Topic: Adventure Paths (a la Pathfinder)

[justabloke]

Sooooo, I've given in to pressure and am running a campaign for one of my gaming groups.  While I would really prefer to be running it in the Shadow World, the ease of just picking up a whole campaign won me over and I am running Rise of the Runelords using Pathfinder.

Arguably Pathfinder's Adventure Paths are a major factor in the success of that rule-set.  Nine (and counting) detailed campaigns that integrate with a larger world with its associated world-books.

Has any thought been put into this for Kulthea (beyond the abortive Grand Campaign)?

Please don't get me wrong, I LOVE the background and the adventures so far provided.  But there is something, quite frankly irresistible to time-poor GM's like myself, about a complete level 1 to 20 package where all I have to do is read the damn thing and know the rules enough to know when my players are pulling a shifty :-)

Thoughts?

[Thom @ ICE]

So the real question is, why didn't you convert the adventure path to Rolemaster? 

[Hurin]

I can definitely see the attraction... maybe the Grand Campaign could be resurrected for RMU?

[justabloke]

So the real question is, why didn't you convert the adventure path to Rolemaster? 

Sorry Thom, I thought the answer to that was implied, too much work.  My systems of preference are HARP and Cortex but the system isn't the issue, the completeness of the adventure path is what I was asking about. 

What Pazio are currently providing is the complete package.  The system (based on one known very well by many/most gamers), the background material and settings, and entire campaigns.  Hell, they are even providing miniatures (stiff cardboard) for those campaigns.

The background is there for Shadow World, what it lacks for the time-poor GM such as myself is a campaign pre-made. 

Anyway, its not a big deal, eventually I will find the time to create campaign I want to run.

[RandalThor]

I would love to see something like this happen. The lack of pre-made adventures are something I think has been ICE's weakness. I get that adventures don't necessarily sell all that well, but what they do is keep GM's running a system (& setting) and that keeps the other books in demand. (At least that seems like how it can work, obviously there is a little more to it than that...)

I think another aspect of why Paizo/Pathfinder has done so well is the production value; they got full-color, glossy everything. I don't like the super long & pointy eared elves, but that is a personal flavor thing, the rest of the art tends to be excellent. Having images to show players, I have found, helps put them "into" the game more.

[egdcltd]

Guild Companion Publications put out an adventure call with the intention of being able to released adventure sets (although I don't know how that has gone). One problem that has been mentioned about trying to publish something on a regular basis like Paizo when this has come up before is that everyone is part-time or freelance, so deadlines are hard to hit. I would love to see a regular publication being done, but that seems unlikely unless the demand could be built up enough to hire people on a full time basis.

[Thom @ ICE]

justabloke -
My apologies, as my attempt at humor did not come through as intended.  I fully understand your situation - I've been there myself during my gaming, though I can say that converting a pre-written adventure from another system is generally not that time consuming.  The main aspects of the adventure are the plot, the descriptions, the maps, and the NPC's/Items.  The only piece that needs to be converted is the NPC's/Items and most of the time you can simply plug in replacements or convert on the fly... however, if that is more daunting a task than you want to take on, we can say that we're working on pre-gen adventures.  I don't believe any are written in the full campaign style that you are asking about, but they are being worked on.  Unfortunately HARP needs to finish Bestiary so HARP adventures can be completed, and Rolemaster needs the Beta run to complete so we can move forward on that front.


Second concern from your posts, you indicated that you play HARP and want a campaign adventure for Shadow World.  Shadow World has Rolemaster stats available to it. HARP for Shadow World is not currently available. If such an adventure were released for Rolemaster it would likely be for Rolemaster (though maybe it could be dual-statted).


We're definitely working on pre-gen adventures behind the scenes, so I hope that when they come out they will fill most of  your need.

[Terry K. Amthor]

I'm flattered that after all these years there is still interest in the Grand Campaign; it was an ambitious idea that unfortunately died for outside reasons. And yes that ship has sailed; you all are on your own! 

I am curious how much interest there would be in SW adventures (they would probably just be PDFs, though who knows?), maybe 32 pages or even smaller.

[egdcltd]

I am curious how much interest there would be in SW adventures (they would probably just be PDFs, though who knows?), maybe 32 pages or even smaller.

I think that would be a good idea, especially if you could do a group in the same area, and perhaps build up a locality to some extent.

Incidentally, how much harder is it to set something up for print on demand? I assume it doesn't work that well with just a bog standard PDF.

[Terry K. Amthor]

I am curious how much interest there would be in SW adventures (they would probably just be PDFs, though who knows?), maybe 32 pages or even smaller.

I think that would be a good idea, especially if you could do a group in the same area, and perhaps build up a locality to some extent.

Incidentally, how much harder is it to set something up for print on demand? I assume it doesn't work that well with just a bog standard PDF.

Maybe I should dust off an old module I started years ago called Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn, which was basically adventures all centered around an inn somewhere in Jaiman (where, one hopes, the PCs stay over) with an ancient Earthwarden bridge nearby, and all kinds of strange things happened...

re PoD, the interior is not that difficult; mostly the graphics have to be of a certain resolution. The covers have to be set up according to their very specific template, so that does require a little extra effort.

[RandalThor]

I am curious how much interest there would be in SW adventures (they would probably just be PDFs, though who knows?), maybe 32 pages or even smaller.

Maybe I should dust off an old module I started years ago called Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn, which was basically adventures all centered around an inn somewhere in Jaiman (where, one hopes, the PCs stay over) with an ancient Earthwarden bridge nearby, and all kinds of strange things happened...

Yes, maybe you should. 

Sort of like the Tales of.... that already exist, only with a small portion of the product fleshing out the area the adventures are located. Of course, I would rather it be larger than 32-pages (I want more!), but if that is what is put out, then that is what I will get. The adventures don't have to be uber-detailed, just enough there so that the GM doesn't have to do hours of work to get the adventure ready. Heck, if you have most of the maps and NPCs in the "setting" part of the module, then the 2 or 3 adventures (or MORE!!) could just reference those there and only list any of them which are specific to that adventure; that should save some space.

[Hurin]

Yes, an adventure module set in Shadow World would be awesome. You already have tons of settings, and can reference the larger regional books (Jaiman, Emer, etc.), so the setting would already be extremely well developed.

One further request would be for the module to contain boxed or italicized text that you read out to players alongside the more traditional notes for the DM. I really think this is an advantage DnD modules have long had over RM ones: you have cool text to read out to the players to set the scene and give them a mental image of what is going on. It also gives you a breather as DM as the players will undoubtedly discuss what they've just been read. With established writers like Terry, that sort of thing should be a breeze, and would greatly help to engage the players (and make the DM feel that they can run things with very little prep time).

[egdcltd]

The Keep on the Borderlands, which had the players operating out of a base, was voted the 7th best D&D module of all time, so having a party be based out of an inn should certainly work.

[BeggarKing (Thomas)]

Paizo's adventure paths as a business model are something to be considered. Much like the Grand Campaign was (yes, of course there is still interest  ) Its a campaign that's delivered first as a subscription, in small pieces that can be considered story arcs that take place over a few sessions. The production quality is really really high (art + gloss + maps, and writing as well) with both digital and print versions.

There are often extras in the subscription model, and extras you can buy (tiles + full fledged maps and figures that center around the adventure path theme). And it's all packaged in a way that's delivering high value content at a regular heartbeat.

Don't mean to come off as a fanboy of the model (obviously I'm here in these forums  because I yearn for something more and something different) but these guys have been at the top of their game for a while and really understand how to deliver content in this market.

[Valkrist]

Just wanted to add my voice and say that I fully agree with the thoughts and suggestion expressed here, and that I would support and purchase a line of adventure modules written by Terry (because he doesn't have enough on his plate already.)

I'm currently DMing the Shackled City campaign for my 3.5 D&D group, complete from level 1 to 20 and absolutely love what a time saver it is. After years of creating my own adventures and finding myself with less time these days, it definitely is great to have all the footwork done for you, including the aforementioned "flavour text," which is always a great tool for DMs.

So, while a campaign is something Terry is understandably staying away from writing, a few dedicated adventures would be an invaluable aid for those of us running a game in Kulthea.

[Terry K. Amthor]

Not that I actually found my old Gryphon Inn Pagemaker file, and not that I might have imported it into InDesign, or maybe started sketching out layouts or anything, but I am curious about the color text some of you have referred to... Is it just a description you could read out, like "You see the famous Gryphon Bridge for the first time; it looms out of the fog, seeming almost to float above the mist..." Or, "The greatroom of the Green Gryphon Inn lives up to its reputation: it is a huge space warmed by no less than three massive stone fireplaces. There are large tables if you are feeling gregarious, and small out of the way corners if (relative) quiet is what you desire. The place smells of smoke and roasted meat, and it is well-populated by a variety of folk..."

[Valkrist]

Yes, that is precisely what I, and I believe others as well, meant about text to read out loud to the players.

[Terry K. Amthor]

Can someone point me to a good example of one of these Adventure Path modules, so I can take a look at it? Thanks!

[Valkrist]

You could try the one I just mentioned, The Shackled City - Adventure Path. Just Google that and you should see the PDF link.

[Terry K. Amthor]

You could try the one I just mentioned, The Shackled City - Adventure Path. Just Google that and you should see the PDF link.

That's kind of big; any small module that won't cost me a lot? I just want to see how they format the GM 'speech' and the adventures. Otherwise for the adventure format I might use the old Eidolon structure.

Darn my ADHD; I now have 11 adventure ideas and half a dozen pages written.