Pathfinder Adventure Path #2: The Skinsaw Murders (Rise of the Runelords 2 of 6) (OGL)

4.60/5 (based on 40 ratings)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #2: The Skinsaw Murders (Rise of the Runelords 2 of 6) (OGL)
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The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path continues! A sudden string of brutal killings terrorizes the town of Sandpoint, and the killer's mark bears a familiar shape. Investigation leads to the Lost Coast's most notorious haunted mansion, a dilapidated ruin that has become the lair of a monstrous murderer. Yet this killer is but one of many, a member of a group of fanatic cutthroats calling themselves the Skinsaw Men. To defeat the cult, the PCs must travel to the bustling city of Magnimar to unravel the sinister source of these murders before they become the Skinsaw Men's next victims!

This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path continues the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path and includes:

  • "The Skinsaw Murders," an adventure for 4th-level characters by Richard Pett.
  • Details on Magnimar, the City of Monuments, by F. Wesley Schneider.
  • Information on the church of Desna, goddess of dreams, stars, and travel, by Sean K Reynolds.
  • The second installment of the Pathfinder's Journal, by Jason Bulmahn.
  • Six new monsters by Jason Bulmahn, James Jacobs, Richard Pett, and F. Wesley Schneider.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-037-7

Web Supplement: An additional map of Magnimar may be found in the Paizo blog entry for October 5, 2007.

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
SoundSet on Syrinscape
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscription.

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Non-Mint:

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This product is non-mint. Refunds are not available for non-mint products. The standard version of this product can be found here.

Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at store@paizo.com.

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4.60/5 (based on 40 ratings)

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Incredible horror story by a master writer

5/5

Our group just finished playing through The Skinsaw Murders and it was an absolute blast. The adventure oozed creepy atmosphere with well written locations (high corn fields, haunted house, old clock tower, etc.) and it was a brilliant mix of horror, investigation, and action. Playing an inquisitor, I really felt that my character was useful, both in the investigative parts and the more action-packed sections of the adventure and we were all thoroughly entertained and creeped out throughout the adventure.

Mr Pett has firmly cemented his posision as a top adventure writer for me and with Skinsaw Murders he gave me the best roleplaying experience I've had in a very long time, as a player at least.


Portuguese - Br

4/5

Eu recomendo muito essa aventura apesar de uns poucos pontos negativos. Ela se incorpora e complementa muito bem com Burnt Offerings e possui cenas que os jogadores irão comentar por anos (nem que seja apenas as assustadoras), mas definitivamente não é uma aventura para crianças ou jogadores imaturos e é uma aventura bem difícil de mestrar (seja pelo clima dark ou pela trama complexa). Se um mestre se dedicar a ampliar alguns de seus elementos dá para passar um bom tempo resolvendo seus desdobramentos. Os artigos complementares são bons, mas servem muito pouco para quem não joga em Golarion. Eu aconselho enormemente a mudar/atunuar/facilitar o ultimo encontro da aventura como esta escrito se você quiser evitar que o grupo todo morra.


Solid followup to a great first chapter!

4/5

Just finished this part of the adventure path over the weekend and it was a great adventure path. It is divided into about 3 parts. The first part is in Sandpoint and the surrounding area and is mainly a murder mystery that ties to Burnt Offerings. The second part is a haunted manor house that had great atmosphere and lethal haunts. They were bad enough that the PCs were actually drawing straws as to who would enter a room first. The last part takes the PCs to the city of Magnimar to confront the mastermind behind the murders in Sandpoint. I liked that this module was not as combat heavy as the first part, this one had more roleplaying opportunities and a city for a DM to play with. The last combat that is famous as a TPK I toned down some and while still challenging the PCs were able to overcome her. The only reason I knocked a star off was the transition into the next part. A couple of my players were pretty attached to the Sandpoint area and were wondering if it was worth going so far away to do a quest for the mayor of Magnimar since the main threat they were dealing with seemed to have been defeated. While in the end they decided to move on it doesn't really have any connection to the previous parts. Overall though it was a solid module and any DM should have a blast running certain parts of it. Also, the book includes the adventure "The Skinsaw Murders", a gazeteer on Magnimar, the first of the Pathfinder Journal series, and a bestiary.


Barbarian Holmes

2/5

This one can be very difficult and may be better run as a separate, short game. I say this because the last adventure, the first in the path, was heavy in combat and infiltration. Chopping your way through goblins and their champions, trying to save Sandpoint through might of arms or spells. Then they want you to play investigator.

The party I was in, after two tpks in the first book, were optimised to fight. Now there is fighting, but this is a mix of murder investigation, haunted house exploring and combat. If you are poor at investigating, if the party have not gone that way, then you will have to be spoon-fed if the dice don't allow you to pass some very high dcs. My fighter/barb/berserker was quite inept at being Sherlock Holmes, and the others didn't do much better. The party ranger failed his track checks and other contributions he could make. It also doesn't quite fit, that the mercs hired to protect the village from goblins, should suddenly do the Sheriff's job for him in a series of murder investigations (it pushed against verisimilitude, and so did our ineptitude at the task).

Some other points, the skinsaw murderer is ridiculously overpowered. Given what they were, suddenly they have jumped in cr, combat effectiveness, and their stats are just odd and far too high. Secondly you might have a character that comes in, and whom is very suited to investigation (I made an investigative fighter for a new player) and then they just die off in the very difficult combat. This adventure path is the beginning of Paizo's demands for very optimised parties. Bards and investigative rogues or fighters will pass the investigation, and then really may die at the hands of the adversaries once uncovered.


5/5

Disclaimers: Review may contain spoilers
My Experience with it:
DM for one 3.5 Group and one PFRPG Group (as is, no conversion)
Overview (no spoilers)
Burnt Offerings was a very strong start to the ROTRL-Campaign and TSM even accelerated it. I had more fun DMing than almost every other Adventure in my 18 years of role-playing.
Changes (spoilers):
I skipped the Asylum and placed the NPC in the Sheriffs custody. I made them report the Sandpoint incidents to Justice Ironbriar as a foreshadowing, I wrote up a Inn in Maningmar (the Copper Dwarf) with a Faceless Stalker attack, the Idea is from the boards, I toned down the last fight.
Details (with Spoilers):
The Adventure has 3 parts with relatively hard cuts between them.
The first part is the murder investigation in and around Sandpoint, it was good and intriguing, I planted some red herrings (The Sheriff, .....,.....)
Second part is Foxglove Manor - the introduction of the Haunts. This part was one of the high points of my role-playing career, horror is difficult to do in role-playing but the Haunted mansion delivered it, absolutely amazing.
Third Part: Manignmar, The Skinsaw cult and Xanesha. The players had some good times in the Copper Dwarfs spa and exploring Mangimar, the Sawmill was atmospheric but the fight was quick and no big challenge. Xanesha was memorable and even toned down a great challenge, every clock tower I used as DM since that fight is eyed with great suspicion :-)
Overall:
The high point of ROTRL, quite memorable


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Scarab Sages

Dark_Mistress wrote:
Richard Pett wrote:
Twizz wrote:
Lisa Stevens wrote:

We are putting the final touches on a reprint of #2, and once we give the go ahead to the printer, it will take about 6 weeks to get here. I expect that we will give that go ahead this coming week.

-Lisa

I can't believe this book is $50.00 on the secondary market.

Since your company is supporting 3.5. I'm also gonna carry some 3.5 material in my retail store. So I went to restock on all the Pathfinder Runelord series. Only to discover #2 is out of print.
Makes it hard to carry the whole line when one issue is out of print.

Plz give the go ahead at the printer. Summer is coming and retailers need this on our shelves.

$50 - gosh!
Well someones head just swelled up to 10 times the normal size. :)

Just don't tell him how much people are trying to sell it for on the Amazon.co.uk marketplace, I made a lot of incoherent spluttering noises when I looked those up a few weeks ago.

Seriously, I'm so glad it's being reprinted, I'd have ended up spending a fortune just to get rid of that damn hole in my collection

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Illessa wrote:

Just don't tell him how much people are trying to sell it for on the Amazon.co.uk marketplace, I made a lot of incoherent spluttering noises when I looked those up a few weeks ago.

Seriously, I'm so glad it's being reprinted, I'd have ended up spending a fortune just to get rid of that damn hole in my collection

If my rudimentary economics education serves me well, (and I seriously doubt that it does) these extremely high prices forthis book lead me to believe that the demand for the Pathfinder line as a whole is a lot larger than I had ever guessed. Which is great! Then again, no one seems to be willing to pay $50 or more for the book, so maybe the demand isn't yet that high amd thus the equilibrium price has not yet been reached.


Will there be a print version anytime soon again?
I just threw my group at this great Adventure PAth and now part 2 is unavailable - save for horrendous prices om Amazon(.de) :(

Contributor

yoda8myhead wrote:
Illessa wrote:

Just don't tell him how much people are trying to sell it for on the Amazon.co.uk marketplace, I made a lot of incoherent spluttering noises when I looked those up a few weeks ago.

Seriously, I'm so glad it's being reprinted, I'd have ended up spending a fortune just to get rid of that damn hole in my collection

£105 - flippin eck!

Scarab Sages

Heimdall wrote:

Will there be a print version anytime soon again?

I just threw my group at this great Adventure PAth and now part 2 is unavailable - save for horrendous prices om Amazon(.de) :(

About halfway down the previous page

Lisa Stevens wrote:

We are putting the final touches on a reprint of #2, and once we give the go ahead to the printer, it will take about 6 weeks to get here. I expect that we will give that go ahead this coming week.

-Lisa

Assuming it all went ahead without a hitch then I guess it will be available again from early June, perhaps late May if we're lucky.

Contributor

Hmm...and having just checked number 3, I feel an email to louge coming on.

aha ahahaha

Scarab Sages

Richard Pett wrote:

Hmm...and having just checked number 3, I feel an email to louge coming on.

aha ahahaha

Oh dear


Illessa wrote:

...About halfway down the previous page...

Assuming it all went ahead without a hitch then I guess it will be available again from early June, perhaps late May if we're lucky.

Thanks Illessa - should have checked the forums before posting.

Maybe it was the shock after looking it up on amazon ;)
But 105GBP that's hilarious. Maybe I should buy the ones in .de and sell them in .uk for a nice profit :D

Sovereign Court Contributor

Today at CanGames, I noticed several copies of this for sale at one of the dealer booths. I'll try to remember to look in here in the morning before I go back, and if anyone wants one at the regular price plus shipping from Ottawa, Canada, post here and I'll try to grab some copies. You can pay me by paypal and I'll ship them out in refurbished Paizo mailers.

Sorry fot the short notice, but it is what it is...


I thought this was going to be reprinted?

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Andre Caceres wrote:
I thought this was going to be reprinted?

It's being reprinted now. I believe we're expecting to have in in our warehouse in July.

Scarab Sages

*does the backorder dance*
Soon that annoying gap in my collection will be gone, soooooooooon...

Liberty's Edge

Vic Wertz wrote:
It's being reprinted now. I believe we're expecting to have in in our warehouse in July.

"Just" reprinted or?

Paizo Employee CEO

Stegger wrote:
Vic Wertz wrote:
It's being reprinted now. I believe we're expecting to have in in our warehouse in July.
"Just" reprinted or?

Just reprinted. We wanted to have this in stock for GenCon, so it is exactly the same as the first printing.

-Lisa

Sovereign Court

Lisa Stevens wrote:
Stegger wrote:
Vic Wertz wrote:
It's being reprinted now. I believe we're expecting to have in in our warehouse in July.
"Just" reprinted or?

Just reprinted. We wanted to have this in stock for GenCon, so it is exactly the same as the first printing.

-Lisa

Cool, that's the hole in my collection too. It's funny that Pathfinder followed the same path as comics when it came to pricing and demand.

Liberty's Edge

Thank you Lisa

Contributor

Huzzah!


One question: Where do I download the extra maps promised on pg.63? Is it a map folio I have to buy, or is it free content I can't seem to find?


Krisam wrote:
One question: Where do I download the extra maps promised on pg.63? Is it a map folio I have to buy, or is it free content I can't seem to find?

Here you are: Magnimar map.


Cormac wrote:


Here you are: Magnimar map.

Thank you, Cormac!


I also have come here fir the Magnimar downloadable content, but I see none.. has it gone or never was?

Scarab Sages

Lisa Stevens wrote:
Stegger wrote:
Vic Wertz wrote:
It's being reprinted now. I believe we're expecting to have in in our warehouse in July.
"Just" reprinted or?

Just reprinted. We wanted to have this in stock for GenCon, so it is exactly the same as the first printing.

-Lisa

Hurray! You guys just made some money. I have been putting off getting the APs until I was sure I could get all of them.

Now that I have #2 on backorder, I am heading to my FLGS to get 1 and 3-6 and the PGs.

Once I get caught up, I will become a subscriber with the new series!

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

The reprint should be arriving in our warehouse any day now!

Scarab Sages

Vic Wertz wrote:
The reprint should be arriving in our warehouse any day now!

::Heart beating faster in anticipation::

Quick question (should probably be in website feedback, but I'll give it a go here):

If I have products to be delivered, and backordered products, and I ordered them at different times, is there any way to change the shipping so they go out simultaneously?

I know you can do this on a simultaneous order, but not sure about otherwise.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Jal Dorak wrote:
If I have products to be delivered, and backordered products, and I ordered them at different times, is there any way to change the shipping so they go out simultaneously?

Currently, no, but we're working on it.

And we learned today that the Pathfinder 2 reprint will be arriving in the same shipment with Pathfinder 12 and 13, Pathfinder Companion: Second Darkness, and the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, at the end of the month.

Scarab Sages

Any arrival yet on the reprint? My account still says it is backordered.

What am I to read until the PRPG Beta comes out? ;)

Scarab Sages

Jal Dorak wrote:

Any arrival yet on the reprint? My account still says it is backordered.

What am I to read until the PRPG Beta comes out? ;)

If what Vic says above is true, then I seem to remember mention in another thread a couple of days ago that PF 12, PF 13, the Campaign Setting and the Second Darkness Companion were all on trucks and set to arrive in the warehouse this week as they were hoping to start fulfilling subscriptions by Friday if not earlier, so hopefully that's true here too :).

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Illessa wrote:
Jal Dorak wrote:

Any arrival yet on the reprint? My account still says it is backordered.

What am I to read until the PRPG Beta comes out? ;)

If what Vic says above is true, then I seem to remember mention in another thread a couple of days ago that PF 12, PF 13, the Campaign Setting and the Second Darkness Companion were all on trucks and set to arrive in the warehouse this week as they were hoping to start fulfilling subscriptions by Friday if not earlier, so hopefully that's true here too :).

Vic said last night in the PFS chat that everything was in the warehouse now and would start shipping to subscribers today and tomorrow. So they should have Skinsaw in again, but best to wait for an official confirmation of that before you get too excited.

Liberty's Edge

I would be interested to hear about this too. im after a copy but dont really fancy paying £150+ from amazon uk

will this be available at gen con uk or am I better off just ordering it from here?

Ta

Rich

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

It is in stock now.

We're sending a *small* quantity to Gen Con UK. You may want to go to the Paizo booth early....

Scarab Sages

Vic Wertz wrote:

It is in stock now.

We're sending a *small* quantity to Gen Con UK. You may want to go to the Paizo booth early....

Thanks, Vic!

Liberty's Edge

Vic Wertz wrote:

It is in stock now.

We're sending a *small* quantity to Gen Con UK. You may want to go to the Paizo booth early....

nice one. I hope friday mornin is early enough though...whats the chance of pre ordering stuff for collection at the con to ya know avoid dissapointment.i got some overtime i gotta spend before the other half gets her hands on it : )

Liberty's Edge

Doh ignore my last!just found the answer in another thread!

Rich

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Rich2346 wrote:
whats the chance of pre ordering stuff for collection at the con to ya know avoid dissapointment.

Sorry—our store just doesn't work that way.

Liberty's Edge

Vic Wertz wrote:
Rich2346 wrote:
whats the chance of pre ordering stuff for collection at the con to ya know avoid dissapointment.
Sorry—our store just doesn't work that way.

Yeah I saw the post on another thread sayin you didnt after i wrote that...sorry!

ah well fingers crossed that you got enough for me and my gaming group : )


Will you guys be resupplying B&N with this book as well or do we have to order it threw the paizo store?

Scarab Sages

Hurray! I've been away for a week, but I found out my copy shipped about 5 days ago. I can't wait!

Former VP of Finance

Bugoo2 wrote:

Will you guys be resupplying B&N with this book as well or do we have to order it threw the paizo store?

It will be available through all of our normal distribution channels. If you want to see it in your local FLGS or bookstore, be sure to request it!


Ok, its just I keep checking at B&N and they keep telling me out of stock, I don't mind ordering threw paizo but the extra shipping charge hurts and I'd rather spend that money toward the classic monster book =)

Former VP of Finance

Bugoo2 wrote:
Ok, its just I keep checking at B&N and they keep telling me out of stock, I don't mind ordering threw paizo but the extra shipping charge hurts and I'd rather spend that money toward the classic monster book =)

Hey Bugoo2,

Diamond Books' restock of PF2 left our warehouse on the 12th. They should have gotten it in the past few days. The Diamond website went down as I was trying to see if B&N has been shipped an order of it, so I don't know if their order has gone out yet. But, if they have it on order, it should have gone out in the past two days. I don't know what B&N's turnaround is from their warehouse to their stores, but I would expect it to be there in the next few days to a week. Assuming they ordered it already.


Can anyone tell me whether the maps in this are miniature scale? I'm particularly interested in the reputed corn maze?

Help?!?


Garjen Soulhammer wrote:

Can anyone tell me whether the maps in this are miniature scale? I'm particularly interested in the reputed corn maze?

Help?!?

No, it's more like a overland map.

Check out the community created stuff, it has a copy without the paths.
Link

It's the "Farmlands map without detail"


This post contains sort-of mini spoilers for one of the main villains' stats. Nothing important, but I just thought I'd include the warning.

I don't know if I should ask this here or in the rules section, but, I noticed that Justice Ironbriar has the Cat's Grace spell. I'm pretty sure clerics don't get the Cat's Grace spell, and it's not one of his domain spells. What should he have instead? Should his natural Dex be bumped up to 20, or should it be left at 18?


Shad0wdrag0n wrote:

This post contains sort-of mini spoilers for one of the main villains' stats. Nothing important, but I just thought I'd include the warning.

I don't know if I should ask this here or in the rules section, but, I noticed that Justice Ironbriar has the Cat's Grace spell. I'm pretty sure clerics don't get the Cat's Grace spell, and it's not one of his domain spells. What should he have instead? Should his natural Dex be bumped up to 20, or should it be left at 18?

If you're converting to PRPG, just leave that DEX at 20.


Turin the Mad wrote:
Shad0wdrag0n wrote:

This post contains sort-of mini spoilers for one of the main villains' stats. Nothing important, but I just thought I'd include the warning.

I don't know if I should ask this here or in the rules section, but, I noticed that Justice Ironbriar has the Cat's Grace spell. I'm pretty sure clerics don't get the Cat's Grace spell, and it's not one of his domain spells. What should he have instead? Should his natural Dex be bumped up to 20, or should it be left at 18?

If you're converting to PRPG, just leave that DEX at 20.

I am converting the campaign to Pathfinder actually, but Cat's Grace isn't available to clerics in 3.5 either, as far as I know. I have no idea why Ironbriar has it in the first place. Maybe a Bull's Strength spell would be a good replacement, considering how low Ironbriar's Str is, or maybe Owl's Wisdom.

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