Chapter 2: "Raiders of the Fever Sea"
by Greg A. Vaughan
Bound for adventure upon the pirate vessel they’ve taken as their own, the heroes face a sea of dangers as they chart a course to become true Free Captains of the Shackles. But life as a pirate doesn’t prove any easier now that they’re in command, as deadly sea monsters, the corpses of drowned scallywags, and raiders from the deep rise to oppose them. When a most unusual map falls into the adventurers’ hands, they have the chance to change their fate in a single daring raid. Is it the heroes’ destiny to be the next victims of the merciless waves, or will fortune smile upon them and spur their rise as the newest and most infamous pirates of the Shackles?
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:
“Raiders of the Fever Sea,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 4th-level characters, by Greg A. Vaughan.
A gazetteer of Golarion’s many oceans and seas, and an exploration of the various aquatic races that inhabit them, by Adam Daigle, with Patrick Renie, F. Wesley Schneider, and James L. Sutter.
A journey to Butcher’s Rock and deadly cyclopean prophecies in the Pathfinder’s
Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
Six new monsters, by Jesse Benner, Mark Moreland, Steven D. Russell, and Greg A. Vaughan.
Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.
ISBN–13: 978-1-60125-409-2
Raiders of the Fever Sea is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure Path and Chronicle sheet are available as a free download (479 KB zip/PDF).
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
This volume wasn't as strong as the first volume for me. It's starts out great with the party getting a chance to disguise their ship and rename it. With a bit of monotony in the middle and a big epic treasure hunt at the end.
So some things that are a bit odd. The squib location is experiencing a drought, but there have been at least two big storms very close to the location just within a month of them getting there. So just a little quibble continuity wise.
The rules for ship to ship chases and boarding actions has the potential to be very slow and monotonous. Especially when your group is starting out. Your group will expect your crew to take part in ship boarding actions. If you don't find a way to do them with the PCs being the center of the action going after the captain and officers, they'll be long drawn out affairs. If you do go the route of having all the crews fighting each other, it'll make for some outstanding fights with players saving crew and crew saving players. It'll really make your players grow to value the crew.
One of the encounters requires your PCs to sail up a river to then get into the situation as they come back down the river. It's a bit of a stretch, especially if you have a cleric or other caster who can create water. It's unfortunate that it's a stretch get the player's into the situation as it really is a good opportunity to break the monotony.
Breaking the rock isn't all that exciting. They get a base out of it though.
The ghostship is probably my favorite part of the volume. They had to fight the ship multiple times. It's one of the things my players bring up all the time when talking about their exploits.
If your group hasn't specialized in operating in the water, the end of the volume will be a real slog and your group will struggle. Just taking a couple ranks in swim isn't enough to be effective in the water. It requires some serious effort, either through gear or abilities to really fight in it without hindering you. That's if they survive the encounter going into the underwater dungeon.
By the end of the book they should have made big names of themselves, fought off ghostships, hunted down legendary treasures, gotten a base, and are on their way to getting involved in Shackles politics.
The feedback I've read here is fair. The beginning is excellent, the middle is monotonous, and the dungeon crawl at the end is an OK capstone to the adventure. Fortunately as a DM, I read these reviews and tweak the modules accordingly...which is probably why you are reading this, too.
To make it fun, you have to break up the monotony of the sandbox. I created a few of my own ships with their own captains. I added a few twists here and there: a Nidalese military vessel, an Aspis Consortium vendetta, and a trip to Mediogalti Island, to name a few things to make the adventure stand out. It worked, but it required a bit of work on the part of the DM. It also helped to generate some random crew members and give them random personality traits, too...the players were really into making their ship and crew memorable, not just a bunch of lackluster followers.
Something I didn't anticipate, though, is that the power level of the encounters at the end are a bit unbalanced. If run as written, the canopy creeper would have easily been a TPK, the group after group of sahuagin would not have budged even a dent in party resources, and the final encounter would have been a pushover. It's almost a clone of the dungeon in the first module.
If I had it to do over, I would have added a few gimmicks to the bland groups of sahuagin, and also made sure to check and recheck the powers of the boss monsters.
I'm reviewing this from the point of view of a party that likes a campaign to be a living story more so than a hack and slash fest.
The problem with this installment is the fact that it fails to advance the plot in any meaningful way. Yes, there's lots of freedom in where your newly minted pirates can go and what they can do, but in the end it all means very little.
After raiding a couple of ships and a couple of villages, the pirates quickly find out that a pirate's life is pretty monotonous. You pull up to a boat, you hop over, slaughter the crew, and move on. Sell plunder and ships at port, boast about your accomplishments. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam. There are several plot-based events which are great, definitely the high point of this installment.
Overall, my players were mostly bored with it. There is really only one NPC that they get to interact with extensively in the book, which is generally the most fun part of the game for us. I'm sure this is great for a party that loves to sail around and slaughter innocents by the dozen, but if you're looking for a story-driven creative outlet, this isn't it.
Ring Side Report-Pathfinder Adventure Path Skull and Shackles- Raider of the Fev
Plot-Spoilers ahead!- The pirates now have a ship and begin to be pirates. The player have a chance to grab an island for territory, make some alliances and explore an sunken dungeon. At the end of the adventure, the players will move from small time pirates to Full Free Captains of the Shackles.
GM Impressions-THIS IS THE ADVENTURE TO MAINLINE PIRATES! We’re past the level 1 problem of the first adventure. Now the players get to go be real pirates, and ITS AWESOME! I had a blast. The players had a blast. IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ANY OF THIS ADVENTURE PATH, THIS ADVENTURE IS THE ONE!
Good-You’re FINALY pirates in Pathfinder. You have a ship, and you set sail. The PCs can go ANYWHERE!
Bad-This is an improve heavy adventure. The PCs just go after ships. The book has some basic ships and a basic village they can attack. You as a GM have to make it entertaining. Its not hard, but you have to put in a little bit of leg work to make this fun. Also, get ready for underwater aquatic combat. If your PCs hate rules heavy combat, they will not enjoy that part.
Final Thoughts-Best part of the adventure path. YOU ARE PIRATES! No random skill checks. No real control on your PCs. Just GO! Be pirates! As a GM, read ahead, know your rules, and be ready to make stuff up on the fly! 5/5
Learning the Ropes of Piracy! Raiders of the Fever Sea
This was probably the section where we had the most fun; just being pirates, scanning the horizon, looking for a ship to take. An awesomely well written adventure (Greg A. Vaughan, what else would it be?)it's the high point of the Skull & Shackles. Read my full review here: Raiders of the Fever Sea
Subscribers, as part of their subscription, get access to the PDF when their subscription shipment goes out. This occurs prior to the street date indicated in the product above.
Yup. As a subscriber I just wanted to know if they started rolling out yet. My group is almost done with the first one.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Mark Moreland wrote:
Jeff Erwin wrote:
The paper model from Worldworks (the Maiden) is best I've found that's affordable, but it looks like a small nightmare to put together, and costly to print out.
That's the one Rob uses in our office game. Whatever it cost, both in money and time, was well worth it from a player's perspective. The model does wonders in increasing the immersion in the environment and helping with tactical situations involving the masts and various decks.
Is it better to use this model for the Wormwood in the first adventure or will it see more use as the Man's Promise for the rest of the campaign?
The paper model from Worldworks (the Maiden) is best I've found that's affordable, but it looks like a small nightmare to put together, and costly to print out.
That's the one Rob uses in our office game. Whatever it cost, both in money and time, was well worth it from a player's perspective. The model does wonders in increasing the immersion in the environment and helping with tactical situations involving the masts and various decks.
Is it better to use this model for the Wormwood in the first adventure or will it see more use as the Man's Promise for the rest of the campaign?
Well, looking over the model instructions, it actually can be customized, and walls and interior stuff can be swapped out. So it'll work for both...
Is the similarity of Lady Smythee and B. Jenet from King of Fighters intentional? Because I found myself laughing pretty hard when I saw her picture.
EDIT: Even their backstories are similar. This has to be intentional.
I can't speak for the art, but I wasn't familiar with B. Jenet, so any backstory similarity is coincidental.
It was pretty funny for me because I'd run across her image a lot during searches to find pirate imagery for my Skulls and Shackles tumblr. Jenet's supposed to be a noble who got bored doing noble things and went out to steal things, and Lady Smythee is a noble who married a pirate (it's vague). It's just like, I flipped the page, and she looks, well...
Just thought it was funny.
Also, this adventure does a great job writing from a neutral standpoint, and I liked the random encounters not being all random. S&S is better and better.
Is the similarity of Lady Smythee and B. Jenet from King of Fighters intentional? Because I found myself laughing pretty hard when I saw her picture.
EDIT: Even their backstories are similar. This has to be intentional.
I can't speak for the art, but I wasn't familiar with B. Jenet, so any backstory similarity is coincidental.
It was pretty funny for me because I'd run across her image a lot during searches to find pirate imagery for my Skulls and Shackles tumblr. Jenet's supposed to be a noble who got bored doing noble things and went out to steal things, and Lady Smythee is a noble who married a pirate (it's vague). It's just like, I flipped the page, and she looks, well...
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
After reading the "Oceans of Golarion" article I can't help but see a similarity in the budding rise of a Sahuagin Empire and that of the Serpent Folk Empire.
The Serpent Folk are a race prone to mutation, rose to rule large portions of Golarion,and were finally set low by the rise of Azlant.
The Sahuagin are a race prone to mutation, are slowly rising to rule over large portions of Golarion, and may one day have to contend with the rise of Suken Azlant (in the form of a consolidated Gillmen Empire aka the true heirs of Azlant.)
Also the rise of Azlant above the waves birthed a god (Aroden), and whose to say that in 10,000 years with the rise of Suken Azlant we wouldn't see a rebirth of that very same god.
On that same line of thought, whose to say that Suken Azlant wont suffer a similar fate as Azlant, but instead of sent crashing to the ocean floor, Suken Azlant is thrust once more above the waves.
Then again all of this wouldn't take place for about 10 to 20 thousand years so, it's just something fun to think about.
I got this one and it is great. My only complaint is the picture of the Matron on page 44. Why does a female sahaugin have breasts? It's completely clear that Sahaugin reproduce like fish and they don't breast feed. There just isn't a good reason for it. Drives me crazy.
You are correct. Both the four-armed sahuagin and the malenti use the stats of sahuagin from the Bestiary with the modifications noted in the entry. The statblocks make it simple by putting all the relevant pieces together.
I began dm'ing the first module last month and I ordered the second module today. The Pc's need to refit the Man's Promise. Where do they get the $$ from? Reason I asked is b/c I developed a "side quest" for them to find treasure that will provide enough pieces of 10 to actually custome made their own ship (same dimensions as the Man's Promise). This quest involves talking to dragons for help, going to churche's and libraries and do research in terms of Astronomy, liberating a cursed pirate crew, and finding the gold. In doing so, their ship gets destroyed and they have to build form scratch whcih will give mor flavor and a bette sense ofplace in terms of: THIS is our ship.
I began dm'ing the first module last month and I ordered the second module today. The Pc's need to refit the Man's Promise. Where do they get the $$ from? Reason I asked is b/c I developed a "side quest" for them to find treasure that will provide enough pieces of 10 to actually custome made their own ship (same dimensions as the Man's Promise). This quest involves talking to dragons for help, going to churche's and libraries and do research in terms of Astronomy, liberating a cursed pirate crew, and finding the gold. In doing so, their ship gets destroyed and they have to build form scratch whcih will give mor flavor and a bette sense ofplace in terms of: THIS is our ship.
Couls someone share were the PC's get the $$$???
THX
The PCs can use treasure they got on Bonewrack Isle in the first adventure. If they don't want to use that or don't have enough, page 9 of this volume details alternate payment methods Rickety Hake will accept to refit the PCs' ship.
Love the AP so far. One thing that keeps bothering me is the map on page 33 of Tidewater Rock. The staircase does not seem to match from floor to floor. Anyone else troubled by this?
Otherwise, great continuation and I too enjoyed the cover art!
Love the AP so far. One thing that keeps bothering me is the map on page 33 of Tidewater Rock. The staircase does not seem to match from floor to floor. Anyone else troubled by this?
Otherwise, great continuation and I too enjoyed the cover art!
Stairs are notoriously hard to depict on maps, but I'm not sure where they don't match up. The staircase at B6 connects to B7 (it turns to the right at the end of B6 to join B7, but that turn is not actually shown on the map, which may be the source of confusion. The B7 stairs continue spiraling clockwise to join the northernmost stairs in B11. The second stairway in B11 (leading north, just south of the first stairs) leads up to the roof (B13).
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
The Tiberolith looks to have a few errors in its stat block.
1) It lists has a Huge construct so it should have a hp bonus of 40 not 30 (thus having a total hp of 111)
2) The AC breakout is not listed. However assuming a natural AC bonus of +16 and a size AC bonus of -2 the AC looks like it would be 24, touch 8, flat-footed 24, not touch 10.
3) Also I think the Will save should be +4 not +3
I love this episode, really like the Seacat, Urchins and the PLant creature, not really into yet another beautiful-woman monster tho so the Malenti (ala Undine, Nereid, Triton, Rusalka) isn't something I would use/like.
I love this episode, really like the Seacat, Urchins and the PLant creature, not really into yet another beautiful-woman monster tho so the Malenti (ala Undine, Nereid, Triton, Rusalka) isn't something I would use/like.
Otherwise its very good! So glad with the Seacat!
The Malenti are not "woman-monsters".. Paizo just chose to illustrate a female in this case. They can be either gender. Their menace is that they look just like Aquatic Elves. If you encounter a group of Elves swimming about, there's a chance one (or more!) of them is actually a Sahuagin Malenti spy.
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