Pathfinder Society Scenario # 0-08: "Slave Pits of Absalom" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I played Slave Pits of Absalom at PaizoCon AP 2019 using the Iconic Gunslinger.  It's a scenario that very much fits the norm for Season Zero scenarios: it's on tight rails, the combat encounters are solid (and occasionally deadly), and the morality of the story (especially with the faction missions) is sometimes more grey than black and white.  It's also a very fast scenario to run (I'd guess around 2-3 hours) and not one that will tax the GM at all.  It's not a particularly amazing or memorable scenario, but it's perfectly fine for a few hours' gameplay with little prep.  Hence, I'm giving it the score of average.

SPOILER

The briefing is *very* quick and to the point: Osirion's ambassador to Absalom is an important contact for the Pathfinder Society, and his wife, Lady Anilah, has just been kidnapped!  In order to improve their standing with the ambassador, the Society is going to try to find her, and quickly.  The PCs are told that a possible lead is a "grit den" (grit is an illegal drug that sounds a bit like PCP) in the Puddles district of Absalom where a junky who earns cash by assisting in the slave trade can be found.  Unlike most later seasons, there's no time for questions--indeed, if the PCs try to ask any, they get yelled at!  I found it awesome (and funny), and I really like the Venture-Captain: a fiery and definitely no-nonsense Galtan named Alissa Moldreserva.  I'd like to see more of her.

The name of the grit den is the Second Chance, and when the PCs arrive, there is a full-blown brawl going on.  Yes, it's a cliché, but I think every fantasy RPG player should get to experience a bar brawl now and then.  As is traditional in such things, if the PCs stick to fists then no one bats an eye--but if they draw weapons, then the bartender draws a scimitar and sics an angry dog on them!  Either way, once the PCs win, they'll find a grit addict named Fredrik who admits he was hired to kidnap Lady Anilah and sell her into slavery through a local slave merchant.  In true Season Zero fashion, the PCs miss out on a hefty chunk of change at the end of the scenario if they don't steal the grit den's strongbox from behind the counter.  I sometimes think the Society and the Aspis Consortium weren't too far apart in those early days!

The name of the scenario is the same as the in-game nickname for a large slave market in Absalom.  At this time in the setting's history, the slave-trade is fully legal in Absalom--though, of course, the nobility are exempt from being bought and sold.  The PCs need to (quietly) break into Pildapush's Chattel, an import/export house for slaves, and persuade or browbeat (or otherwise beat) the merchant into confessing that a Taldan spy hired Fredrik to kidnap Lady Anilah (hoping to embarrass the ambassador, since Taldor and Osirion are major rivals).  The merchant says Lady Anilah has already been sold to a Katapeshi slave ship currently moored at the docks.  The scenario actually does a good job of providing an array of information depending on how well the PCs do at changing the merchant's attitude.

If the PCs weren't discreet about breaking into the merchant's shop (which, knowing PCs, is fairly likely!) the official security guards of the slave district arrive and order the PCs to leave.  And if the PCs don't comply, then the city guard arrive; and if the PCs still resist, the GM is instructed that this simply results in the PCs' death or imprisonment (with the latter likely resulting in their being sold into slavery for being a petty thief!).  It's hardcore!

What the PCs won't know is that, prior to interrogating the slave merchant, he already took out a contract on Fredrik to silence him and anyone he talked to (including the PCs).  This means the PCs will get ambushed by a quintet of halflings along the docks.  It's not a particularly dangerous encounter, and mainly serves to soften the group up for what's next.

What's next is raiding the slave galley, which is crewed by gnolls!  The foreman of the ship fights on the main deck and uses a whip to try to knock PCs overboard, while the captain of the ship fights below deck and uses (at high tier) a magical greataxe.  A crit with this thing is going to do 9d6+24 points of damage, so even at Tier 4-5 some bad luck could easily end someone's day!  Chances are, however, that a modern party of six Pathfinder PCs is going to be okay.    After these two quick battles aboard the ship, the PCs find Lady Anilah and can call it a day.

It's obviously a very quick and compact scenario that has four combat encounters and just a little role-playing in the form of interrogating the slavers for more information.  I would definitely encourage GMs to use the faction missions, as they at least give the PCs a little extra to think about and could add a fun element (a couple of the missions tend to be in opposition to one another).  I think of a scenario like this as the "beer-and-pretzels" computer game equivalent for Pathfinder.  It won't take much time or deep thought, and it's easy to run with little prep right out of the gate.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: "Guide to Korvosa" [RPG]

Published under the "Pathfinder Chronicles" line (that would evolve into the Pathfinder Campaign Setting line), the Guide to Korvosa is a 64-page soft cover gazetteer of the city.  Its release was timed in conjunction with the release of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path, but the text carefully avoids any spoilers.  Indeed, it was written so that players could take advantage of it as well--only a single small chapter at the end contains any secret GM-only information.  The book is also almost completely mechanics-free so that it could be used with any ruleset.  Although an older book (2008), it's still the best singe source for information on Korvosa that's available.

The interior design of the book is quite nice, with plenty of sidebars, maps, and headshots of important NPCs in the city.  The inside front- and back- covers are an in-depth timeline of events in the city's history.  One of the best things about the book is that it comes with a four-panel pull-out map of the city--I had mine laminated as it's still the best visible representation of the city I'm aware of.

Chapter One is a four-page introduction  It summarises some very basic things about the city, such as its symbols and motto, Korvosan slang, punishments for different crimes, and a useful few paragraphs about the "Korvosan Mindset".  Did you know Korvosans respect order, look down on Varisians and Shoanti, and that there's only one thieves' guild and that it's fully registered with the government?   Things like this are crucial for figuring out the "feel" of a fictional city, so when I run some adventures in Korvosa I'll do my best to make use of it.  I'm still trying to figure Korvosa out--it's not an "evil" Cheliaxian city, but comes across as darker than Magnimar while still being cosmopolitan.

Chapter Two comes in at a hefty 28 pages and covers various areas and buildings within the city.  The chapter has a good explanation of Korvosa's role in the region and a summary of its external holdings (Korvosa is essentially a city-state and controls several small towns and villages in the region).  Each of the city's neighborhoods are described and given individual inset-maps.  Key buildings are fleshed out, with particular attention to the Acadamae (Korvosa's most prestigious school of magic) and Castle Korvosa.  I could totally imagine running an Acadamae-focussed campaign someday!  There's good detail about Eodred's Walk, a plaza of fourteen shops that will likely handle most of what PCs will need when making purchases.  Neighborhoods like the Shingles and places like the Church of Aroden and the Pantheon of Many are memorable features.  Having read Curse of the Crimson Throne, I can tell how well locations that feature in that AP are incorporated here, but again in a completely non-spoilery way that wouldn't flag their importance to players. Overall, it's a well-written, detailed, and interesting overview of the city.

Chapter Three is a 14-page overview of important people and organisations within the city.  It's here you'll read about the city's government, military orders, prominent families, religious groups, and criminal gangs.  There's a complex separation of powers when it comes to the city's government, and with the influence of noble houses and legacy of the city as a Chelaxian holding, there's tons of rooms for intrigue, factionalism, and politics.  In short, it's a great setting for a non-hack n' slash campaign.  However, the chapter doesn't focus exclusively on the powerful elements in the city: there's a good description of what "normal" people are like in Korvosa.  The chapter provides important insight and is done well.

Chapter Four is a short, four-page history of the city.  It contains an account of the long series of clashes with the Shoanti after the city's founding, its origins as a Chelaxian colony, and how internal disputes in Korvosa led to the founding of Magnimar.

Chapter Five is a ten-page section on the city's secrets, and is best read only by a GM.  It goes into more depth on what's really happening in the Acadamae, on the ins-and-outs of dangers within the city (such as cults and underground vaults), and more on the city's criminal organisations.  I particularly like the idea of the Darklight Sisterhood, a Chelaxian-only rival to the Pathfinder Society!  I should note that there are some spoilers for Curse of the Crimson Throne (particularly Chapter Three) in this section.

The book ends with a little three-page appendix that contains the only game mechanics in the book: a list of what classes and levels notable NPCs are, a stat block for the Sable Company Elite Marines, and a (frankly not very good) random encounter table for different parts of the city.

Overall, I think the Guide to Korvosa is a fantastic sourcebook on the city.  It contains essential information on pretty much everything I would want.  I know some folks will differ, but I actually didn't mind the lack of "crunch" at all--there's so many feats, traits, spells, and NPC stat blocks scattered across hundreds of other Pathfinder books, so I was happy to just get a focus on the description I need in order to make the city come alive.  Although the book is long out of print, it's available for purchase as a PDF on the Paizo website, and I'd strongly recommend it.

Rise of the Runelords Recap # 83 [RPG]

[11 Calistril 4708 continued]

Having seen Brodert Quink safely to the Therassic Library, the Heroes of Varisia (sans Kang) teleport to Magnimar with their magical sacks full of treasure.  They spend almost a whole day selling their wares and accumulate over 6,000 platinum pieces for their trouble.  Word is starting to spread in Magnimar that the giants no longer pose a threat, and the preparations for war have thus slowed.  Meanwhile, back in Sandpoint, Kang reverse-engineers the “revivification fluid” that Nisk Tander is spruiking and discovers it’s simply sugar water!

[12 Calistril 4708]

Vorvashali Voon's connections in Magnimar allow 

The Feathered Serpent to stock a surprising array of magical items.

When the adventurers return to Sandpoint and the Rusty Dragon, they find Kang in his room with a mysterious goop dripping down the walls—he explains that he’s invented a new alchemical formula to stick his enemies to the ground!  After spending the morning dividing up wealth, the adventurers make preparations for a return journey to the tunnels beneath Sandpoint.  Jinkatsyu heads out to buy something of a magical nature and finds himself in the cramped, exotic-smelling shop of Vorvashali Voon.  The enthusiastic arcanist is able to supply some of what the kitsune needs, but also shares some terrible news: sometime before dawn, just hours ago, there was an attack at the sinkhole!  Jodar Provolost’s throat was slit, and the other guard on duty simply fled.  When tracked down later, the guard said a filthy woman with matted hair killed Jodar with a single swipe of a sharpened fingernail!  Apparently the town leaders (sans Titus Scarnetti, who has decamped to Magnimar) have agreed to have the hole immediately filled in with rock and gravel.

When Jinkatsyu returns to tell the others the news, they decide to hurry to get into the sinkhole before it’s filled in.  Their journey downward proceeds as before, but this time there is no webbing in the stairwell, the secret door is open, and Yuzo finds muddy footprints on the stone floor of the antechamber.  The adventurers decide to explore a corridor that leads southward from the complex’s temple; thick fog fills the corridor, but Ava’s magicks are strong enough that she’s able to remove it on the second try.  Yuzo scouts ahead until she sees a pebble go skittering along the floor of the narrow corridor—something invisible is moving right towards him!  It becomes visible just as it stabs a cruel, serrated blade into her stomach.  The figure whispers something in a tongue that Yuzo can’t understand, and the gillman decides to beat a hasty retreat to the safety of the others.  But the masked figure, obviously the one that had communicated with Kang and Salma previously, disappears only to reappear behind the party—right next to Ava!  The grippli shaman teleports herself away, and Kang reacts quickly, gluing the attacker to the floor with one of his new concoctions.  Erik rushes into battle for the first time with the adventurers, but his unreliable contraption almost blows up in his hand! 

But with the mysterious figure now behind the party, a new threat rushes in from the other side in a coordinated maneuver: a nearly naked elf with sharp, grimy nails and an unholy symbol of Lamashtu around her neck.  A terrible curse erupts from her lips and for the briefest instant, Jinkatsyu takes the form of a fish before reverting to normal!  But the foul witch picked the wrong target in Jinkatsyu: the swordsman’s undramatic but steady attacks make short work of her.  Meanwhile, Yuzo has chased the first attacker in a running battle and bested him to the point where he has to use his uncanny magicks to disappear again.

The Scribbler is master of his domain, 

and will prove hard to catch.

With one enemy vanquished and other gone to ground, the adventurers regroup and decide to press on.  Eventually they reach an area where three once-separate chambers have become one, joined by collapsed walls.  Bloodstained fragments of equipment lie strewn about haphazardly, and the culprits are clearly visible: a half-dozen large black dogs with stingers at the end of their, ratlike tails are flying around the room in circles!  Once the adventurers appear, the hounds bay in unison and their keening turns the stoutest hearts to shame.  Kang and Yuzo are filled with supernatural terror and run for it.  Ava’s able to remove Yuzo’s fear and then gives chase to Kang, while the others do battle against the monstrous hounds and emerge victorious.

With a new danger seemingly around every corner, can even the Heroes of Varisia put an end to the threats that lurk underneath Sandpoint?

------------------------------------------
Director's Commentary

I always liked role-playing Vorvashali Voon as an excited and enthusiastic salesmen.  I sometimes managed to persuade the PCs to buy magical gear they really didn't need!

The mysterious elven priestess of Lamashtu isn't in the AP but comes from the back matter of the first collected volume of the comics.  Issandra is a witchpriest of Lamashtu who maintains a shrine hidden deep in Mosswood, and I thought it would make sense that after reviving the Scribbler, Lamashtu would send visions to her nearby priestess to make contact.  It's also this shrine that Daviren Hosk went to investigate and never (so far!) returned from.  The PCs didn't follow this trail, however.

The mobility and tricks of the Scribbler kept him a viable enemy longer than I would initially expected.

Pathfinder Module: "Hollow's Last Hope" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Hollow's Last Hope is a 16-page module for first-level PCs that was released as part of Free RPG Day in 2017.  It can be run as a standalone adventure or as a prelude to the first full adventure released in Paizo's module line, Crown of the Kobold King (the two adventures use the same setting, but have different plotlines).  I ran this as part of my "Roots of Golarion" campaign and thought it was a solid adventure in the classic "quest through the wilderness" vein.  The writing is really good, though the interior artwork is more of a mixed bag.  There are hundreds and hundreds of modules out there for first-level groups, and I can't say Hollow's Last Hope is necessarily among the best of the lot.  On the other hand, it has the advantages of being completely free, is set in Golarion, and serves as a perfect introduction to several other Pathfinder modules.  It's definitely worth a look.

SPOILERS

It's a bit weird to be writing this review during the coronavirus pandemic, as the premise of Hollow's Last Hope is about a disease known as the "wheezing death".  Also called blackscour, the disease has infected dozens of people in the small logging town of Falcon's Hollow.  The PCs will have to undertake a quest for ingredients necessary to cure the disease, and this will take them into the depths of the dangerous forest known as Darkmoon Vale.

The module gives the GM several suggestions on why PCs might have come to Falcon's Hollow and how to get them generally interested in seeking a cure for the plague.  The adventure proper begins with the PCs waiting in line to visit a local healer and herbalist named Laurel.  Laurel's shop, Roots and Remedies, is nearly overrun with people seeking folk remedies to help deal with blackscour.  The module contains a good description of the shop and of Laurel's personality.  After some conversation, she'll reveal that her grandmother's herbal recipe book contains a purported cure for blackscour--but the ingredients are incredibly rare.  The curing brew would require Elderwood moss which only grows on the oldest tree in the forest, a specially pickled root called rat's tail which might be in an old witch's hut in the forest, and ironbloom mushrooms which are most likely found in an abandoned dwarven monastery on the far side of the forest.  The "find three ingredients to cure a disease" is a bit video-gamey as a plot device, but otherwise the writing is strong in the opening scene.

The town of Falcon's Hollow is not mapped or really described here, so having Crown of the Kobold King or Towns of the Inner Sea is helpful in case the PCs decide to buy supplies or try to gather more information about these places before departing.  The module does make provision for the PCs to find an experienced woodsman named Milon Rhoddam who can give them more specific advice on where to find the cure ingredients in Darkmoon Vale.  The little scene also serves to introduce the Lumber Consortium, which is good if the GM plans to run other adventures in Falcon's Hollow.

The PCs will need to plot their own course through Darkmoon Vale, and paying attention to overland speed and terrain modifiers is crucial because the group is on a time limit: every day, a randomly-determined number of residents of Falcon Hollow die from the disease (until it "runs its course")!  The three destinations can be approached in any order, and the module includes a good section on random encounters--only a couple of the encounters are combat-based, which I like.  There's also one fixed encounter as the group travels through the forest--a fight against a hobgoblin ambusher.

The first ingredient, Elderwood moss, is found in a clearing deep in Darkmoon Vale.  A new monster called a tatzlwyrm guards the tree.  The back of the module contains a bestiary entry for the tatzlwyrm; it's a sort of wingless drakonkin that looks like a snake except for the fact that it has arms.  The idea comes from real-world mythology, but I didn't find it particularly interesting and a standard constrictor snake would have worked just as well.

The second ingredient, pickled rat's tail, requires finding the hut of a witch named Ulizmila.  Ulizmila isn't home when the PCs arrive, but it's good for the GM to play up her legend as she's further developed in other descriptions of the region.  Once the PCs start snooping around, they'll be the victim of a surprise attack by the hut's guardian: an animated object in the form of a cauldron, complete with the swallow whole special ability!  It could come across a little cheesy, admittedly, but I liked it anyway.  There's a unique magical item to be found in the hut called a soulspeaker, and I particularly like the (ghastly) artwork for it.

The third and final ingredient, an ironbloom mushroom, is the hardest to obtain.  This requires searching the grounds of a ruined dwarven monastery.  There's really nice exterior shot of the monastery that perfectly fits the gridded map on the inside front cover.  Several encounters are here, including wolves, a monstrous spider, a kobold rogue, darkmantles, a bat swarm, some traps and hazards, skeletons, and the "boss" of the module, a worg named Graypelt.  Honestly, I think it's probably too many encounters in too quick of succession.  This is a module designed for first-level characters, so it's very possible some of these PCs will be walking around with just 6 or 7 hit points as a maximum.  Smart and cautious groups will explore the monastery over a period of days so they can heal overnight, but the fact that there's a disease raging in Falcon's Hollow could pressure groups to press on.  In general, I really like tough decisions in gaming and external time constraints to keep the tension high--but I think for an introductory adventure like this, it's probably too much.  I do like how much lore about Torag and Droskar the monastery subtly introduces.  As a side note, the GM will have to decide how to address the connection between the monastery and Crown of the Kobold King, as the monastery has the entrance to the subterranean dungeons in that adventure.

Hollow's Last Hope is an adventure in the classic mode.  As a standalone module, it's a solid product and would work well to introduce new gamers to the genre (with perhaps some subtle guidance from the GM about the need to heal in the final section).  And as a free product, you can't beat the price!  The module works even better as a prelude to the multiple other Paizo modules that use Falcon's Hollow and Darkmoon Vale as a setting.  With those adventures as the skeleton of a homebrew campaign, a budding GM could tell some great stories and introduce players to their own little piece of Golarion.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 10-13: "Fragments of Antiquity" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

They did a poor job updating the 

website with cover art in Season Ten!

I played Fragments of Antiquity with a Level 7 Iconic, Quinn, and thought it was a really solid and satisfying scenario.  It makes good use of a variety of skills, and cerebral PCs will have a good occasion to show off what they can do.  There aren't a lot of NPCs to role-play with, but the plot is interesting and furthers a long-running PFS storyline.  Overall, I'd say it's one of the better Season Ten adventures and definitely worth playing.

SPOILERS

Fragments of Antiquity continues the story of the Pathfinder Society's efforts to salvage as much of the Hao Jin Tapestry demiplane as possible, and to discover the fate of its creator.  Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin delivers a straightforward briefing explaining that the PCs' current task is to enter a special library that was taken whole into the tapestry centuries ago: the Shen Province Imperial Archive.  With the tapestry demiplane unravelling, Valsin says it's crucial to retrieve as many of the rarest and most valuable books as possible before it's too late.  In addition, the Pathfinders are asked to keep an eye out for any clues as to what happened to Hao Jin herself.  It's a solid hook for Pathfinders "in service to lore".

What the Pathfinders don't know, but will very shortly find out, is that a kobold tribe known as the Scalebreakers have long used the library as the place for its rites of passage: becoming an "adult" requires entering and surviving the myriad of traps that others in the tribe have placed inside it.  The PCs first encounter the Scalebreakers after entering the demiplane and crossing a trapped bridge.  It's possible to fight the kobolds, but they're a friendly tribe and are happy for the PCs to enter the library and take the rite of passage.  In fact, with some diplomacy, the PCs can even get them to draw a map of the interior and describe where many of the traps are.  However, the Scalebreakers also ominously state that there are evil spirits in the library.  I thought the kobolds were handled well here--they're fun without being silly.

The bulk of the scenario consists of exploring several different sections of the library arranged by category (such as Poetry, Religion, Warfare, etc.).  The Arcane Library Flip-Mat is perfect for this.  The PCs will need to spot and disable (or suffer from) the half-dozen traps the kobolds have scattered throughout the library.  It's a nice reward for those PCs who have invested heavily in trap detection and removal, and better than the more common situation where a dungeon contains a single trap, the PCs set it off, use a wand to heal the damage, and continue on without a care in the world.  My favourite trap is one that contains an acidic gas that both hurts living creatures but (unintentionally) starts damaging books in the section and requires the group to take urgent action to dissipate the fumes or lose the information there entirely.

In each section of the library, the PCs can use skills from a different specific list in order to help determine the most important books to remove.  Being able to read Tien is really useful in this scenario!  In addition, they'll come across a list of books that Hao Jin was specifically interested in, and these ultimately provide clues that she may have been headed to Axis (the Plane of Law).  I liked the free-form nature of this investigation of the library, as the group can examine the rooms in any order they'd like.  In addition, they'll soon start to get glimpses of what the kobolds referred to as "evil spirits"--something seems to be watching them and intentionally setting off some of the traps as the Pathfinders approach!

What's really going on has a bit of a complicated backstory.  Essentially, after the library was first transported to the tapestry demiplane, its original librarians continued their work.  After waiting over a year for Hao Jin's promised return, the librarians used dimension-crossing spells to try to find her--but instead, the magic created a conduit to the Shadow Plane and drew forth a group of "soulslivers."  Soulslivers are extradimensional shapechangers who can see through (and travel through) mirrors.  It's the soulslivers who haunt the library today, having slain some of the original librarians.  As the PCs explore various sections of the library, they'll realise that there is a hidden section that can be entered--but here, they'll have to directly confront the soulslivers.  I remember the battle as a fun one, with the soulslivers having some cool special abilities.

After having explored the library, the group can exit the demiplane without incident.  The epilogue is brief, but it does nicely set up that the search for Hao Jin has received a major boost.

I don't have any complaints about Fragments of Antiquity.  Although it's not amazingly memorable or epic, it is a strong adventure with a solid plot and a good mix of encounters.  And as a continuation of the Hao Jin metaplot, it builds nicely towards that storyline's conclusion.

Pathfinder Legends: "Rise of the Runelords # 6: Spires of Xin-Shalast" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

This is the sixth and final instalment of the Rise of the Runelords audio plays.  You’ve no doubt memorized my reviews of each of the previous five instalments, but I’ll give a capsule overview anyway.  Each of these is a relatively short (45 minutes to an hour) adaptation of one chapter of the adventure path.  The voice acting, sound effects, and music are top notch.  The audio plays dramatize the key moments of the adventures, but this isn’t anything like a novelisation or an audio book in the traditional sense, so you shouldn’t expect to find a room-by-room account of each dungeon or that every fixed or random encounter will be depicted.  Because there’s no third-person narration, what’s happening in the combat scenes can be rather vague and confusing.  And, they’re pretty pricey considering their length.  This adaptation of Spires of Xin-Shalast has all the strengths and weaknesses of the other chapters.  It’s a satisfying conclusion to the series, and if you enjoyed the previous entries you’ll enjoy this one as well.  I wouldn’t complain, however, if someday this epic story received a true novelisation like it deserves.

SPOILERS

The audio version of Spires of Xin-Shalast starts in media res, with the adventurers in the frozen Kodar Mountains fighting yetis and looking for the Vekker Brothers’ cabin.  Valeros, Merisiel, Harsk, and Ezren are the protagonists for this chapter, with Harsk getting a starring role and Ezren providing excellent narration to tie scenes together and provide background exposition.  I thought the haunting of the cabin was extremely well done—quite effective (and ghastly!) in portraying the cannibalistic horrors that befell the Vekkers.  In fact, I like how it’s handled here better than the more scattered and inferential presentation in the actual written version.  On the other hand, the attack of the wendigo falls flat and doesn’t amount to more than “just another monster.”

I was really curious to see how the audio version would portray the legendary Xin-Shalast, City of Greed.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it does the setting justice.  I knew it would be hard to try to describe the exotic cyclopean wonders of such a lost city of gold, but most of the city itself is skipped past in favour of battles against some generic giants.  If you’re keeping track, you won’t see anything about the Hidden Beast, Ghlorofaex, Shahlaria, or any other elements in this adaptation.  Even in the depicted battle against Leng Spiders on the slopes of Mhar Massif, the creatures don’t receive the creepily uncanny description they deserve.

Karzoug is depicted as the nearly the lone inhabitant of the Spires of Avarice (there’s no Khalib, Ceoptra, Viorian, etc.), but the battle against him is exciting and suitably epic.  The voice acting for Karzoug is strong, and there are enough elements of the final fight (like his using wail of the banshee and the vulnerability of the soul lens) to make it recognisable.  And after the battle, there’s a nice little epilogue in Sandpoint.  And a coda that reminders the listener that Karzoug was just one of the seven Runelords—and the others are stirring!

Professor Reivax Kipe & XCOM [RPG]

Professor Reivax Kipe was a character I played for a brief period of time in Starfinder Society games.  The inspiration for Kipe was characters like Charles Xavier (X-Men), Captain Pike (Star Trek), and Stephen Hawking (real life!).  Confined to a wheelchair and suffering from a terrible neuromuscular disease, Professor Kipe invented his Extra-Corporeal Manipulator (XCOM) for mobility and interaction in daily life.  In game terms, Kipe was a Mechanic and XCOM was a drone equipped with a riding saddle and some hefty offensive weaponry.

I really enjoyed playing Kipe and particularly enjoyed his innate recklessness and sense of humor.  When you've been gaming for a long, long time like I have, sometimes you have to artificially impose some challenges on yourself to keep things interesting--so figuring out how to make a viable PC with a Strength and Dexterity score of 1 provided me that motivation.  He proved quite up to the challenge in the sessions I played him in.

Tragically, Professor Kipe's tenure as a Starfinder was cut short--and not because of anything that happened within a session!  The head honcho of the Starfinder Society organized play campaign suddenly changed the rules to make it so a character couldn't have reduced ability scores.  In other words, Professor Kipe was effectively banned.  I had invested several Chronicle sheets in the character, so it was a big blow that was announced by an off-hand comment in a forum post.  I tried logic, humor, rhetoric, sarcasm, and everything else I could think of to get this ruling overturned, and ultimately got suspended from the Paizo website for a week!  I think the new rule is a real pity, as good role-playing involves having both strengths and weaknesses, and there are some character concepts that just aren't viable without lowered ability scores.

So for now, Professor Kipe drifts in limbo.  I hope to someday bring him back in a non-SFS game like an adventure path so that his story is able to continue.

Professor Reivax Kipe
238544-702 (Dataphiles)
Mechanic 4
Human
Theme: Roboticist
Homeworld: Aballon

Strength: 1 (-5)
Dexterity: 1 (-5)
Constitution: 12 (+1)
Intelligence: 18 (+4)
Wisdom: 14 (+2)
Charisma: 11 (+0)

Skills
Acrobatics -12
Athletics -12
Bluff +2
Computers +13
Culture +6
Diplomacy +2
Disguise +0
Engineering +12
Intimidate +1
Life Science +11
Medicine +9
Mysticism +3
Perception +6
Physical Science +11
Piloting -1
Profession (Professor) +11
Sense Motive +4
Stealth -12
Survival +2

Combat
Initiative -5
Stamina: 28
Hit Points: 28
Resolve Points: 6
EAC: 13
KAC: 15
Fort Save: +5
Reflex Save: +0
Will Save: +5
Melee Attack -2
Ranged Attack -2

Abilities
Theme Knowledge (Roboticist): Reduce the DC of Engineering checks to ID creatures & tech by 5, Computers is class skill or get +1 bonus.  +1 to Int.
Human (extra feat, extra skill rank, +2 to one ability, 4 hp)
L1: Artificial Intelligence (Ex): Drone (Has Move or Standard, or give my Move to give it both)
L1: Bypass (Ex): +1 insight to Computers & Engineering; increases at L5/L9/L13/L17/L20
L1: Custom Rig (Ex): Tool/Basic Kit for any Computers/Engineering check, Mk1 comm unit, talk drone 2500 feet
L2: Repair Drone (10 minutes repairing drone fixes 25% of maximum hit points)
L3: Overload (standard, adjacent, make tech nonfunctional 1 round; attended items get Reflex save: DC 16)
L3: Weapon Specialization:  Gain Weapon Specialization as bonus feat for basic melee, grenades, and small arms
L4: Energy Shield (standard action, gain temp hp = to Level+Int mod for 1 min/level. Recharge after 10 min. rest)

Feats and Proficiencies
Languages: Common, Brethadan, Vercite, Infernal, Azlanti, Ysoki, Kasatha
Armor Proficiency: Light
Weapon Proficiency: Basic Melee, Grenade, Small Arms
(L1):  Heavy Armor Proficiency
(Human Bonus): Skill Synergy (Life Science class skill, +2 insight Piloting)
(L3 Bonus): Weapon Specialization (add level or 1/2 level to damage)
(L3): Iron Will (+2 to Will saves)

Equipment
Lashunta Ringwear II
Custom Rig
Mk 1 Synaptic Accelerator (Wisdom)
Profession Clothing
Mk 1 Ring of Resistance (magic)
Mk 1 Serums of Healing (x4)

Background: "Professor Reivax Kipe suffers from a terrible biomagical neural disease that has destroyed his ability to control his muscles.  He quests for a cure."

Extra-Corporeal Manipulator
Combat Chassis Drone

Strength 16 (+3)
Dexterity 14 (+2)
Intelligence 6 (-2)
Wisdom 10 (+0)
Charisma 6 (-2)

Skills
Acrobatics -3
Athletics -2
Perception +0
Stealth +4

Modifications
*Reductive Plating (DR1)
*Weapon Mounts (x2)
(L1) Riding Saddle
*Weapon Proficiency (Small Arm)
*Weapon Proficiency (Long Arms)
(L3) Manipulator Arms

Feats and Proficiencies
(L1) Weapon Proficiency (Heavy)
(L3) Weapon Focus: Heavy

Combat
Hit Points: 40
EAC: 15
KAC: 18
Fort Save: +3
Ref Save: +2
Will Save: +1
Aufeis Ice Launcher +6, d. 1d12 B&C [20/4] (60' range') (crit: knockdown)

Equipment
Aufeis Ice Launcher
Batteries
Starfinder Backpack
Field Rations (1 week)
Lantern
Emergency Beacon
Radiation Badge
Professor & Gear

Background: "EXCOM serves as combination wheelchair, bodyguard, and extra set of arms for Professor Kipe."

Pathfinder: "Invisible Character Pack" [RPG]

About a decade ago, under its GameMastery line of game aids, Paizo came out with the Invisible Character Pack.  The premise is that it'd be ideal for GMs and players to be able to tell at a glance if a character or monster were under the effects of an invisibility spell.  I'd always just placed a transparent dice case over the associated mini, but a different solution is presented here.  Frankly, it's a bit bizarre.  The Invisible Character Pack consists of a small baggy containing very thin, transparent, completely flat plastic tokens intended to represent most fantasy archetypes: there's a couple of halfling/gnome rogues with daggers, an archer, a wizard with a spellbook, a fighter with sword and shield, a dwarf warrior with a hammer, a cleric holding a holy symbol aloft, and so forth.  Two enemies are also included, which the packaging describes as a "Demon-kin" and a "Dragon-kin."  Because the tokens are flat, standing them up requires using some sort of adhesive to attach them to the included thin plastic bases.  Acrylic cement is recommended, though for ease of storage and assembly/disassembly, I just use Blu-tak.

I've tried these out a few times in games when someone has turned invisible.  They create a bit of a delay while the player tries to pick one that most closely represents their PC, but then they work okay afterwards.  I'm not convinced they're really worth the trouble, however.  I'll probably keep using them occasionally just because I have them, but I can't really recommend them.

Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I honestly don't even know where to start in reviewing this book.  It was my bible for the longest campaign I've ever ran, and I've paged through its 428 pages so many times, I'm surprised my copy is in as good of shape as it is.  Equalled only by the Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover compilation, the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is the most detailed, impressive, and gorgeous presentation of a campaign I've ever seen.  It's a testament to James Jacob and the wonderful visual and art design folks at Paizo for putting it together.   In addition to the core adventures, the book includes an incredible array of supplementary material throughout its appendices: gazetteers, bestiaries, new magic items, and more.  And interspersed throughout are full-colour, detailed maps, high-quality artwork of NPCs and monsters, handouts, useful sidebars to help the GM in running particular scenes, and more.  I really can't rave enough about it.

I've already reviewed the substance of each of the six chapters of the adventure path in my reviews of issues # 1-6 of the monthly publication they originally appeared in (available on the Paizo website).  This Anniversary Edition is no lazy cut & paste compilation or mere updating of the original 3.5 rules to Pathfinder.  Everything has been refined, revised, polished, and packaged together to make a whole that is even better than the sum of its original parts. James Jacob read through countless posts on the forums about the original adventures and added encounters, explanations, and more to help everything flow even better.  I've compared the original versions to this revised package, and with only a couple of exceptions, the revisions are a sound improvement.

As far as I'm concerned, this is the best presentation of a classic fantasy role-playing campaign available.  You'll get hundreds of hours of gameplay out of it, experience characters growing from battling goblins at level 1 to battling the greatest threats the setting has to offer at level 18.  It's a satisfying, meaty, epic campaign, and this Anniversary Edition does it full justice.

Rise of the Runelords Recap # 82 [RPG]

[10 Calistril 4708 continued]

In Sandpoint, a trio of heroes reach the Cathedral and see Father Zanthus consoling the son of Bosk Hartigan, the guardsman who is presumed deceased.  The boy takes his grief out on the adventurers, blaming them for not rescuing his father.  Jinkatsyu stills the tirade when he mentions that they’ve lost one of their own—the fire mage Salma.

After speaking with Father Zantus about the makeshift shrine to Sinashakti (being erected in a spare room), Ava begins hours of prayer to try to restore her damaged connection with her god.  She eventually realizes that she’s been blaming herself so much for what’s gone wrong that it’s as if she believed she had control over everything—and thus were presuming too much power and responsibility over the fates of the mortals in her care.  The revelation leads her into a deeper connection with Sinashakti, and she emerges, hours later, stronger for the crisis.

Erik, a devotee of Milani, was lucky enough to 

stumble upon a pistol one day while adventuring!

Meanwhile, Jinkatsyu and Kang walk to Cracktooth’s Tavern, where Yuzo is still telling stories—including one about wrestling a crocodile that has everyone rapt!  The three talk about what to do, with Yuzo bemoaning the fact that he left his collapsible bathtub in Jorgenfist and may have to sleep in the river.  Around dinner time, Brodert Quink comes into the tavern, having searched everywhere for the adventurers; his bag is packed, and he’s ready to go on the grand adventure to explore Thassilonian ruins that (to his mind) Kang promised him!  Brodert introduces his grand-nephew (his sister’s grandson from Magnimar), whom he says is quite a worldly fellow with a fondness for a peculiar contraption invented in faraway Alkenstar.  The young man, whose name is Erik Armos, is one of the rare heaven-blooded mortals known as aasimar.  Kang recognizes the “peculiar contraption” as a firearm, and says he once knew a goblin who carried one twice as large!  Erik talks with the others, and they agree his skills could be useful; but Brodert’s presence remains a concern and leads to much debate.  Eventually, Brodert negotiates a deal: if they take him to the ancient library of the Therassic Monastery, he’ll “lend” the adventurers Erik’s aid in securing the tunnels below Sandpoint.

Salma shared little of her past with her allies.

Later that evening, the adventurers return to the Cathedral to find Ava praying over Salma’s body.  They fill her in on the plan, and she agrees.  While there, Kang and Jinkatsyu notice a startling fact: Salma’s body is smouldering despite no source of accelerant or flame in the room!  When the body suddenly bursts into flames, Ava uses her magick to suppress the effect.  Elsewhere, far beyond the ken of mortals, Salma’s spirit refuses a surprising offer.

[11 Calistril 4708]

In the early hours of morning, while most of Sandpoint slumbers, Erik stays awake, crouching on the roof of the Cathedral like an angelic gargoyle.  He notices a lanky Varisian male carrying a small, clinking bag headed toward the north part of town.  Erik is suspicious, but the figure realizes he’s being watched and disappears into the shadows.

Dawn breaks.  Jinkatsyu, who had slept on a hard stone pew in the Cathedral, is awakened by Sister Giulia, who enlists his help in making a breakfast far larger than the two of them could possibly eat.  At the Rusty Dragon, Kang tries to help Yuzo, who has become sickened after spending the night out of water, something inimical to his gillman ancestry.  Erik, from his vantage point on the roof, sees a contingent of grippli approach from the north, singing a mournful song and carrying a bundle wrapped in a sheet; when asked, they say a great sadness has come upon them and they need to see the Light of Sinaskahti.  In the shrine, Ava finds them unwrapping the body of Elder Chief Cragpawmpum.  The grippli explain to her that he died in his sleep overnight—not a surprise given his advanced age, but still a sadness for the tribe.  Sister Giulia arrives with words of comfort and the food that somehow she knew to prepare in advance.

Knowing that the grippli will spend a full day and night taking turns to be in the presence of the elder’s body, Ava tells the others that she knows she can’t be distracted from the adventurers’ quest to discover what evil lurks in the tunnels below.  Following through on the plan agreed to the previous night, Kang is left behind as she teleports the others (including Brodert Quink) to Jorgenfist.  The staging ground for Mokmurian’s planned invasion of Varisia is now silent as a tomb, as the stone giants have withdrawn completely.  The journey to the subterranean ancient library is uneventful, save for Brodert recognizing the massive cauldron in a chamber near it as a legendary “Runeslave Cauldron” used to turn the corpses of giants into the thralls of the masters of ancient Thassilon.  When asked about the magic of the empire, Brodert explains that each of the seven schools of magic it recognized (divination was deemed unworthy) was understood not through the type of magical energy it manifested as but, instead, in the context of the sin that often drove it.  Eventually, each of the seven Runelords identified personally with one aspect of so-called “sin magic” and ruled one part of the empire that often warred with the others.  Thus, Sandpoint stood on the border between the domain of the Runelord of Wrath (exemplified by evocation magic) and the domain of the Runelord of Greed (exemplified by transmutation).

Once inside the library, Brodert is boggled by the site of so many thousands of tomes and scrolls untouched by human eyes in millennia.  The others provide him with food for six days and ask him to start by looking for information about the tunnels underneath Sandpoint, anything about this “Runeforge” that was written on the walls therein, and, finally, about Karzoug, who apparently spoke to the adventurers after Mokmurian’s defeat.  Erik says goodbye to his great-uncle, promising to return before long, and then accompanies the others back to the old hide-out in the “deathweb cave.”  After a brief magical conversation with Kang confirms that all is well, the adventurers prepare to teleport to Magnimar to sell their accumulated spoils of war.

--------------------------------------------
Director's Commentary

This session is most notable for the introduction of Erik, the new character for Salma's player.  Erik would stick around until the very end.  Having the character as Brodert Quink's grand-nephew worked well.  I never got a firm handle of Erik's personality apart from a fondness for jokes.  His gunslinger's ability to hit Touch AC (like Kang) proved very useful in taking down some of the bigger targets in the campaign.

This was mostly a sort of "in-between" session to set up the next big part of the campaign (Runeforge).  I started one of the last subplots of the game here, with the sudden and surprising death of the senior Grippli in Sandpoint.  Was it really natural causes or perhaps . . . murder!?

Next Recap

Pathfinder Adventure Path # 6: "Spires of Xin-Shalast" (Rise of the Runelords) [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Alright, here we go!  The final book in the Rise of the Runelords adventure path, a campaign I spent three years' of Sunday nights and uncountable hours of prep to run.  It was an amazing ride and an unforgettable experience, and I'm really glad I got the opportunity to take part in it.  But I'll have more on my personal experiences later--for now, I'm here to review specifically Chapter 6 of RotRL as published in the monthly AP format.  I'll discuss the (mostly) non-spoilery back matter of the issue first, and then move onto the adventure itself in the Spoilers heading below.

First up is "Hazard's on the World's Roof: Adventuring at High Altitudes."  This section builds on and expands the (then-DMG's) rules on topics like mountain climbing, cold weather, and altitude sickness.  The PCs are headed to the very extremes of the world, and perhaps past the point where humans can be expected to survive.  The section is very detailed and very useful, and I used it extensively as a supplement to the shorter treatment in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and RotRL Anniversary Edition.  There's a lot of detailed tracking involved, and some GMs probably just handwave thinks like climbing checks, nonlethal damage from cold, fatigue from thin air, and so forth--but I went all out on the theory that these things are crucial for rewarding "wilderness-ready" PCs and making it clear how dangerous this terrain is.  (My group of players definitely didn't fall in the "wilderness-ready" category, so they made up the shortfall with extensive spellcasting every morning).

Next is "Of Endings and Beginnings", the last serialized entry in the fictional escapades of Eando Kline (for now).  The noted Pathfinder has been trying to figure out what's in a mysterious puzzle box, and in this chapter he takes it to a wizard at Korvosae's Acadamae for help.  There's a betrayal, a Hellknight, an exciting escape, and a very satisfying conclusion to the tale.  Though, I do wonder . . . what's in the box!  I'd like to sit down and read these all in order one day (I think they've been collected as e-books).  I'll definitely use some of the flavour from them for my next big campaign.

The issue's bestiary is quite extensive, with seven new monsters, all but one of which receives a two-page entry chock-full of background and description.  There's only one bland entry (a crag spider), while the others all expand on the creatures the PCs might meet in their quest to stop Karzoug such as the dreaded wendigo, the massive rune giants, and the creepy-cool denizens of Leng.  Three of the entries and much of the shared background in the section fleshes out the "lamia" category of monster.  Here, we have kuchrimas (birdlike scavengers), harridans (the leaders), and hungerers (amorphous, terrifying monsters--sometimes the classic artwork is better than the new stuff!).  With the one exception, this is a winning collection of new monsters that incorporates a great deal of setting lore.

Last up is a four-page preview of the next adventure path, Curse of the Crimson Thrones.  This is for GMs only, as it's quite spoilery.  But I'm convinced!

SPOILERS

A brief foreword explains the inspiration for this chapter: a lost city along the lines of Shangri-la or El Dorado.  There's also a bit about why a wizard like Karzoug was chosen to be the big-bad for the entire AP.

Part One, "On the Trail of Xin-Shalast," explains how even finding the legendary City of Greed is incredibly difficult due to its location on one of the highest peaks in all of Golarion (Mhar Massif) and its proximity to a thinning in the dimensional wall with another plane known as Leng.  Although the PCs may know the name of the city they need to find in order to face Karzoug, actually locating Xin-Shalast is another matter entirely.  The adventure assumes the PCs call on Brodert Quink, a local sage in Sandpoint who has always had a fascination with all things Thassilonian.  If they do, Quink is able to dig up a story about the Vekker Brothers, dwarven miners who claimed to have discovered a lost city of gold high up in the Kodar Mountains.  However, the Vekkers disappeared decades ago.  The PCs will need to travel to the Vekkers' old mining cabin to see if they left any hints about Xin-Shalast's location behind.  This part of the chapter is mostly exposition and role-playing, but it worked perfectly (and quite organically) when I ran it because the PCs had already built up a rapport with Brodert Quink.  It's always nice when those connections with NPCs, built up over many sessions, pay off.

Part Two, "Whispers on the Wind," starts with the PCs at the Vekkers' mining cabin.  The cabin is in a remote part of a treacherous mountain range, and the adventure leaves it up to the PCs to figure out exactly how to get there.  My group had a fun, brief detour in Urglin and then made their way into the mountains.  The GM can start implementing the rules for mountainous terrain (discussed above) at this point.  The bulk of this part of the adventure is essentially an elaborate variant on a haunted house.  An extremely grisly tale involving starvation and cannabalism will be slowly revealed to the players through encounters with haunts.  But they're extremely flavourful, creepy haunts that work well in the atmospheric setting.  Until re-reading the book for this review, I had never noticed the (obvious) thematic connection to greed in the backstory.  Events in the cabin gradually dovetail in a nightmarish, multi-step haunt and the looming presence of a battle against a wendigo.  I think it was one of the most memorable parts of the campaign, as one of the PCs (the only one with a low Will save) fell under the sway of the cabin's evil.  I was blessed with some excellent role-players in the group, and this section of the adventure can really bring out some quality storytelling if your group is up for it.  This part could also easily be adapted a standalone story arc for high-level PCs who aren't in RotRL.  Interestingly, the original version of the adventure here doesn't have the encounter with the frost worm that appears in the Anniversary Edition--something I noticed because that thing killed half the party when I ran it!

Part Three, "On the World's Roof," is all about the journey from the Vekkers' cabin to Xin-Shalast.  The process is rather complicated the way it's laid out here (and in the Anniversary Edition), so I had to take careful notes in prep.  There's a possible encounter with a sort of icy swamp nymph who, if befriended, can give the group some useful information about what they'll encounter in the City of Greed.  But for the most part, this section of the adventure is where the PCs will be hit the hardest by the rigors of travelling through the foreboding Kodar Mountains.  My group made things easier on themselves by wind-walking much of the way, at the cost of missing out on some encounters and clues they might have otherwise come across.  But all choices have consequences, and I can't blame them.

Part Four, "Xin-Shalast," is probably the meat of Chapter Six.  This section sees the PCs reaching a city of truly gargantuan scale (it was built with giants in mind, after all) and incredible age (ten millenia since it was largely abandoned!).  There's a lot to take in here for both the GM and the players.  The adventure addresses it by providing an overview of different sectors of the city and brief description of some major landmarks, and then devoting more content to a few particular events that will occur as the PCs explore.  As the PCs will discover, their ultimate goal is to defeat some of Karzoug's minions in order to gain magical items needed to safely pass through the "occluding field" around his headquarters.  Much of the adventure here is open-ended and freeform, which I appreciate from a "lack of railroading" perspective.  The difficulty I found, however, is that there's too little detail for parts of the city, and passing mentions that this area here is full of strange and terrifying forms of plant life and that area there is full of strange undead beings makes a lot of work for the GM at a point in the campaign when coming up with custom content is at its peak difficulty.  Another annoyance is that too much of the limited description of the city is about what particular areas or buildings were like 10,000 years ago, when I what I really need is more information about what they're like *now*.  Every GM needs improv skills, but this was probably the one part of the whole adventure path where I really wished I had more detail and guidance to work with.  Even more artwork of what buildings look like from "street level" or a sample encounter map for random encounters would have really helped convey the scale of the place.  I don't need extensive handholding from adventures, but this was more in the line of "here's some seeds--go plant some crops".

The next part of the adventure, "Scaling Mhar Massif", is also labelled as "Part Four".  This section details the full effects of the occluding field (nasty!) and gives capsule descriptions of the buildings around Karzoug's headquarters.  Again, I felt like I didn't have enough to work with here. It's a very brief section that's fleshed out slightly in the Anniversary Edition with an encounter with Leng spiders that provides more insight into what's happening inside a particular part of Karzoug's palace.

Part Five/Six is "The Pinnacle of Avarice."  This is the final "dungeon" of the campaign, and it's quite the affair.  The sheer scale of Karzoug's fortress is difficult to represent (I combined several blank flip-mats and we had to play on the floor!), and what's inside is a cascading series of battles against Karzoug's upper echelon of servants.  A really useful summary is provided, however, of the inhabitants, their response times, and their replenishment rates.  One thing the PCs may or may not be aware of is that Karzoug's ascension to freedom really is imminent, and if they take too many rest breaks in between assaulting the place, they might lose by default.  There are different routes through the Pinnacle of Avarice, and through happenstance some groups could go the "hard way" and fight almost everything (which happened to my PCs) or go the "easy way" and only have a few encounters before the big finish.  Either way, the GM really needs to prepare well for this considering how many lengthy and complex stat blocks they'll have to deal with at any given time.

And the climactic showdown?  First, I have to say that the Anniversary Edition handles it *much* better than the original version does here.  In the original version, the battle takes place in a bland circular room and Karzoug is all by himself.  Whereas in the Anniversary Edition, the battle is in an awesomely-described throne room and Karzoug has bodyguards in the form of a blue dragon, a rune giant, and some storm giants.  This is crucial because even a level 20 wizard can get cornered and locked down in a confined space by a couple of melee brutes and beaten much easier than he should be.  This is much less likely in the Anniversary Edition, and the resulting battle in my campaign was much more epic and memorable (even though it sadly ended with Karzoug victorious).

So all in all, Chapter Six as originally presented has some flaws: Xin-Shalast is described in too cursory a manner, and Karzoug probably wouldn't be challenging enough for most groups.  On the other hand, there's a fantastic horror story inside the Vekkers' cabin and the issue contains excellent back-matter entries.  I'd recommend a RotRL GM buy and read this issue for the useful content, but should use the Anniversary Edition for the big finale.

And don't forget the hidden message in the credits: "The runelords will return."

Pathfinder Tales: "Stalking the Beast"

NO SPOILERS

Stalking the Beast tells a new adventure featuring the protagonist of Howard Andrew Jones’ previous Pathfinder Tales novel, Plague of Shadows.  But in addition to elven archer Elyana and half-orc warrior Drelm, several new characters are introduced here as well.  The chapters alternate between different characters’ points of view, and while it’s not quite as effective of a contrast as Dave Gross’ Varian/Radovan books, it still works well.  This novel starts off near the small town of Delgar in the River Kingdoms, but there’s some local travel later in the book.  The plot is certainly not predictable, and contains plenty of action and drama capped off with an excellent ending.  Although it’s not my favorite Pathfinder novel, it’s an above-average entry in the series and definitely worth reading.

SPOILERS

The first part of Stalking the Beast concerns a mystery: what strange, invisible monster is murdering people near Delgar?  The cover art unfortunately gives it away, but the protagonists have to bring together adventurers and bounty hunters from all over the River Kingdoms to form a search party capable of tracking and slaying the strange beast.  I particularly liked the scene of Elyana and Drelm testing the applicants, though the eventual search party ends up being so large that I had trouble keeping track of all the participants.  And this proves something of a problem as they start being killed off, and one of them ends up being the beast’s master!  It’s a “twist” that fell flat to me because I couldn’t remember who the character was before he was revealed to be behind the murders to begin with.  Anyway, that’s far from the end of the story: the plot also involves tensions between the fey and druids of the forest of Sevenarches (in an excellent portrayal) and several further twists that are almost dizzying.  There may, in fact, be one twist too many.

What makes Stalking the Beast work as a novel are the exciting action scenes and the interesting, well-rounded characters.  Drelm, a half-orc warrior who worships Abadar (god of law and civilization) is a great character, the emerging subplot of how Elyana is realising that the time may have come for her to leave the town and Drelm behind (she’ll live for centuries after his death, after all) is bittersweet, and a new major character, a bounty-hunting gunslinger named Lisette, keeps things fresh.  And whereas a lot of novels fall flat when it comes to the ending, this one nails it perfectly.

I think Stalking the Beast has some room for improvement, but it’s enjoyable and probably superior to Jones’ previous Pathfinder novel.