R_kajdi said:
Thanks for all the feedback. As to the suggestions for the other adventure paths (Pathfinder/Burning Sky) those are both out because they aren't complete. I want the whole thing in front of me to be sure that I'm cool with where it is going before I start. Savage Tide, for instance, is certainly cool at the end, but you never get a hint that the final point is about the death of Demogorgon until much later in the path. The fact that the DM is blind to the plot of the adventures is one of the reasons I can't see running any of these adventures until the whole thing is out in the open.
There is a plot synopsis of each of the pathfinder modules in the first module of Rise of the Runelords. I'm not blind as to where it's going to go.
SPOILERS FOR RISE OF THE RUNELORDS:
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The AP starts off in Sandpoint, where the heroes fend off a goblin invasion of the town and eventually take out the leader of the goblins in the goblins' own 'town'.
In The Skinsaw Murders, a murderer starts killing people in and around Sandpoint and leaving their corpses desecrated. The PCs eventually track the murderer (a former acquaintance from the first module) down to his haunted house south of Sandpoint and finish him off after dealing with a houseful of haunts. The murderer was being manipulated by someone else, though, and from there they head to Magnimar to deal with that person, incidentally saving the life of the Lord Mayor of Magnimar in the process.
In Hook Mountain Massacre, the Lord Mayor asks them to investigate a wilderness fort that has stopped responding to even magical communication attempts. The PCs find the fort overrun by ogres and, after cleaning it out, are granted ownership of it. Local events eventually lead the PCs to attack the ogre village, where they discover that a stone giant priest has taken over leadership of the village -- and he's wearing the same symbol that the leader of the goblins and the lamia behind the murders both wore! When the PCs defeat the giant, they stop the ogres from launching a new offensive, but learn that an army of stone giants is already gathering to march on Sandpoint.
In Fortress of the Stone Giants, the PCs fight off the initial attack on Sandpoint but learn that this was just a scouting party; there's a force building that's much stronger. They also learn that the entire army is being run by a stone giant priest named Mokmurian, and that his defeat may disperse the army. The PCs travel to and infiltrate the fortress of the stone giants, eventually killing Mokmurian and his lamia priestesses. However, they finally uncover the root cause of the late troubles. The runelord Karzoug, Lord of Greed, is awakening -- and all the greedy stone giants they've killed recently have almost brought him up to full power!
In Sins of the Saviors, the PCs desperately search for a way to shut down Karzoug's
runewell before he is able to completely restore his powers through it. They learn of an artifact called a
runeforge and its location - far to the north, on the shores of an icy lake. There they run afoul of a white dragon before eventually finding the entrance to the
runeforge's dungeon. Eventually, the find the
runeforge and are able to empower their weapons with the ability to destroy a
runewell - but time is growing short, and Karzoug's
runewell is in the ruins of his capital city, Xin-Shalast.
In Spires of Xin-Shalast, the PCs finally go to confront Karzoug in his lair. He has cloud giants, lamias, and even dragons bound to his service and bound to stop the PCs or die trying. Once they get past his minions, they still must deal with the Runelord of Greed himself before they can destroy the runewell.
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All of that information is given in the first module. The second module continues giving pointers on events that are going to happen in future modules and how you can connect them.
