GameMastery Module D2: Seven Swords of Sin (OGL)

As a DM who takes perverse glee from killing his players (though it doesn't happen nearly often enough - darn you, clever players), I am very excited about this adventure! Just looking at those pictures from Gen Con of the dungeon maps covered in red dots of death made me froth at the mouth... figuratively, of course :)

Where are those pics at Evil?

Where are those pics at Evil?

On the Paizo blog. There is a picture of the dugeon with red dots for where PCs died and a score card for the author of the room and how many died in that room. I did not play the delve but it appeared to be fun, as I watched a bit of it several times.

Got the pdf. Just want to commend the artists involved. All of the art in the magazine (maps included) are superb.
The TPK I played at gencon was pretty fun, too.

Just opened the .pdf as well, and wow, BEAUTIFUL stuff. Have only skimmed the contents, but the art is gorgeous, and the actual contents look pretty devious.

Is it only the subscribers who get the pdf for GameMastery modules or will you get a pdf if you order the product also?

thanks

Question:
At least with D0: Falcon's Hollow, some items were also items from GameMastery's own DeckMaster line of cards (look at the Ring from the game, and then look at the Ring from the 1st deck collection.). Assuming this trend continues, are any of the swords also item cards? Man, I sure hope so- that would be AWESOME!

Question:

At least with D0: Falcon's Hollow, some items were also items from GameMastery's own DeckMaster line of cards (look at the Ring from the game, and then look at the Ring from the 1st deck collection.). Assuming this trend continues, are any of the swords also ietm cards? Man, I sure hope so- that would be AWESOME!

One particular burning sword from D2: Seven Swords of Sin may indeed be from a very recent item card set (Elements of Power). As for this being a trend... absolutely.

Especially considering the next deck is called "Rise of the Runelords."

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

This adventure is simply amazing! The dungeon is imaginative from start to finish, and it's tightly packed with wonderful traps and fascinating encounters. My personal favorite encounter is...

Your favorite room almost won the "PCs Killed" contest at Gen Con, with 17 deaths total!

Woo hoo! Yay me! :)

--Erik

Got the pdf. Just want to commend the artists involved. All of the art in the magazine (maps included) are superb.

The TPK I played at gencon was pretty fun, too.
** spoiler omitted **

You've received this already?

Your favorite room almost won the "PCs Killed" contest at Gen Con, with 17 deaths total!

Woo hoo! Yay me! :)

--Erik

My money would've been on...

BTW, any chance of us being able to see which staff members designed which rooms? I'd like to know which one Jason Bulmahn did, especially. I believe there's a secret cult of kobolds with Skill Focus [Craft (trapmaking)] worshiping him as a deity out there.

My money would've been on...** spoiler omitted **

BTW, any chance of us being able to see which staff members designed which rooms? I'd like to know which one Jason Bulmahn did, especially. I believe there's a secret cult of kobolds with Skill Focus [Craft (trapmaking)] worshiping him as a deity out there.

Yay! I'm number two! :D

2 questions:

1. In area 26, the text mentions that the trap can be bypassed with the correct password, but no password is given. Did the author have a password in mind, or was it meant for GMs (not DM, that's not OGL) to come up with their own (easy enough to do)?

2. The text for area 27 describes slots above the doorways that hold iron doors. Are those supposed to drop down as part of the trap?

Is it only the subscribers who get the pdf for GameMastery modules or will you get a pdf if you order the product also?

Only subscribers get the PDF for free. The PDF will be available as a separate purchase after the product's retail release date, which is August 29.

So...is this dungeon so over the top deadly that it's kind of like a joke? As in, not intended for serious campaigns because of a high likelihood of a TPK? (I haven't had a chance to check it out yet).

So...is this dungeon so over the top deadly that it's kind of like a joke? As in, not intended for serious campaigns because of a high likelihood of a TPK? (I haven't had a chance to check it out yet).

The dungeon appears to be quite different with respect to its strikingly modern-looking first level. It has nearly an encounter in every room, though the ELs are all within a reasonable range for a party of 7th-level characters.

A party that keeps their wits about them will probably find this dungeon easier than those who panic at the surprises that leap out. Though I believe that a party that has a cleric and rogue will fare better than most.

Thanks for the info! I've been picking up all of the new Gamemastery Modules so far, but I was kind of hesitant about this one after reading everyone's descriptions--it sounded like nothing more than a death trap to end a campaign. Based on your description, though, it sounds pretty cool. I guess I'll have to pick this one up as well. I do love me some old school dungeon crawls...

I found this module very good, but I did notice that the pregens in the back of the module are level 8. I thought this module is for level 7 characters. Or is this just another hint that this is going to be that tough of a module to survive?

I found this module very good, but I did notice that the pregens in the back of the module are level 8. I thought this module is for level 7 characters. Or is this just another hint that this is going to be that tough of a module to survive?

Either way it looks tough. I am going to use this come my romp through Rise of the Runelords. I am going to let my players roll up some level 8 baddies and be hired out by Karzoug (or his minions) to retrieve the swords. (this is someone else on this boards idea . . .I am just stealing it). Part of the reason is I would rather them be one-shot characters so I don't feel bad about killing them. Ha,Ha HA!

It seems to harken back to those good-ol' dungeon crawls where adventurers had to occasionally rest in the most recent room they cleared out, keeping watch, hoping a patrol of goblins and worgs didn't decide to burst in on them in their sleep.

Goblins, attack formation 'chaos'!

Just wanted to pop in and stress that, while everyone's been talking about the deadliness of the delve, the module itself is pretty different. You'll undoubtedly see a lot of your favorite rooms show up, but the delve was amped-up in difficulty because each party's only playing for a few minutes, and we wanted to push them hard. (Plus, even moreso than normal adventures, dying spectacularly in a delve is big part of the fun.) The adventure might be a little rough - and I look forward to hearing people's stories - but it's still designed to be a real adventure, not a slaughter-fest. Though as I always tell my players, it helps to have a back-up character ready to go at a moment's notice. :)

For the record, my contributions to the delve were Pistoned Ocher Jelly Time and A River Runs Through It... I think. It all jumbles together in my mind at this point.

And I thought I was the only one that got super creative/silly when I named my rooms.

The only room name I can remember creating (and that made it through editing) is Hedgehog's Dilemma, which I'm sure isn't an homage to anything at all.

My "Pistoned Ochre Jelly Time!" room name only really makes sense if you're singing it to this tune.

I am gonna use D2 next in My Game so I have started to make DUNDJINNI maps for it. These maps are detailed 1"=5' Maps available in PDF, JPG and BMP Files

I will be posting them on my webshots account.

Will PAIZO allow me to post them and share with Everyone here on the Forums.

I just added my review of D2 and if I ever run it, I'm going to almost completely re-write it. The traps have little connection to the main story. The plot is great, the villian is great, the background on the city built into the cliff wall also great. I'd probably drop 80% of the traps and replace them with defenders tied to the seven swords of sin or characters/creatures overcome by the main sword in the module. Just my opinion. For people who like traps, you'll love D2. For people coming in from D1 or W1, you'll be a little disappointed.

Kane

I have to support Kanes point of view. While the traps and monsters are well thought out, they are somewhat mismatched to the theme of the adventure. That might work for a delve for GenCon, but the cool idea for the adventure and the great idea of Caer Maga are sold below their actual value here. And personally, the presentation of the naming seven swords was underwhelming for me. Compared to D1 and W1, D2 just isn´t as good - perhaps its origin as a collection of clever and fiendish encounters and traps is just not enough for a good adventure.

Stefan

Could this be a good throw in Dungeon for RORL because it deals with the 7 deadly sins also?

I want to know because i am trying to add on to RORL to stretch it out till level 20

Or is this thing just way to deadly and it end in TPK?

I'm thinking about having my PCs go through Seven Swords of Sin sometime during RotRL, because it shares the Runelords theme. Either between #2 and #3 or between #3 and #4.

Just decide how hard you want it to be for your players.

Can anyone at Paizo give the full writeup for the other 6 swords? i really want to use all 7 in RORL but i dont want to over or under power them

I'm a bit late to the party here.

I just finished the 1st floor of the module. I was running it with the pre-gens at the back of the book. This was a one-off adventure I ran because some of my players didn't make it to the session tonight. Out of curiosity, which room won the "killing the most PCs" in the Gencon delve?

Some general thoughts on the first floor...

Room 3: Needs cake. When I ran the room without cake, everyone assumed it was a trap and walked away. When I ran the room WITH cake, it worked much better.

Room 10: I'm fairly convinced that the raptors are above the scale of the party in the book. Even given the circumstance of the room, they seem vastly more powerful than CR 7. The goblins seem tolerable though. This encounter has killed 2 different parties so far. I think, for comparison, the grey render was a push-over. I'd rather fight 2 renders and the goblins than the double raptors.

Hi everyone. I have been considering getting this module as a "Beyond Rise of the Runelords" adventure. However it really needs to be scaled up for 15th+ level characters due to the fact that the AP has character raising to 15th level. Any suggestions on "amping this up"? Also, should I even bother with this and come up with something on my own?

Playing this in 4E now as a part of Rise of the Runelords. Its not as interesting or story-ish as the rest of the adventure path, but my players are having a blast with it - including the 4E hater/roleplayer. A little odd.

Anyways, has anyone attempted to make a 4E artifiact writeup for the swords?

Hi everyone. I have been considering getting this module as a "Beyond Rise of the Runelords" adventure. However it really needs to be scaled up for 15th+ level characters due to the fact that the AP has character raising to 15th level. Any suggestions on "amping this up"? Also, should I even bother with this and come up with something on my own?

:::Bump:::

Just how much information does the module give on the vile city of Kaer Maga?

I know this was not one of Piazo's more popular adventures but I rather liked it. I don't really have advice though. Since our group tends to slow xp down so spends a lot more time in the 5-12 range so often i depower adventures. So I have little experience going the other way.

I got around to making a 4E artifact writeup for the swords, levels 15-25. If someone wants it, sent me a PM.

Hi everyone. I have been considering getting this module as a "Beyond Rise of the Runelords" adventure. However it really needs to be scaled up for 15th+ level characters due to the fact that the AP has character raising to 15th level. Any suggestions on "amping this up"? Also, should I even bother with this and come up with something on my own?

Hey there, Kevida.

My understanding is that Seven Swords of Sin was intended to be a pretty gruesome, character-killing crawl, in the spirit of early AD&D meat-grinders. When the Paizo team ran it at its premiere Gen-Con, they were keeping tallies of just how many characters each room killed.

15th-Level play shouldn't be like that. Those characters are, in Ryan Dancey's terms, at the top of the "wuxia" field, and moving into "superhero" territory. The field of monsters that put a terror into the PCs is rapidly falling to the short list: demons, devils, and dragons.

I'm having a hard time imagining that kind of dungeon experience working for those PCs.

I got around to making a 4E artifact writeup for the swords, levels 15-25. If someone wants it, sent me a PM.

Carl, I'm not sure these boards allow for primate messages.

Just how much information does the module give on the vile city of Kaer Maga?

There is a touch of information on Kaer Maga in the adventure. Part one has a little bit of information (about a page) before the group goes down to the lair, and there is a full page worth of information about the city in the appendix of the module. When I ran this for my group, I accented it with information pulled from the Pathfinder's Journal entry (Hand of the Handless)in Pathfinder #3. Though it is fiction, I feel that piece really brought out the flavor and inhabitants of that fine city, including some great hooks and the journey up the Halflight Path. Two sidebars are in that piece, one regarding a who's who and the other talks about the different districts.

I love Kaer Maga, and though there is only a tiny bit of information about the wonderful city, there are bits and pieces around. Like this blog post from Sutter.

...and this thread.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the links, Mister Daigle. They're very helpful!

Ok, since there are no PMs here: if you want a 4E writeup of the Swords of Sin geared to level 15-25 and using names and inspiration from a Rise of the Runelords Wiki I browsed, send me an email at cramer dot carl at gmail dot com.

Printable Battle Maps for this adventure can be found here:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2pgoh?Module-D2-Seven-Swords-of-Sin-Printable

Eric Hinkle wrote:

Just how much information does the module give on the vile city of Kaer Maga?

There is a touch of information on Kaer Maga in the adventure. Part one has a little bit of information (about a page) before the group goes down to the lair, and there is a full page worth of information about the city in the appendix of the module. When I ran this for my group, I accented it with information pulled from the Pathfinder's Journal entry (Hand of the Handless)in Pathfinder #3. Though it is fiction, I feel that piece really brought out the flavor and inhabitants of that fine city, including some great hooks and the journey up the Halflight Path. Two sidebars are in that piece, one regarding a who's who and the other talks about the different districts.

I love Kaer Maga, and though there is only a tiny bit of information about the wonderful city, there are bits and pieces around. Like this blog post from Sutter.

...and this thread.

Hope this helps.

And this massive campaign setting devoted to it: City of Strangers.

Nevermind that it wasn't written at the time of this release, but you should have been on top of that, Daigle! ;p

My understanding is that this was the product that introduced Kaer Maga to the campaign world. Subsequent publications used Sutter's brief gazetteer from Seven Swords of Sin as its primary source of material.

Also, Daigle's post was from 2009, but we all knew that, right?