The first module in the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path starts off with the players being shipwrecked and stranded on a jungle island. It's a massive sandbox for your players to explore while they attempt to escape. Think Mysterious Island meets Indiana Jones, with a little bit of Morrowind.

The island, Smuggler's Shiv, is filled with set-piece locales, monster lairs, and vile cannibals. Plus, there's a half-dozen fellow castaways to roleplay, each with their own... issues. Lots of wilderness survival and jungle encounters, but also several solid dungeons near the end of the Path, and some roleplay/story encounters thrown in. Also, if you want to ramp up the Survivor angle, there's disease, morale, and camp-building to deal with. Quite a lot of variety.

Really, there's a lot to do, and plenty of room for a GM to add more. The encounters are balanced; some are quite challenging, others are a lot of fun. The NPCs have a lot of flavor, plus some quests (and rewards!) of their own. The set adventure locales cover a wide spectrum, and they're all really interesting.

As a sandbox, though, the module has a lot for the GM to keep track of: the NPCs' morale and helpfulness, the camp, random encounters, weather, etc. If you're strapped for time, this is not the Path to get started on; if you like modifying and expanding pre-packaged modules, this Path has plenty of room for you to work with.

I found it a lot of fun to run, but also pretty labor-intensive for a canned adventure.

This is my first adventure path and I am running a group of new characters through this module now. It has seriously bought the gaming table alive and I am getting requests to fit multiple gaming sessions in a week. The way this module takes a seemingly random shipwreck and builds up a campaign the players feel they have a stake in is genius. I cannot wait to get into the next module :)

I just concluded this adventure path with a group of five, and I have nothing but good to say about it. The story elements and layout of the entire adventure are done seamlessly and flawlessly. The encounters and story arches flowed nicely, the combat gave even my power-playing, unorthodox party some difficulties, and the story segwayed perfectly into part 2. If you're looking for a great adventure that's a breeze to DM, buy it. You will not be disappointed.

I just ran this with my friends. We all agree this is a very soild one.
I would suggest anyone who wants to run Souls for Smuggler's Shiv spend some time roleplaying
the crew members and the on board scene, this will make the adventure much more memorable.
Highly recommended!

It has been mentioned about how SfSS is nice for GMs for a number of different reasons. To start, I DO like the adventure and am quite happy with it (will be starting this Saturday). However, it is strongest in the "2nd" half - basically after they get past the "fluff" encounters. The complaint that I have is in the claim that this is easy for the GM. My disagreement with that is that a "sandbox" (which this is partially) is inherently more work for one. On top of this. . .

Adventure Paths always scared me because of the level of commitment that comes with them. If I start AP#1 then I haaaave to buy #2 and so on and so forth until I find myself with an empty checking account and I'm forced to steal my cat's food after my wife has left me whilst taking the house with her and everything else I own.

(This is a simple cause and effect scenario that is based solely in reality.)

As I did NOT want that to happen to me I was hesitant in purchasing this particular AP. Well, I weighed my options and figured that a steady diet of cat food is better than nothing at all so I took my chances with this adventure.

I would gladly hoard cat food for this AP! This is an adventure that is a culmination of a lot of people's artistic talent and in-depth understanding of the Pathfinder game over at Paizo. Mr. Jacobs has crafted an awesome adventure. Even in a wilderness adventure, he caters to every style of player and is gracious enough to make this just as much fun for the GM to read and run.

As an acting-theatre major along with long-time improviser, this AP gives the GM a wonderful cast of NPCs to portray that supplies the PCs with an added challenge. While this specifically caters to my own taste as a GM who loves the story and roleplaying aspects, this AP really has something for everyone. It is a well-devised sandbox adventure that has plenty of colorful combat encounters along with an enticing plot that taunted my players from the moment we started until we ended. This AP is written in a way that is easy for ANY GM to shape and mold so that it fits his/her gaming group's style. This is the most of the fun I've had as a GM. I was given the ability to create my own mood and style for this piece that I know would excite my players.

Also, if you have trouble trying to find creative ways to gather adventurers together, Mr. Jacobs hands you that creative way. It is a fantastic opportunity to really create the mood and feel for the game while setting up the adventure.

I was thoroughly impressed with this AP and we are about to start the second one. I highly recommend this adventure. This is one of those pieces where you can tell the writers and artists have really found and established the Pathfinder feel. I have referenced "mood and feel" numerous times throughout this review, but after gaming for awhile, I find this to be the most important aspect to a good game since it will help your PCs determine how they should conduct themselves. This is a prime example of why our gaming group has dedicated itself to the work of those at Pathfinder RPG.

Now that that is all said and done, it is time for dinner with Mimi. I've decided to prepare liver and tuna tonight with some Frank's hot sauce to cut out the bitterness. Thank you, Paizo. I have never been happier.

This was actually my introduction to Pathfinder RPG, and it got me hooked.

We just finished with this one, and I can't help but thank Paizo for making this SO EASY on the GM, especially since (depending on how your group progresses) they may have to juggle six NPCs that can become just as important as PCs!

Very cool, and I really recommend it.

Excellent 1st part for a really promising adventure path (the plot preview of the entire campaign is incredibly exciting).

Really original start + free exploration + interesting NPC + mystery + adventurous locations: wonderful job from Paizo, as ever.