We played this one with my regular gaming group as a first in Pathfinder 2E. First part was great in building atmosphere, mystery and fight with highly underestimated opponent at the end. Second part was tough on my players, they still did not got into combat system yet and we had rogue who tried to hide in the bushes. And also they were rolling low. Consistently. Third part was great again, diplomacy with a orc tribe and exploration of Spite's Cradle. Last fight with Vilree was tactical and it had epic death scene at the end. And also "This is not the end?" moment was great. My players managed to turn the end of this adventure into story about guilt and forgiveness. They also changed town's centerpiece in the epilogue. We had a blast with little bit of low point in the middle due to hard combat encounter. One last note, my players managed to miss all additional exposition there was. Found journal? Do not read it, there is no time. Walk with talkative old man? Did not really listened to him. So near the end, they had good grasp of what is happening, but did not have a clue why. And it was not fault of the module.
Sounds like such a rich and well written adventure, I'm going to have to give this one a shot. Many thanks for the well put together and informative video. Combining blood from various creatures sounds horrifying. I'm excited to check it out.
Thanks very much for the super helpful review, sir. I have been wanting to get my 5E group to try Pathfinder 2E for a change of pace, and had been eyeing this adventure as a possible introduction. I think that I will pick it up, and either start with that, or maybe the recently released Beginner Box.
Thank you for the review, this has really helped me decide that I want to try this as our first Pathfinder 2E adventure. Just waiting for the core book to arrive and will be ordering this fairly soon after that!
you know with a little work change the setting say 1920 America and the system to Call of Cthulhu and you get a two for one deal a cool adventure for both PF2 and CoC because the ending was so CoC you can succeed and also die and it's still a win :)
Trivial/Low for the guarded yard ? sheesh. that alarm TPKed us like a steamroller XD. dunno if the DM was at fault for it or the module but a couple rounds before the whole tribe comes would have been enough to give the retreat option. Good review doe !
This is a personal fault, not necessarily a fault of the game and I can't put words together to describe it. The easiest way to say it is: "I just don't like the layout of the modules." I couldn't tell you why, they just throw me off. Maybe it's because I'm used to the monster stat block in the back and not embedded in the text which is handy, but also kind of annoying and feels like it breaks up the flow? That's on me, not on the game haha.
I can understand that. I felt the same way when D&D started having their "Tactical Encounter" format, though I did warm up to it years later. This style still seems heavily influenced from Paizo's time running Dungeon Magazine. I've grown to like both styles but everyone has their own personal preferences.
Yeah, the layout is annoying. The module seems to jump around with NPCs described at the beginning, then a further description at the end and more interactions mixed in. Better organization would help a GM keep this of NPCs in order.
This looks really good! But I have a few points to ponder. Why would the PCs assume that the Dwarf was murdered when he keeled over dead in a town called PLAGUEstone? (I assume it is delt with in the module, but we all know about ass-u-ming things.) What if the PCs skinned the wolves? And it seems that the Ranger might still be with them when they confront the Boss, so why couldn't she get them back to town in the fastest way possible, as she knows the area intimately? I'm probably overthinking here, but inquiring minds want to know.
I would simply have the Ranger come into town inquiring about who slayed the wolves rather than drag their carcasses. She is also dealing with an injury that takes her out of the action and she serves more as a guide than anything else. If she is with the party than she very well could offer a faster route if you so wanted, but keep in mind the Alchemical Drudge has a significant head start so the PC's arriving only 30ft. behind might be based on her shortcuts already.
We played this one with my regular gaming group as a first in Pathfinder 2E. First part was great in building atmosphere, mystery and fight with highly underestimated opponent at the end.
Second part was tough on my players, they still did not got into combat system yet and we had rogue who tried to hide in the bushes. And also they were rolling low. Consistently.
Third part was great again, diplomacy with a orc tribe and exploration of Spite's Cradle. Last fight with Vilree was tactical and it had epic death scene at the end. And also "This is not the end?" moment was great.
My players managed to turn the end of this adventure into story about guilt and forgiveness. They also changed town's centerpiece in the epilogue.
We had a blast with little bit of low point in the middle due to hard combat encounter.
One last note, my players managed to miss all additional exposition there was. Found journal? Do not read it, there is no time. Walk with talkative old man? Did not really listened to him. So near the end, they had good grasp of what is happening, but did not have a clue why. And it was not fault of the module.
Most thorough review of this module on CZcams.
Running this adventure now and my players seem to be having a lot of fun with it.
Sounds like such a rich and well written adventure, I'm going to have to give this one a shot. Many thanks for the well put together and informative video. Combining blood from various creatures sounds horrifying. I'm excited to check it out.
Thanks very much for the super helpful review, sir. I have been wanting to get my 5E group to try Pathfinder 2E for a change of pace, and had been eyeing this adventure as a possible introduction. I think that I will pick it up, and either start with that, or maybe the recently released Beginner Box.
Thank you for the review, this has really helped me decide that I want to try this as our first Pathfinder 2E adventure. Just waiting for the core book to arrive and will be ordering this fairly soon after that!
instablaster.
I’ve been considering picking this up to run it.
you know with a little work change the setting say 1920 America and the system to Call of Cthulhu and you get a two for one deal a cool adventure for both PF2 and CoC because the ending was so CoC you can succeed and also die and it's still a win :)
Trivial/Low for the guarded yard ? sheesh. that alarm TPKed us like a steamroller XD. dunno if the DM was at fault for it or the module but a couple rounds before the whole tribe comes would have been enough to give the retreat option.
Good review doe !
Chapter 2 was absolutely brutal, and killed both of my party's melee combatants...
I made the Simpsons connection when I ran this as well. “Come along Bort”
Do you have a template to write your own adventures
When I write scenarios I tend to write them in the same style as the published adventures of the same game/edition.
This is a personal fault, not necessarily a fault of the game and I can't put words together to describe it. The easiest way to say it is: "I just don't like the layout of the modules." I couldn't tell you why, they just throw me off. Maybe it's because I'm used to the monster stat block in the back and not embedded in the text which is handy, but also kind of annoying and feels like it breaks up the flow? That's on me, not on the game haha.
I can understand that. I felt the same way when D&D started having their "Tactical Encounter" format, though I did warm up to it years later. This style still seems heavily influenced from Paizo's time running Dungeon Magazine. I've grown to like both styles but everyone has their own personal preferences.
Yeah, the layout is annoying. The module seems to jump around with NPCs described at the beginning, then a further description at the end and more interactions mixed in. Better organization would help a GM keep this of NPCs in order.
This looks really good! But I have a few points to ponder. Why would the PCs assume that the Dwarf was murdered when he keeled over dead in a town called PLAGUEstone? (I assume it is delt with in the module, but we all know about ass-u-ming things.) What if the PCs skinned the wolves? And it seems that the Ranger might still be with them when they confront the Boss, so why couldn't she get them back to town in the fastest way possible, as she knows the area intimately? I'm probably overthinking here, but inquiring minds want to know.
The module has a rather detailed description of how the Dwarf dies, and there are telling signs of poisoning on his face and throat afterwards.
@@jdbrown4094 Thanks, makes sense.
I would simply have the Ranger come into town inquiring about who slayed the wolves rather than drag their carcasses.
She is also dealing with an injury that takes her out of the action and she serves more as a guide than anything else. If she is with the party than she very well could offer a faster route if you so wanted, but keep in mind the Alchemical Drudge has a significant head start so the PC's arriving only 30ft. behind might be based on her shortcuts already.
Played it once and did not enjoy it. The mystery is pretty weak and the combat is just bit plain.