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I just got Raiders of the Fever Sea, the second part of the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, because I read that it can be used as a good, standalone pirate sandbox.
Which other Adventure Path issues work well on their own?
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Serpent Skull #1 "Souls for Smuggler's Shiv". By far one of the greatest starts to any AP yet, and can be used easily as a one shot. It also makes a fantastic prequel to the Skull and Shackles AP.
Sound of a Thousand Screams (Kingmaker #6) can also be a great solo romp for super high level.
Battle of Bloodmarch Hill - can easily end there
Hill Giants Pledge
Sixfold Trial
Rasputin Must Die (would need to change the start)
Frozen Stars - replace the quest item
Burnt Offerings
I imagine skeletons of scarwall - a quest for a magic sword
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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Stolen Land- While I didn't get as into Kingmaker as a lot of folks seem to have done, I LOVE its first installment.
Edge of Anarchy- while as written it clearly segue into bigger things, you can run a highly satisfying low-level urban adventure with this bad boy.
Seven Days to the Grave- Just good.
The End of Eternity- Get your Harryhausen on.
To the OP - there is a thread somewhere on best / favourite instalments
All of the answers in this thread come from this. I think part of the reason many think they are the best is because they stand out to extent that with minor tweaks of hooks and end goals they work as stand alone
If you mean with absolutely no changes then perhaps more focus is needed in the answer
But all AP instalments beyond chapter 1 will usually need the initial hook modifying at the very least
Lanathar wrote: To the OP - there is a thread somewhere on best / favourite instalments
Like this one http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uey3?What-are-your-favorite-AP-adventures-and- why
Edit: no active link?
If the web link was just cut and pasted, then I believe that the forum automatically adds a space within it.
Children of the Void, book 2 of Second Darkness, is another great stranded-on-a-dangerous-island installment. It's written for 3.5 rules so would need some minor updating for PfRPG. (There are threads in the Second Darkness forum with fan conversions.)
Bellona wrote: If the web link was just cut and pasted, then I believe that the forum automatically adds a space within it. To make an active link, you have to use the BBCode tags: {url=www.link.com]}Click here!{/url}. Only use the square brackets [ ] instead of the curly ones.
Joana wrote:
To make an active link, you have to use the BBCode tags: {url=www.link.com]}Click here!{/url}. Only use the square brackets [ ] instead of the curly ones.
Thanks. Like any other forum doesn't require this, so anyone know why Paizo's does?
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Souls for Smuggler's Shiv, hands down.
It's a super simple high concept: you're shipwrecked on an island and you need to get off. You have to explore the island. You start with very little equipment and you're vulnerable to stuff like disease and bad weather. So the adventure starts as a jungle survival with limited resources, which is great. Then it evolves into exploration and, woo, it's the Island Of All The Tropes: cannibal tribe, buried pirate treasure, haunted shipwrecks, pterodactyls, you name it. And finally, you get to throw down with the villain who got you shipwrecked in the first place.
It's a cool, well done module in its own right *and* it works perfectly as a mini-campaign. There aren't a lot of obvious dangly plot hooks. No powerful NPC patrons. No special rules for building a kingdom or running a rebellion. No mysterious events whose significance will only become obvious in Book Three. As the GM, you don't have to trim or change much of anything. As a player, you don't have to meta-think about whether this key you picked up will open a door in a CR 12 dungeon thirty sessions from now, or whether this NPC's brother will be the sub-boss you fight halfway through Book Five. There's none of that. It's this simple: you need to get off the damn island. At the end of the book, you defeat the boss (who is also the villain who got you shipwrecked) and you get off the damn island. Win-win-win, game over, done. You sail away and never look back.
From an AP point of view, this module was almost *too* self-contained: the main plot of that AP doesn't remotely get started until Book Two. But for running a one-shot mini-campaign that's only going to last a few sessions and take the PCs up to fourth level or so? It's perfect. Nothing else comes close.
Doug M.
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In previous discussions like this, Hook Mountain Massacre often comes up.
It's a fine adventure -- very atmospheric -- and you can snip out the part with the Grauls and run it as a short module. But if you want to run it as a standalone, some work is required.
Doug M.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
WRATH OF THRUNE is pretty much a stand-alone.
Seconding The Sixfold Trial -- I ran it as a standalone within a homebrew campaign (set in the Forgetten Realms, no less), and it not only worked but remains my group's favorite published module ever. You just have to reskin the city it takes place in and the final McGuffin into something that is needed in your context, both of which are fairly easy tasks.
Haunting at Harrowstone works, if you just remove the cult stuff, granted most of carion crown can work as stand alone
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1) "Skeletons of Scarwall Keep" from Curse of the Crimson Throne
....isolted high-level mega-dungeon where every encounter is unique, dynamic and incredibly well designed and awesome
2) "Burnt Offerings" from Rise of the Runelords
....Paizo HAD to make sure it could stand on it's own in case the AP-line didnt work, Greatest all-round adventure by play and design for old school fun
3) "Haunting of Harrowstone" from Carrion Crown
....creeepy 1st level adventure, isolated town, creepy haunted house -- all unique and dynamic encounters
4) "The Dead Heart of Xin" from Shattered Star
....port ciy in a celebration when a tsunami hits (change the background for the celebration), deal with tsunami and then go out in the ocean to the dungeon that just emerged from the undersea earthquake -- awesome high level encounters
5) "Trial of the Beast" from Carrion Crown
....solve urban mystery to vindicate innocent monster from crimes he didn't commit -- great adventure (like ALL in 'Carrion Crown,' easy to separate from the other volumes -- the whole damn AP reads likes six separate adventures!)
6) "Souls for Smugglers' Shiv" from Serpent's Skull
....stand-alone adventure search-the-island -- easy to isolate, island-adventure encounters pretty good, not super-awesome
7) "Battle for Bloodmarch Hill" from Giantslayer
....fun defend the village from monstrous raiders, stand-alone adventure with some roleplay mystery up front
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I agree with most of these!
W E Ray wrote: 1) "Skeletons of Scarwall Keep" from Curse of the Crimson Throne
....isolted high-level mega-dungeon where every encounter is unique, dynamic and incredibly well designed and awesome
Great dungeon, but I'd knock it down a couple of places because it does have some connections to the metaplot that you'd have to adjust -- not only the McGuffin but those two NPCs, etc. Also, you need to be sure that your PCs are okay with a giant multi-session dungeon crawl, because that's what this is. Also-also, if you play this strictly AW, there are bits that can be deadly to careless or unlucky parties. Don't run this one with a party that's kick-the-door or sloppy.
W E Ray wrote: 2) "Burnt Offerings" from Rise of the Runelords
....Paizo HAD to make sure it could stand on it's own in case the AP-line didnt work, Greatest all-round adventure by play and design for old school fun
It's good and it's now a minor classic. I'd agree that it's in the top five.
W E Ray wrote: 3) "Haunting of Harrowstone" from Carrion Crown
....creeepy 1st level adventure, isolated town, creepy haunted house -- all unique and dynamic encounters
This is the only one we disagree on. The villagers are annoyingly unhelpful, the village trust mechanic is broken, and the final encounter is... let's say, very swingy. (Do you have the thing? Did you buff the buff? If yes, then it's a walkover. If not, the DM almost has to nerf it or you'll die.) It also has a couple of things I personally find annoying, including The Dungeon With That One Safe Room Where You Can Rest and also The Infodump NPC You Meet In Part Two Who Explains The Rest Of The Adventure To You.
This is not to say it's a bad module! There's a lot to like. The boss villain is pretty creepy, and that's good. The haunted dungeon is pretty well designed. The initial hook is excellent. But on the other hand, you never do solve the initial mystery (who killed the guy and why). That's left dangling into the later AP. So, minus points for that.
W E Ray wrote: 4) "The Dead Heart of Xin" from Shattered Star
....port ciy in a celebration when a tsunami hits (change the background for the celebration), deal with tsunami and then go out in the ocean to the dungeon that just emerged from the undersea earthquake -- awesome high level encounters
HNR so cannot comment, have heard good things.
W E Ray wrote: 5) "Trial of the Beast" from Carrion Crown
....solve urban mystery to vindicate innocent monster from crimes he didn't commit -- great adventure (like ALL in 'Carrion Crown,' easy to separate from the other volumes -- the whole damn AP reads likes six separate adventures!)
Yeah I might bump this up to #2 or #3. Properly played, the Beast is a cool and memorable character. Does suffer a bit from a somewhat railroady final act.
W E Ray wrote: 6) "Souls for Smugglers' Shiv" from Serpent's Skull
....stand-alone adventure search-the-island -- easy to isolate, island-adventure encounters pretty good, not super-awesome
As noted upthread, this is my personal #1. I would agree that no single encounter here is super awesome. The awesomeness comes from the whole ambience. In the first two parts you have limited equipment and are regularly harassed by stuff that even low level PCs mostly ignore -- disease, insects, weather. It really gives you the feeling of struggling for survival in a hostile environment with limited resources. Later on, when you have your feet under you, it becomes the Island Of The Tropes. Cannibal drums in the night! Pirate treasure guarded by ghosts! Pteranodons swooping to the attack! So while no individual encounter is amazing, the gestalt is really well done. My players were high-fiving each other at the end, and that's always a good sign.
W E Ray wrote: 7) "Battle for Bloodmarch Hill" from Giantslayer
....fun defend the village from monstrous raiders, stand-alone adventure with some roleplay mystery up front
Quite good if you can get past the "why isn't everybody just dead" aspect of that one encounter. The rest of this AP may be the least favorite of the last few years (yes, some people love it, talking consensus here) but this first installment is very likable.
Doug M.
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