Rise of the Runelords

Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition

My first experience as Game Master for an RPG was running the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path for the Pathfinder Role Playing Game. I played for over two years with a group of friends, and we had some great adventures. Since it was my first experience as a GM, I often reflect on how I would run the various modules and encounters differently now that I know what I am doing.

This spring I created the opportunity to run this Adventure Path again when I gathered together some local friends new to Pathfinder and started another gaming group. We are currently at the very end of the Burnt Offerings module, and the games have been great fun so far. I am very excited to transition into The Skinsaw Murders and Hook Mountain Massacre, which I think are the best two modules of the Rise of the Runelords, though I have yet to run my first group through the final module, Spires of Xin-Shalast.

Rise of the Runelords is a great first-time experience for players and Game Masters alike because it includes many classic monsters such as goblins, ghouls, ogres, various giants, and dragons. The story is epic, and Sandpoint is a great base town with a large number of non-player characters and side quest opportunities.

Currently, I am thinking about expanding on The Pit and other locations in the Sandpoint Hinterlands to create an interconnected megadungeon below the entire area for the players to explore when they do not want to follow the main plot of the Adventure Path. I plan to use the Circle of Doom map from Dyson's Dodecahedron for The Pit itself, probably re-using it multiple times to extend the entire length of the shaft.