Pathfinder Adventure Path # 4: "Fortress of the Stone Giants" (Rise of the Runelords) [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

In my traditional backwards fashion for these reviews, I'll cover the back-matter of the AP volume first because it won't spoil the adventure.  AP # 4 includes four major sections after the adventure portion concludes: an article on stone giants, an article on dragons, a piece of fiction featuring Eando Kline, and a bestiary.

"Born of Stone: A Pathfinder's Guide to Stone Giants" (6 pages) provides a very detailed ecology of the race.  Stone giants in Golarion live simple lives and are in tune with nature, but they're not "savage" or "uncivilized."  They have an intriguing history dating to ancient Thassilon, and this article goes into additional cultural matters such as their daily life, how they view death, their treatment of magic, and their religion.  The section introduces a couple of new pieces of equipment ("shatter boulder" and "mammoth lance") as well as a few adventure hooks for incorporating stone giants into adventures outside the scope of the AP.  It's readily apparent just from this how much quality writing and artwork goes into each issue.

"Dragons of Golarion: The Myth and the Flame" (12 pages) details the legendary origins of dragons and it's . . . frankly a bit cheesy.  The section goes on to discuss each of the colours of dragons, ascribing them astrology-like personality traits.  Most of this section isn't Golarion-specific, and the only bits that I found original were their genealogical obelisks and their obsession with numerology.  Overall, the section didn't incline me to want to use dragons in Pathfinder, or persuade me that Golarion had better lore on the topic than many other campaign settings.

Things pick up with "Fool's Gold" (6 pages), the continuation of Pathfinder Eando Kline's tale.  It's good, exciting storytelling (with just the edge I love) that involves theft, a cool fight in the sewers of Korvosa, and an awesome escape from a thieves' guild.  In some ways it's a bit of a gazetteer for Korvosa, and would serve nicely as an introduction to the city for Curse of the Crimson Throne players and GMs.  Eando Kline is exactly what a Pathfinder should be, and I'm looking forward to sitting down and reading these stories all at once at a future date.

The bestiary introduces six new monsters.  Deathwebs (gargantuan undead spiders) and runeslaves (a template for giants that gives them short bursts of speed at the cost of their lifespan) are reasonably interesting.  Redcaps (malevolent fey) are great--memorable and creepy.  Lovecraft fans will appreciate the hounds of tindalos (extraplanar menaces), and I like the inclusion of some example victims that could be incorporated into a game.  I still don't really "get" taiga giants (nomadic ancestor-worshipping giants) or what they bring to the table that other giants don't.  Forgefiends I appreciate just for the possibility of destroying some PC gear.  Shining children are creepy cool, and their "theories of origin" section is fantastic.  The artwork here ranges from awesome (the deathweb, the redcap, the hound of tindalos, the shining child) to the okay (the runeslave) to embarrassing (the taiga giant and forgefiend).  As always, I find the bestiary sections in these early APs retain value even after the creatures appear in a future Pathfinder Bestiary volume, because the entries here go into a lot more detail on their background and place in Golarion.

Now onto the adventure.

SPOILERS

 The usual caveat: I GM'd this using the Anniversary Edition, though I didn't notice any major differences between the original and the hardcover.  The title of the volume, "Fortress of the Stone Giants," gives you a pretty big clue about what this section of the AP is going to be about.  A two-page preface by James Jacobs explains that the adventure (written by Wolfgang Baur) was inspired by the classic D&D "Against the Giants" modules.  I never played those and had no particular feelings about stone giants one way or the other coming into Chapter Five, so we'll see how well Paizo did on selling the idea that a volume of RotRL should be centered on the race.

The backstory to the adventure is an interesting one.  It tells how the runt of a stone giant tribe named Mokmurian was expelled when his wizardly leanings became known.  Mokmurian wandered Varisia for many years before eventually entering the Black Tower, a monument long taboo to the stone giant tribes.  Deep below the tower, Mokmurian found an ancient library full of the knowledge of Thassilon.  It provided him with enough clues to seek out Xin-Shalast and make a pilgrimage there to dedicate himself to the rebirth of Karzoug.  Now, in the present, Mokmurian has returned to the Black Tower as a mighty wizard and persuaded several outcast stone giant tribes to rally around his banner for a planned war of conquest!  But whether the giants succeed or fail, the fact that thy're marked with the Sihedron rune means that Karzoug will gain power either way!

Part One ("Stones Over Sandpoint") is probably my favourite part of the adventure.  The PCs come back to Sandpoint (either on their own accord or via request) and are present when a large stone giant raiding party attacks the town from different directions.  The mechanics of the assault are designed well, with a round-by-round chart of which parts of the town are invaded and by whom.  The idea is that the PCs will have to be mobile, make quick decisions, and maybe even split up in a bid to be "everywhere at once."  The attackers include several stone giants, their dire bear companions, and (most dramatic of all) a red dragon!  It serves as a great way to get the PCs to feel their connection to Sandpoint and its NPCs (some of whom may be killed or kidnapped), especially since all of Chapter Three took place away from the town.  After the raid, the PCs are assumed to interrogate a prisoner to learn that the raid was launched from Jorgenfist--a fortress that Mokmurian has had constructed around the Black Tower.  It's a thrilling start to the chapter.

Part Two ("Journey to Jorgenfist") assumes the PCs will set out for Jorgenfist, either to rescue some kidnapped town folk or to stop Mokmurian before he can launch a true invasion of Varisia.  This is a short section, as the PCs could take various routes, but includes a few encounters to help flavour the journey.  I like how it was done, as it incorporates necessary flexibility for PC autonomy while not putting *all* the burden on the GM's shoulders to spice things up (like the journey to Hook Mountain at the start of Chapter 3 did).  Speaking of Hook Mountain, my PCs decided on the unusual strategy of teleporting there and trying to cross the mountain ranges on foot to reach Jorgenfist.  They were turned back by terrible weather and arduous climbing conditions (not to mention stone giant patrols) in a scene reminiscent of Fellowship of the Ring when Gandalf realizes there's no choice but to go through the Mines of Moria.  Good stuff.

Part Three ("Into the Valley of the Black Tower") provides a full write-up of the fortress around Jorgenfist.  There are, quite literally, dozens and dozens of stone giants and their allies camped around the massive fortress, so a frontal assault is pretty much out of the question.  It's an excellent opportunity for players to strategise how they're going to gain entry, with possibilities including setting the tribes into conflict with each other, trying to sneak over the fortress walls, etc. The GM is provided with a lot of detail on what happens if there's an alarm, what patrols are like, etc., to help deal with different possibilities.  The interior of the fortress and the Black Tower itself has some cool encounters with things like harpies, an ancient Thassilonian mummy monk, and more.   Suspiciously lucky PCs like mine may come across a secret tunnel in the back of a cliffside cave that allows them to bypass the surface entirely and reach the subterranean level.  The artwork in this section (of the fortress, of some wyverns, etc.,) is very good.

Part Four ("Under Jorgenfist") contains artwork of more mixed quality, with a depiction of lamias on page 39 particularly amateurish.  This section details the first subterranean level of the fortress, home to barracks, a kitchen, a shrine to Lamashtu, etc.  One of the major strengths of Paizo APs is that their depiction of dungeons is reasonably realistic: monsters aren't just standing around to be murdered.  They're in different places at different times of the day, they have backstories and relationships and conflicts with their own allies, etc.  Much of this detail isn't seen by the PCs, but it does offer a lot of depth when the surface is scratched.  Although the vast majority of this chapter is combat-focussed, there is one important role-playing element here in the form of a renegade stone giant named Conna who is willing to help the PCs depose of Mokmurian.  On a side note, I particularly liked the little kobold (Enga Keckvia) wearing the necklace of fireballs; its presence is a reminder that little things can pack a big punch!  Last, I'll mention that a seemingly minor encounter here (two lamia clerics) posed the biggest problem of the chapter for my PCs, as it took them three tries to overcome with multiple deaths along the way.  Sometimes simple defensive spells (like mirror image) and simple offensive spells (like hold person) can prove a deadly combination!

Part Five ("The Ancient Library") is the conclusion of the adventure.  Deep below the fortress, a complex dating to ancient Thassilon holds the library that Mokmurian discovered.  The encounters leading up to the big battle against Mokmurian are a bit rote (of the "enter room, fight" variety), but the creatures involved are interesting.  As for the showdown, I have to report it was a complete bust.  Apart from the usual action economy problem of one boss against four to five PCs, the obvious flaw in Mokmurian is vulnerability to a spell like feeblemind.  Checking the forums, I'm not the first GM to run into that specific problem, and perhaps word of the exploit is spreading.  After building up the event so much, it was a splash of cold water and reminded me to expect less of these chapter-ending climaxes.  The one redeeming feature is the awesome moment where Karzoug possesses his defeated minion's body and speaks to the PCs directly for the first time in a great little speech.

An appendix goes through what the PCs can learn about Karzoug and Xin-Shalast from research in the ancient library.  It's presented here as a set of Knowledge (history) DCs, but I used the optional research rules from Ultimate Intrigue and they worked quite well.

Overall, the best part of this adventure is the beginning, and then it starts to slope slowly downward from there.  It's never bad, but much of it is frankly average.  It does lend some flavour to stone giants in Golarion, but I think that's a small amount of value for an adventure that is otherwise unremarkable.