Return of the Runelords: Session 2

Spoiler Alert: I will keep these blog entries safe for my players and only discuss what they've already experienced, but I will be spoiling the "Return of the Runelords" adventure path. So if you wish to be a part of this game in the future as a player, read no farther.

Session 2 started off very straightforward. As I mentioned in the last adventure they had to flee Roderic's Wreck after being unable to defeat the pesky swarm of spiders. So they started off this session by doing a little shopping for vials of acid and alchemist fire. They ended up returning to the house on the same day with the new items in hand and proceeded to...completely avoid said spiders.

After avoiding the spiders and fighting a disgusting kitchen ooze they headed up the stairs while managing to pull two encounters at once. I actually quite enjoy they are playing up their characters in a way that may not be most efficient or optimal, but certainly makes for a fun session. Without going into too much detail they managed to accomplish their main goal in the house but missed almost all the treasure and loot.

I was especially happy that the by the end of their exploration of the haunted house all the characters (and maybe players...) seemed to develop some type of phobia or paranoia. I think I did a good job when on multiple occasions a character opens the door and as I describe the room they pause briefly, say "nope" and shut the door again. I think I've managed to insert enough horror into the scene when the players get creeped out. I've never been great with horror so it's nice to see it work.

The party now returns to down with more information and a number of directions available ahead. I'm interested to see which one they take. This book is fairly open-ended as far as which order they tackle the challenges, although some areas are harder than others.

They also reached level 2 at the end of the adventure. I am inclined to level the first two levels fairly quickly as first level characters are very weak and quite often character concepts cannot be fully realized. By the time they get to third level, these character concepts can be much closer to realized. Pathfinder's design actually reinforces this as many key class options are kept back until third level to prevent blatant abuse by level dipping. Three levels is a decent multi-class investment to get these keystone abilities. I am curious to see what my players pick for level 2. I'll slow down the leveling after they hit 3.

As a side note, I'm not seeing many online accounts with Return of the Runelord content. Could be people are waiting until all the books are out to start their campaign or maybe 2nd edition is making people less likely to commit to a long 1st edition campaign. If anybody has some good Return of the Runelords content let me know and I will certainly upvote your help.

Also feel free to ask any questions about my campaign. My next big DM task is to review my character back stories and see how I can more fully integrate their characters into the campaign.

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