Pathfinder Adventure Path #131: The Reaper's Right Hand (War for the Crown 5 of 6)

As with my previous reviews of books in this AP, once again I'm torn between wanting to like what's on offer, but being very dispirited by a conspicuous lack of attention to detail.

The Good

This book is overflowing with creative setpieces, monsters, NPCs, and unique scenarios that really couldn't be experienced anywhere else. After 4 books of Taldan intrigue, it feels like a nice change of pace which puts the PCs in a truly unexpected situation, without falling into the usual trap of distracting them from where they really want to be, and what they really want to be doing.

The Bad

For full disclosure, my group did not use the Persona subsystem in this AP. I was lukewarm on the idea, and after discussing it with my players, we decided it would not be fun for our particular group's way of playing. We're not overly keen on subsystems and abstractions, and favor detail and roleplay in all situations. In our case, we did not feel it would be a good fit. That's not a criticism of the system or its use in the AP, well, it wouldn't have been until this book.

Until now, it was largely a background system which would bring good benefits for groups who cared to use, but the content available was sufficient that scenarios could easily be handled without using it. In this book, there are two entire setpieces (and one entire Part) which entirely rely on use of that subsystem. This isn't my complaint in and of itself, since it was my choice not to use it. My complaint is that both of these particular setpieces feel incredibly tacked on for the sake of the Persona system, and actually either bear no relevance to the wider AP, or could have been handled without it.

The first is the section 'Of Landgraves and Landgrabs', where we briefly return to book 2 meta to once again step into a stagnant and neglected part of Taldor and start to try and convince the locals that our way is the best way, and win them over the benefit from local knowledge in order to locate something which could easily be handled in myriad other ways at this level. There's no inherent problem with it, but it's written exclusively for Persona rules with very little in the way of actual detail or any consideration for what happens if the PCs find another solution. Some potentially very meaningful NPC developed is entirely glossed over on route.

The second is 'The Need to Lead', where despite having just arrived on Axis mere hours ago, the PCs can run for office! I don't mean to be disparaging of a setpiece which I'm sure could be a lot of fun for certain groups, but to me this just felt so tacked on for the sake providing a 'novel' experience, and once again fitting into the Persona subsystem. Other reviewers have mentioned this, but the very notion that agents can just casually be brought to Axis and the Persona system can continue unabated honestly beggars belief, and really stretches the intrigue and believability that should be so essential to an AP like this. In short, it feels inauthentic, and tacked on for the sake of novelty. How convenient that there's a governmental role that can only be filled by people who haven't lived here for very long! This belongs in a mod or a PFS scenario, and feels extremely out of place here.

I wasn't a particular fan of the remarkable level of quirkiness on display in this book either. That is a matter of personal taste, but it felt like the writers were going out of their way to subvert what players might expect from traveling to the Plane of Law. I'm absolutely not saying it should have been some dehumanizing mechanical nightmare, but there were things which would have felt much more at home in the mod The Harrowing than a unique opportunity in an AP such as this.

The bestiary was interesting, but the two new inevitables on offer felt very samey and visually unimaginative. I was also not at all enamored with the design of Taldaris. Hilariously, the generic art for the impariut inevitable had a stronger Taldaris energy than his own art.

Finally, and most damning, the issue of The Stabbing Beast [vague Wrath of the Righteous spoilers below]

Once upon a time, Paizo really cared about the developments that could reshape the world of Golarion. In Wrath of the Righteous, a deity's unique herald being messed with and killed was an incredibly big deal to that deity's faith. We were treated insight into the difficulties inherent in the lack of ability for deities to affect the Material Plane, and how a deity would respond when their herald was threatened. It's a big deal to the faith, to put it mildly.

In this book, the PCs are directly confronted and fought by the herald of Norgorber himself. In the flesh. Given the stats of the thing, it shouldn't be unexpected or impossible to imagine that they could slay the creature, since there's no quality heralds have which makes them immortal on their home plane or anything. Given the sinister qualities of Norgorber, the fact that he is a deity on a par in power to Iomedae, that this is occurring in his actual divine realm, one would think that there should be some consequences to openly slaying his herald. At the very least, maybe a couple of words on how the faith is affected, how Norgorber responds in the moment. But no, not a one. Rather, the PCs stand around for some considerable amount of time trying to impress an NPC who is quite incapable of teleporting to safety. In fact, no one can get out fast due to the unique qualities of the realm. Apparently, despite this being in Duskfathom itself, Norgorber is completely okay with this, doesn't take any measures to disrupt their plans, lets them walk out unscathed, and everything just continues as if nothing ever happened.

To me, this is emblematic of a bigger change in Paizo's recent Adventure Paths where there seems to be nonchalant lack of concern for the setting. Very little seems to matter anymore, and something like this just glossed over in favor of the PCs tackling a social encounter. Now, novelty and setpieces trump consequence and meaningful roleplay. Some fairly world changing events also occur in Tyrant's Grasp which are so glossed over at the end that the AP may as well never have existed. I really hope this trend does not continue and is just a consequence of writers being distracted by the pressures of 2E.

I wanted to enjoy this adventure, but I have to say I was disappointed by this issue. While it did have some pretty cool parts, especially the bestiary, and other aspects, such as the writing or the Thamir Gixx article were solid if not impressive, this adventure fell flat for me conceptually.

Part 1 was an interesting section, and felt like you were doing something new that also seemed to fit the story pretty well, but traveling to Axis didn't impress me at all. For a plane of law and order, it felt like a needless field trip to a place that instead promoted vigilantism in pursuit of a villain that just didn't resonate with me whatsoever. (I also felt like going to Axis really hurt the networking/reputation subsystem that's been so heavily pushed this campaign. The efforts to allow you to use your network while there just made it feel worse to me.)

The dungeon in Part 3 had a solid mix of enemies, and an interesting moral dilemma, but the big bad seemed absentminded. Overall, I couldn't enjoy the dungeon when I couldn't get behind why I was there in the first place.

I was largely disappointed because the campaign that seemed aimed at civil war, and a contest between people, devolved into another generic 5th module trip to the planes, one that you are punished for in the conclusion of the module.

This is a delightful adventure. It's whimsical without being absurd, has quirky and memorable characters, and some great roleplaying opportunities. The villains are no slouches either. What I most enjoyed about Reaper's Right Hand though, is that it grants a welcome reprieve from what has been a fairly tense and serious adventure path. It does not, however, do so at the expense of the War for the Crown AP as a whole. Sure your PCs might be running against a medusa for a political position, or convincing a hivemind cockatiel swarm to give back a ring, but these goals still serve to forward the story. The whimsy ends - mostly - in the third act, however, when the PCs must storm a classic dungeon.

I was worried that an adventure set in the lawfully-aligned plane of Axis would be sterile and boring, but this is not the case at all. To be honest, this adventure felt like it could fit as easily in the chaotic realm of the First World with a few tweeks. The corner of Axis where Right Hand takes place has its eccentricities to be sure, but there are still reminders that this is the plane of ultimate law. An active police force, inevitable guardians, and even a bit of bureaucratic red tape keep things from becoming too out there.

The supplemental articles on Sayashto (the city where the adventure takes place) and the halfling assassin god Thamir Gixx were fine and accomplished everything they needed too. I wasn't blown away, but that's a small quibble. I was a little disappointment with the bestiary section, mostly because none of the monsters really "popped" for me. Again though, these small issues do nothing to detract from the high quality of the adventure itself.

A nice foray into the plane of Law, Axis, as well as the realm of a deity. Combat and creatures were varied (not just outsiders - a couple of which that were not expected). As with most of this adventure path, there was a good balance between social mechanics and combat encounters.

The article about Thamir Gixx was interesting (always great to have some of the nonhuman pantheons given some love). Would have liked to have Gixx's domains listed for quick reference, as well as special servitors and his herald.