The Shackled City adventure path

[Ignominia]

Hey Gang,
I recently purchased The Shackled City adventure path and Im now eagerly awaiting its arrival in the mail. In the mean time, Id like to get some feedback/advice/anecdotes about the AP. Hit me with whatever you got...if you've played or ran...what worked or didn't work... funny stories...exciting moments, anything!

[pyrese]

First, I'd like to say that you've made a wonderful choice!

Many years ago I was a player in the first few chapters of this AP and loved it! Unfortunately the group fell apart with members graduating high school, ect.

However, I'm currently running it again as a player (currently mid ch 2) after convincing a friend of mine who wanted to DM to run it.

Warning: It is a brutal AP. Your players will die. A lot. Be very very careful in your reading of how various things work as not to make them any worse than they already are :smallsmile:

I don't want to post any anecdotes here for fear of ruining it for potential players of the AP. As far as a DM tool goes though, I would keep track of each players experience yourself. In that way you can help pace it out a little bit (there are suggestions for what level players should be for each chapter). IIRC, the AP was designed to go from 1-17, but players frequently hit 20. So, just be careful that party power doesn't outstrip the CR of the encounters. (This doesn't invalidate the above statement of 'Players will die', it just means some of the 'normal' encounters may go a little easier than expected if they get ahead)

[Ignominia]

Excellent advice! Thanks! I tend to favor "killer" adventures over ones that coddle players. Where is the fun in playing if you aren't afraid for your life?!

[dysprosium]

I have read the Adventure Path in its separate pieces when it was printed in the various Dungeon Magazines. IIRC the bound book has even more stuff within.

It is an Adventure Path that I would like to run someday (along with about 10 others or so . . .)

I do know that some of the NPCs make cameos in the Age of Worms Aventure Path that came after the Shackled City was completed.

[Diarmuid]

Warning: It is a brutal AP. Your players will die. A lot. Be very very careful in your reading of how various things work as not to make them any worse than they already are :smallsmile:

I'm curious about this. How much is a lot? Do you think it's brutal to any kind of party makeup, or was yours either not well coordinated in strengths or just particularly not aligned with the types of things the AP throws at you?

I find that most published materials tend to be pretty "easy" from an encounter design perspective so this has me piqued.

[navar100]

Excellent advice! Thanks! I tend to favor "killer" adventures over ones that coddle players. Where is the fun in playing if you aren't afraid for your life?!

Trying to successfully complete the mission. Playing out the story. Not having a DM who hates his players wanting to kill their characters and be disappointed when they don't die because the DM is not the enemy.

Character death is a risk, not a goal, and has absolutely nothing to do with "coddling".

[Ignominia]

navar100, I feel I may have misrepresented myself...

I never said that I "hate my players" or get disappointed "when they don't die" I simply meant that when I DM, I like my players to feel like they've survived by the skin of their teeth. If every adventure goes off without a hitch, and the PCs never feel any real risk then I find it makes for a more mundane story... I like my PCs to be afraid, and not play like super heroes. 3.5 does enough to make characters feel powerful, I like to turn that on its head and make them gasp...

When they face an enemy that outclasses them (stat wise) and have to think outside the box to defeat it, OR when they have to retreat and come back PREPARED for that specific enemy and then wipe the floor with him (because they were ready) I find that those encounters are the ones that stick with MY PLAYERS, and not just myself.

I never WANT to kill my PC's but I don't want to hand them victory just to progress the story either.

You are right, death is a risk and not a goal, however if the risk isn't there...neither is the excitement. IMHO.

[Eldan]

Can someone explain to me why people like this adventure path so much? I read the first few adventures when I was deciding when I was looking for inspiration and I just didn't find much that looked all that interesting to me. (I won't go into too much detail here, I'd like to get some answers first).

So, if you like it, what do you like about it? What makes this different from other adventures?

[the_david]

I liked the part where we went into the sewers when it was clear we didn't need to be anywhere near the sewers. Ah, good times.
And yeah, it's written for 6 PCs that are a bit stronger than usual. We skipped chapter 2, because we were at level 4 already.
Someone created some excellent alternative ending, you can find it at the Paizo site.

[Telonius]

I had the opposite problem - my players completely blew through the challenges. It was balanced to D&D before most of our standard tricks became the order of the day. Have a look at the builds (not to mention spell selection) for some of the main 13 bad guys to get an idea of what I mean. I had to completely rebuild almost every one of them to even begin to pose a serious threat to the party. (I still have the files for them around somewhere; I'd be happy to share them if you want).

That said, I really like the way the adventure played out. It didn't have nearly as much of a "monster of the week" feel that Age of Worms had early on. (My own experience there might not be typical). If your players like over-arching plots, it will keep them interested.

You can probably safely skip the chapter about the depowered vampire. It doesn't add much to the plot development, and didn't actually appear in the original issues. If your players are dying a lot, it might give them a chance for some extra XP's.

[messy1349]

Someone created some excellent alternative ending, you can find it at the Paizo site.

got a link? :smallsmile:


I still have the files for them around somewhere; I'd be happy to share them if you want.

got a link? :smallsmile:

[pyrese]

I'm curious about this. How much is a lot? Do you think it's brutal to any kind of party makeup, or was yours either not well coordinated in strengths or just particularly not aligned with the types of things the AP throws at you?

I find that most published materials tend to be pretty "easy" from an encounter design perspective so this has me piqued.

At first party comp was a little weak. After a few deaths we wound up with a more balanced party comp with more focused characters. Right now we are a group of T2-T4, with more at the higher end. Jzadirune (ch 1) had some fights that were just an achilles' heel for us, but Chapter 2 is just cruel at times.

As far as optimization goes, party over all is mid-op with more focus on mechanics matching rp.