Alkenstar, City of Smog, is a bastion of civilization in the magic-warped region known as the Mana Wastes. Its ingenious citizens survive in the treacherous Spellscar Desert with the help of canny inventions like guns and clockwork automatons, but now their construct protectors have begun to run amok within the city. It falls to the PCs to venture beyond the city walls to find the source of their strange behavior. Will they uncover the mastermind behind the plot and put an end to this madness, or will they instead fall victim to the primal magic and savage tribes of Mana Wastes mutants that beleaguer the city?
Wardens of the Reborn Forge is a deluxe super-adventure for 12th-level characters, and includes 64 action-packed pages of adventure filled with mechanical machinations, new monsters, a beautiful double-sided and full-color poster map of Alkenstar, and an important miniatures-scale battleground!
Players can expect to reach 15th level by the time they complete this epic adventure—if they manage to survive the machinations of the clockwork constructions of the reborn forge!
By Patrick Renie.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-555-6
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!
Wardens of the Reborn Forge is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Its Chronicle Sheet and additional rules for running this module are a free download (398 KB zip/PDF).
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
I will admit going into this module with somewhat low expectations (not a fan of pathfinders firearms rules or their take on steampunk) but even then I was underwhelmed.
As previous posters have stated it's a long dungeon crawl with low RP, steady combat slog and a somewhat paper thin plot. Now it does have some unique creatures to encounter including my favorite 4-armed creature in significant numbers the tactics and usage of most of the opponents doesn't seem effective for high level play.
On the crunch side I was hoping this being the first official module with gunslingers in it would be a good example of how to handle them in a standard game but that was the weakest part of the setup. None of the common gunslinger builds where in evidence and most of the gun using opponents seem to have gone out of their way to avoid the feats/attributes that makes guns dangerous (large sized creatures with dumped Dexterity and no fast reloading or feats to increase fire rate or damage).
Overall I have to admit a serious disappointment with this module. I expected better.
This module was really played up, with three different blog posts about the setting, creatures, and politics. However, after reading the module, it is very....bland. Compared to The Dragon's Demand and it's uniqueness, Wardens of the Reborn Forge doesn't even come close to it. The creatures are unqiue, but this adventure was definitely not what I was expecting to see out of a high level module. At a lesser extent, if you were to compare this to, say, a high level 'chunk" from a recent AP (Shattered Star, Reign of Winter, etc.), the story and adventure is more engaging for players than the dungeon crawls in this module. I would have really liked to see a little bit more RP as well as a twist or two to really set this module apart from the other "run-of-the-mill" adventures. A cool environment, decent creatures, but overall, worth 25 dollars? No. The old price of modules? Sure, but still a strech.
Despite the fact that Alkenstar and the Mana Wastes are a very non-generic setting, Wardens of the Reborn Forge is a surprisingly generic adventure. Oh, it has all the trappings of the setting. There are Mana Wastes mutants, clockwork leviathans, guns, and even a mana storm. However, it uses all these things in a generic dungeon crawl adventure that could otherwise take place just about anywhere.
My guess is that high level + multipart + high technology (that they're not sure as to what extent they want to let into PFS) is causing the delay. That being said, I really want to play this in sanctioned mode with some friends, so I'd really appreciate it soon. Just glad we got Emerald Spire reasonably on time.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Paizo's goal should be the day of release of the module. For Emerald Spire 2 months after release I personally don't see as reasonably on time.
I am hoping Paizo has plans to have these come out faster in the future.
Edit: Though Emerald Spire was a lot more work then a normal Module.
While that would be nice Dragnmoon; I think that is a tad unreasonable. I'd personally just like a date, that would be stuck to.
The chronicles for Emerald Spire were said to be coming out hopefully right before gencon but likely soon afterwards. That is pretty much what happened; so I'm happy with Emerald Spire at least.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Asking something to come out on time is far from unreasonable In fact it should be expected by all of us and anything less should be questioned by us.
PFS has had this problem for awhile now with getting things other the scenarios out in a timely manner.
I think it is fully reasonable for me to ask if Paizo has a plan to get this fixed.
To be clear I don't think it has anything to do with the Hard work by Mike or John but to do with Paizo not willing to prioritize PFS to the level it needs to be and/or the resources to complete their PFS commitments. Based on past comments on why these things are late PFS always seems to be pushed back for other projects which is very upsetting and at a certain point we need to voice that disappointment to remind them. The chronicle sheet for Wardens of the Reborn Forge is way past that point.
Paizo also has a big issue with editing in the past 4 months. Covers, within spell descriptions, all PFS scenarios from 5-20 onward, I just caught 2 errors in 6-02.
I know if 5-20 the author submitted it corectly and then someone editing it incorectly.
It seems to me the issue is they are short of money or short staffed or both.
Do NOT bring a Kineticist to this Module. Unless you have an amazing concentration check. NO bonuses to Casting defensively does not help. Buy a Tunic of Careful Casting. And the oppropriate Headband/Belt of [insert main dmg ability score here] if you Must but you have been warned. Death of yourself and members of your party will be the only result of you playing this with a Kineticist.
Being a Garundi Kineticist Helps a tiny bit more, but not much.
