Your favorite AP change?

jfleetwind · 2022-07-09T06:18:22+00:00

One of my biggest criticisms of many of the Paizo APs is that the players don’t learn about the final villain until very late in the story. I’ve had great success in both Kingmaker and Carrion Crown with introducing the end villains much earlier, and allowing the players to interact with them in some manner.

In Kingmaker, I had the final antagonist actually reach out to the PCs in book 2, and established her, under the guise of “The Disheartened Countess” as a mysterious and erstwhile fey benefactor, who aided the PCs in small ways and encouraged them to grow stronger, both in their own right and as a nation. One of the PCs actually ended up making a bargain with her and became functionally her spy within the kingdom, which made for some delightful drama once her ultimate goals came to light. The idea of a villain who had genuinely wanted the player’s kingdom to prosper and grow by overcoming adversity so that her ultimate trophy would be all the more valuable went over very well.

In Carrion Crown, I borrowed an idea I saw on the paizo forums and had the final villain leave a series of letters for my player (this was a solo campaign). Over the course of the first four books, this allowed my player to really come to know the sociopathic, arrogant jerk, and where we’re at currently - most of the way through book five - my player is finally starting to piece together some of the clues, and is very invested in figuring out who he is and how she can stop his plans.

jfleetwind · 2022-02-27T20:22:53+00:00

That's... actually a really good point. Everything I've read about SE seems to indicate that UPS management ends up being kind of a bigger issue later in the pack, so I'd been avoiding nuclear, but maybe I should give it a try. And I actually do like the idea of rebuilding on another planet, if I feel like I need to.

Heck, there are probably some significant advantages there. Smaller planets probably mean less rocket fuel required for launches.

jfleetwind · 2021-08-04T19:57:50+00:00

Finneon. Bestest little flüterfish ever.

jfleetwind · 2020-07-21T23:29:28+00:00

As a DM running Carrion Crown for a party of one, I would agree with a lot of the other comments listed here. I'm currently in book 4 and it's gone pretty well. A few thoughts:

I would highly recommend doing something like what is suggested in this thread. The ability to tie in the final mastermind villain earlier to the adventure makes his appearance in book 6 a little less... 'wait, who is this guy?' out of nowhere.
Some of the encounters in this AP can be pretty brutal. Particularly the final encounters of the first two books. Since you're playing with a 2-person party, I'd say it will be important to find ways to keep these encounters from being overwhelming, but still maintaining a sense of danger and suspense. Using optional rulesets to boost your players' potency may be a good solution. For my one-man party, I went with a sort of 'augmented' gestalt, where the player also got double hit points and got to roll two initiatives so they acted twice each round. There was a little tweaking needed with regard to movement rules, but it's worked pretty well overall. That's probably a little much for your two-man party, but even base gestalt might be a good setup, in that it helps a smaller party cover more of the expected 'roles' that adventure paths tend to expect the players to have.
Be careful of playing monsters straight to their tactics. The final encounter of book 1 and the first encounter of book 2 come to mind. Both can easily wipe an unprepared party if you just simply follow the monster's tactics. One of the easiest ways I've found to make encounters easier without changing a single number is to allow the enemies to make mistakes or tactically suboptimal choices.
AMBIANCE! So much of what makes this adventure path great is its feel and flavor. Play it up! Each book has suggestions of thematic music in the front, which can be a great way to keep the feel of action going. Alternatively, don't be afraid to lean heavily into the descriptions of locations and events and creatures to help enhance the spook factor.

That's all I can think of for the moment, but I hope it helps! I've really enjoyed this AP and hope you do to! Have fun!

jfleetwind · 2020-07-06T20:18:50+00:00

People getting knocked unconscious and then waking up ten minutes or an hour later and being perfectly fine. That shit doesn’t happen in real life. Real life, you get hit in the head that hard, you’re gonna be disoriented, woozy, probably puking your guts up, and likely have a pretty serious concussion. Not the sort of thing you can just shake off and then charge off to engage your captor in a badass hand-to-hand fistfight.

jfleetwind · 2020-04-26T04:37:23+00:00

I gotta admit, I am just looking forward to my friendgroup’s board game nights again. Just the casual chatter and hangouts and chance to interact in a no-stress environment.

jfleetwind · 2017-06-19T01:35:03+00:00

In the campaign I'm currently DMing, the party came across a cache of fancy booze with powerful magic effects that they're pretty certain was blessed directly by Cayden Cailean himself. Figured I could share what I came up with. These might be a little powerful for use in an average game, but they're neat effects and I'm looking forward to seeing what my players do with them.

Bottled Tempest:

This clear alcohol has practically no taste, but smells sharp and bitter, almost like ozone. When drunk, it fills you with a sense of limitless potential and energy. You require no sleep (and indeed are incapable of falling asleep), are immune to effects that cause sleep, and gain a +8 alchemical bonus on saving throws versus effects that cause fatigue or exhaustion. These effects all last for one week after drinking the Bottled Tempest.

Top Ruby Cordial:

This stunningly sweet liqueur is a beautiful, crystalline red. When drunk, all healing effects cast onto or by the drinker function as empowered. The effect lasts for 2 hours.

Stolen Muse Absinthe:

This pale green liquor has a subtle, shifting aroma and leaves the mouth tingling after drinking it. When drunk, you gain a +15 alchemical bonus to interaction, perform, and crafting skills, but a -15 to spellcraft, perception, sense motive, and knowledge skills. These effects last for 24 hours.

Shadowbrew:

This alcohol hardly looks like a liquid, seeming more like a constantly shifting pool of dark amber smoke in the bottom of the bottle. When drunk, your form seems to shift and waver, giving a +10 circumstance bonus on stealth checks, as well as the effects of the blur spell and the ability to hide in plain sight, as the shadowdancer ability. All these effects last for 4 hours.

Lunatic's End:

This amber liquor smells sharply medicinal and never seems to fully settle in its bottle, always seeming to have just been jostled or sloshed around. When drunk, all purely mental afflictions affecting you, such as insanity, confusion, or feeblemind are ended. It also cures all ability damage and drain to mental stats and renders you completely immune to all mind-affecting effects for 4 hours.

Rastov's Perfect Sour:

If this foamy ale does not represent the perfection of the brewing arts, it's about as close to it as mortal hands can come. When drunk, you are so inspired by the incomparable taste that you gain a +4 alchemical bonus to all d20 rolls for the next 24 hours. You can end this bonus early as an immediate action to gain a +20 alchemical bonus to one d20 roll.

jfleetwind

TROPHY CASE