CORRECTION: This video erroneously states that this 4-book AP only runs to 11th level (12th at the end). It in fact runs to 12th level (13th at the end). Below is more detail provided by James Jacobs: "One thing though that I do want to point out is that this DOES cover more levels of play than a typical 3 part adventure path, which generally has content for 10 levels of play. Season of Ghosts has content for 12 levels of play. A 3 part Adventure Path will usually have two adventures that have 3 levels of play, and then one with 4 levels of play crammed in there with less room available for support articles, monsters, and the Adventure Toolbox. With Season of Ghosts, and each volume having an adventure that does 3 levels, we DO have more room for additional support material. By the end of this campaign, your characters will be 13th level."
I'm currently GMing book 3 of SoG and it is VERY good. Easily one of my favorite AP stories so far. My only real (minor) critisism is that a few of the encounters in books 1 and 2 feel undertuned. If you have a group that knows the ins and outs of the system really well you may need to buff a few fights. Also like HiP says here, it's not a very crunchy module. More emphasis is placed on the mystery and roleplay side of things, so the module is awesome for a group that enjoys speaking in character amd building a repertoire with NPCs. Eager to see the next vid!
I'm several sessions into this AP so far, and the story is fantastically written, one of the best I've seen. Only complaint is that the combat encounters are little easier than we've come to expect, but that's not really an issue since it's much more RP focused anyways. And you can always tune up the encounters to your liking.
For more Adventure Overviews see: Age of Ashes: ua-cam.com/video/rzcXcTZg9Rc/v-deo.htmlsi=IGgKqn6zsNsMT90m Stolen Fate: ua-cam.com/video/sda2GYBkvMU/v-deo.htmlsi=PX09D4xIzn0pa087 Abomination Vaults: ua-cam.com/video/pgC6xv3UVG0/v-deo.htmlsi=2I8IJMjaU9StHA4m Fists of the Ruby Phoenix: ua-cam.com/video/VoRP4qxoouE/v-deo.htmlsi=pZtXSugNNUu0QkY_ Sky King's Tomb: ua-cam.com/video/eTnpA6xc484/v-deo.htmlsi=ejnPLw_58BuonWUi Rusthenge: ua-cam.com/video/zIzDqkVUhBQ/v-deo.htmlsi=ahY4CbjKxBlUCh2K Gatewalkers: ua-cam.com/video/7uZA2ZCyRM8/v-deo.htmlsi=XoLdTJXx9fXuws_l Season of Ghosts: ua-cam.com/video/wJMzCCWFmGg/v-deo.htmlsi=MohAorwXTtWFymYc
I feel genuinely super confused while im looking at Book 1, Chapter 1, regarding traversing Willowshore, and I don't know if im just being dumb... but if the random encounters are only every mile... doesn't that mean, say, if you go straight from Spider Gate to Matsuki Estate, you only roll that table like once? Are you just not supposed to have a lot of encounters in this area?
How heavy are the themes of spiders? And do you think at least some could be subbed out in favor of non-spider enemies/omitted? I'm a little worried about one of my players and myself being somewhat arachnophobic but if it's just a big enough theme, we'll either figure out how to power through or not play this one.
It might be a bit rough tbh. Jorugumo (spider-women) play a really big role later down the line. They're a leading power in Shenmen so they aren't easily substituted.
I've only read the first three books, but in those at least you could absolutely replace all mention of giant spiders with something else dangerous like Tigers or what-have-you, with minimal work. You'd say that all s are actually half-tiger monsters, or something, and everything would work out. The only trouble is, the margins of the actual books/pdfs have a lot of spider art on them. You can see what I mean by checking the players guide. There's also a friendly spider, but it too could be subbed out for something else without losing its essence. None of the spiders use any particularly spider--y abilties, such as webbing or making use of many limbs.
Something to note- Paizo subscribes go the “you can’t write about X culture unless you are of X skin type” method of thinking (or really, feeling). That means the writers are not being chosen based on merit. Given that this is an Asian-themed setting, do with that what you will.
Someone born into an Asian culture is more likely to have more cultural knowledge than someone who was not born into that culture. That would be like asking a citizen of China to write about American culture.
Uh buddy, it's a merit to have knowledge about Asian cultures when writing an Asian-inspired adventure. Especially when its their culture that they grew up with
Ooorrrrr, and hear me out here, there are people who exist in the world who are both good writers and are not white. Also, they did have non-asian writers on this. They just also had many cultural consultants on the project to make sure they weren't just appropriating culture and creating a shallow, Hollywood-esque "Asian-flavoured" story.
@@sleepinxonxbed That's the insidious thing about this thinking - you can never really know if it's a diversity hire or not. What you say may be true, it may not be true. But because that was part of the criteria, there will always be a cloud hanging over it.
CORRECTION: This video erroneously states that this 4-book AP only runs to 11th level (12th at the end). It in fact runs to 12th level (13th at the end). Below is more detail provided by James Jacobs:
"One thing though that I do want to point out is that this DOES cover more levels of play than a typical 3 part adventure path, which generally has content for 10 levels of play. Season of Ghosts has content for 12 levels of play.
A 3 part Adventure Path will usually have two adventures that have 3 levels of play, and then one with 4 levels of play crammed in there with less room available for support articles, monsters, and the Adventure Toolbox.
With Season of Ghosts, and each volume having an adventure that does 3 levels, we DO have more room for additional support material. By the end of this campaign, your characters will be 13th level."
I'm currently GMing book 3 of SoG and it is VERY good. Easily one of my favorite AP stories so far. My only real (minor) critisism is that a few of the encounters in books 1 and 2 feel undertuned. If you have a group that knows the ins and outs of the system really well you may need to buff a few fights.
Also like HiP says here, it's not a very crunchy module. More emphasis is placed on the mystery and roleplay side of things, so the module is awesome for a group that enjoys speaking in character amd building a repertoire with NPCs.
Eager to see the next vid!
I'm several sessions into this AP so far, and the story is fantastically written, one of the best I've seen. Only complaint is that the combat encounters are little easier than we've come to expect, but that's not really an issue since it's much more RP focused anyways. And you can always tune up the encounters to your liking.
Very clutch timing for me, I'm GMing this starting on Sunday
Good luck with your game!
Nice work! I'm a fan of these AP reviews. The amount of time to play an AP is limited, so any help in choosing one is welcome.
Thanks! This AP looks so good. It's a real toss up between this one and Strength of Thousands as to which one to run next
This one is million times better than Strength of Thousands!
@@BronnBlackwater Really? Why is that? I have heard a lot of good things about both
For more Adventure Overviews see:
Age of Ashes: ua-cam.com/video/rzcXcTZg9Rc/v-deo.htmlsi=IGgKqn6zsNsMT90m
Stolen Fate: ua-cam.com/video/sda2GYBkvMU/v-deo.htmlsi=PX09D4xIzn0pa087
Abomination Vaults: ua-cam.com/video/pgC6xv3UVG0/v-deo.htmlsi=2I8IJMjaU9StHA4m
Fists of the Ruby Phoenix: ua-cam.com/video/VoRP4qxoouE/v-deo.htmlsi=pZtXSugNNUu0QkY_
Sky King's Tomb: ua-cam.com/video/eTnpA6xc484/v-deo.htmlsi=ejnPLw_58BuonWUi
Rusthenge: ua-cam.com/video/zIzDqkVUhBQ/v-deo.htmlsi=ahY4CbjKxBlUCh2K
Gatewalkers: ua-cam.com/video/7uZA2ZCyRM8/v-deo.htmlsi=XoLdTJXx9fXuws_l
Season of Ghosts: ua-cam.com/video/wJMzCCWFmGg/v-deo.htmlsi=MohAorwXTtWFymYc
Lol amazing I just bought this yesterday and now I get recommended this video
This adventure gives me some heavy Forbidden: Siren vibes and I am here for it.
A real Chinese Ghost Story feel to this one.
I feel genuinely super confused while im looking at Book 1, Chapter 1, regarding traversing Willowshore, and I don't know if im just being dumb... but if the random encounters are only every mile... doesn't that mean, say, if you go straight from Spider Gate to Matsuki Estate, you only roll that table like once? Are you just not supposed to have a lot of encounters in this area?
How heavy are the themes of spiders? And do you think at least some could be subbed out in favor of non-spider enemies/omitted? I'm a little worried about one of my players and myself being somewhat arachnophobic but if it's just a big enough theme, we'll either figure out how to power through or not play this one.
It might be a bit rough tbh. Jorugumo (spider-women) play a really big role later down the line. They're a leading power in Shenmen so they aren't easily substituted.
I've only read the first three books, but in those at least you could absolutely replace all mention of giant spiders with something else dangerous like Tigers or what-have-you, with minimal work. You'd say that all s are actually half-tiger monsters, or something, and everything would work out. The only trouble is, the margins of the actual books/pdfs have a lot of spider art on them. You can see what I mean by checking the players guide.
There's also a friendly spider, but it too could be subbed out for something else without losing its essence. None of the spiders use any particularly spider--y abilties, such as webbing or making use of many limbs.
I agree. I think you could reskin the spiders to whatever you wish.
Hi! Make a video about kingmaker PLS!!!! GM spoiler
Something to note- Paizo subscribes go the “you can’t write about X culture unless you are of X skin type” method of thinking (or really, feeling). That means the writers are not being chosen based on merit. Given that this is an Asian-themed setting, do with that what you will.
Someone born into an Asian culture is more likely to have more cultural knowledge than someone who was not born into that culture. That would be like asking a citizen of China to write about American culture.
Uh buddy, it's a merit to have knowledge about Asian cultures when writing an Asian-inspired adventure. Especially when its their culture that they grew up with
Ooorrrrr, and hear me out here, there are people who exist in the world who are both good writers and are not white. Also, they did have non-asian writers on this. They just also had many cultural consultants on the project to make sure they weren't just appropriating culture and creating a shallow, Hollywood-esque "Asian-flavoured" story.
I mean come on you SAW pf1e tian-xia that shit was DOG. The new stuff is freaking awesome AND doesn’t just come from stereotypes
@@sleepinxonxbed That's the insidious thing about this thinking - you can never really know if it's a diversity hire or not. What you say may be true, it may not be true. But because that was part of the criteria, there will always be a cloud hanging over it.