paizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murderspaizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders2021-03-17T20:22:41Z2021-03-17T20:22:41ZPathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders: What's There is Great. (3 stars)Jhaemanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy91vr?Pathfinder-Legends-Rise-of-the-Runelords-2-The-Skinsaw-Murders2018-01-30T11:23:06Z<p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>NO SPOILERS</p>
<p>The second chapter of the audio adaptation of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path contains the same strengths and weaknesses as the first chapter. On the downside, it's rather short for how much it costs (just over an hour, and then 10 minutes of inexplicable music) and the battle scenes are hard to follow because there's no narration. It's not an "audio book," it's more of an "audio play" and there are some things that are very hard to describe without a narrator. On the upside, I enjoyed the voice acting (there's some genuinely funny moments through good delivery) and I thought the script was really well done; although some parts of the adventure path were cut, the changes were done elegantly and everything flowed together nicely. The music and sound effects were appropriately creepy when necessary, and several scenes were exciting even if hard to picture. I think I would sum this one up as I did the first chapter: worth getting if you are a hardcore Rise of the Runelords fan, or if you can find them cheap (like as the free sample on an audiobook streaming service).</p>
<p>SPOILERS</p>
<p>In the written adventure path, The Skinsaw Murders is a fantastic and memorable piece of RPG writing. The PCs have to solve a series of grisly murders, brave a truly haunted house, do battle with the grotesque and downright scary murderer, then travel to the metropolis of Magnimar to do battle with a whole cult of serial killers before a final battle against the cult's master atop a crumbling clock tower. The audio adaptation cleverly intertwines the early parts of the written adventure, by having Merisiel investigate the rumors of "walking scarecrows" terrorizing the countryside while Valeros, Harsk, and Ezren investigate the grisly murder at the saw mill. Merisiel is the target of the Skinsaw Man's obsession in this version, and she gets kidnapped and taken to the Misgivings. Much of what the written version has in store for the characters in Foxglove Mansion is omitted (including most of the haunts, the stuff with Iesha, etc.), but the big confrontation with Aldern Foxglove/The Skinsaw Man/The Hurter is fantastically done. The split personalities are each given a distinct voice, and new listeners will be surprised at the revelation that all three are part of the same person.</p>
<p>The audio version skips most of the heroes time in Magnimar, which is disappointing because I would have liked to see its take on characters like Mayor Grobaras, the cool monuments, the Irespan, etc. Instead, the audio version jumps directly to the Shadow Clock (placing Justice Ironbriar there) and the confrontation with Xaliasa. There's very little description of the clocktower or the dangerous ascent the heroes would have to face, and there's no Scarecrow (flesh golem) at all. It's okay, but not nearly as cool as it is in the written version. The audio version does end with a nice lead-in to chapter three, however.</p>
<p>All in all, it's good—there just needs to be more of it. It's like reading the Cliff Notes version of a great novel—you get the gist, but it's not entirely satisfying.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>NO SPOILERS</p>
<p>The second chapter of the audio adaptation of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path contains the same strengths and weaknesses as the first chapter. On the downside, it's rather short for how much it costs (just over an hour, and then 10 minutes of inexplicable music) and the battle scenes are hard to follow because there's no narration. It's not an "audio book," it's more of an "audio play" and there are some things that are very hard to describe without a narrator. On the upside, I enjoyed the voice acting (there's some genuinely funny moments through good delivery) and I thought the script was really well done; although some parts of the adventure path were cut, the changes were done elegantly and everything flowed together nicely. The music and sound effects were appropriately creepy when necessary, and several scenes were exciting even if hard to picture. I think I would sum this one up as I did the first chapter: worth getting if you are a hardcore Rise of the Runelords fan, or if you can find them cheap (like as the free sample on an audiobook streaming service).</p>
<p>SPOILERS</p>
<p>In the written adventure path, The Skinsaw Murders is a fantastic and memorable piece of RPG writing. The PCs have to solve a series of grisly murders, brave a truly haunted house, do battle with the grotesque and downright scary murderer, then travel to the metropolis of Magnimar to do battle with a whole cult of serial killers before a final battle against the cult's master atop a crumbling clock tower. The audio adaptation cleverly intertwines the early parts of the written adventure, by having Merisiel investigate the rumors of "walking scarecrows" terrorizing the countryside while Valeros, Harsk, and Ezren investigate the grisly murder at the saw mill. Merisiel is the target of the Skinsaw Man's obsession in this version, and she gets kidnapped and taken to the Misgivings. Much of what the written version has in store for the characters in Foxglove Mansion is omitted (including most of the haunts, the stuff with Iesha, etc.), but the big confrontation with Aldern Foxglove/The Skinsaw Man/The Hurter is fantastically done. The split personalities are each given a distinct voice, and new listeners will be surprised at the revelation that all three are part of the same person.</p>
<p>The audio version skips most of the heroes time in Magnimar, which is disappointing because I would have liked to see its take on characters like Mayor Grobaras, the cool monuments, the Irespan, etc. Instead, the audio version jumps directly to the Shadow Clock (placing Justice Ironbriar there) and the confrontation with Xaliasa. There's very little description of the clocktower or the dangerous ascent the heroes would have to face, and there's no Scarecrow (flesh golem) at all. It's okay, but not nearly as cool as it is in the written version. The audio version does end with a nice lead-in to chapter three, however.</p>
<p>All in all, it's good—there just needs to be more of it. It's like reading the Cliff Notes version of a great novel—you get the gist, but it's not entirely satisfying.</p>Jhaeman2018-01-30T11:23:06ZPathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders: Best in the Series (5 stars)Gwerighttps://paizo.com/products/btpy91vr?Pathfinder-Legends-Rise-of-the-Runelords-2-The-Skinsaw-Murders2015-04-02T04:42:28Z<p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>An excellent mix of terror and mystery, I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. As a character focus on Merisiel, this story really shines. You feel like you know her very well pretty early and the connection grows throughout the story. The danger feels very real, and I found myself sighing with relief at the end of encounters.</p>
<p>I don't know how the Adventure Path ran, but this is a terrifically told and paced audio drama. I hope to see more like this one.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>An excellent mix of terror and mystery, I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. As a character focus on Merisiel, this story really shines. You feel like you know her very well pretty early and the connection grows throughout the story. The danger feels very real, and I found myself sighing with relief at the end of encounters.</p>
<p>I don't know how the Adventure Path ran, but this is a terrifically told and paced audio drama. I hope to see more like this one.</p>Gwerig2015-04-02T04:42:28ZPathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders: Brilliant (5 stars)Aaron Newlandshttps://paizo.com/products/btpy91vr?Pathfinder-Legends-Rise-of-the-Runelords-2-The-Skinsaw-Murders2014-11-18T10:18:05Z<p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>Just sat down and listened to this one. They are really awesome. As entertainment I love them, as game aids and ideas for incorporating into your games they are invaluable. I hope the series will continue with the second path.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>Just sat down and listened to this one. They are really awesome. As entertainment I love them, as game aids and ideas for incorporating into your games they are invaluable. I hope the series will continue with the second path.</p>Aaron Newlands2014-11-18T10:18:05ZPathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders: A pleasure to hear. (4 stars)HeroicSorthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy91vr?Pathfinder-Legends-Rise-of-the-Runelords-2-The-Skinsaw-Murders2014-06-28T05:49:44Z<p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>The installment handles some strange story elements with grace. The full production audio vs merely reading is a one sided fight. No audio book comes close in immersion. Keep em coming paizo and big finish.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>The installment handles some strange story elements with grace. The full production audio vs merely reading is a one sided fight. No audio book comes close in immersion. Keep em coming paizo and big finish.</p>HeroicSort2014-06-28T05:49:44ZPathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders: Entertaining and well done! (4 stars)vvincenthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy91vr?Pathfinder-Legends-Rise-of-the-Runelords-2-The-Skinsaw-Murders2014-06-09T18:58:34Z<p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>This is an entertaining audiobook. The voice acting is decent and the sound track and effects are very well done. It seems way too short, but I guess I can live with that. It would be nice if there were more extras included (this one included a magazine that featured Big Finish Productions) - like a PDF of some of the extras that were in the adventures (History of Thassilon, etc). But if that's the worst I can find to complain about, then I really have no complaints.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>This is an entertaining audiobook. The voice acting is decent and the sound track and effects are very well done. It seems way too short, but I guess I can live with that. It would be nice if there were more extras included (this one included a magazine that featured Big Finish Productions) - like a PDF of some of the extras that were in the adventures (History of Thassilon, etc). But if that's the worst I can find to complain about, then I really have no complaints.</p>vvincent2014-06-09T18:58:34ZPathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders: Same High Quality as First disc but... (3 stars)strangeporkhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy91vr?Pathfinder-Legends-Rise-of-the-Runelords-2-The-Skinsaw-Murders2014-05-20T19:26:49Z<p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>No track listings? Seriously?</p><p><b>Pathfinder Legends—Rise of the Runelords #2: The Skinsaw Murders</b></p><p>No track listings? Seriously?</p>strangepork2014-05-20T19:26:49Z