Ooookay, I remember seeing this. Yeah, I would probably say this one of the first APs.
I actually played a very little bit of the giant series. We raided a frost giant lair with a ton of ogres and a couple of ogre magi running around. I was playing some other guys character (a paladin) and got him totally creamed.
What are you looking for? Interesting combats? Compelling story? Open-world playground for the PCs? Nostalgia for 1st edition/Planescape? Epic/mythic events?
Different paths for different folks. WotBS (War of the Burning Sky) I think fits for the combats, story, and mythic hits.
RP-wise - The Shackled City. Each one of my players was very connected with a few different NPCs in Cauldron. Our Rogue in particular started setting up a list of Contacts and Fences for shady activities. Partially TPK'ed (half the group) at around level 8 to the Huge Fire Elementals running amok.
RP/Combat mix - Age of Worms. Great AP though I was kind of dreading Kings of the Rift...
I recall reading about Dragonflights attacking the group, thought DMming a battle like that would be tedious, id probably change that to a backdrop thing if I run it
. I should add that the Whispering Cairn and Icosiol's Tomb are some of the best designed dungeons Ive seen in a long time.
Also unfinished, group took a hiatus for abit after HoHR. We lost one player in our small group beore we could get back to it, so it remains unfinished.
Id say my favorite after reading them all through would be the Savage Tide. It seems to be the perfect blend of RP, Hack and Slash, Exploration, etc. A classic example of what I like most in D&D. Homages to Tomoachan and the Isle of Dread as well as the use of folks like Iggwilv hit me solid in my "greyhawky" heart. My group temporarily broke up in the beginning of The Bullywug Gambit and this summer has been hell on scheduling much D&D in general due to one player moving to the west coast permanently, summer vacations, etc. I would love to go back and restart this at one point.
In a classic old school fun dungeon romp Id choose Castle Whiterock. Although it has enough in the Kingdom of Morraine to develop alot of RP opportunities, this one appeals to my old school self. I wouldnt mind running or playing in CWas well.
So in order....
1) The Savage Tide
2) The Age of Worms
3) Castle Whiterock
4) The Shackled City
I left out the Paizo APs because I havent read any of them cover to cover though i skimmed through most. Im currently running RotR but the summer scheduling is still an issue with us. We should get back to normal once school starts.
My group is currently in Chapter 5 of Shackled City. I am loving running it and I think my players are enjoying it as well.
To get the most out of the Shackled City AP I think you have to make good use of the resources on the Paizo Shackled City messageboard and the RPGenius website. There is so much there that adds foreshadowing and other events to integrate the chapters more and take the AP to the next level.
Without the add-ons I can see how it would be quite disjointed. It was the first Dungeon magazine AP though so they were learning as they were going.
