Rise of the Runelords
Mar. 22nd, 2020 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI just finished reading Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Adventure Path
and now feel like I saved Varisia and also the world
... though logically since I am the one reading the book I would be playing all the bad guys
in my head I was trying to imagine all the battles as different character classes and figuring what to do.
... I know far too little about what to do. I learned some useful things from reading the tactics for the bad guys, like there's one spell literally every arcane caster puts on themself before a fight so probably I should learn that one if it ever comes up. But also the bad guys are meant to lose? Mostly? So probably they are flawed at best.
I feel like I could not GM because I don't know the rules and I don't really understand half the stat blocks
but also
that was an excellent adventure and someone should run it
with a few tweaks.
Like, if I was a Bard with default approach Roll To Recruit, lots of diplomacy and oratory and stuff, them my idea of fun would be to recruit the Runelords servants out from under him. Which wouldn't always work, obviously, but there's some interesting chinks in the motivations to put a lever in and push.
But then you get to the end and I don't see how to bring an army with you or anything, because there's limited magic items available and required, you'd have to go in with just the PCs, and it specifically says diplomacy doesn't work after a certain point because you're down to the fanatics.
There's chances to recruit people, but not to diplomacy them into it. So that's a particular fun that doesn't work right at the end.
... I want to approach every dragon as if they're going to be my new best friend and then make it so.
... also I want a cleric or druid in the party to help with the inevitable results, but still, fun!
I also kind of want to reincarnate a looooooot of beings the story did not expect to have around again. Because it's funny. And also when you can fix death, why wouldn't you?
Plus the sihedron medallion has a gentle repose built in, so every dead dude you meet wearing one is only just now dead for magic purposes, and the runeforge has a lot of magic built in very much like that too. And bringing back Thassilonians to ask what the empire was like would be fascinating.
But then you get points the story tells you that particular dead dude has already been judged by Pharasma so you can't do that, which is a bit boring. And then everywhere else it just doesn't expect that so there's no notes on what happens. So I'd have to think of it.
So I don't know what the story expects to be fun. Bringing back the dead and recruiting them into your ever growing army doesn't seem to be it though.
... funnily enough.
A lot of the impression that it's all about fighting and killing arises because the adventure path always has full stats and tactics and so forth for the fighting and killing parts. Even when it also gives XP dor a peaceful solution and seems to hope you'll manage.
Other times there's a ton of information you the reader GM get but I don't know how to tell the PCs. There's bits to read out and hand out, but there's sooooooo much stuff a gm would make up on the hop. I'm not sure my personal creative interactive abilities are up to the necessary translation, adaptation, improvisaton.
... which is another reason to imagine it as a series of fights. There's complex and complete rules for fighting. The talking is a lot more up to you.
I liked reading the adventure. In terms of money per hour the book very much delivers. Took ages and made many pictures in my head.
And I'd like to play an adventure. Not run it until I understand the combat rules or any rules at all at all, but, play a big path seems awesome.
But there were so many bits of this one that made me Nope and I'd want to do something different for, I maybe wouldn't want to play this one.
Because of all the things that want to eat you, mostly. And the undead. And the ones that are both.
I just felt it did a lot of gross and creepy when I would want something a little more hero.
Like the genre was just sideways of what I thought, even after listening the audios, and they were pretty dark in places.
I guess I want a more 12 rated adventure path. With no danger to children. And none of the stuff generally categorised under 'lust'. Just hero adventure stuff with less creep.
... but I am also not keen on approaching the adventure world as somewhere to make safe for humans by killing everything else.
... maybe I want an adventure about the power of friendship
that somehow still has cause for throwing fire and lightning around.
... sounds simples...
:eyeroll:
Adventure Path did what it set out to and what it said on the tin
and now I can see how much work it takes to get PCs all the way through the levels
I am very impressed.
Also, wanting to go away and do something slightly different
is a reasonable outcome
that leads to designing adventures yourself
... if I understood the rules...
*sigh*
Good reading, will do more Adventure Paths again, and probably reread bits of this one.
and now feel like I saved Varisia and also the world
... though logically since I am the one reading the book I would be playing all the bad guys
in my head I was trying to imagine all the battles as different character classes and figuring what to do.
... I know far too little about what to do. I learned some useful things from reading the tactics for the bad guys, like there's one spell literally every arcane caster puts on themself before a fight so probably I should learn that one if it ever comes up. But also the bad guys are meant to lose? Mostly? So probably they are flawed at best.
I feel like I could not GM because I don't know the rules and I don't really understand half the stat blocks
but also
that was an excellent adventure and someone should run it
with a few tweaks.
Like, if I was a Bard with default approach Roll To Recruit, lots of diplomacy and oratory and stuff, them my idea of fun would be to recruit the Runelords servants out from under him. Which wouldn't always work, obviously, but there's some interesting chinks in the motivations to put a lever in and push.
But then you get to the end and I don't see how to bring an army with you or anything, because there's limited magic items available and required, you'd have to go in with just the PCs, and it specifically says diplomacy doesn't work after a certain point because you're down to the fanatics.
There's chances to recruit people, but not to diplomacy them into it. So that's a particular fun that doesn't work right at the end.
... I want to approach every dragon as if they're going to be my new best friend and then make it so.
... also I want a cleric or druid in the party to help with the inevitable results, but still, fun!
I also kind of want to reincarnate a looooooot of beings the story did not expect to have around again. Because it's funny. And also when you can fix death, why wouldn't you?
Plus the sihedron medallion has a gentle repose built in, so every dead dude you meet wearing one is only just now dead for magic purposes, and the runeforge has a lot of magic built in very much like that too. And bringing back Thassilonians to ask what the empire was like would be fascinating.
But then you get points the story tells you that particular dead dude has already been judged by Pharasma so you can't do that, which is a bit boring. And then everywhere else it just doesn't expect that so there's no notes on what happens. So I'd have to think of it.
So I don't know what the story expects to be fun. Bringing back the dead and recruiting them into your ever growing army doesn't seem to be it though.
... funnily enough.
A lot of the impression that it's all about fighting and killing arises because the adventure path always has full stats and tactics and so forth for the fighting and killing parts. Even when it also gives XP dor a peaceful solution and seems to hope you'll manage.
Other times there's a ton of information you the reader GM get but I don't know how to tell the PCs. There's bits to read out and hand out, but there's sooooooo much stuff a gm would make up on the hop. I'm not sure my personal creative interactive abilities are up to the necessary translation, adaptation, improvisaton.
... which is another reason to imagine it as a series of fights. There's complex and complete rules for fighting. The talking is a lot more up to you.
I liked reading the adventure. In terms of money per hour the book very much delivers. Took ages and made many pictures in my head.
And I'd like to play an adventure. Not run it until I understand the combat rules or any rules at all at all, but, play a big path seems awesome.
But there were so many bits of this one that made me Nope and I'd want to do something different for, I maybe wouldn't want to play this one.
Because of all the things that want to eat you, mostly. And the undead. And the ones that are both.
I just felt it did a lot of gross and creepy when I would want something a little more hero.
Like the genre was just sideways of what I thought, even after listening the audios, and they were pretty dark in places.
I guess I want a more 12 rated adventure path. With no danger to children. And none of the stuff generally categorised under 'lust'. Just hero adventure stuff with less creep.
... but I am also not keen on approaching the adventure world as somewhere to make safe for humans by killing everything else.
... maybe I want an adventure about the power of friendship
that somehow still has cause for throwing fire and lightning around.
... sounds simples...
:eyeroll:
Adventure Path did what it set out to and what it said on the tin
and now I can see how much work it takes to get PCs all the way through the levels
I am very impressed.
Also, wanting to go away and do something slightly different
is a reasonable outcome
that leads to designing adventures yourself
... if I understood the rules...
*sigh*
Good reading, will do more Adventure Paths again, and probably reread bits of this one.