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:
Short Version: An open adventure in a hostile settlement with a lot of conflicting factions.
This adventure reminds me of the classic Temple of Elemental Evil in all the best ways. There are a lot of factions at work that can clearly be played against each other, some called out explicitly and others that might take a bit more work.
I agree with some of the other reviewers that reputation is handled well here. It's easy to track and the way that the PCs can directly see the effects feels really good.
The second installment is just as nice as its predecessor and continues the tale as it should. Al Yankovich references aside this is a neat sequel as PCs follow up on what they learned last time. As someone that loves science fantasy this whole AP is very nice and there is plenty here to grab for more generic endeavors.
Put down your chainsaw and listen to me
It's time for us to join in the fight
It's time to let your babies grow up to be cowboys
It's time to let the bedbugs bite
You better put all your eggs in one basket
You better count your chickens before they hatch
You better sell some wine before it's/its time
You better find yourself an itch to scratch
You better squeeze all the Charmin you can while Mr. Wimpole's not around
Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan
Talk with your mouth full
Bite the hand that feeds you
Bite on more than you chew
What can you do
Dare to be stupid
Take some wooden nickles
Look for Mr. Goodbar
Get your mojo working now
I'll show you how
You can dare to be stupid
You can turn the other cheek
You can just give up the ship
You can eat a bunch of sushi and forget to leave a tip
Dare to be stupid
Come on and dare to be stupid
It's so easy to do
Dare to be stupid
We're all waiting for you
Let's go
It's time to make a mountain out of a molehill
So can I have a volunteer
There's no more time for crying over spilled milk
Now it's time for crying in your beer
Settle down, raise a family, join the PTA
Buy some sensible shoes and a Chevyrolet
And party 'till you're broke and they drive you away
It's OK, you can dare to be stupid
It's like spitting on a fish
It's like barking up a tree
It's like I said you gotta buy one if you wanna get one free
Dare to be stupid (yes)
Why don't you dare to be stupid
It's so easy to do
Dare to be stupid
We're all waiting for you
Dare to be stupid
Burn your candle at both ends
Look a gift horse in the mouth
Mashed potatoes can be your friends
You can be a coffee achiever
You can sit around the house and watch Leave It To Beaver
The future's up to you
So what you gonna do
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
What did I say
Dare to be stupid
Tell me, what did I say
Dare to be stupid
It's allright
Dare to be stupid
We can be stupid all night
Dare to be stupid
Come on, join the crowd
Dare to be stupid
Shout it out loud
Dare to be stupid
I can't hear you
Dare to be stupid
OK, I can hear you now
Dare to be stupid
Let's go, Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
I wrote a review for the last Iron Gods adventure "Fires of Creation" so I figured it was a good idea to write ones for the rest of them. Like the first, I haven't gotten a chance to run my party through Lords of Rust so I can only go off of what my impressions are of the adventure and they are rather good! My biggest problem with Fires of Creation was that it dived into the deep end of sci-fi and didn't really have anything to balance it out, but Lords of Rust nicely balances fantasy and sci-fi.
It is still a bit heavy on the sci-fi side of things, but that is to be expected for a campaign set in Numeria. The Lords of Rust themselves are interesting and challenging looking foes and Hellion himself is quite the bombastic villain which brings me to my only real complaint...There is barely a single line of written dialogue for what is meant to be a very important part of the adventure path! Or at all really. While the articles give a very good impression of Hellion's personality, some examples of lines or quotes help to find a character's voice which can be equally important to a DM. For that matter, there isn't much of a guiding force for this adventure aside from the initial direction of 'find/stop Hellion and he's with the Lords of Rust' which is both a strong point and a weak point. Strong because it means the PCs can freely enact what are likely to be some truly hare-brained schemes to get at Hellion and raise their scrapworth. Bad because it means that PCs who flounder with what they should do next have nothing to fallback on and the DM must take it into their own hands to provide direction. A small problem, but a problem nonetheless!
That said, I really, really do like the scrapworth idea and hopes it shows up in the future! While it makes sense, it is nice to see a simple little system for determining how well known the PCs are in a new region and, more importantly, how many mooks will simply abandon their posts in terror at the sight of them. Both empowering for the PCs and a natural result of the character's actions.
You can put it all to use (also, beware of cover art)
No really, be careful. Lords of Rust is a bit heavy-handed with the combat, but really gives you a great view of how the dregs of society work within a high-technology bent. It'll surprise most. It also introduces a nice blend of the supernatural and something like the divine to go with tech ruins and lasers. You'll get to try out most of your gear and tricks in this one, without a doubt.
Noticed this spell is missing its saving throw and spell resistance info. Using appearance of life from Horror Adventures as a base model, it should probably be something like this:
"Saving Throw Will disbelief (if interacted with) or Will negates (see text); SR no"
The "Will negates" line is meant for the construct to try and resist the spell, whereas the "Will disbelief (if interacted with)" is for others observing the construct. The "no" for spell resistance is the most balanced considering many constructs are immune to magic already, and adding an additional hurdle of overcoming spell resistance seems like overkill.
