Pathfinder Module: "Gallery of Evil" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

As part of my “Roots of Golarion” campaign, I ran Gallery of Evil recently (making the minor conversions necessary for Pathfinder characters).  As the back cover states, it’s the first Paizo product to have detailed information on (part of) of Absalom.  It’s always fun to see how such iconic locations began!  The adventure itself has a really interesting, original premise, and the first half has a great combination of action, role-playing, and investigation.  The second half devolves into a more traditional dungeon crawl and is less memorable, though it’s fine.  I’d still recommend the module, as an enterprising GM could make some adjustments to the second half to bring in more of Absalom’s flavour while keeping the essential beats.

Let’s get into the art and back matter.  The cover is really fun, though just a few more visual touches to make it clear the monster is coming out of the painting (as opposed to a doorway or window) would have helped explain the theme.  The inside front cover contains maps of encounter locations in the adventure—they’re not beautiful, but certainly usable.  The interior art really varies in style, but it’s pretty good for the most part.  The adventure itself takes about 22 pages, leaving 10 pages of back matter.  Appendix # 1 is “The Ivy District”, a gazetteer of a particular neighborhood in Absalom, and it contains a fair amount of information (with a couple of potential adventure hooks).  I didn’t know (or had forgotten) that one of the Foxgloves lives in Absalom!  Appendix # 2 is “New Monsters”.  I absolutely love the artwork for the Shadowy Lurker, even if its abilities are a bit of a pain to run.  The other new addition is a template, “Painted Creation”, a type of animated object/construct.  Original and useful.  Appendix # 3 is “New Items”, and it includes Numerian leaf armor, id portraits, portraits of health, and sorcerous pigments.  The inside back cover is a very god map of the Ivy District, suitable for photocopying and handing out to players.

SPOILERS!

No one’s as brutal as an art critic, except an angry artist out for revenge on them!  Imron Gauthfallow, a former adventuring wizard, settled in Absalom with his riches and turned to painting scenes of the amazing phenomena he witnessed during his years on the road.  At first he was a great success, but then imitators began aping his style and the critics turned against him.  That’s how it goes in the art world, but Gauthfallow discovered one rival artist had been bribing his assistant for advanced looks at his works-in-progress and then swiping the designs.  In what he believes is a fitting punishment, Gauthfallow has decided to get back at his enemies in the art world by sending them canvases with enchanted paintings of monsters that come to life!

The PCs get involved when they’re invited to the home of Asheron Coyle, a wealthy collector and art critic.  The premise is that Coyle is a sponsor of various expeditions into tombs and ruins so that he can add to his collection, and wants the PCs for a dig.  As a useful “Designer Notes” sidebar (a great idea that I can’t fathom the reason for abandoning) indicates, it’s not much of a hook and can be easily customised by the GM.  Anyway, once the PCs show up, they find Coyle dead and a pair of giant octopi inexplicably rampaging through his house!  And when the creatures are destroyed, they melt into puddles of paint.  Terrified servants explain the creatures somehow emerged from a painting that had just been delivered to Coyle, and the courier had remarked he had more to deliver in the area.

Assuming the PCs are interested in stopping further attacks and discovering who’s behind Coyle’s murder, they’ll reach the townhouse of another wealthy art critic, Belfor Vittanis.  Vittanis is throwing a drunken party in the ballroom and about to unwrap the “gift” painting that has just been delivered to him, and the PCs only have one minute to stop him!  This is one of the best parts of the adventure, as there’s some great opportunities for role-playing in the PCs sneaking into the party and then racing to stop Vittanis before it’s too late.  A myriad of obstacles (long-winded talkers, drunk and overly-affectionate guests, bouncers, etc.) are strategically positioned throughout the ballroom to slow the PCs down, ramping up the tension in a clever and unique way.  The only downside is that Level 8 PCs may very well have options like flight or dimension door to bypass these obstacles entirely, removing the challenge (and some of the fun) of the encounter.  If the PCs do make it in time, they can keep the magic of the painting from being triggered; if they fail, a trio of bearded devils emerge and begin to cause havoc.

Clues to the courier’s next location are easy to obtain, and this time the PCs can catch him in the act of attempting to deliver a painting to art critic Eleazonna Gertwright.  The courier, a dandy named Darius Finch, doesn’t actually know what he’s been delivering, or that Gauthfallow has sent an invisible stalker to depose of him after the final delivery!  Finch could be an interesting NPC if the GM breathes some life into him (I probably could have done better). 

From Finch, the PCs should learn that a fourth painting has already been delivered to the home of a painter named Endrik Archerus (the rival artist who stole Gauthfallow’s ideas).  In Archerus’ studio, they find no body but a recently-unveiled painting of a scene from Hell full of monsters, hags, giant worms, etc.  The idea is that the PCs are supposed to intentionally touch the painting to enter a small extradimensional space of the scene depicted, fight the monsters, and realise that Archerus is still alive, having been transformed into one of the worms.  My group destroyed the painting the second they saw it to keep any monsters emerging, (unintentionally) dooming Archerus!  But I think that was the logical move; I wasn’t a fan of this encounter because it sort of “broke the rules” of what had been happening.  In all the other paintings, the monsters stepped out of the artwork; in this one, touching the painting would take you into it.  In order to make the distinction clear, the module needed to have Archerus depicted in the artwork, screaming and gesturing for help, for example.

The final part of the adventure has the PCs locating (with little difficulty) Gauthfallow’s house and searching it top to bottom to locate him.  This is where the dungeon (manor) crawling begins, as the mansion has three levels above ground and two hidden dungeon levels below ground.  There are some interesting encounters—for example, I love the creepily-drawn “Painted Servants”, the hellhound polymorphed to look like a normal dog, and that Gauthfallow has used a minor artifact to conjure three aspects of his personality (my son still laughs at how bombastic “The Rake” was before being defeated in one round).  Gauthfallow himself is a pushover of a “boss” despite having time to prepare for the PCs.  I think the adventure would have been more interesting if this part had taken place during an art show or some other way of continuing the interesting story premise with some flavour and role-playing rather than a more traditional room-by-room search for the bad guy.

Overall all, despite the weaker second half, I think there’s a lot of fun to be had with Gallery of Evil.  It has an original premise, the setting (the Ivy District artworld) is an original one, and there are some fun story beats.  It’s not necessarily a challenging adventure (the clues are easily obtained and the foes aren’t hard), so a GM could run it for a lower-level group with few adjustments if desired.  I wouldn’t say the module is a masterpiece, but it’s worth hanging on the wall.

Pathfinder Tales: "Forge of Ashes" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

A bloodthirsty dwarf and a kick-ass oread who’s taken a vow of silence walk into a bar.  That’s not the start of a joke, but of a surprisingly compelling Pathfinder Tales novel, Forge of Ashes.  An interesting plot, excellent characters, exciting action scenes, and a strong understanding of Golarion’s lore make for a strong addition to the line.  This one is worth taking a shot on even if the subject matter doesn’t initially seem appealing.

SPOILERS!

Forge of Ashes starts in the dwarven city of Taggoret in the Five Kings Mountains.  A dwarf bloodrager named Akina is returning home after years away adventuring, and has brought for company an oread monk named Ondorum.  But instead of a happy family reunion, Akina learns that her mother went missing years ago and is presumed dead, and her brother, a former cleric of Torag, has been essentially excommunicated for inexplicably spouting stuff about Droskar and the “Ashen Forge”.  But an old suitor named Gromir, who’s long held a torch for Akina, tries to rekindle things.  Only, Gromir hates Ondorum (interesting to see dwarf vs oread antipathy; it makes a certain kind of sense!) and, far worse, is secretly working for a powerful group of duergar in the Darklands!  Gromir kidnaps Akina’s brother, and to get him back, Akina and Ondorum have to give chase.  Along the way, they befriend a caligni named Izthuri, deal with xulgath raids and (really funny) chatty ropers, and eventually uncover a duergar plot to use a magical artifact called the Ashen Forge for nefarious means.

That’s a lot of detail, but the story isn’t hard to follow.  Some really interesting setting lore is incorporated into the book, and I walked away having learned a lot more about Taggoret, duergar, oreads, and the Darklands.  (and I liked seeing the forge-spurned from an ages-ago module)  The action scenes are top-notch, with some thrilling monk vs monk fights.  Nor does the book pull any punches when it comes to killing off characters; the stakes are certainly dire, which really ramps up the tension near the end.  Forge of Ashes isn’t a book I’d be naturally drawn to (I don’t have a particularly strong interest in dwarves), but I ended up really enjoying it.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 1-04 (Scenario # 32): "Drow of the Darklands Pyramid" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I played this via play-by-post at high subtier (10-11) with my “caveman shaman”, Gurkagh.  Drow of the Darklands Pyramid is almost 100% dungeon crawl, but it’s a really inventive and well-described dungeon!  The adventure certainly has some challenging combats.  Since the title gives it away, it’s not a spoiler to say drow are the main threat in the adventure.  They’re handled well and some named foes are fleshed out with personal details (though the players aren’t likely to learn many of them).  The background story leading up to the dungeon-crawl doesn’t hold together great.    Overall, I’d place this one in the same category as a lot of Season 0/Season 1 PFS scenarios: fast, straightforward, and combat-heavy.  Good if you want to try out a new build or tactic, not so good if you’re interested in role-playing, story beats, or investigation.

SPOILERS!

Drow of the Darklands Pyramids takes place in Osirion.  The Pathfinder Society has been excavating a pyramid dubbed the “Tilted Pyramid” because it leans to one side.  However, every single artifact they’ve uncovered from the pyramid has been stolen by hooded caravan raiders who strike at night.  The Society has decided to call in a team of specialists (the PCs) to find out who’s robbing the caravans.  By the time the PCs arrive, a trail has been discovered leading from the last caravan attack to a deep cave suspected of connecting to the Darklands.  That’s where the adventure starts, with the PCs essentially at the front door of the dungeon.

But what a dungeon!  Following the trail leads to a vast cavern containing the suspected twin of the Titled Pyramid: the so-called “Stalactite Pyramid”, so-named because it hangs upside down!  There’s some backstory about the Stalactite Pyramid perhaps having magic allowing the Tilted Pyramid to fly, but none of it is really relevant to the adventure and I don’t think the PCs will learn of it.  (though there are a lot of hints in the scenario that it may come up again in a future scenario).

Anyway, what’s been going on is that, in addition to raiding the PFS caravans laden with artifacts from the Tilted Pyramid, a drow expedition (led by a cleric of Abraxus named Jevana) has just blasted open the “tip” of the Stalactite Pyramid and entered to loot it.  The PCs need to follow them in, which might seem to be a challenge since it’s so high up along the cavern, but a magical effect gives everyone the ability to fly.  So in essence, the adventure consists of flying and fighting upwards through an ancient upside-down pyramid against foes quite skilled in unorthodox combat.  It’s a pretty original concept, and the writer has taken great pains to establish the features of each encounter: light levels, hardness of doors and objects, enemy tactics, etc.  A GM who pays careful attention to these things (and the rules for flying) will be rewarded with combats that are much harder than when PCs get to fight in usual (optimal) conditions.  Extra attention will need to be devoted to maps and room descriptions, as 3D encounters are always a little clunky.  Patience and preparation are key.

I don’t think there’s much value in me going into more depth about the encounters other than to say that, in addition to the drow, foes include driders, quasits, a duergar slave (the only potential role-playing opportunity in the session), and at higher tiers, some demons like hezrous and babaus.  I’d encourage GMs to use the faction missions—they’re interesting and will spice things up a bit as some require secrecy from the other party members.  The Chronicle doesn’t have any boons, and the Conclusion is pretty straightforward.  I don’t know if the connection between the Tilted and Stalactite Pyramids is followed-up on in later scenarios or not.  Story-wise, I was a little surprised no attention seemed to be given to how drow in Golarion are commonly thought to be a myth and that their existence is a deep and dark secret that elves try to suppress.  In Drow of the Darklands, drow are just another type of enemy to fight.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 7-07: "Trouble in Tamran" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

I recently played Trouble in Tamran via play-by-post.  It’s a carefully-researched and well-written scenario that ties strongly into the season meta-plot and PFS lore.  The artwork, maps, and handouts are all attractive.  Importantly, there’s plenty of room for different groups to approach some issues in different ways.  There’s a lot of meat to the bone of this scenario, and if I have any complaints, it’s that I imagine a live table-run of the scenario would almost surely go overtime.  Still, I certainly recommend it as long as there’s no rush to finish.

SPOILERS!

Trouble in Tamran has a pretty involved backstory.  The Aspis Consortium, a long-time rival of the Pathfinder Society, has launched a quiet war to undermine the PFS all over the Inner Sea.  In the city of Tamran in the country of Nirmathas, this attack has taken the form of intercepting shipments to the Ashen Lodge (the Society’s headquarters in the city), spreading rumours that the PFS has allied with Nirmathas’ mortal enemy Molthune, and allying with another group with a beef against the PFS (the Church of Razmir) to rough up any reinforcements the Society sends into the city.  The PCs come in at this point, assigned to help former Sczarni faction leader Guaril Karela discover why his (smuggled) shipments to the city keep getting intercepted.

The scenario does a great job incorporating story points from previous adventures.  One of the creeps recruited by the Aspis Consortium to cause trouble in Tamran is Madreki Gael, an old foe of Guaril Karela.  The leader of the Aspis mission is Zurnzal, a major foe in Season 6 (and players who have the Chronicle from # 6-98 may get a bonus in the scenario).  The reason the Church of Razmir is happy to cooperate with the plan is because of what the Society did to its temple in Tamran in the module Masks of the Living God.  That module contains a gazetteer of Tamran, and several locations and at least one NPC from it are integrated here.  By sheer coincidence, I happened to be running Masks of the Living God online at the same time as I played Trouble in Tamran, and it was a kick to see the city from dual perspectives.

A major part of the first half of the scenario has the PCs investigating different leads to try to figure out what’s going on: why the shipments have been stopped, who’s spreading the rumours about the PFS, etc.  This is handled perfectly, as different leads are connected to locations and NPCs that are quickly and concisely described, giving a GM just enough to work with for quality role-playing while not overwhelming them with detail.  No single lead or clue is mandatory, but instead it’s a cumulative accumulation of knowledge that, when analysed, will hopefully lead to the right conclusion.  To keeps things interesting, the GM is given two encounters to insert at dramatically appropriate times.  One is an ambush by Razmiran-infiltrated militia, and the other is a really clever frame-up where the Church plants Molthuni coins on the PCs.  Overall, I thought the investigation section was handled well, and I always appreciate it when a scenario gives the players some flexibility in how they go about solving a problem and the GM some flexibility in deciding when to place some obstacles in their way.

When the PCs next meet up with Guaril Karela, he says he’s been able to learn that the cargo thieves must be operating out of one of the abandoned forts near the city—but there are four of them, and he doesn’t know which one is being used.  The PCs can use the clues they’ve gathered as a sort of real-world logic puzzle to eliminate the forts one by one until only the correct fort is left.  Or, if they didn’t happen to gather enough clues (or interpret them correctly), they can brute-force a solution by manually searching all the forts—but each wrong guess gives more time for the defenders in the right fort to prepare (making the encounters a little harder).  Again, a very clever way of handling things.

The last part of the scenario involves attacking the right fort and learning who’s behind the Society’s troubles in the city.  The encounters here involve some clever illusions (that certainly worked on my character), more militia and Razmirans, and a cool skinwalker (Zurnzal’s apprentice) named Cetenna.  Assuming they succeed in the battles, the PCs will discover various handouts that explain the Aspis Consortium’s involvement and plans (a good way of ensuring that all the background isn’t something only the GM becomes aware of).

When I was playing it, I don’t think I appreciated Trouble in Tamran as much as I should have.  I’ve played too many Season 0/Season 1 scenarios where the group get one vague clue and are then expected to rush off after it, but by Season 7, scenarios are far richer and more intelligent.  Play-by-post also has the unfortunate side-effect of making it hard to remember what was uncovered days or weeks earlier.  But reading it for the purposes of this review, I can see how well-constructed the scenario is.  It should offer a satisfying experience for players, whether they’re interested in role-playing, puzzle-solving, or combat.

Pathfinder Player Companion: "Knights of the Inner Sea" [RPG]

 I love the cover to Knights of the Inner Sea—it’s a classic fantasy scene, beautifully drawn.  Poster-worthy, in my opinion.  In contrast, the internal artwork is pretty weak, and it’s clear many of the freelancers didn’t have much experience drawing armor (and a lot of the human proportions are off).

 As the theme of the book is obvious from the title, we’ll get right into it.  The inside front cover has details on four knightly families in the Inner Sea: the Darahans (Taldor), Graydons (Ustalav), Tilernos (Lastwall), and Khavortorovs (Brevoy).  Along with the expected info (heraldry, motto, etc.), each has an associated combat trait—they’re strong, but the one for Graydon is a one-time-use only thing and that’s pretty limiting.  The inside back cover is on mounts—several types of horses (like a “Lastwall Jasper” or a “Taldor Jennet”) and some more exotic ones, like an “Erutaki Husky”.  Each type is given a Bestiary equivalent along with a special trait (taken in lieu of one of a PC’s two traits) that modifies the animal in a particular way.  I think it works well for those who want to add a bit more impact to their choice of mount.

The book itself is divided into a series of two-page long entries on various topics.  The only way out is through, so here we go!

·       “For Your Character” has an index of the new rules options presented in the book and some stuff on what classes can benefit the most from it.  I did like the funny little aside about the origin of the name “Knights of Ozem”.

·       “Knights Overview” discusses different types of knights in Golarion and has some really good cross-references to other Pathfinder books that flesh some of the types out in more detail.

·       “Eagle Knights” has a brief introduction to the group, two good new regional traits, and a “role” (essentially a suggested template) for how a knight of each of the group’s three orders could be built mechanically.

·       “Hellknights” has a brief description of the seven orders within the organisation, two roles, and two regional traits that are pretty niche.

For both the Eagle Knights and the Hellknights, there’s a lot better material elsewhere, and the entries here are only the barest of introductions.

·       “Knights of Ozem” has two new traits (both good), two roles, and a paragraph each on three of the order’s castles.  I think it might be a bit trickier to come up with an explanation for why a Knight of Ozem has joined an adventuring band (since the group’s whole mission is Lastwall-focussed).

·       “Mendevian Crusaders” has the usual stuff, but I like the theme of people of low-birth disguising themselves as aristocrats to better carry out the role of knight.

·       “Other Knightly Orders” has a couple of paragraphs each on the Kortos Calvalry, Risen Guard, and Taldan Knights.  This material is descriptive only, with no game mechanics.

·       “Anatomy of the Knight” is an interesting visual primer on the equipment that (real-world) knights wore and carried, along with a couple of paragraphs on heraldry. 

·       “Knights and Religion” and “Knights and Race” are very brief sketches of how different religions and races in the game relate to the concept of knights.

·       “Squires” is a potentially important addition to the game for knightly characters.  By taking a feat (at fourth level), knight PCs can have what’s essentially a mini-Leadership feat providing a single Cohort—a squire.  The entry gives four archetypes for the squire (Combat Healer, Gunner, Herald, and Weapon Bearer).  Very useful in a one-PC game, but probably overpowered in a group game if all it costs is a single feat.

·       “Mounts” essentially allows a PC to use the Leadership feat to take a monstrous mount like a giant owl or a unicorn as a Cohort.

For both squires and monstrous mounts, it’s good to have these as supplemental rules, but (just like the Leadership feat itself) I wouldn’t expect every GM to allow them in every game.

·       “Cavalier Orders” adds three new Orders (a cavalier class feature) to the game: the Order of the Land (protecting rural areas), the Order of the Penitent (former criminals), and the Order of the Staff (aides to spellcasters).  Interesting concepts, but the associated powers are pretty weak.

·       “Knightly Codes and Traits” provides secular knights a nice role-playing counterpart to the idea of Paladin codes.  The Codes include Freedom, Perseverance, Revolution, Valor, and Vigilance.  Each has an associated social trait that the character gets if they maintain the code. 

·       “The Spells of Serren” is a collection of eight new spells ostensibly created by Serren, a half-elven magus who spent a lot of time associating with knights.  I’ve actually seen a lot of these come up in games—carry companion, bed of iron, and especially the overpowered and problematic keep watch (allowing PCs to stay awake all night every night).

·       “Magic Items” has what you would expect—nothing jumped out at me, and I haven’t noticed any of them being used or abused. 

And that’s Knights of the Inner Sea.  It covers a ton of ground, though much of the setting material seems incredibly cursory to someone familiar with Golarion.  However, if given to a player new to the world that wants to play a knight PC, it could be a good entry point. 

Starfinder One-Shot # 2: "The Great Grav-Train Robbery" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

The Great Grav-Train Robbery is the second Starfinder “one-shot”, a short adventure played with themed pre-gens intended to take just a few hours to complete.  I got a chance to play it online via play-by-post, and then read through it for the purpose of this review.  I think it’s a really fun, fast-paced adventure with some real classic cinematic moments of the type likely to have players swapping tales about it well after it’s over.  If you like classic heist movies with a sci-fi twist, this adventure is for you.

The PDF is sixteen pages long, though only about ten of that is devoted to the adventure (with the rest taken up by some excellent artwork).  The pre-generated characters are a separate download, which I forgot to read for this review, but I do remember they have personalities fitting their roles in the group and some background info that ties into the adventure.  Groups can play the adventure just for fun, but Starfinder Society credit is available as well.

SPOILERS!

The Great Grav-Train Robbery takes place on the world of Pan in the isolated Tabori Cluster.  A mysterious artifact has been discovered in a mine and is on the way via grav-train to the area’s largest city (and known stronghold for the criminal Ixo Syndicate).  But a bloke named Aramesh Maageri has another idea, and has organised a crew to steal the artifact right under the noses of the train’s staff and passengers!  The pre-gen PCs, of course, are Aramesh and the crew he’s assembled, and like a good heist movie, they each have a role to play (“The Face”, “The Muscle”, “The Hacker”, etc.).  The adventure starts fast, as each PC is dangling from a rope attached to an enercopter about to swoop down over the speedy train.  At the GM’s discretion, the players can each have a turn with a “background flashback” to describe how they were recruited for the mission.  Otherwise, they’re thrown right into the first obstacle: how to get past a nuar security guard (violence or stealth being likely options).

Although the PCs know which cargo car on the train the artifact is being stored, they need to acquire access codes to it by obtaining the personal datapad of Brom Lancaster, the train’s chief of security.  Brom’s currently drinking in the train’s VIP car, so the PCs need to figure out how to get close enough to him and swipe it without anyone noticing (as this is a heist crew, not a tactical combat infantry squad!).  This plays out in a well-designed mini-game that has each player take on a role (like “The Conversationalist” or “The Distraction”) and making skill checks until Brom is sufficiently vulnerable to the Pickpocket moving in.  But there’s a smart twist: the PCs aren’t the only ones after the artifact, or Brom’s datapad!  A rival “gentleman thief” named Royce Flynn is present, so the situation plays out a bit like a Chase, and the adventure certainly contemplates Royce getting the datapad first.

Whether the PCs get to the cargo car ahead of Royce or behind him, once the access codes to the creates are inputted in Brom’s datapad, every container unlocks at once—including one containing a live mountain eel!  This begins a pretty exciting scene as Royce’s plan was similar to the PCs—get the artifact and evacuate via enercopter.  His crew’s enercopter is the first to arrive, so not only do the PCs need to deal with the mountain eel, they need to deal with gunfire and the risk of Royce escaping with the artifact.  There are some fun additions to this scene, like a grav-crane that can reposition crates or even hold the enercopter in place.  As the battle progresses, it becomes clear why the PCs’ plan has *their* enercopter hold off—the grav-train is about to enter a tunnel!  Royce’s exploding transport is a cool transition to the next scene.

In the last major part of the adventure, the PCs presumably have the artifact but their exploits in the cargo hold haven’t gone unnoticed by ship’s security.  The heist gang have to improv an escape plan because the next stop after the tunnel is the train’s final destination, a grav-train station.  Three options are presented to the players, and they’re all well-detailed in the adventure (and will play out very differently).  First, they can unpacked a hover cruiser (a floating sports car, essentially) and try to make a run for it once the train clears the tunnel.  This starts an exciting vehicle chase scene as the Ixo Syndicate pursues on armored hovercycles.  Second, they can decide on the “guns a-blazing” approach and try to fight their way out.  But this won’t be a standard Starfinder combat—there’s a gargantuan mech stored in the cargo hold, and the PCs can take it!  I’ve never done any mech combat in Starfinder, but it’s certainly a memorable way to have a big ending.  Third, they can decide to bluff their way out of the situation—this is the one my group chose.  Players can’t make various skill checks to sort-of retrospectively justify their disguises and other steps they took (like erasing security videos) to get past the train detective.  But if they fail, they’re almost certainly going to be arrested.

The adventure concludes with a very brief two-paragraph epilogue that essentially leaves things open for the group to continue on if they’d like.

I ended up playing “The Muscle” in the adventure, so I generally left all the heist-related decision-making to the others.  One of the issues I noticed is that we all brought different preconceptions to what was realistic to expect—whether security would hear the violence against the first guard, how long the train was, whether it’d be possible to pretend to be civilian passengers, etc.  This isn’t really the adventure’s fault, but it’d probably be good for the GM to emphasise from the beginning that this is a movie-style heist, and although the players shouldn’t be stupid, they shouldn’t sweat the small-stuff and should focus on the big picture of doing exciting things in pursuit of their goal.

Starfinder Module: "Junker's Delight" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

There’s a lot to really love about Junker’s Delight, a standalone adventure designed for 1-st level characters.  It is a model on how to write an adventure to support a first-time or relatively new GM because it includes several sidebars explaining tricky concepts and creatures get full stat-blocks (with included explanations of special abilities).  A GM won’t have to flip through six books to understand what a creature can do!  The setting (a massive scrapyard and the community that has grown around it) is interesting and memorable.  The layout and art design (borders, fonts, etc.) supports the feel of the adventure, and the individual pieces of artwork are top-notch.  (the pencil-sketch combat maps are a bit odd, but not problematic)  I played Junker’s Delight in a game run by my 11-year-old son, and the experience was like night and day compared to when he’s had to interpret adventures written for experienced adult GMs.  An RPG can only thrive if GMs are willing to run it, and this is the sort of product Paizo should try to get into as many hands as possible.  In short, it’s a perfect introduction to the game.

In the rest of this non-spoilery section, I’ll cover the book’s back matter. 

First up is “Khefak Depot” (four pages), a gazetteer of the settlement featured in the adventure.  As gazetteers go, it’s okay, but probably needed to be longer and more detailed if Khefak Depot is intended to serve as a potential “homebase” for the PCs beyond the end of the adventure.  It could also have better integrated the scrap-theme.  There are a few cool bits, like a tourist-trap called Necroplace (where visitors can simulate being undead), an ominous NPC called the Water Dealer (one could certainly generate some adventure hooks relating to him), and another themed resort called Thassilon (I wasn’t sure if any mention of it survived the Gap!).

Second is “Adventure Toolbox” (ten pages), a real grab-bag of material.  It begins with a few ways the PCs could have come together for the adventure (I thought they were pretty ordinary, but serviceable).  Next up is junk-themed gear.  I really like the idea of wrist-mounted garbage-disposal blades!  Some of the higher level items get stupid in both price and concept (an artefact of the system’s insistence that all weapons and armor have multiple types situated within a formula).  Scavenging a garbage disposal mechanism from a scrapyard for a weapon at Level 1 is cool; spending 170,000 credits for a Level 16 version is just goofy.  Along with junk-themed gear, we also get some junk-themed spells.  The spell junk armor is particularly nice for a character intending to “make do with what’s around” (like my penny-pincher, Nixxer).  A new archetype, the junkomancer, is included.  It’s a nice idea, but honestly probably not worth it for the vast majority of builds.  Three new creatures are included: a drift phantom (forgettable), a junk golem (good), and a thastertoad (forgettable).  And last, there’s two brief one-paragraph long suggestions on how the GM can continue the fun after the adventure proper is over.

SPOILERS!

Okay, let’s get into the adventure!  It’s divided into three parts.

Part 1 (“Pest Control”) starts with the PCs arriving at Khefak Depot and quickly intervening (presumably) in an alleyway shakedown of a ysoki named Riddle by a street gang named the True Warriors.  After running off the toughs, the PCs learn that Riddle operates a junk shop and, in thanks for saving her, offers them a reward and even jobs.  It’s a strong opening and will get the players involved in the action immediately, which I think is important for new players especially. 

Riddle’s job for the PCs is to investigate the disappearance of an android historian named Vari-13.  Vari-13 came into Riddle’s shop looking for a piece of salvage that they claimed could “change the galaxy.”  Assuming the PCs agree to the job, the adventure then has an abstract system of skill checks to find different clues.  I thought this bit could have been done better, as it requires a GM to improv in-story reasons the PCs are finding these clues, and improv isn’t necessarily an easy skill for a beginner GM.  In any event, the clues will lead the PCs to area of the vast scrapyards around Khefak Depot called the Caryards (full of wrecked starships).  The PCs need to navigate a bit of a maze and fend off some khefaks (big scorpion-like predators) and junk-related hazards before finding Vari-13 hiding in a trailer.

The android explains that they’ve been looking for a lost science research vessel named the Stellar Flare, believing that the crew discovered a way to draw power directly from the Drift that could be used to support entire energy infrastructures.  With some work, the PCs are able to use the data that they’ve obtained to triangulate a likely position for the Stellar Flare—deeper in the scrapyards.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph of this review, a lot has been done to support a new GM here.  There are sidebars specifically devoted to the first fight, how to divide XP afterward, how to handle radiation (though it doesn’t mention that poisons impact HP), how to level up characters, and more.  Although khefaks appear in a volume of the Alien Archive, the GM doesn’t have to look up their stats—instead, the adventure itself gives a full write-up and even explains what concepts like “mindless” mean.  I think it’s bound to make a difference in making the adventure easier to run.

Part 2 (“The Last Scrap War”)  begins with probably my favourite piece of artwork from the book: a goblin picking his nose while his ally looks on in embarrassment.  In this part of the adventure, the PCs realise that the Stellar Flare is in an area of the scrapyard contested by two rival gangs: the Trashhunters (goblins) and the Unbroods (ikeshtis).  Fortunately, one member of each group has struck up an unlikely friendship together, and the PCs can get them to help out.  They’re a really funny duo.  There’s a multi-part fetch quest in this section as the PCs need to assemble parts of an EMP key that will allow entry into the force-shielded starship.  In true cinematic style, just as the PCs get what they need, both rival groups converge and threaten to unleash war on each other, with the PCs caught in the middle!  This bit could indeed be a real challenge for low-level characters, but hopefully victims will just get knocked out and not killed.  Useful sidebars (on things like spell gems—complicated!, how broken items work, how Aid Another works, etc.) continue to appear.

Part 3 (“Flare Out”) has the PCs investigating the interior of the Stellar Flare.  Exploring the inside of a dangerous starship is a Starfinder staple (the equivalent of a dungeon crawl).  The real challenge here is the inclusion of two “driftdeads” (incorporeal undead)—unless the party has the right tools, fighting incorporeal creatures can quickly become a losing proposition.  There is a very handy sidebar for the GM on how incorporeal creatures work, but it probably would have been better to save the concept (and the escalated threat level) for a future adventure.  The fun and original bit in Part 3 is that after taking control of the ship, the PCs realise they’re about to be invaded!  The leader of the True Warrior gang and their minions are on the way, and the PCs need to set up traps and obstacles to slow them down.  A lot of creativity can be brought into play here, but there’s a simple system provided for the GM to adjudicate things without getting overwhelmed.  A lot of RPGs have the PCs as the aggressors, so it’s fun to switch things around and have them be the defenders for once.

The adventure has a brief conclusion (Vari-13 will need to take some time to sift the data form the Stellar Flare, so no galaxy-changing discoveries right away!) that leaves the PCs in a good position to continue on with a homebrew adventure around Khefak Depot or transition to another published adventure.

Newbie-friendly products are a great way to grow a game, but even as an experienced player I thought the story was strong.  All in all, I had a blast with Junker’s Delight, and I bet you will too.  

Pathfinder Minimates: "Ostog the Unslain and Cairn Wight" [RPG]

This pack of Minimates (little figures a bit bigger than Legos) comes with "Ostog the Unslain" and a "Cairn Wight".  Ostog is a shirtless, bearded barbarian type whom, I've read elsewhere, was a PC of Pathfinder President Erik Mona in a long-running office campaign.  The figure comes with a sword.  The Cairn Wight (a type of undead) comes with a sword and a shield.  Each figure also comes with a plastic display stand.

The packaging is nice, but neither figure makes a particular impression on me, as I don't have a connection to someone else's PC and I've never used or encountered a cairn wight in a game.  So this set gets a big "shrug" from me, but I guess others may find it more to their liking.

Here's the text on the back about each figure:

"OSTOG THE UNSLAIN cannot be killed--or at least that's what he keeps telling everyone (and himself).  His heroic deeds keep the skalds of his northern home singing of his bravery."

"The CAIRN WIGHT guards forlorn tombs and burial mounds.  So deep is its undead evil that its very touch drains life--an ability that extends to its terrible sword."

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 35 [RPG]

[Sunday, 31 Desnus 4708 A.R.]

Deep below Arkona Palace, the Harrowed Heroes converse with their captor, Meliya Arkona, about how to best kill her brother, Glorio.  The Reckoner persuades her to let him go out into the city for an hour in search of magical potions to aid the upcoming confrontation, on the condition that the others are left behind as hostages.  The masked vigilante finds a new rowboat tied up on the pier that juts into the sea caves under the palace, and rows it (with some difficulty) through an illusory wall and out into the waters lapping the coast of Endrin’s Isle.  Hurrying through the streets of Old Korvosa, he realises that rioting has begun afresh.  He spots what looks like a group of priests being chased by a mob, but decides not to intervene.  When he reaches Ledbetter’s in Bridgefront, the cranky old man refuses to even open the door at first.  The Reckoner cajoles him into selling a few vials of magical elixirs, and hears that the rioting was caused by a massacre on the only bridge that still connects Old Korvosa to the mainland.

When The Reckoner returns, Meliya says the plan is a simple one: she’ll disguise herself as a bruised and battered Vencarlo Orisini, lead the others through the palace until they find Glorio, and launch a surprise attack.  Neolandus and the body of the real Vencarlo will have to stay behind.  The Reckoner interjects that they should be entitled to any of Glorio’s possessions after he’s killed, and she rolls her eyes and agrees that they can have anything on his corpse besides keys or documents.
 
The plan faces its first hiccup when everyone emerges from the secret passageway and into the gardens.  The tools of the all the labourers hired to help repair the damage from the fire have been scattered about as if their owners fled quickly.  Then, shapes can be seen dimly outside the enchanted windows before they burst open in a spray of glass to reveal the walking dead!  "He . . . knows . . ." the zombies moan with rotting tongues and torn vocal cords.  Goldcape wants to stay and fight them, but The Reckoner persuades her there’s no time—they need to find and fight Glorio quickly, before their temporary magical augmentations fade away.  As they move through the palace, Meliya whispers that Glorio wouldn’t have summoned undead, and may be just as confused as they are by the cause.

 
The search ends on the second floor.  Glorio is there standing in front of the entrance to his rooms, obviously having surmised that something is afoot.  He is warm and welcoming at first, but as the group move closer and closer to him, he realises from the way Anorak grips his waraxe that they’ve come to kill him!  In an instant, the co-ruler of House Arkona has lifted off the ground and begins to hover in mid-air over the opening to the gardens below, out of reach of anyone on the balconies.  But the otherwise-clever tactic doesn’t account for an assailant who’s a roc!  Rocky smashes into Glorio as a mass of talons, beak, and feathers.  Glorio intones mystic words to conjure a bolt of pure lightning at the bird.  In moments, the scene is awash in projectiles, explosions, and blasts of crackling magic.  Yraelzin quickly changes the tide by stripping Glorio of his magical levitation, forcing the man to (slowly) descend to the gardens below.
 
Meliya, in her guise as Vencarlo, remains on the balcony and contributes little to the fighting in a bid to retain her disguise.  But The Reckoner rails against her for not contributing to the battle and their argument reveals the truth to Glorio—“Vencarlo” is really his sister!  Glorio laughs at the trick and tells the Harrowed Heroes he has much more to offer them than she does and then he turns invisible to buy time.  Meanwhile, zombies begin crashing through the burnt foliage and attacking every living creature they see.  Meliya flies down into the battle to bring her full might against Glorio, but Glorio’s silver tongue (and her own sharp one) has led to another betrayal!  Everyone turns their weapons against Meliya—and Goldcape even magically conjures a rhinoceros to pin her in!  The battle is a crazed melee, with Meliya surrounded by Rocky on one side, The Reckoner on another, a rhinoceros on the third, and zombies on the other.  Even her mysterious defences can’t hold out for long, and Rocky’s bite (enhanced by the magical oils obtained by The Reckoner) prove devastatingly effective.  Terribly wounded, Meliya’s rage at the sudden reversal is obvious: “You’ll pay, Ralph Blackfeather!” she snarls before drawing a wand and disappearing through a conjured doorway!

Although his new allies are frustrated by Meliya’s escape, Glorio takes it all in stride.  He watches as Anorak destroys most of the remaining zombies with fire (one of which turns out to be the body of the “Emperor of Old Korvosa”), and then thanks the group for their timely assistance.  He offers the group his patronage, though The Reckoner is more interested in hard currency or magic items than any intangible support.  Still, Glorio insinuates the problems in the city will only grow worse with Ileosa at the helm, and that, perhaps, they’ll need each again in the future.
 
With Neolandus rescued and his story about Queen Ileosa’s crown told, a difficult choice stands before the Harrowed Heroes: stay in Korvosa and try to continue undermining her cruel reign from within, or leave for the Cinderlands in the hopes of discovering the dark secret of her newfound power.
-------------------------
GM Commentary

This was a big session, and was the capstone to Chapter 3.  The battle between the PCs, Meliya, and Glorio was exciting, cinematic, and suspenseful, and I for one was not expecting the sudden switching of sides!  The result certainly had major implications for the rest of the campaign, as Glorio became a prominent leader and potential claimant to the throne, while Meliya was forced to flee and go into hiding (and the PCs never tracked her down--I probably should have done more with her knowledge of Ralph Blackfeather's secret identity).  I had a blast with this one, and it certainly set things up well for the next chapter.

At the moment, I can't recall the in-story reason I had the zombie waves attack.  It might have been a revenge plan by Rolth Lamm against Goldcape, et al., or some other story thread I was setting up.

Bluff is one of those skills you might think aren't important, until you try to "casually" approach someone (like Glorio) you intend to assassinate.  Anorak's low roll and Glorio's high Sense Motive meant he had time to avoid getting stuck in melee.

We see another early glimpse here of The Reckoner's preoccupation with short-term buffs (potions and wands), which forced a round-by-round running clock even outside of encounters.

The grumpy, racist Bridgefront alchemist, Silas Ledbetter became one of the most memorable NPCs to the players even though he actually only appeared in a few sessions.

Pathfinder: "Minimates: Elyana & Razmir Cultist" [RPG]

 You know I love me some Razmir ("All Hail the Living God"!), so I was happy to get the Pathfinder Minimates: Elyana & Razmir Cultist pack on the cheap.  As the name implies, the pack contains two "minimates" (figures with articulated joints that are slightly bigger than Lego figures).  One of the characters is an elven ranger from one of the Pathfinder Tales novels (Plague of Shadows) named Elyana Sadrastis.  She comes with a couple of daggers, a longbow, and some arrows.  The other is a Razmir Cultist, and I love the hooded cloak they're dressed in.  They come with what looks like a mace.   Here's what the back of the product says about each character:

Elyana:  "The elf ranger ELYANA was born among humans, but her exceptionally long lifespan sets her forever apart from them.  She protects the forests and wilderness settlements from villains like the Cult of Razmir."  (Villains?  Sounds like defamation to me!)

Razmir Cultist: "The RAZMIR CULTIST spreads the doctrine of the Living God Razmir throughout the land, bringing fortune to converts and brutality to those who resist Razmir's empowering message."

I don't think this product line sold very well, but they're fun as little display pieces.