Pathfinder Module: Masks of the Living God (PFRPG) (based on
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Paizo Publishing, LLC
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An adventure for 3rd-level Pathfinder Roleplaying Game characters.
Cult of Personality
Razmir the Living God used his power to conquer an entire country; now he and his mask-wearing priests enforce peace and generosity—though some say their tools are intimidation and fear. His worshipers preach charity and self-worth, blaming rival faiths for crafting lies about the glories of the Living God. Now the cult has come to the city of Tamran, feeding the poor and promising happiness to those who serve Razmir. Yet ugly rumors persist of bribery, extortion, and strange disappearances associated with the new temple. Are these stories just gossip and lies spread by rival faiths? Or is the church of the Living God more than it seems?
Masks of the Living God is a adventure for 3rd-level characters, written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest RPG. This city-based adventure involves infiltrating a fortified temple and exposing the evil deeds of its cultists.
This adventure is set in the wooded land of Nirmathas in the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, but can easily be adapted for any game world. It can be used as a sequel to Crypt of the Everflame or as a stand-alone adventure, and is a prequel to the adventure City of Golden Death.
Written by Jason Bulmahn
Pathfinder Modules are 32-page, high-quality, full-color, adventures using the Open Game License to work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the standard 3.5 fantasy RPG rules set. This Pathfinder Module includes four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action, and full-color maps to enhance play.
ISBN 13: 978-1-60125-207-4
Masks of the Living God is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Its Chronicle Sheet and additional rules for running this module are a free download (217 KB zip/PDF).
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A lot has already been said about this particular Mod that I dont care to repeat or simply dont agree with. For one thing I dont feel that there was all that much of an opportunity to role play in this mod. You kinda get railroaded a lot... Which i went along with both because i know whats its like as a GM when your players make things difficult and because our mission was to infiltrate the cult and eating the food (even when you think its poisoned) engenders trust...
However i gotta say that its a weak approach to an infiltration scenario. Ive never met a player that likes having his character messed with so why build a scenario where the only way to proceed is to mess with the pcs if you dont want them to be hostile about it? In my game two of the pcs didnt eat the food because they used their players instincts, which led to a tense scene as threats were made and it almost devolved into a full on combat. All i could do was sit there and shake my head.
The other thing i gotta comment on was a scene we encountered while pretending to be new recruits:
Spoiler:
We were forced to fight each other in an arena for the amusement of one of the Cult higher ups. Isnt this sorta against one of the rules of PFS, that pcs cant attack other pcs without permission? And if they give you permission, it doesnt feel right. Um just feels awkward all round really. I understand the reason behind the anti-player combat rule but then why write a scenario in a PFS mod that kinda requires it?! Luckily one of us was able to get a Charm spell on the Cult lieutenant and convince him to call off the fight.
All in all this is a rather average mod. which is a shame cos its a good idea, who doesnt want to infiltrate an evil cult and destroy it from within?
While I ran this adventure piecemeal,I still found plenty in here to use. The plot was interesting enough to keep my players coming back for more and I found several ways to tweak it. There was some railroading as another reviewer pointed out and some sections were poorly organized. All in all however,it was a great adventure with a good mix of encounter types,I recommend for all types of GM's!
After playing the Crypt of the Everflame, this adventure changes things around a bit with the players infiltrating a temple of a corrupt religion and taking them down from within. This offers many interesting roleplaying opportunities, with the NPCs in the temple constantly abusing your players and encouraging them to commit acts of robbery, extortion and property damage. Though the adventure can be restrictive at times, it requires players to think things out in order to find ways to break through the temple's rather ridged regime and infiltrate it's higher levels. it's recommended to have at least one stealthy character in the party, though a GM can easily shift things around if this isn't the case. The last part of the adventure is supposed to involve the characters fighting their way past hordes of cultists to escape, but my players simply ran for it, avoiding the attackers and leaping over the wall for a rather un- smooth landing making for an amusing end to an entertaining adventure. The boat journey at the start however is a little shaky with its random encounters: I only ended up with two when my players were in need of some extra XP but this can be rectified by the GM if need be. Otherwise, this adventure was entertaining for me and my players with some fun roleplaying to be had.
I complete change of pace from the first part of the series, but a fun one. I thought it was organized poorly and required alot of flipping back and forth. Outside of that I don't have many complaints.
I ran Masks about a month ago and found that while it is a fun module, as other reviewers have stated it is built on a single track (though there are a few alternatives, all lead to the same place). For the GM that can take this module and add to it or blend it into a home game, there is a lot of potential here for not just Masks but the entire trilogy. Another of my favorite points is that this module is role-play heavy for a good two-thirds. It was very welcome to have the opportunity for our usual Pathfinder Society players to add a little more depth to their characters.
I would totally run Masks again, but I will want to augment part of it to give players a few more options to move the plot along.