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*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The Adventure Paths: The Best Ones Are?
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<blockquote data-quote="Volaran" data-source="post: 5419493" data-attributes="member: 592"><p>I have played in Second Darkness, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and am currently playing through Legacy of Fire.</p><p></p><p>I have GMed Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and am presently running Kingmaker.</p><p></p><p>I've read through Crown of Thieves and Serpent's Skull, but will exclude them from ranking, as I have not experienced them in play.</p><p></p><p>1. Rise of the Runelords. </p><p>This is honestly a very close race along with Kingmaker. RotRL edges the others out for me because it was an excellent introduction to the adventure paths and Golarion in general, and Varisia specifically. The party gets many memorable encounters, and a truely epic villain. The gold standard for the Paizo adventure paths.</p><p></p><p>2. Kingmaker</p><p>My players are just now getting the kingdom-building stages, but love the sandbox style of adventuring. As a DM, I also enjoy the option for lengthy time-lapses between adventuring sessions, as the meteoric rise to power of the PCs in any adventure path does strain credibility a bit for me.</p><p></p><p>3. Legacy of Fire</p><p>Part of this is a personal fondness for genies and desert adventuring. My group is only just starting adventure 3, but I've really enjoyed how fleshed out the background is. I can't speak for this one from a DM perspective, but I really like all of the flavour. My GM had toyed with adapting some of the Kingmaker kingdom rules for Kelmerene, but ultimately decided against it. Once again, points from me for allowing lengthy breaks between the adventures.</p><p></p><p>4. Curse of the Crimson Throne</p><p>Both as a player and a GM, I enjoyed the continued fleshing-out of Varisia, the story of the Vancaskerkin family, and the story of Korvosa itself. That said, there were a few things that stretched my disbelief as this adventure path went on. Most notably is the [spoiler] almost overnight appearance of the Grey Maidens as a credible military force within the city, displacing the established city watch and military orders almost completely. The players are also encouraged to tie themselves strongly to Korvosa, but spend almost a third of the adventure path away from it. My understanding is that this was somewhat addressed in Council of Thieves, which is complete city-based.[/spoiler] I also think that a fair amount of the Crimson Throne is _very_ linear (talk to group A to get an item for group B who will give you access to group C, who have the information you need), but Paizo does try to address this in side bars for groups that want to stray from the path, and experience the adventure in other ways. The GM will have the tools, but will need to put a fair amount of effort into using them. [spoiler] The default path in adventure 4 is probably the most respectful to the Shoanti clans, so I think a good-aligned party or one containing Shoanti characters are the most likely to take it. Impatient, or more neutral/evil aligned parties would likely be less inclined to do so. [/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>All that may sound fairly negative, but I thoroughly enjoyed CotCT as a player, and my own players seemed to have similar fondness.</p><p></p><p>5. The Second Darkness</p><p>The weakest of the adventure paths is still fairly strong. I do feel that there is some discontinuity between the first two adventures in the series and the rest. [spoiler] A great deal of effort is made to get the players interested in running the Golden Goblin, but it barely shows up after the first adventure. Our group also felt like we were constantly being lead around as cannon fodder or living shields for the elves for the last 4 adventures, with very little consistent pay (a big thing for our primarily neutral, but evil-leaning party). That said, it was nice to have the third of Varisia's four cities fleshed out, as well as a great deal about the elves, and the drow of Golarion. Spending time in Zirnakaynin posing as drow was a great time. [/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>If I run another adventure Path, I am undecided as to whether it will be Council of Thieves or Serpent's Skull. This thread may help me decide.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Volaran, post: 5419493, member: 592"] I have played in Second Darkness, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and am currently playing through Legacy of Fire. I have GMed Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and am presently running Kingmaker. I've read through Crown of Thieves and Serpent's Skull, but will exclude them from ranking, as I have not experienced them in play. 1. Rise of the Runelords. This is honestly a very close race along with Kingmaker. RotRL edges the others out for me because it was an excellent introduction to the adventure paths and Golarion in general, and Varisia specifically. The party gets many memorable encounters, and a truely epic villain. The gold standard for the Paizo adventure paths. 2. Kingmaker My players are just now getting the kingdom-building stages, but love the sandbox style of adventuring. As a DM, I also enjoy the option for lengthy time-lapses between adventuring sessions, as the meteoric rise to power of the PCs in any adventure path does strain credibility a bit for me. 3. Legacy of Fire Part of this is a personal fondness for genies and desert adventuring. My group is only just starting adventure 3, but I've really enjoyed how fleshed out the background is. I can't speak for this one from a DM perspective, but I really like all of the flavour. My GM had toyed with adapting some of the Kingmaker kingdom rules for Kelmerene, but ultimately decided against it. Once again, points from me for allowing lengthy breaks between the adventures. 4. Curse of the Crimson Throne Both as a player and a GM, I enjoyed the continued fleshing-out of Varisia, the story of the Vancaskerkin family, and the story of Korvosa itself. That said, there were a few things that stretched my disbelief as this adventure path went on. Most notably is the [spoiler] almost overnight appearance of the Grey Maidens as a credible military force within the city, displacing the established city watch and military orders almost completely. The players are also encouraged to tie themselves strongly to Korvosa, but spend almost a third of the adventure path away from it. My understanding is that this was somewhat addressed in Council of Thieves, which is complete city-based.[/spoiler] I also think that a fair amount of the Crimson Throne is _very_ linear (talk to group A to get an item for group B who will give you access to group C, who have the information you need), but Paizo does try to address this in side bars for groups that want to stray from the path, and experience the adventure in other ways. The GM will have the tools, but will need to put a fair amount of effort into using them. [spoiler] The default path in adventure 4 is probably the most respectful to the Shoanti clans, so I think a good-aligned party or one containing Shoanti characters are the most likely to take it. Impatient, or more neutral/evil aligned parties would likely be less inclined to do so. [/spoiler] All that may sound fairly negative, but I thoroughly enjoyed CotCT as a player, and my own players seemed to have similar fondness. 5. The Second Darkness The weakest of the adventure paths is still fairly strong. I do feel that there is some discontinuity between the first two adventures in the series and the rest. [spoiler] A great deal of effort is made to get the players interested in running the Golden Goblin, but it barely shows up after the first adventure. Our group also felt like we were constantly being lead around as cannon fodder or living shields for the elves for the last 4 adventures, with very little consistent pay (a big thing for our primarily neutral, but evil-leaning party). That said, it was nice to have the third of Varisia's four cities fleshed out, as well as a great deal about the elves, and the drow of Golarion. Spending time in Zirnakaynin posing as drow was a great time. [/spoiler] If I run another adventure Path, I am undecided as to whether it will be Council of Thieves or Serpent's Skull. This thread may help me decide. [/QUOTE]
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