Terrors beyond compare lurk in the world's shadows, yet the bravest of Golarion's heroes must face these nightmares again and again. Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Horror Realms helps bring the spine-chilling terrors presented in Pathfinder RPG Horror Adventures to the Inner Sea region and beyond, presenting new rules, detailed ghastly locations, and unnerving character options for your campaign. Inside the pages of this book, you'll find:
Information on how the eerie corruptions introduced in Horror Adventures can be incorporated into the world of Golarion, along with details on three new corruptions to vex your players or empower your villains.
Seven locations ripe for exploration in horror-themed campaigns, including haunted villages, islands rampant with cannibals and necromancers, and more!
Numerous horror-themed class options for characters, including rules for corrupted animal companions, spirits from the depths of space, exploits of the sinister Outer Planes, haunting bardic performances, aberrant eidolons for summoners, and more!
Full details on three new categories of variant haunts—incursions into this reality from the First World, miraculous resonances from the gods, and technological surges.
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Horror Realms is a perfect companion for Pathfinder RPG Horror Adventures, and is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be used in any fantasy game setting.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-900-4
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Much of my sentiment about Horror Realms echoes what Marco said first. This is just really an expanded review of the sections.
This volume opens with 2 pages of useless fiction. I know fiction is getting the runaround these days, but it doesn't belong here.
Next, we head into the rules section. Quirks are a flavourful way to increase the horror factor. These would've made great campaign traits if rules were added. I don't use the arcanist in my games, but the exploits look good mechanically and flavour-wise. These would also be great to build NPCs around. Bards gain new sanity reducing performances and the mute musician archetype. I'm not sure how good the mute musician is, but it seems especially geared toward Horror Adventures with a strong prevention and infliction of mind affecting abilities. Accursed animal companions seem like a great way to add horror and consequence to treating loyal companions as meat shields. The scarred monks has a variety of thematic powers to choose from, each adding a variety of effects to a character. The face collector in particular creates interesting RP potential. Eidolons can now gain extra aberrant traits and spells from the psychic list. The biggest drawback about the rules section is that so many rules books are required to get the most out of it. Haunts close out the rules section at the end of the book and seem mechanically good as well as flavourful.
Each of the regions presented was also given suggestions for which horror trope it would best fit, which I loved. I think I would've preferred a region for each trope, instead of multiple ideas for a region, however.
I did not find the witch fen particularly creative or innovative. Likewise, Farnvale would've been great if Raging Swan hadn't already done the same theme better. In fact the similarities are so close, how is this not plagiarism? Likewise, Kalva could've used more of a dark fantasy theme. I felt it was too broad of focus to be any good. The mushrooms were a great idea, and maybe this could've been better presented in the Underdark? Uskheart presents interesting druid followers of Zon Kuthon, however the locations are largely uninspiring. It felt to me like just another cliche group of spiteful druids with variant woodland animals.
But there are some gems in this section. The first few pages of Geb are extremely well done. Great writing, evocative locals and a very alien feel to traditional fantasy places make this one of the outstanding entries. Hopefully the new Geb book is this good. Shenmen takes us to Tian Xia, and it is a very atmospheric place of ghosts and spiders with an excellent RP aspect. Satravah was the standout location in this volume with a really thematic and interesting location and background. If this had been fleshed out to the standards of Raging Swan's Village Backdrops, it would've been truly outstanding.
So is it worth getting? Depends what you want out of it. The rules seem pretty good, if that's your main draw. If you want horrific locations, look to Raging Swan's Village Backdrop series and read the summaries and reviews there. You'll find much more to your liking. I wouldn't pay more than half price for this one.
Very good new rules, locations are so so, great art, crude maps!
GOOD:
The new Arcanist exploits, Bardic Masterpieces, Mute Musician (bard) archetype, Accursed companion rules, Scarred Monk archetype, 14 oracle curses, Dark Tapestry Shaman Spirit and Abberant Eidolon are mostly good to great both for players and NPCs.
The Farnvale, Crabfield Island & Shenmen locations invoke lots of adventure ideas.
Most of the interior creature illustrations.
BAD:
The Crown of the World, Kalva, Uskheart & Vale of honorless graves locations are unimaginative imo.
The location maps leave much to be desired.
Interesting, they usually at mention a few of the locations that will be covered but none this time.
Probably holding out until the book is near release, since I am sure the full description will mention Golarion focused options for subsystems and what not from Horror Adventures.
Geb and Shenmen will both get some attention in here. (I'm currently creating the art order for the book, in fact, and just now finished ordering some Shenmen art of a creepy lady who you might run into on a fog-shrouded forest path...)
Geb and Shenmen will both get some attention in here. (I'm currently creating the art order for the book, in fact, and just now finished ordering some Shenmen art of a creepy lady who you might run into on a fog-shrouded forest path...)
whoo! Sounds like that's worth the price of admission, right there.
Geb and Shenmen will both get some attention in here. (I'm currently creating the art order for the book, in fact, and just now finished ordering some Shenmen art of a creepy lady who you might run into on a fog-shrouded forest path...)
whoo! Sounds like that's worth the price of admission, right there.
Indeed sirs! Huzzah! (Channeling my local Renaissance Fair...)
Any chance the Horror Realms might include a certain region of Andoran? Just because it's a democracy doesn't mean it doesn't have any horrors...or maybe because it IS a democracy it may have horrors.
There are 3 new corruptions in this book. Since corruptions are, frankly, better for NPC villains than they are for PCs, there's no reason why they should be limited to a PC themed book after all!
There are 3 new corruptions in this book. Since corruptions are, frankly, better for NPC villains than they are for PCs, there's no reason why they should be limited to a PC themed book after all!