Pathfinder Module: "Master of the Fallen Fortress" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

Master of the Fallen Fortress was Paizo’s “Free RPG Day” entry for 2010, and was released to showcase the new classes from the Advanced Player’s Guide.  It’s a short module intended to be completed in one session.  The adventure itself is only about ten pages, though there’s a lot packed into that space.  The inside front cover is a map, the inside back cover is a PFS Chronicle (I like seeing it embedded), and six pages are devoted to Level 1 pre-gens.  It’s a bit hard to find a print copy these days, but it is still available for free download on Paizo’s website.

I ran Master of the Fallen Fortress via play-by-post for six PFS characters.  I thought it made for a solid introductory Pathfinder adventure.  It has a well-balanced set of encounters and led to one of the most exciting endings to a scenario I’ve ever GM’d.  There’s not a lot of setting lore, role-playing, or story-telling in the adventure, but it has a solid concept and it’s easy to play and run.  There’s a reason why this one is a classic in the Pathfinder stable of first-level adventures.

SPOILERS

The backstory to the adventure is pretty slight, even for a one-shot.  The Cairnlands are an area around Absalom (the largest city in Golarion) littered with thousands of wrecked siege castles from centuries of failed attempts to capture the city by various forgotten warlords.  One of those siege castles has been magically sealed since the death of its master, but a minor earthquake has caused part of it to collapse.  A tribe of troglodytes have moved in, and a Pathfinder Society explorer named Balenar Forsend decided to (foolishly) investigate on his own.  But Balenar never returned, and many adventuring groups in Absalom are organising to explore the so-called “Fallen Fortress.”

This is where the PCs come in, of course.  This is intended to be the first adventure for a new group, and the module presents three viable adventure hooks to get things started.  Importantly for PFS play, the adventurers are not PFS agents—instead, the idea is that the adventurers will be inducted into the Society afterwards (as detailed in the very short epilogue).

The entirety of the adventure takes place at the fortress.  There’s an encounter with a group of wild dogs just outside, and then the PCs will need to do some climbing to get inside the partially collapsed eastern wing.  The tower has five floors, with all but the top floor having four chambers.  The encounters inside are fairly traditional: a giant spider, a shocker lizard, a (burning) skeleton, a giant frog, a javelin trap, and, of course, the troglodytes.  Writing it, I realise these are an almost random assortment of foes, and there’s only a brief explanation of why each is there.  There’s also only one non-hostile NPC—the missing Pathfinder Balenar.  He is a bard and can be useful if rescued, but the module doesn’t give him artwork or a personality description.  This is definitely not an adventure with a deep story or connection to setting lore that can be teased out by patient PCs, and I imagine it was written quickly.

Still, the climactic encounter is really exciting.  The leader of the troglodytes, a druid named Tasskar, occupies the top level accompanied by his albino cave crocodile.  Because the eastern portion of the floor can’t take much weight, there’s a very good chance that some of the PCs (and probably Tasskar) will fall all the way to the ground!  6d6 damage is a *lot* for first-level PCs.  When I ran Master of the Fallen Fortress, the collapse and fall took one PC deep into negatives and instantly reduced Tasskar to just a few hit points.  There was a race to save the PC’s life while also trying to fend off one very angry troglodyte intent on fighting to the death.  Good stuff!

I should note that although this is an introductory adventure and isn’t complicated from the PCs’ perspective, it would be good for the GM to do a little prep before running it.  Figuring out the relationship between the different levels of the tower and applying some of the template adjustments to the monsters beforehand will make for a smoother experience.

One really shouldn’t complain about a free product, and Master of the Fallen Fortress is a solid, professionally written- and designed- adventure.  Although not the best introductory adventure available, it promises a few hours of fun for all concerned.