The heroes of the town of Torch follow a trail of clues to the sprawling junkyard known as Scrapwall, where bands of desperate and violent brigands vie for control of the technological remnants and ruins found within. The Lords of Rust dominate Scrapwall, and their swiftly rising power threatens more than just the town of Torch, for this gang has the support of one of the terrifying Iron Gods of Numeria. What slumbers fitfully beneath the wreckage of Scrapwall could catapult the Lords of Rust into a new level of power if they're not stopped!
"Lords of Rust," a Pathfinder Adventure for 4th-level characters, by Nicolas Logue.
A look into the secrecy and science of the Technic League, by Jim Groves.
Insight into the faith of Brigh, the goddess of clockwork, invention, and time, by Sean K Reynolds.
An unlikely discovery in Numeria's wastes in the Pathfinder's Journal, by Amber E. Scott.
Four new monsters, by Adam Daigle, Nicolas Logue, and Sean K Reynolds.
Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world's oldest fantasy RPG.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-678-2
"Lords of Rust" is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure Path and Chronicle sheet are available as a free download (874 KB zip/PDF).
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
Lords of Rust by Nicolas Logue, the second part of Iron Gods is an adventure where the setting is all important. It is a sandbox adventure in pretty much the truest sense of the term (something that is difficult to do in an adventure path). The player characters can pretty much proceed however they want and the setting is almost entirely what drives the action. A poorly detailed setting could break the whole adventure. But this adventure doesn't have a poorly detailed setting. Instead, it has one of the most memorable settings I've seen in a fantasy RPG adventure, and it makes for what will likely be an extremely memorable adventure for any group of players.
Pointless mechanics duplicating extant systems, MMO-style grinding, side missions that do squat for the overall narrative of the AP, and one glaring problem with the setting:
What do they eat?!
Spoiler:
There is no indication of how Scrapwall functions as a society. It's piles of rubble and a bunch of people shanking each other. No farms, no merchants, no trade. It's a dungeon but it's full of people who have no way to survive. No me gusta.
An exceedingly flavorful and deadly adventure in the Iron Gods Adventure Path, this adventure takes you to a seedy junkyard filled with criminals, killers, monsters, and worse. You'll make good friends, learn some things bout Numeria's past, and fight a truly unique foe at the climax!
The adventure can get dangerous at times! One encounter in particular nearly wiped my PCs twice!
This is one of my favorite parts of the adventure path, and I can't wait to run it again!
I am a player in this AP and I am loving it. As someone who owns every Adventure Path since The Shackled City, I can honestly say that this is my favorite AP, hands down.
The Lords of Rust offers a great setting, colorful characters, and some really interesting turns of events. The sandbox nature of the adventure provides player characters considerable agency over the storyline.
I have to be honest and say that while i was reading this i was very dissapointed, from pretty much every aspect, but i was happily surprised when i actually run it and everything turned out well.
In contrast to the Fires of Creation (book 1) this module takes the heroes into a Mad Max type settlement in order to present them with threat of the adventure (the Iron Gods) and thusly concluding Act 1.
It also has a (very small) section that really evokes Dead Space vibes but unfortunately it's optional and very very small.
It has some sandbox elements that i didn't like, but it might be me since i don't like neither to play nor run sandbox campaigns.
Almost all of the encounters play very good (difficulty-wise) with a couple quite difficult encounters, keep in mind that (imo) this is true because the PCs are with same gear as they were in the previous book.
If you are one of those GMs that want and can build upon what you are presented then you would be very happey with Lords of Rust because it gives you a little information about a lot of things in Scrapwall but it's not fleshed out, so if you want you can do it yourself.
I don't give this module 5 stars because it wasn't much fun for me reading it (i was more engaged when i read the article on Technic League than i was in most of the actual adventure) but fortunately both me and my players had fun when i run it.
It's something very different than i expected (i expected to continue the themes present in Fires of Creation) and it turned out differently in play than i expected after reading it.
Summary: A very good part 2, now let us see where how this adventure path will continue.
Whoa. That cover. Poor Amiri. She's going to be PISSED. That rust monster will probably be beaten down into nothing but a brown, bloody goo by the time she gets done with it.
I mean, that sword is her signature thing, almost the definition to her character. It would be like seeing Droogami bite it on a cover. Though if it's just leading into her getting a chainsword/flamethrower/rocket launcher combo, all maybe in the arm of a robot she tears off and just uses as a massive club until she discovers the other features, that'll be cool.
As a replacement, perhaps Amiri could get a Qualta Blade?
And then on down the road, she uses it to unlock control of an Eradicator she finds in the Distant Worlds AP.
Nice cover orc. Wicked weaponry and accoutrements. That is how you accessorize ladies and gentleorcs.
Note the stance - a deliciously understated attitude of gentle rebellion fused with just an odor of complete and utter abolishment. Examine the understated air of feral and gruesome desire for skin-splitting, tendon-tearing evisceration and high tea. In that order. The tea made from chainblade oil and bonegrease, with a dash of milk of human kindness.
The last time I was even remotely this psyched about an AP was with the announcement of Skull & Shackles, which convinced me to subscribe to the AP line.
Put down that chainsaw and listen to me!
It's time for us to join in the fight!
It's time to let our babies grow up to be cowboys!
It's time for us to let those bed bugs bite!
OK, now I need to see when this arrives at my FLGS because this AP I am supporting whole hog!
Is that Amiri's sword breaking in the background?!? In addition to the new level of rage she's about to unleash, I'll bet she replaces it with a badass chainsword!
Is that Amiri's sword breaking in the background?!? In addition to the new level of rage she's about to unleash, I'll bet she replaces it with a badass chainsword!
When subscriber's do get their pdf, could they tell us what Brigh's obedience is and what powers you get?
Obedience: When reciting formulas from Logic of Design, you must craft a new creation, continue work on an elaborate device or object, or disassemble an existing creation to see how it works. Share the knowledge you discover while working on this project. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on Disable Device checks.
Evangelist Boons
Spoiler:
1: Voice of Bronze (Sp)jury-rig 3/day, fox’s cunning 2/day, sands of time 1/day
2: Living Construct (Su) You can affect constructs as if they were living creatures. Once per day, you can target a construct with a spell or spell-like ability, and the spell resolves as if its creature type were humanoid.
3: Frozen Time (Su) You gain the ability to halt time. You can use time stop as a spell-like ability once per day.
Exalted Boons
Spoiler:
1: Creator (Sp)crafter’s fortune 3/day, make whole 2/day, minor creation 1/day
2: Protected by the Machine (Su) Your body is as resistant as a construct. You gain a +2 sacred bonus on saves against effects that cause ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, energy drain, or nonlethal damage.
3: Inspired Crafting (Su) When crafting magic items while adventuring, you can devote 4 hours each day to creation and take advantage of the full amount of time spent crafting instead of netting only 2 hours’ worth of work. In addition, you can use fabricate once per day as a spell-like ability. Though you can’t create magic items with the fabricate spell, you can use it to create items that you later enhance magically.
Sentinel Boons
Spoiler:
1: Bronze Warrior (Sp)crafter’s curse 3/day, heat metal 2/day, haste 1/day
2: Constructed Form (Su) As a swift action, you gain DR 3/— for a number of rounds per day equal to your Hit Dice. These rounds need not be consecutive.
3: Call to Battle (Su) Once per day as a full-round action, you can summon a clockwork golem (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2, 137). The golem follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute for each hit die you possess before vanishing.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Andros Morino wrote:
Skeld, what interesting new info do we get in the Brigh article? Thanks!
Five pages in the article. It's pretty typical of the AP deity articles, with info on clergy, temples, holidays, relations, etc. There's a customized summon list, a new spell (semblance of flesh - makes a construct look like a living creature), and the obedience information that Liz posted.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Dragon78 wrote:
So what are the monsters in the bestiary and what are they like?
Spoiler:
Four Creatures, one of which is Brigh's herald (a construct called the Latten Mechanism). The others include a small aberration (Rhu-chalik), another construct (Observer Robot), and an undead called a Rust-risen (which is made partially of mechanical bits).