Paizo Any good High Level Adventure Paths, starting at lvl 10?

[dogoftheunderworld]

Currently GMing a PathFinder (1e) campaign. started with a homebrew mix and match of "modules" which lead to a campaign arc from lvl 5-10. Now the players want to conintue, but I don't have any good high level campaign ideas or source material.

Are there any good Adventure Paths that could take off at level 10? (or start-mid-campaign?)

(I should mention that I'm good with D&D 3.5, other settings to convert.)

Thanks.

 

[payn]

Unfortunately, I think the Paizo APs are best 1-10 and then fall off after that. It might be a ton of work that you dont want to do, but grabbing a first part of an AP and leveling up all the NPCs and challenges might work out well.

That said, if you dont want to do all that work, book 4 of Carrion Crown adventure path is a Cthulhu esque adventure that any group could be dropped into with a little work. It can be combined with Carrion Hill adventure module too.

 

[Alzrius]

If you don't mind a holiday-themed adventure, I've heard good things about Yuletide Terror (affiliate link).

 

[Grogg of the North]

Have you looked at the Pathfinder Society scenarios? Most (all?) of them have adjustments for different tiers of play. For instance, if the party is level 3 they encounter X, if they're level 6 they encounter 2x+y. I've been using them to fill in some gaps for a campaign set in Falcon's Hollow.

It looks like most of them cap out at level 11 but there are a few that are for levels 12 to 15 and even one that is 15+. Even if you can't use the module as written, it's pretty easy to tweak them and get it to where you want it to be. (I, of course, speak from personal experience.)

Maybe try:
First Taste of Eternity -> All the Gods Beyond -> Serpents Fall

Pathfinder Society Scenarios

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

Thanks. I started looking through some of these to help fill some gaps!

Have you looked at the Pathfinder Society scenarios? Most (all?) of them have adjustments for different tiers of play. For instance, if the party is level 3 they encounter X, if they're level 6 they encounter 2x+y. I've been using them to fill in some gaps for a campaign set in Falcon's Hollow.

It looks like most of them cap out at level 11 but there are a few that are for levels 12 to 15 and even one that is 15+. Even if you can't use the module as written, it's pretty easy to tweak them and get it to where you want it to be. (I, of course, speak from personal experience.)

Maybe try:
First Taste of Eternity -> All the Gods Beyond -> Serpents Fall

Pathfinder Society Scenarios

 

[amethal]

Are there any good Adventure Paths that could take off at level 10? (or start-mid-campaign?)

I think you could probably run the second half of Rise of the Runelords without needing to play through the first half. If the PCs don't care much about Sandpoint, it should be easy enough to have an army of stone giants threaten somewhere they do care about.

Parts 4 and 5 of Curse of the Crimson Throne would probably work as stand alone adventures, but Part 6 would be tricky to adapt.

Parts 4, 5 and 6 of Legacy of Fire would be quite easy to do without needing to run the first three, but (from memory) part 6 does revisit a dungeon from one of the earlier parts and assumes the DM knows what they are talking about when they refer to it.

You could also run the second half of Serpents Skull but you'd need to introduce the Lost City somehow.

It would be easy to run the second half of Giantslayer without running the first half. However, whilst I've never played that adventure path it reads as being fairly tedious.

 

[GreyLord]

You could always adapt the second part of Jade Regent with them joining the caravan as body guards.

Shattered Star could work if you give them someone who has the first few shards who gives it the Pathfinder Society and have the party go to the next few adventures looking for the rest of the shards.

Ironfang Invasion could work if you have them step into the events during the middle of the war.

 

[Koppe]

Slumbering Tsar Saga is for levels 6-20 and it's said to be very difficult, so twaeking the start a bit might make it work for you.

The Slumbering Tsar Saga – Frog God Games

www.froggodgames.com

 

[CapnZapp]

As other answers have made clear the real answer is "no, not really".

Sure many campaigns cover levels 10+, but I would say extremely few (probably less than 1%) start at high level.

Things I didn't see mentioned:

There are high-level adventures if not campaigns from back in the AD&D day. This was before TSR found out such material didn't sell...

One relatively recent is the 2000 module (theoretically for 3rd edition, but clearly written before writers were able to switch from the AD&D mindset) Into the Dragon's Den by Sean K Reynolds.

I also think one little thing deserves at least a mention: Paizo is preparing to publish exactly what you want. That is, starting in April they're doing a levels 10-20 adventure path called Fists of the Ruby. It won't be completed until late June, and it probably won't fit a party of generic Western heroes. But still.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

Thanks for all of the ideas (so afar)! Just needed a reminder that lots of good stuff is out there! (I've been mostly doing short, low level campaigns the last few years )

 

[amethal]

One relatively recent is the 2000 module (theoretically for 3rd edition, but clearly written before writers were able to switch from the AD&D mindset) Into the Dragon's Den by Sean K Reynolds.

I really disliked that module when I read it. Seemed to be based on the aftermath of a Forgotten Realms novel or something, and assumed the DM would know all sorts of things before heading off for the Dragon's Den that I really didn't - including that some NPC wizard had killed the dragon off-stage before the adventure starts; maybe I didn't read it properly, but it took me ages to realise there wasn't going to be an actual dragon in the adventure.

The wandering monsters such as a horde of wights (on foot, on an open plain) looked really un-fun in a 3rd edition adventure for high level characters. "The wizard repeatedly fireballs them while the rest of us watch."

 

[amethal]

Slumbering Tsar Saga is for levels 6-20 and it's said to be very difficult, so twaeking the start a bit might make it work for you.

The Slumbering Tsar Saga – Frog God Games

www.froggodgames.com

Slumbering Tsar is awesome, and being too high level for the start isn't really a problem, as the adventure is brutal.

 

[CapnZapp]

I really disliked that module when I read it. Seemed to be based on the aftermath of a Forgotten Realms novel or something, and assumed the DM would know all sorts of things before heading off for the Dragon's Den that I really didn't - including that some NPC wizard had killed the dragon off-stage before the adventure starts; maybe I didn't read it properly, but it took me ages to realise there wasn't going to be an actual dragon in the adventure.

The wandering monsters such as a horde of wights (on foot, on an open plain) looked really un-fun in a 3rd edition adventure for high level characters. "The wizard repeatedly fireballs them while the rest of us watch."

It does feature lots (and lots) of trivial enemies for the relatively high-level heroes to overcome. This is part of what I meant with "clearly written before writers were able to switch from the AD&D mindset".

Porting it to 5E would in part mitigate these issues since the power disparity is greatly lessened in a game with bounded accuracy. The same goes for Pathfinder 2, assuming you run it with the proficiency without level variant. Still, AD&D assumes a hit point lost is a hit point not easily regained, which isn't true of any of the discussed games unless you use house rules to change the way everything from CLW wands to Medicine checks work. Of course, if you're porting a scenario you could just as well upgrade the monsters to provide more of a meaningful challenge, so... shrug

 

[CapnZapp]

Slumbering Tsar is awesome, and being too high level for the start isn't really a problem, as the adventure is brutal.

Cool. Found this in a review:

In terms of power level and lethality, Slumbering Tsar is Greg Vaughan at his most "over the top". Quite frankly, potential TPKs lurk almost everywhere and frequent character deaths are not simply possible -- they are probable. There are eight pages of a blank Obituary chart included at the end of the book just to record character deaths. While this is a bit of a prank by the author for the .PDF version, the point is well taken: this thing is deadly.

Makes me want to see Vaughan porting it to Pathfinder 2, a ruleset with a reputation for ruthless deadliness far surpassing any other mainstream edition...

 

[RangerWickett]

Theoretically you could use the Zeitgeist adventure path, which has a rough option for starting to get 10th or 11th level, and skipping the first five adventures. but it's in its own custom setting, and the first five adventures do help lay the groundwork of various clashes that are going on that will eventually come to a head.

I'm contractually obligated to recommend ZEITGEIST whenever anyone asked about adventures, but I acknowledge this would be a bit of a heavy lift.

In this abridged version, the PCs would be hunting down members of a conspiracy, figuring out what the conspiracy is up to, and then dealing with the fallout of when the conspiracy does a big ritual. It is a bit globetrotting, with the players hobnobbing with VIPs, and having a fair bit of political influence, along with spycraft.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

I have Zeitgeist, and have been wanting to run it for some time.... I'll take a look at jump starting it..

Theoretically you could use the Zeitgeist adventure path, which has a rough option for starting to get 10th or 11th level, and skipping the first five adventures. but it's in its own custom setting, and the first five adventures do help lay the groundwork of various clashes that are going on that will eventually come to a head.
...

 

[corwyn77]

I have Zeitgeist, and have been wanting to run it for some time.... I'll take a look at jump starting it..

I was running Zeitgeist using GURPS Dungeon Fantasy + Steampunk in the before times and we were having a blast.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

Necropolis for 3.5 is for levels 10-18.
City of the Spider Queen is for 10-18.

Or start with Heart of Nightfang Spire from the 3.0 days, and then follow with the rest of the original WotC "adventure Path" (though Deep Horizon could be easily swapped with something more relevant and fun).

 

[amethal]

If you have access to Dungeon magazine you could run the Savage Tide AP, either starting with Here There Be Monsters from Dungeon 142 when the party gets shipwrecked (it is for levels 7-8 but it would be fairly easy to beef up the encounters; the party having access to teleport might enable them to bypass the whole adventure, however) or just start with Tides of Dread from Dungeon 143 (shipwreck optional in this case).