Transition to Pathfinder

So I've been working on and off for a couple months now on translating the campaign I made while I was still in the navy from DnD 3.5 to Pathfinder. Along the way I've been updating, altering, and generally screwing around with everything I have already and in some cases, remaking it from the ground up.

I've created new gameplay mechanics that fundamentally alter the way magic works and that has introduced some interesting quirks into some of my encounters. Some were easy, but most require heavy alteration.

My storytelling skills and attention to detail have changed since I started this project which has caused me to retweak the storyline over and over. I'm going through it again this week, tweaking some things that felt too forced and trying to help create the organic feel between the transition between the structured/linear portions and the open world portions.

It's hard to predict player reactions, but I think I'm striking a good balance, playing on expected reactions and using that to get them to do what I want them to. That whole illusion of choice concept that Bioware once had perfected before becoming a soulless husk following their acquisition by EA is what I'm trying for. Hopefully they'll bite.

The bounty system I've developed should help keep things fresh and interesting between story quests, with plenty to do of they end up taking a different direction. The addition of the trade rules also gives them some options to spice things up and earn cash easily without any real adventuring. Which is a blessing and a curse.

I still need to redesign about half of my PC-Class mobs and make sure the random encounter tables are level appropriate too. Sometimes I wish I still stood mid-watches, it would make this so much easier to find the time to do.

With the custom ships I've been designing I've figured out that most of the D20 stuff just doesn't seem to do Age of Sail ship combat justice. I'm now looking at alternative combat systems, particularly Hex-based systems, for one that feels right to me.

I've also figured out that the sheer number of things I'm altering, creating, or including is going to necessitate me actually writing up a standardized campaign book in order to allow players to keep track of it all. Maybe that's a good thing.  Maybe I could eventually sell it off, wouldn't that be something... I doubt I'd be able to but that would be pretty damn cool. With how much effort I've put into it and how much more I have left to put in it would be nice to have something to show for it other than some blog posts whining about official systems and maybe a completed and run campaign that some people may or may not have enjoyed.

I'm a little excited though. Two of the players have already started making their characters and have fully embraced the theme. It has forced me to step up my efforts and get this ready to go quicker. Maybe if I can get 2 more players started on creating their characters I'll move even quicker.