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Pathfinder #5—Rise of the Runelords Chapter 5: "Sins of the Saviors" (OGL) PDF
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Chapter 5: "Sins of the Saviors"
by Stephen S. Greer
After defeating the giants of Mokmurian, the heroes discover that Karzoug, an ancient wizard from the long-dead empire of Thassilon, has returned to life. From his city fortress of Xin-Shalast high in the mountains, he has been using the giants to harvest souls to reclaim his lost power.
The secret to defeating him before he can reclaim his realm and enslave the region lies hidden in a deadly dungeon called Runeforge. After defeating the dragon that guards the entrance to Runeforge, the PCs must rave the haunted vaults below to discover the ancient forge capable of empowering weapons so that they can strike true against Karzoug. Yet in order to master this ancient magic, the heroes of Sandpoint must embrace the darkest magic of ancient Thassilon as their own.
This volume of Pathfinder includes a detailed description of the goddess of monsters and her hideous minions; an examination of ancient magics from the ancient empire of Thassilon for use in your campaign, including rules for the lost art of sin magic; and six new monsters.
For characters of 12th to 13th level.
Pathfinder is Paizo Publishing's 96-page, perfect-bound, full-color softcover Adventure Path book printed on high-quality paper that releases in a monthly volume. Each volume is brought to you by the same staff which brought you Dragon and Dungeon magazines for over five years. It contains an in-depth Adventure Path scenario, stats for about a half-dozen new monsters, and several support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Because Pathfinder uses the Open Game License, it is 100% compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-040-7
NOTE: Copies sold as "Non-Mint" have been dinged or bent, or have some markings on the cover, so we're making them available at a discounted price. While they have some cosmetic damage, they'll make great second reading copies. There will be no refunds on non-mint copies.
For Pathfinder #5, we asked a small army of authors to send us some spells and magic items that had a "Thassilonian" feel to them. As it turned out, we got about twice as many as we really had room to print. Rather than just cut the second half out and throw it away, we decided to cut the second half out and throw it into a free web enhancement. To download a FREE PDF of the Pathfinder #5 web supplement, click here (180 KB zip PDF). WARNING: Some of the magic items may not be wise for your PCs to use. They were, after all, invented by the runelords and their minions!
Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at
webmaster@paizo.com.
Product Reviews
Average product rating:
 
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I love this book, even though I got it by itself (it's part of a six-book series) and was completely lost on so many things, from new character classes (like the demon-loving Thaumaturgist) to monster templates to feats. But enough was given that I could use everything... and the background! Even a cursory reading reveals that there is an entire WORLD beyond what we read here.
The backup articles are grand as well, especially the one about the Mother of Monsters, Lamashtu. Really a great buy for your money!
This one starts up with a cool comeback to re-search an old dungeon at the "homebase" to find a cooler enemy and the trail to a deady dungeon, more specificaclly, seven deadly dungeons.
To enter the dungeon you have to bypass a nasty "classic" encounter and a devious gate "lock". Afterwards you enter an isolated dungeon -really big dungeon- that breaks down in seven different scenarios. I'm not too pro-large dungeons due to my players preference, but since this one can be deployed as different scenarios its a lot easier to digest. The leaders of every dungeon are quite fleshed out and adds a lot of flavor to the dungeons.
Way to go Paizo!
This adventure basically presents a seven-in-one mid/high level dungeon for the PCs to explore and ultimately defeat.
The politics of the place and events that precede the PCs' arrival are well detailed and compelling - it gives a real feeling of "life" to a place that would otherwise have felt dull and static.
The villains are all original in their own right. The challenges interesting and very "typical" for that kind of arcane dungeon for higher level characters. This is classic with a bunch of twists, which makes for great game play.
The Magic of Thassilon article is excellent.
The Cult of Lamashtu article is one of the best cult descriptions I've ever read in a D&D product. This makes the issue worth it on its own, to me. Absolute BLISS for a fan of ancient religions like me. Kudos for Sean Reynolds on this one. I'm very, very impressed.
The roster of monster is alright. Some very good, others less. But overall good.
Globally, this is one of the best issues of Pathfinder to date. Some of the material included here is a must-have for any Golarion fan.
Runeforge would make a great base for future adventures in that area.
The adventure is well done and follows the pattern of a dungeon crawl.
The rest of the book is loaded with an interesting set of monsters, fiction, an exploration of Thassilonian magic, and information on Lamashtu (a deity named the Mother of Monsters).
4 Stars for the adventure but overall the product is a solid 5 stars!
The free PDF that comes with a subscription is an over-the-top bonus!
While I took the time to review part six first, this is one of the best dynamic dungeons I've ever seen. There are limitations to it, of course, but the fact that the Dragon can run away and just pursue the PC's into the place at the end makes it quite a challenge. Ideally, around the time the final encounter starts, that's when it's time to drop the dragon on them. Just wait for round two, and BOOM!
While the dungeons themselves were not particularly original, I actually LIKED that classicism and what they were trying to hearken back to. It's Paizo's respect for history that wizards lacks that makes these adventures great.
This is a fantastic story line, need my fix.
Thanks
I've tried repeatedly to post this: here's one more, much shorter attempt.
This is a classical dungeon with very strong writeups for the central NPCs: detailed, technically accurate, with excellent tactical notes. It fails to shine fully, however, because there is not much scope for non-combat interaction. One faction is confined to its quarters, two consist of people who have been more or less reduced to automata, almost all are described as uninterested in negotiation. A group interested in intrigue will require considerable GM reworking. The sin theme, therefore, is underdeveloped.
The adventure is much shorter than it looks (my group finished in 4.5 sessions) because several of the promised 7 dungeons are only 1-2 traps or creatures. The traps are inspired by Tomb of Horrors and were not appropriate for my group, but are fairly easy to remove.
The background material contains the usual items plus a too-short section on Thassilonian magic with one spell and one rune per school, and an outstanding background article on Lamashtu. This is truly a model of excellence in cult writeups--it gives details not only on the goddess but on the role of her priesthood in different societies.
Overall, this should be fine for dungeon-crawling groups, but others may find it lacking in spots. My player was particularly disappointed in the Greed dungeon, which should have foreshadowed Xin-Shalast but was utterly flat in play.
Mary
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Another WAR cover. And a dragon to boot!!! Awesome.
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Ace Haven wrote:
Another WAR cover. And a dragon to boot!!! Awesome.
Wayne is spoiling us! No other covers will ever do now!!!
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OH MY _ _ _!!!!!!!
this has got to be a poster!!!!!
here I can't wait for #3 to come out & you guys give us.........AGHHHHH!!!!
......keep it coming!!! :)
RM
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Today's blog... Oh my...
Can't wait to find out who the dude is.
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Yeah that's one cool wizard... A little longer in the tooth than the rest of the iconics as well.
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PZO9005E
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Ace Haven,
primemover003,
