A dark urban horror adventure for 5th-level Pathfinder Roleplaying Game characters.
The strange city of Carrion Hill has long loomed over the surrounding swamps in eastern Ustalav, yet its rulers have shifted many times through the centuries. Often enough that only a few sinister scholars and curious minds know the true nature of the hill’s original inhabitants—vile and depraved cultists of the Old Gods. Yet this morning, a dreadful recrudescence rises from the depths of buried nightmare in the vaults below Carrion Hill. A monster stalks the twisted alleys of the city, spreading panic before it and leaving destruction in its wake. Can the Carrion Hill Horror be stopped?
Carrion Hill is an adventure for 5th-level characters, written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest RPG. The adventure features a mix of urban and dungeon sites, and draws its inspiration from the popular writings of H. P. Lovecraft.
This adventure is set in the sinister country of Ustalav in the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, but can easily be adapted for any game world.
Written by Richard Pett
Pathfinder Modules are 32-page, high-quality, full-color, adventures using the Open Game License to work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the standard 3.5 fantasy RPG rules set. This Pathfinder Module includes four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action, and full-color maps to enhance play.
I ran this for a group of PFS players running Level 4 pregens, and things . . . didn't go well. They TPK'd in the first encounter, which I think can be partially blamed on bad luck, partially on bad tactics, and partially on having PCs just a tad under the APL that the module expects. This review is based on running the module up to that point and on having read and prepared the rest of it. Despite how things went for my particular group, I genuinely like Carrion Hill. It's a very atmospheric module, the setting is interesting, and the antagonists are memorable. It's a fairly straightforward adventure to run, and won't overly tax GMs--but it's also not a simple dungeon crawl either. As for its Lovecraftian-inspiration, I would say: don't expect an RP- and investigation-heavy game like a true Call of Cthulhu RPG scenario. This is still Pathfinder, and while there is clear inspiration from the Cthulhu Mythos, the combat in this one comes fast and furious.
SPOILERS!:
Carrion Hill is set in the eponymous town, a location rich with history in the gothic nation of Ustalav. The plot is sparked by your classic "cultists summoning an eldritch horror from beyond", and, as these things are wont to happen, the horror breaks free and starts terrorising the town. In order to have any realistic chance of defeating the creature (a "Spawn of Yog-Sothoth"), the PCs must first weaken it by tracking down and killing the three surviving cultists who summoned it in the first place. In terms of structure, the scenario can be divided into six parts: the hook, the investigation, the three cultist hideouts (which can be done in any order), and the big battle at the end against the Spawn. There are a lot of references and inspiration drawn from the Cthulhu Mythos throughout the entire module, but I hope people who play this don't think true Call of Cthulhu RPG games are anything like it!
There's very little lead-up to the adventure hook; as written, the PCs are walking through the streets of Carrion Hill (for a reason determined by the GM; I liked the suggested one of seeing if Carrion Hill would be a good site for a Pathfinder Lodge) when they hear a town crier saying that the mayor needs heroes and is offering a reward. Once they arrive at the mayor's mansion, they're escorted in for some boxed text explaining that a series of attacks have occurred over the past few hours in Carrion Hill, all coming from below and destroying small buildings in the process. With his guards trying to contain the growing panic in the streets, the mayor offers financial incentive for the PCs to figure out what's going on and prevent further attacks. It's a pretty standard briefing, but it gets the job done and gets the PCs into the action quickly.
Investigating the mystery starts with the PCs being escorted to the site of the first attack, a shattered home covered in a strange black sludge and featuring signs of an enormous creature bursting its way free. The devastation and clues are described well (as is the omnipresent, gloomy rain), and the PCs will have no difficulty realizing that the creature emerged from a not-so-secret door leading into ancient crypts under the city. Following the stairs down, they'll soon reach the so-called Sunless Grove, an immense cavern of suitably Lovecraftian description, which is where the cultists originally summoned the Spawn. Right now, however, a ghoul is feasting on the corpses of a couple of cultists (who didn't survive the Spawn's appearance) while simultaneously reading a book (the famous Pnakotic Manuscripts) used in the ritual. The ghoul doesn't attack right away, and with a very high Diplomacy check and some bribery, the PCs can get the book without a fight. Combat is likely, however, and this was the encounter that unfortunately ended my run-through of Carrion Hill after just a couple of hours. Ghouls are always nastier than their CR would indicate because their ability to paralyze foes with any of their three attacks (on a full attack) means that one bad save can take a PC out of the fight. The ghoul here also has six levels in Rogue, so even if a GM doesn't go coup de grace crazy, sneak attack damage on paralyzed foes can add up quickly. I don't think it's an unfair fight for four PCs of levels 4-6 (especially because the players have time to prepare and talk over tactics and positioning), but it is certainly a challenging one for parties with low Fort saves or lacking elves. Anyway, assuming the PCs survive the encounter, they'll learn from the clues in the Sunless Grove that three cultists fled the scene of the summoning, and that the beast will be weakened if they're slain.
One of the cultists the PCs can track down is a necromancer named Rupman Myre, who runs a brick-making factory using zombie slave labor! The encounter takes place above and around vats of molten chemicals and contains a lot of different options for movement. At just four rooms, this is the shortest of the three "kill the cultists" section of the module. I like the little touches, such as how panicked Myre is about the Spawn as demonstrated by his actions and the dialogue he shouts.
A second cultist, Arlend Hyve, is a historian and alchemist (with seven levels of Rogue) who operates out of an abandoned temple to Aroden. Hyve keeps violet fungi in order to make poison, but I don't imagine he'd be too hard to beat. The violet fungi, on the other hand, could prove a surprise to over-confident PCs. Again, the setting descriptions here are really done well. This section is also fairly short.
By far the longest section about tracking down cultists is the one with Waldur Crove. Crove runs an asylum which is extensively detailed in the module: two floors and 39 labelled rooms! Even drawing it on flip-mats would be time-consuming. There's a lot for PCs to wade through in the asylum: dangerous lunatics, even more dangerous orderlies, morlocks, a pit with a monster that was original to this module (the Chaos Beast), and then the final battle against Crove (who has levels in Cleric and Wizard, with a focus on conjuring).
The Spawn of Yog-Sothoth attacks the PCs wherever they are when the third cultist is killed, meaning that the final encounter location could be in one of three places. This is certainly exciting and cinematic, and doubtless the players will be surprised and unprepared. The Spawn is a CR 10 creature and would run roughshod over most groups, but, if they've killed the cultists, it can have up to six negative levels and should be far more manageable. The module does a good job addressing various permutations of what the PCs could do during the adventure, and giving the GM advice accordingly.
I should mention that the artwork throughout this module is really good. The picture of the ghoul in the Sunless Grove (on p. 9) is perfect, and the various cultists and monsters have an appropriately creepy feel. The inside front- and back-covers are filled with maps, and they're clear and functional. The module comes with a two-page appendix describing Carrion Hill, and I was happy that there was enough to keep it from being a generic backdrop. The town has an extensive history, and I would like to see it used again for further adventures.
Despite my group's premature demise, I'd encourage you to give Carrion Hill a chance. It's a strong, self-contained, atmospheric scenario that has excellent descriptive writing and solid encounters.
I decided to run this module as part of the Halloween festivities. Over the course of two sessions spanning a total of 7 hours, I guided 5 players through what is probably one of the better modules Paizo has released. While it’s an old one, this module does a great job at creating a Lovecraftian atmosphere, filled with horror and impending doom. It makes me long for more Pathfinder content concerning the old gods, but I can understand copyright issues might throw a spanner in the works. It’s a pity though because this module shows why that mythos is so delightfully dreadful.
The storyline is simple: stop a monster by stopping some other people first. The fact that you can stop those three cultists in any order you like is a nice bonus, but even better is the fact that it also influences the final encounter. Depending on the group this can make a significant difference. I will say though that the three cultists are of varying difficulties. Two of them can really cause issues, while the third one is relatively harmless. Speaking of harmless: some of the encounters simply do not pose a threat either in terms of fighting capabilities.
The fact they do not pose a threat for our heroes doesn’t make their presence pointless however. They are flavourful additions to a scenario that keeps getting more eerie and sinister. They’re small building blocks that can be used to really create an atmosphere you hardly ever encounter in pathfinder. I hindsight I think I could have utilised their presence even better by adding some more descriptions in order to create an even better sense of immersion.
And I think that’s what best about this module: flavour. A group of players that really enjoys roleplaying and horror will enjoy this adventure a lot. The final encounter, and some of the things leading up to it, can make it a really scary fight as well. The players at my table all had scared when they saw what they had to deal with. The only downside to this scenario, I think, is one that others mentioned below as well: a bit more proper investigation would have made really put this module as the best out there. But even without that, I’d say the module is definitely up there and is well worth playing, preferably on a dark and rainy evening.
Warning: Review contains spoilers
Written from a GM's perspective
I ran this for 6 PCs
Carrion Hill is a module with a clear goal. It draws heavy inspiration from the works of H.P. Lovecraft in order to create a sinister mystery and an inevitable fight with an ancient horror. I would highly recommend it to any table looking for that type of game.
One of the strongest aspects of Carrion Hill is the mystery itself. Investigations can be difficult to pull off in RPGs, since you have to tread the line between revealing too much, too soon and frustrating your players with a lack of information. Carrion Hill did a great job of keeping the PCs constantly moving in the right direction, while not undermining the overall suspense of the final encounter. One of the main reasons this works so well is because of the monster itself. The descriptions of the carnage it leaves behind makes it genuinely frightening for a group of fourth level PCs and details like the noxious sludge it leaves behind and the blood drained corpses just add even more texture to the initial crime scene investigation. Most importantly, the creature does manage to be an appropriately difficult encounter, without becoming so powerful that it is unfair.
Overall, my game was able to run without an significant issues. However, I have heard some minor complaints about the module, that we didn't encounter, but I can understand. First is the difficulty level. A lot of the fights are on the weaker side as. The zombies are not much of a threat if you have them trip into the vats. Most of the asylum residents do not pose a threat to the PCs. Keeper Hyve is fairly weak as a mini-boss. For my table, this was not an issue for a few reasons. First, with a table size of six, I was already putting in the effort to beef up the encounter strength. But more importantly, I see Carrion Hill more as a role playing adventure than a combat one. The zombies and the asylum patients might not have been difficult encounters, but they certainly were memorable. On the flip side of the difficulty scale, I have heard a lot of people point to the the chaos beast as a potentially deadly encounter. My PCs ended up not fighting it, as they found a pretty direct route to the final area. However, I can definitely see why the Corporeal Instability power would be cause for concern. GM's who run this should definitely be careful with it.
Another complaint I have seen about Carrion Hill is that it doesn't inherently capture that Lovecraftian feel. However, I really think this one comes down to the GM. The module provides the brushes and the paint, but like with any other adventure, the GM has to use them to paint a picture. Before running the module, I listened to an audio book of the Dunwich Horror, the H.P. Lovecraft story that the author cites as a huge inspiration. From that, I got a feel for the type of descriptions that were expected. Generally, I am a big fan of quickly getting PCs to a point where they can participate, instead of bogging things down with descriptions. However, for this game, I really took the time to prepare a fairly long introduction that would make the setting feel inherently sinister, while not overtly evil. So, while it takes a bit of work on the GM's part to create the right feel, I personally believe that the module provides a strong framework to build upon.
Overall, I give this module full marks. Even if it takes a little work to get it right, the foundations that it is built upon are strong.
whelp, Carrion Hill is sortova gnarly name for a town and all....so, like the theory of Eric the Red naming the place "Greenland" instead of "Bleak windswept tundraland" so people would actually move there, the mayor has currently come up with a plan: he's recently fathered a little girl who he has named "Carrie Anna" and has decided to rename the town "Carrie Anna Hill," to encourage mercantilism from abroad, if not tourism, to clean up the town's image a bit.
Members of the Crows typically correct those who refer to "Carrie Anna Hill" as "Carrion Hill" regardless of the fact that they don't realize that, a mere one sentence agone by, they themselves referred to their city as "Carrion Hill." Old habits die hard, after all.
So... does anyone have something to say about this module? does it actually feel lovecraftian? is it a Carnival of Tears gore feast, or a Hangman's Noose macabre? just cause no one reviewd this yet...
Same here, Lord Snow. I'm pretty close to finalizing my holiday order, and I'd like to have my choice of this confirmed. The cover calls to me, insistently.
Har har! Nice play on the word 'keeper'! Yeah, it's a solid adventure with a well-written backstory, and the maps are *really* good -- not surprisingly, mr. Pett delivers once again! :)
There is something I noticed yesterday that bothers me:
Minor nitpick:
Namely that the stat block for the Chaos Beast still refers to claw attacks in several places; I know it was the same in 3E, but the illustation seems to indicate (and to be honest I've always felt it would have been a more "natural" fit for this monster) it uses tentacles and not claws. Was there any particular reason (other than backwards compatibility) why the Chaos Beast still uses claws instead of tentacles, especially as the new art seems to be missing them?
While the chaos beast has tentacles... it doesn't grab and grip with them. Note how in the illustration its tentacles are covered with spikes and teeth and stuff; THAT'S what it's using to attack. It's lashing and scratching with those.
And now that Pathfinder quantifies natural attacks as specific types, it's less elegant for us to list a monster's attack as, say, "toohy tentacle" or "slashing tendril" or something like that; if we did, we'd need to add a few lines of description to let you know what kind of damage the thing does and whether its normally a primary or secondary attack.
And of course, there's the fact that it's always tricky getting artists to ride the line between doing what you ask them to and letting them do what they want to do.
Also, tentacles are secondary attacks, which means the chaos beast would have -5 to all of its listed attacks. Claws are primary, it can use them without a -5 penalty. Also, its shape changes all the time, it's "claws" may be claws, jagged bony barbs, spiked heads, razor-blade covered tentacles (as James said), and so on... "claw" is just an approximation.
...is a spawn of Yog-Sothoth. The same bad guy who's the star of Lovecraft's story, "The Dunwich Horror." I know for a fact that there's been minis made of this monster by many different companies. I own one of them, but it's kind of a mess of a mini. Alas... I'm not sure who created it. Ral Partha maybe?
Curious about how much info there is on Ustalav in the adventure [notably the Hungry Mountains]?
The adventure's pretty tightly focused on Carrion Hill and its county; there's a LOT of info on those topics, as well as some info about Ustalav's ancient history, but nothing about the Hungry Mountains.
Curious about how much info there is on Ustalav in the adventure [notably the Hungry Mountains]?
The adventure's pretty tightly focused on Carrion Hill and its county; there's a LOT of info on those topics, as well as some info about Ustalav's ancient history, but nothing about the Hungry Mountains.
And that history about cults in the Carrion Hill region is written really well -- there's Lovecraftian feel to it (and not just because of the main adversary), and I found it to be very inspiring. :)
I already posted my comments about this module on this thread. In short, I really liked this module; the whole adventure and the background lore are well written, although the hook is pretty generic and "railroad-y" and I recommend tailoring the beginning of this adventure for your group (on the other hand, the hook(s) in published adventures *need* to be generic, so it wasn't surprising). The maps are *very* interesting and well-designed, in my opinion.
If you like Lovecraftian horror, you just can't pass this up. However, if you or your players absolutely hate his works, this adventure isn't for you.
Yes, I think it's another one of these paizo bravely taking chances with new stuff, it won't be for everyone but, if you love HP stuff like me, it may be right up your narrow alley filled with tentacled abominations.
I just have to say, after buying this, and reading it, I love this module! I love the Lovecraftian vibe from it, and I must find a group to run this for...although no one in my group has read Lovecraft :(
Toon? Wow, I'd forgotten about that one. ...what would it be like to catapult pies at The Great Race?
I have house-ruled the fact that Hideous Laughter is not magical at all...it is simply the natural reaction to seeing someone throw tiny tarts at you and then waving around a feather.
It came yesterday! I love that horrific cover even more in person.
** spoiler omitted **
Spoiler:
Although it's a while since I wrote this, I recall imagining not just a few cockroaches, or even lots, but carpets of them. There's a town somewhere I saw on TV that gets inundated with crabs once a year, that influenced it. I think the town may even have been in America. I'm sure some kindly soul out there on the boards knows the place I mean.
So just pick up handfuls of them and stop being scared. Gosh that place must smell bad. Huzzah!
It came yesterday! I love that horrific cover even more in person.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Spoiler:
I once saw some National Geo/nature photo show......a bat fell from his lofty perch in a cave; the poor fledermaus plummeted to the guano below, to be immediately rolled by a mob of cockroaches......guess they got sick of guano and wanted to try out the straightup carnivorous routine.
theirs is an ancient survival wisdom, like that of sharks. They've survived since before the dinosaurs. Since before the first mammallike reptiles.
they'll survive humankind's tenure as master of this ball.
And so, when the karma of their durability is mingled with brick, should not the building made from that brick last forever?
of the stuff did not reflect this karma. And let me just go out on a limb here and say your reflection proves the existence of evil karma. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
I've loved reading through this module the past week or so. Maybe I'll get to run it as a one shot for my daughter and her boyfriend during spring break.
This looks good and I think I'm going to run it next week. My only complaint is the lovecraftian misogyny; I don't think there's a single female in the whole module. I guess that might actually be a good thing.
I’m very impressed by this module, and am looking forward to run it as GM in two weeks or so. My only major concern is that my players are all fond of The Mythos on their own ways, so there might be some gap in liking this module’s way of interpreting The Mythos. But even this concern gears me up as a challenge. It should be a memorable session. Thank you, Mr. Pett.
A tiny question.
Spoiler:
In page 25, Keeper Crove’s data states he has dimensional steps(90ft/day). My understaning about wizard’s school power is that it is defined by wizard level, not by character level. Keeper Crove’s wizard level is 3(so 90ft/day, I believe) though his character level is 9(Conjurer3/Cleric3/Mystic Theurge3). Still he has dimensional steps, which is 8lvl Conjurer school power. I think dimensional steps is one of key elements in his escape plan, so if it’s a typo, I can give him a scroll of dimension door, and it’ OK about this module’s play. But I’m still on way of understanding PFRPG rules, so this topic matters me much. Sorry for nitpicking.
I’ve searched forums for PFRPG rules discussion threads, but couldn’t find any mentions about this problem. If anyone can shed light for me, thank you beforehand.
I had a wonderful time running this module several weeks ago, and more importantly my players loved. It was a one off for a friend and his son. This was their first PF anything, and the son's first non 4th ed event. The boy was totally hooked on the virtues of PF over 4th ed.
I had a wonderful time running this module several weeks ago, and more importantly my players loved. It was a one off for a friend and his son. This was their first PF anything, and the son's first non 4th ed event. The boy was totally hooked on the virtues of PF over 4th ed.
I’ve searched forums for PFRPG rules discussion threads, but couldn’t find any mentions about this problem. If anyone can shed light for me, thank you beforehand.
I'm pretty sure you're right. And I'm pretty sure that error stems from how my stat block spreadsheet handled the mystic theurge prestige class at the time (i.e., a kludge). Basically, if the user manually changed his caster level on the wizard and cleric tabs, all derived values (like school powers) come from that modified value. That has since been fixed (the actual level and the effective caster level are tracked separately).
I’ve searched forums for PFRPG rules discussion threads, but couldn’t find any mentions about this problem. If anyone can shed light for me, thank you beforehand.
I'm pretty sure you're right. And I'm pretty sure that error stems from how my stat block spreadsheet handled the mystic theurge prestige class at the time (i.e., a kludge). Basically, if the user manually changed his caster level on the wizard and cleric tabs, all derived values (like school powers) come from that modified value. That has since been fixed (the actual level and the effective caster level are tracked separately).
Thank you for your reply. And it's a great module, again.
There's a town somewhere I saw on TV that gets inundated with crabs once a year, that influenced it. I think the town may even have been in America. I'm sure some kindly soul out there on the boards knows the place I mean.
That'll be the red crab migration on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
Creative Director
