| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mentioned this before, but I'd love an adventure path about the effort to restore Sarkoris in the aftermath of the closing of the Worldwound and the departure of many of the crusaders.
A non-mythic followup to Wrath of the Righteous focused on purifying Sarkoris and helping its people reclaim their homeland is one of two stories I'm interested in for Avistan. Yes, /please/.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Honestly, I think I'd prefer a Standalone Adventure in Sarkoris covering that topic, rather than an entire AP. Maaaaaybe a 3-part AP. But I wouldn't want to do a 6-parter unless there was a new world-ending threat there.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
AP mostly set in Arcadia and aimed at Arcadian PCs. Maybe having to travel to Absalom near the end and negotiate with the PFS to get back a priceless heirloom. Either coming from the PFS' or the Aspis Consortium' vaults or being yet another of Aroden's careless mistakes.
The aforementioned many countries mercenary company-style AP but as Hellknights, the most distanced from Thrune, the better.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
AP mostly set in Arcadia and aimed at Arcadian PCs. Maybe having to travel to Absalom near the end and negotiate with the PFS to get back a priceless heirloom. Either coming from the PFS' or the Aspis Consortium' vaults or being yet another of Aroden's careless mistakes.
I’m going to become insufferable once we get that map in G&G.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'd love a pair (at least :P) of 3 part APs set in Arcadia, so that we can quickly get a taste for different regions/styles set on that continent.
Generally I'm more interested in the 3 part-ers nowadays, but a 6 part mega dungeon focused around reclaiming one of the dwarven sky citadels would be pretty much my dream campaign. Maybe it could be a high level 3 part-er, I guess. Bonus points if it somehow comes with a brewing/tavern running subsystem.
Pretty much anything with dinosaurs is going to be a win for me.
Running a thieves guild in Shadow Absolam would be really cool, though I don't think we're going back to the island for quite some time.
Stuff like "I loved Iron Gods and want a sequal" or "I've long wanted an Adventure Path to be set in and around Mediogalti"
INCIDENTALLY, I would be ecstatic about those exact two things.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Honestly, I think I'd prefer a Standalone Adventure in Sarkoris covering that topic, rather than an entire AP. Maaaaaybe a 3-part AP. But I wouldn't want to do a 6-parter unless there was a new world-ending threat there.
with the QUEST FOR FLAME AP being a 1-10 level, a Sarkoris AP could be a sequel [same neighborhood] going from 11-20.
plenty of nasty demons are still on this side of the multiverse, and no doubt some of them want to reopen the door back home...
Oh wow, I just stumbled on this thread by chance while I was talking to a friend about APs that we’d like to see and play!
I realize that in the past, I’ve made one or two little threads that might have felt a little negative, even though I do always try to be as kind as possible — so before getting into it, I would like to take the chance to thank all the people involved in these APs. I can’t imagine what it must feel like, to pour hours of your life into creating this creative work and then putting it out there for so many people to judge, positively or negatively. I guess that, realistically, people have different preferences over minutiae and that’s alright, but it must be hard to try to offer something that pleases, well, most. I, personally, have grown enamored over many, many, different aspects that these modules have offered to me and the people that I share this hobby with over the years, and for those many hours of enjoyment, I’m entirely grateful!
Also, before getting into specific examples, I do want to say that like many others, I love the idea behind 3-part APs. With the barrier between work-life and personal life becoming more muddled than ever, being able to enjoy and finish a story is, well, great! I do also think that they tend to make for more focused and concise stories, by structure alone, which I greatly enjoy. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like the classic 6-part AP, by the way.
I also greatly enjoy specific, tight premises, haha. I wouldn’t mind an AP where certain ancestries are disallowed (or only a few ancestries are allowed), or even a few handful classes are permitted. (We at my group have been doing that
— I’m a huge fan of a premise counting with most of the PCs not being actual foreigners to whatever region it is set on. I think that connecting a PC to the AP’s region immediately creates a more direct connection than otherwise.
— I’d love to see Kyonin again, and have the chance to see how kyoni elves are supposed to be like (compared to their depiction in Second Darkness). In fact, I’d be super content with playing as kyoni natives! Maybe, hmm, I dunno… Playing as newbie members of the renewed Shin’rakorath. What was their name again? Lantern Bearers, right?
— I’m surprise we haven’t seen much gothic fantasy yet! The first module that I got to play was the first book of Carrion Crown, and I loved the grubby, melancholic and creepy theme it had going on. With many 5e players flooding in, I think that an Ustalav AP could work as a pretty good foil to Curse of Strahd, and also give the opportunity for it to present itself independently, as its own thing as well. Also, big fan of pharasmites, changelings, hags, vampires, werewolves, and moody people. Like, really, maybe I just live in a bubble but most people’s favorite genre of fantasy that I know is gothic horror.
— This might sound a little negative at first, but if there was a place that I really had absolutely no interest on, well, that place was Taldor. But then I ran War for the Crown and ohmygod — amazing. It helped a lot that it’s depiction is way less Arthurian than, for whatever reason, I initially imagined, but the way that APs hypes Eutropia it’s just, amazing. The first chapter of the first book is, personally, the strongest start of any other adventure that I’ve ever seen, hard period, and then it just goes upwards from there. So, yes, I’d love to explore more of the eutropian Taldor, with all its struggles, problems, traditions, and reforms. Also, single most evocative piece of art for an campaign that I’ve ever seen? That one where Eutropia’s face is painted on a wall in Oppara. Super, super evocative.
— As an addendum, my players loved the intrigue sub-system in the first edition. Being able to use ride to talk about horses is such, well, and obvious and elegant solution. I’ve tried it on my homebrew campaign and of course it still works great so, you know, more of that as well, please.
— Generally, more faction-specific APs! I’d love to play an adventure revolving around a specific faction of Golarion. Honestly, Strength of Thousands kind of does this, so yeah, give me the Hellknights AP, the Red Mantis AP, the Knights of Lastwall AP, please and thank you.
— I know it’s a hit or miss for plenty of people, but I like adventure paths were the character’s name grow exponentially as they increase their powers. And a pretty natural way to achieve that narratively, is having the manage their own thing. So maybe… An AP where they are part of a mercenary guild, and then start managing it? Think about it: It could have something like a sandbox-ey book where players can either accept or refuse some missions, manage resources (including other recruited mercenaries, NPC that they meet during their adventures), and so on, so on. That also screams the River Kingdoms for me, but I’m just happy about the premise!
Honestly, I’ve had plenty of others interesting hooks in mind, but I’m kind of tired of writing? So maybe I’ll get to it some other time. But yeah, for now there they are! As a plus: I’d love to see more of the Golden Road and Arcadia.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I would absolutely love an Adventure Path set entirely in Tian Xia that is a full 1-10 (or 1-13, or whatever) that has big wuxia adventure vibes and maybe hits places like Quain, the Wall of Heaven, Shokoro, and Goka. Maybe something dealing with stuff related to Lung Wa? Something cool like that.
And, of course, I'm one of the many clamoring for a Jalmeray or Impossible Kingdoms AP. Iobaria is up on my list too, maybe a wilderness themed AP where druids, rangers, and beastfolk can shine?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I would absolutely love an Adventure Path set entirely in Tian Xia that is a full 1-10 (or 1-13, or whatever) that has big wuxia adventure vibes and maybe hits places like Quain, the Wall of Heaven, Shokoro, and Goka. Maybe something dealing with stuff related to Lung Wa? Something cool like that.
And, of course, I'm one of the many clamoring for a Jalmeray or Impossible Kingdoms AP.
We have two Impossible Lands APs coming! One in Alkenstar, one in Geb.
I'm loudly seconding another AP in Tian Xia... not just because it would probably mean we have playable Samsarans.
We have two Impossible Lands APs coming! One in Alkenstar, one in Geb.I would absolutely love an Adventure Path set entirely in Tian Xia that is a full 1-10 (or 1-13, or whatever) that has big wuxia adventure vibes and maybe hits places like Quain, the Wall of Heaven, Shokoro, and Goka. Maybe something dealing with stuff related to Lung Wa? Something cool like that.
And, of course, I'm one of the many clamoring for a Jalmeray or Impossible Kingdoms AP.
Oh, yeah, I know of those! I meant Vudra, but was using its nickname, hah.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Elf Campaign: Lets Kill Treerazer.
Non-elves are welcome to join in on the demon stomping.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Elf Campaign: Lets Kill Treerazer.
Non-elves are welcome to join in on the demon stomping.
A Treerazer AP would be a great opportunity to properly showcase Kyonin.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
A Treerazer AP would be a great opportunity to properly showcase Kyonin.Elf Campaign: Lets Kill Treerazer.
Non-elves are welcome to join in on the demon stomping.
I’m onboard, because I hope such an OP goes to Castrovel and might feature the awesome eves who aren’t from Avistan.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Reclaiming and healing the land Sarkoris adventure sounds awesome
An adventure involving Arcadia would be awesome.
I would love to see another island hopping/pirate seafaring adventure.
Would love to do something fighting an unambiguously evil again.
I also love adventures where people happen to be in a place and have to help out. To be honest I still love the opening to wrath because ofthat. The traits had just enough to tie into the events later on while the opening still felt like we were there by chance. We may eventually become legendary heroes but we were just lucky and saved by the kindness of a dragon and fell into a hole.
My wackadoo high level 3 part high level adventure would include a heist where you have to steal something from Abadars vault.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
If we ever do get another sailing AP, I'd love for it to not be a pirate one - let us be privateers in the employ of Andoran, Vidrian, or the Mbe'ke, or something of the sort. Stomping out Okeno would be a really satisfying change to the setting to get to play through.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I would absolutely love an Adventure Path set entirely in Tian Xia that is a full 1-10 (or 1-13, or whatever) that has big wuxia adventure vibes and maybe hits places like Quain, the Wall of Heaven, Shokoro, and Goka. Maybe something dealing with stuff related to Lung Wa? Something cool like that.
And, of course, I'm one of the many clamoring for a Jalmeray or Impossible Kingdoms AP.
We have two Impossible Lands APs coming! One in Alkenstar, one in Geb.
I'm loudly seconding another AP in Tian Xia... not just because it would probably mean we have playable Samsarans.
Im going to second this, I/m new to pathfinder and Tian Xia seems like such a cool location and I demand more of it!
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
If we ever do get another sailing AP, I'd love for it to not be a pirate one - let us be privateers in the employ of Andoran, Vidrian, or the Mbe'ke, or something of the sort. Stomping out Okeno would be a really satisfying change to the setting to get to play through.
Seagoing do-gooders on soft exile from Holomog would be my first choice, while another dip of that big Sinbad energy like in the Kakishon portion of Legacy of Fire would be a close second.
For Tian Xia, I like the idea of the PCs as courtly band of knights from Jinin who wander from Kurosawa film to film. Second best would be like a spiritual sequel to Carrion Crown, except instead of creature features it's mostly other kinds of horror centered in Shenmen. Running a tea house in Kasai could also be cool.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I wonder what kind of story could get us to tour Southern Garund?
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I wonder what kind of story could get us to tour Southern Garund?
That feels to me like one where you'd want the PCs to be Pathfinder Society members, like Serpent's Skull or The Shattered Star, in order to get a full, proper tour. Depending on the nature of the mysterious danger at the heart of Murraseth, possibly it could work as an AP where the PCs are Hellknights or in the Firebrands. Since it has a lot of jungle terrain, I expect it will be some time before we find out.
As an evil AP with the PCs as Aspis Consortium agents might be another way to do it, but I don't really like the themes such an AP would have, and I'd rather have a Red Mantis Razmir Must Die AP anyway.
Most likely this seems like one for PFS scenarios, like how they explored Tian Xia in season 3.
With a Tian Xia AP, I want to see a Romance of the Three Kingdoms style AP. With Lingshen, Po Li and Quain duking it out (with Shokuro and other successor states caught in the war).
Or maybe I just want to see a Hobgoblin samurai standing on top of a warhorse while doing a T-pose posture and monologuing how he's going to defeat you while his horse and his small army charges at you.
That could totally be a encounter.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
…has anyone been “disappointed and frustrated” with Strength of Thousands? I’ve pretty much only seen glowing praise.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
…has anyone been “disappointed and frustrated” with Strength of Thousands? I’ve pretty much only seen glowing praise.It depends what you/I/we mean. Everyone who heard "Magic School AP", when it was announced, and was excited to play a Harry Potter-esque game, was disappointed by the reality. Not because it is bad, but because it isn't what they thought it was going to be.
Don't get me wrong, everyone in the groups I play with are glad it exists the way it does - representation is important, but nobody actually wants to play it.
I’m not sure I understand what being Harry Potter-y means here. If you mean a boarding school fantasy, then this was never going to be that, but still features two full books of the PCs being precocious students before they move on to join the staff - an element that’s always been part of the premise.
My group is dying to get it to the table.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah I'm not sure if "not Harry Potter" is a sign of misdirection in the advertising. They said it would be a magic school adventure, and there are a lot of ways to do those that don't resemble Harry Potter. That just happens to be the most popular example of such a story.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
One thing I noted from this conversation, is that we've talked a lot about the theme of APs, but I think there's (at least) three different characteristics that people mean:
* The genre: horror, investigation, dungeon-romps, rebellion, kingdom building, pirates, vigilantes, magic school.
* The environment: generic-city, generic-wilderness, tour-de-Golarion, Absalom, The Magambya.
* The point: unmask the villain, get rich, save the city, eliminate the killer-cult.Every AP has all three, but some lean hard into one particular aspect.
A fourth meaning of the word theme is the unifying aspect of the six modules. This is the literary concept of theme, which tells which scenes in the characters' lives belong in the story and which scenes should be skipped over. A unified aspect makes the story feel tight and focused, irregardless of the plot. For example, the plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet is Prince Hamlet investigating and taking revenge for the death of his father, but the theme of the play is dealing with his doubts. The plot of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Huck and black slave Jim rafting down the Mississippi River and encountering different people and places, but the themes are escape and freedom. For example, the encounters with the Duke and the Dauphin are often about the pair of con men escaping the townsfolk they swindled. Other themes are race and society.
This literary meaning of theme, alas, is not good for summarizing an adventure path. Just as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has more than one theme, each adventure path has more than one theme. Yet a strong literary theme makes a good pitch. And a story with focus helps the players care.
I think that people get disappointed and frustrated when the pitch:
* Doesn't give you enough to care about: Age of Ashes - Dragons, Strange Aeons - Cthulhu
* Suggests the authors are leaning into one when in fact the game is about something different: Council of Thieves - not about building a thieves guild, Extinction Curse - not about being a circus, Strength of Thousands - not Harry Potter, Ironfang Invasion - not about being Robin Hood, Agents of Edgewatch - not a buddy-cop movie.I think that every PF2 AP, with the exception of Abomination Vaults and, perhaps, Fists of the Ruby Phoenix fell into one of these two traps.
In counterpoint, popular APs are (mostly) were what they seemed to be, so players knew what they were signing up for and could get excited about it.
I am currently running my players through a PF2-converted Ironfang Invasion and the pitch said nothing about Robin Hood. The story of Nirmathis and Molthune is about a nation of Robin-Hood types versus a nation of Sheriff-of-Nottingham types, but Ironfang Invasion upsets the ancient tale with an invasion by a third party.
When the PCs witness their hometown of Phaendar destroyed in the first steps of an all-out war of conquest, they begin a quest that leads them from desperate survival to heroes of legend as they push back against the monstrous Ironfang Legion. This ruthless army—helmed by the hobgoblin General Azaersi and empowered by an ancient artifact known as the Onyx Key—intends to claim both Nirmathas and Molthune while the isolated nations bicker with one another. The heroes' quest will take them deep into the fey-haunted Fangwood Forest, to the craggy bluffs of western Nirmathas, and delve deep into the earth to explore the Darklands. Can a small band of refugees grow into champions and push back against Azaersi's horde, or will the Ironfang Invasion give way to an Ironfang nation?
Let me reduce the adventure path to its themes.
Ironfang Invasion
Genre: War story
Environment: Wilderness, especially forest
The point: Stopping the invasion by the Ironfang Legion
Literary Theme: The nature of protection and protectors. My player characters adopted the role of Chernesardo Rangers, the legendary elusive protectors of Nirmathis (modeled after Robin Hood's Merry Men). However, their great victory in Longshadow came from training the city's own longbow archers. We also have a theme of racism and hatred, for the many of the hobgoblin invaders are motivated by hatred of humans, yet the party contains zero humans. Half the party looks like they should be on the Ironfang side, one is a goblin.
I am familiar with three other adventure paths from beginning to end.
Rise of the Runelords
Genre: Fantasy adventure
Environment: Ancient ruins and the villages near them
The point: Protect villages from dangers ranging from goblin raiders up to ancient runelords
Literary Theme: my players embraced victory through preparation and investigation, including archeology.
Jade Regent
Genre: Travelogue
Environment: Many different lands, including the northern ice cap, but mostly about being on the road.
The point: Restore the lost heir to the throne of Minkai
Literary theme: My players embraced Tian Xien heritage. Most either came from Minkai in Tian Xia to restore their families to ancient prosperity or were descended from Tian Xien people and going to visit their homeland while helping the heir.
Iron Gods
Genre: Science fiction in a fantasy world
Enviroment: Barbaric lands and crashed spaceships
The point: Stop artificial intelligences with divine powers, known as the Iron Gods, from taking over.
Literary theme: My players loved playing with the advanced alien technology. Their characters made technology to help the common people, in contrast to the Technic League who hoarded technology to maintain power over others.
And, of course, I'm one of the many clamoring for a Jalmeray or Impossible Kingdoms AP. Iobaria is up on my list too, maybe a wilderness themed AP where druids, rangers, and beastfolk can shine?
Jade Regent is a wilderness-themed adventure about traveling through the wilderness, and Ironfang Invasion is a wilderness-themed adventure about survival in the wilderness. The two takes on wilderness give different flavors. Furthermore, a gnome druid, a elf ranger, and a catfolk monk are shining in glory in my Ironfang Invasion campaign, along with a gnome rogue, a halfling rogue/sorcerer, a goblin champion, and a leshy sorcerer.
In addition, back in comment #13 Cydeth was thinking of a fifth meaning of theme,
Another aspect is that the tightly-themed APs drive me away, because characters I would want to play don't fit into them easily, unless they match the theme perfectly from the beginning. Like, Strength of Thousands has an interesting setting, but I have absolutely no interest in the 'magic school' aspect of it.
Her view of theme requires certain characters to fit it. CorvusMask called this a "party theme." That might be a subset of Environment that also defines the people in the environment. I myself believe in holding a Session Zero so that the players can design characters that fit the setting and work with each other, but narrowing down the setting so that only a tiny subset of adventures fit would disappoint most players. They want more choice in their characters.
Yet a good GM can expand the setting to fit the characters. I could drop my Ironfang Invasion party into a circus. The circus barker yells, "Come one, come all. Watch the agile catfolk on the flying trapeze. See the exotic tailed goblin and her trained velociraptor. Marvel at the houseplant that sings, dances, and casts spells. Thrill at the accuracy of our gnomish sharpshooter. Head over to the tall elf to buy tickets. No funny business, 'cause his trained ranger eye catches everything. Our stormborn druid ensures that the weather will be entertaining if not perfect." And the barker is the charismatic halfling rogue/sorcerer.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
…has anyone been “disappointed and frustrated” with Strength of Thousands? I’ve pretty much only seen glowing praise.
I'm a liitle disappointed with the overall meta-plot, in the sense that there doesn't appear to be one. This AP, more than any other I can recall, is more centered around its theme than its story.
Like Iron Gods, I feel this AP is very clearly split into three parts, each consisting of two modules.
| 10 people marked this as a favorite. |
This AP, more than any other I can recall, is more centered around its theme than its story. Books 1 & 2, student life in the Magga.. Magyam.. African Hogwarts,
It's not that hard to spell Magaambya. Think about the message you're sending by performatively being unable or unwilling to.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
…has anyone been “disappointed and frustrated” with Strength of Thousands? I’ve pretty much only seen glowing praise.I'm a liitle disappointed with the overall meta-plot, in the sense that there doesn't appear to be one. This AP, more than any other I can recall, is more centered around its theme than its story.
AP:Books 1 & 2, student life in the Magga.. Magyam.. African Hogwarts, with some faint foreshadowing of the BBEBG via the weird egg. Books 3 & 4 focus on your actions as a teacher/lore speaker, but seem to do very little to advance the main plot. Books 5 & 6 appear to be the most story orientated, with you rescuing Old Man McPlothook and confronting the BBEBG.Like Iron Gods, I feel this AP is very clearly split into three parts, each consisting of two modules.
“I’m unwilling to use the names of an the greatest place of magical learning in the setting and the character who returned magic to the world because they’re both African-inspired” is a charming look. It’s the Magaambya, he’s Old-Mage Jatembe; both should be familiar to you if you’re reading the AP.
The uniting theme is the Magaambya; growing from students (books 1 and 2) to powerful graduates (books 3 and 4) to heroic masters capable of saving the school’s founder (books 5 and 6). It’s one of the most coherent APs of 2e, baked into the Branch/Study and Free Archetype mechanics every single PC engages with.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
…has anyone been “disappointed and frustrated” with Strength of Thousands? I’ve pretty much only seen glowing praise.
To be fair disapointed and frustrated would indicate being interested in it to begin with and the basic premise of strength of Thousands just dosent intrest me.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
It’s one of the most coherent APs of 2e, baked into the Branch/Study and Free Archetype mechanics every single PC engages with.
I get the impression that you seem to think that people aren't allowed to not care about Strength of Thousands.
I usually buy the first book of each AP to get a feel about the adventure and if it would be fun to play for our group. My impression was that the plot was scattered and lacked coherence and that the BBEG and conflict was uninteresting. The setting seems rich and fun, but that's I suppose more credit to the Mwangi book than this AP.
I also think that the PF2E APs have lacked the oumph of many of the pf1 ones and been kinda lacklustre. We are however playing AV now that we are having a blast in, and I'm looking forwards to Blood Lords. My favorite AP-writer is Richard Pett and I'm hoping for some of that spooky and humorous magic (even though Mr Pett is sadly enough not involved nowadays).
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The uniting theme is the Magaambya; growing from students (books 1 and 2) to powerful graduates (books 3 and 4) to heroic masters capable of saving the school’s founder (books 5 and 6). It’s one of the most coherent APs of 2e, baked into the Branch/Study and Free Archetype mechanics every single PC engages with.
I guess some people may have thought it was the Being Harry Potter and his friends AP, while it sounds more like Being Severus Snape and his colleagues AP.