Pathfinder Adventure Path #133: Secrets of Roderic's Cove (Return of the Runelords 1 of 6)

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Pathfinder Adventure Path #133: Secrets of Roderic's Cove (Return of the Runelords 1 of 6)
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Wrath Shall Reign!

When one runelord rose from his slumber, the frontier nation of Varisia shook with his power, and it took a band of heroes to save the world. Yet there remained six other runelords, and now the most wrathful of them all has woken! As the runelords waken one after another, the dangers and perils faced by past heroes pale in comparison. When a mysterious and fearful ghost manifests on the streets of Roderic's Cove at the same time the town's gangs use the runes and legacies of ancient Thassilonian tyrants for their own ends, a new band of heroes must rise to save Varisia, and perhaps the world, from the return of the runelords!

This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path begins the Return of the Runelords Adventure Path and includes:

  • "Secrets of Roderic's Cove," a Pathfinder adventure for 1st-level characters, by Adam Daigle.
  • An exploration and gazetteer of the town of Roderic's Cove and its inhabitants, by Adam Daigle.
  • An extensive timeline of the history of Thassilon, revelations about the methods used by each runelord to avoid destruction during the apocalypse of Earthfall, and notes for Game Masters on the roles each runelord plays in this Adventure Path, by James Jacobs.
  • A bestiary of monsters lurking around Varisia, including the child-stealing nochlean and the innocuous-looking warpglass ooze, by Mikko Kallio, Luis Loza, Jacob W. Michaels, and Conor J. Owens.

ISBN-13: 978-1-64078-062-0

The Return of the Runelords Adventure Path is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure Path and Chronicle sheet are available as a free download (1.5 MB PDF).

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Roll20 Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscription.

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Fun Adventure Path for Your Varisian Legacy Characters!

5/5


A Strong Start to an Epic Campaign

4/5

Secrets of Roderic's Cove serves well as the start of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path and is strong enough in its own right to serve as a stand-alone adventure if desired. Since it covers a level 1-5 range, it could even serve as an entire campaign for somebody using the Beginner's Box if desired.

The town of Roderic's Cove has many problems, from a mini-gang war to the appearance of the ghost of the town founder. The order in which the PCs solve these problems depends on their choices. All told, the adventure features several dungeons, a monster-filled wilderness, a haunted house, and a mansion whose infiltration calls for stealth and guile. This is in addition to several encounters in the town itself, from monsters that attack in the night to the chaos caused by a renegade grimple.

Secrets of Roderic's Cove is much more of a sandbox than most other 1st-level adventures, and it serves well to establish the PCs as individuals with their own agency. The adventure path calls for a group that is willing to be proactive and solve problems in their own way, and this adventure sets that tone nicely.

It would have been nice to see more guidance in certain areas - the aforementioned mansion could be difficult to run for a GM who doesn't handle infiltration missions well, for example. I also miss certain adventure path features such as the foreword and the fiction, but I understand that certain sacrifices have to be made for the line's first 1-20 non-mythic adventure path. Overall, this book is a strong start to a campaign and a good adventure to have even if you don't plan to run the full path.


Third Time's the Charm

4/5

First, let me qualify this review. This is not a read-through review; our group has played this adventure and it’s not all that different from any of the other introductory modules of which we've played in nearly half of the APs Paizo has published over the past decade. It is quite serviceable and, as advertised, disposable pulp fantasy, complete with the requisite tropes. If you're looking for award-winning prose or groundbreaking character development, it is in short supply, but this seems to be standard and the norm for monthly canned modules like these. Even so, there's a lot for GMs to work with: a fleshed-out location with ample NPCs, a clear tie in to the next module, and enemies who, if played with nuance, skirt the line between ally and enemy. The encounters are appropriately difficult for a system that's now so bloated with exploits. Groups looking for cheap thrills and plenty of them will be satisfied as the module trends towards quick advancement and steady, generous treasure acquisition. Does it need some extra love from the GM, well yes – show me a module that does not. Does it live up to the previous installments in the Runelord franchise, I'd say, yes, close. We lack singing goblins in this one, but, memory has a funny way of making those past installments better than they actually were and it's challenging to go up against that type of nostalgia in a world increasingly suffused with critics.


Of six ap’s this is the worst

1/5

Into book three of this ap; have played six other ap’s and this is hands down the worst ap. The story is extremely underwhelming and feels like it was written as a “where are they now” tour of previous ap’s. If you want to take a tour of previous ap's NPCs and locations then this is the ap for you. If you want a good story I’d try any number of other ap’s.


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Contributor

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:
Hey, that's *my* name! (In all seriousness, I'm very excited for my first AP contribution.)

Congratulations, Jacob!

And I'm glad I know who the artist for many of my favorite Reign of Winter and Hell's Rebels pieces is :)


Not bad cover art.

Dark Archive

Erasmus the medium & Jir(i?)elle the swashbuckler vs. a pair of Reefclaws.


Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

That might be my favorite cover yet its gorgeous


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Very cool cover art! There is a element of "old-school" to it that I really dig.

Also, congrats Jacob!


Marco,

I think it's more like just spawned reefclaws.

But yes, great cover AND I love the villain too. :)

Dark Archive

When will the Paizo Community Use Logos file be updated to include the Return of the Runelords logo?


Alaznist surely looks madly irritated, but she's also incredibly gorgeous. *---*


5 people marked this as a favorite.
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Alaznist surely looks madly irritated, but she's also incredibly gorgeous. *---*

She's been woken up to find her rivals aren't all gone, much of her power base is lost, and she drew short straw for first module of the AP. Also, Runelord of Wrath?


The Gold Sovereign wrote:

Alaznist surely looks madly irritated, but she's also incredibly gorgeous. *---*

Lathiira wrote:

She's been woken up to find her rivals aren't all gone, much of her power base is lost, and she drew short straw for first module of the AP. Also, Runelord of Wrath?

And by "much of her power base is lost", I assume that you mean that basically her entire realm has sunk into the sea? :D


That'd certainly contribute to my bad mood were I her!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Alaznist surely looks madly irritated, ...

Well that's kind of her "thing".


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Timeline! Sweet!


Is there any estimate/guess as to when we will see the Players Guide?
My group is super excited about this AP, and we can't wait to sit down and get character creation started.

Dark Archive

Cat Whisperer wrote:

Is there any estimate/guess as to when we will see the Players Guide?

My group is super excited about this AP, and we can't wait to sit down and get character creation started.

Anywhen in august.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

It's odd that Alaznist is on the cover of the first volume. As far as I can tell she is the BBEG, and those characters usually premiere on the final volume when they are actually faced. There are exceptions - Jade Regent, Hell's Vengeance, Strange Aeons - but still. Curious.


GV,

Nothing is set in stone about Alaznist being the BBEG. It just says Runelords.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

In the pathfinder art seminar at Paizocon, they said each cover was going to have a runelord minus Karzoug.


zergtitan wrote:
In the pathfinder art seminar at Paizocon, they said each cover was going to have a runelord minus Karzoug.

Ah that clears it up, thanks.


Thomas Seitz wrote:

GV,

Nothing is set in stone about Alaznist being the BBEG. It just says Runelords.

The sixth volume summary kind of gives the game away. She may not be a BBEG in the sense of driving the entire plot, but more like the final boss you fight. Kingmaker redux.


Uhm I dunno about that...I mean since when did Kingmaker have a Runelord??


Thomas Seitz wrote:
Uhm I dunno about that...I mean since when did Kingmaker have a Runelord??

He's referring to Nyrissa being the final villain despite being largely absent from the rest of the plot. But yeah, Alaznist is the BBEG this time around. That or some thing she summons/creates/unleashes. The avatar of Yog-Sothoth is on the mockup of the final adventure after all.


That's no Avatar, that the Great Old One Tawil at’Umr!


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Thomas Seitz wrote:
That's no Avatar, that the Great Old One Tawil at’Umr!

Tawil at’Umr is Yog-Sothoth's avatar. And I'd say Gods help the PCs if he's involved with this AP, but I'm pretty sure even the Gods wouldn't tangle with that dude. It's way too early to be guessing, but maybe ole' Tawil will show up in Continuing the Campaign chapter.

Scarab Sages

Player Character concept for Return of the Runelords

Name: Iolanthi

Oracle of Pharasma, The Spiral of Fate
Mystery: Time

Race: Trueblood Azlanti
Sex: Male

Background:

When Iolanthi was young, he suffered from almost debilitating deja vu. After Iolanthi reached puberty, his deja vu got to be so bad his parents fretted about him ever being able to become a productive member of Azlant society.

The night before Iolanthi was to reach the age of majority, both his parents had an identical dream in which a hooded form appeared to them and directed them to take their son to "The Spiral of Fate" for aid.

That morning, Iolanthi did not wake up. He was most definitely alive but no matter what his parents tried, he just would not wake up. Heeding the "advice" of the hooded figure from their dream, they carefully placed Iolanthi in a carriage and took him to the local Temple of Pharasma.

When they arrived, the high priestess was standing on the temple steps waiting to greet them. SHe explained she was expecting them and that they should bring Iolanthi inside which they did.

When inside, the high priestess examined Iolanthi and asked for more information about their son.

The parents explained what had happened that morning as well as Iolanthi's debilitating bouts of deja vu over the past few years.

The high priestess explained that Iolanthi was not dead nor was he sleeping. He was in a state of stasis and that it was most likely that Pharasma put him in that state the previous night the moment he became an adult.

Iolanthi's parents were naturally quite worried and wanted to know why Pharasma did this and when he might recover?

The high priestess said that sometimes Pharasma's motivations were completely inscrutable and that it would be completely up to her when Iolanthi would be released from his stasis.

The high priestess advised that Iolanthi was physically fine and that he would not need to eat, drink, or even breathe while in stasis but he was still very vulnerable to anyone or anything that wanted to hurt him. She advised Iolanthi's parents to leave him in her care and that the Pharasmins would ensure his safety.

Iolanthi's parents agreed. They never saw their son again even though they tried to visit him over the years. The priesthood explained they entombed him deep inside their catacombs and warded his tomb with powerful wards that would take much effort to re-establish if they were broken for such a mundane reason as a "visit."

Time passed. In fact, thousands of years passed until one day, Iolanthi awoke. He had no idea how much time had passed but when he exited his tomb (with much effort) he realized he had no idea where he was. The Temple had been destroyed LONG ago and he counted himself as lucky to be alive and able to exit the temple's ruins.

Trying to orient himself in both location and time (he sensed he was no longer in "his" time), Iolanthi found a safe place to sleep for the night and dreamed.

He dreamed of a hooded figure telling him he was a favored of Pharasma and that his strange connection to Time would be needed in the days ahead. The last thing Iolanthi could remember about the dream was the hooded figure pointing him in the direction of a large city that he sensed was close by.

The next morning, Iolanthi set off towards that city.


Will we get stats for all the remaining Runelords in this AP (aka Alaznist, Belimarius, Sorshen, Xanderghul, Zutha)?


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Sorshen stats: none. Full-on goddesses get no stats as per Paizo's policy regarding full-on deities :-)


Lathiira wrote:
Sorshen stats: none. Full-on goddesses get no stats as per Paizo's policy regarding full-on deities :-)

Demi-gawddess at best. Mine had a, oh, 50-odd Charisma and a +83 Bluff without any spells ... hrm ...

*Sorshen whispers in his brain*

[monotone voice] No stat blocks to see here, move along, move along.[/monotone voice]

Paizo Employee Creative Director

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Berselius wrote:
Will we get stats for all the remaining Runelords in this AP (aka Alaznist, Belimarius, Sorshen, Xanderghul, Zutha)?

Good question!

Spoiler:
Yes. And then some. Although not all in the exact way folks might expect.

Lantern Lodge Customer Service & Community Manager

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Removed some posts. Let's try to stay on topic and not go off into commentary on what people find personally physically attractive.


So does this do beg a question now that Planar Adventures is out: WILL the Watchers of jandelay get involved?

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32

1 person marked this as a favorite.

So excited for this AP. Just re-started my Ap-subscription now that we can select to start the sub with vol.1

Paizo Employee Creative Director

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Thomas Seitz wrote:
So does this do beg a question now that Planar Adventures is out: WILL the Watchers of jandelay get involved?

We'll see!


2 people marked this as a favorite.
James Jacobs wrote:
Thomas Seitz wrote:
So does this do beg a question now that Planar Adventures is out: WILL the Watchers of jandelay get involved?
We'll see!

YES, WE WILL.


I honestly can't wait - my group is literally on the doorstep to fighting Karzoug in RotRL (level 20 - mythic tier 3!) and they all voted overwhelmingly to continue with this AP once the playtest is over.

Dark Archive

Ckorik wrote:
I honestly can't wait - my group is literally on the doorstep to fighting Karzoug in RotRL (level 20 - mythic tier 3!) and they all voted overwhelmingly to continue with this AP once the playtest is over.

Cool, i wish my group didn't break down after narrowly defeating the Lich in book 5.

That being said, i really didn't like that Shattered Star has a mega-dungeon in every book, but will most probably run this AP! :-)


Marco Massoudi wrote:
Ckorik wrote:
I honestly can't wait - my group is literally on the doorstep to fighting Karzoug in RotRL (level 20 - mythic tier 3!) and they all voted overwhelmingly to continue with this AP once the playtest is over.

Cool, i wish my group didn't break down after narrowly defeating the Lich in book 5.

That being said, i really didn't like that Shattered Star has a mega-dungeon in every book, but will most probably run this AP! :-)

Ha - I bumped him a bit due to my group already being higher level and mythic - and he hit the cavaliers dog mount with a prismatic ray spell - that ended up sending it to another plane of existence - I rolled randomly against the entire list of planes - and it ended up being the plane of dreams.

That left for a very interesting and fun side adventure where they had to infiltrate the dream plane and rescue the dog. The Cavalier now spent two wishes - the first to 'awaken' his dog - the second to give him speech - it's been an interesting campaign to say the least


Marco Massoudi wrote:
Ckorik wrote:
I honestly can't wait - my group is literally on the doorstep to fighting Karzoug in RotRL (level 20 - mythic tier 3!) and they all voted overwhelmingly to continue with this AP once the playtest is over.

Cool, i wish my group didn't break down after narrowly defeating the Lich in book 5.

That being said, i really didn't like that Shattered Star has a mega-dungeon in every book, but will most probably run this AP! :-)

The AP does warn one of this in advance. ;)

Dark Archive

The Mad Comrade wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Ckorik wrote:
I honestly can't wait - my group is literally on the doorstep to fighting Karzoug in RotRL (level 20 - mythic tier 3!) and they all voted overwhelmingly to continue with this AP once the playtest is over.

Cool, i wish my group didn't break down after narrowly defeating the Lich in book 5.

That being said, i really didn't like that Shattered Star has a mega-dungeon in every book, but will most probably run this AP! :-)
The AP does warn one of this in advance. ;)

Yes, it does and it has a few very good parts (i like the first and last book especially and the second book has a great dungeon), it's just too much for my taste. ;-)


Damn! This is going to be an awesome AP. It is SOOOOOO juicy. Definitely GMing this one!


I may be wrong but it seems to me that this Adventure Path is setting up a possible nation of New Thassilon as a major power player in Golarion for the coming new edition of Pathfinder. If so, I'm guessing that one of the Runelords that achieved a measure of immortality will be it's ruler (with my guess on either Sorshen, Xanderghul, or Zutha). If New Thassilon rises again I'm hoping at least Magnimar‎ can resist it's rule or expansion. I'd really hate to see one of the few cities of the continent of Avistan that worships the Empyreal Lords fall to to the tyranny of sin.


I rather doubt that a long-dormant Runelord will have - by default - come to rule all of Varisia by the end of the Return of the Runelords.

The bearers of the Sihedron themselves are more than a match for most of the Runelords save Runelord Sorshen and especially Runelord Xanderghul.

They presumably have the far-from-inconsequential resources of Magnimar's Golemworks and seemingly innumerable quasi-deific Empyreals that would not lightly let their city fall into the clutches of tyrants. Only Xin could unmake the Sihedron, so its phenomenal power is wholly at the disposal of all of the "Sihedron Heroes" and their cohorts (as applicable).

Similar can be said about the veterans of Rise of the Runelords - and they have had more downtime and much more significant wealth to draw upon than the Heroes of the Sihedron, although they lack a centuries-old city-state with which to marry their resources. What they do know how to do is craft runeforged weapons with which to oppose in most efficacious fashion all of the Runelords given a small amount of time upon which to act against the risen Runelords.

18-20th level characters with no few years of downtime and vast wealth at their disposal are not going down easily to any one of the Runelords. If anything, arrogance by one or more of the 'lesser' Runelords would see their ruin smote upon their Sihedron Tomes.

Korvosa's new rulers may well be similarly seasoned adventurers in the aftermath of Curse of the Crimson Throne. Were they to be made aware of Runelord Sorshen's mastaba being directly accessible, they would certainly undertake drastic measures of their own accord. These persons themselves have had nearly a decade of their own and the second-largest Varisian city-state's resources upon which to draw, plus presumably a cooperative alliance with the not-inconsiderable abilities of the Shoanti clans to their immediate east... If they befriended Cindermaw, a carry companion spell provides an enormous tunneling entity able to chew its way to the heart of the mastaba in a few minutes' worth of rock munching.

Xanderghul - pending his development during Return of the Runelords I feel is ... elsewhere, and has been, for quite some time now.

Varisia is remarkably well-defended all things considered. Depending on the former realm, there may well be a third or fourth "team" of almost equally powerful heroes along Varisia's perimeter.

A certain Jade Empress hails from humble Sandpoint. Word of such a terrible event arising may well see her advisors return almost immediately to Varisia to investigate - few of whom are strangers to Varisia.


Korvosa's rulers might also have access to a major artifact. Admittedly it's more useful against Zon-Kuthon and his followers, but a +4 holy Zon Kuthon Bane bastard sword that can bypass/counts as silver AND cold iron...not a bad combo weapon. I mean it's not the ONLY major artifact...but I'd say it's a pretty hefty one to have lying around...

Dark Archive

I remember hearing something about New Thassilon maybe becoming something like the city-state of Ravounel in "Hell's Rebels".

I seem to remember that James Jacobs said that Varisia would still exist largely within the same borders in Pathfinder 2.0.


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Marco Massoudi wrote:

I remember hearing something about New Thassilon maybe becoming something like the city-state of Ravounel in "Hell's Rebels".

I seem to remember that James Jacobs said that Varisia would still exist largely within the same borders in Pathfinder 2.0.

Well the Runelords were awesome with stasis and time magic so it can be that the New Thassilon starts off with a bunch of Thassilonians released from stasis. Xanderghul's city has never been found for all we know it could be still operating in its own demiplane and get back in golarion. You also have Crystilan, The folks in Runeforge and rumors of ancient thassiloninans in Magnimar in the ancient bridge structure or in Hollow Mountain.

Probably not enough to make a viable empire at first but just enough to make a small city-state. Hey you never know.

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