Pathfinder Adventure Path #51: The Hungry Storm (Jade Regent 3 of 6) (PFRPG)

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Pathfinder Adventure Path #51: The Hungry Storm (Jade Regent 3 of 6) (PFRPG)
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Through Ice and Fire

Chapter 3: "The Hungry Storm"
by Jason Nelson

Though few would call the Crown of the World hospitable, the PCs have no choice but to brave this icy frontier if they are to get Ameiko to Minkai. As they battle their way past the fell beasts that inhabit the arctic wasteland, the heroes must unravel the mystery of the supernatural blizzards that have been plaguing the polar icecap, ultimately confronting the dark and otherworldly force behind the treacherous gales. Will the adventurers survive the terrors of the Crown of the World long enough to remedy the curse that haunts it? Or will they succumb to the icy wastes, as have so many before them?

This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:

  • "The Hungry Storm," a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 7th-level characters, by Jason Nelson.
  • A look at the perils and hazards of the treacherous Crown of the World, by Jason Nelson.
  • An exploration of Oda’s seedier side in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Dave Gross.
  • Four new monsters, by Jesse Benner, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, and Tork Shaw.

Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.

ISBN–13: 978-1-60125-374-3

The Hungry Storm is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure Path and Chronicle sheet are available as a free download (532 KB zip/PDF).

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

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An Interesting Side-Quest, But a Side-Quest Nonetheless

3/5

I thought there were a lot of cool parts of this AP, but it's hurt by a lack of connection to the overall plot of Jade Regent, and by caravan mechanics that don't work well without modification.

First, the good. The setting and overall vibes of this volume are very cool. The idea of doing a north pole expedition using the Jade Regent caravan is a good concept. You really feel the isolation, desolation, and danger of the northern climate. The caravan rules work well here in one regard: they provide an alternative to the Extreme Cold rules that is more fun, while still retaining how dangerous it is to travel in this landscape. In fact, I thought a lot of the caravan encounters were very interesting. Of course, the caravan encounters will wreck the caravan as written, but there are a few ways to modify the caravan encounter rules in the Jade Regent forums that actually makes caravan encounters quite fun, rather than an unbalanced mess.

The scenarios as written are interesting as well. The isolation of the setting makes the encounters feel more dangerous: there's nowhere to go to rest and resupply if things turn sour, and the encounters play this up in an interesting way. Some of the boss fights were quite fun as well; I enjoy when encounters have a gimmick to them, and a couple of the boss fights in this book have interesting gimmicks.

However, the module does feel like filler from a narrative perspective. The enemies have nothing to do with the plot of Jade Regent. This may or may not bother you: after all, there's nothing that says that every situation has to tie into the main plot, and there's nothing wrong with sidequests. But a whole module that takes months to play is a long time to go without any reference to the larger AP plot as a whole. I ended up rewriting a lot of the major plot points in the AP to link it more closely to the JR plot as a whole. Without that work, I don't think the module would have landed as well as it did with my group.

As a whole, I and my group really enjoyed this module. However, it required a lot of modifications. First, use alternate caravan combat rules: even giving every PC a turn to do a caravan combat action is likely enough to fix the combat system. Also, don't just roll for the caravan encounters. There are a couple of very neat ones, so make sure you play through them because they really are cool. If you do that, I think the caravan combats are a lot of fun. Secondly, a GM might need to think about how they can link the enemies in this module to the larger plot of the Jade Regent adventure path. In all, I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could, but as it happens I think it requires too much work on the GM's part to give this one 4 stars.


Very atmospheric arctic sandbox adventure!

4/5

GOOD:
A great article on the arctic region of Golarion with cool maps.
Very memorable locations like a strange tower near the North Pole or a seemingly empty village in the wilderness.
Great boss fights.

BAD:
Don´t use the Caravan rules - it will get destroyed.

UGLY: You have to choose between 2 options of where to go occassionally and will never see the other location.

This is a great adventure if you like arctic settings like "30 days of night" or "John Carpenter´s The Thing". It requires a GM that can work with the deadly sub-zero atmosphere and invoke a mood of lonlyness and "something is out there in the snowstorm".


Has its problems, but also has its moments

3/5

So after running this module I agreed with many of the complaints on it I had seen before. However, after some time to reflect on The Hungry Storm, I find myself recalling it more fondly than I had expected. There are some very good moments in this book, though there are also some not insignificant problems.

First off, everything you've read about the caravan rules not working in this book are true. They just flat out do not, and the caravan will get rocked if you try to run as written. Thankfully, there are a lot of variant rules on the forums, and working with those I found it to be not so bad. Still, minus points on this since the caravan is a huge part of this book. A huge part should work, but alas.

Despite the caravan problems, there are many cool and unique encounters in this book. The boss fights are very challenging and memorable, and the book really packs on the atmosphere if you let it. One complaint I've read is that this book doesn't tie in with the main story, and I think that's just fine. The main enemies of Jade Regent are a large organization, but not so large as to have minions stationed on 3 continents. It makes sense that they'd leave the desolate arctic wasteland alone.

The article about the Crown is very well done, worth it if you want to run an arctic adventure. Lots of useful gear lists and adventure hooks.

Overall, I'd give this 3 and a half stars, but since I cannot I will go with just a 3. If the caravan worked as intended I would make it a 4. The GM is going to have to do some legwork, but one can make a pretty solid adventure out of the framework here. I would recommend including Under Frozen Stars and The Baleful Coven as add-ons (they're from Legendary Games), as both enhance the book in their own ways.




Good but needs tweaking

3/5

First the Good:

1. A detailed overview of the arctic regions, compelling encounters (both combat and rp).

2. An interesting villain and arc to the journey.

3. Makes good use of the arctic setting

Constructives:

1. I do not recommend running this is as. I made many adjustments as I went along to fit the party and garner player interest.
2. The villain is unrelated to the bigger plot. I made her one of the Amatatsu who died on the journey and is now an angry spirit being used by Sithud.
2. Handwave the length of the journey (give a description of the hardships but wouldn't recommend grinding this journey out any further)
3. A lot should be cut out (as long as your handwaving xp points) so as not to drag.

Overall, my group enjoyed this trek. I would recommend cribbing from Under Frozen Stars if you want to add a dosage of SF to the adventure.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Ashanderai wrote:
Umm... nope. I just re-downloaded it and I still get two yetis and two dragons.

Same here, I already had the "It's updated!" mail in my in-box, too.

As for the module:
The artwork is once again of very high quality at first glance. The adventure itself seems quite well done. There seem to be a ton of combat encounters, but enough roleplaying opportunities with the people the group meets on the journey. The bestiary and rules for travel in the icy climate seem to be extensive. I'll only really read them when I get my dead trees version, though, it's only my first glance.

However, once again the important NPC's are only very little in the adventure. I've resigned myself to coming up with my own stuff for them, but I think the bare minimum of telling GM's "What are those guys up to when the PC's go adventuring?" should still be in the module, so that we don't have to make ridiculous excuses everytime. I guess "They protect the caravan" makes for an all-around good explanation this time around, since there seems to be a huge potential for hostile encounters.

But at the very least Brinewall Legacy gave the NPC's a good reason to not accompany the PC's, Night of Frozen Shadows failed on that account, while this module does give no explanations but its inherently easier to give a good motivation for the NPC's inaction ( and, hey, one can always have the PC's return to a caravan surrounded by monster corpses ).

At least Ameiko doesn't get kidnapped in this module again... although it is written in as a story possibility. :p


All in all, a very good module at first glance. More detailed thoughts will have to wait until my hardcopy arrives.


Ashanderai wrote:
Umm... nope. I just re-downloaded it and I still get two yetis and two dragons.

We just poked stuff on our end a bit. If you try to download, it should be remedied. My apologies for the inconvenience.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Chris Lambertz wrote:
Ashanderai wrote:
Umm... nope. I just re-downloaded it and I still get two yetis and two dragons.
We just poked stuff on our end a bit. If you try to download, it should be remedied. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Okay, it works now.


I just skimmed the adventure and it seems to be everything that I was hoping for. Lots of outdoor encounters, interesting locations, some dungeons (but not too many), and very fine roleplaying opportunities. I think it captures the feel of an epic journey and incorporates the caravan rules better than the - excellent! - first two installments.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I like this.

I like this very much. In fact, the previous adventure was a letdown - not because it was a poor module (G.A.V. knows his craft), but it didn't gel at all with the "road movie" vibe I was supposed to feel from the AP.

This one hits it on the head. I'm feeling good as I read it and I can close my eyes and imagine how the adventure rolls, a sign of solid work done. Good job, Mr. Nelson!

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

I added a spoiler tag.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Gorbacz wrote:

I like this.

I like this very much. In fact, the previous adventure was a letdown - not because it was a poor module (G.A.V. knows his craft), but it didn't gel at all with the "road movie" vibe I was supposed to feel from the AP.

This one hits it on the head. I'm feeling good as I read it and I can close my eyes and imagine how the adventure rolls, a sign of solid work done. Good job, Mr. Nelson!

Yeah, it's very good that the actual journey part is emphasized at last.

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut

magnuskn wrote:
Yeah, it's very good that the actual journey part is emphasized at last.

Keep in mind, from a storytelling standpoint, this is the part of the campaign where you really want to emphasize the journey aspects of the caravan. Up until this point, the PCs have been traveling through known parts of Avistan (i.e., Varisia and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings). While, they might not have spent any amount of time among the viking-inspired cultures of the northlands, it's likely their heroes have at least heard about it. But, once they get out on the ice and start that journey across the Crown of the World, it...gets...real. There's no lifeline after that. The caravan is (and should become) their life. It's the only friendly people they're going to find for a long, long time. So, it's the right moment (in the overarching plot) to play up the relationship building with the NPCs, the hardships of such a trip, and the episodic encounters along the way. I really like how this one turned out. Jason did a great job (as always).


Gorbacz wrote:
F5, F5, F5, F5, FHEY, IT WORKED!

Sadly, My F5 key does not work as well as yours. I remain Hungry for this paticular Storm.

Hopefully soon. ;)


Dark_Mistress wrote:
Jason Nelson wrote:

Oh, and by the way, page 27 just might make you [bleep] your pants - it is that scary if you are one of the hapless PCs in the picture. :)

Good times!

I guess with all the blood in the picture that Lem WAS in the picture. :)

Slander and shenanigans!


I'm very happy to see the qallupilluk made it in. This is my favoite Inuit monster, and one I remember from my childhood. For those of you who want more on this fantastic monster, check out "A Promise is a Promise" by Robert Munsch, a Canadian children's author. This is a cautionary tale warning children to stay off thin ice, as the monster lures them to their deaths. The qallupilluk is a female with fishbones in her hair, as I recall, and I prefer the artwork to a fishheaded version. When you are done, read "Something Good", because "A Promise is a Promise" is actually a horror story for children. "Something Good" is a lot lighter and quite funny.

For those of you who would like to hear the Inuit language, Inuktitut, Susan Algukark is a well-known Canadian Inuit artist who has produced many albums. For a different take on something many of you know, she sings "Amazing Grace" in this language. Also, the film "Atanarjuat" or "The Fast Runner" is in Inuktitut and subtitled in English. It may be a little difficult to find, as it would be considered a foreign film. This film does have nudity and mature themes, so consider yourselves warned.

Be careful on the rotten ice, lest the qallupilluk drag you under!

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Chris Lambertz wrote:
Ashanderai wrote:
Umm... nope. I just re-downloaded it and I still get two yetis and two dragons.
We just poked stuff on our end a bit. If you try to download, it should be remedied. My apologies for the inconvenience.

I re-downloaded, and noticed an error on the interactive maps. This should be vague enough not to need a spoiler: It seems someone misread the fancy lettering in the map and came up with "UQTAAT" in the red interactive heading.


logic_poet wrote:
I re-downloaded, and noticed an error on the interactive maps. This should be vague enough not to need a spoiler: It seems someone misread the fancy lettering in the map and came up with "UQTAAT" in the red interactive heading.

I'll take a look at it. The single file PDFs also need to be checked out. There will be an e-mail sent out when these problems are fixed :)


I am only about halfway through this adventure, and i really don't like how intensive it is with the caravan rules from the players guide. Most of the people i have ever played with would not agree with the use of the caravan rules as is. It seems to take away from the PC's abilities and puts the caravan up as an entity in and of itself. If a PC is observant and able to detect something,such as an avalanche, why should it be necessary to make some kind of caravan security roll? Even if i did like the caravan rules, I really don't like the adventure using them so heavy when the caravan rules are not even presented in the adventure path. To even understand what the adventure is referring to you have to get a PDF, which i dislike. Personally i wish Paizo would go back to publishing the players guides in print form so i would not need to deal with annoying PDF's.

Dataphiles

Just wanted to chime in and say that having lived in the real-world equivalent of the Crown of the World's Outer Rim for much of my life, the warm soul-glow from dreams of being able to subject poor unsuspecting players to harsh Arctic perils may be the best thing to stave off the cold this winter.

Kudos on the sharp, sharp work translating both the culture of my Inuit neighbours, and the stark beauty found in adventuring across my home into Golarion!


I'm disappointed that the Snowcaster elves weren't talked about at all. Looking for information on them, I would look in two places: here and in the Inner Sea World Guide. I would find the briefest mention in both places.


I just have a short question regarding the Yetis in the Uqtaal Necropolis in this adventure.
Am I missing something or are the yetis trapped in the necropolis by the two permanent antilife shells in areas S2 and S10 a? How did they get into area s16 from the yeti caves? Better, how did the get into the caves in the first place?

Sovereign Court

RFGumby wrote:

I just have a short question regarding the Yetis in the Uqtaal Necropolis in this adventure.

Am I missing something or are the yetis trapped in the necropolis by the two permanent antilife shells in areas S2 and S10 a? How did they get into area s16 from the yeti caves? Better, how did the get into the caves in the first place?

It's in the description for area S2:

Spoiler:
"The yetis normally avoid this area, but when needed, they climb the walls of the crevasse and along the walls of the cavern to bypass the bridge..."

They bypass the antilife shell at area S10a by going through their caves into area S16, or into the catacombs through the tunnel at area S10b.


It's in the description for area S2:
** spoiler omitted **

Thank you! That part I have overlooked.

But, I see no direct connection between S16 and the yeti caves, or are these two small alcoves/recesses behind the crevasse in the north of S16 openings to the caves?


For Paizo's future reference-- I did not buy JE 1 or 2, but I went out of my way to purchase JE 3. The gazeteer was great and I love how you are adding 2 pages of extra content now that the Sample Characters are gone from the back of the books. The inclusion of the gazeteer is why I purchased this edition of the series--it's high quality with a lot of ideas like the Iobarian gazeteer in Kingmaker #3.

Sovereign Court

RFGumby wrote:


Thank you! That part I have overlooked.

But, I see no direct connection between S16 and the yeti caves, or are these two small alcoves/recesses behind the crevasse in the north of S16 openings to the caves?

Yes, those are cave entrances from S16 into areas S12 and S15. Imagine the "alcoves" as cave mouths — unfortunately, the way they were drawn on the map is not as clear as it could be.


Rob McCreary wrote:


Yes, those are cave entrances from S16 into areas S12 and S15. Imagine the "alcoves" as cave mouths — unfortunately, the way they were drawn on the map is not as clear as it could be.

Thank You, then everything is clear!

Scarab Sages Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games

Rob McCreary wrote:
RFGumby wrote:


Thank you! That part I have overlooked.

But, I see no direct connection between S16 and the yeti caves, or are these two small alcoves/recesses behind the crevasse in the north of S16 openings to the caves?

Yes, those are cave entrances from S16 into areas S12 and S15. Imagine the "alcoves" as cave mouths — unfortunately, the way they were drawn on the map is not as clear as it could be.

I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, but there was at least one spot marked on my turnover map as being essentially a "chimney" that led up out of the caves into the mountains, so the yeti could come and go in that direction and not worry about the rest of the dungeon, to answer the "how did they get there" question.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Jason Nelson wrote:
Rob McCreary wrote:
RFGumby wrote:


Thank you! That part I have overlooked.

But, I see no direct connection between S16 and the yeti caves, or are these two small alcoves/recesses behind the crevasse in the north of S16 openings to the caves?

Yes, those are cave entrances from S16 into areas S12 and S15. Imagine the "alcoves" as cave mouths — unfortunately, the way they were drawn on the map is not as clear as it could be.
I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, but there was at least one spot marked on my turnover map as being essentially a "chimney" that led up out of the caves into the mountains, so the yeti could come and go in that direction and not worry about the rest of the dungeon, to answer the "how did they get there" question.

You know... between these posts about Chimnies and cities and elves at the Crown of the World, I am starting to wonder if the snow elves might have a special relationship with a large merchant in a red suit who runs a caravan a sleighs through the pass up there...

A certain someone in the adventure wouldn't happen to have a sister that really likes the heat, would she? ;)


I really really love these books, keep them coming! The pictures are beautiful and I love how you sometimes throw in some Tome of Horror creatures and always give them an awesome picture, like the Stegocentipede and Sand Kraken pictures i've seen. Keep on doing that, while D&D mostly uses the same creatures in their adventures over and OVER again you guys always seem to randomize the encouters very differently!

Keep on the good work, and if I can make a wish, I wish for a quest (for a future water based adventure) that involves the Charybdis, because the Charybdis needs some love, you made such a good artwork for the creature in Bestiary 2 but now it needs an even cooler story/quest in one of these adventure books of course with cool battle-picture of the charybdis in it!

I can always dream can I? ;)

And i'm talking about all adventure books, not only about Jade Regent! (which is awesome aswel! Really enjoyed them, especially the one with the Selkie in it!


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Cool adventure, in an interesting and new locale. I'm not sure I get the two ultra-negative reviews as the AP is billed as a road-trip, so I'm not sure how you can pan it for being what it is.

btw, who did the art in the Crown of the World article? Whomever that is, throw money at them and keep using them, because those pieces are AMAZING!!!

Scarab Sages

My pc's HATE the caravan stuff. Its boring. One person gets to roll attacks and security for the caravan and everyone else sits around bored. I nixed it because people loved the NPC's ( a lot of liberties were taken with their personalities because they got shunted aside developmentwise in this book) and the rp/battles but the travel sequence was awful.

Dark Archive

Elorebaen wrote:
btw, who did the art in the Crown of the World article? Whomever that is, throw money at them and keep using them, because those pieces are AMAZING!!!

Agreed on the quality of the artwork. I'm fairly certain Tyler Jacobson did the artwork but not 100%.


So, I'm a diplomacy based Ronin samurai in this adventure, and my first edict is that I must try Diplomacy first at all times.

We reached a part where we've encountered a particular group of enemies in a particular cave system that we interrogated, and got to take us to their leader to have a conversation.

There's no way, in the way the map is laid out, for them to get to their leader without taking down all of their defenses.

what do?

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