A Pathfinder Roleplaying Game/3.5 Compatible Adventure for 4-6 PCs of levels 6-8.
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Sometimes it is the simplest of tasks which end up taking much more of time and energy than they should. When the party is asked by the local sage to collect some rare flora, it feels like relatively easy money; a journey into the woods they’ve traveled before, a conversation with someone they’ve met before and then on to gather the crop. The characters can hear the Thirsty Serpent tavern calling them after a brisk afternoon’s work.
But the PCs’ plans go awry when it turns out nothing is quite that straighforward. Deals have to be struck, foes defeated, anger and scorn dealt with and then the whole process gone through again. When there is duplicity at every turn and double-crossing is done with relish, the PCs have to keep their wits and weapons equally sharp. Dealing with someone who is prepared to cross the line between humiliation and harm at a moment’s notice is a tough challenge; this quickly becomes about much more than mere mushrooms!
Also included in "Alchemist's Errand":
Maps by 3x ENnie Award winning Cartographer Todd Gamble
New Monster: Tri-Tongued Horror
7 New Traps
1 High Resolution Battlemap
3 Full Screen Cave Maps filled with illustrations
New Magical Item: Jaamuuri's Amulet of Icy Defense
Product Availability
Fulfilled immediately.
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It all starts simply enough: the characters are approached in a tavern by the local sage who would like them to fetch a certain species of rare mushroom that he needs for some alchemical experiments. Reading the Introduction, however, lets you know that far more than a few toadstools await the characters! For a start, the quest will lead them into the Dark Wood, which regular visitors to Adventureaweek's campaign world know is a place unsafe after dark and even during daylight hours it is wise to stick to the path. Worse than that, some of the inhabitants are busy hatching a dastardly plot that will soon ensnare the characters...
The adventure involves a fair bit of travelling around and talking to various people, some of whom are more helpful than others. The GM is provided with ample 'read aloud' and background material at every turn - provided, that is, that the characters do what is expected of them. There's at least one place where a single intelligent question could save an awful lot of bother... yet if one of your players asks it, you will have to make up the answer as it is nowhere to be found.
After a fair bit of toing and froing, the characters are - if they continue to follow the plot - suckered into a fine climactic encounter series where their skill with traps, in particular, will be challenged. It all makes sense - if you know what is actually going on - and makes for a good 'crawl' episode even if you don't, as the characters will not, at least not at this point. There's a fine map of the complex, clearly annotated and supported by the text to help you run it all effectively.
As well as the usual hyperlinked support - accessing the D&D 3.x and Pathfinder SRDs, as well as the magnificent Adventureaweek.com website with campaign world support for subscribers - and full stat blocks for everybody (and creature) encountered, there's a rather nice magic item to be found, as well as players' maps of the final complex, that show them what is apparent without giving much away - a nice touch as it would prove quite hard to describe in places.
Overall it is another fun adventure, challenging and potentially frustrating, perhaps quite slow to start but the pace and action increase as it progresses...
[I think I'd award it four and a half stars if the system allowed, but hey, it's my birthday so I'll be generous and give it 5 :)]
This pdf is 41 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving 36 pages of content, so let's check this one out, shall we?
This is an adventure-review and as such, the following contains SPOILERS. I encourage potential players to skip to the conclusion.
Still here? All right! This adventures starts off rather simple: Yuri Statel, sage of Rybalka, needs some special kind of mushroom (perhaps for his drug cocktails?) and tasks the PCs with contacting famed devil-slayer and hermit Cual Beartooth (whom they might know from earlier adventures). The problem is - said hermit lives in the aptly-named Dark Wood, where perils abound. After being harassed by swarms of deadly creatures (like evil ravens, rats and even vampire spawn), they reach Cual, who promptly points them in the right direction. Overtly-ambitious PCs may also slay a certain Troll, who unfortunately also acts to keep the devils of Dark Wood in check - his demise will potentially have unpleasant consequences in future adventures, but that only as an additional piece of information.
Unfortunately for the PCs, the mushrooms have already been picked - fortunately for them, though, the perpetrator is a gnomish wizard who left a trail of crumbs leading to his ice-wall-sealed cave. Said gnome comes out at night and is willing to haggle with the PCs - for two sacks of food, craddleberries and gold. If the PCs acquiesce to the demands, he sends them off to the jagged crags, where the berries grow amidst thorns and near a tri-tongue monstrosity. Unfortunately, teh gnome's accomplice, a babau demon also tries to bully the PCs into giving up even more of their loot/pillage/kill them.
Once they return to the mischievous gnome, he sends them home with shrooms - unfortunately, though, the wrong ones. On their return to the gnome, the PCs are hopefully furious, especially once they realize that gnome and babau are accomplices - seemingly caught in the act, the two retreat into the cavern and it is here that the adventure turn to the more sadistic end - the gnome and demon retreat into a gauntlet of traps, and what traps! From a fake puzzlebox to a lake of oil that is ignited, a lake of sulfuric acid-laden water, a radioactive island set up like a beacon in a small subterranean lake, to zombie pits, ratswarms etc., the PCs are in for quite a ride! If they can defeat the two villains at the end of the gauntlet, they might also finally find the rare mushrooms they sought as well as a secret treasure hoard that contains a neat magical amulet, which also gets A LOT of background story in the back - be sure to check this out. It should also be mentioned, that the final battle comes with a battle-mat-style map of the cavern with its natural rock pillars.
The adventure ends with full stats for 3.5 and PFRPG-versions of the antagonists
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any jarring glitches or the like. Layout adheres to adventureaweek.com's two-column standard and this one comes fully bookmarked and with herolab-files. Special mention deserve, as always in adventureaweek.com-modules, the cartography: The dungeon is actually 3 pages of maps and we get *drums* PLAYER-FRIENDLY MAPS! Yes Key-less, letter-less, but unfortunately showing the secret passage. Oh well, but that's a step in the right direction! The battle-mat-style map for the final battle is nice and generally, while the plot per se starts like a simple fetch-quest, it turns nasty VERY quick. This feint is a neat idea to catch the PCs off guard and the dungeon is very well done. The hazards and environmental traps are clever, downright sadistic at times and make the whole experience really feel like running a deadly gauntlet. On the content-side, this is also one of adventureaweek.com's modules that offers quite a bit bang for buck - 36 pages is perfectly fine for the price-point. That being said, I really enjoyed this module and in the end will settle for a final verdict of 4 stars.
