Sin of the Fathers (PFRPG) PDF

This adventure is 18 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 15 pages of content, so let's check this out, shall we?
This being an adventure-review, it contains SPOILERS. Potential players might want to jump to the conclusion.

Still here? All right. The adventure opens with the PCs getting an invitation to claim an inheritance at a farm in the idyllic town of Shadowfield. Once they have ventured into a carriage and gotten there, they'll have to contend with a rather unpleasant discovery - the originator of the letter is rather dead and musk-creeperfied and some force wants revenge - turns out, the PC's ancestors have brought a heinous serial killer to justice and now his revived form (an undead scarecrow) has prepared an extensive gauntlet of traps and assaults to settle the old score.

While the town is detailed and even all of the NPCs get their own statblocks (and background stories including adventure hooks!), the basic plot is rather obvious from the beginning, as are the myriad ways open to the PCs finding the cave system beneath the farm that hides the sanctuary of the foe. The caverns, though, are rather interesting, as the traps they contain tend to be on the smart side and all of the encounters use environments stacked against the PCs for tactical combat situations as well as mood-setting elements. The adventure has the distinct possibility of the villain being defeated prior to the final encounter, but offers advice on his rejuvenation for the showdown.

Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly two-column standard. The pdf comes with extensive bookmarks and includes all stats necessary to run the adventure. Artworks are b/w and ok. We get 3 maps, 2 of which (the farm and the town) can be handed out to the players, as they contain no spoilers or annoying numbers that spell out the locations for them - excellent service and adds to the value of the pdf.
I like this adventure in that it's simple, can easily be run almost spontaneously and offers a nice first level introductory scenario. That being said, while the writing is atmospheric, I can't see the horror-aspect working well with regards to my players. Why? Because this adventure is very easy. While the traps are rather devious and not to be taken lightly, the main adversary is rather weak and the fact that a special rejuvenation beyond the first per se is not included somewhat drags down the scariness of the foe. Also, the adventure serves the background story/truth behind the assault to the PCs on a silver platter in the first encounter, essentially invalidating any need for investigation and thus depriving the adventure of the phase of rising tension. While this enables the adventure to be run very fast-paced, it also means that veteran players will not be particularly challenged by this module. I know that my players would be done with the adventure in under 4 hours. While you always can complicate the plot, as written it felt too simple for my tastes.

That being said, "Sin of the Fathers" still makes for a nice evening of roleplaying that probably won't see too many PC-deaths and a neat introduction to a new campaign, especially for less experienced players who want to delve into the horror genre without facing the often rather deadly horror-modules out there. My final verdict will take this into account and be 3.5 stars - round down if you have rather smart/experienced players and round up if you're looking for a scenario that goes easy on the PCs but still offers a creepy atmosphere.

Endzeitgeist out.

Sin of the Fathers by Tricky Owlbear Publishing

This product is 18 pages long. It starts with a cover and credits. (2 pages)

Adventure (9 pages)
This is for 1st level characters. It starts off with a background for the adventure. At one point in the past the village had a series of murders, the murderer was eventually caught and hanged. As the killer was about to die he swore vengeance against those who had captured him. Now years later it seems he might get his chance.

Part 1
The PC's all receive a letter to ask them to come to the village of Shadowfield. This is followed by a brief overview of the village, including a map.

Part 2
A carriage is sent to pick up all the PC's so eventually if they are not together they spend some time in the carriage going to the village. Once they arrive at their destination they find the house has smoke pouring out of the windows. The rest of the short adventure is about investigating the farm and the locations around it.

Monsters and NPC's (6 pages)
This part has full stat blocks for all the monsters and NPC's in the adventure.

It ends with a OGL. (1 pages)

Closing thoughts. The art work is black and white and ok. Editing and layout was pretty good. It is a fairly short adventure, with a very gothic/Halloween feel to it. I really only have on compliant about the adventure. The main villain is a new monster which is pretty cool and neat. Now the problem is there is a chance the PC's will fight and kill the main villain early in the adventure, the adventure suggest that he come back and be at the end to fight again. Which is all well and good from a gothic horror point of view. My problem is since the monster was new they could have made it so it could only be killed a certain way. It would have made more sense and it could have easily been added to the creature with out changing anything else in the adventure. Other than that it is a short, well done mini adventure. I would have liked to have seen more focus put on RPing with the NPC's in the village before heading out to the farm though. So what's my rating? This is a solid little adventure that with just a bit more effort and tweaking put into it, could have been very good. As it stands I am giving it a 3.5 star review. Nice but to make it really shine takes a little GM effort.

Trust me, I'm a Succubus.