Thinking of trying out gming what would be a good ap tk go with?

[tsm1991]

As the title says thinking of running a ap what would be good for a semi new gm? Heard runelords or giantslayer is best bet

[Tridus]

What edition of Pathfinder?

What kind of adventure are you interested in? ie: more combat, more exploration, etc?

[tsm1991]

Tridus wrote:

What edition of Pathfinder?

What kind of adventure are you interested in? ie: more combat, more exploration, etc?

first and a mix

[Mammoth Daddy]

tsm1991 wrote:

Tridus wrote:

What edition of Pathfinder?

What kind of adventure are you interested in? ie: more combat, more exploration, etc?

first and a mix

Runelords or Curse of the Crimson Throne.

Crimson Throne was the first AP I ran and while we never finished (due to external circumstances) I found the AP was well explained and logical from beginning to end- which I read. We got to book 2 so admittedly this wasn’t far.

Crimson throne has less travel than Runelords but they take place in the same meta-region of Varisia. I know nothing of Runelords aside from the fact that’s it’s very classic in terms of TTRPG tropes and mechanics.

[tsm1991]

Mammoth Daddy wrote:

tsm1991 wrote:

Tridus wrote:

What edition of Pathfinder?

What kind of adventure are you interested in? ie: more combat, more exploration, etc?

first and a mix

Runelords or Curse of the Crimson Throne.

Crimson Throne was the first AP I ran and while we never finished (due to external circumstances) I found the AP was well explained and logical from beginning to end- which I read. We got to book 2 so admittedly this wasn’t far.

Crimson throne has less travel than Runelords but they take place in the same meta-region of Varisia. I know nothing of Runelords aside from the fact that’s it’s very classic in terms of TTRPG tropes and mechanics.

cool thanks

[Tridus]

Crimson Throne is the best AP I've played. Runelords was also pretty good, thought we had some real difficulty spikes that made it frustrating at times. (To be fair, we also had a stronger party in Crimson Throne.)

I'd avoid Second Darkness as it requires major changes and you really won't want to have to deal with that if you're new to this.

[Perpdepog]

I've also heard good things about Crimson Throne. It's also a good pick because, IIRC, it hasn't got any extra subsystems or anything bolted on. Many of the Adventure Paths past the first couple will add an extra system or two on in order to help facilitate the theme of the adventure--the sanity system in Strange Aeons, the rebellion system in Hell's Rebels, naval combat in Skull & Shackles, etc.--but Crimson Throne hasn't got any.

And I'm not saying those extra systems are bad, just that it's probably wise to minimize your load as a first-time GM.

[Andostre]

I hate to sound negative or throw a wrench in any plans, but if we're talking about the first time GMing -- especially if it's the first time PbP GMing -- I wouldn't do an AP. They usually take a long time in in-person, but over PbP, an AP could take years, and statistically, an AP is unlikely to be finished in that format.

Instead, I would recommend that you start with one of one of the many PF modules that Paizo has released over the years. (I'm sure there are great 3rd party adventures, too.) Better yet, you could start with the first in a series of modules, which are a number of independent adventures that are designed to be connected, story wise.

The Price of Immortality series is pretty popular. It's made up of the following modules:

Crypt of the Everflame

Masks of the Living God

City of Golden Death

I've played Crypt of the Everflame and had fun. It's starts off as village roleplay, then wilderness travel, then a pretty cool dungeon, then you make your way back to the village.

Another one I know of but haven't played is made up of these adventures:

Hollow's Last Hope

Crown of the Kobold King

Revenge of the Kobold King

Hungry Are the Dead

(FYI, these four adventures were written for D&D 3.5 rules.)

I'm certain there are other series, but even if not, it wouldn't be too hard to connect different modules together.

[tsm1991]

Andostre wrote:

I hate to sound negative or throw a wrench in any plans, but if we're talking about the first time GMing -- especially if it's the first time PbP GMing -- I wouldn't do an AP. They usually take a long time in in-person, but over PbP, an AP could take years, and statistically, an AP is unlikely to be finished in that format.

Instead, I would recommend that you start with one of one of the many PF modules that Paizo has released over the years. (I'm sure there are great 3rd party adventures, too.) Better yet, you could start with the first in a series of modules, which are a number of independent adventures that are designed to be connected, story wise.

The Price of Immortality series is pretty popular. It's made up of the following modules:

Crypt of the Everflame

Masks of the Living God

City of Golden Death

I've played Crypt of the Everflame and had fun. It's starts off as village roleplay, then wilderness travel, then a pretty cool dungeon, then you make your way back to the village.

Another one I know of but haven't played is made up of these adventures:

Hollow's Last Hope

Crown of the Kobold King

Revenge of the Kobold King

Hungry Are the Dead

(FYI, these four adventures were written for D&D 3.5 rules.)

I'm certain there are other series, but even if not, it wouldn't be too hard to connect different modules together.

not a fan of pbp games so wasn't going to run it as one

[Andostre]

Sorry, reading comprehension fail on my part.

I kinda still think a shorter series of modules is a good option for a new GM, though.

[Mammoth Daddy]

tsm1991 wrote:

] not a fan of pbp games so wasn't going to run it as one

Aside from confusing your intent, he’s not wrong. Before running Crimaon, I GM’d several 1e pathfinder society sessions before doing an AP.

Now, maybe your cleverer than I was then, but it took me a few months before I felt comfortable GMing an AP campaign rather than a few disconnected sessions. The first book of Crimson is easy, but it’s the second book where things start getting crazy.

If you’re set on Crimson Throne, def take a look at the crimson throne AP subforum to see what other GM’s did to make the AP better for their table.

And

Spoiler:

Be careful how you portray the antagonist before the big reveal in book 2. Too much of the art for the campaign gives the plot away. If your players figure out what’s up early ask them to pretend ignorance until such a time as their characters are informed of the plot twist. I played the antagonist as sympathetic when they first meet them, with players receiving visions of the past or possible apocalyptic future featuring an ‘evil blue dragon’ to throw them off the scent. These visions will instead better help the players after the plot twist is discovered

[Warped Savant]

I've run a few APs for my group and, for a new GM, I can't stress enough how great Mummy's Mask is. Seriously, if you want to run an AP instead of modules I suggest this one. Pretty linear campaign that switches things up enough that it stays entertaining and fun. The BBEG is mentioned pretty early and you very slowly learn more and more about him. Reading other reviews had me wary, but it's not all traps everywhere and the types of undead change so that it never feels like you're just hacking away at the same enemies over and over and over and over again. Super fun, great AP to run as written and pretty easy to follow along with what's happening. It's also easy to run the first two or four books if you want and it would feel like a full campaign, which is also why I suggest it to new GMs. (GMs would just need to remove minor connective tissue to the next book and the players wouldn't know that the campaign was cut short)

It's so much fun! Ancient Egypt inspired setting, zombies, mummies, skeletons, nearly every kind of undead you can think of!

(The Mummy's Mask board on here is pretty quiet, not because it's not a good AP, but because there's not much say about it / GMs don't have many questions / people aren't looking for advice on how to make it better or fix things)

***

Or, if you go with what Andostre suggested and look at modules, the three he listed (Crypt of the Everflame, Masks and Golden Death) are pretty good.

I prefer The Dragon's Demand because it feels more "classic". It's levels 1-7 and you get to fight a dragon at the end!

Ire of the Storm is also really good. They play through levels 1-5, there's wilderness exploration involved, going through ruins, and stopping an evil cult.

PLUS! If you like it, there's also Seers of the Drowned City which is thematically (and a little conceptually) connected to Ire of the Storm, and they start at level 6 in the same area. It was written to be a sequel to Ire and works pretty well at it.