SPOILERS!!! Did I say that loudly enough?
I read Burnt Offerings on the plane ride back. It made the tedious delays and lost luggage more bearable. Herein are my impressions.
Background info to put my comments in perspective: I'm a DM. I wouldn't call myself either a munchkin or an IDRPer, but I would say I'm a bit of a powergamer. I run games to have fun, not to tell life-altering stories or as some kind of artistic effort. Like combat as well as roleplaying.
I'll go through the book from start to finish with my review.
1. COVER: Heavy, durable, shiny, beautiful. I got the super-special GenCon edition cover. It's pretty.
2. INSIDE COVER: Has a colour illustration of a symbol important to the campaign, the perfect size for holding up to show players when you say, "You see this symbol". Also the first page is nice.
3. CREDITS: James Jacobs in charge? Check. Rest of the Paizo crew on board? Check. (Including a special thanks to Mike McA). Cover Art by Wayne Reynolds? Check. Adventures by Baur, Jacobs, Mona, Pett, and Schneider? Check. This page alone would make me buy the adventure.
*Yes* I am also a fangirl. Might as well get that out of the way.
4. TABLE OF CONTENTS: This book has a lot. Foreword, adventure, city setting, history of the world, overview of the Pathfinder Society, bestiary, pregenerated characters, and a preview of the next issue. Consider my appetite whetted.
5. FOREWORD: By Mr. Jacobs. Includes the ten facts about goblins we've seen in the blog (which made me happy -- the ten facts rule) as well as an overview of what the Pathfinder line is going to be like and designer notes. Designer notes are included in sidebars throughout the module and basically say things like, "This is why we handled things this way" and "this is what you could do differently if you don't like this encounter." Very cool and helpful.
6. ADVENTURE: Very dark, very good. The backstory is kickass. The encounters seem like they'll be memorable. I won't go into too many details, but there is a lot of Peyton Place about Sandpoint. Everyone's got a secret, and many of them are nasty. I actually read the Sandpoint setting before the adventure, and the backstory made me go, "No! Really? Cool!".
There's a page and a half of backstory and then we dive into the adventure. More backstory is provided as needed, to clarify motivations and what have you. It's a nice balance, and I think it works.
There are a lot of NPCs who get locked up for extraordinary amounts of time, several who starve, and quite a few who go insane. Designer sidebars comment on the themes and how to lighten up the game if you don't want to go as far as Paizo did. I'll probably lighten up bits here and there, but overall the adventure isn't too gory. Some of the artwork gave me the shivers, though!
The adventure takes up about 50 pages.
Particular likes:
-the new stat block. The Tactics and Morale lines are really nice to guide you when running monsters, and easily ignored if you want to change things.
-the layout. Text colors and fonts were clearly readable by me, but I don't have a problem with colors or patterns. The parchment background on some of the sidebars didn't seem too busy to me, but others may disagree. The conversational tone of some of the designer notes was refreshingly informal and made me chuckle in cases. ("Goblins should really carry spare dogslicers, but they don't think that far ahead, and occasionally end up standing in front of a hero without a weapon. Stupid little freaks.")
-thorough stat blocks. At one point a goblin has a potion of rage in his inventory, and the stat block notes changes that occur once the potion's duration expires.
-maps are attractive and easy to read.
-alternatives are often presented, and multiple plot hooks provided for different stages in the adventure. These are inserted into the flow of text as needed, not lumped together at the beginning.
Minor Quibbles:
-no player maps. Pull-out maps might have been too expensive and taken up too much space, so here's hoping for a free download like we sometimes get for Dungeon. This has probably been discussed already, but I'm lazy and missed it.
-occasional missing tags/confusing areas. I looked at the map of Thistletop about ten times and still can't find C25 or C26, though I inferred their location easily enough. And I can't figure out what the semicircle dotted line represents in the top left hand section of the Catacombs of Wrath. Does the tunnel dead-end under or above the jail? What's the dot mean?
7. SANDPOINT: This section is similar to the "City of Blank" features that occasionally appeared in Dungeon. The 14-page section contains an overview and stat block of the city, history (which contains spoilers, so the players can't read it), map, and keyed locations with descriptions of individuals.
Likes:
-inventive areas and NPCs. The interactions and histories of even the shopkeepers are fascinating.
-varied areas. The PCs have a choice of bars, inns, shopping malls, etc. Ok, there are no malls.
-large, attractive map.
Minor Quibbles:
-a read-aloud history would be nice, though I suppose the PathHB contains that. But I started reading the history out loud to my player and we were both fascinated until I got to the part where it said, "Today, no one knows about any of this. They think something completely different," (I paraphrase) at which point I kinda said, "Oh. Well, pretend you don't know that."
8. THASSILON HISTORY: Very interesting and exciting. This 8 page section details the different Runelords, the defunct religions, the fall of Thassilon, and has sidebars detailing upcoming adventures. It was a lot of information, but I managed to retain it all. I didn't feel overwhelmed with the history.
9. OPENING MOVES: This 6-page section details the Pathfinder Society and gives further background information on the politics and history of the area. Lots of good material with which to involve the PCs. Two minor quibbles: one, the 'handwriting' font I found really hard to read, and two, no friendly sidebar on how specifically to involve the PCs. Which is cool, we're all creative people, that's why we're DMs. It seemed an odd exclusion, though, given the preponderance of sidebars in the rest of the book. Also this section was entirely in black-and-white for some reason.
10. BESTIARY: COOL! Goblin dogs, goblin snakes (they have a cool coil attack), giant geckos, sinspawn (advanceable shock troop-style monsters that aren't undead), attic whisperers (undead scary-kid monster), and the Sandpoint Devil (a riff on the Jersey Devil).
11. PREGEN CHARS: Already been discussed on the boards. I do think they're a little underpowered, but not cripplingly so. The art is beautiful. Also seem easy for beginners to play.
12. PREVIEWS: Just one page! And half is taken up by the OGL! Enough to whet my appetite without seeming like a huge advertisement.
Then an actual ad on the very last page. But that's ok, I can take it.
Minor quibble throughout: very small, occasional typos which made me laugh more than anything. Like "flower" instead of "flour".
Awesomeness throughout: Extremely high levels!
/fangirl
I'm right with you there Amber. I hope you had a safe flight home. Was great hanging with you.
You've pretty much crystallized my impression so far,though admittedly I'm just reading the pdf, and I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it. Just enough background and side info to suggest connections and make me think up about 150 NPC's I want to populate the town with, along with the seemingly 1000's of them detailed in the book.
Bravo, folks!
I'm so torn now - do I run a Kill Bargle/Return of Bargle/Expedition to Ruins of Greyhawk/Bargle's Back?!/Maure Castle/Bargle 4: This Time It's Personal campaign, or start the new Pathfinder AP? After d/ling the PDF it's a hard decision... I might have to do both.
I have to say, I love the art throughout. Warren Mahy is a new favorite of mine thanks to Dungeon and his opening piece is awesome! Also, whoever did the art for Aldern Foxglove and Shalelu is great - I hope that individual stays on for a good long while!
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I have a question that pertains to this adventure now that I have looked through my PDF of it. There are a number of instances where two books I haven't heard of were referenced. One was the "Book of Fiends", is this a Gamemastery product? If so, does it build on work from things like the Fiendish Codex line? Another one referenced was the "Tome of Horrors I". Is this also in the Gamemastery line? If so I may have to look at buying both, but anyone who can shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated.
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I have a question that pertains to this adventure now that I have looked through my PDF of it. There are a number of instances where two books I haven't heard of were referenced. One was the "Book of Fiends", is this a Gamemastery product? If so, does it build on work from things like the Fiendish Codex line? Another one referenced was the "Tome of Horrors I". Is this also in the Gamemastery line? If so I may have to look at buying both, but anyone who can shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated.
The Book of Fiends is published by Green Ronin, while the Tome of Horror is from Necromancer Games.
Highly recommended (also the ToH II and ToH III).
There are a number of instances where two books I haven't heard of were referenced. One was the "Book of Fiends", is this a Gamemastery product? If so, does it build on work from things like the Fiendish Codex line? Another one referenced was the "Tome of Horrors I".
Tome of Horrors Revised from Necromancer Games
Book of Fiends from Green Ronin
I agree with Medesha on all points.
I especially like how they detailed the opening scene. Especially the goblins.
I think I found my second favorite creature in D&D. (Next to Kobolds)
Nicely done Medesha! All points I agree with, though one player I spoke to said the type was a bit on the small side.
The adventure background is cool, cool, cool. I won't spoil it, but a lot of good stuffs is in there, along with precisely why the AP is called "Rise of the Runelords." :D
Nice review, now I'm even more anxious to get my hands on my copy. (I can't stand to read more than a page or two online).
I've just gotten done reading ALL of the PDFs and all I've got to say is that I am extremely impressed with the amount of detail and thought Paizo has put into Pathfinder. I love how Sandpoint and its populace has been miticulously detailed. Aswell as the background information and foreshadowing of ancient ruins across the land itself. The layout itself is expertly done and easy to follow. The stat blocks help GMs manage the enemies easily, which should provide for a quicker prep and setup then normal as it all flows together quite well. The reimaging of the goblins and usage of OGL content to bring new life into the game aswell as seperate it from other campaign worlds to make it special and exciting.
To say that I'm impressed would be an understatement. This opening module is exceptionally strong in all aspects I consider important key elements to any campaign. Engaging Plot, Detailed Background, Wonderful Art, Flowing setup, New Imaginative ways to use tried and true mechanics and monsters, Exceptional Quality, and most importantly I know that my players will LOVE playing it.
We're starting next week and I can't wait to run it! :)
The conversational tone of some of the designer notes was refreshingly informal and made me chuckle in cases. ("Goblins should really carry spare dogslicers, but they don't think that far ahead, and occasionally end up standing in front of a hero without a weapon. Stupid little freaks.")
The part that made me laugh out loud was in Tsuto's journal, as he tried to stay hopeful that his "girlfriend", as she tried to become more demonic, would remain sexy. "Succubi are demons too, aren't they?"
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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The conversational tone of some of the designer notes was refreshingly informal and made me chuckle in cases. ("Goblins should really carry spare dogslicers, but they don't think that far ahead, and occasionally end up standing in front of a hero without a weapon. Stupid little freaks.")The part that made me laugh out loud was in Tsuto's journal, as he tried to stay hopeful that his "girlfriend", as she tried to become more demonic, would remain sexy. "Succubi are demons too, aren't they?"
Speaking of which, the "girlfriend" IS pretty damn sexy. BUt, is it wrong to think that
Speaking of which, the "girlfriend" IS pretty damn sexy. BUt, is it wrong to think that ** spoiler omitted **?
Yes Sect, it is. It is very wrong.
;)
the Tome of Horrors, that as far as I know is only available in PDF form,*Zootcat scratches his head and wonders how he got his hard copy.*
the hard copy tome of horrors is 3.0 edition... the 3.5 updated version is only available as a PDF (unless a person got the PDF of the 3.5 version and printed it out and bound it themselves, which would be time consuming and probably pretty expensive).
I like how most of the villains are involved in a wacky love quadrangle while the Bugbear attends to the needs of the neglected goblin harem.
Depending on the order that the PCs encounter everyone and who gets killed/captured when, there's all sorts of amusing possibilities. "I liked him even though she was boinking him but you killed him now you must die!" etc.
Gotta agree with the review, I just finished reading the adventure last night (PDF, it'll be a couple of weeks before I get the hardcopy) and it is excellent. Probably the best adventure i've ever seen for D&D. I really enjoyed a lot of the little touches added throughout the adventure (the bugbear or goblin that loves eating pigeons but can't stand the feet had me chuckling).
In fact the only thing I think I would like to see in future issues is one more document as part of the PDF that shows the maps and another that has all the pertinent statblocks on it. Otherwise, this thing rocks. I can't wait to finish my other APs so I can start this one.
I also found the 'handwriting' font difficult to read…at least in the .pdf.
Goblins are now my favorite cannon fodder. I can not help but see Gremlins playing in my head.
I also enjoyed the conversational tone. It certainly makes it more entertaining.
Goblins are now my favorite cannon fodder. I can not help but see Gremlins playing in my head.
Goblins have *always* been my favorite cannon fodder. Which may explain why Burnt Offerings gives me such warm fuzzies...
