Kudos for Having Fun

[Cori Marie]

I'm only through Chapter Four, but I can already say this is one of my favorite adventures I've read. It is clear from the outset just how much James enjoyed writing this one. It is so fun and flavorful.

[James Jacobs]

YAY; thank you! I've long believed that "being fun to read" is the most important thing an RPG adventure needs to accomplish, since if a GM enjoys reading an adventure, chances are so much higher that they'll be eager to run the adventure and/or be inspired to expand the adventure or even create one of their own design. Of course, adventures also need to be compelling and easy to run at a table, but I feel that those whose design goes too far into that category become less fun to read... less like a compelling story and more like a technical manual you don't read so much as just reference now and then during construction of something.

But also, having been in the position several times in my life where I didn't have the luxury of having a game group to play with, reading adventures was the only way I could really engage in the story of my favorite RPGs; they helped me feel that I was still connected to the hobby through the months or years after moving to a new place and not having a group of close friends to game with.

And that goes for writing adventures too. I've written adventures for a wide range of styles, and there's for sure a difference between ones that are fun to write (as this one certainly was!) and ones that feel like work to write.

[Cori Marie]

I think the one that got me the most so far was

Spoiler:

He’s particularly fond of hooking a creature and flinging them, hooting out joyous cries of “Gorlak gets points!” each time he succeeds. Gorlak isn’t sure how many points he’s accumulated so far, or what they’re for, but he does want more of them.

[James Jacobs]

HA! Yeah... those SPOILERS are always lots of fun to write dialogue for!

[Virellius]

I am SO deeply interested in the SUPER SECRET RESEARCH TOPIC THING and will be obsessing over it for a long time. Unrelated, I simply am going to have someone run this and play the freshly of-age child of my RotRL PC, because it is just TOO good. You knocked it out of the park with this one, for sure.

[Unicore]

Keeping on the theme of Kudos, the sandpoint gazette in this AP is phenomenal! It is the best I have ever seen. The whole town feels alive and like it will be easy and fun as a GM to make it responsive to the player characters’ progress through the adventure. There are so many concrete ways here make downtime rewarding and to have meters to measure growth beyond “now everyone is helpful, what does that mean?”

I was impressed with Otari in abomination vaults but this has really raised the bar.

[W E Ray]

One more week and we'll be sharing in the fun!

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

James Jacobs wrote:

I've long believed that "being fun to read" is the most important thing an RPG adventure needs to accomplish, since if a GM enjoys reading an adventure, chances are so much higher that they'll be eager to run the adventure and/or be inspired to expand the adventure or even create one of their own design.

Speaking for myself, this is absolutely the case.

I wouldn't have put in the countless hours adapting old BECMI modules or various APs if they didn't spark excitement in my imagination.

[Unicore]

Another thing that I am finding amazing in this book is how well game rules are seamlessly worked into parts of the game that APs have struggled to use effectively in the past. I love how in chapter 2 the research system is connected to activities like gathering information, making requests, and make an impression. This is going to make this a really easy AP for newer GMs to learn the ropes of the PF2 ruleset. Tying it all to the reputation system and having these specific factions that have concrete levels for what they will do as the party gains their support (or loses it) is so tight in this book. When I finish reading it I look forward to reviewing it more officially, and I really hope everyone involved with it wins some awards.

Like the lore and story is amazing (as tends to be the case with Paizo APs) but the ease of use for this Adventure feels like something that hasn't been accomplished before.