A 3.5/Pathfinder compatible adventure for 4-6 PCs of Levels 7-9
With royalty coming to town, the reopening of the new Rybalka Lodge couldn’t be timelier. Although the place is warm and inviting during the day, it becomes a different place at night. Locals refuse to approach Rybalka Lodge and the owner is fire-fighting rumors of it being haunted.
The original lodge burned down just one year ago, possibly by Vikmordere arsonists, and killed the visiting Ambassador Valdritch with his entire retinue. Now with the imminent arrival of a Klavekian Prince on the anniversary of the tragedy has stirred up both memories of the fire and the spirits of those consumed in the flames.
Can the party get to the bottom of what is going on before the prince sets foot in town? Will the spirits of those who suffered from the arsonists attack get their revenge? Will the Vikmordere try to instigate another assassination attempt? And who is the mysterious woman occasionally seen in the shadows around the new lodge?
Also included in “Haunting at Rybalka Lodge”:
The Incorporeal Inquisitor, a new class for your players
Loads of New Magic Items: Capture Crystals, Release Crystal Orbs, Circlet of Destinations, Ring of Light Effects, Illusory Glass
New Location: Rybalka Lodge
Todd Gamble’s Maps of Awesomseness
Product Availability
Fulfilled immediately.
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store@paizo.com.
The finest inn in Rybalka burned down a year ago and has now been rebuilt, despite various strange incidents plaguing the construction. These events have delayed the re-opening of the inn, although with the arrival of a Prince, no less, in town it has been decided that the doors of Rybalka Lodge must open once more...
... and that's where the characters come in, the Mayor would like them to get to the bottom of all these mysterious lights and smashed dishes and compelling images of the place on fire that mysteriously leave no trace when anyone arrives with a fire bucket. So, folks, it's time for some ghost-hunting if not ghost-busting.
The characters will have to use investigative skills as well as combat to solve the mystery. There is plenty for them to do and see during the course of this investigation, and everything is clearly presented so that pertinent details are at the GM's fingertips as the adventure proceeds. NPCs/monsters are dual-statted for both D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder RPG, with opportunities for skill use signposted well with results for differing levels of success laid out well.
It will be worth spending the time to prepare to run this adventure. The various encounters and opportunities to gain information that will help unravel the mystery are presented in a rather linear manner - first you meet X and then there's a chance to question Y and next you can go poke about in location Z - so if the characters decide to do things in a different order it helps to know where all the clues are!
It's a cracking haunted house mystery and when all is revealed a surprise is in store! The whole adventure is very atmospheric and ought to conjure up some real terror as the characters explore the Lodge (especially if they go round at night...). I want to rush off and run this at once, even before I've finished writing this review....
This pdf is 38 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, leaving us with 34 pages of content, so let's take a look!
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion.
Still here? All right!
One year ago, the most luxurious place in Rybalka, the lodge, burned down and took ambassador Kor Valdritch and his whole retinue to a fiery death. Investigations showed evidence of Vikmordere terrorists and concluded thus the investigation. One year later, the reconstruction of the famous lodge is complete, in spite of the weird occurrences happening around it, the strange lights, the sabotaged endeavors to recreate it. 3 days from now, the Klavekian prince will visit Rybalka - that's the time-frame the PCs have to stop the lodge's hauntings. Suurmaja Samson, owner of the lodge and mayor as well NEED this issue resolved and especially the latter's weird dreams about an imminent assassination of the prince should drive home that the PCs should not squander their precious time. Furthermore, a mysterious undead-hunting agent from the nation of Mohkba approaches the PCs and asks them to look for a crystal ball while investigating, as well as providing further rewards.
By the way: This module really deserves being called an investigation: The neighboring families, dialogue with them, perceptions, sense motive - many clues can be unearthed and should be - for example the rather interesting miniature carvings of the lodge that seem to be in quite a variety of houses. After initial surveys, the PCs can find aforementioned agent wounded and telling them about Vikmordere waiting at the lodge. Sooner or later, the PCs have to explore the lodge, possibly multiple times, for daylight and night feature different apparitions and potentially dangerous combats: The Vikmordere and spirits in the lodge turn out to be the culprits of the hauntings, masterminded by the supposedly deceased ambassador, who has been gathering information and manipulated the people of Rybalka in a brilliant, yet sadistic infiltration that feature the clever use of specially treated crystals and baby mimics (!!!). As a highly intelligent opponent, his tactics as well as HOW he could generate such a vast deception should make for the truly rewarding finale when the PCs confront him and hopefully manage to pierce the vast amount of nasty tactical tricks and escape plans the ambassador has. If they fail, he may not only get away with important data, the lodge will also burn down again to cover his tracks. On the interesting side, he is also an illusionist and for a long time, perhaps the first one I've read about who actually has tactics worthy of a) his Int-score and b) his status as the BbeG. What his mission is about, though, remains a mystery, at least for now.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches, just a few minor typos here and there. Layout has been revised and refined further from AaW's previous standard and is easier to read, more concise in its presentation and makes reading the module quite easy on the eyes - kudos for the continued improvement! The pdf comes with ok artworks and a drop-dead-gorgeous map of the lodge, also in a player-friendly version. The pdf is fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks. As per the writing of this review, the herolab files for this module have not yet been provided. With the new layout, no printer-friendly version is part of the deal, but the module is still printer-friendly enough in its layout to not require a downgrade.
I really liked this module for its clever antagonist, his brilliant plan and how his strategy is described. While DMs should definitely read again what his array of magical options can do, in the hands of a capable DM, this module can be a truly memorable experience, also thanks to the rather detailed social investigation in the beginning that helps DMs weak in that regard. The night/day-difference also is rather cool and concise in its presentation, offering several interesting scenes that could be easily be further enhanced by DMs that can wield the main antagonist well. All in all a cool investigation with a smart BbEG that I haven't seen done this way before. Hence also a hearty recommendation with a final verdict of 5 stars, only omitting my seal of approval since I would have loved to see the initial investigation expanded slightly more. Still, one of the best, most uncommon AaW-modules I've read so far.
