Adventure Path
An Adventure Path is a series of interlinked adventures for tabletop role-playing games which can be played in succession and lead characters to advance from lower to higher levels, through a particular path of events.
While adventure paths certainly exist for many role-playing game systems, the term as discussed here applies to Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder fantasy roleplaying games.
Origin and Dungeon Magazine
Though the term was originally applied to the series of Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition modules beginning with The Sunless Citadel, it later came to refer to several lengthy series, each consisting of 11-12 installments, published sequentially in Dungeon magazine.
Typically set in the Greyhawk campaign setting, the Dungeon adventure paths are:
Shackled City is also available as a hardcover book, and both Dungeon publisher (previously editor-in-chief) Erik Mona and current editor-in-chief James Jacobs have repeatedly expressed a desire to do a similar collection of Age of Worms and, in the further future, Savage Tide and its eventual successors. However, this is subject to approval from Wizards of the Coast, which has not been received to date.[1]
Both the Age of Worms and Savage Tide Adventure Paths were supported with articles in Dungeon's sister publication Dragon, entitled "Wormfood" and "Savage Tidings" respectively.
Paizo and WotC parts ways
With the transference of Dragon and Dungeon back to Wizards of the Coast, Paizo is continuing the Adventure Path concept in their new monthly publication, Pathfinder.
Wizards of the Coast continued the Adventure Path concept in the monthly online Dragon and Dungeon publications until the launch of the 5th edition of the game, at which time it swapped to a hardcover mega-adventure mode of publication.
Paizo
Paizo Publishing began publishing Adventure Paths for their Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and in 2007 Paizo attempted to trademark the term "Adventure Path," but the US Patent & Trademark Office determined that it was too generic for protection.
The Pathfinder Adventure Paths are:
- Rise of the Runelords
- Curse of the Crimson Throne
- Second Darkness
- Legacy of Fire
- Council of Thieves
- Kingmaker
- Serpent's Skull
- Carrion Crown
- Jade Regent
- Skull and Shackles
- Shattered Star (Aug 2012 - Jan 2013)
- Reign of Winter (Feb 2013 - Jul 2013)
- Wrath of the Righteous (Aug 2013 - Jan 2014)
- Mummy's Mask (Feb 2014 - Jul 2014)
- Iron Gods (Aug 2014 - Jan 2015)
- Giantslayer (Feb 2015 - Jul 2015)
- Hell's Rebels (Aug 2015 - Jan 2016)
- Hell's Vengeance (Feb 2016 - Jul 2016)
- Strange Eons (Aug 2016 - Jan 2017)
Wizards of the Coast
After Dungeon became an online magazine for subscribers, one adventure path was published.
Others
Adventure Paths are also available from D&D third party publishers, such as 0Onegames's Road to Revolution campaign arc, EN Publishing's War of the Burning Sky series for D&D 3rd Edition and subsequently updated for D&D 4th Edition, and its ZEITGEIST adventure path is due for release throughout 2011 and 2012.
References
- ↑ Mona, Erik; et al. (2006-01-28). "Dungeons & Dragons: The Age of Worms Adventure Path Hardcover". Paizo.com.
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