D&D 5E Paizo's 'The Abomination Vaults' Pathinder AP Coming to 5E

Paizo is set to release one of its adventure paths--The Abomination Vaults--for D&D 5E in November. The AP will be compiled as a hardcover and retail for $59.99. There will also be a Pathfinder 2E version of the hardcover.

The 3-part adventure path was originally released for Pathfinder 2E in early 2021, and is a big dungeon crawl adventure.

When the mysterious Gauntlight, an eerie landlocked lighthouse, glows with baleful light, the people of Otari know something terrible is beginning. Evil stirs in the depths of the Abomination Vaults, a sprawling dungeon where a wicked sorcerer attempted to raise an army of monsters hundreds of years ago. The town's newest heroes must venture into a sprawling dungeon filled with beasts and traps to prevent a spiteful spellcaster from rising again!

This complete compilation of the original Adventure Path campaign has been adapted to the newest version of the world’s oldest RPG. You’ve heard about the quality and depth of Pathfinder campaigns for years—now explore the Abomination Vaults yourself without having to learn a new game system!

 

[JmanTheDM]

I think this is great news. I've already told some die-hard 5e friends about it as they have been less than excited about recent WotC releases.

Chalk this next part up to "impossible to implement wishful thinking". There is no doubt that there will be BIG splashy ads at the back of this book advertising PF2. it'll look great! I'd love to see as liner notes or side-bars, how specific sections within the module would play different in PF2 than what is presented. eg. "here, the game would use the exploration rules that give details on how adventures spend time between encounters.. these exploration rules include sneaking, casting spells, hiding ones tracks etc..." or "in Pathfinder, magic gets infused through the use of Runes. this treasure would have been a +1 striking rune, which with some time can be inscribed onto any weapon..." like, concrete examples of how PF2 plays different to "sell" the feel...

Cheers,

J.

 

[TheSword]

It’s a smart move to use the creative effort that goes into writing an AP… the art, location descriptions, maps, NPC descriptions etc etc and re-use them for a market that’s many orders of magnitude bigger than Pathfinder.

 

[Scribe]

Here they go with a classic play style for 5e. They are brilliant. I'm not going to be able to run this due to time, but I'm going to buy this to tell them make more please

100% and I hope they do more.

 

[dave2008]

There is more than that though. In my area and from what others have told me in their areas, we see a good number of 5e players moving over to 2e. They like 2e's rules and character development.

I can't speak to your area, but that is not the experience in my area. Though I guess it could be happening, it is just that it is a smaller number than what 5e is adding, so we don't notice it? That could be it I guess. It makes sense for some % of new players to eventually move on from a simple game like 5e. Not my group, we've modified to be just about the perfect game for us and I don't anticipate changing anytime soon.

This could also be a way to showcase Paizo content to that 5e market and get more of them to take a look at 2e which could then translate into additional sales of 2e product. Nothing wrong with that at all.

I agree, that could happen and would be a good thing.

On top of all of that is the move by WotC to a new edition of D&D (5.5 or 6?) in a flat-out cash grab based on the 50th anniversary of the game in 2024.

Like @teitan, I disagree with this assessment. 5e is older than 2e, 3e (except PF of course), and 4e. It is in need of a bit of a refresh. Additionally, it is primarily for new players who haven't invested much in the game previously. You don't need to buy it if you don't want to, unlike the transition to 3e, 4e, and 5e. Your pre-anniversary Monster Manual will 100% work with you post anniversary PHB, etc.

Will that be successful? Is it necessary? Could it result in some 5e players taking a look at other systems instead? All these questions and more will be answered soon enough!

Time will tell, but it is likely to be a good thing for WotC. Although 5e has probably had the most successful 8 yr run of any edition of D&D ever (in that it is still growing after 8yrs), they can't keep it going for ever. This is way to inject some life into it without throwing the baby out with the bath water. Hard to tell the future, but I wouldn't bet against them at this point.

 

[dave2008]

Here they go with a classic play style for 5e. They are brilliant.

IDK, I haven't found Paizo's adventures to be "brilliant." But I have complained about published adventures from Paizo, WotC, and everyone else for years. I think they are all far less than "brilliant."

Sorry, my poor experiences with published adventures is coming through.

 

[darjr]

Still growing and selling PHBs like crazy despite all the “5.5” or “6e” talk.

 

[doctorhook]

I understand the concern, but I have my doubts. If anything, they could use extra income from the 5e side to keep pushing out PF2 material. I think they really want to have their own system.

You’re right, it’s probably not a huge risk. I’m just very hot on PF2 and very cool to 5E these days. But I definitely agree, there are plenty of valid strategic reasons Paizo may want to publish their IP for the highly-successful 5E market.

(The only 5E that really interests me anymore is A5E, which I see as a strong patch, a life-raft, and a solid halfway measure for my group that won’t let go.)

 

[dave2008]

You’re right, it’s probably not a huge risk. I’m just very hot on PF2 and very cool to 5E these days. But I definitely agree, there are plenty of valid strategic reasons Paizo may want to publish their IP for the highly-successful 5E market.

(The only 5E that really interests me anymore is A5E, which I see as a strong patch, a life-raft, and a solid halfway measure for my group that won’t let go.)

We modified 5e to fit our taste within about the 1st year of its release and it has worked great for us ever since. I tried to get the group to give PF2 a try when it came out, but it was just to complex for our game style. I was very interested initially from a game design perspective (I'm the GM), but I have soured a bit as I think I would have to modify it a lot more to fit our taste than we had to for 5e. Everyone has different tastes and needs though.

So I don't have much interest in PF2 anymore, I do hope Paizo continues to be successful and they can keep PF2 going and support 5e too.

 

[darjr]

My interest in Paizo doing 5e content is the style and/or rules they’ll bring to the table.

mostly the style I’m interested in

 

[FrozenNorth]

IDK, I haven't found Paizo's adventures to be "brilliant." But I have complained about published adventures from Paizo, WotC, and everyone else for years. I think they are all far less than "brilliant."

Sorry, my poor experiences with published adventures is coming through.

To be fair, I don’t think my homebrewed adventures are brilliant either. Maybe I just have high standards?