A Pathfinder/3.5 Compatible Adventure for 4-5 level 7 PCs
There comes a point in every adventuring career when a guildhall becomes a necessity. After all, where is the fighter going to hang his trophies? Where is the wizard going to perform his arcane experiments? Fortunately for the PCs, Edgewaith Manor is free for the taking. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a fixer-upper. There’s some really bad mold in the bathroom, the furnace is temperamental to say the least, and the whole place is infested with interplanar ants. Such are the joys of homeownership.
Even worse, a group of treacherous real estate agents want the house for themselves, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it. Once the PCs gain access to the manor’s magical deed, they will have to work quickly to rearrange the rooms, populate them with traps and troops, and prepare to defend the house. In this adventure, the party has the rare opportunity to build a dungeon for the GM!
Also included in “For Rent, Lease, or Conquest”:
A trio of malfunctioning magical items sure to befuddle any adventurer.
PC-eating chicken coops.
A crash course in gnomish architecture.
The chance to befriend a formian monarch and gain the esteemed title “Defender of the Colony.”
An excellent opportunity to gain a home base suitable for any adventuring party.
Art by White Wolf alumna Laurel Shelley-Reuss.
Designed as a sequel to “Death & Taxes,” this module also works perfectly as a stand alone adventure.
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This module clocks in at 47 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 43 pages of content, so let's take a look!
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion. Really. The outrageous premise is a part of the fun.
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Still here? All right! First of all - if your PCs have completed the superb "Death and Taxes"-module, they're likely to be familiar with the subtle, off-kilter humor this module sports - if not, well, then all the better. The PCs are contacted by one gorgeous lady called Sylvia Towntree, the very top-brass of Hordenheim's real estate brokers and agents. The lady contacts them to clear out a haunted manor constructed by an eccentric gnome/architect, edgewaith manor. The encounters, though, quickly show that this is not yet another grim-dark delve into a family's tragedy - oozes in the closet just are part one of the challenges that hilariously echo the tasks real life people may face when restoring an old manor: Of course, the place has a vermin problem.
Only we're talking fantasy world here, and thus, alas, the vermin are sentient - a Formian queen has set up shop in the place and while the unseen servants may have been intended as a rare form of luxury, the well-meaning magical constructs can result in pretty much hilarious accidents on the side of the PCs. Heck, even the bound fire elemental providing central heating can be reasoned with and be played up for a glorious blending of the horrific and genuinely funny. It should also be noted that the house's depiction regarding rooms is anything but rudimentary, coming with rather exquisite details even before the superb maps in full color (including player-friendly versions) come into play.
Yes, the place has a rather nasty fuse-box. Oh, and yes, PCs may actually do battle with animated chicken coops trying to eat them. No, I'm not making that up. More impressively, they receive artworks that make them genuinely creepy! Now sooner or later, the queen will seek diplomacy, rather piqued by the bad form of the home-invading PCs...and either by combat or diplomacy, hand over the deed to the manor - which coincidentally allows for the free re-arrangement of rooms - all rules for that are perfectly described in a nice, concise handout. And here, the module becomes totally awesome and bonkers - in a twist, the real-estate agent arrives with a full-blown mop-up crew to kill friggin' everybody! She didn't get to the top by playing nice, after all! So yes, the PCs, with full command of the house (and hopefully a couple of Formians) may defend the house and use its powers to essentially turn all those tricks they witnessed upon their wannabe assassins for one of the most glorious, iconic showdowns I've read in ages. Home alone, anyone?
The pdf provides full stats of for all creatures for both PFRPG and D&D 3.X.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no significant glitches. Layout adheres to AAW Games' 2-column full-color standard with copious amounts of awesome full-color art and superb full-color cartography. The module comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
Do you know how many modules I read per year? How many I've read in total? Hint: Probably too many. I have seen just about everything and only very, very rarely do I encounter a module that instills a total sense of jamais-vu in me. This module managed that. But it did so much more - it is logical, concise and downright glorious. It is also the funniest module I've read in years. Now don't get me wrong - unlike many comparable modules, this one is NOT a "joke module" - it is superbly crafted, sports great writing and thoroughly iconic ideas and is professional in every way. In order to note how this module brilliantly skirts the boundaries between the creepy and funny, between high-fantasy and tongue-in-cheek nods towards our own culture, all without breaking the 4th wall, one practically has to run this exceedingly fun beast.
I am not engaging in hyperbole when I'm saying that playing this module saw one player fall from his chair, laughing. This is one of the most unique, inspired modules I've read in AGES. Colin Stricklin's first module was great - this is ridiculously good. And yes, pun intended. Even the premise would be enough to qualify this as awesome, but add the optional, subdued and INTELLIGENT humor, the unique adversaries and superb production values and we quite frankly have a module that belongs into the collection of every Pathfinder DM. Yes, that good. Unless you have even less humor than the stereotype accredits to Germans like me, this is a must-have blast of a module. My final verdict will clock in at 5 stars + seal of approval and nominating this as one of my candidates for the Top Ten of 2014.
Thanks for the kind words, guys! As the writer, I'm particularly interested to hear battle reports on this one. There's a lot of room for creativity here, and I can't wait to see what shenanigans players come up with!
This is a very fun adventure and something I will be running for my players down the road.
I would also like to point out the beautiful stationary background by Rick Hershey and fantastic layout by Eric Cagle. When this one comes out in print make sure you pick it up, it's well over 40 pages!
Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek, Lou Agresta's RPGaggression and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS and d20pfsrd.com's shop.
Thanks for the kind words, guys! As the writer, I'm particularly interested to hear battle reports on this one. There's a lot of room for creativity here, and I can't wait to see what shenanigans players come up with!
Good module, lots of fun so far.
Ran Pt. 1 on Saturday. Some highlights:
Module Spoilers:
My group and I are all in in our 30s and 40s, so we've dealt with Realtors before. Player: "Sense Motive!" GM: "She is as honest as any other real estate broker."
In the dining hall, the conditions (entangled, etc.) from the unseen servants lasted longer than the single round stipulated. I kept this up mainly because my players were amused at the servants pulling out chairs and assaulting them with napkins.
My players encountered the warriors first, but I let the workers in the kitchen just look at the PCs ... and my players just looked back at them and moved on. Per the module's instruction, one of the workers followed. I described the worker constantly watching them. The ranger dubbed her "Buggy" and adopted her as a pet.
For the dance room/giant slug fight, I described flashing lights and the sounds of music. I hit a button ... and disco blared out of the Sonos system!! Three (out of four) players YMCA'd while hitting the slug.
The chicken coops were a big hit. Puzzled monk player: "Can I grapple a giant chicken coop?"
At the nursery door:
Players: "Hmmm."
GM: "Do you want to go in?"
Players: "WAIT A MINUTE ... THE GM IS SMILING!!! DO NOT ENTER!!"
Monk, in the basement:
"I have a Wisdom of 14. I am not going to touch the glowing blue crystal. I have a Wisdom of 14. I am not going to touch the glowing blue crystal."
The PCs explore the top floor first (did not find the queen), then went to the basement. Once they found the drawing, the ranger knew what to do with the chair. He sat in it and coaxed Buggy to sit in the chair with him. He spoke the phrase ... and the chair flew out of the bedroom to the entry hall, with ranger in the chair, and Buggy clinging to him for dear life.
The chair rotated in the air, then rammed full-speed into the wall hiding the queen's chamber.
Overall, my players had fun, I think. Next week, we're running part 2 ...
GM: "She is as honest as any other real estate broker."
That is some fast thinking right there.
Glad to hear that your players adopted "Buggy." During playtest my guys just killed everything in sight. Probably a good call not making the little dudes attack.
If you ever wander back to this comment, I'd love to hear what happened in Part II.
Cheers to your and yours, Pennywit, and happy gaming.
