D&D 5E Paizo's 'The Abomination Vaults' Pathinder AP Coming to 5E

Paizo is set to release one of its adventure paths--The Abomination Vaults--for D&D 5E in November. The AP will be compiled as a hardcover and retail for $59.99. There will also be a Pathfinder 2E version of the hardcover.

The 3-part adventure path was originally released for Pathfinder 2E in early 2021, and is a big dungeon crawl adventure.

When the mysterious Gauntlight, an eerie landlocked lighthouse, glows with baleful light, the people of Otari know something terrible is beginning. Evil stirs in the depths of the Abomination Vaults, a sprawling dungeon where a wicked sorcerer attempted to raise an army of monsters hundreds of years ago. The town's newest heroes must venture into a sprawling dungeon filled with beasts and traps to prevent a spiteful spellcaster from rising again!

This complete compilation of the original Adventure Path campaign has been adapted to the newest version of the world’s oldest RPG. You’ve heard about the quality and depth of Pathfinder campaigns for years—now explore the Abomination Vaults yourself without having to learn a new game system!

 

[Ancalagon]

My main interest is the hope that the pathfinder group I'm in switches to 5e

 

[Ancalagon]

The more I squint and look at this the more I think this was part of the plan all along from Paizo, depending upon how well WotC was doing with 5e.

If it was part of the plan all along ... it took a lot of years for it to happen. Could it have been a backup plan? 100% But the main strategy? I find that a bit unlikely

 

[Juomari Veren]

I doubt they made an entirely new version of their system just to turn around and release 5e conversions of everything, but I wouldn't be surprised if their long-term plan wasn't to continue to capitalize on the very same licensing that allowed them to branch off of WoTC in the first place. They'd almost be foolish not to, since 5e has a lot of DNA in common with 3.x, save the math and structure of feat acquisiton, so it hits a lot of the same notes it did back in the day, but PF2E also has its own legs as a system so it's not like they can really lose by doing this if it doesn't sell as well as they may hope.

I also don't think the percentage of people who switch from one system to the other (or pick up both systems simultaneously) just because of this adventure is going to be so significant that it completely changes their business strategy. If this were Extinction Curse, or Agents of Edgewatch, or heck, if they even waited another year and made a 5e conversion of Outlaws of Alkenstar after it releases, I could easily see people who are firmly in the 5e camp at least being convinced to invest in Golarion as a setting. Abomination Vaults is a very safe pick for something that appeals both ways but doesn't sell either system over the other.

 

[Retreater]

Supporting two different lines isn't unheard of. Like having something that is Basic and something that is Advanced. I'm sure there are examples out there.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Supporting two different lines isn't unheard of. Like having something that is Basic and something that is Advanced. I'm sure there are examples out there.

When it comes to adventures (as compared to core books) its not actually uncommon.

 

[humble minion]

Thinking about it though, at least with Savage Tides (a module I do know very well), I'm not sure that it would mesh particularly well with 5e's lore to be honest. At least, the second half of Savage Tides, when you start delving into the Abyss and whatnot, leans REALLY heavily on 3e and earlier planar setting lore. The first half would be no problem but, I'm not sure if a lot of the stuff they talk about in the second half actually applies anymore. And it really doesn't apply to Forgotten Realms.

I ran Savage Tide to 15th level and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think the major hurdle to updating it would be the several modules in the middle when the PCs explicitly are colonising an island with a pre-existing native population.

 

[Hussar]

I ran Savage Tide to 15th level and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think the major hurdle to updating it would be the several modules in the middle when the PCs explicitly are colonising an island with a pre-existing native population.

That is also a rather large hurdle as well. As an update of The Isle of Dread, there's quite a bit there that really isn't a very good look anymore.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I've never bought a single Paizo product, but based on the more informed reactions in this thread I'll probably get this.

This "Age of Worms" that keeps getting mentioned sounds interesting, too.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Interesting. I just read (ok, skimmed) through this synopsis of Age of Worms. The thing that most stands out to me, and in great contrast to so many WotC adventure paths, is that it does not start with "The entire world is in imminent danger, and you 1st level wannabe heroes need to save it." Instead, the first adventure gives only a hint of that threat, and subsequent adventures slowly build to it, with plausible reasons for the heroes to be involved at each step.

 

[Juomari Veren]

Interesting. I just read (ok, skimmed) through this synopsis of Age of Worms. The thing that most stands out to me, and in great contrast to so many WotC adventure paths, is that it does not start with "The entire world is in imminent danger, and you 1st level wannabe heroes need to save it." Instead, the first adventure gives only a hint of that threat, and subsequent adventures slowly build to it, with plausible reasons for the heroes to be involved at each step.

I don't know how familiar you are with Paizo, but most of their APs go that way, albeit with different backdrops and starting events, as well as some ramping up at drastically different rates.

And to be fair, WoTC hasn't really been doing that recently. The adventure anthologies aside (which have absolutely none of that), Rime of the Frostmaiden was a pretty slow start in an area that's always perpetually kinda awful. But you're right, the streak has been pretty consistent over the years from Dragons to Tharizdun to the Demon Lords to Giants to Acererak.