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GameMastery Module W1: Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale (OGL)
Paizo Publishing, LLC
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Print Edition:
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$12.99
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PDF:
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$8.99
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A wilderness adventure for 6th-level characters.
Fallow and abandoned for years, Bloodsworn Vale has long been a dangerous wood separating two kingdoms. A recent call-to-arms asks adventurers from around the world to establish a trade route through this dark and forboding forest.
Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale is a wilderness adventure written by Jason Bulmahn that pits players against the evil fey tribes of the Vale. Only the valiant and clever can defeat the fey—but will you be clever enough to destroy their master?
GameMastery Modules are 32-page, high-quality, full-color, OGL-compatible adventures for use with the world's most popular fantasy RPG. All GameMastery Modules include four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action, and full-color maps to enhance play.
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Product Reviews
Average product rating:
 
(4.3)
based on
18
reviews
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review.
The background to this adventure is quite simple: the ruler of Korvosa wants to reopen a trade route to the south through a long-deserted valley. He's sent his own troops, of course, but they are struggling a bit so he's prepared to offer gold, titles and land to anyone willing to help.
Assuming the characters take the bait (a few options are presented to entice them in), when they arrive a fort has been established and the long slog of making Bloodsworn Vale safe has begun. The action consists of a series of tasks and missions, with a neat system whereby the characters accumulate 'accomplishment points' for everything that they do, these being used to calculate the level of reward they have earned once the trade route is open.
The tasks are varied: finding out what happened to a missing party of road-builders, dealing with other sentient races already in residence and the like, as well as plenty of random encounters for you to drop in as you see fit. A lot of the work can be undertaken at the characters' own pace and in an order of their choice, but there is an underlying timeline which both keeps things moving and melds the adventures into a coherent whole - a neat way of letting the players think they have complete freedom of action while ensuring that the overall game proceeds as planned!
Overall it is a well-organised mini-campaign, which can give the characters a feeling of accomplishment and knowledge that they have contributed to the development of the area. This may be continued as you wish, or they can take their rewards and move on.
I really liked this one. Its not that the plot was full of twists and turns so much as events were properly and clearly linked to other events. The passage of time should be pretty easy to feel, and there are clear benchmarks for how this story progresses, while still leaving the the specifics really open ended for what the PCs can do to achieve these goals.
I have noticed that the fey of Golarion seem to be twisted little muppets, but I'm okay with that. Loved the new drakes as well. Glad I got this one, and I'll probably be ordering the physical copy from my local hobby shop soon.
This module had lots of potential, but, for me, the layout and format made this module very difficult to run.
Positives: Interesting locale, wide range of choices for the PCs to explore, a wide variety of encounter types to challenge the players.
Negatives:#1 Layout. The encounters/areas were laid out in an order based on the map on the inside of the jacket. Very little rhyme or reason for the way they were laid out on the map. Then, add in the fact that there is a timeline (on page 11- 1/3 of the way though the book.) for the encounters that essentially goes A_B_K_J_I_G_E_C_L_H_I_F_M, and you have a lot of flipping back and forth. The Fort, which is labeled "A", is put in an Appendix in the back of the book (Map on inside front cover.)
#2 Railroading
#3 Adventure Design Flaws-I felt the random encounters in the vale were simply too easy for 6th level characters. The encounters in the final "dungeon" were problematical.
There is considerable value in this adventure, in fact, the term adventure has to be used very loosely in the case of this module. Like a few other modules--most notably, Keep on the Borderlands--Conquest of the Bloodsworn Vale is really a mini-campaign based around a region, rather than an adventure based upon a specific narrative goal. The encounters occur along a timeline, but the DM is provided with enough detail about the Vale and its main location, Fort Thorn, to use the episodic nature of the adventure to their advantage: players can be afforded ample opportunity to role-play in the community and develop their own stories.
The encounters themselves can be handled in multiple ways, with some dependent upon investigation or diplomacy and others on direct combat. This mix means that the overall wilderness focus of the adventure won't leave characters like Bards out in the cold!
Dont get me wrong I love Paizo's work, particularly the pathfinder serie. The story is very bland/boring and a lot of the encounters feel redundant.
What saves this module is the high quality of the production : paper, artwork, maps...
Go buy one of the other modules or better yet the pathfinder AP.
Being very much to my tastes, CotBV gets the highest mark I've given thus far. It has advantages over some of the previous modules I've reviewed, being set at 6th Level and allowing some variety around that range, without being too easy or just a string of TPK's waiting to happen.
Anyway. It looks lovely, it reads well, it's nicely laid out and certainly fills 32 pages better than I'd expect.
The adventure is just great. I normally dislike 'sub-systems' for story progress... But it works here, and the whole thing rattles along without making your life as DM more complicated.
The material is good, with the challenge of two months to tame the land providing a solid hook that prompts players to use mental muscle as well as physical.
So top marks for a top adventure.
This module has a simple but effective system for measuring how well the group "conquers" the frontier of Bloodsworn Vale, providing a nice mix of challenging encounters in a largely free-form, player-driven framework.
Neat, evocative encounters make this one very memorable, which is the true hallmark of success for an adventure. Some really flavorful (if slightly arbitrary) dust ups with some Fey set the tone for the rest of the adventure.
Thumbs up.
This module has the feel of one of my favorite classics, Keep on the Borderlands. Sending adventurers from a frontier base into the wilds to challenge the many dangers of the surrounding wilderness, the PCs will have opportunities to challenge the usual wilderness foes, but also some foul fey (unusual because evil fey are rarely featured), encounters that are best managed with Diplomacy (actual role playing), and even some classic fire breathing dragons. With maps by Christopher West, it's hard to ask for more from an adventure. I look forward to dragging my players through it.
This is a very well written module. It is my favorite, second only to Crown of the Kobold King. It has nice artwork, there are a lot of interesting encounters, and a free structure that lets the players pick their own path. Cool.
Also a good way to give players a base for further adventure, as they may end up owning part of the land in the vale.
Great art, a fun and simple mechanic to enhance the plot (the AP's), a very exciting monster in the Flame Drakes, a tough big bad, cool side quests, and some non-standard reward possibilities for your characters make this adventure stand out as high quality. I think players will get a kick out of being heros of the vale. The only thing, and I mean the only thing, that limits this from being 5 stars is the odd encounter with the King of the Sprites. It comes off as a little railroady and illogical. However, it is such minor thing and quick fix that this module is still a MUST HAVE.
Product Discussion
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posts.
See all discussion for this product.
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Will there be a PDF to purchase?
j.
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It will be available as a PDF on August 15.
Or, if you're in a hurry, you could get a subscription to the GameMastery modules line... subscribers get access to the PDF (for free) as soon as their module ships, and we started shipping W1 to subscribers Thursday. :-)
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Only scanned it but so far so good. The sprites and drakes look cool, and the big bad looks fun . . .I will offer some more insight when I finally get a chance to sit and read it
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I signed up a couple of days ago as a GameMastery Modules Subscriber but it says in my subscriptions that GameMastery Module D2: Seven Swords of Sin will be the first one send to me? Your post seems to indicate that W1 should be the first one recieved if you sign up now. Am I missing something?
Thank you :-)
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Read through it last night. I loved it. Great monsters, great conditions for victory. Awesome. The chance to rule a domain, even better. Now if only somebody would conjure up some good rules for running a domain (hint hint nudge nudge) . I am currently looking at the old Birthright rules. I got the Stronghold and Dynasty book from Mongoose Publishing, Fields of Blood and Empire as well. Guess I could create a patchwork home rules.
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Gary Teter
(PostMonster General),
Stegger
(Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber),
