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1) As many different and varied arctic, frost, alpine, forest, grassland and road maps as you can.
2) I houseruled the Relationship system, because my players recruited a lot of NPCs and I had to make romance/friendship/rivalry stuff for like 38 NPCs. So my players earned 3 points per session to invest in any NPCs they like each session, and 3 points per week of Travel. With bonus points they could earn through gifts etc.
3) I just let my players whatever they want, just ask them to build characters with an eye towards flavor, this isn't the deadliest campaign so they don't need ot hyper optimise.
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1/Honestly, if your PCs just want to get close to the NPCs, don't bother using the romance rules. Just do it with RP - much better that way, and it avoid the "romance video game" feeling ("yes ! Just three more gifts, two compliments and a "sharing my feelings" scene, and Shalelu will be mine !").
If a PC want to end up with an NPC and see it as the love of his character's life, just play around it and use it as opportunity to have your PC invest himself in the campaign. As long as the PC isn't acting like an idiot or like a swine, let him have his prize.
(just my advice, but romance in RPG should never have a set of rules attached to it. It make things really, really strange and gross at some moments and block imaginative and spontaneous roleplay, since the PCs have to act according to a set of "do" and "don't").
2/Yes, Ameiko is important, and the ultimate goal is to escort her to Minkaï. So it's important to make her likeable and nice to the PCs. But ultimatly, she should stay in the background like all other NPCs and don't steal the spotlight from them.
She should be a support character, and act based on how the PCs are acting with her. In my campaign, I had her ask to the PC wich path she should follow, between combat and magic. They told her "magic", so I have advanced her as a bard build with a focus on spellcasting. It's not a lot, but to have your PCs realize that they are the one making her evolve, the one who shape her way to think, well ... it make her a lot more likeable.
And off course, be sure to tie Ameiko to your PCs background. In no way she should be seen as a boss. More like a friend or family member.
If you don't like to have an NPC essential to the plot, then make one of the PC the heir instead, or have Ameiko die on the way and rule that, since they are Amatetsu scions now, the PCs are a valid replacement for the Minkaï throne. There are quite a lot of topic about that on this forum.
3/Caravane rules : be warn that they are quite cluncky - the PCs caravane can end up destroyed really fast. Also, in my campaign, I had to change the cargo rules on the fly during book 3 : even with a 9 wagons caravan (including 3 supply wagons) and not leaving any town without being filled to the brim with food, my PCs had not enough place at all to stock enough food to survive some roads between two villages.
4/Have fun ! it's a nice campaign, and I like it a lot (we are in the middle of the fifth book right now - waiting for the pendemic to end before playing again).
2) I'm looking at using the relationship/romance system- I know, I'm a bit of a sap for a good love story, but...
A relationship subsystem is not a good love story.
I abandoned that, along with the caravan subsystem. (See other Jade Regent threads for how & why.)
The NPCs who follow you around are, by default, useless clutter. They're too much hassle to bring along when the PCs are adventuring (and are usually either way too powerful or nowhere near powerful enough for the enemies), and they don't do anything much the rest of the time unless you make a real effort to think of things for them to do and say. You can collect more friendly NPCs along the way, but it's easy for the players to forget about them.
3) What character classes should I allow? The players guide doesn't make any mention of some of the newer character classes that were released after it- is there anything in there that I might need to nix because of being so overpowered it's unbalanced?
Some of the core classes are among the most overpowered.
I suggest using the Unchained versions of Rogue and Summoner in place of the originals. Beyond that, leave it up to the players.
Also, consider rewriting the abilities of some of the loot. A magic sword that gives unlimited protection from cold is too powerful for a campaign that immediately goes to a place where cold damage is one of the main threats.
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My group love the NPCs, and would always have one join them on away missions (depending on the mission type). After book 1 I just levelled NPCs one level behind the player characters, and it’s worked fine for my players.
I have PCs in romances with Kelda, Ameiko, Sandru and Skygni.
It’s not clutter it’s motivation, the NPCs shouldn’t just sitting around doing nothing. Part of my prep each session was to find an interesting thing for two NPCs to do, sometimes it would spin off sidequests sometimes it would spur the players along the main plot but it mean the players always were invested in the relationships.
It’s not clutter it’s motivation, the NPCs shouldn’t just sitting around doing nothing. Part of my prep each session was to find an interesting thing for two NPCs to do, sometimes it would spin off sidequests sometimes it would spur the players along the main plot but it mean the players always were invested in the relationships.
That's you being a good GM rather than something that's innate to the AP. You had to think of interesting things for the NPCs to do, because the adventure doesn't. (And 95% of the encounters were already too easy for my PCs without me throwing in NPC allies...)
As others have said the AP is fairly forgiving so any classes are OK. I am running this and my group have a very sub optimal mix and are doing OK. What is important is characters who are invested in the NPC's not Sandpoint, so are motivated to travel.
While not essential Legendary games have 2 plug in modules which are good.
I scrubbed the relationship and caravan rules.
It is worth thinking how to make the NPCs useful (as well as engaging)
I made Koya a harrow reader and as I advanced her gave her item creation feats.
Shalelu scouted as none of the PCs are good at that
Sandru ran the caravan and dealt with dealing with anyone the met (who they were not killing)
See how the party like the NPC/caravan vib. If it is not working for you send the caravan and most of the NPCs back after Ordu-Aganhai
Bjorn is right, in this campaign, the characters are not the "heroes".
This is utter B.S. The PC's do 100% of the work all the way through. One of the flaw's of this AP is that the NPC's, including Ameiko, are practically window dressing.
Unless you're planning on playing Pathfinder: Civilization after the campaign is over, so what?
Regardless, the PC's are solely responsible for liberating an entire nation from the clutches of demonic forces. They get all the fame, fortune, and political influence and power that comes with that. Or they should. If they don't, then your GM is a jerk, in which case it doesn't matter which AP you play.
Generally I agree with John Mechalas. I think the lack of engagement with the NPCs was a weakness in the AP. They certainly don't dominate/star in the adventure. As I said above I had to put in work just to remind the players that the NPCs were there.
HOWEVER some players do not react well to NPCs who are not subordinate to the characters. So clearly the AP will not suit everyone.
The fact is that in most campaigns, the characters are directly concerned by the story, through campaign traits. In this Jade Regent, it is not the case.
Jade Regent's campaign traits are supposed to give you motivation to accompany and protect your NPC allies, eg:
Best Friend: You are best friends with one of the NPCs;
you’ve grown up together, and while your friend has
had a much more exciting life than you so far, you hope
one day to follow in your friend’s footsteps and see the
world—or perhaps even become an adventurer yourself.
You’ve picked up a lot from your friend, but particularly
his or her skill in interacting with others. If Ameiko is
your best friend, you gain a +2 trait bonus on Diplomacy
checks. If Sandru is your best friend, you gain a +2 trait
bonus on Bluff checks. Whichever skill you gain a trait
bonus on, that skill is always considered a class skill for
you. In addition, in situations where your best friend is
in danger, you gain a +1 trait bonus on all attack rolls
against foes that threaten your friend.