Adventure Path starting with Sunless Citadel - Have you tried to run the whole thing?

reveal · Apr 9, 2003

I have seen a few posts here and there about people playing some of the adventure path adventures, starting with the Sunless Citadel. I have never heard of anyone playing all the way through them.

Has this happened? If so, what were your experiences with them?

Wulf Ratbane · Apr 9, 2003

We played through the whole thing.

It's a long story, but folks seem to like it.

Wulf's Story Hour

Wulf

GenLang · Apr 9, 2003

I've run my group through the series. We skipped Deep Horizons(#6), and we're partway through Bastion of Broken Souls (#8).

I like the series. It's a large, complex, multi-layered story that really deserves some mapping of relationships between modules (if you're going to run all/most of the modules), and attention to the small details that link some of the modules. #6 is the only module that, as presented, has no tie-ins at all to the overall story (and as such, I skipped it, choosing to insert my own adventure at that point).

It's a bit of a monster farm, taking you on a grand tour of the MM, plus some custom monsters, and some parts are heavier combat than others, but on the whole it's good.

Some caveats, however.

This series was not built with the splatbooks in mind. It doesn't take into account things like the possiblity of everyone in the party having Boots of Striding and Springing (the PCs can always afford better toys than the NPCs, given the larger budget). If you have intelligent players, the module may break (or at least strain) at places if you're running it as written. Modules have some inconsistancies (most recent one I found was Lord of the Iron Fortress and a monster apparently too big to leave a certain room, which makes me wonder how it got there to begin with....)

This series is wonderful for the fighter types, the skill-monkeys, and the casters. Your ranger and druid will probably start getting cranky due to the fact that there's lots of dungeon and not much outdoors (though they do get opportunities to shine), and the last two modules involve planehopping.

I do not feel that this is a series fully appropriate for a novice GM unless that GM has lots and lots of time and understanding players (both of which I had in spades over the last two years I've been running this), but it IS good for a novice group of PCs.

Would I run the series again with a new group? Eh. Not likely. I'm finding, as I run my second group, that I much prefer smaller vingettes and running multiple mini-modules/adventures per level, rather than commiting the group to a single module for 1-3 levels. (I say this with some irony as that group moves towards beginning Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

)

Olgar Shiverstone · Apr 9, 2003

Wulf Ratbane said:
We played through the whole thing.

It's a long story, but folks seem to like it.

Wulf's Story Hour

Wulf

A great story! ... except we're still waiting for the Bastion of Broken Souls writeup. Nudge, nudge.

mkletch · Apr 10, 2003

We ran the whole thing with a novice DM and, as GenLang put it, understanding players. The DM put a lot of effort into tying the modules together. Sure, they form an interwtined plot, but sometimes you skip any mention of a particular plot thread for one or more modules. That said, it should be fairly easy to settle everything together.

The only adventure we had outside the actual modules was a small side jaunt to clear up some character background plots; it took us back into the Sunless Citadel, into the nearby regions of the underdark, with an encounter with a character from Iron Fortress (from the gateway). Brought some closure to the campaign before Bastion.

My only complaints (pretty much reflecting my whole group's opinion) was that Standing stone was so linear that, if you simply did not 'get it', you floundered around looking for the one option in a thousand. It was that much of a railroad. In Bastion, you have some of the same - bottlenecks with only one solution. Those can be extremely frustrating for the players.

-Fletch!

Ulrick · Apr 11, 2003

Call me ignorant, but what are titles to all of the series.

So far, I have

Sunless Citadel
Forge of Fury
The Heart of Nightfang Spire
The Lord of the Iron Fortress
and the Bastion of Broken Souls.

I ran a group last summer through the Forge of Fury and we all had a blast.

I've yet to run the other modules though.

Gumby · Apr 11, 2003

You're missing Speaker in Dreams, The Standing Stone, and Deep Horizon. Or maybe you're not missing them exactly; they were the weakest three IMO. Especially The Standing Stone, the plot of which assumes that the players are utter morons.

Gizzard · Apr 11, 2003

I ran a group last summer through the Forge of Fury and we all had a blast.

I know the next one is called Speaker in Dreams. I had heard that it was a bit of a departure from the first two, and perhaps a bit of a railroad. Our DM was thinking of skipping it for those reasons, but I'd be interested in any (spoiler free!) feedback that those of you who have played it have to give.

L0rd_Dark0n · Apr 11, 2003

Gumby said:
Especially The Standing Stone, the plot of which assumes that the players are utter morons.

Isn't that the one with the demon that's WAY powerful for that level of the party, that does nothing but fly away laughing?

Shadowdancer · Apr 11, 2003

We are using the Adventure Path modules, and we're currently about halfway through Speaker in Dreams. Yes, it is a departure from the first two modules, but I don't find it to be a railroad. In fact, in the first half, it does a nice job of giving you options to progress through the storyline.

The problem I, as DM, have with Speaker in Dreams, is that several monsters used in the adventure do not have their stats listed in the back with the other monsters and NPCs. Very frustrating to get to the start of combat, and have to stop to look things up in the MM. I know, I should have noticed this before we started the adventure, but so many of the monsters and NPCs were listed, I just assumed they ALL were. Big mistake.