Let the adventure path-ing begin!

[SnowleopardVK]

Last night I got the first part of Pathfinder's Jade Regent as one of my (belated) birthday presents. This is the first adventure path I've ever owned, and it looks pretty interesting.

So before I run it, I was wondering what I can expect, not from Jade Regent specifically, but from an adventure path in general. Is there anything beyond being familiar with it that I can do to help me prepare well?

Heehee, now I need to find players in the area willing to do it. My current group is too busy with another game at the moment.

 

[Crothian]

Personally, I like to read the whole think and figure out how it all connects and see if there are ways I can make it connect better. I like to foreshadow events, or introduce key NPCs earlier then when they become imporetant, and make sure the Pcs are aware of everything they need to be.

 

[Wycen]

Well, here's what you might expect, based on my time playing the Savage Tide. I've played other parts of Paizo AP's too, but none as far as STAP.

Lots of grappling monsters.

Encounters designed to challenge a well built party which might lead to deaths versus a party of story-driven characters.

Cool stuff. Cool NPC's. A cool story.

And since you are going to be getting the adventure piece by piece, parts which might not sync completely, things which are mentioned in an earlier adventure but missing later due to space limitation, and possibly a wrong impression based on limited info that is explained later and is contrary to what you expected. But of course, see Cool Stuff above, just because it is different slightly doesn't mean it'll suck. This is the connection stuff Crothian mentioned.

 

[Vascant]

They are much like a TV series, there will be good moments, bad moments and moments that simply do not fit your group. The good thing about it is you can replace the bad or things that do not fit your group with something that does and still keep with the story.

 

[IronWolf]

Read all the installments of the AP that have been released so far, make notes as you do so. As Crothian says, the APs are stronger if you can foreshadow or introduce NPCs that might have a much larger role later in the AP. Also it helps you add some depth by being more familiar with how future events play out. Make liberal notes on these things as you go.

Swing by the Paizo forums and check out the Jade Regent Forums. The AP forums are a great place to see the experiences of others running the AP and see what worked well and what didn't. I find the forum advise invaluable when running an AP.

 

[Alzrius]

Don't forget to download the free Jade Regent Player's Guide too!

 

[Gilladian]

This is just me, possibly, but I found that I got heartily bored RUNNING adventure paths. I didn't feel that I had room to play with the story, shift things around, and edit in my own little side-adventures, etc...

(I was running Rise of the Runelords).

So just be prepared - give yourself side-loops, out-takes and other mini-plots. Cut out scenes that you think might not flow well, and don't be afraid to replace them with your own stuff. I wish I had done more of that early on, and we might have gotten further.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

This is just me, possibly, but I found that I got heartily bored RUNNING adventure paths. I didn't feel that I had room to play with the story, shift things around, and edit in my own little side-adventures, etc...

(I was running Rise of the Runelords).

So just be prepared - give yourself side-loops, out-takes and other mini-plots. Cut out scenes that you think might not flow well, and don't be afraid to replace them with your own stuff. I wish I had done more of that early on, and we might have gotten further.

This is why I've not bought any APs myself. I like designing my own adventures.

But since I got it for my birthday, I hope this turns out enjoyable.

 

[Crothian]

I think the keys to making it more your own are to add to the plot and come up with side things the PCs can do. Most adventure paths hint at other things going on that the PCs never see so this can be easy to do. Also, make sure the XP in the adventrues is not too much so the PCs out gain the modules. But honestly being these are Piazo AP's having the PCs a few levels higher is not a bad thing. The more important thing would be too watch out for plots PCs feel they need to solve fast. If they are in the AP learn about the big bad and want to take care of him as quick as possible then they might not be as willing to go on the side adventures.

 

[Wycen]

I didn't feel that I had room to play with the story, shift things around, and edit in my own little side-adventures, etc...


So just be prepared - give yourself side-loops, out-takes and other mini-plots. Cut out scenes that you think might not flow well, and don't be afraid to replace them with your own stuff. I wish I had done more of that early on, and we might have gotten further.

With my STAP experience, I have an opposite opinion.

The STAP starts in a city with all these interesting locations, but after the 2nd adventure you pretty much leave the city. Our DM wanted to give us more stuff to do inside the city and so we had some side adventures in the gladiatorial arena. These threw off the experience point progression, (we ended up having multiple characters) not to mention really got us lost as far as our motivation was concerned for following through on the meta-plot. This is why you'll need to keep the party strongly connected to Lavinia (or insert appropriate NPC for your chosen AP). We finally had to sit down and talk about the diversions and put an end to them.