Ask Paizo?
3e had a lot of adventure paths. Not just Paizo's, but the aforementioned WotBS, the Freeport Trilogy, Castle Whiterock...
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Why no adventure paths?
3e had a lot of adventure paths. Not just Paizo's, but the aforementioned WotBS, the Freeport Trilogy, Castle Whiterock...
Verys Arkon
First Post
I'd be more inclined to run shorter, 3 part adventures then a whole path. I've been running the H-series since the day it came out, by-weekly, and we are only starting H3. I think there is a lot of backlog for people to run through already if they are willing to do the conversions.
Mournblade94
Adventurer
Wotc had a great AP at the end of 3rd edition, the whole Cormyr-Shadowdale-Anauroch path.
One of the best ones I played.
they should be able to reproduce something like that.
One of the best ones I played.
they should be able to reproduce something like that.
James Jacobs
Adventurer
I'll echo the diagnosis—creating an adventure path is a risky, intimidating, and expensive proposition. It also pretty much requires a rapid release pattern; Shackled City came out irregularly in its first incarnation, and that was a detriment to it since the It's also got a pretty steep learning curve—I've learned a LOT about how to set them up and to orchestrate their creation over the past 7 that I've helped launch (and that makes me feel old realizing I've developed/edited/helped write well over half a dozen of these things!), and having just about finished the development of the start of the 8th and done the brainstorming/plotting for Paizo's 9th one last night, I'm STILL figuring them out.
As for how many can the market support? I'm not sure; we're not there yet. Pathfinder's still going strong, and we're certainly outpacing most folks' ability to keep up with actually playing the adventure paths... but here's the secret. They don't HAVE to be played to be successful. If a gamer buys an adventure path and only reads it, that's a success as far as I'm concerned. Even if he never runs it. Even if he never actually uses elements from the volume in a different game he runs. There's a strange disconnect, I think, from gamers who assume that if they never actually use content they buy directly in a game they're running that they're not getting their money's worth. I don't agree with that at all; if you spend 30 bucks on the new Stephen King hardcover and only read it, you get your money's worth there. For a lot of people, it's just fun to read game books. I know I'm one of those people; I have shelves and shelves of hundreds, probably thousands of game books I've collected over the years and I've certainly not used all of those books in games I've run.
Anyway, that was kind of a distraction from the point of the original post.
Adventure Paths are expensive, risky, and difficult to pull off. They're not something a single person can really do, since the rate at which the parts need to come out to maintain the momentum and excitement outstrips the ability for one person to create, devleop, and edit the thing.
And if you don't start with a bang, you're stuck with a line that's DOA; if you cancel that line and try something new, your customers already are predisposed to not trust you since you didn't follow through on the first one, event if it was a failure from the start.
As for how many can the market support? I'm not sure; we're not there yet. Pathfinder's still going strong, and we're certainly outpacing most folks' ability to keep up with actually playing the adventure paths... but here's the secret. They don't HAVE to be played to be successful. If a gamer buys an adventure path and only reads it, that's a success as far as I'm concerned. Even if he never runs it. Even if he never actually uses elements from the volume in a different game he runs. There's a strange disconnect, I think, from gamers who assume that if they never actually use content they buy directly in a game they're running that they're not getting their money's worth. I don't agree with that at all; if you spend 30 bucks on the new Stephen King hardcover and only read it, you get your money's worth there. For a lot of people, it's just fun to read game books. I know I'm one of those people; I have shelves and shelves of hundreds, probably thousands of game books I've collected over the years and I've certainly not used all of those books in games I've run.
Anyway, that was kind of a distraction from the point of the original post.
Adventure Paths are expensive, risky, and difficult to pull off. They're not something a single person can really do, since the rate at which the parts need to come out to maintain the momentum and excitement outstrips the ability for one person to create, devleop, and edit the thing.
And if you don't start with a bang, you're stuck with a line that's DOA; if you cancel that line and try something new, your customers already are predisposed to not trust you since you didn't follow through on the first one, event if it was a failure from the start.
The Ghost
Explorer
Paizo did three. And they did them in succession. What I am saying is that what is out there now is probably filling consumer demand.
They did six.
Shackled City
Age of Worms
Savage Tide
Then the 4 current Pathfinder APs.
All of these are filling the demand... for a 3e adventure path. The work of converting an AP really takes the draw away from the point of having a module in the first place.
Arnwyn
First Post
I agree with Zaukrie. With a non-starter of a GSL (regardless of a "revised" GSL) combined with the amount of work involved and the risk, I don't think we'll be seeing a 4e adventure path in the foreseeable future.
Oh. Well then, there are a bunch of 4e adventure paths.Rechan said:
There's WotC's Scales of War, plus the H/P/E series. There's WotBS. Goodman has two.
Sounds like lots.
The Ghost
Explorer
You are correct - they have done six. That was not the point, the point was they are being done in succession. They started the Shackled City in what, 2003? I don't remember the exact year. So, Paizo has done six APs over six years. That seems about right to me. In less than one year of 4e we have seen The Scales of War and War of the Burning Sky. Again, that seems about right to me.
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