Kingmaker, In Hindsight

[Jools]

It wasn't so long ago that the hype for Paizo's semi-hexcrawling adventure path was reaching fever pitch. So much so that it piqued my interest as well as everyone elses. I held back for a while and am just now just deciding whether to dive in (I'd be converting it to 4e). Now that the dust has settled what did people actually think of this product, did it live up to the hype? How were the later instalments?

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Hello Jools,

I think the general reaction has been that it is the best AP Paizo have done [not by a long way or anything as the general quality of almost all the APs has been very good to excellent.] I personally love the final two modules but that is coming through pathfinder lenses. I can imagine there being numerous nightmares in trying to wrangle it into 4E. You will be having to craft a lot of new stuff. However, with the extra resources such as cards and maps and all the other wonderful toys Paizo support the game with, I think you will have a lot of fun if you decide to go with it.

The general forum is General Kingmaker Forum

There are numerous 4E threads including this one 4E Conversion?

And then there are some conversion notes by Berhagen that may be useful Here

I think things are going to get more difficult in terms of conversion later on in the path and so there is going to be an awful lot of work converting things correctly.

Of note is extra resources produced by Open Design (Wolfgang Baur): Tales of the Old Margreve. These are excellent vignette additions that can be dropped into the campaign and because of their less combat focused nature, would be excellent to convert to 4E.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[concerro]

It wasn't so long ago that the hype for Paizo's semi-hexcrawling adventure path was reaching fever pitch. So much so that it piqued my interest as well as everyone elses. I held back for a while and am just now just deciding whether to dive in (I'd be converting it to 4e). Now that the dust has settled what did people actually think of this product, did it live up to the hype? How were the later instalments?

My group just finished it last weekend. It was a blast. You may have to tweak things. Some people love the kingdom building and exploring, while others find them tedious.

 

[delericho]

I've only read through (not played/run) Kingmaker, and I concur that it's the best Paizo Adventure Path to date (although the latest one is also very good). However, I did feel that the very last part was a slight let down after the previous parts, in large part because it's just not as sandbox-y as the rest. Still a very good adventure, though.

I have no idea what it would take to convert it to 4e - if I were to run it, I would use Pathfinder to do so. But that's just my personal preference talking.

 

[Crothian]

We are bascially through the second book in our campaign. It has been a lot of fun though I am suprised on how easy the combats have been. Paizo in their adventures and other AP's has built up a reputation of some nasty encounters and our group just has been walking thorugh much of the AP. We were 5th level when we ran into the Trolls and we went right through them.

It does seem there is less permenant magical items to be had. We've had plenty of potions and scrolls and much of our resources has been going there so we are well prepared.

The Kingdom making part has been okay but I think it doesn't go into enough detail. There are issues that come up that demepanding on the laws of the land would make the encounter really easy or hard. But we never really set up what the laws would be ahead of time.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Greetings,

In my personal humble opinion I must answer in ther affirmative.

We still play a kingmaker game in the table top game I am in and have plans on using the exporation priciples in another game we have. It should transfer quite well!

 

[Liquidsabre]

I am currently running my group through part 2 of 6 and this campaign has turned out to be one of the best we've ever played! A couple of caveats: (1) I have a brilliant group that have really gotten into the game and (2) I am using the Kingmaker AP as a detailed environmental framework that leaves plenty of room (plot-space, TM!) for custom story lines and events that I and my players can fill.

IME this makes for a perfect AP! I have built-in campaign themes, a rich environmental landscape for my players to explore, plenty of room to customize as I and my group desire, and a new rule set customized for exploring a unique aspect of the RPG experience: kingdom building!

Kingmaker I think for many will be their premier AP. Suprisingly not only for the excellent content but for what it noticeable lacks: A heavy meta-plot that the group must adhere to!! It truly allows the group playing the AP to *make* the campaign their own.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Hello Jools,

I think the general reaction has been that it is the best AP Paizo have done [not by a long way or anything as the general quality of almost all the APs has been very good to excellent.] I personally love the final two modules but that is coming through pathfinder lenses. I can imagine there being numerous nightmares in trying to wrangle it into 4E. You will be having to craft a lot of new stuff. However, with the extra resources such as cards and maps and all the other wonderful toys Paizo support the game with, I think you will have a lot of fun if you decide to go with it.

The general forum is General Kingmaker Forum

There are numerous 4E threads including this one 4E Conversion?

And then there are some conversion notes by Berhagen that may be useful Here

I think things are going to get more difficult in terms of conversion later on in the path and so there is going to be an awful lot of work converting things correctly.

Of note is extra resources produced by Open Design (Wolfgang Baur): Tales of the Old Margreve. These are excellent vignette additions that can be dropped into the campaign and because of their less combat focused nature, would be excellent to convert to 4E.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

SO does Kingmaker really having anything in it, mechanics-wise, that couldn't possibly be converted to another system? Is it just a matter of changing encounters around to fit into your system of choice? Are there any skills, items, special rules that absolutely require use of Pathfinder or 3E? I have to admit I regret not keeping up my Adventure Path subscription but at the time I just didn't have the money and now they have so many (35? 36? books - yikes!) it seems daunting to try and decide which one(s) to pick up.

 

[Celtavian]

Best adventure I've seen in a while

I haven't DMed on a consistent basis for over ten years. I haven't run a campaign for probably longer than that.

Kingmaker made DMing fun again. The story is great. The adventure style is interesting with the sandbox elements mixed with the meta-adventure and the kingdom building. Overall it is a very satisfying experience as a DM and my players seem to be having a great time.


I doubt you'll have much trouble converting to 4E. Many of the monsters in Pathfinder are in 4E. If you use 4E monster design principles for the BBEGs, you'll have no problem. It will take some work as any conversion would. But it will be easier to convert a Pathfinder AP to 4E than a 4E module to Pathfinder.

Enjoy it. It's a great adventure path. Far better than anything WotC has put out for adventures since the days when they were putting Temple of Elemental Evil and adventure series like Against the Giants.

 

[Coldwyn]

I haven't DMed on a consistent basis for over ten years. I haven't run a campaign for probably longer than that.

Kingmaker made DMing fun again. The story is great. The adventure style is interesting with the sandbox elements mixed with the meta-adventure and the kingdom building. Overall it is a very satisfying experience as a DM and my players seem to be having a great time.


I doubt you'll have much trouble converting to 4E. Many of the monsters in Pathfinder are in 4E. If you use 4E monster design principles for the BBEGs, you'll have no problem. It will take some work as any conversion would. But it will be easier to convert a Pathfinder AP to 4E than a 4E module to Pathfinder.

Enjoy it. It's a great adventure path. Far better than anything WotC has put out for adventures since the days when they were putting Temple of Elemental Evil and adventure series like Against the Giants.

I´m dming Kingmaker in biweekly sessions and found that reskinning 4E monsters to fit the purpose is quite easy. What takes a good portion of my prep time is converting scenes to be viable skill challanges and upgrading the rather simple and static Kingmaker combats to be more fitting 4E encounters, so more enemies, more variety between them, better mix of minions, regular and elite, all that stuff.