The Tolling of Tears (PFRPG)

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RIP0282E
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Beware the mournful tones of the bell.

The great bell of the Kinogasa-Taisha shrine has a history almost as colorful as the village in which it dwells. The villagers believe it is the ringing of the bell, during the annual rice planting festival, which brings them such a bountiful harvest each and every year, and they cherish it above all they own. Though the bell has seen rebellion, death, and destruction in its time, it has always rung true, each and every dawn.

Until now.

Now, the bell lies cursed and its dread tones strike fear in all who hear it. As the planting season and the time for the annual festival draws nigh, the plight of the villagers, as expressed by the local priest, has reached the ears of officials in the capital, and imperial exorcists have been sent to deal with the problem. These investigators must deal with angry ghosts, hungry ghouls and dark magics as they seek to unwind the mystery of the bell and its curse.

"The Tolling of Tears" is a Pathfinder Roleplaying Game-compatible adventure for 3rd level characters set in Rite Publishing's dark realm of Kaidan.

Author: Jonathan McAnulty
Cover Art: Mark Hyzer
Cartography: Michael K. Tumey
Pages: 24

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Thanks Liz.

Here is a full size free preview!


And reviewed here, on DTRPG and sent to GMS magazine. Cheers!


@ Endzeitgeist (or anyone else that's seen the module). I'd be really curious to hear how the module runs character wise. From the preview I got the distinct impression that either the pregen characters should be used or characters specific to the setting.

Considering the other Kaidan adventures these requirements make sense, but really seems to make it close to impossible to introduce the setting prior to lvl 5.


Naw, it works just fine - I put the village next to the trilogy's arrival point in Kaidan (Got them there at level 3) and after the initial estrangement made the module a bureaucratic hurdle to jump through. "You want these papers? Well, it takes X weeks to get them ready. However, my mind is not at ease. You see, there is this issue. Of if only I could stop thinking about what happens if the harvest is bad..."

For me, it worked fine with Gaijin and actually made more sense with them, seeing how the clues related to the mystery are kaidan-themed and would be known to locals.

Just my experience, though. :)

EDIT: My players could probably have dealt with this module at first or second level, but they are a tad bit insane and very experienced...

Scarab Sages

Thanks for the review End, and its a fair cop - definitely not as horror driven as the others, just a light mystery with ghosts in an oriental setting. I think of this one as my Scooby-Doo adventure, sans talking dog, and it was definitely designed with a 4 hour play window in mind.

Lareg, I don't think the pregens are as necessary in this one as in Up From Darkness, or even Frozen Wind. I would agree with End that it should be much more modular in its ability to be used as filler with other PCs.


Thanks for the review, End! I agree not as horror inspiring as most of the other Kaidan releases. Not to worry, I do have more horrific products in the pipeline. Still it's good to have at least one low level adventure for the setting.


@ Endzeitgeist. Awesome, thanks for the suggestions. After reading through Frozen Wind I really wanted to figure out a way to integrate Kaidan early on in a campaign.

Scarab Sages

Lareg, the trilogy of modules (The Gift, Dim Spirit, and Dark Path) are, I think, the best ways to introduce the setting, at this point. When the GM's Campaign Guide is finished, it will of course be much easier to just begin campaigns there, but for now, bringing Gaijin into it is probably the way to go. Of the other modules, this is probably the easiest one to plop into the trilogy, though I like the suggestion someone else made of doing Up From Darkness as a one shot and then having the PCs in the trilogy confront the characters from that adventure as adversaries.

By the way, it makes me happy to hear how people want to use Kaidan, so thank you very much. :)


Thanks for the review End.


Wicht wrote:

Lareg, the trilogy of modules (The Gift, Dim Spirit, and Dark Path) are, I think, the best ways to introduce the setting, at this point. When the GM's Campaign Guide is finished, it will of course be much easier to just begin campaigns there, but for now, bringing Gaijin into it is probably the way to go. Of the other modules, this is probably the easiest one to plop into the trilogy, though I like the suggestion someone else made of doing Up From Darkness as a one shot and then having the PCs in the trilogy confront the characters from that adventure as adversaries.

By the way, it makes me happy to hear how people want to use Kaidan, so thank you very much. :)

That is a fun idea. I think I may just go with the trilogy, using Frozen Wind between part one and two. You don't want to give us a hint on when said campaign guide might be out? ;-)

Scarab Sages

The goal is for it to be ready by November of this year. But that's a goal, not a guarantee. :) I'm about 1/3 done with it and I think the actual geographic information is going to take me a little longer than I originally estimated. I am trying very much to make sure that I have the right plants, animals, names, etc. while at the same time putting in a wide variety of campaign possibilities, adventure ideas, fantastical elements and such. The former in particular slows me down as I check and double check a variety of sources to try and make it as authentically japanese-based as possible.

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