The caravan leader traveling with the PCs is mysteriously killed, raising suspicions among everyone. Additionally, the animals in the nearby forest are acting erratically and seem to be unwell. Can the PCs unravel the mystery of the murder and discover the cause of the animals' peculiar behaviour?
This marks the inaugural adventure for the newly released second edition of Pathfinder. Spanning 64 (+4) pages, it is designed for first-level characters. It targets seasoned players and dungeon masters who are familiar with tabletop RPGs, but are new to the second edition rules. While it is loosely set in Golarion, it can be easily adapted to fit any other fantasy setting.
Story Synopsis: (Spoiler)
An outcast and powerful alchemist seeks vengeance against the village that exiled her. She is concocting a unique alchemical plague, and the caravan leader has unwittingly transported the lethal ingredients for her. When receiving the final shipment, she eliminates the merchant to ensure his silence permanently. After the PCs uncover the identity of the murderer, a ranger approaches them for assistance: wildlife in the nearby forest is behaving oddly, and both animals and plants are showing alarming symptoms of a mysterious illness. Following their investigation, the PCs discover the laboratory of an orc alchemist responsible for poisoning the water supply. However, they learn of a second lab where the outcast is scheming her revenge. After overcoming the challenges of that dungeon as well, the PCs must rush back to the village to prevent a time delayed poison/plague outbreak.
Review:
The layout, editing, and readability are outstanding, it couldn’t be better. The artwork is excellent, plentiful full colour, and highly relevant. The maps are excellent as well and could easily be incorporated into a homebrew adventure.
The storyline is compelling, featuring several roleplay opportunities, including a small fun bar brawl, and it's designed so that players can complete the adventure without resorting to lethal force, allowing for subduing and arrest instead, which is greatly welcome in my campaigns. While the plot is fairly linear — which is beneficial for a beginner adventure, in my opinion — the book also includes a gazetteer for the small village, populated with several intriguing NPCs. Additionally, there are four mini-quests alongside the main adventure, providing plenty of motivation for players to engage with the characters.
There are a few notable traps, (like a spear launcher, falling debris, a poisoned lock, and an icefall trap), alongside a diverse array of monsters (including wolves, a bee swarm, bloodseekers, a wild boar, guard dogs, a giant lightning serpent, bloodlash bushes, mutant wolves, vine lashers, orc brutes, a stone horse, icy rats, an orc alchemist, blood ooze, zephyr hawks, a homunculus, brine sharks, alchemical drudges, cinder rats, giant bats, and a vampire bat swarm), as well as a handful of named "bosses".
It features 5 new backgrounds, four of which come with a unique mini quest. Additionally, there are several new magical items (6 rings and 3 alchemical items), 2 new feats, a new magical animal companion (a fiery leopard), and 3 new monster statistics.
For those who are new to tabletop role-playing games, almost everything here can be reused, including maps, encounters, and monster and boss stats. The local village contains enough information to facilitate a mini campaign. If you prefer not to run the adventure but wish to utilize the art, maps, and stats, there is plenty to take away.
As previously mentioned, the adventure follows a linear path and is easy to manage, but it is not specifically designed for brand new players, or DMs. The combat encounters are quite challenging and can often even be deadly. For newcomers, starting the adventure at level 2 may be advisable. For DMs, the adventure is straightforward and offers many engaging elements (like a bar fight, a murder mystery, the four mini side quests, and the various village NPCs). While it might be a bit challenging for a first-time DM to coordinate everything smoothly, it's nothing that couldn't be adjusted with a supportive group of players.
Lastly, I want to emphasize that this adventure is ready for immediate play. After a thorough read-through, the DM should be well-prepared and ready to run it immediately. Although some stat blocks can be found in the Bestiary, page numbers are always provided for easy reference.
Overall, it’s a fantastic adventure — perhaps a bit on the lethal side — with excellent artwork, storytelling, maps, and encounter design. For me, it serves as a benchmark against which I measure all other adventures.
100% out of 100%
I wholeheartedly recommend it!
