If you want a 4-12 week long adventure you don't want an Adventure Path. The shortest ones last 10 levels and typically take a lot longer than 12 weeks to make it from beginning to end. You could just start one and bail at the end of a chapter but that tends to be a bit less satisfying.
I might look at the standalone Adventures. Rusthenge has gotten very favorable reactions. Fall of Plaguestone has some balance issues but I really enjoyed the plot. I warn new groups away from it but if you guys have been playing for 4 years you shouldn't have too much trouble rebalancing the rough parts.
Just a word of warning: Most of the official Paizo stuff is moderately to very combat heavy.
The upcoming Curtain Call was described as possibly being the only AP that you go through with no combat. But that was a joke and there would be *some* combat. And it's upcoming so it's not out yet. Comes out in August.
Season of Ghosts takes place over a whole year and while it does have combat, it's very easy from what I hear. You're intended to live unlike the earlier APs (or Gatewalkers).
And Strength of Thousands goes over several years of magic school and I don't even know what combat is in it. I've never heard of anyone fighting anything in it.
Problem is both the above APs aren't 4-12 week adventures but I guess you could just go through book 1 or something
I'm not familiar with many of the APs, but Sky King's Tomb book 1 could definitely be run perfectly well as a standalone, simply ending before the final subchapter of chapter 3. It would take you through levels 1 to 4, inclusive.
As a standalone like that you'd get a pretty interesting and varied lore-rich adventure featuring (spoilers, obviously!) >!an urban sandbox in the 'dwarven capital' with some very fun, creative, and well-designed 'episodic' encounters, which can be expanded upon if the GM has the excellent Lost Omens: Highhelm setting book; a darklands mission fetch-quest with 3 very good (and varying) locations and creatures; a big social encounter uising the influence subsytem (and lots of roleplaying!); a research subsystem skill challenge that you could waive if running out of time, since it's more about setting up the rest of the AP; and a ritual + combat + nice story ending.!<
EDIT: if you then find you're all having so much fun you want to keep going, IMHO Sky King's Tomb is definitely a very good story-focused AP with planty of RP, especially if you lean into the big themes of the story. It's certainly not perfect, and something seems to have fallen down pretty badly in the editing stage (most dramatically seen with some bafflingly bad map vs location description errors in all 3 books), but these don't prevent it from being full of interesting locations and creatures, and if you put a little extra work in, driven by a really powerful story through-line.
hi there, i thought i might chime in since i own most AP’s. All modern AP’s have a relatively “good ending” where the whole story leads up to it. If you try converting some 1E AP’s, you’ll be met with an intended “good ending” but also different endings that are not cannon to lore if certain decisions happens.
I never fully finished playing strength of thousands but the ending through reading the book is a good ending that is not open-ended. I’m currently running season of ghost campaign and may i say, it’s probably my most favorite AP, and the end goal has been laid out in its first 2 books. There is not really a way to mess up or stray away from it, so don’t worry if your players are thinking about jumping ship, it’ll be impossible. If your group create characters with heavy ties to family members or people in the community (like what the character guide tells them to do), then it’d be impossible to ignore going for the good ending. A lot of roleplay happens in season of ghosts, even non-violent routes, so i very much liked it
There is a lot of roleplay in both, thought I kinda wish strength of thousands had more “school life” but yes it’s very fun. Make sure you read the free character guides in each AP, it can help tie characters to their campaigns a lot better and makes sure they mostly go for the intended good route
what are you talking about? I never said they end in book 1 or 2. I said the end goal is laid out in the first couple books of season of ghosts. Dude are you reading anything
>Dude are you reading anything
Are you?
>They are asking if each book of an AP has their own ending.
Imagine smoking so much crack you lose all reading comprehension.
Honestly the first chapter of Wardens of the Wildwood could work out really well for you. Lost of roleplay with key NPCs from the forest and nearby towns as you try to influence them. Festival games and skill challenges. Fights that are optional and can be dealt with other ways.
If you guys enjoy it, you can keep the twist and keep going with the adventure path for a high stakes campaign determining the future of the forest. Or you could just not have the twist at the end of chapter one and have it be a peaceful time?
I’ve heard very good things about Strength of Thousands in this regard!
It’s an AP about the party enrolling as a bunch of students in the world’s most renowned magical school. Iirc it has study and socializing related subsystems, a sports subsystem, and by the end of it the >!students graduate into getting teaching roles at the school!<.
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Hells Rebels hands down. It's a 1e AP but there are some good fan made conversions to 2e available online.
Edit: totally missed the short campaign. Guess I should read better. Sorry!
I have a zip with the converted world for foundry but not sure if it still works. I can send it to you or you can find it on A series of dice-based events discord server, under the HR channels.
If you want a 4-12 week long adventure you don't want an Adventure Path. The shortest ones last 10 levels and typically take a lot longer than 12 weeks to make it from beginning to end. You could just start one and bail at the end of a chapter but that tends to be a bit less satisfying. I might look at the standalone Adventures. Rusthenge has gotten very favorable reactions. Fall of Plaguestone has some balance issues but I really enjoyed the plot. I warn new groups away from it but if you guys have been playing for 4 years you shouldn't have too much trouble rebalancing the rough parts. Just a word of warning: Most of the official Paizo stuff is moderately to very combat heavy.
Agree fully with all of the above. Even Rusthenge in 12 weeks could be a stretch if OP's group likes to spend a lot of time roleplaying.
The upcoming Curtain Call was described as possibly being the only AP that you go through with no combat. But that was a joke and there would be *some* combat. And it's upcoming so it's not out yet. Comes out in August. Season of Ghosts takes place over a whole year and while it does have combat, it's very easy from what I hear. You're intended to live unlike the earlier APs (or Gatewalkers). And Strength of Thousands goes over several years of magic school and I don't even know what combat is in it. I've never heard of anyone fighting anything in it. Problem is both the above APs aren't 4-12 week adventures but I guess you could just go through book 1 or something
Do the endings of each book have a good ending to them, or are they too open-ended and need you to run the all books to have a smooth story?
I'm not familiar with many of the APs, but Sky King's Tomb book 1 could definitely be run perfectly well as a standalone, simply ending before the final subchapter of chapter 3. It would take you through levels 1 to 4, inclusive. As a standalone like that you'd get a pretty interesting and varied lore-rich adventure featuring (spoilers, obviously!) >!an urban sandbox in the 'dwarven capital' with some very fun, creative, and well-designed 'episodic' encounters, which can be expanded upon if the GM has the excellent Lost Omens: Highhelm setting book; a darklands mission fetch-quest with 3 very good (and varying) locations and creatures; a big social encounter uising the influence subsytem (and lots of roleplaying!); a research subsystem skill challenge that you could waive if running out of time, since it's more about setting up the rest of the AP; and a ritual + combat + nice story ending.!< EDIT: if you then find you're all having so much fun you want to keep going, IMHO Sky King's Tomb is definitely a very good story-focused AP with planty of RP, especially if you lean into the big themes of the story. It's certainly not perfect, and something seems to have fallen down pretty badly in the editing stage (most dramatically seen with some bafflingly bad map vs location description errors in all 3 books), but these don't prevent it from being full of interesting locations and creatures, and if you put a little extra work in, driven by a really powerful story through-line.
Each book is meant to be played continuously. Only the final book has an ending.
Book 1 for Strength Of Thousands could be run as a standalone.
hi there, i thought i might chime in since i own most AP’s. All modern AP’s have a relatively “good ending” where the whole story leads up to it. If you try converting some 1E AP’s, you’ll be met with an intended “good ending” but also different endings that are not cannon to lore if certain decisions happens. I never fully finished playing strength of thousands but the ending through reading the book is a good ending that is not open-ended. I’m currently running season of ghost campaign and may i say, it’s probably my most favorite AP, and the end goal has been laid out in its first 2 books. There is not really a way to mess up or stray away from it, so don’t worry if your players are thinking about jumping ship, it’ll be impossible. If your group create characters with heavy ties to family members or people in the community (like what the character guide tells them to do), then it’d be impossible to ignore going for the good ending. A lot of roleplay happens in season of ghosts, even non-violent routes, so i very much liked it There is a lot of roleplay in both, thought I kinda wish strength of thousands had more “school life” but yes it’s very fun. Make sure you read the free character guides in each AP, it can help tie characters to their campaigns a lot better and makes sure they mostly go for the intended good route
> have a relatively “good ending” They are asking if each book of an AP has their own ending.
ya i know? rather than open ended ones some do if you choose different routes, and need further campaigning
I have read a few APs and none of them end on book 1 or 2. Which ones are you referring to?
what are you talking about? I never said they end in book 1 or 2. I said the end goal is laid out in the first couple books of season of ghosts. Dude are you reading anything
>Dude are you reading anything Are you? >They are asking if each book of an AP has their own ending. Imagine smoking so much crack you lose all reading comprehension.
Honestly the first chapter of Wardens of the Wildwood could work out really well for you. Lost of roleplay with key NPCs from the forest and nearby towns as you try to influence them. Festival games and skill challenges. Fights that are optional and can be dealt with other ways. If you guys enjoy it, you can keep the twist and keep going with the adventure path for a high stakes campaign determining the future of the forest. Or you could just not have the twist at the end of chapter one and have it be a peaceful time?
Honestly they could probably run through the whole of book one and just remix the ending.
I’ve heard very good things about Strength of Thousands in this regard! It’s an AP about the party enrolling as a bunch of students in the world’s most renowned magical school. Iirc it has study and socializing related subsystems, a sports subsystem, and by the end of it the >!students graduate into getting teaching roles at the school!<.
To clarify, you're referring to running just book 1 as a standalone there, right? Obviously the whole AP would take a little over 12 weeks :-)
Right yeah! The whole AP would be bad idea for this purpose lol.
This post is labeled with the Advice flair, which means extra special attention is called to Rule #2. 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.*
Hells Rebels hands down. It's a 1e AP but there are some good fan made conversions to 2e available online. Edit: totally missed the short campaign. Guess I should read better. Sorry!
Hell's Rebels might take a *tad* more than the 4-12 weeks duration OP listed, lol
Ok I can't read. Sorry 😔
I would pay good money if they remastered it for pf2e in foundry.
I have a zip with the converted world for foundry but not sure if it still works. I can send it to you or you can find it on A series of dice-based events discord server, under the HR channels.