Savage Worlds Pathfinder Adventure Paths

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Charlie D

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Just when I thought 2020 couldn't get any weirder. Savage Worlds will adapt the adventure paths from Pathfinder 1E that were built for system derived from D&D 3.5 to create Savage Pathfinder. I can't make stuff like this up. I feel like this will cause a time inversion or a casual instability. Something. https://www.enworld.org/threads/pathfinder-adventure-paths-are-coming-to-savage-worlds.676662/

I mean, look at this. It honestly frightens me a bit. What a combo.And there will be a boxed set.

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Honestly just wish they would have gone for a more interesting AP than RoRL. It's "fine" as far as the APs go I guess but I think there are way more interesting ones.
 
Interesting. I've played a bit of Rise of the Runelords and it has some interesting characters and stuff; hopefully the get to use the existing maps and art. A full fantasy take on SW would be fun too.

Honestly just wish they would have gone for a more interesting AP than RoRL. It's "fine" as far as the APs go I guess but I think there are way more interesting ones.

I have read bits of this and another (Kingmaker? can't remember). Which ones do you like better? I might pick up some pdfs for ideas and maps.
 
My 2 favorites are Jade Regent and Iron Gods. Jade Regent starts slow but really picks up, and Iron Gods I think is good throughout.

I think part of it is my love of the more esoteric locations in Golarion, and like, a journey through Viking land and then the equivalent of Antarctica to the Asian inspired countries for Jade Regent, or barbarian ancient alien tech land for Iron Gods are just way more fun than Varisia (where RoRL takes place).
 
You just did it again!

Wouldn't be more correct to say you cannot end telling us how uninterested you are?
No, I'm actually occasionally interested, just not generally interested. :hehe:
 
Looks like it’s gonna be a stand alone core book, from Pinnacle’s facebook.
 

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Honestly just wish they would have gone for a more interesting AP than RoRL. It's "fine" as far as the APs go I guess but I think there are way more interesting ones.

I don't know if this was a Paizo insistence or not, but my understanding is that Shane Hensley is a *huge* fan of this AP.
 
I think it's a smart move on Paizos part. There's probably little overlap between people who prefer SW and people who prefer D&D 3.X. They get to resell their content to a whole new bunch of folks.
I'm sure they are watching WotC and seeing there is potentially more value in their world's IP. Maybe folks who want to license D&D would settle for knock off D&D with a sizable fanbase.
 
I just had a quick look at the Council of Thieves adventure path. Am I missing something - is there anything more to the adventure paths than a series of adventure modules that you run in order?
 
I just had a quick look at the Council of Thieves adventure path. Am I missing something - is there anything more to the adventure paths than a series of adventure modules that you run in order?

Pretty much what it is. They are really good for players and GMs who like that kind of guided path type of game.

That said, even if you don't like that guided path type, there is plenty that can be pulled from it. Things like Brinewall Castle from the first Jade Regent adventure path book are great locations that you could pull out and make about something else pretty easily.
 
Pretty much what it is. They are really good for players and GMs who like that kind of guided path type of game.

That said, even if you don't like that guided path type, there is plenty that can be pulled from it. Things like Brinewall Castle from the first Jade Regent adventure path book are great locations that you could pull out and make about something else pretty easily.
So they're kind of adventures + resources set into campaign arcs, then?
 
So they're kind of adventures + resources set into campaign arcs, then?
Yea. By their nature, they're kinda railroady - if you don't end an adventure more or less how you're supposed to, it makes it harder to use the rest of them. But there's usually nice scenery along the tracks if your group wants a prepackaged campaign for the next year or so. They are popular enough that they probably inspired Wizards' hardback adventures in 5e.
 
Just when I thought 2020 couldn't get any weirder. Savage Worlds will adapt the adventure paths from Pathfinder 1E that were built for system derived from D&D 3.5 to create Savage Pathfinder. I can't make stuff like this up. I feel like this will cause a time inversion or a casual instability. Something. https://www.enworld.org/threads/pathfinder-adventure-paths-are-coming-to-savage-worlds.676662/

I mean, look at this. It honestly frightens me a bit. What a combo.And there will be a boxed set.

View attachment 24489
Well, there's now at least the remote possibility of me actually using an Adventure Path. Or, somewhat more likely, playing in one:grin:!
 
Good on Pinnacle they need more IPs to showcase Savage Worlds. First Savage Rifts and now Savage Pathfinder. I am cautiously optimistic.
I think you may have hit on the best reason for this to exist, as a way to get Pathfinder players to take a look at Savage Worlds. Given that Pathfinder is designed for use with minis and Savage Worlds is good (I would say much better) at that, I can see them luring some players over.
So they're kind of adventures + resources set into campaign arcs, then?
It's really not that different than the classic D&D model of running all the Saltmarsh adventures in order, or running the Giants series, followed by the Drow adventures. They just take you all the way from 1st to 20th level.
 
I think you may have hit on the best reason for this to exist, as a way to get Pathfinder players to take a look at Savage Worlds. Given that Pathfinder is designed for use with minis and Savage Worlds is good (I would say much better) at that, I can see them luring some players over.

It's really not that different than the classic D&D model of running all the Saltmarsh adventures in order, or running the Giants series, followed by the Drow adventures. They just take you all the way from 1st to 20th level.

Yeah, I hadn't paid close enough attention to the interplay between adventures, but it sure seems like there's enough room and downtime to run your own adventures around the published ones...so if it's a railroad, there are multiple stations where you can certainly get off and look around.
 
I've been a player in two campaigns of Pathfinder Adventure Paths, with the same GM. The first was Rise of the Runelords done with D&D 5th. The second was Legacy of Fire, this time with 13th Age. I loved both, but I also don't mind linear adventures like that. I also own a bunch myself.

Pathfinder Adventure Paths reminds me style wise, of AD&D adventure stuff. Things like the Dragonlance Series and the box set stuf like Night Below, Dragon Mountain and Rod of the Seven Parts.
They all don't end your character at 20th level. The end level for a lot of them is really 15th or so.
 
Most Pathfinder fans I know are more into Golarion than the rules themselves per se. It'll be interesting to see how they compress the combat and abilities to Savage Worlds seeing as how the original rules are so complex and slow.
 
Some developer notes from their WildDie podcast Q/A (thanks to ragnar_deerslayer for these notes)


Releases
  • Kickstarter goes live in January; retail release at the end of the year
  • core rulebook for “Savage Pathfinder” with all core rules of SWADE plus the setting rules for Savage Pathfinder
  • GM Screen/Adventure (“Hollow’s Last Hope”)
  • Rise of the Runelords Boxed Set (6 books): books 80-90 pages each; no maps/pawns etc. (just buy them from Paizo)
  • bennies and custom dice, maybe action cards, etc.
  • maybe a Bestiary (but no Challenge Ratings for monsters)
  • maybe put worldbuilding stuff in a Gazette book
  • maybe other goodies
Filler Encounters
  • NOT recreating PF in SW, but converting the Adventure Path to SW
  • the SW experience you’re used to
  • grind removed: the fight must exist for a reason
  • replace random encounters with dramatic tasks
  • longer than many Plot Point campaigns
  • takes you to Legendary
  • begins with advances every session; at higher levels, every three sessions or so
  • can turn fights into dramatic encounters if you’re short on time
  • added interludes and down time
Magic System
  • SW core magic system vs. the 638 spells in PF
  • PF spells with core power + trappings
  • deck of spells with power + trappings + description for PF spells
  • modifiers to make teleport wider, new power “Planar Travel”
  • ~12 new powers, many new power modifiers
  • “wish” is the hardest power they are trying to replicate
  • arcane mastery edge unlocks more advanced power modifiers
  • cantrips included – minor uses of existing powers (using Bolt + fire trapping to start a fire; roll arcane skill + spend PP; if you get a raise, you get the PP back)
  • section on magic items: how to create, and ready-to-use
  • item bonuses more specific (no general “+1,” because a +2 in SW is a significant game-changer)
  • “vorpal” might give you a free “called shot to the head”
Classes
  • will have classes in 11 “class packages” (edges, hindrances, etc.)
  • some edges restricted to having a class package
  • especially for classes in PF that have no analog in SW
  • but free-form SW character creation available as well
  • can buy a “class package” with 2 advances so you can multi-class
  • prestige classes in edges so you don’t have to “grind” to get to it
 
They post an add for the Kickstarter every day now, but still no date. I wonder what the hold up is to picking a launch date.
 
Could be lots of things. This is a pretty big deal, so I'm sure they're dotting the T's and crossing the I's while keeping all the other plates spinning (Atlantis!) and their other development projects (Fantasy, Supers) while juggling all the other stuff that comes from running a family business that happens to be a family.

KS should drop by the end of this month - I'm fine with that.
 
I'm actually curious about this one. Not too interested in adventure paths, honestly, but a new Fantasy hack of the latest version of Savage Worlds? Count me in.
 
yeah I'm with you. I have zero interest in the AP itself. But I suspect that this is going to be a good testbed for their upcoming Fantasy book. Ideally they'll work hand-in-hand much like Unearthed Arcana worked with D&D core. In this case it will be much fuzzier - which is good.

I've been pontificating to my own group that I was hoping they'd approach classic "D&D Classes" like mini-iconic frameworks. It appears that's what they're doing.

This serves several purposes:

1) It becomes a framework so that newcomers to Savage Worlds (from d20) can gain an instant perspective in how Savage Worlds is supposed to work vs. d20

2) It will serve as foundation for people wanting to play "traditional D&D" using the SW ruleset. Obviously those of us that have been playing SW we know such settings already exist, but this will be the first SWADE fantasy offering all bright shiny and new.

3) Who among the Savage Worlds die-hards don't want more options? Bring it!
 
Most Pathfinder fans I know are more into Golarion than the rules themselves per se. It'll be interesting to see how they compress the combat and abilities to Savage Worlds seeing as how the original rules are so complex and slow.
Yep.

Pathfinder Player: So you're about to start playing Rise of the Runelords ha? Man, that was epic it tooks us over a year to play through it.

Savage Worlds Player four weeks later: So. We finished that adventure path.
 
How is this different than the Plot Point campaigns that SW is famous for? I don't see how this is much of a stretch...
 
How is this different than the Plot Point campaigns that SW is famous for? I don't see how this is much of a stretch...

No idea - I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that since AP's are much more narrow in Edit: focus of play but tends to pull more from the setting material around it, probably means it will have a lot more room for area fluff in the Plot Point context as opposed to the general get-to-the-point structure you find in a typical Plot Point campaign. Again, I'm not too worried. I don't really plan on running it (but who knows, if I like it, I might).
 
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How is this different than the Plot Point campaigns that SW is famous for? I don't see how this is much of a stretch...
Some Plot Point campaigns are sandboxes but with a plot trail that they players can choose to follow or ignore. Others are a series adventures similar to an Adventure Path. When it comes to the latter, the biggest difference is that there is more of an expectation that other adventures beyond those in the book will happen along the way beyond the ones in the book, and usually have tables for generating those adventures.

SW has a smaller power curve than Pathfinder and has point buy advancement. That means balance isn't as big of concern. If you are running a plot point campaign and the characters wander off into other adventures, it isn't going to imbalance things going ahead.
 
Some Plot Point campaigns are sandboxes but with a plot trail that they players can choose to follow or ignore. Others are a series adventures similar to an Adventure Path. When it comes to the latter, the biggest difference is that there is more of an expectation that other adventures beyond those in the book will happen along the way beyond the ones in the book, and usually have tables for generating those adventures.

SW has a smaller power curve than Pathfinder and has point buy advancement. That means balance isn't as big of concern. If you are running a plot point campaign and the characters wander off into other adventures, it isn't going to imbalance things going ahead.
That's fair, it's just the ones I've read are pretty linear, like the Rippers one.
 
Wait, Rise of the Runelords? Is that the deliverance themed AP?
 
Could be lots of things. This is a pretty big deal, so I'm sure they're dotting the T's and crossing the I's while keeping all the other plates spinning (Atlantis!) and their other development projects (Fantasy, Supers) while juggling all the other stuff that comes from running a family business that happens to be a family.

KS should drop by the end of this month - I'm fine with that.

January 19th at noon eastern time.
 
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