Can AoE be re-written as a fun cop / drama procedural like CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, etc?

[Sean_Powell]

Hello,
I've been listening to Terry Pratchett's Diskworld series and focusing on the "Guards! Guards!" chain of novels and it REALLY makes me want to run a players-as-cops campaign where the first reaction on seeing someone with a drawn weapon isn't to open with fireball and follow-up with frenzied barbarian. Unfortunately everything I've ready about AoE has convinced me that the authors didn't achieve this but it's more of a "hack and slash, loot the corpses, why does the dungeon look like a city street?" game.

Is it worth trying to edit the AP into something where clues matter, reputation with informants matters, social interactions with NPCs matter and following the law (at least when you might get caught) matters? Or is it easier to ditch it all and start from scratch?

Or is there maybe a different AP (even in 1E or that game with 2 Ds in the title that shall not be mentioned) that would be easier to rebuild?

Thanks in advance.

[Razcar]

Absolutely. We are running it atm, and I've enhanced or added many cop show tropes. I made Lavarsus more of a comedic adversary, I added a competing watch unit that got hired at the same time as the PCs that the captain loves while the PCs are the underdogs etc.

So it's possible. Two problems though. The AP deals with some body horror/gritty stuff, well at least the first two books do. Could be toned down of course, but it gets quite visceral at times.

Secondly, PF doesn't really lend itself well to that kind of game. PF (and DnD) is a combat simulator between a group of fantasy heroes and a plethora of weird and wonderful monsters. With some additional window dressing.

There are no real systems for contacts, personality traits, weaknesses etc. Stuff that matter in cop shows. Maybe you could look at other game systems for things to add though, maybe like Gumshoe (I have no real experience with it, just a suggestion) or Delta Green.

Having said that, there's diplomatic solutions to several fights in this AP, and I've easily changed others to have one too.

[Razcar]

*Spoilers below*
Also, you need to be aware that the AP as written does not keep the PCs as "city guards" for very long. That's probably because PF turns characters into superheroes quite fast - chasing pick-pockets when you can fly, have teleportation powers, or run faster than a cheetah isn't much of a challenge. They do start out as beat cops, but quickly turn into thieves guild-busting supercops and then by book 3, become special agents or super spies like James Bond. And by the last books the ordinary level 15+ demi-gods.

You could rework this AP into a more grounded cop show story by either just levelling them real slow, reworking the challenges to suit their much lower level, and taking out the more outlandish opponents and plot elements. Skipping or heavily reworking the last book, which focuses on fallen angels and extradimensional adversaries might also be the way to go. But the AP has a fun plot IMO and a lot of really cool set pieces, so I do recommend at least checking it out even you want to run a cop show adventure in another system.