Focu Edor, the local cleric of Gafolweed bursts into the inn huffing and puffing. As soon as he spots you, he rushes to your table and panting for breath and sputters, "The dead walk! They… they have been looting our graveyards and stealing the corpses of our own dear ancestors! I tried to stop them. I called upon the might of Galvathor but to no avail! The holy light was powerless against them. I fear I am forsaken and Gafolweed is doomed. I beseech thee, noble adventurers! Please, take up my cause and help me rid Gafolweed of this blight before it dooms us all!"
Will your fellowship of budding heroes be able to face the Curse of the Sickled Hand?
Want more beginner adventures? Here they are! "Curse of the Sickled Hand" is a basic Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure written by Mario Barbati. Written for beginning GMs, it features simplified stat blocks and includes battlemaps for running the fights, handouts, pawns, and plenty of GM tips. (For veteran GMs, there is an appendix to expand the adventure for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game!)
"Curse of the Sickled Hand" features:
All-star team: Mario Barbati, Tim Hitchcock, Roberto Pitturru
Beginner adventure for character levels 3-4
Six battlemaps for miniature gaming
Three handouts
Eleven pawns including coblynau, skeletons and the featured villain, Vraklin the coblynau necromancer
New monster: the coblynau, (dog faced kobolds!)
Product Availability
Fulfilled immediately.
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Do not be deluded by terms like 'basic' and 'introductory'... this adventure promises full-bore excitement, well-resourced and smooth to run, no matter whether players or GM are novices or experienced. It takes place in a wilderness area near to a rural village called Gafolweed, which can be placed anywhere suitable in your campaign world; those who have played the adventure Fangs from the Past may recognise some NPCs and locations, but it is not necessary to have done so to get full enjoyment from this scenario.
The Background lets the GM know what's really going on, and an Adventure Synopsis provides a framework for the plot, along with a nice map of Gafolweed where the adventure proper begins - in a tavern, with the characters' supper being interrupted by a frantic cleric incoherently babbling about walking dead raiding the graveyard... enough to spoil anyone's meal. Moreover, if they calm the poor priest long enough to get the story, these undead seemed impervious to his clerical powers, carrying on meticulously exhuming bodies and carting them off despite his prayers and spells!
Convinced that his deity has deserted him, the cleric intends to retreat to his monastery to repent and meditate, but has managed to collect a fair amount of coin with which to pay the characters to investigate the matter on his behalf. Assuming they accept, they will find plenty to do tracking down the walking dead and discovering what they are up to... and nothing is quite what it seems.
Each encounter is set out clearly, with descriptive material and game mechanics laid out ready for the GM to use. Spotted about are 'GM Tips' which are intended for novice GMs but contain good advice for anyone wishing to improve their game-mastering skills. There's an immense amount of background detail which makes the whole place come alive, and it is well worth spending time studying it so that you can use it to good effect during play. Characters who interact with the locals can find out much that will aid them, although naturally more martial skills will also be required to achieve success, as will expertise in dungeoneering - there are tombs and caverns to explore.
This adventure proves an excellent introduction in that it has just about all the elements of classic fantasy role-playing: a threatened community, an evil villain scheming away, hordes of minions, trick- and trap-filled complexes to explore... and it is laid out in a manner to make running it easy for novice and experienced GM alike. Maps are beautiful and comprehensive, and there's a collection of lush battlemaps for groups who enjoy miniatures or just like to see precisely what their characters see, even some 'standees' for the main NPCs/monsters likely to be involved in combat. Adventure beckons... accept the challenge!
