The Wormwood Mutiny is the first adventure path that I have attempted to be a GM for; expecting to go into this without much of a clue as to how to run the adventure; but after taking the time to run it; I am pleased with what I have found. The adventure started off a touch rocky but I bring that down to my own abilities. This being said though it is an adventure path I have enjoyed, and am looking forward to the follow up adventures and want to see what I will be putting my players through.

This is the first AP I've picked up. I won't run it for a few months as I finish up my sandbox campaign first but I did give it a read. This is how an adventure should be! It should be flat out fun to read, it should motivate GMs to run it, and players should be excited to play it. The Wormwood Mutiny does exactly that.

Besides some cool combat encounters, there are plenty of role playing opportunities. This will put tremendous pressure on the GM to perform for the numerous NPCs but there is a good deal of background information on major players in the adventure.

This is a very solid product and I'm looking forward to running the entire path for my group. Thank you Paizo!

So far I am enjoying running this game. After a while my player started to like it to. They didn't really care for the start and I had one player die 3 time cause he just kept want to kill the Captain and couldn't take the hint from anyone not to. After we got through their complaints it started going smoothly. I'm looking forward to the rest.

The Wormwood Mutiney is a welcome departure from the standard AP that Paizo is so well known for. To begin with this starter doesn't have the players automatically set up as "heroes" or as the masters of their own destiny. The players begin the adventure as press ganged sailors on a pirate ship very much at the mercy of some very unsavory NPCs. This creates an interesting situation where the PCs must learn to get along, make friends, not lose their cool and gear up slowly.
Without spoiling it, I feel obliged to make two observations.
#1. This is an incredibly RP intensive story. There are more than 20 NPCs that the players will, at some level, interact with. That means that there are 20 NPCs that a GM will need to juggle and play.
#2. The entire cast is made up of pirates or wannabe pirates. The encounters are quick and dirty and the events on the ship are such that players will need to be prepped in certain groups that some bad stuff is going to happen and that they might not be able to do ANYthing about it.
These two observations combined lead me to the conclusion that this is an AP that will be set up for a more mature and/or experienced audience. Far to many adventures allow PCs to run roughshod over the game world, this is not one of those adventures.

Mechanically the adventure is set up to do some remarkable things. First off it incorporates skills that many times are ignored or shortchanged. Profession skills like Sailor, Siege Engineer and Carpenter get some potential love as do Craft skills like Cooking.
There are some very simple gambling games built in to the story that can be pursued or not, depending on your group's preferences. There is also the ability to run a "black market" of stolen or controlled goods if that's the sort of thing your players might get into. Neither of these things are fleshed out crunch wise, but they really don't need to be.

Map wise, this adventure is very direct. A single flip mat, Pirate Ship and the Ship's Cabins will get you through most of the adventure. This is nice since I think this is something not done enough.

If I have a complaint about this adventure, it is that I do perceive the possibility that it could be run through very quickly. It's also potentially lethal for inexperienced players. On the upside it would be relatively east to restart after a TPK.

I'm not a huge fan of Pirates as an RPG theme, this module has however brightened my outlook. Mr. Pett is obviously well versed in piratical matters, and it shows in the depth of his work. This is not an adventure on a pirate ship, it's a Pirate Adventure with all of the little nuances that go with it. The plot manages to strike an excellent balance between the Railroad and the Sandbox while letting characters become not just pirates but residents of a pirate ship.

The end result is excellent.
I'd rate 4.5 stars if that were an option.

The Wormwood Mutiny is the ideal starter adventure for the GMs who wish they could write all their own material but the realities of a career and family prevent it. I like to take material that is presented and "make it my own", adjusting the material with my own flair that will appeal to my players. Translation: I love my adventures to be "sandbox". The Wormwood Mutiny does this is spades, providing an outstanding outline to follow and the "guts" of a vile pirate ship to mold into my own. Thank you! Everything that happens in-between being press-ganged, capturing a merchant ship, and having a successful mutiny should be uniquely different for each GM's play of the adventure and that's the way it should be. There are enough railroad tracks to follow if the GM needs it too (like the grindylow lair, a bit forced, but the GM/players need to get familiar with underwater situation sooner than later).

I am not a big "pirate" fan, but as I began to read the .pdf I couldn't stop, making this the first AP issue I read "cover-to-cover" before I had the real cover in my hands. Kudos gentlemen! My players are stoked as well and I could have two tables of this going before I know it.

The most telling thing about this adventure for me is that when I read it through, only two encounters stood out to me and got me oohing and ahhing about them, thinking about how I would present it to the players. Neither of these encounters are actually in the adventure, as they were the Kelpie's Wake, which definitely won't show up, and the ooze ship, which you can have show up if you want.

This adventure is a satisfactory adventure, but there's really nothing unique about it other than "You're pirates! Isn't that cool?" It relies entirely on the fact that your players will be infatuated with the idea of being pirates (which they may be!) to make up for the fact that there's nothing really that interesting going on.

Unless your players truly love the opportunity to get revenge on Mr. Plugg* and plot that mutiny, there's really nothing fun in this adventure unless they make that fun for themselves, since the fact that they're pirates doesn't mean a whole lot for this part of the adventure path.

*And I imagine some groups will be apathetic about him, it's a fickle game manipulating the emotions of your group.

Don't get me wrong, it's a solid adventure, it's just nothing special. And when I'm paying 20 bucks, I expect something special.

Unless my players truly love this AP when we play through it, I probably won't be buying the rest.

~I've since played through the initial part of this adventure with the players.. And so far, they can't even remember who Plugg is, and they laugh at Scourge (who has so far managed an uninterrupted string of natural 1s whenever he tries to whip them.) On the other hand, they love Conchobhar and being pirates, rigging games and winning bet. All in all, after playing it, I still settle on three stars.

I don't play Pathfinder, but like many, I love the stuff and I look to include it in my gaming whenever I can. Not everything Paizo produce is great, but so far I've always enjoyed their Adventure Path initial offerings. There's something special about level 1 adventures. I guess it's the fresh feeling of starting something new, something with potential. Of course, these don't always become classic oft remembered campaigns, but they could do, and that's exciting. 

This adventure is part one of a 6 part campaign called Skull and Shackles. It's about pirates, and that's almost all you need to know. This is a genre well served by the RPG hobby, so I was interested to see what Paizo could bring to the party. 

One of the things that Paizo does so well, and continues with this adventure, is to go to real world myth and legend to inform its stories. Even though it's set in a fantasy world, with dungeons and dragons aplenty, there's deep rooted and respectful research running through the whole endeavour.  Within this adventure you can check off at least a dozen piratical must haves, including press ganging, parrots, boarding actions, digging for treasure, floggings and more. 

The detail provided is both broad and deep. The ship, it's crew and it's journey are spelled out and started out comprehensively. It's almost too much, but better to have the detail there than not. The party will be on a ship for 21 days, and every day brings something new to the story. The conditions are cramped and brutal. In fact, one of my worries is just how brutal this could be. This scenario needs some mature players, as the temptation to fight back against the odds will be strong, and will end up with dead PCs pretty promptly. Infractions on the ship are Not brooked and the punishments are potentially deadly. 

Even if the PCs keep their heads down (and that makes for a dull adventure) the NPCs will be pursuing their own agenda, and there's plenty of those aboard. What's not immediately obvious to the party is that they need to win friends and influence people, not slay every creature that crosses their paths. Given that their captain is 16th level, that's a clue that they'll need to use their wits first and sword and spell second. And even that assumes they can get a hold of their kit, which is not a given. 

The GM has an awful lot of info to maintain. I would absolutely have to get myself organised before running this. Whether that be spreadsheets or index cards, or a bunch of sticky notes, I would recommend several careful reads before starting. 

The fact is, the story that unfolds is pretty standard, but the level of interaction available to the party is enormous. Every nook and cranny of the ship and it's crew is explored. Every days events are detailed. The author has packed so much content into this that he has had to supply a list of potential ship actions that the pcs will use to squeeze in their extracurricular activities. The party are kept so busy just staying alive that they really have to work hard to push their agenda. 

And therein lies the dilemma with this adventure. If your group likes to improvise and roleplay their way through obstacles, then large parts of the text will be 'wasted'. On the other hand, there's enough content here to play through this entirely with dice rolls, and it wouldn't be a bad game at all.  But in doing that, the GM really becomes more of a referee than a guide. Obviously, groups will find their own way, but be prepared to not use every piece of the adventure provided, I just don't think you can. 

The second half of the adventure becomes less constrained and the party will get the opportunity to play in a more traditional exploration and combat style. In fact, the difference in tone is like day and night. I wonder if it's possible for groups to love both halves of this adventure? 

As with all APs, the adventure is only part of the deal. You also get a serial, this time written by Robin Laws (I loved it), as well as essays on pirate life, Besmara the goddess of pirates, and a bestiary. 

Overall, this is a great package. Whether or not you continue the campaign through the rest of the AP is immaterial. This is a super detailed resource that could launch any nautical campaign, in any ruleset. In fact, most other pirate themed adventures would skate over the detail provided here, and simply rely on the groups knowledge of films and stories. This book puts in the hard work for you. It provides a lot of structure, and absolutely delivers a pirate tale with aplomb. It's a challenge, both to run and to play, but worth every minute.

I ran the early part of this AP this afternoon, after my players took what seemed like forever to generate characters. They thoroughly hate Mister Plugg now....just after 90 minutes of gameplay. If this AP can invoke that kind of emotion in your players, you can guarantee there will be an enjoyable game. It's full of interesting NPCs and new rules that have me very excited to be back in the GM's seat.

In the player guide, paladins are singled out as a poor choice for initial character. I disagree. There are many opportunities to use Charisma based skills like Diplomacy, and the LG alignment restriction isn't too terribly big a deal. I interpret "lawful" to mean honorable, or following a code. You can be a code following, honorable pirate paladin without much trouble (at least as far as I've seen so far.)

Having just finished reading the Jade Regent Adventure Path, the first volume of Skull and Shackles blew through me like a breath of fresh air.

This introduction to a pirate's life shines through with the author's love of and firm grasp on the myth of the occidental pirate. A fine blend of the mundane and horrible life of a real pirate seasoned liberally with the excitement and wonder of the piratical myth combine to reawaken in me the excitement of Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Peter Pan.

This first volume is relatively light on the supernatural, but bursting with wonderful opportunities to role-play and is sufficiently strewn with combat to keep the grid-strategists happy. The emphasis here is much more on the atmosphere of living on a pirate boat than on Pathfinder combat.

If this module is a good guide to the entire Adventure Path, expect plenty of opportunities to live the life of a pirate as grand as any in history, your name whispered and feared throughout the Inner Sea. This module is somewhat more RP heavy than Jade Regent was, but the Path should satisfy those looking for crunch with entirely new combat rules for high seas combat and some real use for all those skills usually ignored... I'm looking at you Profession(Siege Engineer).

I won't say more for fear of spoilers, but I suspect if you bear any love for Pirates (Sid Meier's in particular..) you will love this module and are doing yourself a disservice if you don't run/play in it.