"Tatterdemalion", written by David Schwartz, is part of an ongoing series set in the Great City. This is not a numbered adventure in a path, but instead, it concerns a mysterious event that will forever alter the Great City, setting the tone for future events. Throughout the year, 0one games will release a number of short adventures whose various plots are all somehow entwined with the event. Each will be a stand-alone adventure, designed to be played independently without a specific sequence and can be completed in a single evening’s play.
Since the event known as The Sinking, a general uneasiness descended upon the Great City, but that's no reason not to party!
The PCs attend a covert masquerade thrown by a troupe of thrill seeking young nobles. Matsoni Gimbros, the clique's ringleader, declares the party's theme to be The Sinking.
To complement his theme, Matsoni chose the perfect venue: an abandoned bathhouse on the edge of the sinkhole. Rumors that a ghost haunts the bathhouse only add to its allure.
Privileged, promiscuous young people in a haunted condemned building: what could possibly go wrong?
"Tatterdemalion" is an adventure for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game system for 4th-level player characters.
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There were some really good ideas in this module, but a lot of the content was confusing or lost to me because I don't own the Great City Player's Guide. Yes, the guttermage is statted up, but his motives are sort of lost on me. Is he some kind of urban druid? Why is this shrine so important to him? It was also not mentioned who Burlstaff was until the encounter, although he is alluded to in other areas earlier in the text. I also had no really clue what the dandymen do. I guess they're bodyguards for the nobles?
That said, this really is a good adventure. It doesn't have much of anything to do with the actual sinking, however. The location is just an abandoned bathhouse and can easily be used in any campaign. (Positive and negative for me.) I really liked all the hooks, all were plausible and appropriate. There is lots of opportunity for roleplaying with the nobles, with the potential for even more depending on the hook you used to get them there. These can be solved with diplomacy checks, if that's your style. The villain is not what it seems, which is a nice twist, and the "treasure" in the idol follows suit. Both pretty cool. There is a nice balance of combat as well.
The bathhouse is not the most interesting locale, as there is no more steam or water to complicate matters, but based on the price of the module, that's okay. Enterprising DMs can certainly add these features to be reactivated to aid heroes or enemies in combat.
All in all, recommended. The price is amazing and there are some neat twists and an excellent balance of social and swordplay.
This installment of "The Sinking" is 15 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page advertisement and 1 page back cover, leaving 9 pages of content.
This being an adventure review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players might wish to jump to the conclusion.
Righty right, the Great City-adventures have provided some of the most exciting fêtes I've encountered in any written modules and the latent sense of aristocratic decadence reminiscent of the fin-de-siècle is one of the components I personally have always enjoyed about the setting. This particular installment of "The Sinking" fully capitalizes on the idea, as the PCs are hired to make sure a party of some decadent nobles goes smoothly - said party is to take place in a bathhouse (fully mapped, btw.!) right at the edge of the sink-hole. To add more complications, the bathhouse was supposed to be haunted, which develops a nice basic tension.
The PCs will have to contend with quite a few complications during the party - an albino python concealed by its particular color, two hot-blooded young nobles almost coming to blows over a flirtatious lady, a brown mold infection that may claim the life of an attending guest and finally, once enough social and other complications have been sprung upon them, the climax of the adventure happens:
The ghost of the bathhouse appears! Only, there was never a ghost, but rather a trapped water elemental and a rather powerful guttermage called Burlstaff has taken up residence here and taken the gem containing the element as the center of his new shrine. The grumpy fellow doesn't necessarily want to hurt the attending crowd or the players and might make for a social resolution or a very tight battle once the PCs see through his ghost-bluff. Of course, the panicking crowd can get itself into quite some trouble and in the end, it's up to the Pcs to save the panicking youngsters.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting were actually quite good - while I noticed a minor glitch here and there, I didn't notice enough to rate this adventure down in and of itself. Layout adheres to the elegant b/w-2-column standard and the b/w-artworks and maps are top quality. The pdf is fully bookmarked. This particular scenario is rather interesting as it is rife with social complications and offers a nice twist on a rather creepy masque. The potential for the final encounter to be resolved without spilling too much undue blood is nice as well. I essentially have only one gripe - why not make the bathhouse be in danger of slipping over the edge/falling into the sinkhole? The angled bathhouse would have made for an exciting location and the natural disaster-component of "The Sinking" would have featured more prominently as well. Due to the minor glitches and said unrealized potential, I'll settle for a solid verdict of 4 stars for this very affordable, neat little scenario.
(based on 2 ratings)