Rise of the Runelords Recap # 111 [RPG]

 

[4 Gozran 4708 continued]

Somewhere deep under Xin-Shalast, the Heroes of Varisia have watched the vampiric decapus known as the Hidden Beast turn into a cloud of mist and disappear into cracks in the ground.  Morgiana collapses unconscious from her wounds, but Ava is able to restore Jinkatsyu and Erik to fighting condition.  Unsure of how to permanently destroy a vampire, the adventurers agree they need outside help—from Sandpoint!  Through a magical spell, they contact expert on Thassilonian history Brodert Quink.  Unfortunately, Brodert knows little about vampires beyond the need to use stakes or sunlight.

The adventurers decide they can’t take the risk that the Hidden Beast will return.  Ava magically reshapes the basalt base of the throne and reveals a deep hole.  Jinkatsyu bravely investigates, and finds the seemingly inert body of the decapus.  The swashbuckling kitsune cuts off some of its tentacles and Kang throws a fiery bomb at the body, but, as far as they can tell, the creature is well and truly dead.  The decision is made, just in case, to try to seal the creature permanently in its tomb through more magical stone shaping, but Ava’s stonecrafting is poor and the results uncertain.  Soon after, examination of two rings taken from the decapus’ body reveal one can turn the bearer invisible while the other (engraved with a Sihedron) holds powerful defensive magicks.

The adventurers leave the Hidden Beast’s lair and travel a short distance down a tunnel to reach Morgiv.  The skulk is deliriously happy to hear the news that the Hidden Beast has been destroyed.  He rushes off to gather the rest of the Spared, and Kang and the other adventurers decide to quickly check the two other tunnels leading off from the chamber.  Before they can do so, however, Ava hears a strange hissing sound coming from beneath the base of the throne.  Instants later, the Hidden Beast is standing there, seemingly alive and well! 

Another battle begins, but this time the adventurers are better prepared and the Hidden Beast’s minions aren’t present to confuse things.  The vampiric decapus is again defeated and retreats to its tomb underneath the throne.  This time, Ava exhausts her magic in conjuring a crack-free buttressed dome over the entire pedestal and throne—there’s seemingly no way the decapus can escape.  Until, with an astonishing bypassing of the area’s wards again teleportation, the creature somehow uses a dimension door spell to reappear back on top of the throne!

-------------------------------

Director's Commentary

This is part two of what would become the four-part vampire decapus clusterF.  It's one of those situations wherein about 20 things go wrong simultaneously.  Knowledge (religion) just wasn't one of the skills the PCs were good at, so they didn't know in-character how to permanently destroy a vampire (and they were sensible in contacting Father Zantus, but he rolled low).  For all her stoneshaping to do delicate things (like disguising a doorway or making something airtight), I would have Ava cast Craft (stonemason) checks, which she was understandably not great at it.  The decapus should have been trapped in its coffin-hole anyway, but then rolled a freakin' natural 20 on its caster level check to get a dimension door spell to work despite the magical interference in Xin-Shalast.  As we'll see next session, I later misinterpreted the scope of what counts as a "coffin" for the decapus.  And on and on . . .

With its magical buffs and equipment gone, the decapus was far less of a threat but still took some time in-game to destroy.  I didn't realise at the time that people were getting frustrated with it.  To be honest, I was surprised they wanted to spend so much time on the decapus as it's essentially an optional subplot, but I figured it just gave me more prep time for the very complicated final encounters in the adventure to come, and so didn't think too much about it.  But under the surface, trouble was brewing!

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 0-16: "To Scale the Dragon" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

I ran To Scale the Dragon at subtier 5-6 via play-by-post.  It's definitely a memorable scenario, with at least one gameplay element that probably doesn't appear in any other PFS scenarios.  Like many Season Zero adventures, it can be surprisingly uneven--easy in spots and quite deadly in others.  The plot isn't great, so overall it's a mixed bag.  I'd still recommend playing it, especially if the GM and players want a more wilderness-themed adventure, but with an understanding that there are some rough spots in the adventure.

SPOILERS

The background to To Scale the Dragon is simultaneously over-grand and under-utilised.  According to the scenario, the greatest mystic in Golarion's history was a man named Amao the Frost-Blossom.  Amao's spiritual journey took him to the top of Mount Cania (in southern Galt's Fog Peaks) where he discovered the Four Truths, "words of making and unmaking that he should keep for all eternity, until the time came that he was called to recite them."  That time has apparently come, as the Pathfinder Society needs to learn the Four Truths to avert a great, mysterious calamity that is about to come over Absalom.  To that end, a team of agents must be dispatched to Mount Cania to retrieve Amao's bones so that seers can contact his spirit and ask for help.  Unfortunately, Amao's bones are simply a classic Macguffin; nothing in the story depends on the particular nature of the bones' origin, nor are Amao, the Four Truths, or the impending catastrophe ever referenced again in Pathfinder lore (as far as I know).  As an aside, I wonder if the concept is based on the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism?

From the players' perspective, the adventure starts with them having arrived in the Fog Peaks at a waystation ran by a former Pathfinder named Rysam Aklon.  Aklon runs a remote waystation and, to fulfil an old favour owed to the Pathfinder leader named Osprey, has agreed to help the PCs with resources and directions to find Amao's resting place.  To this end, he supplies the group with some rations, some furs, a map to ascend a peak known as "The Dragon", and two dogsled teams.  Dogsledding is a major part of this adventure, and although the scenario promises simplified rules, there is still a *lot* for the GM and players to digest.  I always do a ton of prep, but even then I was glad that I ran this through play-by-post and had a lot of time between turns to figure out how it's all supposed to work.

When the PCs begin the ascent of The Dragon, there's a lot they need to contend with.  Although set in a wintry clime, the scenario doesn't mentioned cold temperature checks, but it does incorporate altitude sickness.  Each section of The Dragon has certain terrain features and associated risks, such as sharp turns, ravines, obstacles, etc., that require Handle Animal checks to bypass safely.  The PCs in the group I ran this for didn't have any skill in Handle Animal, and had a tough time with dogsledding.  On the other hand, I know the author intended this scenario as one that rewards nature-oriented characters like druids and rangers who take the time to specialise in skills like Handle Animal, Survival, Knowledge (nature), and so forth, and I can see the value in making sure every type of character gets a chance to be in the spotlight at some point in their careers.

When the PCs make it to the top of The Dragon, finding the cairn containing Amao's bones isn't difficult.  The hard part is getting to it, because the cairn is a sacred place to a local tribe of taers (primitive beastmen).  There's no chance of a peaceful resolution, so the PCs are classic foreign invaders intruding upon sacred tribal lands to steal relics for their own purposes, killing everything that gets in their way.  The Pathfinder Society in its early seasons was very different than it is today!  Anyway, once the PCs drive off the taers and start digging through the ice to retrieve the bones, they're likely to trigger a very nasty magical trap that could inflict mummy rot on a PC.  The digging also awakens a remorhaz, a type of massive ice centipede monster that that is deceptively dangerous because it generates an immense amount of heat (in game terms, any natural or manufactured weapon that strikes it takes 8d6 points of damage) and can swallow creatures whole.  Unless the group quickly discerns they need to back off and use spells or ranged weapons, a remorhaz can be pretty nasty (it killed one unfortunate PC in the game I ran).

The remorhaz was also venerated by taers, and with its death tribal drums start to echo around around the mountains.  In a very cinematic scene, the PCs will be chased by a veritable mob of taers until they escape the peak.  This is handled well, as the PCs are given every hint that they're facing an overwhelming force; but if they still want to stick around and fight, they can.  To me, events like this are a good corrective to the common misperception that every encounter is meant to be winnable.

When the PCs begin their dogsled-aided descent, the most memorable part of the scenario takes place.  They'll find themselves ambushed and chased by Aspis Consortium agents, also on dogsleds (Aspis is also after Amao's bones).  This can be a fast-paced, thrilling, pursuit through treacherous terrain and volleys of arrows.  Or, more likely, the dogsleds will crash quickly (they're hard to control) and the survivors will fight things out on foot.  In any event, I really like the premise of the encounter even if the dogsled rules are a bit clunky to implement in practice.

When the Pathfinders make it back to the waystation, one last surprise is waiting for them: the cabin is on fire!  A mob of taers have taken their revenge and are raiding the place, and its desperate residents are about to overrun.  There's a good balance between the need to simultaneously put out the fire and fight off the taers, and I always like encounters where there's more to do than just fight.

Assuming the PCs make it through all of the challenges and turn the bones over, Osprey transforms into a bird and flies away, leaving the PCs to make their own way home from the Fog Peaks.  I like how early Society leaders were real jerks, and it made storylines like the Shadow Lodge more plausible.

Overall, To Scale the Dragon takes place in a memorable setting and has some memorable encounters.  The background and plot are rather mediocre.  Still, as long as players are up for a potentially challenging time and the GM is prepped for the dogsledding, they'll likely have fun with this one.

Rise of the Runelords Recap # 110 [RPG]

 

[3 Gozran 4708 continued]

In Xin-Shalast, the adventurers have come across a strange, dough-faced humanoid named Morgiv, one of the species called skulks.  Morgiv speaks only Thassilonian, and excitedly tells Kang a tale.  According to Morgiv, he’s one of a group of skulks who have lived in the tunnels under the city ever since a volcanic eruption destroyed most of the surface hundreds of generations ago.  Morgiv says that his people were once enslaved by the rulers of the city, but were set free by their leader, Mesmina, who prophesied that if the tribe ever again fell victim to slavery, strangers would come to the aid of the Spared.  Morgiv excitedly tells Kang that he’s the leader of the strangers that Mesmina prophesied, and that the Chosen One has been called here because the Spared are once again under the control of a despot.  It seems that an invisible monster, called The Hidden Beast by Morgiv, has taken over the minds of many skulks.

The adventurers discuss whether to help.  Morgiana is suspicious it could be a trap, but Ava says if the Hidden Beast really is so evil, it might be one of Karzoug’s allies.  Jinkatsyu says slaves should always be set free, and Morgiv’s knowledge of the tunnels could be crucial in bypassing the giant armies on the surface.  Kang is persuaded, and tells Morgiv to return tomorrow at dawn to guide the adventurers to the Hidden Beast’s cave.

As the others rest, Ava decides to practice short-range teleportation to see if she can figure out how to bypass the strange warding effect that permeates Xin-Shalast.  Her first attempt works perfectly, but something very strange happens on her second try.  She finds herself standing in the middle of a featureless plain that extends as far as she can see in every direction.  An odd, grey-coloured river winds sluggishly through the plain.  And, despite the utter lack of wind, a queer black-sailed ship moves steadily along the river.  A foreboding sense of dread fills Ava, but before she can react, she finds herself back in the adventurers’ temporary hideout under the fortress that guards the approach to Xin-Shalast.  She relates what happens to the others, and the best they can make of it is a wild tale that Kang once read during his studies in the Therassic Library under Jorgenfist: that Xin-Shalast is located on a place where the border between planes are thin, and that it intersects the fabled nightmare realm of Leng.  But the account was written by a notorious pesh addict, and the likelihood of it being true seemed slim—until now!

Later that day, the adventurers hear the sound of giants sweeping the fortress, looking for them.  Ava conceals the opening to the chamber they’re hiding in with a conjured stone wall.  Although her craftsmanship doesn’t blend well with the surrounding walls, the giant walking past is distracted by something else—Morgiana’s beartrap—and doesn’t notice the hidden room.

[4 Gozran 4708]

At what must be dawn, the adventurers hear rhythmic tapping on the other side of the wall that Ava conjured.  Morgiv is on the other side, and says in the fortress courtyard above there are several giants with aurochs.  When Kang says his team is ready to go, Morgiv leads the group through a labyrinth of underground passages, cutting through building basements and tunnels carved from pyroclastic flows.  Morgiv also disables various traps.  When asked where the other Spared are, he says they’re waiting a safe distance away from The Hidden Beast.  At last, after several hours’ journey, Morgiv indicates they’re nearing the evil one’s lair.  Morgiv is told to wait, and the adventurers prepare for conflict against an unknown foe.

Jinkatsyu takes the lead, moving quietly and cautiously until he can peer into the cavern.  The room looks like it may have once been part of some ancient basement gallery, but it’s clearly occupied, as magical lights slowly bob along the walls, casting deep shadows.  The room contains a raised balcony along one wall, a pair of tunnels leading off along other walls, and, in the center, a basalt dais holding an ornate throne.  Seated on the throne is a skeletal figure shrouded in musty robes bearing arcane symbols!  As Jinkatsyu peers in, the skeleton sits up and begins speaking in Abyssal!  The adventurers rush in to stop the skeletal wizard from casting spells, only to quickly realise it’s a fake.  The real threat comes from something in the room that is, indeed, invisible and capable of casting powerful spells.  In addition, a quartet of skulks who are among the living dead are in hiding and leap out at the

adventurers.  Morgiana is badly hurt in their attack and retreats back to where Ava is at the entrance to the cavern.  Ava gives the Heroes of Varisia a fighting chance by dispelling the magical invisibility that shrouds the location of the real Hidden Beast: a swollen, slimy cephalopod with ten writhing tentacles and a hideously monstrous face and a fanged maw!  Angered at her spell, the Hidden Beast responds by sending a bolt of pure lightning toward the cleric.  Jinkatsyu leaps into the fray and begins slashing at the Hidden Beast’s tentacles.  The sorcerous monstrosity is protected by various abjurations, however, and it seems like the dashing swashbuckling kitsune has finally met his match!  Kang’s firebombs are not so easily dodged as sword thrusts, however, and the Hidden Beast eventually withers under the assault.  Just when it seems like victory is at hand for the heroes, however, the monster turns into mist and seeps into thin cracks under the throne.  Likewise, the vampiric skulks seep into their own hiding places once their corporeal forms seem destroyed.

Has the long, gruelling battle ended in success . . . or stalemate?

----------------------------------------------------

Director's Commentary

The events here play out pretty close to how they're set up in the AP: Morgiv encounters the group, begs for their help, and leads them to fight the Hidden Beast (a vampiric decapus).  I think I added the "Chosen One" angle, but it just seemed too delicious to pass up since the last thing people would think about Kang is he was a prophesised savior.  It led to some good role-playing.

The battle here against the Hidden Beast was really exciting and went well, with the deception of the fake skeleton particularly effective (the group hadn't had to deal with illusions very much in the AP).  Alas, partially my own fault, things really get bad in the group (in real life) starting with the next session.  But more on that when I cover those sessions.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 3-06: "Song of the Sea Witch" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

I played Song of the Sea Witch via virtual tabletop.  One of the other players in the group had a super over-powered PC who pretty much single-handedly took care of all the encounters, and there wasn’t much role-playing, so the experience wasn’t the best.  Reading the scenario afterwards, it looks like a solid but unspectacular adventure.  There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s not fantastically original and memorable like some of the author’s other work.

SPOILERS

Song of the Sea Witch has quite an involved backstory, but to be fair much of it does come into focus later on for the players.  The gist of it is that Yargos Gill, a historian last seen in the very first PFS adventure, # 0-01 "The Silent Tide", has returned from Tian Xia with two magical books to study.  One of the books is the Infernal Incantatum (which Gill assumes is a book on how to battle and bind devils) and the other is the Celestial Song.  But on the return voyage to Absalom, one of Gill’s two apprentices was seduced by an evil cecaelia (octopus-man) into stealing the latter book.  Once back in Absalom,

Gill performed a ritual with the Infernal Incantatum which he thought would help the side of good, but turned out to simply summon an uncontrollable devil (the scenario emphasises the historian’s bumbling nature, which ties in nicely to his earlier appearance).  At around the same time, the “evil” apprentice arrived to try to steal that book as well, and violence and chaos erupted that left Gill unconscious and both apprentices dead.

This is where the scenario starts from the PCs’ perspective, as they receive a briefing from Venture-Captain Amara Li.  Li knows that the Infernal Incantatum is actually a prison for devils, and worries that Gill may get in over his head.  She asks the PCs to go to his estate to make sure he’s okay.  When the PCs arrive, they have to defeat the devil that was accidentally set free (a bearded or Erinyes depending on sub-tier).  They’ll learn from Gill what happened, and also figure out that the other book, the Celestial Song, has to be combined with the evil book to stop more denizens of Hell from escaping!  I liked the map pack chosen for the encounter.

Gill thinks Venture-Captain Ollysta Zadrian (a paladin) has been delivered the Celestial Song (not realising his traitorous apprentice took it elsewhere), and he gives the PCs directions to where she should be shopping in the markets of Gilltown (no relation to Gill!).  The PCs are ambushed by rogue thugs working for the cecaelia in a bid to recover the Infernal Incantatum, because the villain has classic villain plans to use the book to wreak havoc and such.  Even with surprise and sneak attack damage, the ambushers have little chance of success.

Once they find Ollysta Zadrian in the markets, she explains she never received the book.  But by asking some questions of the gillmen in the market, the PCs will learn that the thugs that attacked them have been using tunnels under Gilltown.  The GM can use an optional encounter against hell hounds if time permits, but otherwise it’s on to the last section of the adventure.

The tunnels lead to the cecaelia’s lair, but the lair itself can only be accessed by solving a fun puzzle that involves opening and closing certain gates to get water levels to a particular height (but not too high).  Puzzles are actually pretty rare in Paizo adventures, so I always appreciate them when they appear.  This one requires a bit of math and teamwork, and seems pretty reasonable in terms of difficulty.  The consequences for failure are pretty modest (setting off a trap that’s not likely to kill anyone).  I also have to give the map artist props for making a layout that looks like an octopus (even if it doesn’t really make sense on the premise that these are ancient tunnels recently taken over by the cecaelia).

The evil cecaelia, a dude named Na-Kraka, is known as the “Sea Witch” despite only have actual levels in Witch at the higher sub-tier.  I guess if he managed to drag a grappled opponent underwater he could be mildly dangerous, but the Pathfinder rules around holding one’s breath are pretty generous.  I really don’t imagine most groups having troubles defeating this guy.  Once they win, the PCs can retrieve the Celestial Song and combine it with the Infernal Incantatum to stop further devil escapes.

Some of the things I liked about Song of the Sea Witch include the reappearance of Yargos Gill (creating continuity and making recurring use of NPCs is great for storytelling), the use of faction missions (there’s a ton of little goals for different PCs—something I imagine must have been hard to write for), and the selection/creation of encounter maps.  But all that being said, as I stated in the opening, there’s not really a lot that jumps out here.  It’s a quality scenario, but not a top-tier one.

Rise of the Runelords Recap # 109 [RPG]

 
[3 Gozran 4708 continued]

The Heroes of Varisia have reached a bluff overlooking the legendary city of Xin-Shalast, but have not yet stepped foot on its gold-paved streets.  Twice, they’ve been intercepted by patrols of the vulture-men known as kuchrimas.  In the aftermath of the second battle, the adventurers discuss strategy.  After Ava discovers her teleportation abilities are unreliable due to the strange planar energies that surround the city, the group settles on the direct approach: a frontal assault on the guard fortress!  But there will be a small twist, as the adventurers hope they can lure the defenders out so the battle can take place around fortified bunkers and walls created through Ava’s rudimentary knowledge of stone-shaping magic.  Before they set the plan in motion, Ava extracts a promise from Morgiana to never split up again as she did in the previous battle.

When the attackers have completed their preparations, they approach the fortress and stop about a hundred yards from its gates.  Kang strides forward and signals that he wishes to talk, and, moments later, a kuchrima flies forward while her companions take to the skies in formation.  The kuchrima shouts a demand, in Thassilonian, that the intruders explain why they have come to Krak Naratha (the name of the fortress).  Kang replies that they’ve come at the behest of Karzoug, but the kuchrima states that entrance to the city is permitted only to those bearing tokens of passage.  Kang rejoins his allies and there’s whispered discussion of the group perhaps trying to bluff their way in using the Sihedron-marked coin found in Magnimar, but ultimately the idea is rejected.  Instead, Kang announces to the kuchrima that they are not followers of the Runelord, with predictable results.  The circling kuchrimas instantly let loose a volley of arrows, and first blood goes to the defenders of the city as Kang and Ava are struck.

The adventurers duck behind the stone barricades that Ava previously conjured in the middle of the grand highway and wait for the kuchrimas to draw closer so their advantage in ranged combat will be negated.  But instead, one of the kuchrimas shouts “Release the herd!” and there’s a thunderous explosion from somewhere within the fortress.  The gates are wrenched open, and dozens of mountain aurochs rush out, panicked and willing to trample anything in their path!  Realising they can’t stand against such an onslaught, the adventurers take to the sky through various means in order to get above the sheer mass of animal flesh.  The kuchrimas try to press their advantage, but they’re still no match for the sheer offensive power of Kang’s bombs and Jinkatsyu’s rapier.  In a matter of minutes, the defenders of Krak Naratha are slain, and the Heroes of Varisia stand astride the fortress walls.
From their new vantage point, they can see that the wide golden highway that brought them to Xin-Shalast continues through the city until it turns into a golden staircase and begins ascending toward the peak of Mhar Massif.  Not too far away, a large, seemingly temporary encampment of various types of giants can be spotted.  The group decide they need a place to hide while they plan their next move, and they settle on a, long-abandoned storeroom deep in the bowels of Krak Naratha.  Morgiana decides to put her newly-constructed bear trap to good use, and leaves it in the hallway outside of the storeroom covered in a fine coating of dust and debris.  Inconclusive discussion is had on whether the group should attack the giant camp, try to negotiate, or avoid it altogether by taking to the back streets and alleyways of the massive city.

The afternoon stretches on until ponderous footsteps can be heard coming from above.  The deep bass of the Giant tongue can be heard—it seems like a search of the fortress has been ordered!  At the same time, Kang realizes that he’s being scryed!  He decides to dart out of the storeroom so the others won’t be discovered, wandering through various dusty passageways until the nigh-invisible magical sensor finally disappears.  As he’s returning to the storeroom, however, he hears a rock skitter behind him and realises he’s being followed!  The tiefling begins to run until he hears a sharp metallic crack—

Morgiv could be just what the PCs
need--an ally in Xin-Shalast!

Morgiana’s bear trap has sprung!  And it has clamped down on the leg of a thin, unarmed humanoid with loose skin.  The being lets loose a mournful howl, and says in Undercommon “Morgiv hurts!  Morgiv hurts!”  Kang and the others carefully release the creature from the trap, and Ava casts some minor healing magic.  The stranger throws his arms around Kang in a tight, enthusiastic hug—“Morgiv find Chosen One!” he shouts.

---------------------------------------------

Director's Commentary

PCs disguising themselves as followers of Karzoug to gain entry to the city was definitely a possibility the AP contemplated, but this group tended to pursue the more direct approach.

The massive stampede of aurochs was really fun to do, even if it didn't work.

I found running Xin-Shalash very challenging.  The AP did its best in providing as much information as possible about key events or locations, but there's just a ton of detail that GMs need to fill in themselves.  The fortress of Krak Naratha, for example, is not mapped or detailed at all, so I had to improvise.  We'll see the same phenomena in some later sessions when the PCs go to locations in which the AP gives only super brief coverage of matters that are actually quite labor-intensive to flesh out (like "swarming with a variety of spectral undead" and the like).

I liked the little twist ending.  PCs usually (understandably) expect the worst, so it can be a fun surprise when something good comes out of the blue.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: "Misfit Monsters Redeemed" [RPG]

"Everyone deserves a second chance" is the tagline on the back cover of Misfit Monsters Redeemed.  D&D has decades of Monster Manuals and the like, filled with hundreds of creatures.  It's inevitable that some would land with a thud, and others would be unintentionally, hilariously bad.  The goal of this book is to provide a new take on some old duds and salvage them for use.  As the introduction explains, Paizo had had good luck with its ". . . Revisited" series of books that added fresh flavour to classic monsters, but this book arose from a dare on the forums to see if the company could take the worst creatures in fantasy RPG history and breathe new life into them.  Redemption is attempted for ten

monsters, each receiving six pages of coverage divided into the following sections: ecology, campaign role, variants, role on Golarion, stat block, and new artwork.  I'll give my verdict on each attempt at redemption below, but the short conclusion is that . . . some of these creatures really didn't deserve a second chance, and just couldn't be redeemed.  However, there are a few nice surprises.

Before getting into the content, I'll just mention the cover artwork (fairly poor, in my opinion) is reproduced in the inside back-cover sans logo, while the inside front cover is a funny "Hall of Shame" listing the monsters covered with a "before" and "after" to show what the book has tried to achieve.

*Adherers: Before, they were essentially sticky mummies that could trap weapons used against them; now they have damn creepy origin as essentially living livestock for phase spiders on the ethereal plane.  I think their CR is too low given the awesome build-up for them in the text.  Nonetheless, my verdict:  Redeemed.

*Delvers: Before, they were subterranean cave slugs that feast on ores, and filled a pretty bland role alongside things like xorns and earth elementals.  Now, they're intelligent, spiritual beings that could serve as guides for spelunkers.  My verdict: Redeemed.

*Dire Corbies: Before: evil crow-men.  Now: Xenophobic bipedal birdmen of the Darklands.  There's a lost opportunity to tie them into tengu somehow.  They're okay, but essentially just disposable random encounters for subterranean explorers.  My verdict: Guilty as Charged!

*Disenchanter: Before, blue camel-like creatures that can destroy magic items.  Now: Pretty much the same, with a bit of a better backstory.  I don't get their weird headband fetish, and they're truly goofy looking.  My verdict: Guilty as Charged!

*Flail Snail: Before, they were giant snails with maces on their faces.  I have to admit I was surprised they could be improved, but now they're long-lived, intelligent zen monks with magic reflecting shells.  My verdict: Redeemed.

*Flumphs: Before, they were weird floating jellyfish-like creatures.  Now, these lawful good creatures warn of horrors from other worlds, and good make for really good adventure hook vehicles.  My verdict: Redeemed.

*Lava Children: Before, they were a forgettable race of feral subterranean humanoids.  Now, they're the creations of shaitans meant to survive in the Elemental Planes of Fire and Earth.  I still don't get why metal passes through them, and despite the admittedly creepy artwork, I still don't see much of a role for them in a campaign.  My verdict: Guilty as Charged!

*Lurking Ray: Before, they were underground ambush predators.  Now, they have a really interesting, well-defined ecology with different niches for three variations.  Still, each variation is a subterranean ambush predator and they're nothing more than random encounter fodder.  In addition, Pathfinder's suffocation rules are such that they're not really dangerous.  My (reluctant) verdict: Guilty as Charged!

*Tojanida: Before, they were aquatic crustacean-like monsters.  Now, they're aquatic outsiders trapped ages ago in a bizarre shell form, and they can't remember why.  I just can't really get a read on these creatures and what role they're supposed to fill in a campaign.  My verdict: Guilty as Charged!

*Wolf-in-Sheep's Clothing: The only creature in the book I'd ever actually used, this forest predator (pictured on the cover) with a dumb name disguises itself as a tree stump with a small rabbit or squirrel on it before pouncing on any PC who gets too close.  Its ability to manipulate corpses is creepy, and the book provides some admittedly interesting ideas on how to use a surprise monster that will only ever work on players once.  It's a good try, but my verdict is still: Guilty as Charged!

By my count, the book successfully redeems four of the ten monsters it covers.  That's not bad considering what the writers had to work with.  That being said, I don't really see this book as being useful for anyone but real old-school gamers who would get a little kick out of seeing a modern updating on an old loser of a monster.  Everyone else could happily stick to the six Pathfinder bestiaries for all their monster needs.  To me, that makes Misfit Monsters Redeemed among the least essential books in the Campaign Setting line.

Dr. Fate (Ltd. 1987) (DC Comics) [COMICS]

Doctor Fate is one of DC's oldest and most important spellcasting characters.  Around since the Golden Age, the character has a long and involved history, though I think I really only knew him from the Super Powers cartoon and toys.  In 1987, J.M. DeMatteis launched a very different take on Doctor Fate with a four issue mini-series that was popular enough to spawn a subsequent regular series (more on that in future posts).  With pencils by Keith Giffen, the limited series introduces new characters in the role of Fate in a way that still remains controversial among some comics fans today.

Issue # 1 sets a dark, intriguing, and sometimes confusing tone for the series.  Nabu, the Lord of Order who originally bonded with a human named Kent Nelson to become Doctor Fate, is battling against Typhon, a Lord of Chaos, when he's recalled by the other Lords of Order.  They want Fate to stop fighting against chaos as the universe is cyclical and, although chaos will soon reign supreme, an age of order will follow thereafter.  It also seems that Kent Nelson is tired of having been Fate for decades and is ready to move on to what comes next--even if that's the afterlife.  But Nabu's not ready to give up and finds another mortal to be the next Doctor Fate: a long boy named Eric whom he magically ages into

adulthood.  Eric's step-mom, Linda, has a strange  . . . yearning for Eric, but Eric as Fate loses a battle against Typhon and is taken into an asylum run by a chaos-led psychiatrist named Stoner.  

In Issue # 2, we revisit the origin of Doctor Fate and see how complicated the morality of what Nabu did to Kent Nelson really was.  In the asylum, Nabu inhabits Eric's body to fight Typhon, who has taken over Stone's body.  Honestly, I'm not really sure what happened in the issue--sometimes the atmosphere is great, but the plot is hard to work out.  This is almost like an early Vertigo book (just before Vertigo was a thing).

With Giffen & DeMatteis in charge of my (favourite comic ever) Justice League International, it's no surprise that four Leaguers make guest appearances in Issue # 3.  Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle, Guy Gardner, and Batman are summoned by the Phantom Stranger to help out as Stone has taken the power of Fate (I think) and is using it to cause chaos all around the world.  Indeed, this evil Fate defeats the Phantom Stranger, but Eric/Nabu come to confront him.  At least, I think that's what happens?

Issue # 4 reminds me that Giffen's artwork--especially his faces--is an acquired taste, and I haven't acquired it yet.  The famous big shocker here is that Eric and his step-mom Linda can merge together to form Fate in a way that kicks Nabu out.  Nabu, exiled form the Lords of Order, takes over a new body--that of Kent Nelson, who has died since he's no longer Fate.  The new status quo is then a trio of characters--Linda, Eric, and Nabu/Kent.  It's an interesting set-up, though I find the crucial character of Eric very much a cypher compared to Linda and Nabu.

There's a lot more to say about the trio, but I'll save that for my posts on the regular series--which has a very different tone than this limited series.