Pathfinder Module: The Godsmouth Heresy (PFRPG)

4.00/5 (based on 22 ratings)
Pathfinder Module: The Godsmouth Heresy (PFRPG)
Show Description For:
Non-Mint

Add PDF $19.99

Print Edition Unavailable

Non-Mint Unavailable

Facebook Twitter Email

An urban and dungeon adventure for 1st-level characters.

Deep below the anarchic city of Kaer Maga, someone—or some thing—has begun stealing corpses from the city’s most prestigious tomb, the Godsmouth Ossuary. Fearing the worst, the clerics of Pharasma in charge of maintaining the crypts quietly call for aid, not wanting to risk their own members in combating whatever horrors may have crept in from the tunnels and hidden chambers of the legendary Undercity. Yet when the PCs venture below the closed-off sections of the crypt, what they find may be more than they bargained for. For beneath the infamous crypt lies a temple from an ancient empire devoted to sin, and a former Pharasmin cleric who’s weathered his goddess’s wrath to create an army of undead minions, their dead flesh standing ready to support his heretical plans.

The Godsmouth Heresy is an adventure for 1st-level characters, written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest RPG. It takes place beneath the cliff-top city of Kaer Maga, an ancient prison colony turned den of thieves and refugees, fully detailed in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: City of Strangers. In addition to the adventure, which features ancient tombs, horrifying sin magic, and a crazed alchemist, this module also contains statistics for the new rune guardian constructs and a map and overview of the Godsmouth Cathedral, the city’s primary temple devoted to the Lady of Graves. Though this adventure is set in the frontier region of Varisia in the Pathfinder campaign setting, it can easily be adapted for any game world.

Written by Rob McCreary

Pathfinder Modules are 32-page, high-quality, full-color, adventures using the Open Game License to work with both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the standard 3.5 fantasy RPG rules set. This Pathfinder Module includes new monsters, treasure, and a fully detailed bonus location that can be used as part of the adventure or in any other game!

ISBN 13: 978-1-60125-280-7

The Godsmouth Heresy is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Its Chronicle Sheet and additional rules for running this module are a free download (236 KB zip/PDF).

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

Archives of Nethys

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

Product Availability

PDF:

Fulfilled immediately.

Print Edition:

Unavailable

Non-Mint:

Unavailable

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.

PZO9528


See Also:

16 to 20 of 22 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | next > last >>

Average product rating:

4.00/5 (based on 22 ratings)

Sign in to create or edit a product review.

PFS

1/5

I have played this as part of PFS. I have neither GMed nor read this.

I almost died of boredom playing this. While I generally enjoy dungeon crawls this didn't cut it for me.

Also if you're attempting to play through this with 4 level 1 PFS characters it becomes very difficult towards the end as you're still playing at level 1 with only the stuff you started with + some junk found laying around.

Avoid at lvl 1 in PFS. Wait till level 2 and only play if you want to roll dice for 8 hours instead of interacting with cool NPCs.


Solid Thematically Cool Dungeon Crawl

5/5

I ran Godsmouth Heresy several months ago and really enjoyed it. It is an excellent 1st-level dungeon crawl that features an interesting array of challenges and opponents. In the most part, the encounters thematically fit with the dungeon and are of appropriate ELs.

While nominally set in Kaer Maga, the adventure is modular enough that it could be transplanted into almost any urban locale. For me, that’s a real bonus as I run my games in the World of Greyhawk.

What I particularly liked about the module was that it was quite easy to link it into the Riddle of the Runelords AP because of some of the dungeon’s features and themes. It could easily be used as a handy add-in or introduction to that AP.I also liked the nature of some of the “boss monsters” in that they were atypical. Putting aside the presence of an alchemist (it’s a flavour thing for me) the NPCs are interesting, engaging foes.

Artwork and presentation are, or course, up to Paizo’s normally high standards and so I’ll give this module five stars (even though it’s got an alchemist!)


Looks fantastic!

5/5

I have read this module and will be running in my PFS campaign. It is excellent well balanced and appear to be able to play much better than some of the season three scenarios.
I will add +1 to my fellow reviewers comments. An excellent start to any campaign based around Kaer Maga.
Addition March 2012
6 hours into the modules and the PCs love it! Playing it as a PFS scenario. Highly recommend it.


Very Enjoyable

5/5

First stand alone module ever purchased and ran it on the fly for my players with fresh level one characters.

Enjoyed the layout of the dungeon and I had no real complaints about the module. Tweaking of the main "bad guy" might be advised in order to prevent your party from absolutely steam rolling him. (which mine did) Plenty of additional plot hooks to take this setting and run with it. Highly recommend purchasing the City of Strangers book either before or after if you wish to continue with the Kaer Maga setting. However it is certainly not required to run this nor do you have to following the setting of Kaer Maga!

Very well done!


An excellent module that is a perfect way to start your Kaer Maga campaign!

5/5

Adventures written for 1st level characters can be tricky, especially dungeon crawls in a "contained" environment (such as the Godsmouth Ossuary). However, in my opinion the author pulls it off very nicely; it's a challenging adventure for 1st level characters, but rewards and monsters are well-balanced. And even though the PCs cannot “retreat” back to the surface, the author has taken it into consideration.

The author uses a lot of cool monsters and all of them have their motivations and place in the module; I especially love that he utilizes so many variants from 'Classic Horrors Revisited' (although he originally designed them, so it's no wonder ;)). Also, this adventure contains lots of juicy details (some of it relating to Thassilonian history and the Runelords), well-written and evocative descriptions and pretty innovative hazards/traps (some of which even aren't "real" traps). What’s even more important is that none of the encounters, traps or puzzles in the module are “showstoppers” – they shouldn’t grind your game to a halt. Experienced players may find a bit more treasure, but apart from that, even first-time players should be able to enjoy the adventure and have no problems with completing it.

The backstory may not be anything new, but it’s written so well that it should satisfy the needs of both seasoned and beginner GMs alike. The antagonists in this adventure are golden; without spoiling too much I’ll simply say that rarely have I seen such tragic and complex NPCs in published modules. My favorite is probably a run-of-the-mill guardian monster from the Bestiary, who’s "eager to taste the thrill of combat once again" after "millennia of boredom". Great stuff!

The only negative thing for me in this module was the map of the dungeon; it's quite boring for a dungeon, and it's way too symmetrical for my taste. But this is a minor issue for me; I often redraw or modify maps in published adventures anyway.

I can heartily recommend this module to all Pathfinder GMs, beginners and veterans alike. It’s probably my favorite low-level PF RPG module so far, and what's even better is that it’s written for Kaer Maga. Buy the excellent ‘City of Strangers’ along with this adventure, and you have the all the material you need to start a killer campaign!


16 to 20 of 22 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | next > last >>
51 to 78 of 78 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>
Sovereign Court

Asgetrion wrote:
Lots of really cool stuff.

YAY! Glad you liked it, and thanks for all the kind words. Like DM says, go make a review so more people can see it! :)

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Asgetrion wrote:
Dark_Mistress wrote:
Asg you should do a official review then. :)

Asg? ASG? Thou shalt refer to me by my full name, foul succubus! Or else I shall send my imp squad to steal all your underwear! ;P

(alright, alright, maybe I should do it... this adventure surely deserves more attention! ;))

That implies I wear any, you obviously have a lot to learn about succubi Asg.

Yes you should, now obey your mistress!


Dragnmoon wrote:


I have no life.. :(, my Wife will be out of town, so if I went out for a Party, I am sure she would not be happy ;)

Gamers have lives?

;)

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Lady Shrike wrote:
Dragnmoon wrote:


I have no life.. :(, my Wife will be out of town, so if I went out for a Party, I am sure she would not be happy ;)

Gamers have lives?

;)

My wife ended up being home, and made me go out...

Liberty's Edge

ziltmilt wrote:
Mr Baron wrote:
I just read through it tonight, and it is really good. I am hoping to see more modules take place in the dungeons of Kaer Maga.

Me too! Actually, Paizo should give serious thought to mega-dungeon products. Anyone remember the hardback of Necropolis by Gygax that was re-released for 3.0 about 7 - 8 years ago? A Paizo product available for subscription similar in scope to this would be really sweet. I wanna see a full-color adventure of 250+ pages whipped up Paizo-style. Give me your Moria, your Dragon Mountain, your Gygaxian Necropolis.

And, Kaer Maga would be a nice place to begin volume 1 of this new series. Please, Paizo ... take my money. I'm begging you!!!

+1

I cannot resist a good mega-dungeon!


I've been reading through this module and am really enjoying it!

I, too, hope that Paizo keeps expanding the dungeon levels to Kaer Maga! :)

As a fontoholic, I would love to know the name of the "blackletter" font used for the word "GODSMOUTH" on the cover (and as the "header" font throughout the module. It complements the "Treacherous" font that Paizo uses for Pathfinder very, very nicely!

Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

Scarab Sages

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Wanda V'orcus wrote:

I've been reading through this module and am really enjoying it!

I, too, hope that Paizo keeps expanding the dungeon levels to Kaer Maga! :)

As a fontoholic, I would love to know the name of the "blackletter" font used for the word "GODSMOUTH" on the cover (and as the "header" font throughout the module. It complements the "Treacherous" font that Paizo uses for Pathfinder very, very nicely!

Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

Hey, finally a post that I can reply to! The font used along with Treacherous is named Steel Magnolias (bad movie, great font). I'm glad you liked the treatment.

Dark Archive

Dark_Mistress wrote:
Asgetrion wrote:
Dark_Mistress wrote:
Asg you should do a official review then. :)

Asg? ASG? Thou shalt refer to me by my full name, foul succubus! Or else I shall send my imp squad to steal all your underwear! ;P

(alright, alright, maybe I should do it... this adventure surely deserves more attention! ;))

That implies I wear any, you obviously have a lot to learn about succubi Asg.

Yes you should, now obey your mistress!

HA! My willpower is legendary, even among the exalted paragons of our glorious nation -- thine foul compulsions won't wor... urgh... what in the Holy Name of Asmodeus... yes, mistress, yes!

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Asgetrion wrote:
Dark_Mistress wrote:
Asgetrion wrote:
Dark_Mistress wrote:
Asg you should do a official review then. :)

Asg? ASG? Thou shalt refer to me by my full name, foul succubus! Or else I shall send my imp squad to steal all your underwear! ;P

(alright, alright, maybe I should do it... this adventure surely deserves more attention! ;))

That implies I wear any, you obviously have a lot to learn about succubi Asg.

Yes you should, now obey your mistress!

HA! My willpower is legendary, even among the exalted paragons of our glorious nation -- thine foul compulsions won't wor... urgh... what in the Holy Name of Asmodeus... yes, mistress, yes!

Yes my pet, do as you are bidden to do.

*L* ok that was funny.


I started running this adventure for my main home group tonight as a kick-off for our new Pathfinder Society-based campaign, and it was awesome! Full of great world flavor, interesting dungeons, puzzles, and plot hooks. Some of these things are really throwing my players for a loop, and they're having great fun trying to work their way through.

Obviously, I've already read the whole thing through multiple times, but I'll hold out on writing a full review until we've made it through the module. It will certainly be a glowing one, that much I can assure. Thanks, Rob, for the great times!


Andrew Vallas wrote:
Hey, finally a post that I can reply to! The font used along with Treacherous is named Steel Magnolias (bad movie, great font). I'm glad you liked the treatment.

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the info, and the quick reply!

And whaddaya know, it's a font I happen to own already! :-D I thought it looked familiar...

Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

Sovereign Court

Joseph Wilson wrote:

I started running this adventure for my main home group tonight as a kick-off for our new Pathfinder Society-based campaign, and it was awesome! Full of great world flavor, interesting dungeons, puzzles, and plot hooks. Some of these things are really throwing my players for a loop, and they're having great fun trying to work their way through.

Obviously, I've already read the whole thing through multiple times, but I'll hold out on writing a full review until we've made it through the module. It will certainly be a glowing one, that much I can assure. Thanks, Rob, for the great times!

Thank you, Joseph. Glad you liked it. Can't wait to see your review!

Grand Lodge

My apologies if this has been asked already, but I didnt read through the thread yet.

Is there a certain point in the Golarion timeline in which this is suppose to be set? RotR is set for 4707 AR. Is this before or after that, or no set date?

Contributor

godsDMit wrote:

My apologies if this has been asked already, but I didnt read through the thread yet.

Is there a certain point in the Golarion timeline in which this is suppose to be set? RotR is set for 4707 AR. Is this before or after that, or no set date?

No set date! We specifically made it (and City of Strangers, the setting book for Kaer Maga) that way for maximum utility.


What's the estimated running time for this?


So, is there a reason why the Bracers of Armor +1 from this module cost twice as much for PFS members than other bracers +1?

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

TwoWolves wrote:


So, is there a reason why the Bracers of Armor +1 from this module cost twice as much for PFS members than other bracers +1?

Because that's an error. We'll get that fixed as soon as possible, likely after all the GenCon prep craziness is done with. In the meantime, you may purchase bracers of armor +1 from this Chronicle at the same price as they're listed in the Core Rulebook, 1,000 gp.


Hi

Can anyone tell me, how experience points a group of four players will earn after the complition of this module? Will they hit 2nd level?

Thanks

Lee

Sovereign Court

raven73 wrote:

Hi

Can anyone tell me, how experience points a group of four players will earn after the complition of this module? Will they hit 2nd level?

Thanks

Lee

Obviously, it depends on exactly how the PCs go through the adventure, and whether or not they hit all of the encounters. There should certainly be enough XP to get them to 2nd level using the Medium advancement track. If the PCs encounter absolutely EVERYTHING in the adventure, they should get enough XP to reach 3rd level, or close to it.


From looking at the map on the Ossuary, it seems like the Areas of 10, 30 and 29 are on a different elevation than Area 27. Am I looking at this wrong?

I noticed it while reading through the module the first time and I hoped that there would be some sort of explanation when reading the descriptions of those areas, but there's no mention of it. It reads like they are all on the same level.

If they are on different elevations, what have others done while running this to make up for that mistake?


Sorry, I didn't mean to sound nitpicky. The module looks awesome, and I plan on running it within the next couple of months. I also bought the City of Strangers. Both of them are great!

Sovereign Court

2 people marked this as a favorite.
hattymchappy wrote:

From looking at the map on the Ossuary, it seems like the Areas of 10, 30 and 29 are on a different elevation than Area 27. Am I looking at this wrong?

I noticed it while reading through the module the first time and I hoped that there would be some sort of explanation when reading the descriptions of those areas, but there's no mention of it. It reads like they are all on the same level.

If they are on different elevations, what have others done while running this to make up for that mistake?

Yes, there is a difference in elevation between area 10 and area 27 that was not shown on the map. Area 10 is at the same level as area 8 (-30 feet), and area 29 is at the same level as area 27 (0 feet). The best way to fix the elevation distance is to put in stairs going down behind the bone gate in area 29, so that the shaft in area 30 would be at the same elevation as area 10.

Glad you like the adventure!


Thanks a bunch. Now that's service, baby!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

For a friend I have created encounter maps that can be printed on letter paper.

Sovereign Court

Paper Minis for this module can be found here!


Forgive me, I am only about a third of the way through reading the adventure, so it's possible that these questions are answered later, but they are bugging me so I thought I'd ask:

Exactly what part of the ossuary have the cadavers been disappearing from? Were they fresh bodies or older? Are priests of Pharasma only present in the main ossuary part of the time? Has Svilennius been entering and exiting the main ossuary from the same door that seals off the lower level? How has he avoided detection?

Thanks!


zoewolverine wrote:

Forgive me, I am only about a third of the way through reading the adventure, so it's possible that these questions are answered later, but they are bugging me so I thought I'd ask:

Exactly what part of the ossuary have the cadavers been disappearing from? Were they fresh bodies or older? Are priests of Pharasma only present in the main ossuary part of the time? Has Svilennius been entering and exiting the main ossuary from the same door that seals off the lower level? How has he avoided detection?

Thanks!

From memory, there's a staircase from Svilennius' quarters that exits via a hidden door in a less travelled part of the Ossuary. I think he's just been lucky to avoid detection, but I can't remember if it's mentioned whether he takes fresh or historical cadavers though. I just remember having a blast running my group through this, and thought it was one of the best 1st level modules I'd come across.

Scarab Sages

Mark Moreland wrote:
TwoWolves wrote:


So, is there a reason why the Bracers of Armor +1 from this module cost twice as much for PFS members than other bracers +1?

Because that's an error. We'll get that fixed as soon as possible, likely after all the GenCon prep craziness is done with. In the meantime, you may purchase bracers of armor +1 from this Chronicle at the same price as they're listed in the Core Rulebook, 1,000 gp.

I have ran this module today for PFS, but this has not been fixed yet. It still reads as 2000 gp.

51 to 78 of 78 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Paizo / Product Discussion / Pathfinder Module: The Godsmouth Heresy (PFRPG) All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.