Observations on Adventure Paths

[Agamon]

If Prince of Redhand was the best adventure in AoW, Erik, The Whispering Cairn came next. I like how it was fairly open with how the players tackled it, a feat that is probably tough in an AP (I'm guessing, as most are pretty much A -> B -> C...I'm trying to not use the "R" word here ).

 

[Erik Mona]

Hey, thanks! The one I'm working on now is even more "sand-boxy," I think.

--Erik

 

[ronin]

I ran Savage Tide from beginning to end for my group. I think there were two main spots were the party questioned the direction the game was headed. The first was the shipwreck on the Isle of Dread- which in hindsight I admit could have been handled better. The second was when Lavinia was kidnapped in Farshore.

I did plant some other reasons for two members of the party to desire a trip to Scuttlecove regardless but the group was thinking Lavinia would be gone already before they even got to town. Now they didn't realize they'd be chasing her into the Abyss but they liked the idea once they found out.

Overall I thought the campaign went fairly well. I added some material and the group ended the game at level 23- the highest we have ever played. For the first time I have been thinking on running a campaign of my own design but it isn't as easy as it seems (not that I thought it would be!). I'd like to focus the game on devils and their cults but that is about as far as I got for now.

 

[Qualidar]

Hey, thanks! The one I'm working on now is even more "sand-boxy," I think.

--Erik

Not difficult, considering the location.

 

[Ethalias]

I'm also finding it useful, but from the polar opposite side that Eric Mona

I'm about to start running Scales of War (was sceptical at first but I think it is starting to get a little more interesting). It'll be my first campaign, and I'm running it with new players. I'm explaining that it is an adventure path and therefore has certain limitations but in this instance I think that will give everyone a bit of security. And if later on it goes of the rails I'll have to deal!

Any advice for a new DM running new players through an AP, and more specifically SoW? Should I try and foreshadow the shadowfell based arms dealer earlier on in the path?

 

[avin]

I had a jewelry store at the first campaign I played

My players own a tavern in Sigil. Some NPC takes care of cooking and other NPC takes care of rooms. It's a perfect start point for many campaigns.

 

[Obryn]

I think Crothian has the right of it.

An Adventure Path is, by its very nature, something of a railroad. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, since the railroading is somewhat gentle (there's no "Here, the party will be captured and subdued by an effectively infinite amount of orcs" or anything), but I think it's absolutely best to handle it in a metagame way. When both you and your players know and acknowledge that you're running, say, Scales of War or Age of Worms, it makes everything go so much smoother.

I don't tend to run many APs; sadly, I don't have the time for them. I do enjoy linked modules like WotC's doing with Keep-Labyrinth-Pyramid, since it's easier to hop in and out, and each feels more like a complete episode.

-O

 

[doppelganger]

Hey, thanks! The one I'm working on now is even more "sand-boxy," I think.

--Erik

**rimshot**

Try the veal, folks, and don't forget to tip your waitress!

 

[MerricB]

The Armageddon Echo arrived last night, and although I haven't read it in detail, it's transformed the Second Darkness AP into something a lot cooler - while reinforcing my misgivings about the first installment.

The first adventure reads as the beginning of "Crime in the City": the PCs are criminals (no paladins need apply) or becoming involved with the criminal set. Everything reads very clearly as a city-based campaign. By the third adventure, things have changed and they're basically expected to be heroes discovering dark secrets...

My feeling about the campaign is that it would work far, far better if it began just after the first meteorite hit, with the PCs being hired to investigate the fall. That then sets them on the path from the initial set-up, rather than misguiding them utterly.

Cheers!

 

[roguerouge]

As a player, I think that the analogy of APs to railroads is wrong. I think the better analogy is that of a puzzle. As a player, I look at the narrative of the AP and interact with it to try to find out what all the pieces are. Then, I try to get the "solution" in either the most efficient way (i.e. what's assumed by the writer) or the most creative manner (trying to use the author's assumptions against them to surprise the DM).