Campaign Path - Shackled City

[Cacophonic]

This is a series of adventures that I am considering running for my group - I've looked at the first 2 installments and liked them.... any opinions on the remainder of the series? Additional resources that came in mucho handy?

Also, any words of advice from those who ran it as far as tweaks/rough spots etc... or changes you made that worked especially well.



Thanks in advance!

- Caco

 

[Berandor]

Well, the modules are very "classical D&D", lots of dungeons, lots of combat, and *very* tough, especially in the beginning.

I have put a lot of work into making Cauldron a vibrant place instead of just the adventure backdrop and have used backstory to tie the advnetures closer together. I definitely think it's good to have the whole thing (all modules) once before beginning so you know where it's all headed, can tie things closer together and cut some NPCs who have no bearing on the further plot.

Finally, read the Story Hours here (and elsewhere) and the boards at paizo.com. My (German) Story Hour is here: http://forum.dnd-gate.de/index.php?showtopic=3495

 

[GlassJaw]

I'm running the Adventure Path now and it's very good. I'm having a blast.

It's a very "standard" D&D campaign: good amount of dungeons and combat early on, allows the players to buy and sell magic items, etc. I'm running it for a group semi-new to 3ed and it's been a perfect fit.

Additional resources that came in mucho handy?

I highly recommend the Paizo message boards. There is one specifically for the AP (I post there quite a bit) and it's very helpful.

When running the modules, I print out a lot of the NPC and creature stats so I'm not flipping through a lot of pages. I also print out the maps and handouts to give to the players.

any opinions on the remainder of the series?

I've read through the first 4 modules or so and skimmed the rest. Definitely read through enough of the series to give you an idea of what the overall plot is, although it's not crucial to know everything when you start off. The most difficultly I had is with Cauldron itself since most of the important NPC's, shops, places, etc are scattered through the first few modules or so. It's very easy to say something early on and then realize it's used in a later issue.

any words of advice from those who ran it as far as tweaks/rough spots

Although some tactics for the creatures are given, the first few dungeons are fairly "static". Keep track of the creatures and think about how they would respond to the PC's.

I recommend having a cleric in the group. There are a couple encounters that may not seem very deadly but can be (the choker in the first dungeon for starters). I'm about half-way through Flood Season and there has been only one death although I gave one or two breaks. A lot of character have gone into negative hp's.

or changes you made that worked especially well.

Check out my feralized Tongue-Eater in the Paizo forum.