What adventure paths have the greatest potential for roleplay?

[willfromamerica]

Obviously every adventure path can have as much roleplay as the players are willing to take part in, but I've noticed that some APs lend themselves more naturally to rich character interactions. The main factors I think influence this are:

1. A large, diverse cast of NPCs
2. Lots of chances for downtime in the story
3. A lack of massive dungeons that take up a ton of page space

So far, the adventure paths I've found these factors to be most prevalent within are Strength of Thousands and Hell's Rebels. Does anyone have any recommendations for other APs that have the above factors, either in 1e or 2e?

[keftiu]

Strength of Thousands is probably the high water mark for this of the APs I'm aware of. I do think that Fists of the Ruby Phoenix has a sneaky amount of potential for it, especially with how rich the supporting cast is, and how prone to great character work the inspirational media (shonen anime fighting tournaments, classic martial arts films) is if you lean into it.

[Perpdepog]

Carrion Crown and Strange Aeons both lend themselves to roleplay, I'd say. They both have long stretches that are more about investigation and inquiry than straight-up combat. Of the pair I believe CC has more, and the characters are less constrained by the adventure suggesting what sort of adventurers they should be.

I think Ruins of Azlant has some good roleplay bits in it as well, though I might be just expanding the few that I remember across the adventure because they were really good. I'd hope that War for the Crown would have lots of opportunities for roleplay, considering it's meant to be the political intrigue AP.

[keftiu]

Perpdepog wrote:

Carrion Crown and Strange Aeons both lend themselves to roleplay, I'd say. They both have long stretches that are more about investigation and inquiry than straight-up combat. Of the pair I believe CC has more, and the characters are less constrained by the adventure suggesting what sort of adventurers they should be.

I think Ruins of Azlant has some good roleplay bits in it as well, though I might be just expanding the few that I remember across the adventure because they were really good. I'd hope that War for the Crown would have lots of opportunities for roleplay, considering it's meant to be the political intrigue AP.

I feel like I never hear anything about War for the Crown.

[Rysky]

keftiu wrote:

Perpdepog wrote:

Carrion Crown and Strange Aeons both lend themselves to roleplay, I'd say. They both have long stretches that are more about investigation and inquiry than straight-up combat. Of the pair I believe CC has more, and the characters are less constrained by the adventure suggesting what sort of adventurers they should be.

I think Ruins of Azlant has some good roleplay bits in it as well, though I might be just expanding the few that I remember across the adventure because they were really good. I'd hope that War for the Crown would have lots of opportunities for roleplay, considering it's meant to be the political intrigue AP.

I feel like I never hear anything about War for the Crown.

Well it is the intrigue AP :3

[Perpdepog]

Yeah, and as such I think it was one of the more daring choices Paizo made in terms of AP material. Most of their adventures, especially in 1E, dealt with a genre, cosmic horror, gothic horror, wilderness survival, savage superscience, etc, or leaned heavily into a mechanical theme like hexploration or the subsystem de jour, but still didn't stray far from the framework of "there is a thing, you should fight the thing."

Then War for the Crown shows up and all bets are off, or so the public perception seemed to be. There was a sense that, rather than being an adventure with talky bits, it was primarily a talky political story with adventure bits thrown in. If the group liked that kind of adventure, then great! If not, it could easily turn potential groups from digging deeper into the meat of the adventure to learn more.

I will say that what little I've heard about the adventure has been more slanted to the positive, at least.

[Kasoh]

I'm playing in War for the Crown currently. If you want an AP with a huge cast of NPCs with varying interests, it is a great AP. Its... intimidating to run as GM because there are so many NPCs, factions, and interests to keep track of. That's before players get their hands on it and bring their own intrigue based characters.

We've spent more time doing logistics on our social calendar than dungeon delving, which is fine. You just have to know what you're getting into. I'm also sure there's a more actiony War for the Crown with a different GM so mileage may vary.

I'll shout out Hell's Rebels just because I think its one of the best ones Paizo has done.

Now here's a wild card: Wrath of the Righteous.
It has a huge cast of recurring NPCs who stick with you for most of the campaign. It has a huge cast of important villains that can show up through out the game. It takes place during a war, so downtime between military campaigns and forays is common enough. It doesn't matter how big the dungeons are: because at no point are the PCs ever in danger once they hit Mythic 3. The longest part of encounters is rolling initiative. Teams can blow through dungeons in a single rest and probably have enough juice to hit another one.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Books 1-3 are fantastic for this. Book 5 is the real sticking point on your list of criteria as it is a giant haunted castle.

[willfromamerica]

I’m happy to hear War for the Crown and Wrath of the Righteous mentioned - those are two that I was hoping to run for my RP-loving fiancé already! Carrion Crown, Strange Aeons, and Ruins of Azlant surprise me, so I’ll certainly need to look into those more.

[PossibleCabbage]

What's interesting is that Strange Aeons and War For the Crown are both great RPing APs, but are diametrically opposed in terms of what the players need to bring to the table.

For Strange Aeons you need absolutely nothing but "trust in your GM" as your entire backstory will be revealed in the course of the story. All you really need is an idea of the personality of the person you're playing. Literally any kind of character will fit, since you work backwards.

War For The Crown you kind of have to be a person who fits into Taldan society but also has an in-roads to Taldan *politics* and can be effective there.

[Perpdepog]

Carrion Crown works because it's also very accommodating to different kinds of characters. All the party needs for their initial meetup is to have known the professor whose funeral they're attending, and care enough to help out his daughter after the fact. Past that the monster of the week-style plots will pull the party along nicely.

I also like to plug that adventure path because its second volume, Trial of the Beast, might be my favorite adventure path, period.

[Kasoh]

Perpdepog wrote:

Carrion Crown works because it's also very accommodating to different kinds of characters. All the party needs for their initial meetup is to have known the professor whose funeral they're attending, and care enough to help out his daughter after the fact. Past that the monster of the week-style plots will pull the party along nicely.

I also like to plug that adventure path because its second volume, Trial of the Beast, might be my favorite adventure path, period.

Carrion Crown is odd to me in that you only really keep recurring NPCs for the particular adventure, the adventure relies on the RP strength of the group with each other which...can go a lot of ways.

When I played in Carrion Crown we did revisit Count Caromarc a few times and the Weird inventor in Book 4 was one of my favorites.

[willfromamerica]

Kasoh wrote:

Carrion Crown is odd to me in that you only really keep recurring NPCs for the particular adventure, the adventure relies on the RP strength of the group with each other which...can go a lot of ways.

Do you mean that NPCs are introduced in one volume of the AP and then never show up again?

[Kasoh]

willfromamerica wrote:

Kasoh wrote:

Carrion Crown is odd to me in that you only really keep recurring NPCs for the particular adventure, the adventure relies on the RP strength of the group with each other which...can go a lot of ways.

Do you mean that NPCs are introduced in one volume of the AP and then never show up again?

Yeah. Carrion Crown is very much a 'monster of the week' style campaign. Each adventure takes you to a different part of Ustalav while on the trail of a cult, and while you're there you encounter a strange monster. Each book has its own cast of characters and occasionally there's a call back. I only recall one, to be honest, but this was several years ago now.

[keftiu]

I'd be all over War for the Crown... if it was set pretty much anywhere else. I'm not sure you could pay me to care about Taldor, which is a shame; RP-heavy, dungeon-light political espionage/intrigue is pretty much everything I could ask for.

[PossibleCabbage]

If I may quote the player's guide for War For The Crown:

Quote:

Since its introduction, Taldor has often been the punch line of jokes: stagnant, spoiled, out of touch. These aren’t inaccurate descriptions, but they don’t make a setting sound like a fun adventure background, and that seems like a waste of an entire nation. Adventure is about change and drama, after all. Taldor’s stagnancy makes it ripe for conflict, and a conflict that comes down to the question of “do we stay the course or do we move forward into a changing world” —Eutropia the reformer or Pythareus the traditionalist—strikes at the heart of what makes Taldor tragic and gives the PCs a hand in bringing the nation and her people some hope.

I feel like they definitely wrote the AP with "Taldor kind of sucks" in mind.

[willfromamerica]

I've never had much interest in Taldor either, but I consistently see War for the Crown ranked high on people's AP rankings, so it seems like they found a way to make it interesting!

[Deriven Firelion]

Out of all the APs I've played, Kingmaker has the most role-play opportunity. It spans years. There are tons of opportunities. The PCs are expected to build lives as rulers of a kingdom. I and my players had the most fun building up a kingdom and all that goes with it including the relationships with the people, the kingdom, neighboring kingdoms, and each other. It was the most wide-ranging and rewarding DM experience I've ever had.

Out of the new APs, Agents of Edgewatch has a lot of RP. Lots of meeting NPCs involved in the city and various watches as well as politicians and temple leaders and the like. You have to bring the city to life and let the players interact with it.

From what little I've read, Strengths of Thousands is very role-play focused as you build a life and career as part of the school.

[oteta]

Hi everyone. I’ll throw in some kudos for “War for the Crown: Crownfall”. Our players enjoyed the intrigue-focused, 1st third of the adventure more than any other part and enjoyed the adventure overall.

Even more important for me is that the 2nd installment of the series, “Songbird, Scion, Saboteur”, has an interesting mechanic on how to conclude the story in a non-violent manner.

If people have information on non-violent options in Pathfinder Adventure Paths please provide your input on the thread I started here:

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs433p8?Pathfinder-Adventure-Paths-with-nonviole nt

Also, here’s a survey about Adventure Paths with lots of responses that also asks about role-playing:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG/comments/4ajsbf/adventure_path_surv ey_results/

Hope these thoughts are helpful!

[The Raven Black]

keftiu wrote:

I'd be all over War for the Crown... if it was set pretty much anywhere else. I'm not sure you could pay me to care about Taldor, which is a shame; RP-heavy, dungeon-light political espionage/intrigue is pretty much everything I could ask for.

Why is this ? Taldor seems tailor-fit for this kind of byzantine AP.

[keftiu]

The Raven Black wrote:

keftiu wrote:

I'd be all over War for the Crown... if it was set pretty much anywhere else. I'm not sure you could pay me to care about Taldor, which is a shame; RP-heavy, dungeon-light political espionage/intrigue is pretty much everything I could ask for.

Why is this ? Taldor seems tailor-fit for this kind of byzantine AP.

“Fancy faux-European empire in decline” isn’t doing much of anything I like aesthetically. I’ve seen it so many times before that it’s hard to get excited for another pretty familiar take on things.

Give me an equivalent story in Qadira or one of Lung Wa’s Successor States and I’m there with bells on.

[obfuscatingDeity]

I've been running War for the Crown for a bit now(plus a PFS prologue to set the stage and stakes as suggested by another thread on these very forums) and I definitely think it's pretty aces as far as an RP-focused campaign goes. In WftC proper we had I believe four full sessions with only a single combat encounter, simply because the Exaltation Gala is that chock-full of cool people to talk to and things to do. I'm very excited for the future volumes, and I think Taldor has turned out to be a dark horse great setting for our group.

[Leon Aquilla]

All of them are pretty much good material for roleplaying. I mean even in Abomination Vaults, choices have to be made.

[Vorsk, Follower or Erastil]

As i am now entering the last stages of GMing my Ruins of Azlant game (Players are in the compass, have already done one wing), definitely can say this one. At least the first 4 books. A huge cast of characters join the party in the first adventure and rping with them is encouraged. Book 3 drops it off a bit but then book 4 has you go to an underwater city and get tossed into a little intrigue and an underwater dinner party. The last 2 books are definitely on the "dungeon exploring smash faces" form of play though. Has some RP, but the ggame moves more to an endgame level of threat must be dealt, move move move mindset

[zimmerwald1915]

keftiu wrote:

Give me an equivalent story in Qadira or one of Lung Wa’s Successor States and I’m there with bells on.

Well, if you put it that way, Taldor is rightfully part of Qadira :V

Personally I'm turned off WFtC by your supposed to be doing all this work in and for a monarchy - I'd prefer it in Galt or Andoran or Vidrian or Bachuan.

To the OP: don't believe what you hear about Hell's Rebels. It is very much a traditionally combat-focused game, and the cast of NPCs who matter is actually vanishingly small.

[Rysky]

That is a lie.

[willfromamerica]

I’m on book 5 of Hell’s Rebels already, actually! While most of the NPCs don’t play an explicitly large role in the story, I’ve found there to be more than enough detail on each of them that it’s easy to make them much more integrated. So we’ve been very pleased with the roleplay opportunities!

[Forbino]

Rysky wrote:

keftiu wrote:

Perpdepog wrote:

Carrion Crown and Strange Aeons both lend themselves to roleplay, I'd say. They both have long stretches that are more about investigation and inquiry than straight-up combat. Of the pair I believe CC has more, and the characters are less constrained by the adventure suggesting what sort of adventurers they should be.

I think Ruins of Azlant has some good roleplay bits in it as well, though I might be just expanding the few that I remember across the adventure because they were really good. I'd hope that War for the Crown would have lots of opportunities for roleplay, considering it's meant to be the political intrigue AP.

I feel like I never hear anything about War for the Crown.

Well it is the intrigue AP :3

War for the crown is amazing fun. Social combat, heavy rp, well designed encounters and even some pfs side adventures.

[Warped Savant]

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

To the OP: don't believe what you hear about Hell's Rebels. It is very much a traditionally combat-focused game, and the cast of NPCs who matter is actually vanishingly small.

I'm a year and a half late but, oh man, do I ever disagree with you on this one.

Hell's Rebels was the most RP intensive campaign my group has had and it's easy for a group to get the NPCs involved and for the GM to allow the NPCs to be important throughout the entire story.
Are they mentioned thoughout the books? No.
Do the PCs toss them to the side after the main plot for each NPC is finished? I would hope not! If they're doing that, Zimmerwald, that's a problem with your group not getting invested or the GM not allowing the NPCs to matter. Sorry to see that happened to you.

NPCs that featured prominently throughout the Hell's Rebels game I ran included:
Laria, Hetamon, Zea, Raenna Solstine's grandchildren (I introduced them in book 1), Setrona, Blosodriette, Vendalfek, Octavio, Marquel, Strea, Luculla, Tiarise (also introduced her in book 1), of course Thrune (but that's a given), as well as a few I added in like the previous duxotar of the Dottari.
Hell, even Odexidie made a few appearances after the initial encounter he's introduced in.

[Yakman]

Warped Savant wrote:

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

To the OP: don't believe what you hear about Hell's Rebels. It is very much a traditionally combat-focused game, and the cast of NPCs who matter is actually vanishingly small.

I'm a year and a half late but, oh man, do I ever disagree with you on this one.

Hell's Rebels was the most RP intensive campaign my group has had and it's easy for a group to get the NPCs involved and for the GM to allow the NPCs to be important throughout the entire story.
Are they mentioned thoughout the books? No.
Do the PCs toss them to the side after the main plot for each NPC is finished? I would hope not! If they're doing that, Zimmerwald, that's a problem with your group not getting invested or the GM not allowing the NPCs to matter. Sorry to see that happened to you.

NPCs that featured prominently throughout the Hell's Rebels game I ran included:
Laria, Hetamon, Zea, Raenna Solstine's grandchildren (I introduced them in book 1), Setrona, Blosodriette, Vendalfek, Octavio, Marquel, Strea, Luculla, Tiarise (also introduced her in book 1), of course Thrune (but that's a given), as well as a few I added in like the previous duxotar of the Dottari.
Hell, even Odexidie made a few appearances after the initial encounter he's introduced in.

there's also a ton of really fun humanoid villains who you can sprinkle into RP sessions before your Silver Ravens run into them. The Gardener in particular might be a wonderful addition to Books 2 & 3 before he's encountered in Book 4.

[Patrickthekid]

I think Skull & Shackles has a lot of potential for great roleplaying, especially in the first book.

[Warped Savant]

Yakman wrote:

there's also a ton of really fun humanoid villains who you can sprinkle into RP sessions before your Silver Ravens run into them. The Gardener in particular might be a wonderful addition to Books 2 & 3 before he's encountered in Book 4.

My group had either heard about, saw, or interacted with nearly every single enemy a book or two before they were introduced as written.

Tiarise was a hated enemy from book one and I made her a major enemy at the end of book 3 which resulted in a major pay-off for the characters.

Patrickthekid wrote:

I think Skull & Shackles has a lot of potential for great roleplaying, especially in the first book.

Skull & Shackles has way more potential for political intrigue than people give it credit for. The PCs can affect a worldl of change in the Shackles.

NPCs that are introduced in the first book can (and should!) be consistent characters throughout the campaign.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

Seconding Skull and Shackles, the entire first book is about learning the desires of the NPCs they share a ship with so they can earn their trust and help them mutiny against cruel masters.

Jade Regent was an incredibly role-play heavy game for my party, because I made the NPCs in the caravan a roaming village, and gave some minor mechanical boons based on if players could maximise their friendship/rivalry scores. It made the game hella rewarding.

[zimmerwald1915]

Yakman wrote:

Warped Savant wrote:

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

To the OP: don't believe what you hear about Hell's Rebels. It is very much a traditionally combat-focused game, and the cast of NPCs who matter is actually vanishingly small.

I'm a year and a half late but, oh man, do I ever disagree with you on this one.

Hell's Rebels was the most RP intensive campaign my group has had and it's easy for a group to get the NPCs involved and for the GM to allow the NPCs to be important throughout the entire story.
Are they mentioned thoughout the books? No.
Do the PCs toss them to the side after the main plot for each NPC is finished? I would hope not! If they're doing that, Zimmerwald, that's a problem with your group not getting invested or the GM not allowing the NPCs to matter. Sorry to see that happened to you.

NPCs that featured prominently throughout the Hell's Rebels game I ran included:
Laria, Hetamon, Zea, Raenna Solstine's grandchildren (I introduced them in book 1), Setrona, Blosodriette, Vendalfek, Octavio, Marquel, Strea, Luculla, Tiarise (also introduced her in book 1), of course Thrune (but that's a given), as well as a few I added in like the previous duxotar of the Dottari.
Hell, even Odexidie made a few appearances after the initial encounter he's introduced in.

there's also a ton of really fun humanoid villains who you can sprinkle into RP sessions before your Silver Ravens run into them. The Gardener in particular might be a wonderful addition to Books 2 & 3 before he's encountered in Book 4.

They might. But with the exceptions of Barzillai Thrune himself, and Nox and Tiarese (who are written as two-off combat encounters with their personalities having been destroyed between their appearances), they are written purely as one-off combat encounters.

[Warped Savant]

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

They might. But with the exceptions of Barzillai Thrune himself, and Nox and Tiarese (who are written as two-off combat encounters with their personalities having been destroyed between their appearances), they are written purely as one-off combat encounters.

It's a good thing that it's really easy for GMs to use them as more than just one-off combat encounters.

I'm sorry that whoever was running Hell's Rebels for your group wasn't able to use NPCs beyond the encounters / scenarios they were written for. There's so much potential in the AP for role-playing!
Not introducing a bunch of the NPCs early is a huge missed opportunity.

OP asked for:
1. A large, diverse cast of NPCs (Yep!)
2. Lots of chances for downtime in the story (Especially if you use the Rebellion rules as they require a week to pass between them.)
3. A lack of massive dungeons that take up a ton of page space (There are some, but it feels like a noticeably smaller amount than most APs.)

Hell's Rebels checks all of those boxes.
Of the APs I've ran, I think only Skull and Shackles might do it better.

[zimmerwald1915]

Warped Savant wrote:

I'm sorry that whoever was running Hell's Rebels for your group wasn't able to use NPCs beyond the encounters / scenarios they were written for.

Bold of you to assume I have a group. In fact I do not and experience APs and adventures as literature and of course as a commercial product rather than in play.