Founded by a famous dragonslayer, the small town of Belhaim has become a sleepy rural community just off the beaten path, a settlement where everyone knows everyone and strangers are the talk of the town. But when Belhaim’s peace and quiet is shattered by the sudden collapse of the last standing tower of its founder’s castle, things quickly bloom out of control. Why were there bodies of kobolds amid the rubble? What’s the sinister secret behind the strange sounds of flapping wings in the night? And what’s happened to local wizard Balthus Hunclay, who’s not answering knocks on his door? The collapsed tower had long been an eyesore to the cantankerous old man—could he have had something to do with its destruction? And what of the rumors of strange stirrings in nearby Dragonfen? Has Belhaim’s ancient draconic nemesis returned?
"The Dragon’s Demand" is a deluxe super-adventure for 1st-level characters, and includes 64 action-packed pages of adventure and new monsters, plus a beautiful double-sided, full-color poster map of the town of Belhaim and an important miniatures-scale battleground! Players can expect to reach 7th level by the time they complete this epic adventure—if they manage to survive the wrath of a dragon when his demands aren’t met!
Written by Mike Shel.
Cover Art by Lars Grant-West.
Pathfinder Modules are 64-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, a double-sided poster map, and a fully detailed bonus location that can be used as part of the adventure or in any other game!
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-527-3
Bring your campaign to life! The Dragon's Demand SoundPack from Syrinscape is a complete audio solution when playing The Dragon's Demand adventure.
To start, the foldout map of the town was great to have. Between the Syrinscape sound pack, the Face/Item/Quest cards for Dragon’s Demand that I could give my players, and the Hero Lab encounter library from Lone Wolf Development, I was free to focus on just learning the module, tailor it to my table, pick pawns, and decide on maps, which was fine considering how much extra time I had. I was able to learn the setting and its people, so that I did not need to reference the book very much during play. Having a town with the right amount of detail (shop names, npc names, mannerisms, etc.) it was easy to elaborate on the setting and bring it out. So, the module greatly enabled me to focus on bringing the setting to life at the table, rather than focusing on the mechanics of it all, from the resources in the module itself and the external support.
The players thoroughly enjoyed it, and the bulk of character development (personality) took place in this module. Though the PCs are advised to be from out of the town, I found it helpful to have 2/5 characters be from the rural outskirts: foresters. This made the players more motivated to protect the region. Though this module is set in Taldor, Golarion, it can easily be adapted for any medieval fantasy setting. SPOILERS!: you can see pics with description of our play-through on our group Facebook site in our Golden Watch, the Next Gen album (contains SPOILERS!): https://www.facebook.com/darkjusticeinc/
This is based on the first half. I'm not positive we'll see the rest and I really feel like writing a review.
Most of the reviews have come from GMs. Our GM seems to be enjoying running this. As a player, though, I liked the first few sessions and then ended up intensely disliking the Manor House arc. A couple of problems:
(1) This arc makes too-heavy use of "put in something the PCs can't handle and then give them the gimmick they need to handle it." I counted at least three of these in quick succession, and by the third I was sick of it. (I have been warned that this continues to the end.)
(2) The GM chose to play buying and selling strictly by the rules, meaning there was nothing useful we could buy. So the cash awards came across as a useless tease, and the well-equipped friendly NPC came across as an even worse one. I'm told that this reverses later, but short of the GM flatly telling them, the players won't know this.
Having "there's money but you can't buy anything," "there's treasure but you promised not to take it," and "there's treasure but it would offend a valuable ally if you took it" back to back in an arc where the PCs were missing very basic stuff...not that much fun. It might have been a good idea to tell the players "No resupply until much later" right away, as one would for _Serpent's Skull_ #1. I'd have made a different character if I'd known.
(3) I know it's standard for modules, but still, I hate going up a level every session, especially when the events are so crowded together. We went from 1st to 5th in 4-5 days, and the whole dynamic of interacting with the townsfolk became bizarre.
Rapid advancement with no downtime has a sort of cartoonish feel. Which could be okay, but the NPCs should be more broadly drawn, like cartoons, to support the flavor. Instead they were relatively realistically drawn, and this was jarring. (I acknowledge, though, that a lot of players like rapid advancement and for them this will not be a problem.)
So, a lot of griping. I did like the early parts quite a bit. GMs may want to carefully read through the Manor House and see if it's likely to be a bad fit for their group as it was for ours.
Writing this review while its still all fresh in my head..
Party: Occultist, Paladin, Samurai, Inquisitor of Iomedae, and Rogue.
An easy recommend. I GM'ed the module over the course of about 3 months, with fortnightly games. And I think the players really got a kick out of it as well.
The module itself is very classic high-fantasy adventure, with the backdrop of a mysterious accident to get the ball rolling, the PCs explore caves, tombs, and abandoned monasteries. And there's even a Dragon! Or is there...
The entire thing felt very cohesive plot-wise, with each dungeon feeding into the overall plot. Admittedly the players didn't quite pick up on the entire backstory, but I've found that tends to be the case with most RPGs.
NPCs were memorable and the players found themselves checking in on certain villagers every time they came back from an adventure.
The only bad thing I can say about it is that it has ruined Paladins for me. We had one in the party, and in the space of a single round (with a few buff spells) managed to land 3 critical hits against the BBEG. There wasn't a lot left of the poor BBEG after that. Not to mention he had passed all the saves and blocked every attack sent against him. And just for reference the Samurai got killed in round 2 of the same fight. That said, the final boss did get to use all their "tricks" which for me as a GM is deeply satisfying.
Like I said, its a great module, and if you feel like you can't commit to a full AP, then this adventure is a good alternative.
Picked this up my first module to run as a DM. Everything was well laid out and easy to follow. The pacing was good and even allowed for some additional encounters to be added in. The map of the town was nicely detailed. I recommend this for any group, but it is a superb intro to the pathfinder world for both DMs a players, covering a large variety of creatures, terrain, and experiences.
I really enjoyed this adventured, I GM'd for a group of 5 players, 1 brand new, and 2-3 who haven't played Pathfinder before. I highly recommend this module, the encounters were good and the plot was pretty solid. I do have some minor annoyances, but they are greatly outweighed by the quality of the adventure.
1. The maps - They were great, they were all distinct and looked great. Unfortunately most of them were hard to draw and since the GM is only one that really gets a good look at them in the book a lot is wasted. Some of them are nice and easy to draw, but some of them are just a map drawn and then a grid overlay thrown on top, it would have been nice if the artist had at least kept mostly to a standard grid line just so it's nice and easy to make. The crypt of Tula is nice with it's room types (oval and circular) but it doesn't translate too well into a drawn board. The monastary is HUGE, I had a Chessex Mondo mat (4.5'x8.5') and two mega mats (3'x4') and the Monastary took up most of that (and I had to fit some rooms on there by making up space). I really like drawing everything, so if you don't it's not a big deal. I wish they offered a printed map pack of it. The only included combat map is pretty much the most useless map in the whole adventure.
2. The story - Good story, adventurers come into town and investigate some problems, root around and find a dragon, kill dragon, save the town, become ultra wealthy. There were good NPCs there, though the guidance on much of it is pretty ambiguous, so some of the background I didn't feel I utilized well. The plot for the town was very nice, and I hope that makes it into more modules.
3. Loot - Starting at the tomb your players will get a TON of loot, and some of it's super expensive. So if you're planning on continuing the adventure after this module you need to take that into account. But the players love it.
4. Combat - There's a good mix, from the traditional dragons and kobolds, to the unusual, running through a wizards house. Good mix of everything, I enjoyed it, there were some encounters that were really easy, and some wern't. I added more to pump experience into the players because to hit the experience marks the module wants you is pretty tight with 4 players. In the end my players made it to the last fight at level 6 instead of 7, but they ran the encounter very well and wern't at risk (only one death). You have access to some DM NPCs to act as a release valve should stuff get too tough (and they are pretty darn powerful).
5. Overall - I'd highly recommend it, and wouldn't hesitate running it again, Mike Shel wrote an excellent adventure.
This new format sounds awesome to me, now I might start getting the modules again. Also this opens doors to modules on Castrovel, Akiton, Numeria, The First Worls, etc. and it will do them justice that a 32 page one couldn't do.
As I anxiously await my pending shipment/PDF access I too am wondering how the PFS aspect of this will work. With Crypt of the Everflame you really need to be 2nd level when you start or you're doing to struggle on the later encounters.
I am hoping to introduce my group to PFS with this module.
I'm going to venture that it will be set up like the AP's with smaller dungeon/adventure sections sanctioned for play. The ideas would be each section could be finished in a reasonable amount of time (no more then 12 hours of game play) I hope there are multiple sanctioned sections within the adventure and not just 1 for the entire thing.
Currenlty if you played AP's in PFS mode you have to fill in with other stuff to keep up the levels.
I absolutely can't wait for this module to come out. This fall I'm putting together a newbie group (zero experience with RPGs) and after running them through some generic encounters to teach mechanics we're going to do full-on character creation and then jump into this.
Plus I'm looking forward to pulling some information from this module to use to expand on "Doom comes to Dustpawn." I have a feeling after running that module over the next few weeks my players are going to want to continue that into a full blown campaign.
There is another thing actually referenced and given mechanical effects for (I believe) the first time in his module as well.
** spoiler omitted **
response to spoiler:
Well then she is an absolute badass.
My fiance is 39 weeks with one child... we walked around some shops for an hour and she was really tired. She cannot run. Sitting in a car going over a slightly bumpy road gives her pain.
And after being out of the house for less than two hours she was done in for the rest of the day.
Heavily pregnant with twins should mean fatigue with any exertion for more than 20 minutes leading to exhaustion for 10 times the period of exertion.
My plan is to reveal how this interfaces with Pathfinder Society Organized Play in an upcoming blog. The new format certainly opens up new and interesting possibilities for sanctioning, and I believe the planned solution will encourage players to experience the entire module in all its glory.
My plan is to reveal how this interfaces with Pathfinder Society Organized Play in an upcoming blog. The new format certainly opens up new and interesting possibilities for sanctioning, and I believe the planned solution will encourage players to experience the entire module in all its glory.
Thanks, I'll be looking forward to it! (as I'm sure many of us are)
There is another thing actually referenced and given mechanical effects for (I believe) the first time in his module as well.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Given that in Pathfinder you don't even get a serious disadvantage from getting hit by an sword, I think the spoilerd condition shouldn't be all that significant. The game is not all about simulating things perfectly.
That potential kobold ally and her babby allosaurus and the peaceful resolution possibility.(where peaceful is defined as "not killing everyone what looks different")
Also, finally a potential shae ally. Loved this race ever since the art preview in the blog, and it's nice to have a non-villainous example now. :)
And again, that mummy.
Expectations management: The town write-up isn't as detailed as say Sandpoint in RotRL, but there's a lot more here than what you would get in the older module format. Really dig that Big List of NPCs along with factions. That's going to be a fun feature to see develop in the future. :)
Bassy is totally getting claimed as the avatar of Golarion oriented crack/troll-fic. She must have the setting-equivalent of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter under her belt by now.
There is another thing actually referenced and given mechanical effects for (I believe) the first time in his module as well.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Given that in Pathfinder you don't even get a serious disadvantage from getting hit by a sword, I think the spoilered condition shouldn't be all that significant. The game is not all about simulating things perfectly.
That's a fair point but to my mind it as a story opportunity that is missing if the rules don't support it.
Spoiler:
Escorting a pregnant NPC to safety is a great opportunity to create interesting PC challenges, RP opportunities and moments of drama. Unless she is as capable as everyone else...
plus:
getting hit by a sword can kill you, that's a serious disadvantage... :D
With the news that Dreamscarred Press' work is in here, I might just pick this one up solely to encourage that sort of thing. And I don't even use psionics!
My plan is to reveal how this interfaces with Pathfinder Society Organized Play in an upcoming blog. The new format certainly opens up new and interesting possibilities for sanctioning, and I believe the planned solution will encourage players to experience the entire module in all its glory.
Anything that encourages playing the whole module is preferred. One thing about AP's I didn't like was that only one small part of each path gave PFS credit, that is a lot of content left unused for PFS. Some is better than none, but for the modules I would love to see 6 levels worth of xp to really get people to play them more. In divided doses of course if time is limited.
cancelled my Paizo Module sub due to overload of AP material, then AP sub due to the same - too many paths....not enough time....Moreover my crew are interested in sandbox style gaming - thus making APs as they stand needing lots of work to sandbox them... These 'mini-APs' though have much greater appeal - since they offer the epic feel of a story arc, whilst not meaning pcs whole development is on one path alone...allowing for greater personalisation...
If these bigger modules can offer a more sandbox style environment, with factions, various ways of getting things done, etc I will for sure be hooked. I am going to get this and see though - so well done Paizo - esp since the Mythic Adventures book and new mythic AP (after I said my group want sandbox), nevertheless, these look really kewl as well... Looks like I am renewing a few subs/ certainly getting the pdfs. Exciting times.
& Yes - some pawns for the first adventure... some adventure tiles?.... even a total pack of extras: big map, floor-plan maps, cards, pawns....? :) These kinda things all help create a great atmosphere around the table.
Kudos to you guys -you have really carried the torch superbly well.
While I don't expect someone to give me a list of all the encounters in this module, could someone who has read the module (or played it) tell me how many encounters can be done using current Pathfinder pawns? I have all of the current sets and will be buying the future ones, but I don't own any models and don't like proxies, as I feel is goes against the immersion that I try to create for my players.
Therefore, my purchase of this product hinges on whether or not the monsters and NPCs can be represented easily by the pawn sets released (or to be released soon).
Thanks in advance,
LeSpriter
It uses Bestiary 1,2, and 3...and had 2 new monsters in it. I believe the Bestiary 2 box is coming out soon in the pawns, so you would need to proxy just a little for the bestiary 3 monsters. The big bad you will already have in the B1 pawns. And most of the subs you will find good alternatives to so it's not really an immersion killer.
Or you could wait until Bestiary 3 box comes out! I can't wait that long though lol.
Will interactive maps be released or should I start photoshopping?
If you click on the maps in the PDF and paste them into a graphics program, currently, the hidden stuff pastes with the maps.
I gave some feedback and was told that corrections would be made soon. So, hopefully shortly, you'll be able to click, copy, and save the maps without the hidden stuff coming with them (that is, secret doors and other hidden indicators).
I don't think there will be full interactive maps with initially hidden halls completely missing, but at least the secret doors, traps, and other hidden stuff should be gone when you copy/paste.
The intro contains a list of side quests that provide extra XP when completed. Many of them are part of the main storyline of the adventure. There are three main chapters and exploration areas encompassing three major milestones in the adventure, finally ending with a section offering more detail on the starting town and a small bestiary.
As for the dragon and demand part:
Spoiler:
That comes a bit later, so players will have to wait for it - and the expectation set by the cover art, based on my cursory read-through of the PDF, will be a bit of a surprise. Which is partly a shame because you might get your players pumped about the cover art, force them to wait for the adventure hook about it, then something unexpected happens. Initially, anyway.
I gave some feedback and was told that corrections would be made soon. So, hopefully shortly, you'll be able to click, copy, and save the maps without the hidden stuff coming with them (that is, secret doors and other hidden indicators).
This is on our radar and the update should be pushed sometime this week. An email will be sent out automatically when this happens.
My plan is to reveal how this interfaces with Pathfinder Society Organized Play in an upcoming blog. The new format certainly opens up new and interesting possibilities for sanctioning, and I believe the planned solution will encourage players to experience the entire module in all its glory.
Just received my physical copy today, there is so much content! I feel like this module has more content than an adventure path chapter does. It's just fantastic!
Just received my physical copy today, there is so much content! I feel like this module has more content than an adventure path chapter does. It's just fantastic!
That could well be because the module is about 20 pages longer than the typical adventure path chapter, of course! :-P
My plan is to reveal how this interfaces with Pathfinder Society Organized Play in an upcoming blog. The new format certainly opens up new and interesting possibilities for sanctioning, and I believe the planned solution will encourage players to experience the entire module in all its glory.
Solid adventure. Would love to see some campaign traits for it. Planning to run it as a lead in to Red Hand of Doom. Now just need the after RHoD and I have my Dragon Based AP.