A very good, clearly written urban adventure. The whole "murder paintings" concept is handled elegantly with monsters and items that support the theme. Good art and cartography.

My only problem is that the second part of the adventure is a dungeon crawl, which might be a letdown for those who look for a "pure" urban adventure.

Still, Gallery of Evil did a great job of being a sidetrek in my RotRL campaign. Recommended !

I purchased this adventure initially just to read through it. However, upon doing so, I immediately incorporated it into my Rise of the Runelords game.

The entire first half of the adventure is a fantastic race around the city. The encounters are varied enough so that it doesn't feel like the same thing over and over. Chases, combat against giant apes, a party and hellish landscapes keep the players guessing the entire time. The second half of the module transforms into a dungeon crawl but set in a modern home with fantastic creatures and traps.

The core of the module worked great even when I scaled the encounters to fit my groups level. This module now has me watching for other work by Stephen Greer.

Just got done preping this one to run. I picked it up a our FLGS and I have to say: Wow!Sharp, creative and alot of fun. outstanding.

coming down to the bottom line, "gallery of evil" is well worth the price.
i started with the bottom line becuese untill you reach it, you have to go through lot's of trouble.
allow me to explain:
most of the adventure is a duengeon crowl. A good one, but still a duengeon crawl. I have orderd an urban adventure, and I fealt that the one hour part of the adventure when your'e actually in the city hadn't provided.

in adittion, some of the scenes could have been handeld better, and i had to do some work myself fixing them.

We played through this adventure in a single one-shot ten hour session (including some pizza, cookies, tons of tea & coffee). Half of the players used the pregen characters, the other two created their own.

LIKED: Maps had a small number of obviously interesting rooms. It was possible to skip the rest of the rooms without loosing anything.

Clever playing obviated the need to fight three of the picture encounters.

The players liked the sense of urgency, and they were totally interested in finding out what had happened to the villain’s competitor who had disappeared. The pictures themselves invited a lot of speculation on how they worked, which was fun.

The DM (me) liked the relatively simple encounters. Each one was a challenge for the players and yet easy to run.

DISLIKED: Many of the encounters involve constructs, allowing no criticals, no flanking, and no sneak attack. A sad day for a rogue.

The first encounters was an instant kill for the fighter who entered the room. We rebooted the adventure, but it took us a moment to get over it. Obviously I had missed the Full Attack potential of these two critters.

Sometimes the sense of urgency the players felt was hard to translate into events. Showing through the crowds in the ballroom with all the distractions and trying to do it by the rules was not too exciting.

BOTH: One of the villains has Improved Sunder and used it to his advantage. This aggravated the players to no end. The DM (me) loved it, because the sorcerer cast Grease on the villain’s weapon, and we had all sorts of grappling, unarmed Disarm attempts, Bull Rush to push enemies away from their weapons, climbing of tapestry as soon as the enemy was disarmed, and backstabbing. Exciting encounters!

This is a well-written, episodic adventure.

Aspects of the module that presented worlds within themselves (like Rod Serling's Night Gallery TV show from those days of yesteryear) could have been expanded upon and would have added to the macabre nature of the adventure.

Overall, a creative exploration of what heroes might do in their spare time in the "Uppity" section of a large city along with some interesting creatures (egotistical elven painters) and magic items (paints and paintings) make this an adventure worth reading and playing!

Reading the blurb for this module excited me. I love urban adventures. In particular, the following line is what made made up my mind on the purchase of Gallery of Evil:

"When the mad painter’s visions come to life, the heroes find themselves entering his crazed landscapes to find a way to stop them from tearing the city apart."

Unfortunately, the adventure doesn't deliver. The heroes go into exactly ONE painting, and the landscape within features a single encounter. A fun encounter, to be sure, but not enough to make good on the blurb's promise.

The storyline leading up to the villain's mansion is very linear. The DM leads the PCs through several encounters by the nose, battering them with "clues" until, finally, their attention is forced to a painting of the villain that they would normally pay no attention to.

The saving grace of Gallery of Evil is the villain's lair at the end of the adventure, and the villain himself. Imron is presented in a unique fashion and, in a way, the heroes get to fight him three times -- a great way to get a party emotional invested in defeating their nemesis without using the old "teleport and fight another day" trick.

Overall a brilliant concept that was implemented poorly. Sorry Mister Greer.

It's simple, straightforward, and very flavorful. The encounters, the villain, it's all classic and yet stuffed with twists which will make the whole experience worthwhile at the game table.

I found the investigation part too linear, personally, which can bring a risk of railroading, but nothing a vigilant DM can't avoid: there is enough room between the different encounters to customize the investigation and make it feel like it fits the players' style.

Paintings don't often feature large in the average adventure - perhaps a bit of colour on the wall, perhaps even something worth looting once the monsters have been slain, occasionally there's a clue there if you examine it closely. But put an evil wizard with artistic talent in front of a blank canvas and the results can be... interesting.

It all begins with a letter, summoning the characters to the city of Absalom, probably the largest and most sophisticated city in the setting used by Paizo for all Pathfinder product. A wealthy philanthropist and sponsor of adventurers (who might well have financed some of the characters' earlier exploits) needs their help. And so off they go...

The adventure, beginning with the discovery of a bloody murder, is a heady mix of investigation and combat with plenty of opportunity for characters with a wide range of skills to shine. They'll need social skills as well as brainpower and fighting abilities, though, as they'll be mixing with the cream of Absalom society - there are some excellent opportunities for role-playing. Indeed, if you and your players enjoy urban adventures with plenty of interaction, where a good mind and ready tongue get as much exercise as the sword arm, this comes highly recommended.

Steve Greer delivers again with this excellent city based adventure. While Paizo is known, and for good reason, for their outstanding adventure paths, their GameMastery Modules line also shows remarkable promise. In this fantastic plug-and-play city adventure, Steve Greer lays out an adventure full of memorable moments - from trying to stop a magical trap while tripping over amorous fops to struggling against foes of deadly pigments. And all over a bit of criticism! Set loose the painted horrors on your players soon - the adventure not only scales easily, but can fit in just about any city with only minor adjustments. If you prefer the Ivy District.... well, so much the better, because Greer lays it out for you beautifully. Make a trip to the Gallery of Evil today, your players will thank you.