Though this review is coming quite late, I felt I should write it anyhow. This was (obviously) the first Pathfinder product and was, therefore, the least polished.

All I can say is that if this is an "unpolished" work from Paizo, the rest of the industry should be quaking in fear. The adventure is excellent, the original monsters are cool, the support articles are a nice read. And it's a piece of gaming history. :)

I started as many of you did in Pathfinder, receiving it to fill-out my Dragon Magazine Subscription. I thought, "Let's give this a try". And it exceeded all my expectations and hooked me on the Pathfinder game line. The "Rise of the Runelords - Burnt Offerings" is very superbly done. It has everything you need to play and also gives you material hooks to build yourself if you like. I have not looked back to Wizards of Coast since I found Pathfinder. Every release is better than the last and can be played with imediately.

This well done product got me so interested that I signed up for the subscription. The flow of the story is very smooth from one part to the next and still leaves room for side quests.

The problem is, this really is just an opening. Not having any contact with the villain's background means that making the adventure work requires writing backgrounds for the players yourself before it starts.

I LOVED the singing goblins, however.

This is a great adventure path. Then why have I rated it 3 stars? Well all in all the whole story is well done and all but I feel that Sandpoint lacks in character. The town is suppose to be a focal point, a place the characters to call home. But it lacks attractivness as a whole. If I compare to Age of Worms Diamond Lake to Sandpoint, Diamond Lake blows away Sandpoint in all aspects, with little work on my part. In Sandpoint I had to struggle to have the players feel like they wanted to stay in town. Even though declared heroes the town offered little as a origin base point for classes and races. Then there are little in magic and intrigue. Maybe i am comparing to much to Diamond Lake but I feel the town needed more.

A small town is menaced by goblins; the PCs must discover what is driving them.

Scenarios for very low level PCs are difficult to write. This is one of the best I've seen, despite some too-hard encounters late in the module. The goblins are given tons of color--goblin songs! goblin stunts!--which makes them both funny and menacing. The town's backstory is well detailed, and many colorful NPCs, some with attached vignettes, are provided. There is enough material that the GM can easily improvise further adventures in Sandpoint.

The later sections could have been toned down a little, especially for novice players: the lethality abruptly ramps up. The scenarios remain colorful and engaging, with a good range of foes. There is also some effective foreshadowing of the overall Adventure Path plot arc.

Supplementary material includes a detailed writeup of the town of Sandpoint, with locations, NPCs, and history. My group made excellent use of the history, but would have appreciated stat blocks for those NPCs likely to be PC combat allies during the scenario. There is also a short bestiary, mostly of creatures not present in the scenario, and a Pathfinder's Journal which we found physically difficult to read and completely dissociated from the campaign, thus not very interesting.

GMs will want to handle the later encounters with care, but overall this is a very solid start to the Pathfinder series. I will likely be reusing it as a starting adventure, or at least location, for subsequent games.

Production: 4/5 - physical product is awesome with heavy weight and glossy pages giving excellent durability. Maps are excellent, however art is <b>very</b> hit or miss though, which the publisher acknowledges and will be working to correct over the next several issues. The font size is also slightly small, which allows for the quantity of content in the 96-page format, but makes reading the journal a more focused activity than I'm normally used to with adventure products. PDF is very usable and allows for copy/paste for DM to create handouts/displays.

Mechanics: 4/5 - minor stat-block bugs are discussed in Paizo forums. Some encounters likely too tough for traditional 4-person group, especially with novice players. Pregenerated PCs seem to lack sufficient skills to approach the adventure in straight-forward fashion (e.g. lacking many knowledge skills that would help novice players). Overall though, the mechanics seem balanced and there are few mechanical errors in stat-blocks that will impact game flow.

Content: 5/5 - Adventure is wonderfully grim and tough, while still being approachable to a novice group of players. Adventure flows fairly easily from scene to scene. Sandpoint backdrop is excellent, providing excellent resource for long-term utility, and the adventure supports getting players involved in the community. OGL monsters are outstanding, even if some are not used in this adventures (Bone Whisperer is my favorite). Notes on the fallen Thassilon Empire and Pathfinder Journal are both great flavor. One issue is a suggestion to DM to splice this adventure with the next (PF #2) to handle a potential "too much experience"; the specific mechanism would seem to be difficult to implement in play.

Value: 4/5 - Total value is excellent with free PDF via subscription. Overall this is in upper 30% of gaming products I own.

hello nice job from the guys

you create good adventure

one negative point not enought photo of npc and only 6 design of deities symbol

and where we can ask question for you

thanks and regard

The short answer- I loved this adventure. I got my money's worth. I recommend it to others.

A little more detail? An excellent start to a beginning campaign with an engaging new setting, the world of Golarion.. revealed a little at a time. For new and experienced GMs, this is a great starting point.

Comments: Many have complained about the font size, I disagree. The art is a little rough at times, but I don't mark it down for that. With the transition from a more active partnership with WOTC, and the fact I've seen the next five chapters- the art improves.

Here's the one thing I would see done differently.

Don't let that one niggle convince you not to buy this though. Otherwise this is a great adventure with an engaging story. I heartily recommend this adventure. It's a winner.

I finally played this first offering if Rise of the Runelords, and it's great. Paizo has made a product that really works well at the table. This is the best interpretation of goblins that I've seen as well.