Monday Night, the veteran group actually found an item to control the Tarrasque. For the entire campaign they have been stranded on the back side of a mountain range after an earthquake slid most of a mountain into the pass. After taking control of the big guy they used the Tarrasque to bulldoze out the pass. The only thing about the Tarrasque, it has lousy brakes and destroyed the keep at the other end. I can't go into too much detail because of some of the stuff that is happening is still a mystery to the players. But in the end, when they reached the end of the pass a few days later, they were greeted by an small army and placed under arrest.
Tomorrow night is the second session of the newbie group. One of my assignments to them was to come up with names for their characters. One of the women who plays an elf found a name generator and came up with a first name I can't pronounce with the second name 'Bearcharger'. So when I pass her in the hall at work she chants 'Bearcharger'. I'm very much leaning on doing a AD&D version of the Kingmaker adventure path from Pazio. I think the beginning hex crawls are fun and manageable. Then I was thinking of slipping in various adventures I've bought. Classic AD&D adventures and OSR stuff. I need to go through some of my things and decide.
Then on Saturday, as long as we don't get buried in snow, going to playtest some 5th edition D&D with Rob (Bat in the Attic) DMing and Al from Beyond the Black Gate might be making his way down. Again I am sure it will be decided by weather. Then there will be handful of others there. I'm curious to get a feel for the new offering. I've had the playtest stuff for a while I haven't looked at it.
I can't remember the last time I had 3 games in one week. And Whisk doesn't even want to strangle me. She may by the weekend.
Showing posts with label Kingmaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kingmaker. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
After Game Discussion: Adventure Paths
I thought I would start a new series of blogs called, The After Game Discussion. I realized how much good gaming stuff was discussed after the game. This last week we discussed Adventure Paths or Adventure Series which ever you prefer.
At the beginning of the summer Rusty started a C&C campaign and he decided to use an adventure series for the foundation. It was short lived. I think about three sessions (real life took Rusty away for a few months). He discussed how he thought running a canned series would be easier on him, but found out it wasn't. He said that if the players didn't do certain things the entire adventure came to a halt. That some of the things that needed to be done were no in the players best interest or even of interest.
Campaigns and character development are more sophisticated even with the stripped down rules of the basic systems. GMs are creating elaborate worlds. And because of this there are fewer pick up games. In the early 80s I carried around a folder of characters in case I found a game, those days are gone. Back then I didn't worry about my character other than the equipment he had and his level. The GM would usually run a canned module and everyone was in. No need to explain our motivation. We would usually skip the long reading introductions and get right to the meat. The only motivation needed at that time was there was a game and we were about to roll dice.
Today, I don't do pick up games anymore (unless at a con). I like having a period of time to run my guy and see what what happens. When I first make a character I have certain personality marks determined. Maybe a short backstory. Then I am ready to dive into some adventure and see what happens. If the GM tells me ahead of time we will be playing a certain adventure series I will try to gear my guy to make that transition as easy as possible. But even when I do this there a certain things that come up in an adventure series that if you do not do it comes to a halt. And in the case the adventure series Rusty was running there were a couple of times when what the players needed to do was...well, a bit stupid. After playing through the first of the adventure series I am positive they did not playtest it.
The whole point of getting the adventure series was to save time. But after reading through the adventure Rusty said it would have taken almost as much time to go redo the parts than to have done his own thing. I found this true of Pathfinder's King Maker adventure path. Where it had a lot of great stuff to mine from, running it would have been difficult if you had players who liked to explore and were not playing within the limitations of the AP. It is set up to be a sandbox and it is to a point, but should they party stray to far this way or that then they go into an area where everything is set for higher levels or there is nothing.
Those damn players, like myself, like freewill. I want to go where I want when I want and let me suffer the consequences. Don't restrict my movement because I failed to be interested in your village quest. That's what they do in video games. That stupid north gate won't open until you gather seven more hogs and deliver them to Herman the Half-Wit. Once you gather the pigs the gate opens. Adventure Paths/Series kind of do this also.
I guess what it boils down to for me is these canned adventure series don't save time for me unless I mine them for bits and pieces I can use during the running of my own world. In this way I think it saves time, but trying to run it as is I've found to be frustrating.
At the beginning of the summer Rusty started a C&C campaign and he decided to use an adventure series for the foundation. It was short lived. I think about three sessions (real life took Rusty away for a few months). He discussed how he thought running a canned series would be easier on him, but found out it wasn't. He said that if the players didn't do certain things the entire adventure came to a halt. That some of the things that needed to be done were no in the players best interest or even of interest.
Campaigns and character development are more sophisticated even with the stripped down rules of the basic systems. GMs are creating elaborate worlds. And because of this there are fewer pick up games. In the early 80s I carried around a folder of characters in case I found a game, those days are gone. Back then I didn't worry about my character other than the equipment he had and his level. The GM would usually run a canned module and everyone was in. No need to explain our motivation. We would usually skip the long reading introductions and get right to the meat. The only motivation needed at that time was there was a game and we were about to roll dice.
Today, I don't do pick up games anymore (unless at a con). I like having a period of time to run my guy and see what what happens. When I first make a character I have certain personality marks determined. Maybe a short backstory. Then I am ready to dive into some adventure and see what happens. If the GM tells me ahead of time we will be playing a certain adventure series I will try to gear my guy to make that transition as easy as possible. But even when I do this there a certain things that come up in an adventure series that if you do not do it comes to a halt. And in the case the adventure series Rusty was running there were a couple of times when what the players needed to do was...well, a bit stupid. After playing through the first of the adventure series I am positive they did not playtest it.
The whole point of getting the adventure series was to save time. But after reading through the adventure Rusty said it would have taken almost as much time to go redo the parts than to have done his own thing. I found this true of Pathfinder's King Maker adventure path. Where it had a lot of great stuff to mine from, running it would have been difficult if you had players who liked to explore and were not playing within the limitations of the AP. It is set up to be a sandbox and it is to a point, but should they party stray to far this way or that then they go into an area where everything is set for higher levels or there is nothing.
Those damn players, like myself, like freewill. I want to go where I want when I want and let me suffer the consequences. Don't restrict my movement because I failed to be interested in your village quest. That's what they do in video games. That stupid north gate won't open until you gather seven more hogs and deliver them to Herman the Half-Wit. Once you gather the pigs the gate opens. Adventure Paths/Series kind of do this also.
I guess what it boils down to for me is these canned adventure series don't save time for me unless I mine them for bits and pieces I can use during the running of my own world. In this way I think it saves time, but trying to run it as is I've found to be frustrating.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Kingmaker Adventure Path Conclusion
When Pazio first announced their sandbox style AP I was excited and subscribed. I had already bought the Core Rules and Bestiary and liked them so why not take a chance on an AP. The one thing that is for sure, Pazio does not half ass their quality of the books they put out. All are sturdy and look fantastic. My comments are vague at times because I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone.
The first Kingmaker adventure out is The Stolen Land. It's very good. I was happy to have my excitement satisfied. My expectations were high and were met. The second, Rivers Run Red, is much like the first. It completes the bottom half of the map from the Stolen Lands. In this adventure they give you the basic rules to start building cities and eventually a kingdom. I like their streamline rules, they are easy to use as is and easy to tweak to your liking. These two, in my opinion, are more like adventure path 1a and 1b.
The Varnhold Vanishing, the third in the series, has the coolest boss. In this one the players using the same set up as in the first two, but this time to expand their kingdom. To find resources, make allies, exterminate enemies and to show those snotty little neighbors to the north you didn't inherit your kingdom, but forged it from sweat and blood. Varnhold did a good job of taking the AP to the next level.
Blood for Blood. You need to defend you kingdom from very big things that want to crush you like a bug. Exploration is needed. Again the wilderness hex map is used and off the players go to defeat horrible monsters. This is where the adventure path, for me, starts to break down. It continues to use the same format as it did in the previous adventures. I understand, but now the players have developed their land they are defending it from their enemies. Don't get me wrong it is still very good and interesting, but the format of the adventure seems to be holding onto the shirt tail of the party and keeping them from developing farther.
The 5th installment, War of the River Kings, is where the format needed to be changed. Especially for this kind of adventure. It seemed forced at this point. I understand the need for continuity between product, but this one was trying to accomplish different goals than the first three, but they were still using the same blueprint. The storyline is great, situation feels organic and develops well, but I would have liked to have seen a different way to approach this adventure. Something that suited the situation better. The players are no longer in an exploration mode, but defenders of a kingdom and those are two very different beasts.
The final entry, The Sound of a Thousand Screams, is a great conclusion to the AP. Here they finally seem to break out of the format used in the precious products. They needed to and did. This adventure feels like the epic it should be. The players at this point are reaching their end game and this one lets them go out with a bang. No, I won't give you any details.
Overall, I loved the Kingmaker AP and definitely glad to have it on my gaming shelf. The problems I had with the middle adventures I plan to tweak, but still use their content. Everything they include is useful. I haven't even mentioned all the extras they tag on the end of their adventures. It's like getting a mini bestiary or magic items or culture addition. These are well worth the money. I've already spoken about the physical quality of the books and the content is even better.
The best compliment I can give this AP is I would suggest it to my friends and have. And now to all of you out there. If you've never subscribed or been through an adventure path scenario then I suggest you start with the Kingmaker series. It was a lot of fun to read. Now I just need to find the time to run it.
The first Kingmaker adventure out is The Stolen Land. It's very good. I was happy to have my excitement satisfied. My expectations were high and were met. The second, Rivers Run Red, is much like the first. It completes the bottom half of the map from the Stolen Lands. In this adventure they give you the basic rules to start building cities and eventually a kingdom. I like their streamline rules, they are easy to use as is and easy to tweak to your liking. These two, in my opinion, are more like adventure path 1a and 1b.
The Varnhold Vanishing, the third in the series, has the coolest boss. In this one the players using the same set up as in the first two, but this time to expand their kingdom. To find resources, make allies, exterminate enemies and to show those snotty little neighbors to the north you didn't inherit your kingdom, but forged it from sweat and blood. Varnhold did a good job of taking the AP to the next level.
Blood for Blood. You need to defend you kingdom from very big things that want to crush you like a bug. Exploration is needed. Again the wilderness hex map is used and off the players go to defeat horrible monsters. This is where the adventure path, for me, starts to break down. It continues to use the same format as it did in the previous adventures. I understand, but now the players have developed their land they are defending it from their enemies. Don't get me wrong it is still very good and interesting, but the format of the adventure seems to be holding onto the shirt tail of the party and keeping them from developing farther.
The 5th installment, War of the River Kings, is where the format needed to be changed. Especially for this kind of adventure. It seemed forced at this point. I understand the need for continuity between product, but this one was trying to accomplish different goals than the first three, but they were still using the same blueprint. The storyline is great, situation feels organic and develops well, but I would have liked to have seen a different way to approach this adventure. Something that suited the situation better. The players are no longer in an exploration mode, but defenders of a kingdom and those are two very different beasts.
The final entry, The Sound of a Thousand Screams, is a great conclusion to the AP. Here they finally seem to break out of the format used in the precious products. They needed to and did. This adventure feels like the epic it should be. The players at this point are reaching their end game and this one lets them go out with a bang. No, I won't give you any details.
Overall, I loved the Kingmaker AP and definitely glad to have it on my gaming shelf. The problems I had with the middle adventures I plan to tweak, but still use their content. Everything they include is useful. I haven't even mentioned all the extras they tag on the end of their adventures. It's like getting a mini bestiary or magic items or culture addition. These are well worth the money. I've already spoken about the physical quality of the books and the content is even better.
The best compliment I can give this AP is I would suggest it to my friends and have. And now to all of you out there. If you've never subscribed or been through an adventure path scenario then I suggest you start with the Kingmaker series. It was a lot of fun to read. Now I just need to find the time to run it.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Day of the Owlbear Started it All
Last week I had a glorious vacation and scored a ton of gaming stuff. To start off I got an email from Alex that I had a $15 voucher to Otherworld miniatures and I should contact Richard Scott (this is still left over goodness from the one page dungeon contest). I thought I'd just won the Rune Dice, but he said I had also won the voucher. So I ordered the very cool owlbear. Then I went to the post office and my third in the Kingmaker series was there, The Varhold Vanishing. A lich cyclops anyone? Great start to my vacation wouldn't you say?
Then I went to a game store I only get to visit once in a while and bought copies of Pathfinder's Monsters Revisited (This was the book my wife read while I shopped. She didn't know what a bugbear was and started reading more. That was the night I had her go through a few scenarios), I got the Gamemastery Treasure Chest and the box set of Tunnels and Trolls. The manager threw in a starter deck of the Batman Trading card game. Nice looking cards, they were free, but have no idea what to do with them.
Then when I thought I'd scored plenty I got a 40% coupon from Borders along with a $5 coupon off any item over $20. Well Borders has 4th edition D&D and that's pretty much it, but I'd been looking at the 2 DM Guide. Now hold on. Stop throwing things. It is really a pretty decent book. There are some stat blocks (which will make me put a book back on a shelf quicker that the plague) but, it focuses more on the different philosophies about build and adventure and building encounters. So far I've enjoyed it. That said I would have never bought it for the sticker price of $35. I got it for $16 something once all my coupons were totaled.
So as you can see I've been up to my eyeballs with new gaming stuff. Plus, Rob (Bat in the Attic) wanted to try out Runequest and last night we had an honest to goodness sit down around the table, roll real dice game with Dwayne who is in between moves. In his blog he goes into detail about what happened, but man that is one bloody game. Body parts were everywhere. It was a blast, but I doubt we will use that system again. Initially our enemies were supposed to be baboons and ducks. Really? Rob changed them into goblins and halflings.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my wife's blog. You made her day and it won't be the last you hear from her. We have standing plans to buy her, her own set of dice. Something preferably in an orange, yellow or pink. She is thinking of new gruesome recipes to use in game and I plan to use them somehow.
Then I went to a game store I only get to visit once in a while and bought copies of Pathfinder's Monsters Revisited (This was the book my wife read while I shopped. She didn't know what a bugbear was and started reading more. That was the night I had her go through a few scenarios), I got the Gamemastery Treasure Chest and the box set of Tunnels and Trolls. The manager threw in a starter deck of the Batman Trading card game. Nice looking cards, they were free, but have no idea what to do with them.
Then when I thought I'd scored plenty I got a 40% coupon from Borders along with a $5 coupon off any item over $20. Well Borders has 4th edition D&D and that's pretty much it, but I'd been looking at the 2 DM Guide. Now hold on. Stop throwing things. It is really a pretty decent book. There are some stat blocks (which will make me put a book back on a shelf quicker that the plague) but, it focuses more on the different philosophies about build and adventure and building encounters. So far I've enjoyed it. That said I would have never bought it for the sticker price of $35. I got it for $16 something once all my coupons were totaled.
So as you can see I've been up to my eyeballs with new gaming stuff. Plus, Rob (Bat in the Attic) wanted to try out Runequest and last night we had an honest to goodness sit down around the table, roll real dice game with Dwayne who is in between moves. In his blog he goes into detail about what happened, but man that is one bloody game. Body parts were everywhere. It was a blast, but I doubt we will use that system again. Initially our enemies were supposed to be baboons and ducks. Really? Rob changed them into goblins and halflings.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my wife's blog. You made her day and it won't be the last you hear from her. We have standing plans to buy her, her own set of dice. Something preferably in an orange, yellow or pink. She is thinking of new gruesome recipes to use in game and I plan to use them somehow.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Pathfinder's Kingmaker Adventure Path
I've never subscribed or bought an adventure path from Pazio before, but when I read about their new Kingmaker Adventure Path it didn't take me too long to subscribe. My campaigns have always been sandbox style and I am always interested to see what others do and this is one of the few times where a company produced modules in a sandbox style. And before I go any farther I just want to add, though this is written for the Pathifinder rule set I converted most of the first book to Swords & Wizardry with OSRIC influences within a few hours. The benefit of subscribing from Pazio was not only did I get the books at a discount I also received the PDFs for free. So if you are planning the purchase this series (and you should) I would defiantly go that route. The books are top notch quality. I like the perfect bound so I can find them easily on my already crowded gaming shelf. The entire book is in color and the artwork is great. The only personal think I didn't like was the anime influenced pictures. Not a big fan. But like I said that's just my personal preference. The layout of the book is simple and everything is easy to read. The one problem I did have with the layout is the main map is on page 14 so while I was reading through the book I was always going back to hunt for it. I would have liked to have seen it on the inside of one of the covers or a centerfold.
More on the map. It is a hex grid map which all respecting sandbox maps should. Each hex is equal to 12 miles (sound familiar Rob?) and locations of interest are denoted by various symbols. The map is okay. It doesn't have a lot of personality to it. It looks nice, but bland at the same time, like someone made a beautiful looking dinner, but didn't season the food properly. When I got book 2 in the series then I found out why the map was so empty. The second book fills in the southern section of the map.
I waited until I got first and second part of the adventure path to see what direction they were going in. The first part is called Stolen Land by Tim Hitchcock. It sets of the area where the players will start their adventuring career. First level newbs standing outside of Oleg's Trading Post having no idea what they are about to get themselves into. Basically the adventure breaks down into the main plot and side quests. The plots are well developed and the side quests are fun and useful. Not only can these side quests score the players a bit of money, but they may also find an ally or resource that will come in handy later. I won't go into much detail here about the adventure itself, but I think the first book succeeds in setting up the players to possibly become rulers of their own land. But I wasn't sure how that was going to work until...
...I read through the second part in the adventure path, Rivers Run Red by Rob McCreary. The second book introduced the kingdom builder mechanic. Your kingdom gets its own character sheet! I love that. It breaks down what influences the players' kingdom positively and negatively. This is worth the price of admission alone. Also inside is a city builder grid, but ignore that. It's not good. I think it was meant to be a visual tool, but its way too simplified for my tastes. The second book is set up like the first. There is the main plot and side quests. All very interesting. I think they are more creative in the second book and have a lot of leeway for a GM to play with. The addition to the second book is the problems the players are going to have to deal with when they are developing their kingdom. And this is where brute force is not always the answer or in some cases the worst answer. These encounters are interesting and depending on the patience of your players can be downright annoying, but who said running a kingdom would be easy.
In both books there are mini bestiaries in the back. Some of the monsters are in the adventure some are not. Either way it's nice to have a few new strange critters in a GMs arsenal. Also, both books have a short piece of fiction. Calm down. Stop your hissing. They aren't bad at all. I found them fun to read. But if you don't like reading it you don't have to. It's not like its WoD fiction.
As a GM I definitely run this adventure path for my group. With the kingdom builder element it adds an elements that probably is not seen in most games and I think a fantastic addition. I look forward to the next four books and glad I took a chance on this adventure path.
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