Al Rigg's page

Just wanted to write a quick review of this module after a very enjoyable experience running it at Free RPG Day in Sydney. The writing and editing are solid, the encounters evocative, and the whole adventure hangs together very well, with a classic atmosphere to it: everything is in its proper place in this pyramid exploration.
I ran this for a PFS table of 6 players (4 new, 2 experienced, and 5 running pre-gens) with a second GM running another table of 6 (5 new, 1 experienced, and all 6 running pre-gens). Everyone loved it, and it looks as though we have 9 new PFS converts as a result. A very successful Free RPG Day experience!

Having played or run practically every scenario and sanctioned module available for PFS, I am always keen to discover a new approach to challenging Pathfinders. This scenario delivers on that front. It won't be everyone's cup of tea--it requires patience, thought, and a sort of collaboration with the GM towards an acceptance of how the research subsystem it contains works, but if you can do those things, and enjoy them, this may well become one of your favourite scenarios.
The writing and flavour are solid, and the options you must puzzle through seem to carry real consequences. It's inventive, atmospheric, and another reinvigoration of a format that is always in danger of falling into the formulaic.
My only criticism is that, from the perspective of a player, I thought the research subsystem and timing could have done with some more flexibility for what would be common approaches. If it didn't require the acceptance of the limited rules, just as say the regularly maligned Chase mechanics do, and could accommodate a broader directive from the players, this would have been a straight five stars.

[Edit: It's now a month later and I have now read and run the scenario as well as played it, and have discovered that my former criticism arose mainly through the GM's choice of how to present the options available to characters, rather than an inherent limitation in the scenario itself. I'm therefore increasing my rating of the scenario to five stars. I had a great time running it and my players all enjoyed it.]

I played this at Canberra Spring Con and ran it at Demonomania. Both sessions were an absolute blast. The encounters were appropriate terrifying, given the nightmarish location, and as a player, I felt genuinely scared for my character's life knowing that he was in an area where horrific things could and likely would happen.
As a GM, I'm proud that I seemed to give my players that same sense of terror that the excellent Mr Buters had provided me, and I could feel their sense of achievement at the end when they finally realised, to be swiftly followed by much cheering, that they had succeeded.
In short, if you think you can just go wandering into the tanglebriar without proper advance preparation, you're going to get a rude awakening for which you should be grateful. It'll improve your game.

This module is absolutely fantastic. I had a brilliant time playing it and I am looking forward to the opportunity to run it. As many of the other reviewers have whined, yes, it's deadly. But really, what do you expect? It's the CULT OF THE EBON DESTROYERS! Your enemy has devoted their lives to murder and guess what? They're pretty bloody good at it. So expect to die, and die horribly. But if you manage to survive, then emerge from the experience with some well-earned respect. You've succeeded where most will have fallen.
Should all modules follow a nice power curve, where you can enter with your usual commonplace attitude that everything will have been softened up for you? Or should some of them test you to the limits of your ability and resources? I'm solidly in the latter camp. If you want everything to be balanced to the point of banality, then there's a dying game called D&D 4th edition that you should go and grab a copy of before it disappears once and for all. If you don't like the challenge of encounters that have been optimised in a manner that is faithful to the inevitable preparations of a death cult, then wimp out and go and play something else more suited to your metagame expectations of fairness.

So, to the module itself. It is jam-packed full of authentic flavour that leaves you in absolutely no doubt that you are in an India/Sri Lanka inspired enclave. The adventure oozes the culture and attitude of Jalmeray and allows you to fully immerse yourself in it. The adventure starts with an investigation that you can actually get your teeth into. It's not simply resolved by just wandering around until someone attacks you, as many supposed "investigations" are. It's well thought out and well-developed, just like the NPCs and their various motivations. The subsequent travel to the lair of your enemies involves several encounters that may surprise and delight you, as they did me. But the finale is simply just excellent. If you have the guts to go in there and get them, expect that they won't go down without the fight of your life.

So, did I survive? Yes, but only by the absolute skin of my teeth and my party fought tooth and nail through practically every encounter. It was tense and the pressure was enormous at times as our options started to run out and we struggled to find a strategy that would work. But, with not a small amount of luck, we endured. In short, it was an epic experience, and I'm a better player because of it. Thank you, Matt Goodall. Keep writing modules this excellent, please, and don't start pulling any punches. Dying in an adventure this awesome would be a privilege, just as it was in the Tomb of Horrors back in the day. Managing to survive it was something very special indeed.