I love the design of this product, and I believe they went with a good mix of terrain types. Unfortunately, only the dungeon floor pattern is light/sparse enough to really show wet erase markers. Alas, if only the other textures were lighter and/or less busy, this would be a five-star product.
One of these days, I'll learn not to edit reviews in HTML forms. :P
Short version: The story really gets rolling in this installment. Nice mix of challenges and varied solutions, all against a flavorful backdrop. Plenty of back story...which, for a change, the players may actually have a chance to learn.
This scenario is a basic "Go run this list of errands" outing, but at least the errands are interesting and varied. The encounters are well fleshed out, most offer multiple solutions, and all include enough information for the GM to handle player improvisation. There is plenty of opportunity for good role-playing.
The combats seem to be a bit on the easy side, but then again I did run for a group of six experienced players with well-built characters.
Better-than-average editing (at least for a Pathfinder Society scenario).
This review is based on reading the entire book, playing one level of the dungeon (The Accursed Halls), and running two others (The Forgotten Library and the Engima Vaults)
The layout, art, and cartography in this product is excellent. The material on town of Thornkeep and environs is useful and well-done. Points of interest in the surrounding countryside, NPCs, town locations, etc. -- it's all here. There is even a full-page rumors table. Overall, things are very reminiscent of great early D&D products.
Once we head into the dungeons below town, however, things begin to unravel quickly. The whole dungeon feels like a series of disjointed encounters strung together with little pretense of a coherent story. Admittedly, this is to be expected to a certain degree in a project of this nature, but much of the material simply defies logic.
The last chapter is a behind-the-scenes of the upcoming Pathfinder MMO. I personally couldn't care less, and largely ignored this section, but if you're following the development of that the game, this chapter will likely be of great interest to you.
Overall, Thornkeep provides an excellent base of operations, then squanders it on a disjointed, sub-par dungeon crawl. Only the sheer excellence of the first half of the book saves the product from a lower rating.
This review is based on the following three minis I picked up on a whim at the FLGS:
1 Skeleton
2 Lady Ghoul
4 Zombie
This second installment in the Builder Series represents an ideal selection of well-sculpted commonly-used figures. Just as in We Be Goblins, there is a lot to like here:
* The plastic is flexible where it needs to be (weapons, etc), but remains hard in the bases.
* The paint jobs are very strong, with effective use of both dry-brushes and washes.
* The cost per figure is reasonable, and the individual packaging makes a figure or two an easy impulse purchase (though it's possible that isn't an improvement, exactly ;D).
One minor complaint remains:
* There are black plastic "blobs" where some of the minis attach to the bases.
...but that's not enough to knock off a star.
It's hard to imagine a more ideal theme for a Builder Series set. Recommended without hesitation.
