John Benbo's page

I used to love comics as a kid in the early 90s but eventually stopped reading them. I'll pick one up now and then but I'm usually disappointed. For example, the fantasy CrossGen comics from the early 2000s were nice, but for the price, you didn't get much story. So, I wasn't really expecting much when I picked this up today at the local game store (and it was the Dave Dorman cover I grabbed). However, I was wrong and found myself actually enjoying reading it. It had a very cinematic feel to the way the story was set up and the way the characters were introduced. Plus you got a write-up of Sandpoint, a small encounter map (with details of the encounter in the issue), and some info on NPCs (which you can use if you're running Rise of the Runelords or early in Jade Regent). All that for only $4 bucks is a really great value. The art style, I admit, isn't my favorite, but the story and the other extras more than made up for it.

When I decided to start up my Kingmaker campaign, I knew I had to have this book from the reviews I've read and it hasn't let me down. My group is still slogging away through book 2 but they have already gone through 4 and half years of kingdom builing. The players have enjoyed the extra buildings and, as the GM, I've really enjoyed the expanded random encounter section. Additionally, being available in print makes it more convenient to flip through at the table. What also impressed me was the community support of this product by creating an excel spreadsheet that incorporated the extra material in this book. This has made the kingdom building aspect a breeze to keep track of.

I admit, I probably would never have picked this book up otherwise, but it came bundled with my Legacy of Fire Black Friday deal. I honestly wasn't familiar with the region and the little I did know didn't grab me like some of the other regions in Golarion (Numeria, Iobaria, Kaer Maga being the ones I gravitate towards). However, after quickly flipping through this book, I saw enough to hook me and get me to read more. I have to say, like "City of Strangers", this book has enough information in it to give you ideas for countless adventures and campaigns. The region and city of Katapesh are so richly described that you want to play there. It's perfect for the classic loot the tombs/ruins dungeon crawl campaign or an entirely urban one. I loved the inventiveness of the adventure hooks seeded througout the descriptions, my favorite being

The book ends with some additional longer adventure hooks as well as a new prestige class, rules for Pesh magic, and some monsters. Some of the monsters, like the Aluum and Ghuul, off the top of my head, have already been updated. The prestige class is interesting and looks like it would work pretty well without needing any real tweaking.

So even though this is an older OGL book, it is definitely worth picking up. The authors did an excellent job of exciting me about a region that I previously was apathetic towards. I really want to use this setting now when I eventually run Frog God Games's "Death in a Painted Canyon."

So I had just finished reading FGG's excellent "Death in the Painted Canyon" module when I picked this module up. Expectations were high after reading DitPC. Inside this module, we get a real old school style dungeon crawl- the ruins of an ancient city set in a jungle. I'm going to divide this module into four parts-Intro, and Parts 1, 2 and 3. Note- my Parts 1-3 are the order in which they are presented in the module. Due to the open nature of the module, they are not necessarily the order in which the PCs have to go through the encounters. I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum.
Intro:
The intro is pretty brief, but that's ok. The PCs learn that dark clouds emanating from the jungle are threatening the city. After possibly hiring some guides, if they're smart, the PCs are on their way. It's a pretty short journey to the temple, but the author gives a nice table of some ideas to liven up the journey. Short, sweet, but sets the mood nicely.
Part 1-Gate and Well:
Most likely, the PCs will encounter a rather well guarded gate first. Already, the kid gloves are off. PCs will probably have to think their way around/through the gate. Once in the city, the PCs will come across a well. The author did an outstanding job of creating a puzzle-filled mini-dungeon within the well. The PCs can avoid it, but if they take the time to solve its mysteries they'll be rewarded later on.
Part 2- The Palace:
The PCs have the chance to explore a two story palace. What I like about the palace is it has a nice mix of encounters/traps, but not overwhelming, just enough to make the PCs a little cocky and maybe a little foolhardy when they reach the more deadly dungeon beneath it. My one criticism is due to the nature of my players. If there is ever a multiple storied building with a dungeon beneath it, my PCs NEVER go up. They know that the main villain is always in the dungeon and no prospect of treasure sways them otherwise.
Part 3- The Dungeon:
This part really brings it and is my favorite part of the module, second being the cleverly designed well. This dungeon is brutal with monsters and traps. What I really like is that the traps make sense for the dungeon (basically guarding the dead royalty) and they add a lot of flavor and atmosphere. By the end, your players will be afraid to look at anything sideways for fear of it blasting, frying, or cursing them to death.
Conclusion:
This differs from DitPC in that this is more of a straightforward dungeon crawl than the investigation/search/combat style of DitPC. However, the combats with very unique monsters and atmospheric traps makes it just as fun to read (and I'm assuming play). Stupid PCs beware, though, this isn't a "safe" module. If you are charge in recklessly, you will die.

I bought this module (print version) on the recommendation from Mr. Greg Vaughan and I was not disappointed. I normally don't like reviewing a module without having played it, but after reading through it, I want to generate some buzz about it. I'm going to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.
The adventure itself can be broken into three parts-
Part 1: The City
The author does an excellent job of setting up a small caravan city. There is a small investigation that the PCs do not even necessarily have to complete. The author excels at establishing enough plot hooks and detail to let the PCs tackle this first part in whatever way they want, including what happens if they land themselves in jail! What could be a very rail road set of encounters is done in a more sandbox style approach.
Part 2: The Search
Part 2 can be played as long or quick as the PCs/DM wants. Depending on how the PCs explore the Painted Canyons and what random encounters they stumble into will take them eventually to Part 3. Again, this is done in a very sandbox style, allowing the PCs to navigate the story.
Part 3: The Bandit Camp
I'm spoilering this part as I go into a little more detail with the only real criticism I had for the module.