Pathfinder 1E Your Pathfinder campaigns - running Adventure Paths, published adventures, or homebrew?

[ggeilman]

Exactly - which is why I'm preferring the Rappan Athuk/Tsar style to the APs. If the PCs run away, it's OK - there's plenty more to do. If you run away in an AP, well, the GM might have a ton more work to do to bring the game back to the AP.

Now that's not to say the APs aren't great products - they are - but the ironic nature of them is that if you're a new GM running it for new (or less skilled) players, you may have a lot more work to do than if you're running it for awesome players who know how to handle tougher challenges.

Exactly, last game the party ran into 2 Gugs that killed 3 of 9 of their number because they got down to a level that was too deep for them. This week they will explore easier pickings and half will rescue one of their number before heading off to The Slumbering Tsar. FGG just released the first of the subscription of new levels which will fit the bill nicely. It has one big boss enounter but it will be the choice of the party whether to fight it or not by design. Of course it has 30,000 GP worth of treasure at its feet!
I have a mixed bag of new players and some more experienced ones, but even they seem to have forgotten how to deal with hard enounters. They are learning how to run though! Only 10 dead so far since August<WEG>!

 

[randomclass]

I voted for Adventure Path, main because I'm running two of them, and only one homebrew atm. OTOH I'm planning another homebrew ATM and I don't think I have ever run an AP straight (there are always a bunch of other bits I put in)

 

[doghead]

I selected Homebrewed Adventures, but Homebrewed Settings would be more accurate. The adventures are often based on published adventures which I adapt. Sometimes I follow them fairly closely, utilising much of the material as written. Other times I just take the main idea, and rarely refer to the published adventure once started.

I have never played an AP (although I have cribbed a few ideas off them). But they seem to be a great resource that has added a lot to the hobby. They come with a tonne of background and setting material which, as someone has pointed out, is a good way to organically develop a setting. They also offer a great deal of gaming material for DM who don't have the time or inclination to create their own.

If I ever get the chance to do some face-face gaming (as opposed to PbP), I would be inclined to give on a try.

thotd

 

[ObsoleteAccount_2]

i mix and match my campaigns. so in the end it's more homebrew then when i get started.

 

[Asmo]

Tomorrow I´ll start The Rise of the Runelords anniversiary edition for my 5 player group. God bless their souls.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Yeah, that was another issue I had with the APs I've played. We played the 3.5 Rise of the Runelords and some of the encounters there were fine, but some of them would have blown away casual players and one of them did blow us away (TPK) even though we've played for 20+ years. Same thing in Serpent's Skull (although our GM was very good about making allowances that at least gave us a chance).

Interesting, in running Rise of the Runelords & Kingmaker, I found most encounters needed to really be beefed up to challenge my players, while the BBEG encounters were a mixed bag - sometimes tough, sometimes not so tough. My old group was a mixed bag of experienced gamers and some that fairly new to gaming. I also found both APs to somewhat drag in the middle after interesting first and second adventures.

 

[DaveMage]

Interesting, in running Rise of the Runelords & Kingmaker, I found most encounters needed to really be beefed up to challenge my players, while the BBEG encounters were a mixed bag - sometimes tough, sometimes not so tough. My old group was a mixed bag of experienced gamers and some that fairly new to gaming. I also found both APs to somewhat drag in the middle after interesting first and second adventures.

Xanesha took us out in RotRL. We never made it to the 3rd adventure. Our GM played the enemies to their fullest ability.

I read the encounter afterwards and he played it right. There was no way we were going to win based on the party makeup and the ability we had - and we couldn't run away. That encounter has been significantly toned down in the anniversary edition rewrite.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Xanesha took us out in RotRL. We never made it to the 3rd adventure. Our GM played the enemies to their fullest ability.

I read the encounter afterwards and he played it right. There was no way we were going to win based on the party makeup and the ability we had - and we couldn't run away. That encounter has been significantly toned down in the anniversary edition rewrite.

I play my bad guys tough as well, and after a rough start in the initial rounds, the PCs beat Xanesha fairly easily. Normally with an encounter like that one, I'd bump it up a notch because I had six PCs. However, I had read so much about Xanesha being a TPK waiting to happen that I decided to use her as written. The party rogue managed to get in a big hit when flanking, and then the wizard did something to restrict her movement (forgot what exactly) and it was basically over.

 

[DaveMage]

I play my bad guys tough as well, and after a rough start in the initial rounds, the PCs beat Xanesha fairly easily. Normally with an encounter like that one, I'd bump it up a notch because I had six PCs. However, I had read so much about Xanesha being a TPK waiting to happen that I decided to use her as written. The party rogue managed to get in a big hit when flanking, and then the wizard did something to restrict her movement (forgot what exactly) and it was basically over.

Xanesha was airborne and invisible when we first encountered her. We couldn't reach her - no flanking was possible. She simply picked us off one by one with scorching rays and magic missiles, IIRC. She also petrified one of us (I think). She became visible, but had 6 mirror images. We were only a party of 4 and did not have dispel magic.

 

[D9]

Currently, I have two regular games going as a DM. One is a sandbox homebrew set in Magnimar with a very small party that is heavily RP focused. My other game is running "Curse of the Crimson Throne" and really enjoying it. We're on the third module and have had a ball with everything thus far.
All through 3.5 we ran homebrew campaigns until "Age of Worms" came out. We ran that until a few nasty TPKs in the latter modules took the steam out of the campaign.
As an ::ahem:: older DM, I find the adventure paths to be enjoyable to run. They leave enough room to modify and personalize but a lot of the more difficult work of encounter building and plotting has been taken care of.