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Pathfinder Adventure Path #87: The Choking Tower (Iron Gods 3 of 6) (PFRPG)

3.90/5 (based on 7 ratings)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #87: The Choking Tower (Iron Gods 3 of 6) (PFRPG)
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Dark Clouds Gathering

The Lords of Rust and their strange Iron God have been defeated, but the victory of Numeria's newest heroes has uncovered a threat to the land much greater than a mere gang of bandits. A mightier Iron God is rising in power in the enigmatic Silver Mount—but before the heroes can confront it, they must recover the legacy of this strange deity's first worshiper. Clues lead to the technophobic town of Iadenveigh, a farming community near the mysterious Choking Tower of technomancer Furkas Xoud. What role will this knowledge-obsessed "smoke wizard" play in this unfolding threat? Will the heroes be ready in time for their inevitable clash with Numeria's greatest Iron God?

This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path continues the Iron Gods Adventure Path and includes:

  • "The Choking Tower," a Pathfinder adventure for 7th-level characters, by Ron Lundeen.
  • A look at the insular, agrarian city of Iadenveigh, by Ron Lundeen.
  • Three exciting encounters in the wilds of Numeria to add to your Iron Gods campaign, by Patrick Renie.
  • A journey-turned-mystery in the Pathfinder's Journal, by Amber E. Scott.
  • Four fearsome new monsters, by Paris Crenshaw, Mark Garringer, and Ron Lundeen.

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 Roleplaying Game and the world's oldest fantasy RPG.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-688-1

"The Choking Tower" 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:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscription.

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Average product rating:

3.90/5 (based on 7 ratings)

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Good ideas, lacks execution

3/5 —

The choking Tower assumes that the PCs are looking for the remains of the deceased android Casandalee and all the information she had when she died. They are, after all, searching for the entity called "Unity" and they know that Casandalee knew a lot about Unity's defenses and that she ended her days in a starship under what now is the town of Iadenveigh.

The search for Casandalee in that location is doomed because somebody did that very same mission a few years before the PCs. A Furkas Xoud was able to penetrate the ship's defenses, recover Casandalee's body and bring it to his own place, a technological laboratory he liked to call "The Choking Tower". When the PCs find out all this stuff, rather than get discouraged, they are supposed to enter the tower, brave the ghostly spirit of Furkas Xoud, his crazy experiments and creatures and get Casandalee's information.

The plot is extremely linear, allowing the PCs very little in the way of deciding what the next step should be. If ever, as written, the whole adventure can be skipped. If the PCs are really after Unity - whose location is already known - they can just go ahead instead of derailing their own mission looking for Casandalee and her elusive brain database.

Once everything is said and done, the PCs will know the answers to six questions that Furkas Xoud asked Casandalee's android brain before she stopped functioning. The info is scarce, it just tells the PCs that they should look for Casandalee's neurocam being held somewhere else, which is - of course - next book's location. If this doesn't discourage the PCs, nothing will. The plot of the AP at this point starts to look like a Russian doll with inane mission that leads to another inane mission that leads to...

Actually, if you overlook the stupidity of the module's plot and the linear sequence of events, the adventure has many good things going for it. The trust-missions in the beginning are okay, especially the "find the spy", with all the investigation parts. The dungeon that leads to dungeon is pretty underwhelming but as dungeons go, they aren't bad at all. An old malfunctioning abandoned starship is a pretty cool locale. The tower is a more classic setup but the thematic labs are nice, especially the last section in the underground dungeon. Perhaps running everything as written could be tiresome but there are certainly many good ideas here.

Read my full review here

My rating: 3 stars. It's not a bad module. Actually, it has a lot of good ideas but they feel disconnected. The linearity of the plot and the Russian doll feel to it make this one to rewrite or skip.

A bit of filler

3/5 —

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

The Choking Tower is certainly not a bad adventure. It will likely provide hours of entertainment for any group. But there's also little about the adventure that really stands out. On the whole, it's run-of-the-mill, with a fairly linear plot and NPCs who are mostly forgettable (although the main villain is a notable exception). It also lacks the vibrant setting of its immediate predecessor, presenting instead a setting that is pretty standard despite its science fiction trappings.

ups and downs

3/5 —

The town was bad, the dungeon was good. The tower was good conceptually, but it dragged in the middle. Meh.

Farmers, Wizards, and Robots, Oh My!

5/5 —

A challenging and exciting part of the Iron Gods Adventure Path. You'll meet with technophobes (remember all that tech you've been collecting/not keeping?), fight mutants and creatures of the deep woods, and square off with an insane wizard-ghost in his tower (several times!)!

This was an adventure that challenged my players tactically, and they found some nice stuff and made some interesting friends/enemies. There was nothing I didn't enjoy!

Very good blend of sci fi and fantasy

5/5 —

Wrote a lenghty review but the system ate it.
Long story short it's a good module, good asthetics, good dungeon ecology, interesting story but keep watch because it comes very close to having it's battles being a boring cakewalk.

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Webstore Gninja Minion

Announced! Cover image is a mockup and subject to change.
Silver Crusade

DO WANT!

I can't wait.
Liberty's Edge
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Quote:
What role could the mysterious Smoke Wizard of the Choking Tower play in this unfolding threat?

"The old world will burn in the fires of industry."

"The trees are strong, my lord. The roots go deep."
"RIP THEM ALL DOWN."

A "Choking Tower" has got to be a factory chimney. :D :D :D
Samy wrote:
A "Choking Tower" has got to be a factory chimney. :D :D :D

Or a Colossal Roper? :p

1 person marked this as a favorite.

That's the second time Pale Creepy Eye Wizard showed up on a mockup cover, and I still don't know where that art came from. Has anyone seem him before? Or maybe he's just doomed to only show up for a few months at a time on mockups.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Avoiding reading this as I want to play it as spoiler-free as possible, but I have to say this: Even the mock-up covers look damn cool. Can't imagine how awesome the actual covers are going to be.
Product Announcement wrote:
... several bonus encounters set in Numeria...

Yup. That's some good goodness right there...

NOO-MERRY-AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!

I'm patient...not!

I so want this AP.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Samy wrote:
Quote:
What role could the mysterious Smoke Wizard of the Choking Tower play in this unfolding threat?

"The old world will burn in the fires of industry."

"The trees are strong, my lord. The roots go deep."
"RIP THEM ALL DOWN."

"Double shifts. No breaks."

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Samy wrote:
Quote:
What role could the mysterious Smoke Wizard of the Choking Tower play in this unfolding threat?

"The old world will burn in the fires of industry."

"The trees are strong, my lord. The roots go deep."
"RIP THEM ALL DOWN."

A "Choking Tower" has got to be a factory chimney. :D :D :D

"Come my friends. The Ents are going to war. It is likely that we go to our doom. The last march of the Ents."

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Orthos wrote:
Samy wrote:
Quote:
What role could the mysterious Smoke Wizard of the Choking Tower play in this unfolding threat?

"The old world will burn in the fires of industry."

"The trees are strong, my lord. The roots go deep."
"RIP THEM ALL DOWN."
"Double shifts. No breaks."

"Know what this means don'tcha? Beaucoup overtime."

Generic Villain wrote:
That's the second time Pale Creepy Eye Wizard showed up on a mockup cover, and I still don't know where that art came from. Has anyone seem him before? Or maybe he's just doomed to only show up for a few months at a time on mockups.

I'm pretty sure it's the Forever Man (the same as my avatar) from the Magnimar book (City of Monuments). I don't own the book, so I don't know what his deal is.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Nope; not the Forever Man. He looks different.
James Jacobs wrote:
Nope; not the Forever Man. He looks different.

Well whoever he is, he looks awesome!

Who is the artist?

With any luck I will have this to read on the train from Philly to Hartford the day before Halloween. Not to run unfortunately but to read and think about.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

0.0---->

<----0.0

does anyone know when the cover will be updated on this one?
Webstore Gninja Minion

Product image and description updated.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

...

Blink

Blink

Oh boy.

CHAINSAW SWORD.

WHO/WHAT is that on the cover ??? COOL FACTOR 10 !
Paizo Employee Creative Director
2 people marked this as a favorite.
nighttree wrote:
WHO/WHAT is that on the cover ??? COOL FACTOR 10 !

That would be...

Spoiler:
The person who built the Choking Tower, Furkas Xoud—we say a LITTLE bit about him and the Choking Tower on page 144 of the Inner Sea World Guide. More information will have to wait until this volume is out.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

That robot in the picture is intriguing , what is it?
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Man, with all these Mechon, it's a good thing Amiri got her hands on the Monado.

And now I cannot unsee.
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Orthos wrote:
CHAINSAW SWORD.

Not just a chainsaw sword, but Amiri raging with a Chainsaw Sword, too.

Kvantum wrote:
Orthos wrote:
CHAINSAW SWORD.
Not just a chainsaw sword, but Amiri raging with a Chainsaw Sword, too.

Delightful.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
3 people marked this as a favorite.
zergtitan wrote:
That robot in the picture is intriguing , what is it?

It is a...

Spoiler:
Robot version of a clockwork mage.
6 people marked this as a favorite.

Amiri Daak, DALEK KILLER
Liberty's Edge

I love Wayne Reynolds' cover art and I can't wait to see if Damiel gets more time to shine on these covers.
Samy wrote:
A "Choking Tower" has got to be a factory chimney. :D :D :D

I assumed it was a phallic joke.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
6 people marked this as a favorite.
Russell Akred wrote:
Samy wrote:
A "Choking Tower" has got to be a factory chimney. :D :D :D
I assumed it was a phallic joke.

Nope. Sometimes a tower is just a tower.

Whoa, is smokey the crimson eyed on the cover Furkas Xoud? If so, he seems to be a particularly FEARSOME type of undead (assuming he IS in fact undead). I don't seem to recall incorporal undead that are surrounded by smoke (mist perhaps but not smoke). Maybe he's a variant of a type of undead then?

He does look pretty cool. If I ever run this adventure (converted to Savage Worlds, of course!), I look forward to this fight. I have no idea how it will be presented in the actual module, but I would have the PCs face him in a room full of pipes and metallic meshes that the smoke wizard can phase through to frustrate the heroes ability to lock him down in one place. :D

EDIT: Although I suppose wind based magic (like that you would use to disperse a cloudkill spell or whatever) could be particularly effective against him...?
mikeawmids wrote:

He does look pretty cool. If I ever run this adventure (converted to Savage Worlds, of course!), I look forward to this fight. I have no idea how it will be presented in the actual module, but I would have the PCs face him in a room full of pipes and metallic meshes that the smoke wizard can phase through to frustrate the heroes ability to lock him down in one place. :D

EDIT: Although I suppose wind based magic (like that you would use to disperse a cloudkill spell or whatever) could be particularly effective against him...?

Maybe he's a variant of Wraith? I seem to recall their artwork as showing them to be made up of shadowy smoke.

Congratulations, Ron, on the publication of this one! It's the big time! :D

Did anyone else get there shipping soon email?
Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Mike Mistele wrote:
Congratulations, Ron, on the publication of this one! It's the big time! :D

I agree! I'm very honored, and looking forward to seeing what people think!

Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Got my shipping soon email!
Scarab Sages
1 person marked this as a favorite.

You know what I love so far about this AP?

The Iconics getting Loot!

Lirianne loots the 'droid's Laser Gun from book 1 for the book 2 cover

Amiri loots the chainsaw from book 2 for the book 3 cover (after her sword was rust monstered anyway on b2 cover)

I can't tell if Lini or Damiel has looted anything for Book 4 cover, but Lini's hands (scrunch your eyes to make it work) look similar to the quad arm droid here? Maybe she got them woodified to not lose druid powers?

Book 5 and 6 don't have updated cover art yet, so no speculation on whether Damiel will be toting one of the Brains from the Brain Collector on the Book 4 cover, but it wouldn't be surprising.

So, yay! Iconic Loot!
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
archmagi1 wrote:

You know what I love so far about this AP?

The Iconics getting Loot!

Lirianne loots the 'droid's Laser Gun from book 1 for the book 2 cover

Amiri loots the chainsaw from book 2 for the book 3 cover (after her sword was rust monstered anyway on b2 cover)

I can't tell if Lini or Damiel has looted anything for Book 4 cover, but Lini's hands (scrunch your eyes to make it work) look similar to the quad arm droid here? Maybe she got them woodified to not lose druid powers?

Book 5 and 6 don't have updated cover art yet, so no speculation on whether Damiel will be toting one of the Brains from the Brain Collector on the Book 4 cover, but it wouldn't be surprising.

So, yay! Iconic Loot!

That is also one of the things I am enjoying about this AP, or at least the artwork we are seeing. It makes me conclude that the picture of Lirianne on the cover of the Technology guide must be what she is wearing after the conclusion of the AP...

Also, I too have received my 'shipping soon' email, so I am that much closer to the edge of my seat.
Dark Archive

So anyone have this yet?
Kevin Mack wrote:
So anyone have this yet?

Too soon, I think.

Lantern Lodge
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

But not too soon to start pulling out our hair (if any), and screaming at the screen, "WHEN, DAMN YOU?!? WHENNNNN?!?!?!"
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
xidoraven wrote:
But not too soon to start pulling out our hair (if any), and screaming at the screen, "WHEN, DAMN YOU?!? WHENNNNN?!?!?!"

Does "now" work for you? (I can only answer so many questions - I'm at work so I can only look at it in short spurts, though after 6 PM CDT I'm the only one in the building.)

To the best of your knowlege anyway. Maybe a murderer snuck in. There's a cheerful thought to keep you going until the end of your shift.
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
mikeawmids wrote:
To the best of your knowlege anyway. Maybe a murderer snuck in. There's a cheerful thought to keep you going until the end of your shift.

Eh, it's much more likely that my machine will catch fire while I'm here alone.

That's already happened once. O_o
Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Got mine! >Begins the reading<

PLEASE tell me Furkas Xoud is something new and not just an undead of some type ???
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Kvantum wrote:
xidoraven wrote:
But not too soon to start pulling out our hair (if any), and screaming at the screen, "WHEN, DAMN YOU?!? WHENNNNN?!?!?!"
Does "now" work for you? (I can only answer so many questions - I'm at work so I can only look at it in short spurts, though after 6 PM CDT I'm the only one in the building.)

What are the monsters and new tech items?

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