I just got an e-mail from Paizo promoting their upcoming Adventure Path, Jade Regent. Curiously I organized my RPGs today (part of the ongoing get the library back into a semblance of normalcy project) and I gave Pathfinder its own very own shelve; before it used to be grouped with all the other D&D editions. Looking over the Pathfinder Adventure Paths I noticed that I won the very first one, Rise of the Runelords (I got the first part at Gen Con when I went for the first time) and then a smattering of issues here and there, mostly when a topic they covered appealed to me.
I am NOT their market for adventure paths. I rarely, if ever, play pre-published adventures. I may read the occasional one for an idea, stealing a map here, a trap there, but let’s just say the last adventure I ran ALMOST straight from the book was an AD&D 2nd edition adventure. Still I find the format Paizo uses intriguing because each adventure installment is accompanied by other gaming material. I have also recently become more interested in Golarion. While I doubt I will ever run a game in that setting, it’s one of those worlds I love reading about for inspiration and just for the sheer fun of it.
One thing I love from all adventure paths is the free Players Guide! Who doesn’t like a freebie! This one is no different. This time around the traits are tied to some key NPCS. The NPCS are very nice and can be used for any campaign. The guide also has rules for caravans. Yes you read that right, caravans… Their statistics, events, job, combat, the idea seemed farfetched at first but for a campaign where the PC will be making the long journey overland to a distant land it seems like a good mechanic to add. I will need to read it better to see how I could put this to use. Interesting!
So if you like adventure paths and are interested in one out of the adventures of Marco Polo, and you want to visit the distant Asian themed lands of Golarion, this Adventure Path may just be up you alley. Me I’m sitting down to read the Player’s Guide. Enjoy…
PS- As I was re-reading this post for typos I noticed I had originally written Rise of the Rune Lords as RIDE of the Runelords… That adventure path would have been very different if the protagonists were a bunch of Harley ridding guys with big beer bellies. Just saying…
