Patrick F's page

A bit of a challenge to prepare, since the Pathfinder Society starts the sanctioned event at the middle of the Adventure Path. With that said, the scenarios are challenging and fun for everyone in the party. There is a good blend of various creatures, haunts and other undead to allow everyone to find a role at the table. The mechanics are not overtly complicated and are easy to run.

The storyline is intriguing and you will want as much time as possible to explore the Harrowstone prison grounds as well as interact in the town of Ravengro to build the suspense. Seven hours passed by quickly, but good times nonetheless.

Our society group ran three tables of this scenario. Very little preparation time. The combat was well balanced for all three tables, with a few close calls along the way.

With only five areas to explore in the outpost, the scenario is overtly simplified and centered mostly around combat. We started late and finished early.

Perfect for a new GM to Pathfinder to run, as the scenario is not complicated in game mechanics. More experienced GMs will feel the adventure unfinished, could have included more areas to explore and expanded upon the intrigue and mystery of the monkey god temple. Alas, no monkeys or ice creatures to be found.

Jim Groves does an excellent job of telling a story and capturing the horror genre. I find the storyline intriguing and the haunts are fun to play.

However, the overall feel of the scenario ends up being overtly 'roll' play heavy due to the nature of haunts mechanics and takes away from the suspense of the hauntings. A well-structured party can thwart even the most sincere attempts to build tension by various means to detect undead, alignment and so forth.

The challenge is definitely high enough, especially if you utilize the optional encounters. However, the preparation work to run the monsters and haunts themselves is quite intense, as the spell and abilities is plentiful and varied. Not something you want to try to run dry or at the last moment without some forethought. The greatest challenge as GM aside from the game mechanics is conveying the suspense and horror of the scenario without losing momentum along the way. I recommend to bring along a GM reroll item for the players for a particularly nasty haunt which can outright kill a character.

I would have liked to seen the clues more spread out as to the atrocities of what happened in the house by various journals or hidden scribbles located at different places in the house. Having everything journalized at the end doesn't lend to the overall suspense and discovery of the scenario, but simply a grim recanting of what actually happened at the end of the game session when packing away.

Nonetheless, there isn't another scenario quite like this one in Pathfinder and I am glad I had the opportunity to run it. Solid adventure, but be prepared to put some work into it.

I had the opportunity to run the adventure path for Pathfinder Society for Organized Play. Overall great time! I found the scenario to be well written and challenging for a full group of adventurers, especially taking into account the weather conditions. I like the campaign setting overall.

My advice is to allocate as much time as reasonably possible to get through the entire sanctioned content for Pathfinder Society for Organized Play. A 6 hour session will feel rushed and doesn't offer as many roleplaying opportunities. I would recommend between 7-8 hours for an event.

The storyline is great and depicts the conditions of travelling in Irrisen very well. The goblins are great for roleplaying opportunities. The combats are appropriately challenging, utilizing monsters and terrain conditions. Skills are equally important to help survive. Everyone is valued at the gaming table.

Maps are huge -- make sure to set aside time to plan accordingly. Depending on how much roleplaying you want to do, the scenario tends to run a bit longer than the standard session.

At the end of the night, smiles around the table.

I like how the story unfolds as the players attempt to discover the cure to Skelg's sickness and the love between the two main characters which the scenario focuses upon.

However, the combat is severely lacking in challenge, especially the end fight scene at higher level tiers. No ranged weapons either for the minions. It would have been nice to have an additional map for Skelg's estate and grounds where the first combat took place, along with extra minions to make the challenge even greater.

I give it three stars because I love the Reign of Winter campaign setting so much and the overall storyline is well written, so you truly care what happens to the people you are trying to help. The higher level tier combat challenge is severely broken and will be a simple walkthrough for most parties. Lower level tier combat is more challenging, especially if the environmental effects written in the scenario are used.

I find the book simply fascinating and wonderfully depicts the Ulfen culture and the hardships of the northern most regions of Golarion. Reign of Winter is one of my favorite campaign scenarios and is a great read for roleplaying inspiration.