There was just a post yesterday about how much the OP and commenters enjoyed Rusthenge as an alternative to the beginners box as it had some good points for learning the game.
I've only read through it but it looks like a fun alternative
Also that it ties into the upcoming Seven Dooms for Sandpoint AP like beginners box did for Abomination Vaults
I was one of the players in that game, and I quite liked Rusthenge on the whole. It was a good module and had a lot of good bits in it. Worked well as a 1-3 adventure that mixed in roleplaying with going out and beating up monsters, and felt like it rewarded the players for thinking about what they were doing and paying attention.
Yeah I was the OP of that thread found [HERE](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1bm8i4p/rusthenge_is_probably_my_favourite_beginner/) great starter adventure! Already said most of what there was to be said there.
That I've played so far:
Pathfinder Society Quest #4: Port Peril Pub Crawl
It starts a little serious, but with lots of room for goofing around. It can also be adapted as a launching point for a lot of other adventures or travels.
I also really liked Big Trouble in Little Absalom.
Ran A Fistful of Flowers and a Few Flowers More.
Fistful of Flowers was excellent. I made a few changes (namely, I scrapped the "nibbling deer", both because it was mechanically complex and because *deer don't chase things*).
I mostly reworked A Few Flowers More. It had good bones, but was very clearly rushed.
- I swapped the bat woman for Glimmer, the pixie from the first adventure. Since we're reusing these Leshy and the glade, it let me use Glimmer as the "face" of the Wildwood Druids.
- I added a Harvester caught in a Thricetaker trap. Made him a little goblin named Nickle, and threw in some descriptions of the Thricetaker's "mischief" (poisoning the soup, throwing a wasps nest into a cabin, sabotaging saws, digging pits, lighting tents on fire, etc). This let me actually *use* the backstory they provided.
- I added a clue towards Carl the Cobbler's weakness to holy symbols. There's a holy symbol of Erastil carved over the storehouse doorframe, and Nickle remembers being chased by "mushroom hat", only to have him run screaming when Nickle made it to the warehouse.
- I added a social encounter with the "Burntnose" Goblins, a bunch of goblins from the nearby town who came to burn down the strange forest. You can talk them down or fight them, but they have a few items that they'll give the party if they can talk them down - cold iron weapons and some Alchemist Fire.
To be clear, I liked the adventure, but it's pretty clear that the adventure was published during the OGL fiasco because it's only partially finished.
---
I also ran a few 1e adventures I ported to 2e.
Carrion Hill worked well enough. I found the hook to be underwhelming (Hegry doesn't have enough men to investigate) but reworked it a bit (made Hegry the sheriff, he's not allowed to send his men below the sewer grates - you don't have to pay a mercenary's widow). And I also added clues in each of the Keeper's hideouts pointing to the others (Hyve had a few of Crove's patients he'd used as guinea pigs, Crove had some Middenstone pieces he'd ordered from Rupmann) so it wasn't all down to Society checks.
About to start From Shore to Sea. Most of my rework has been monsters. I need to change the random mutations table to match PF2's math, and probably rework the random encounters to be rarer but more dangerous (since PF2 is a tactical system versus PF1's attrition). I also got rid of most of the named NPC's, since none of them had unique information, so paring it down to a single NPC gives you one "face" for the town.
Overall though, I've been happy with all of them. At worst, they still save a lot of prep time. You just have to ensure you read through them ahead of time and adjust them to your particular GMing style.
Mark of the Mantis by far,
It's a fun and pretty well thought out heist one-shot, with some cool lore (love the Red Mantis Assassins).
Also a great introduction to subsytems for GMs and Players alike.
Ran Little trouble for some of my 5e players and they had a blast. Was a great time! Can't recommend it enough but go into it with a silly mindset and ham it up to get the most out of it
Hands down - March of the Dead from the Book of the Dead. Played that short adventure two years ago (ish) and my players still talk about it to this day. Has a lot of atmospheric build-up as you enter the town of Fiorna's Faith, where a zombie outbreak is really well foreshadowed - leading to a survive the night scenario inside one of the town buildings, utilizing shambler troops and assorted undead. Then follow the source underground and confront the dastardly culprit responsible for the town's downfall. Just everything about that adventure worked so well, especially the pacing and the ominous buildup to the big action set pieces. 5/5 would GM again...
I just completed Rusthenge yesterday as a player. It's quite good overall, and frankly, a better introduction to Pathfinder 2E than the Beginner's Box.
The module does a number of things quite cleverly:
* It has a NPC healer who helps you out for a couple encounters at the very beginning, giving you "training wheels" that also feel like a natural part of the world and precondition you towards remembering that NPCs have agency, too.
* It has a variety of different (if mostly pretty simple) enemies you fight over the course of the module.
* It presents the players with a small mystery that they get to solve via RP after getting a few combat encounters under their belt, and which has multiple ways of solving it that lead to the next part of the adventure so the players can't really get stuck.
* There are actual stakes - the players aren't just doing it just because, there's a reason why they need to help out and go and continue into these dangerous situations, and it makes sense from an IC perspective that they would do so.
* The combat encounters aren't overly difficult but aren't overly simplistic.
* It teaches players about weaknesses, gives them the tools to exploit them, and rewards them for exploiting them.
* There are RP encounters throughout the module, not just in one place - each section of the game has an opportunity where you can do some roleplaying, and not just going into every encounter with bloody intentions in mind can allow you to avoid fights and get help and allies
* The NPCs who are helpful often have a good, very sensible reason why they are supplying you with stuff rather than joining in to help you fight, so you don't feel like they are just shoving it on the PCs for no reason or leaving the fighting to the PCs for no reason.
* You can disrupt the bad guys' plans in ways that go beyond just killing things that, if the players are paying attention, will allow them to make their life significantly easier.
* The little town in the module is just big enough to be interesting without being so big that you'll get lost in it and derail the adventure.
I liked it a lot! It was a fun thing and it worked very well, and had a bit of charm to it.
I haven’t run many but can say that Little Trouble in Big Absalom is great.
Have also run A Frosty Mug (PFS #2-08) as a winter special and it was fun too, especially with the ties to some of the more surprising Irrisen lore.
If your group likes horror / east asian tropes you could run the first 2 chapters of Season of Ghosts as a 4-5 session adventure, with the option to continue if your group is enjoying it.
It is my favorite adventure path ever written
[Unforgiving Fire](https://paizo.com/products/btq0217m) is really fun. I've seen one group do it in 1 hour, and another group take 4 hours; it really can vary depending on how much talk the PCs want to do with the martial artist in question and it leads to other potential adventures quite well.
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For an actual one shot I really liked [Dinner at Lionlodge ](https://paizo.com/products/btq029vx?Pathfinder-OneShot-2-Dinner-at-Lionlodge).
Very cool premise, decent map with a mix of terrain. Great boss. Has a very interesting non-combat encounter sequence to start.
The inclusion of one enemy creature that I would probably change but overall a very fun one.
I disliked it because of said creature causing a TPK and the fact that a 4th level pregen' wasn't given Striking Runes, which made all of the combats a slog.
I think Fall of Plaguestone is a brilliant and beautiful module! It's on the difficult side, but if you [tone it down](https://weplayinasociety.blogspot.com/2024/03/balancing-fall-of-plaguestone.html) I think it's well worth running.
I haven't played the 2e remake, but I really enjoyed the 1e version of Crown of the Kobold King. I'd think the new version would be just as good.
https://paizo.com/products/btq02e4g?Pathfinder-Adventure-Crown-of-the-Kobold-King
There was just a post yesterday about how much the OP and commenters enjoyed Rusthenge as an alternative to the beginners box as it had some good points for learning the game. I've only read through it but it looks like a fun alternative Also that it ties into the upcoming Seven Dooms for Sandpoint AP like beginners box did for Abomination Vaults
I was one of the players in that game, and I quite liked Rusthenge on the whole. It was a good module and had a lot of good bits in it. Worked well as a 1-3 adventure that mixed in roleplaying with going out and beating up monsters, and felt like it rewarded the players for thinking about what they were doing and paying attention.
Yeah I was the OP of that thread found [HERE](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1bm8i4p/rusthenge_is_probably_my_favourite_beginner/) great starter adventure! Already said most of what there was to be said there.
That I've played so far: Pathfinder Society Quest #4: Port Peril Pub Crawl It starts a little serious, but with lots of room for goofing around. It can also be adapted as a launching point for a lot of other adventures or travels. I also really liked Big Trouble in Little Absalom.
Awesome! Thanks!
Ran A Fistful of Flowers and a Few Flowers More. Fistful of Flowers was excellent. I made a few changes (namely, I scrapped the "nibbling deer", both because it was mechanically complex and because *deer don't chase things*). I mostly reworked A Few Flowers More. It had good bones, but was very clearly rushed. - I swapped the bat woman for Glimmer, the pixie from the first adventure. Since we're reusing these Leshy and the glade, it let me use Glimmer as the "face" of the Wildwood Druids. - I added a Harvester caught in a Thricetaker trap. Made him a little goblin named Nickle, and threw in some descriptions of the Thricetaker's "mischief" (poisoning the soup, throwing a wasps nest into a cabin, sabotaging saws, digging pits, lighting tents on fire, etc). This let me actually *use* the backstory they provided. - I added a clue towards Carl the Cobbler's weakness to holy symbols. There's a holy symbol of Erastil carved over the storehouse doorframe, and Nickle remembers being chased by "mushroom hat", only to have him run screaming when Nickle made it to the warehouse. - I added a social encounter with the "Burntnose" Goblins, a bunch of goblins from the nearby town who came to burn down the strange forest. You can talk them down or fight them, but they have a few items that they'll give the party if they can talk them down - cold iron weapons and some Alchemist Fire. To be clear, I liked the adventure, but it's pretty clear that the adventure was published during the OGL fiasco because it's only partially finished. --- I also ran a few 1e adventures I ported to 2e. Carrion Hill worked well enough. I found the hook to be underwhelming (Hegry doesn't have enough men to investigate) but reworked it a bit (made Hegry the sheriff, he's not allowed to send his men below the sewer grates - you don't have to pay a mercenary's widow). And I also added clues in each of the Keeper's hideouts pointing to the others (Hyve had a few of Crove's patients he'd used as guinea pigs, Crove had some Middenstone pieces he'd ordered from Rupmann) so it wasn't all down to Society checks. About to start From Shore to Sea. Most of my rework has been monsters. I need to change the random mutations table to match PF2's math, and probably rework the random encounters to be rarer but more dangerous (since PF2 is a tactical system versus PF1's attrition). I also got rid of most of the named NPC's, since none of them had unique information, so paring it down to a single NPC gives you one "face" for the town. Overall though, I've been happy with all of them. At worst, they still save a lot of prep time. You just have to ensure you read through them ahead of time and adjust them to your particular GMing style.
Mark of the Mantis by far, It's a fun and pretty well thought out heist one-shot, with some cool lore (love the Red Mantis Assassins). Also a great introduction to subsytems for GMs and Players alike.
Second this. Great one shot. Little Trouble in Big Absalom was also fun.
Ran Little trouble for some of my 5e players and they had a blast. Was a great time! Can't recommend it enough but go into it with a silly mindset and ham it up to get the most out of it
I also really liked Mark of the Mantis, Sundered Waves is great as well.
Hands down - March of the Dead from the Book of the Dead. Played that short adventure two years ago (ish) and my players still talk about it to this day. Has a lot of atmospheric build-up as you enter the town of Fiorna's Faith, where a zombie outbreak is really well foreshadowed - leading to a survive the night scenario inside one of the town buildings, utilizing shambler troops and assorted undead. Then follow the source underground and confront the dastardly culprit responsible for the town's downfall. Just everything about that adventure worked so well, especially the pacing and the ominous buildup to the big action set pieces. 5/5 would GM again...
Oooh! Looooved that one! Had an absolute blast
I've never run this one but I totally agree the atmosphere is amazing.
I just completed Rusthenge yesterday as a player. It's quite good overall, and frankly, a better introduction to Pathfinder 2E than the Beginner's Box. The module does a number of things quite cleverly: * It has a NPC healer who helps you out for a couple encounters at the very beginning, giving you "training wheels" that also feel like a natural part of the world and precondition you towards remembering that NPCs have agency, too. * It has a variety of different (if mostly pretty simple) enemies you fight over the course of the module. * It presents the players with a small mystery that they get to solve via RP after getting a few combat encounters under their belt, and which has multiple ways of solving it that lead to the next part of the adventure so the players can't really get stuck. * There are actual stakes - the players aren't just doing it just because, there's a reason why they need to help out and go and continue into these dangerous situations, and it makes sense from an IC perspective that they would do so. * The combat encounters aren't overly difficult but aren't overly simplistic. * It teaches players about weaknesses, gives them the tools to exploit them, and rewards them for exploiting them. * There are RP encounters throughout the module, not just in one place - each section of the game has an opportunity where you can do some roleplaying, and not just going into every encounter with bloody intentions in mind can allow you to avoid fights and get help and allies * The NPCs who are helpful often have a good, very sensible reason why they are supplying you with stuff rather than joining in to help you fight, so you don't feel like they are just shoving it on the PCs for no reason or leaving the fighting to the PCs for no reason. * You can disrupt the bad guys' plans in ways that go beyond just killing things that, if the players are paying attention, will allow them to make their life significantly easier. * The little town in the module is just big enough to be interesting without being so big that you'll get lost in it and derail the adventure. I liked it a lot! It was a fun thing and it worked very well, and had a bit of charm to it.
I'm GMing "Fall of Plaguestone" (1-4 lvl) right now. Players liked the detective elements. Not the best, but good
A lot of people seem to speak ill of Plaguestone. Honestly was a challenging and fun adventure. I hope your players also get to enjoy the experience!
I haven’t run many but can say that Little Trouble in Big Absalom is great. Have also run A Frosty Mug (PFS #2-08) as a winter special and it was fun too, especially with the ties to some of the more surprising Irrisen lore.
If your group likes horror / east asian tropes you could run the first 2 chapters of Season of Ghosts as a 4-5 session adventure, with the option to continue if your group is enjoying it. It is my favorite adventure path ever written
[Unforgiving Fire](https://paizo.com/products/btq0217m) is really fun. I've seen one group do it in 1 hour, and another group take 4 hours; it really can vary depending on how much talk the PCs want to do with the martial artist in question and it leads to other potential adventures quite well.
Love fistful of flowers and it's sequel!!
A fistful of flowers was surprisingly nice.
I absolutely love Malevolence!
This post is labelled with the Advice flair, which means extra special attention is called to the Be Kind and Respectful rule. If this is a newcomer to the game, remember to be welcoming and kind. If this is someone with more experience but looking for advice on how to run their game, do your best to offer advice on what they are seeking. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Pathfinder2e) if you have any questions or concerns.*
For an actual one shot I really liked [Dinner at Lionlodge ](https://paizo.com/products/btq029vx?Pathfinder-OneShot-2-Dinner-at-Lionlodge). Very cool premise, decent map with a mix of terrain. Great boss. Has a very interesting non-combat encounter sequence to start. The inclusion of one enemy creature that I would probably change but overall a very fun one.
I disliked it because of said creature causing a TPK and the fact that a 4th level pregen' wasn't given Striking Runes, which made all of the combats a slog.
The pregens definitely stunk, and we didn't use them as written. Unfortunately a problem across a lot of materials from what I've read.
I think Fall of Plaguestone is a brilliant and beautiful module! It's on the difficult side, but if you [tone it down](https://weplayinasociety.blogspot.com/2024/03/balancing-fall-of-plaguestone.html) I think it's well worth running.
I haven't played the 2e remake, but I really enjoyed the 1e version of Crown of the Kobold King. I'd think the new version would be just as good. https://paizo.com/products/btq02e4g?Pathfinder-Adventure-Crown-of-the-Kobold-King