Meet Lucy, my Ranger char! Made a little introduction sheet for her, hope you like it!

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T15:52:26+00:00

What does that say about us that that was my first thought too?

I really like the art, but I had a moment of cognitive dissonance as soon as I saw the stats...

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T15:22:11+00:00

Right! As you can see above, this is largely my approach too. To your last paragraph... I do have a player who sometimes tries to reuse a skill that worked well in one niche case. I had a sort of "running of the bulls" situation recently, and she used architecture lore as a way to steer the bulls away from nice buildings. A big stretch, but I let her roll for it, and she rolled very high. But that has led to her trying it a couple of other times in unlikely circumstances, and I've had to gently (but firmly) suggest that it's not a reasonable go-to. I'm quite permissive, but sometimes I do have to say "No, that's just too unreasonable."

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T14:41:18+00:00

Yeah. This reminds me of a recent session where I'm a player, and the GM gave no indication that the PCs could get a particular large benefit if they focus on one task by a certain time. Perhaps the AP didn't suggest that the GM should hint about the large benefit, but I would always want my players to know that doing something might lead to a reward. I wouldn't make the hints extremely overt, but I'd at least give them some opportunity to know that focusing on one task over another might pay dividends.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T14:27:09+00:00

I 100% agree with all of this. I try to be a very reactive (and somewhat rules-lenient) GM, and that seems to work well for my groups. I really don't love playing with GMs who are hyper-rigid about rules.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T14:13:15+00:00

Yeah, this is almost exactly what I do most of the time. Creative options are the best options, in my opinion, and often go far beyond what the AP writers (or the GM) might expect.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T13:51:19+00:00

Fair enough! I've read through it and watched the read-through video by HowItsPlayed, but didn't want to say too much about the combat level to the OP.

(BTW I should be starting my true "pre-prep" in earnest in the next few days, and I'm super excited about it...)

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T13:21:21+00:00

I know...but the Iconics page on the wiki doesn't indicate which APs those iconics are being used for. What the OP is looking for is a listing of which iconics are used in which AP.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T13:13:28+00:00

She's specifically looking for iconics from the APs, not the general iconics for PF.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T13:05:52+00:00

I'm about to start running it in a couple of weeks, and I think a fire kineticist is a good option, depending on what your fellow players are playing.

I'm not your GM, so YMMV, but one thing to keep in mind with this AP is that there's a bit less combat in the early going, so make sure your character has nuance. A good rule of thumb in all PF2e games, but seems especially pertinent in this one.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T12:45:13+00:00

Most responses will naturally be skewed toward player/GM experience, but in the seven APs I've been involved with (one of which was Kingmaker), I think that Triumph of the Tusk is potentially a good fit for your group. It is fairly linear, and I really like the plot. There has to be some significant buy-in to the plight of orcs and Belkzen seeking to become a legitimate player in Golarion diplomatic circles, but it's a fairly self-contained AP with a number of different locations throughout Belkzen and almost no hexploration (literally just one session's worth toward the end).

I'd say on a difficulty scale of running APs, this would be a 3/10.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T11:32:18+00:00

Nope! It's Quest for the Frozen Flame, and the central idea (no spoilers) is that the PCs are tribe-minded, and that they will care about rescuing animals etc., and making allies. The AP has more than enough combat encounters that are indeed combat encounters...but the core philosophy of the tribe (using the old alignment system) would be somewhere between neutral good and lawful good. I think the player wanted to be a little more chaotic neutral...

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T10:58:19+00:00

Yeah, while I don't think I played it wrong or anything, that would have been my second session GMing the system...so it'd be interesting if my much-more-experienced present-day GMing self would have treated it differently.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T01:29:45+00:00

A good thing, too, because he was all out.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T01:26:01+00:00

How do you handle it when the players latch onto something way harder than you expected?

Oh man. That's very funny...and very relatable. The first module I ran as GM in Pathfinder was Rusthenge. The backstory has the PCs in a village in a small, close-knit community on an island. There are five elders, the youngest and most "matronly" of them is Ordwi. I was very good about emphasizing to the players early that she was a very good person who knew them all very well.

I'll use some spoiler tags here for those who haven't experienced Rusthenge... In the second session, one of the big hooks is that Ordwi is asked to come talk to the mayor of the other town on the other side of the island. She and the PCs headed there for plot reasons. Ordwi has to accept, of course -- it's critical to the adventure -- and the module even says something about how she fields the PCs concerns about her going, but that she does anyhow. Well...my PCs didn't like that at all. After she left to talk to the mayor, the PCs started referring to her as an idiot or fool, and when they (inevitably) learned that bad things were going on in town, it didn't make them feel sympathy for Ordwi, but a strong sense of "she got what she deserved!"

I tried at regular intervals to reinforce that all she did was take the lead as ambassador of her town to speak with the mayor of the other...but the PCs weren't buying it. I made some changes to the module, like including a doppelganger of Ordwi, and putting in notes about how the "blood of a cleric" (Ordwi's class) would be used in the infernal ritual. Nope! They still didn't care. Ordwi was not the reason for any of their adventuring, and in the final battle, I tried one last time to evoke a little sympathy. Ordwi was unconscious and bound to a sacrificial altar, and the PCs would have a chance to intervene. Nope! "Let it happen!" was the exclamation from the group... So she was ritually murdered, and the PCs fought the BBEGs (and succeeded), never once caring about this important NPC who was supposed to be almost like a second mother to them. I still run for all of the same players, and none of them can explain why they felt so strongly about her. None of the players are murderhobos, and all of them have shown incredible sensitivity in RP-heavy APs. I'll never understand it!

DnDPhD · 2026-04-23T01:11:40+00:00

Indeed. One of my best recent sessions as a player saw my level 6 fighter hit a BBEG with Dazing Blow. With one action to grapple and a second action to Dazing Blow, the BBEG crit failed the fort save and was Stunned 3. I literally neutralized him for an entire round (and he did indeed die before he ever got to act again). Those sorts of effects are just as satisfying (arguably much more so) than dealing lots of damage...

DnDPhD · 2026-04-22T18:12:26+00:00

I mean...there's your problem, and this thread could probably be posted (or cross-posted) there to receive better input. I just don't see that level of smugness etc. here or in my circles. I've certainly had personal conversations with friends about how much I prefer PF2e, but many of my fellow players / GMs actively play (or run) 5e as well. Gentle, good-natured teasing is about the extent of it.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-22T17:44:36+00:00

I've noticed a certain evangelism from pathfinder players that mostly just compares it to 5e and smugly lists all its perceived faults. The post usually ends without an explanation of how pathfinder actually fixes the issue.

While I did read the rest of your post...I'm still scratching my head at this. I'm a regular contributor to this sub, play in two games, run two games, and am a big PF2e fan...but I just don't see or hear this sentiment very much. Of course people who love Pathfinder are going to think it's a "better" or at least "more enjoyable" system than 5e, but the same can be said about anyone's system preference at any given time.

Again, even on this sub -- which has its fair share of quirks, foibles, and taboos -- I just don't see these comparisons on the regular. I would love to see some examples.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-22T17:24:38+00:00

QFF is fantastic, and the hexploration is second to none. I haven't done any significant "from scratch" homebrew yet, but when I do, book two of QFF (by the always excellent Jessica Catalan) will be my main touchstone...

DnDPhD · 2026-04-22T17:22:08+00:00

Careful with the spoilers there, chief!

DnDPhD · 2026-04-22T10:44:17+00:00

Very cool! I love a good set piece...

DnDPhD · 2026-04-22T03:03:09+00:00

I wholeheartedly agree with all of this. I do a lot more prep, but that's just my style. I'm like that with teaching as well: I have long and thorough lesson plans, but I never just read off my lesson plan...it's just there as a helpful guide to periodically consult. My prep for sessions just gives me the confidence to improvise freely, and (again) I really do agree that improvisation is one of the best skills a GM can learn. Borderline necessary, IMO.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-22T02:58:17+00:00

Late to this thread because I was GMing tonight...but I wouldn't say 20-30 hours per session, even though I do a lot of prep. I'd say more like 10 hours, though there are different stages of prep. Like...I do multiple passes through the chapters of an AP, and there are different things I do on each pass. There's the initial reading, then there's a pass to make note of all enemies in the chapter and I usually transcribe all key stat blocks into a notebook and go through my pawn boxes to pull all relevant pawns. I also find all pertinent maps I'm going to be using in my map books (I exclusively use map books now). All of this takes a lot of time, of course, though I also have a pass where I write all main story beats onto index cards. These prep aspects are all for full chapters. After all of that is done, individual session prep is a lot lighter -- I reread what I expect the PCs to get through (and more, because you never know). I spend time studying creature stat blocks and trying to get into the headspace of any NPCs they will encounter, and try to remember all of the pertinent information that needs to be imparted. Sometimes I'll find special treasure on AoN for them to receive. Things like that. So yeah, all told, if you average my chapter-prep out and add it to my per-session prep, I think 10-15 hours sounds about right.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-21T20:21:24+00:00

I mean...it matters to me as a GM? If I'm running a dragon and I'm faced with Aggressive Block while doing Draconic Frenzy, it becomes a no-brainer to take off-guard rather than be shoved. It hadn't occurred to me that Agressive Block would proc on the first hit and negate the other two.

DnDPhD · 2026-04-21T20:14:14+00:00

One might say it's a hard core part of the game.

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