The Pathfinder Online MMO will put YOU in command of your very own kingdom in the treacherous River Kingdoms of the Pathfinder world. Get an early start on conquest with Pathfinder Online: Thornkeep, a complete gazetteer of one of the upcoming game’s starting towns and the deadly dungeons that sprawl beneath it!
A co-production of video game developers Goblinworks and Paizo Publishing, this fully illustrated adventure sourcebook slots easily into any Pathfinder RPG campaign, and provides a tantalizing glimpse at the early production of the Pathfinder Online MMO, with behind-the-scenes accounts, sneak peeks at characters and environment images, and new details about the upcoming game.
This 96-page book also includes complete original dungeon levels designed by a who’s-who of adventure design: Richard Baker, Jason Bulmahn, Ed Greenwood, James Jacobs, and Erik Mona! With enough gaming material to advance a character from 1st to 8th level, Thornkeep brings the action and excitement of the Pathfinder Online MMO to your tabletop!
Thornkeep contains the following complete dungeon levels:
The Accursed Halls (by veteran RPG designer Richard Baker): Buried beneath the castle of Thornkeep lie strange passages and chambers that once belonged to a cruel Azlanti wizard of eons past. Goblins have begun excavating the so-called Accursed Halls in hopes of finding a lost goblin artifact, though their constant battles with the undead that haunt these corridors has left them blind to the dungeon’s other myriad wonders.
The Forgotten Laboratory (by Pathfinder RPG Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn): The goblins of the dungeon's upper level took more than one trinket from the ancient laboratory that dwells beneath them. The wizard that created these items also performed dangerous experiments, many of which have gone out of control over the years. Stranger still, someone appears to be using the ancient equipment with sinister results.
The Enigma Vaults (by Paizo Creative Director James Jacobs): In ages past, the mad wizard who dwelt in these halls collected many strange items in his travels—and the strangest of those he put on display here, in a museum-like complex he called the Enigma Vaults. When a group of thieves made their way into the vaults in hopes of a huge payday, they released something far beyond their capacity to control, and now they serve as the thralls of a sinister influence from a dark and distant world.
Sanctum of a Lost Age (by Paizo Publisher Erik Mona): Scholars claim the dungeons below Thornkeep were built by the Ancient Azlanti, but how do they know, really? If Rozimus of Tymon speaks true, one level of Thornkeep’s dungeon holds survivors of that long-dead empire eager to return to the world and share the lore of their glorious age. They’re not undead, Rozimus claims, or illusory phantoms, but true living and breathing High Azlanti! But why does Rozimus know so much about them, and why is he so eager to return to the dungeon he claims almost killed him 5 years ago?
Dark Menagerie (by RPG legend Ed Greenwood): In life, the wizard who ruled this realm kept many trophies, mementos, and even captured pets from his journeys, both to entertain his dark sensibilities and to cow his business associates and coerced allies. Now, kept alive all these years via stasis-inducing magic that's recently failed, the unfettered beasts of his magical menagerie run amok.
Ah, Thornkeep! I think many who experience it will have a love-hate relationship with it. On the plus side, there’s a great town ripe for exploitation by homebrew GMs who need a perfect place to launch a sandbox campaign. In addition, the five dungeon levels within can be raced through in PFS for a full 3 XP each! On the down side, those dungeon levels are of such inconsistent and often unfair difficulty that sudden PC deaths and even TPKs have become notorious. I’ve run all five dungeon levels, and I can testify they can be a group-destroyer!
Thornkeep is a 96-page book that includes a full gazetteer of the eponymous town and the surrounding area, a full description of each of the five dungeon levels under the town, and then a lengthy discussion of plans for an online Pathfinder game. The artwork within is great, and there are some nice maps. It’s worth mentioning that there are several associated products: flip-mats that make running four of the dungeon levels much easier, a novel (Crusader Road) that fleshes out a lot of the setting and NPCs, and even a granite plaque that reproduces the cover art.
The book starts with a two-page introduction from Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens that explains its origins as a Kickstarter incentive. The Kickstarter was to raise funds for Pathfinder Online, a massively multiplayer online RPG. The town of Thornkeep was designed as one of the three starting locations in the game, and this book and its expanded content was the result of several Kickstarter stretch goals being met. There's a sidebar that provides an overview of the five levels of the dungeons under the town, including suggested level ranges. The sidebar explains that because each was written by a different author, "all five dungeons have vastly different aesthetics, inhabitants, and dangers." That's an understatement!
The first major part of the book is an 18 page gazetteer of Thornkeep. Thornkeep is a small town--just 600 residents--but it definitely doesn't have "small town charm"! Instead, it's a dangerous place used by bandits and gangs of thieves. Locals protect themselves by hiring protection from mercenaries, as the town's current ruler doesn't particularly care what happens in the town. Nonetheless, it's not a completely chaotic "pirate's den" type of environment, as some order is provided by the multiple factions in the town. These take the form of guilds--a mercenary guild, a hunter's guild, a wizard's guild, and a thieves' guild. I'm guessing this design has something to do with the online game, and that the players could have their characters join a guild for advancement.
Thornkeep has an interesting backstory and there's plenty of flavourful fodder for role-playing in the description provided here. There's a full map of the town and a description of 38(!) locations within, many of which have little adventure hooks. I assume today most readers just gloss over this and head to the dungeon levels, but I'm really impressed by the detail in this section. It provides a good, classic overview of a group's "home base." It'd be a perfect location for an open-ended sandbox campaign, and a believable base for a group of PCs to start becoming major players in the River Kingdom. I used as much of it as I could even when running the dungeon levels in PFS, as the locations and NPCs provided make for some good role-playing and keep those sessions from being pure dungeon-crawling.
The next part of the book provides detail on Echo Wood, the larger area in which the town of Thornkeep is located. Although the section is only eight pages long, there are several great locations for adventures, though a GM would need to flesh them out from the brief descriptions provided. For example, there's Mosswater, an entire town overrun by merrows decades ago--who knows what treasures the fleeing residents left behind? Echo Wood also contains the Emerald Spire, but that's a whole other topic! There's a brief random encounter table that could have used expansion (and it suffers from the common problem of threats ranging all the way from CR1 to CR8, which means it'd be a potential TPK generator if a GM really rolled randomly on it). But all in all, this chapter's a good complement to the chapter on the town, and adds to the book's usefulness in setting up a classic, open-ended sandbox campaign.
The next five chapters of the book are eight pages in length each and devoted to the five dungeon levels under Thornkeep. As a sidebar in the Echo Wood chapter explains, each dungeon level is designed for PCs of different levels, and there's probably not enough XP in one level to get the PCs ready for the next. Thus, side quests will be necessary, and it'd be a really bad idea for a group to try to tackle the levels one after another without doing some adventuring elsewhere. I only ran the dungeon levels via PFS, where this wasn't a problem (apart from some awkwardness in making it clear that certain staircases were effectively off-limits), but in a regular campaign the GM may need to do some fancy footwork to keep groups from exploring areas they're just not ready for. As I mentioned above, each of the five levels is written by a different author, and even for PCs within the appropriate level ranges for them, the challenge levels vary dramatically. What they do share is a unified backstory about an ancient Azlanti wizard named Nhur Athemon who was exiled from his homeland and came to the Echo Wood to build a complex for his research and experiments. The gazetteer sections of the book do a decent job providing some lore and adventure hooks to get PCs into the first level of the dungeon, and there's a little bit of connection between the dungeon levels themselves, though for the most part they're pretty independent. Before moving onto each of the levels, I'll just note that the Thornkeep Flip-Mats cover the second, third, fourth and fifth levels, but a GM will have to draw their own map for level one (and it's not an easy one to draw).
SPOILERS BELOW
Level One is "The Accursed Halls", written by Richard Baker, and designed for 1st-level PCs. Frankly, I don't think it's a great start. Apart from the sprawling and confusing map, there's a video-game style requirement to obtain seven crystals of different colors scattered throughout the dungeon in order to open the door to the next one. PCs can easily be lulled in to a sense of complacency through multiple fights against goblins and the like, before suddenly being hit with some genuinely unfair encounters against wights, a shadow, and surprisingly nasty fungal crawlers. If you read the forums, there are a *lot* of complaints about this level and the number of PC deaths, and I can testify that when I ran it, there was the same result. A group of six min-maxed PCs might be fine, but a group of four average PCs should expect casualties.
Level Two is "The Forgotten Laboratory", written by Jason Buhlman, and designed for 2nd or 3rd level PCs. As the name implies, this level was where Nhur Athemon conducted arcane and alchemical experiments. Although the wizard himself is long dead, the labs have since been taken over by a half-orc alchemist beautifully named "Krenar Half-Face." There are some really fun bits in this dungeon, including mutated goblins, a goblin with alchemical vials embedded in his head (love the pic of Snarltongue!), and some clever traps. But compared to Level One, it was a breeze for the PCs and they finished it quickly.
Level Three is “The Enigma Vaults”, written by James Jacobs and designed for 3rd or 4th level characters. Stylistically, this level is great—it’s a sort of museum where Nhur Athemon stored and displayed artifacts from other planets. There are a lot of cool links to setting lore that doesn’t get much attention because it involves worlds other than Golarion. But it’s the boss of this level, a mi-go cleric named The Visitant, that I’ll never forget, as he pretty much broke my gaming group! He has claw four claw attacks—not a big deal. He has grab—not a big deal. He has sneak attack—a bigger deal, especially since he summons allies to help with flanking. He has a special power called evisceration, which means every time he succeeds on one of those grab checks, he inflicts sneak attack and ability score damage—a very deadly deal! Following most forum GMs, I went with the catch-and-release style when running the Visitant (dropping every grapple as a free action to continue the series of attacks), but this proved incredibly deadly—a couple of PCs were killed, one was permanently damaged, and one fled. There was real anger at the table afterwards, and the whole situation got escalated up to real-life PFS oversight in an attempt to reverse things. The players thought I was a terrible GM, I thought they were overreacting, and the group never really recovered. Suffice it to say, I was off to play-by-post to run the next two levels!
Level Four is “Sanctum of a Lost Age” by Erik Mona, designed for 7th level PCs. This is a good example where you can see what separates a skilled, professional writer from the lazy “drop a bunch of random monsters in rooms and call it good” type. The story involves Nhur Athemon’s three traitorous apprentices imprisoned in a time-stasis field indefinitely. The level is very interesting and dynamic, and the order in which PCs do things can change the entire way the situations play out. For example, when I ran this, an NPC who joins the PCs got himself killed in a trap, and his death created a paradox that destroyed the time-stasis, which in turn instantly destroyed every living creature and organic thing that had been trapped there! The apprentices themselves are definitely manageable, but there’s one potentially-lethal room where multiple high-CR monsters can be released every round if the PCs aren’t smart about how they deal with things. Overall, I thought this was probably the best written level in the book.
Level Five is “The Dark Menagerie” written by Ed Greenwood and designed for 5th level PCs. I have no idea why they put this adventure after the previous one (both in the book and in terms of moving down through the dungeons), as the PCs’ levels are supposed to be lower here than in “Sanctum of a Lost Age.” I think it was considered quite a coup at the time to get Ed Greenwood of Forgotten Realms fame to write a level, but unfortunately this is by far the least-inspired one in the book. The concept is that Nhur Athemon had created a zoo of exotic living creatures and engineered illusory environments to place them in, and all of this has been in stasis until the PCs arrive. The problem is that the creatures aren’t particularly rare and, apart from negotiating with a sphinx, there’s really nothing to do besides step into each room and fight the monsters within. I expected a lot more from a legend in the field. It does play fast if you need to quickly level up some PCs, but that’s about it.
The last section of the book is essentially promotional puff for the Pathfinder Online game, and it comes in at an absurdly long 26 pages (the longest chapter in the book). There’s little enduring value in this section now, but even at the time it came out, the assorted interviews when the game designers delivered little more than some of their early ideas, concept art, and discussion about the tech demo they were putting together. Frankly, this is the sort of thing that should be offered for free on a website to spruik the game, not printed in a sourcebook. I’ve never played the game (my understanding is it never really got off the ground in the sense of having paid subscribers), and there’s not a lot here that makes it sound particularly special or appealing compared to the many other sword and sorcery MMORPGs out there.
To end quickly because I’m running out of space, overall there’s some value in [b]Thornkeep[/b-—but just be careful how you use it!
Thornkeep is simply a large dungeon crawl. If you like that sort of thing where it is more combat and trap searching then you'll probably really enjoy this. If you want role play then best to avoid as there isn't much interaction down here.
I rather enjoyed the whole experience apart from one character death (he was restored to the living thankfully). The problem with this adventure is that some of the encounters are far too powerful for the levels of adventurers delving those levels. Once again Paizo authors need to consider appropriate encounter levels and challenges.
But even with that, I fully enjoyed playing this module.
I've played all these scenarios as a player, and I own the paper for GM purposes. This is a perfect mini-campaign, just the sort of length I prefer and I wish they would make more of this size. I find full adventure paths to be on the long side, often taking more than a year to complete, and modules to be on the short side. Thornkeep is perfect. You can wade through these short, varied adventures and take a group through several levels in a month or two.
The adventures themselves were interesting and difficult; combat-oriented for the most part. You'll never be forced to endure two-hour session of listening to the bard describe how he's romancing some noble woman before he rolls his D20 at last.
I will say on the downside that the last scenario was weak. GMs should take license with a few of the details to make it play coherently. Also, the dungeons are cramped with larger groups (probably so they could fit it all on a flip-map). I had to declare a pet moratorium to fit people into rooms.
Poorly designed. Makes me really think hard about buy anything written by the so called "Allstars of game industry" ever again . The play experience is bad, nothing but TPK . To many over powered CR monster for the level.
This review is based on reading the entire book, playing one level of the dungeon (The Accursed Halls), and running two others (The Forgotten Library and the Engima Vaults)
The layout, art, and cartography in this product are excellent. The material on town of Thornkeep and environs is useful and well-done. Points of interest in the surrounding countryside, NPCs, town locations, etc. -- it's all here. There is even a full-page rumors table. Overall, things are very reminiscent of the better classic D&D products.
Once we head into the dungeons below town, however, things begin to unravel quickly. The whole dungeon feels like a series of disjointed encounters strung together with little pretense of a coherent story. Admittedly, this is to be expected to a certain degree in a project of this nature, but much of the material simply defies logic.
The last chapter is a behind-the-scenes of the upcoming Pathfinder MMO. I personally couldn't care less, and largely ignored this section, but if you're following the development of that the game, this chapter will likely be of great interest to you.
Overall, Thornkeep provides an excellent base of operations, then squanders it on a disjointed, sub-par dungeon crawl. Only the sheer excellence of the first half of the book saves the product from a lower rating.
I would have loved 20 more pages, at least. The amount I had to trim down to fit into the tiny word count was pretty staggering. Originally each room was to have some weird time-lock event, and Rozimus's party played a much more significant role. My main goal was to use as much space as possible with my map, and doing that put me in a very old school AD&D vibe, so I continued to go with that. Glad to hear you liked it!
Agreed with those who would like to see the pruned material.
** spoiler omitted **
Spoiler:
Seekers of Secrets pg 51 wrote:
Within each wayfinder is a fine lattice of wires that serve to channel the power of ioun stones, allowing the owner of a wayfinder to benefit from a stone’s power without the attendant risk of having a valuable item orbiting around her head. In addition, the magic worked into the wayfinder amplifies the power of the ioun stone, usually (about 75% of the time) unlocking new abilities in addition to the stone’s normal power.
So there is nothing to explain, really. It was one of those 25% chances of it not doing anything.
So, this (and the flip-map pack) were listed as available just the other day. I ordered them, used my Holiday code, and then added them to my sidecart to be shipped with my January shipment.
Now, it looks like they're pushed back again. My order still says that my Holiday code was applied, but the price isn't accurate. I take it that I won't be able to apply it to this, now?
What should be the approximate time that each of these should take to go through?
With a quick look, it looks like it would be fine for one 4 hour session. I do know a module would be 2 or 3 four hour sessions.
My best guess is to say 1 session each? But if anybody has played this through I'd love their input - I plan on running as much Thornkeep as possible for a charity event and want to know what I'm getting myself into first :)
I've run three of the five so far for PFS. We've gotten through each level in about 5 hours give or take. They are quite difficult, it helps to have all the bases covered and be ready for anything. :)
The Thornkeep autographed print edition will release to Kickstarter backers with the January shipment. The retail release date for the unsigned version is in February.
Have the kickstarter backed copies shiped as of yet? I hadn't seen any notification yet and am curious as to whether it is still projected for a Jan release.
So what are the levels for this? I recently had a mostly TPK and have basically an entire new party for my ROTRL campaign and wanted to inject this in as some team building. They're right at level 5 and it'll be a nice seguey and plot hook for the rest of the game.
• The Accursed Halls (1st level PCs)
• The Forgotten Laboratory (2-3rd level PCs)
• The Enigma Vaults (3-4th level PCs)
• Sanctum of a Lost Age (7th level PCs)
• Dark Menagerie (5th level PCs)
…and announced that way in the intro as well. What I’m trying to figure out is, if the dungeons do down in that order why put the one for 5th level PCs after the 7th level one? Maybe reading more will explain.
By the way, what a magnificent book so far. This is Paizo’s Keep on the Borderlands - to last for ages in legend.
• The Accursed Halls (1st level PCs)
• The Forgotten Laboratory (2-3rd level PCs)
• The Enigma Vaults (3-4th level PCs)
• Sanctum of a Lost Age (7th level PCs)
• Dark Menagerie (5th level PCs)
…and announced that way in the intro as well. What I’m trying to figure out is, if the dungeons do down in that order why put the one for 5th level PCs after the 7th level one? Maybe reading more will explain.
By the way, what a magnificent book so far. This is Paizo’s Keep on the Borderlands - to last for ages in legend.
Spoiler:
The third level, the Enigma Vaults, actually has entrances to both Sanctum of a Lost age and the Dark Menagerie.
i was wondering..im going to place a order in a few days for some stuff thats out already..i was wondering..i can order this now right..the book is avaible for ordering..i dont want to buntch it with other stuff thats not out
Just started reading the Accursed Halls, and I just have to say, Very cool! Interesting and evocative. Also, special kudos on the map. The use of different heights gives the level a little something extra.
There's no mention of this being a paizo.com exclusive product in the product description so I would imagine so. Furthermore, both products are available for preorder through Amazon, and that indicates to me that the products are sold to Paizo's usual distributors.
The introduction by Lisa Stevens mentions one of the reasons you might have it in your hands is 'seeing the curious pathfinder online logo on the cover @ your FLGS'
We had a couple Tech Demo kickstarter orders that didn't get properly submitted in the system. We rectified that error and your order will ship with your February subscription shipment (estimated to begin shipping February 11th). If you need it to ship before then, let me know.
We had a couple Tech Demo kickstarter orders that didn't get properly submitted in the system. We rectified that error and your order will ship with your February subscription shipment (estimated to begin shipping February 11th). If you need it to ship before then, let me know.
thanks
sara marie
Ooo good thing I asked! Thank you for taking care of it :)
I have just read all of the community stuff and the accursed halls and I must say that this is one of the best things I have read from Paizo.
Thornkeep's politics are beautifully balanced and ripe for heroic intervention. The surrounding area is intriguing and perilous in just the right amount, with lots of hooks for players and GMs.
It is a joy.
One little question about the Accursed Halls:
Spoiler:
Knowing my players, they'll probably try and destroy the statue of Abraxas (push it down the stairs?) would this end the silence and unhallow effects?
And I didn't even see I would get it for free with my pre-order, as a modules subscriber, I just realized when I wanted to purchase the pdf. Thanks :-)
I noticed that the Thornkeep products aren't available at Amazon until March and July for Barnes and Noble and at Books A Million. I'm guessing this is intentional to help out the local gaming stores. Is this correct? I'm glad about that. I like to see the small businesses doing well and people going to them more.
It could be, but at least in the case of Amazon, they're notoriously bad at having the correct release-dates for Paizo-products. As for why that is you're gonna have to ask someone with an insight into the distribution chain.
It could be, but at least in the case of Amazon, they're notoriously bad at having the correct release-dates for Paizo-products. As for why that is you're gonna have to ask someone with an insight into the distribution chain.
This is the more likely reason. As far as I know, the release date for Paizo products is the same for all retailers, whether online or brick & mortar. As my brother from another mother (read: fellow Scandinavian) mentioned, Amazon is really bad when it comes to Paizo products. The only advantage Amazon has, as I see it, is the price tag they put on their products.
Customer Carebear
