With more and more of the Table Top RPG community shifts to the Pathfinder 2E, are any of the Pathfinder 1E Adventure Paths still popular?
So like, are you looking for current sales numbers?
I have all the 1st edition APs sitting on my self, and I would like to get some more use out of them.
So, this would be more about possible recruitment.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As I've said on the forums before, I'm not switching to 2e because I have enough APs and other Pathfinder adventures to DM into my early 90s. We were late to Pathfinder (stayed on 3.5 for something like 17 years), so all the 1e APs are still popular with my group.
I'm running Strange Aeons right now. I may not be actively posting on these forums much anymore, but I'm still playing and GM'ing Pathfinder 1st edition.
No clue what our next campaign will be (we're in book 5 so the end is starting to loom) but another Paizo AP is definitely a possibility.
I have yet to play half of the adventure paths in first edition, and three (Reign of Winter, Giantslayer, and Tyrant's Grasp) that I have yet to get past the 3rd book. My interest in PF1 adventure paths is as high as its ever been.
I check the LFG on Roll20 fairly often. These days it's mostly unofficial adventures, but you'll still see old APs often enough.
Rise of the Runelords, Mummy's Mask and Reign of Winter get ran somewhat often. A lot of people try to run Wrath of the Righteous, but those games tend to burn out a lot.
Personally, one of my groups is running War for the Crown, but the other is running a non-Paizo AP
I don't usually view the Pay 2 Play games, but a lot of those do seem to be official APs
I don't usually view the Pay 2 Play games, but a lot of those do seem to be official APs
Really?
Given that you're paying, those are the ones that should be Homebrew.A lot of people try to run Wrath of the Righteous, but those games tend to burn out a lot.
I can see that. The story is really good, but the encounter balancing in the AP (and Mythic rules in general) are not so much
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Since October 2019, I have been converting the 2017 PF1 Ironfang Invasion adventure path to PF2 rules. It is working so far: we are in the 6th module.
I was discussing Tarondor’s Guide to Pathfinder Adventure Paths in Discord with one of my players, mentioning that Ironfang Invasion rated 22nd out of 33 on both Tarondor's rating and in a poll Tarondor took. He read it and responded:
Wow, my other campaign, Return of the Runelords, made #10 on Tarondar's ratings, but #29 on the poll list. And Tyrant's Grasp, that group's next campaign, is #13 on Tarondar's, but #24 on the poll. Quite the difference. Whereas Ironfang Invasion is #22 on both lists. The one I'm planning to GM, Outlaws of Alkenstar, is too new to be on the list, I guess.
That player in Oregon plays PF2 with me in upstate New York via Roll20 and plays PF1 with another GM in Seattle, Washington. He plans on GMing himself with a 3-module PF2 adventure path.
I don't usually view the Pay 2 Play games, but a lot of those do seem to be official APsReally?
Given that you're paying, those are the ones that should be Homebrew.
I think it’s more a matter of demand. People are more likely to pay for an AP that they know is popular than take a gamble on how good some stranger is at full world building
With more and more of the Table Top RPG community shifts to the Pathfinder 2E, are any of the Pathfinder 1E Adventure Paths still popular?
I am running two PF1 APs!
Under PF2 rules, of course, as they're far superior.
I've run all of RotR AE twice (two different groups, more or less simultaneously), and am currently running CotCT RE and JR.
I will be running MM for a third group (which is currently on hiatus for RL reasons). In about six months time I will have a fourth group starting an as of yet undecided PF1 or Dungeon 3.5 AP (all using PF1) - that AP will be mostly their choice, but I will insist that it's a different AP from the other ones that I have run/am running.
As for what I'd personally be really interested in running/playing myself (beyond the active APs listed above): RoW, ShSt, Return, SA, IG, and HR. My secondary list would likely be: SD, KM, II, RoA, and WftC, plus the STap. The rest would also be acceptable with the exceptions of HV and WotR. (I don't want Mythic headaches and I would hate to run an evil AP.)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
we're les than halfway through the AP's, we love PF1, and figure it will take 20 more years to finish them, so yes, they are very popular with us, and we have no intention of switching systems.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
We’re playing two PF1 APs under PF1 rules, and unless one of the PF2 ones really grabs me (so far all of the plots / settings have come across as a bit meh) we will probably play some more with our current groups, interspersed with other game systems.
But that’s across a loose confederation of older gamers who like the PF1 ruleset and aren’t inclined to go chase the new system just because it’s shiny. I suspect there are probably plenty of people like us who have the rulebooks and adventures already, but aren’t posting reviews or writing blogs because, well, what’s the point if it’s a home game of something published a decade ago?
We’re playing two PF1 APs under PF1 rules, and unless one of the PF2 ones really grabs me (so far all of the plots / settings have come across as a bit meh) we will probably play some more with our current groups, interspersed with other game systems.
I too feel that the kinds of stories from the PF1 era APs are better. That may be more "generational" than an actual drop in quality. I grew up in a different time, with different stories (and social norms).
Mostly I was just looking at "sunk cost"
But that’s across a loose confederation of older gamers who like the PF1 ruleset and aren’t inclined to go chase the new system just because it’s shiny. I suspect there are probably plenty of people like us who have the rulebooks and adventures already, but aren’t posting reviews or writing blogs because, well, what’s the point if it’s a home game of something published a decade ago?
I don't think that the rule system is the problem. I can be argued that PF1 became bloated (but PF2 is racing to the same level of rules bloat).
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I've met multiple people that just have trouble moving from PF1 to PF2. And I'm one of them. Maybe it's a side effect of playing basically the same system for 20+ years, but I've tried multiple times and can't quite get into it. I have specific nitpicks about PF2, but I'm not sure if I'm being fair or if I just don't want change.
I've met multiple people that just have trouble moving from PF1 to PF2. And I'm one of them. Maybe it's a side effect of playing basically the same system for 20+ years, but I've tried multiple times and can't quite get into it. I have specific nitpicks about PF2, but I'm not sure if I'm being fair or if I just don't want change.
I'm not saying that I don't have nitpicks with PF2 also. But, I have played enough rules systems (I started in AD&D 1E) not to be too resistant to shifting to another one.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
For the OP, I'd suggest it's not really meaningful to think about how "popular" PF1 APs are in general. It doesn't really matter if there's a million people who like them or a hundred: as long as you can find a few folks to join you in a game, you'll have the same amount of fun. (And if you look around the Internet, there are active campaigns for the most obscure gaming systems imaginable.)
As for me, I love PF1. I've finished GMing Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne, and I'm now doing my prep on Second Darkness that will start in a few months. PF1 thrives :)
I've met multiple people that just have trouble moving from PF1 to PF2. And I'm one of them. Maybe it's a side effect of playing basically the same system for 20+ years, but I've tried multiple times and can't quite get into it. I have specific nitpicks about PF2, but I'm not sure if I'm being fair or if I just don't want change.
the biggest issue is cost. I spent hundreds on AD&D 1, low thousands on 2.0, and a few thousand on 3.0/3.5. then I spent at least that much again on PF1. Considering PF1 has way more adventuring material that we want to play through, and considering the cost, we see no need to spend that kind of money again.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The cost is pretty cheap if you use the online sources. I assume the big money maker is APs and other adventures, since those aren’t freely available.
While the PF1 APs are good,
… usually …
I think in general the NPCs need some tweaking as the writers tended to be overly simple as I believe it was unwritten policy and it avoids thorny corner cases.
Not a bad thing. Remember, the writers do not actually know your player group.
Alas there was Eyes of the Ten and the obvious errors (lol...).
I'd say post "improvements" in the AP's GM forum sections.
Which, is their primary purpose.
The cost is pretty cheap if you use the online sources. I assume the big money maker is APs and other adventures, since those aren’t freely available.
there's still many people who like to have hard copies of items to use when the power is out or the internet is down, we happen to be among them.
but aside from cost, there's the idea of relearning a game we have already been playing for almost 30 years and have yet to try everything it has to offer. IMO there's still tons of money that could be made simply by producing AP's (easily could be made for PF1 and PF2, or ruleset agnostic).
There was good reason to switch game system in the past, mainly because we had played all the major modules as there weren't as many back in the day, and we wanted to be able to play the new modules, we haven't had that issue with PF1 yet.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Since October 2019, I have been converting the 2017 PF1 Ironfang Invasion adventure path to PF2 rules. It is working so far: we are in the 6th module.
I was discussing Tarondor’s Guide to Pathfinder Adventure Paths in Discord with one of my players, mentioning that Ironfang Invasion rated 22nd out of 33 on both Tarondor's rating and in a poll Tarondor took. He read it and responded:
Wow, my other campaign, Return of the Runelords, made #10 on Tarondar's ratings, but #29 on the poll list. And Tyrant's Grasp, that group's next campaign, is #13 on Tarondar's, but #24 on the poll. Quite the difference. Whereas Ironfang Invasion is #22 on both lists. The one I'm planning to GM, Outlaws of Alkenstar, is too new to be on the list, I guess.That player in Oregon plays PF2 with me in upstate New York via Roll20 and plays PF1 with another GM in Seattle, Washington. He plans on GMing himself with a 3-module PF2 adventure path.
There's definitely a huge Your Mileage May Vary effect with quality of APs. Tyrant's Grasp is probably my favorite AP from 1E but its themes and game type are not going to be for everyone.
Either way, to answer OP, our group hasn't moved onto 2E and likely won't for a while, if for the simple reason that there's so many good 1E APs out there.
Since October 2019, I have been converting the 2017 PF1 Ironfang Invasion adventure path to PF2 rules. It is working so far: we are in the 6th module. ......
Either way, to answer OP, our group hasn't moved onto 2E and likely won't for a while, if for the simple reason that there's so many good 1E APs out there.
That is one reason I converted a PF1 adventure path to PF2 rules. I wanted to try out the PF2 rules, especially since I had participated in the PF2 public playtest, but I didn't want to leave all those good PF1 APs behind. Since at the time, PF2 had only the Age of Ashes AP, PF1 APs also offered more choice.
Regardless, at one game session a week an adventure path runs for at least two years. That means I have time to play only one out of four APs. I lack the energy to conduct two sessions a week.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There's definitely a huge Your Mileage May Vary effect with quality of APs. Tyrant's Grasp is probably my favorite AP from 1E but its themes and game type are not going to be for everyone.
100% on this. I've got several ... choice words for some of the encounter designs in Tyrant's Grasp and have thrown many narrowed eyed looks towards the designers, but the story is really, really good. And the character I played in it was one of the most memorable I've ever made.
Iron Gods is my favorite AP of PF1 though that has more to do with the players and choices we made along the way.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Sometimes the APs are really uneven because of the change of designer from book to book or even just the challenges associated with writing for different level ranges. I feel like a lot of writers have trouble associating with high level play
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Sometimes the APs are really uneven because of the change of designer from book to book or even just the challenges associated with writing for different level ranges. I feel like a lot of writers have trouble associating with high level play
I have an interesting comparison in Ironfang Invasion.
The third module, Assault on Longshadow, by Benjamin Bruck and Thurston Hillman is excellent. The party gets to scout around the city of Longshadow to assess the military might of the mostly-hobgoblin Ironfang Legion, improve the defenses of Longshadow, sabotage some Ironfang plans, and finally defend Longshadow in full-sized assault (okay, the gigantic battle plays as slow as molasses, but the authors tried to put some speed into it).
The fourth module, Siege of Stone, by Thurston Hillman switches to a travelogue of the Darklands and the Dwarven Sky Citadel Kraggodan without a hobgoblin soldier in sight. Hillman also wrote the Darklands Revisited sourcebook, so he is an expert on the setting. But my players were extremely focused on defeating the Ironfang Legion and had little interest in researching the secret past of enemy General Azaersi. They lost some motivation until they could view the adventure as recruiting Kraggodan to help against the Ironfang Legion.
Yet this is understandable. If the party faced even stronger Ironfang troops in the fourth module, then they would be wondering why those troops had not been sent against Longshadow. Thus, for verisimilitude the narrative needed a break from the Ironfang Legion in a new setting that could provide fresh level-appropriate monsters.
The fifth module, Prisoners of the Blight, by Amanda Hamon Kunz continued the break from the Ironfang Legion with a fey-based adventure in the Fangwood. A two-module break was too long. One player asked, "Could you remind me why we are here?" The module set up the journey from Kraggodan to the Fangwood as a time skip, but my players asked me to generate new material for the journey through Ironfang-conquered territory so that they could feel like their characters were still busy battling the Ironfang Legion. On the other hand, the first two modules were located in the less dangerous parts of the Fangwood, so I can imagine other groups of players caring more about the Fangwood than about the Ironfang Legion.
I don't usually view the Pay 2 Play games, but a lot of those do seem to be official APsReally?
Given that you're paying, those are the ones that should be Homebrew.
I'm running an AP at the moment.
The party have arrived at a big castle that they can explore in any order. If I want to run it smoothly, I have to study up on about nineteen different stat-blocks for the various creatures in the castle, find out what their spells do, etc. And if I want it to be anything other than a meatgrinder I have to think of things for them to say or do other than just attacking the party on sight.
I'm not getting paid, but I feel like for all this effort somebody should be paying me.
it could be abandoned or occupied by monsters... making a mess of it as it falls into disrepair.
This one. It's
there's historical castle design, historical church design, and FPRG castle design. Different criteria. siege weapons, guns and cannons made an impact.
You might want to look at Ft. Ticonderoga.
My complaint was that running an P1e AP is too much effort, and you're giving me extra homework?
it could be abandoned or occupied by monsters... making a mess of it as it falls into disrepair.This one. It's ** spoiler omitted ** from Jade Regent.
Ah. I have run Jade Regent and that castle is complicated.
I used the mute harpy oracle Zaiobe to give them focus. The goblin alchemist had a tumor familiar that was flying around scouting. Zaiobe spotted it and grabbed it. Since Zaiobe can communicate telepathically with any creature she
is in physical contact with, and the tumor familiar counts as part of the alchemist's body, I let her communicate secretly at a distance with the goblin alchemist. Who kept this secret for a few minutes, sigh. But eventually he arranged for the party to meet Zaiobe, whose agenda was more in line with the party's goals than Lord Kikonu's agenda. Thus, they had a helpful guide, but had to humor Kikonu. This let me direct them to rooms that I was ready to run.
And I was on a deadline, because some players would leave in two months. I skipped section V entirely to save time by sending Zaiobe to fetch the Brinewall crest from room V10, so the party never went there.
Fundamentally, I used a technique that has served me well in several campaigns. I fed the party useful information that made their actions more predictable. It also let them play with more sophistication than combat in every encounter.
I chronicled my Jade Regent campaign at Amaya of Westcrown. However, I started the chronicle after that castle, and mentioned nothing about the encounters there.
I'm not getting paid, but I feel like for all this effort somebody should be paying me.
I was running my Jade Regent campaign at the Family Game Store in Savage, Maryland. They gave GMs who ran a campaign at the store for other customers a 10% discount on purchases. Thus, I guess I was paid. The owners of the store retired, but their son and daughter-in-law run Three Gear Games and Studio in nearby Laurel, Maryland.
It's actually going quite well. I compiled the stats for all the creatures, except for the ones I forgot about and had to look up mid-game. I wrote a scene from Kikonu's play and had one of the party play a part in it. I mixed two rooms around because I got confused by which stairs connect to each other between floors, and ended up with a Haunt in a major thoroughfare that made no sense. I added a prophecy (that the bad guys know and are hoping to take advantage of) about a group of strangers who would reveal the castle's final secret, to justify giving them a bit more latitude to explore.
Mostly it didn't matter. I ended up improvising a lot, based on the party's good diplomacy rolls, letting them avoid battles with enemies who are supposed to attack immediately, etc.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm pretty sure there's recruitment boards on other parts of these forums.
Yeah, there are some PF1 APs in the recruitment section, with a varifying degree of modification.
I am running Curse of the Crimson Throne right now, after a homebrew campaign. Ironically, it doesn't really reduce my prep time, because I spend a lot of time at getting familiar with story details and sometimes mechanics I wouldn't use otherwise.
I will be back to homebrew afterwards, using APs only for inspiration. PF2 APs usually don't appeal to me, only Abomination Vaults piques my interest.
I'm currently into book 3 of Mummy's Mask and everyone's having a great time. I'm also playing in a Jade Regent game (Hi Matt, I see you upthread) and I'm definitely having a fantastic time. I think the PF1 AP's are a damn good product (largely) and I don't see that changing any time soon. Even if I was to switch up to PF2, I'd probably want to adapt one of the PF1 AP's or modules I have. Or maybe run Abomination Vaults, it looks fun.
