Nothing like an eager author, but in this case a little overboard. Word of caution-read the specs on the beasts and consider balance issues and difficulty for level 1 characters VERY carefully. When you total up one battle it is way too high for that level, especially with the very nicely thought out trick that comes with it. Lots here to work with, but running it out of the can is problematic. Not sure what the problem is with lower level adventures-they are SUCH a delicate time for an adventure and to have a wipe, or 3/4 of the party gone and the rest running is boring compared to just a close call or two..or three. But it is a lot harder to write for the latter to happen than just piling it on with minimal consideration...and editing by the staff that is supposed to be doing it. Maybe (someone) needs to start putting some sort of rating on the path modules for how much editing and work a DM will need to do before using them...maybe count it in hours...or days...hmmm.
SPOILER ALERT!
Spoiler: The dragon beast that can pounce and rake, but oops, the terrain is difficult (actually difficult x2), and how does it move and still carry a character around "in its coils" when it moves using the same coils? I realize this is fantasy but that isn't an excuse for things not being consistent. And a CR 1/2 for the exploding frost skeletons is off just by looking at it, but even though d20pf lists it both as 1/2 but then "add 1 CR" to a template-well you get the idea. Anyone that thinks something with an extra d6 elemental damage that then blows up at the end is a CR 1/2 is..confused? I'm chalking it up to over eager. And then you wipe out the bandits but then have to deal with 10 zombies to get out, after being tired from all that? AND with a cleric radiating 2d6 of negative energy 5 different times? Great idea at a higher level, overwhelming for this unless you have a very specific type of party (like maybe super high cha cleric, a paladin, a tank and a witch?). The elemental aspect of it all is a bit odd also without an easy way to get some endure elements going-sure you can crank out some scrolls, maybe buy a bunch if they are stocked, but then when you consider how long the trek actually takes to the lodge it all gets tedious unless you are just really into that sort of stuff ie. making a foray in, calculating how far you can go, maybe camping nearby and having a 25% chance of an encounter every 3 hours (?...did he mean then only check once per day, twice per day? Another thing left out or overdone).
Unfortunately if you are just to take out some of the pieces like the frost skeletons it effects the mood and some later parts from what I can tell...but tell me, how does the cleric navigate that little room with two skeletons radiating cold 5' out? You'd have to time your movements VERY carefully to make sure you don't end up next to them at the end of your turn. Overlooked? Looking forward to finishing this, but with a part of 5 on the fast track and at level 2 when they hit the lodge.
Very colorful and imaginative...loved being immersed in this story! From a DMs standpoint I can say you would have some frustrated players if they didn't know they would find flying/levitating almost mandatory and some serious elemental resistance at their disposal of some sort. Some real gems of creatures, personalities, unique treasure and such, and the story makes it easy to add some info up front to make things flow better than just a stand around and scratch your head over that impossible to bash door, etc....DMs will get a chuckle over the ways dragons revel in their final moments of typically ego packed glory (in this case by blasting humanoids to bits in various ways) but it will all be lost on players unless you somehow have some avatar-ish guide or tome given to characters-deity voice over lending some flavor at points...you get the idea...and had a LOT of room to flesh out the main setting however you would like as far as additional areas, creatures...this is just a glimpse at this interesting aspect of dragon culture, and one I recommend!
