So I am beginning the arduous journey of prepping for the
task of GMing a Reign of Winter campaign beginning in February 2018. The gaming
group I am in recently wrapped up our Runelords campaign back in January (sadly due to a TPK in Book 6 of the Adventure Path with roughly 4-5 sessions remaining). In this campaign I played from the mindset of a
two-handed fighter which has gone on for nearly 4 years (yes four years!!) straight, and am now stepping into the role
of overseeing running a campaign focused on casters, elements of the supernatural, and other aspects that are somewhat removed from a pretty straight forward combat focused character. Needless to say it has been a daunting task. The transition of going from the realm of finer melee tactics to cramming my mind with the thousands
of situational spells all the while trying to remember which circumstances make them the most useful. I have decided to
write about my journey in prepping for this campaign and eventually the perils
and joys of running it for my friends.
I wanted to begin this journey with discussing some of the optional rules and/or personal house rules I decided to implement for this game and the reasons for these rules choices. This will take several blogs to cover as I plan to showcase these choices in small yet in-depth ways. As a warning I would like to preface this by informing you that this may contain some spoilers for the campaign and thus I give you the earnest of **SPOILER** warnings should you not want anything ruined for you in this amazing Adventure Path.
**SPOILER WARNING**TURN BACK NOW**SPOILER WARNING**
The first choice I made was to allocate everyone with a 15 Point Buy when choosing their stats. In Pathfinder this is referred to as the the Standard Fantasy choice. I understand that many groups prefer to use the 20 point buy approach as they like the options it gives them, and it can lend them to a greater feeling of power and influence over the game world. I chose to use only the 15 Point Buy as the AP also introduces a shroud of the Black Rider which grants the players with a permanent +2 to any attribute they chose. This shroud envelopes the players in the first book and I felt starting them off at 20 point buy and then adding an additional +2 would make things a bit out of balance. Adventure Paths are written with the intent that the group consists of 4 players, each with a 15 point buy and I wanted to keep more in fashion with the spirit of the Adventure Path as it was intended. My group currently consists of five people with one of them playing a Summoner and another having access to an animal companion, this essentially tallies at a group of 7 with regards to combat encounters which can make balances certain aspects of the game difficult at times especially if they all begin with a 20 point buy for their stats.
The second choice I made was altering the number of traits each player gets at the start of the campaign. Normally the GM can choose to have the
players begin an AP with 2 traits. I decided to have the group begin the
campaign with 2 traits and a Campaign trait chosen from the Reign of
Winter Players Guide. Since this AP is somewhat deadly I wanted to give them a
slight edge in some regards that may not make a huge difference but could be
good for situational encounters.
When it came to choosing the playable races it was a matter
of what options I knew my players wanted and what I felt would make for
interesting and beneficial choices for the AP. Dhampir was one of those choices
that a player in the group had been talking about for months and yet when it
came to creating his character he opted out of being a Dhampir and decided to go with
an Aasimar instead. Below is the list of choices I decided upon:
Allowable Races:
Core Races
Uncommon Races:
Aasimar (all variants)
Changling
Fetchling
Lizardfolk
Ratfolk
Samsaran
Skinwalker
Sulis
Tengu
Tiefling (all variants)
Special Snowflake:
Catfolk
Dhampir
Ifrit
Kitsune
Oread
Sylph
Undine
I broke these races choices up into 3 categories: Allowable Races,
Uncommon Races, and Special Snowflakes (pun partially intended). Allowable
Races consists of races that the entire group can choose from without
hesitation and in abundance. Uncommon Races consists of races which I would
prefer no more than two (2) members of the group chose from given their
uncommon nature and frequency in society across Golarion. Lastly, the Special
Snowflake category is a list of choices which I would prefer only one (1)
player chose from when creating their character. These races are usually more
powerful than most and provide an interesting twist in character concept. The
intent is for the group to begin collaborating as to what their preferences are
and hopefully begin conceptualizing a cohesive group which compliments one another.
The exception to all of these preferences is if a player has an incredible
background which compliments the campaign and justifies such choices then I am
willing to bend my preferences so that by them investing into the campaign from
the start, I can invest in them.
That's it for now but please keep an eye out for the next
blog as I continue to go over the options I decided upon for my upcoming Reign
of Winter campaign. Thank you all for your time and stay awesome my friends!!