I feel like Rise of the Runelords was a huge bang for Pathfinder 1e. A classic story of the PCs becoming heroes, stumbling into a plot of an ancient evil being awoken. Goblins, ghouls and Ogres not only get in but become distinct entities in Pathfinder in styles that are familiar but with a new level of personality. Lots of ways to waste time endearing to the town of Sandpoint that the first book takes forever.
What should the first AP be like?
Of course we all want a good adventure but this isn't something that should be good, but a fantastic adventure that paves the way for a new direction and starts PF2 off with a bang. Something iconic and memorable, new and familiar, exciting but simple.
I'm hoping that with a new edition the first AP will be about exploring a frontier region or new place. If Kingmaker didn't already happen I think that would work but its also loaded with kingdom building when I think being a hero should take priority. A hidden Mcguffin quest into untamed territory filled with buried relics of ancient evils is something I'd like to see, especially if it involves the advancement of the PC's civilization.
A visible but untouchable villain would be great too for an urban adventure of taking down an old system of rule would be worthwhile too. But most of all I'd love to see more memorable villains. I particularly hope for a non-caster villain. I never see Rogues or Monks as the big bad but they have potential. A rogue can have stolen something powerful and previously unstealable and it changes him. A monk could be such a stickler for human perfection that he seeks to wipe out the 'abberant' ancestries that taint humankind. Either way the themes of ushering in new things would be great and establish a new status quo of mooks and monsters that don't get much use as the new face of the dangers of Golarion.
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Id like a pulpy adventure touring Golarion AP Indian Jones style. The big bad would actually be a rival adventuring group.
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I just hope its "Rise of the Runelords" of 2e and not Council of Thieves and Dead Suns <_< And by that I mean scale of the story and great memorable moments in individual books. For example, in RotR in first book, you have memorable fights with goblins, memorable funny roleplaying moments with npcs from Sandpoint and tragic BBEG with her own evil "party" of lieutenants. Both of Council of Thieves and Dead Sun's first books don't have really memorable BBEGs and they are relatively mundane(both involve dealing with gangs on one part at least for example) and neither has as memorable roleplaying moments as first part of RotR.
I do like both of them, but I don't think they make good first impression as "first" AP.
I feel like Rise of the Runelords was a huge bang for Pathfinder 1e.
It was a 3.5e adventure actually. Council of Thieves was the Pathfinder 1e adventure (didn't go down well in my group).
I dont think it should be in Cheliax or Varisia. Something new.
I feel like Rise of the Runelords was a huge bang for Pathfinder 1e.It was a 3.5e adventure actually. Council of Thieves was the Pathfinder 1e adventure (didn't go down well in my group).
I dont think it should be in Cheliax or Varisia. Something new.
True, but Runelords seems like the go-to adventure for introducing Pathfinder. Possibly because of the anniversary edition but something about it screams 'classic Pathfinder' and is next to Kingmaker in terms of APs I see people start with.
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Rise of The Runelords did a couple of things really well and a couple of things badly (that were mostly fixed in the Anniversary edition).
On the good side it was pretty epic in scale, it leaned in on a lot of fantasy tropes (hidden cities, an Ancient Evil awakening, a cult devoted to bringing an ancient evil back to life, goblins, sea monsters (well lake monsters), undead, golems, serial killers, ogres, giants, hidden fortresses of knowledge, all of that was there and interpreted in a way that drew you into the world in a way both familiar and new.
You got a lot of steps reminiscent of the Hero's Journey, there's the Call to adventure in the Swallowtail festival. We got Supernatural aid from Shalelu, we cross the first threshold into Thistletop, we get the descent into the underworld at Runeforge, we get boons in the form of Runeforged Weapons... Some of the stages repeat, but it's all very much a traditional adventure done very well. It also brought you all around Varisia in a way that showed off the most accessible and central part of the setting at the time. But I think the most important thing that Runelords did that very few APs do is that it made Sandpoint a setting that you're attached to, then it threatened it multiple times, making you save and come back to it. You grow in stature and the NPCs around you see and appreciate it. You go from being Heroes of Sandpoint to being Heroes of Varisia, but you never quite lose your attachment to Sandpoint.
The biggest issue was that there wasn't enough foreshadowing in early modules as to what would happen in later modules.
For the first 2E adventure path I want something similar. I want the path to give me the visceral terrified thrills that the Goblin attack did (Complete with creepy song!).
I want it to give me stakes to care about. Not "the world will be covered in eternal winter" like in reign of winter, something smaller and personal, like the Sandpoint NPCs, somewhere I can return to multiple times to save. I want it to show off the setting; Kaer Maga, maybe (there really isn't enough Kaer Maga in the Modules around now), or a town near Absalom, or a small village in the River Kingdoms. Somewhere new and interesting, but where we can come back to with comfort.
I want the adventure to show me familiar problems (like Goblins and Ogres) with new twists (orcs maybe? Haven't seen much of them).
And I want a memorable villain who gets to taunt me and throw endless minions at me. Someone I can put a face to and whose behavior fills me with a burning desire to punch that face.
The Whispering Tyrant is actually pretty good for all of that (hordes of Orcs and Undead, whispering way cultists, some occasional horror monsters like werewolves), except that he was Mythic in 1e. So they'd need something to deal with that discrepancy. Maybe make the villain an Heir to the tyrant instead? Someone trying to fulfill their legacy and conquer the world.
Another good villain would be someone assembling the pieces of Kazavon to bring him back to life.
Return to the Shattered Star
you heard it here first
Revenge of the Jade Regent. Now even caravan-er!
Heavy political-warfare campaign where heroes must stop cold war between various Avistani colonists on Arcadia (Andoran, Cheliax and Linnormians), and various native cultures (those guys from book about cities, some Iroqoui like Confederacy of what was their name - the one vikings don't like, some warring praire tribes ruled by powerful shamans Sioux/Apache like, and crumbling ancient Inca like empires to take down bloodthirsty empire based loosely on Aztecs, but really taken over by what-was their name strix? owlpeople, owlpeople renegade wizard/occultis/whatever, who took country to daemon/demon worship and want to made main city permanent gate to Abaddon.
Played bit like Katay in Warhammer, where Emperor was Tzeentchist, and country openly worshipped both gods of Chaos and normie Gods, while not falling openly into tentacle problem - they for most part are cruel but civilised society, and their bloodthirst is usualy centred on local small tribes, and smaller Pueblo like cities, that no one powerful I mentioned before really care about.
Because really it's time to move to Arcadia.
Something to do with Absalom?