrow deck, and the players get bonuses at certain points in each book that we all promptly forgot about.
If I ran CotCT again, I'd tell the players to make characters that care about Korvosa and would have reasons to defend it. The player's guide ties the party together through Gaedren Lamm, who dies very early in the adventure path.
Both adventure paths are good, and have engaging stories and fun NPCs.
I'll go through the features I remember from CotCT, since I only remember the broad strokes of Hell's Rebels off the top of my head.
CotCT 1 - Pretty straightforward. Establishes some quest-giver NPCs. Short dungeon crawl at the end, featuring undead.
CotCT 2 - Generally regarded as the best book. Deals with a plague striking the city. A few sandbox elements, in that the party can choose several leads to follow midway through the book. Another short dungeon crawl at the end, featuring cultists.
CotCT 3 - Social encounter with a crime lord. Medium-long and difficult dungeon crawl, featuring nasty traps and rotating rooms. My party did not fare well against the dungeon.
CotCT 4 - Leave the city to explore the Cinderlands. The setting is very cool, but the adventure itself is heavily railroaded and I found its justification fairly thin. There's a lot of great material here, but I'd rewrite a lot of it so that it's not just the players jumping through a series of arbitrary hoops. Features several locations and small dungeons.
CotCT 5 - Still outside the city. Big dungeon crawl, I think? I didn't read this one all the way through. A lot of people seem to like it. Features Laori heavily, a fun NPC.
CotCT 6 - All the epic boss fights and a big final dungeon here.
They are very similar APs. You can read my critique of the fifth book of Curse of the Crimson Throne (3.5 ed) on its boards, so you could guess that I would prefer Hell's Rebels. I think the tactical variety of Crimson Throne is its advantage over the Hell's Rebels adventure, while the RP-centric nature of Hell's Rebels is its advantage. But they're both excellent--I don't think you can go wrong.
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Thanks for the great info - much appreciated! I'm leaning towards Crimson Throne - it sounds a little more varied and it would be an easier transition from their existing adventure. I do like the sound of Barzillai Thrune, though!
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I would actually be partial to Hell's Rebels but I'm running CotCT right now and thought I would throw out a suggestion that I took from a member of the boards for book 5 and I think it was a good choice.
Book 5 was expanded with encounters and room details for the hardcover. I would cut the extra encounters. It's usually 5 of such and such creature (spectre, wraith, ju ju zombie). Book 5 becomes a near constant fight with less atmosphere with them. In it's place there is a module called Academy of Secrets that also takes place in Korvosa and I would recommend that to pad out book 5 instead.
There are also a few PFS scenarios that take place near Korvosa (Veteran's Vault, Green Market, Portent's Peril, etc) if you want to add content to various levels.
Legendary games also created a couple of plug-in adventures for CotCT that are pretty good but have their own problems. (Red Queen Adventure Path series).
Or without them it is a pretty quick path to run, even with the added content of the hardcover.
These are my two favorite APs to date...
I guess it depends if you want your city AP to constantly revolve around the city. CotCT takes you out of Korvosa for two full modules and when you return, the AP almost immediately sends you into two more dungeons (Castle Korvosa and The Sunken Queen).
Hell's Rebels keeps you in the city, except for short excursions. Yeah, you go to hell in the last module, but that is after solving a ton of problems in the city itself. I think personally I'll like that more than the last three modules of CotCT.