The Shackled City Adventure Path

[ShadowDenizen]

4 out of 5 rating for The Shackled City Adventure Path

I think Schmoe hit the nail right on the read for the most part.Cauldron, teh default setting fort he path, is really the star of the show. The AP does a good job of showcasing the city and it's inhabitants. and players can really feel invested in it's welfare. (I'd recommend A) Picking up the compiled AP Book if you can; it's really an excellent and updated version of the AP, and the map-booklet and large map of Cauldron are really helpful resources during the game, and B) Looking online at some of the wonderful fan-created props and notes for the campaign.)That said, this AP does have it's faults. IT's a bit dungeon-heavy (particualrly in the later stages), and the "Big Bad" does sort of creep up on the players. When I ran it, I tried to foreshadow some of the extraplanar wackiness that was to come, and my players STILL were often stymied about how things all connected toghter. If I were to rerun it, I'd likely end it before that bit of the AP starts to take off.

 

[Netherstorm]

4 out of 5 rating for The Shackled City Adventure Path

I ran this a few years back. The deal with this path is that there are a lot of cool scenarios and dungeons, but as a whole the story does not tie together well at all. The bad guys needed to be foreshadowed much better, and the plotline was far too convoluted. That said, the city is awesome (get the hardcover - the poster map is very useful) and the good adventures are really good. I honestly believe that the kuo toa dungeon of Bhal Hamatugn is the best dungeon I've ever run. I also think that "The Smoking Eye" is an absolutely inspired scenario, and the adventure entirely set in Cauldron is a classic.

 

[JLant]

4 out of 5 rating for The Shackled City Adventure Path

Love the World of Greyhawk goodness but does feel a bit tacked-on. Not such a fan of the graphic design.

 

[kevin_video]

4 out of 5 rating for The Shackled City Adventure Path

The first installment of this adventure came out during the days of 3.0, but later supplements were 3.5 ed. You can tell the immediate difference between the two. If you can get your hands on the printed, updated 3.5 version with the additional adventures, do so. If not for your players, then for yourself. Probably one of the more annoying aspects of the original release was the lack of transition between the adventures. There were such large gaps that it told the DM to find other side adventures for the PCs to do, and then come back to it when they were the appropriate level. Um, no, that shouldn't be how it works. Thankfully the complete updated version get rid of all of that, and transitioned it much better. For that reason, this isn't a 2 or 3 out of 5. That being said, this would be a 5 for me if it wasn't for the fact that some of the encounters are crazy unbalanced for casual build PCs. If you're not optimized, you're going to have a tough time.

 

[JLant]

5 out of 5 rating for The Shackled City Adventure Path

Of the beaten path locale but nice detailing and WoG lore.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

3 out of 5 rating for The Shackled City Adventure Path

This is the first Paizo Adventure Path (3.5 rules), back then when they published Dungeon Magazine. It's written for a party of 6 characters.
There are some great moments in the series (one above all: when you have to attack all the evil masterminds of the city gathered together for a meeting, before they find you. TERRIFIC fight!), but in the end I remember this AP as dull and mostly boring.