What do you want to see in the fourth Adventure Path?

[delericho]

That's fun for me, but I believe the real appeal was the same thing we see happening openly on the market the last 2 years. Nostalgia sells. AoW was like a big roll out the red carpet to Greyhawk - and now it's selling better than ever.

...

My suggestion for a 4th adventure path is to drop classic D&Disms through it from beginning to end. The flavor of classic D&D may not be remembered by all, but given Wizards' "Return to" adventures coming out they know it still sells.

Hmm, I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed AoW, and I also like some of that nostalgia... in small doses.

But I'm starting to feel rather burnt out on all these nostalgic "1st Edition feel" adventures. To be honest, I'm feeling the need for something new and wildly inventive in my adventures. I'm not sure what, but I'll know it when I see it.

 

[diaglo]

Might be too difficult to do and keep interesting to a wider audience.

i didn't say it would be easy. heck, these are the big guns in the adventure industry. they should be tackling the harder to do things.

i want religion. Crusader style holy rollers. gearing up the political machine to convince their patrons and partitioners to sally forth and vanquish a "supposed" threat to their way of life.

Healer/Shepherd types going to protect the common solider/man from the ravages of the crusade.

Behind the scene cultists or revolutionaries. using this as a chance to cause a schism. to form a new church or get backing to build a new one in the conquered lands.

I want the 4 NPC classes in the DMG to see a lot of use. Aristocrats... hedging on spending the kingdoms funds on the Crusade. or looking for a way to make a profit. or seeking ways to move up in the hieroarchy. Experts making new weapons, armor, needing raw materials, looking to protect their industry from being confiscated for the war effort. Commoners starving, fleeing, training, working, toiling Give them Names. make them a community the PCs can visit. Adepts being called to fill a role while the other Main NPCs are busy.

I want the Good Alignments to be the aggressors. Even to each other. But pulling back and having to negoiate. Using those skill sets and class abilities and classes for that matter that don't get much "face" time in normal dungeon crawls or trap removal.

and later on I want a mass combat system mentioned or used. And minis. And battlemats. And...

in truth i want a reason to use all of the rules in place and a reason to insert new ones or buy new books or adventures or minis or dice.

 

[GwydapLlew]

i want religion. Crusader style holy rollers. gearing up the political machine to convince their patrons and partitioners to sally forth and vanquish a "supposed" threat to their way of life.

Hrm. I could see Rary's machinations resulting in a wave of desert nomads trying to crush Oerth underneath their boots. I could also see that not being a popular choice in today's world.

I would love to see a War AP. Siege weapons. Castles burning. Pillaging. Red Hand of Doom.

 

[Ry]

Another vote for Levels 1-12

 

[Schmoe]

My preferences for any AP4:

1) Fey
2) Ethergaunts
3) Mindflayers
4) Titans

It would be awesome to see an AP focused around the Fey and the machinations of the Unseelie Court, complete with deranged Red Caps, distilled moonbeams, and mind-bending trips into the realm of the Fey. If the adventures truly captured the surreal and creepy feel of the faeries from folklore, I think a lot of people would take notice. Plus, it would address an area that has been largely ignored by adventure writers over the last 10-15 years.

And just for the record, I'm a big fan of the 1-20 level progression of the first three APs.

 

[Voadam]

It would be awesome to see an AP focused around the Fey and the machinations of the Unseelie Court, complete with deranged Red Caps, distilled moonbeams, and mind-bending trips into the realm of the Fey. If the adventures truly captured the surreal and creepy feel of the faeries from folklore, I think a lot of people would take notice. Plus, it would address an area that has been largely ignored by adventure writers over the last 10-15 years.

And just for the record, I'm a big fan of the 1-20 level progression of the first three APs.

The 2e ravenloft module The Shadow Rift has a nice fey setting interaction. Worth checking out.

 

[Sunderstone]

AoW for me is like unearthing D&D's roots. It's Erik Mona drops Greyhawk easter eggs for 12 long adventures. I must have found near a hundred already.

That's fun for me, but I believe the real appeal was the same thing we see happening openly on the market the last 2 years. Nostalgia sells. AoW was like a big roll out the red carpet to Greyhawk - and now it's selling better than ever.

Sure there were plenty of stand alone adventures in AoW and a return to the dungeon mentality. But they worked. The old methods work for a lot of reasons.

My suggestion for a 4th adventure path is to drop classic D&Disms through it from beginning to end. The flavor of classic D&D may not be remembered by all, but given Wizards' "Return to" adventures coming out they know it still sells.

S1-4 or GDQ are okay by me.

Reading through the whole AoW (as I get ready to start running it), I agree with you 100%.... and it's been awesome. I love the D&D'isms.
Reading Kings of the Rift had me thinking Against the Giants, reading Into the Wormcrawl Fissure had me thinking Descent into the Depths of the Earth, etc. Great stuff that I daresay is better than the originals.
I think the whole campaign in the AoW was flawlessly executed with things for everybody. The examples above for the older D&D veterans, the generics and ease of insertion for the younger generation, excellent story in each and every adventure, all types of PCs have several moments to shine via class abilities and use of just about every skill, some urban intrigue and deception (with a possible traitor in your own group), some wilderness adventuring, the dungeon crawls, being stuck in the middle of a war between Dragons and Giants (which is very very cool I might add), an occasion to time travel and see what it was like on the battlefield during Kyuss' last attempt, weird creatures and great enemies,..... All this fills up levels 1-20 quite nicely.


So to Erik, James and the rest of the unbelievable awesome architects/craftsmen of the APs.... please don't stop till life outside your windows ultimately grinds to a halt. Im onboard with you.
Then again, life grinding to a halt gives you plenty of time to brainstorm another devious AP......

 

[diaglo]

Hrm. I could see Rary's machinations resulting in a wave of desert nomads trying to crush Oerth underneath their boots. I could also see that not being a popular choice in today's world.

I would love to see a War AP. Siege weapons. Castles burning. Pillaging. Red Hand of Doom.

the thieves guild (cells) selling information (number of troops, names and powers of important NPCs, magic items, locations of family members of the aristocrats, ways into the city/country, water sources or food sources with a way to poison them, or introduce an incurable disease/plague, etc...). all sorts of adventure hooks for the PCs to follow up on. to uncover documents. to decipher script. to forge documents. to infilitrate the guild...

 

[Schmoe]

The 2e ravenloft module The Shadow Rift has a nice fey setting interaction. Worth checking out.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll have to track that one down.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I wouldn't mind seeing something done with the Far Realm. A return to the old Gates of Firestorm Peak or something along those lines.

If stat blocks for the unique encounters and NPCs became too much, those NPCs shoould be shifted to the 'critical threats' area and can there serve double duty as being NPCs for any game and actually in an adventure themselves. Could provide a lot more detail on said characters at the same time.