Adventure Path that course turned into episodic style game

[CormacDM]

Hello...

I am wondering if there are any adventures that could be turned into episodic adventure with a safe haven element...

I have a few players but scheduling is an issue and running an AP in a traditional way has raised issues...

We like an all encompassing story, but dropping in and out for flexibility would allow for a better game experience...

Any help would be very much appreciated

[Dr. Frank Funkelstein]

The Abomination Vaults have Otari 20min away, and while there is some story, it is a dungeon crawl.

[Squark]

Megadungeons can work if you set a tradition of returning to base at the end of every session, but that's easier in faster paced games.

The existing beginner box and its upcoming successor both have an adventure anthology that can be run as a follow-up, and Troubles in Grayce will also lead into the Bastion of Blasphemies AP that's coming this fall (which is a megadungeon).

It's Starfinder, but the upcoming adventure Anthology Tales from the Vast would be perfect for this since they tried to channel a Classic "Planet of the Week" vibe.

[The Raven Black]

I feel Kingmaker, with its open nature and so many quests, might be perfect for this.

It even includes Companions that can join the adventuring party so that you do not need to fiddle with the encounters' numbers.

That's what I intend to do for my Kingmaker game where I am just meeting the same situation you mention (ie not all players always available).

[moosher12]

As Raven Black said. Kingmaker is a sandbox adventure with very generous range for doing what you want. And you really only need to put plot forward as you feel convenient.

Though depending on your player's preferences, the kingmaking system is a bit cumbersome to use, and eats up a lot of time, so it might be considered home ruling an expedited version of it, or losing it altogether.

[Dr. Frank Funkelstein]

moosher12 wrote:

Though depending on your player's preferences, the kingmaking system is a bit cumbersome to use, and eats up a lot of time, so it might be considered home ruling an expedited version of it, or losing it altogether.

There is the Vance/Keneshara homebrew that was recently updated, it eases the management a lot - but its still cumbersome if you ask me, and i wanted to like it.

[Ryangwy]

Strength of Thousands is also 70% episodic but the remaining 30% is a dungeon. Most of the story can be passed between players. I run it as my 'only three people made it' dual-class game and it holds quite well.

[Tridus]

Yeah if you're doing this in Kingmaker, avoid the extra subsystems. Camping doesn't really add anything for very long, Kingdom Building is a slog with untested rules that don't work properly, and if you get far enough for army combat... well my group didn't make it that far but the players were not enthusiastic about learning what amounts to a strategy board game.

But even in Kingmaker there are plots going on that take multiple sessions to work through and the parts that are more sandbox are exploration or events.

Really, doing Pathfinder Society scenarios is probably better than an adventure path for this since they're built for that already. Each one is a mission, some of them have a plot that ties together, and they're meant to be wrapped up in a single game night.