Pathfinder Module: Gallows of Madness (PFRPG)

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Pathfinder Module: Gallows of Madness (PFRPG)
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The Abyss Approaches!

Something wicked—and monstrous—stirs around the rugged Isgeri town of Saringallow, where the hated legacy of noble Chelish diabolists runs deep. With the recent disappearance of several apprentices, the nearby menace of particularly grotesque goblins, and the unsettling rumors about the old Sarini Estate, Mayor Sandra Trinelli knows that she needs help, and she needs it fast! The heroes must confront one of these crises, or all three, if they hope to stem the tide of darkness that looms. Before too long, the heroes discover that villains with ties to the Abyss have set their sights on Saringallow, and won't rest until the settlement and all its innocent inhabitants fall victim to their madness-inducing predations!

Gallows of Madness is a 64-page, highly versatile collection of three adventures for 1st-level characters. Each adventure also includes scaling information for parties of 2nd-level characters. Written with beginning Game Masters and players in mind while also providing challenging content for veterans, these adventures can be prepared quickly and run separately or in any order. For GMs who wish to run a deeper, more narrative game, this volume also offers an overarching timeline of events and detailed tips for running these adventures as a cohesive whole. Bonus content includes new monstrous foes and a gallery of NPCs to help easily connect the adventures, plus a gorgeous double-sided poster featuring an overview of Saringallow and a miniatures-scale battlemap!

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-854-0

Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Sanctioned Content
Gallows of Madness is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild.

Download the rules and Chronicle sheets — (365 kb zip/PDF)

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First Part is absurd for low level characters

1/5

The following is a review of only the first third of the module. But I needed to vent.

The last encounter is just crazy for a group of 1-2nd level characters.

Spoiler:
1 or two Fiendish Fly Swarms? So, functionally immune to by far the most common anti swarm remedy carried by low level characters (alchemist fire), relying instead on the far less useful acid flasks that, I admit, WERE provided to the characters.

Characters partly built to handle swarms (alchemists, blasty wizards) are also partly or completely nerfed by the fire resistance.

But hitting swarm AC is pretty difficult. Bleed is a NASTY effect unless you have a channeler around.

And all this while on a timer so retreating is only an option if you don't care about saving the apprentices.

Giving the swarms the Fiendish template is, IMO, an egregious blunder for a low tier module. Without that the encounter would have been difficult but fine.

Admittedly some of this was due to a party with low damage (so we couldn't kill the fly quickly enough)

I enjoyed the rest of it. The investigation was fine (nothing special but fine). The other fights were fine (party composition made one fight a hilarious slap fight).


5/5

This is one of my favorite modules. I played through this one instead of GMing it. It really does fit the niche of "three separate but connected adventures". Having played all three parts, the third chapter is by far the best with a thematic and creepy trek into an abandoned mansion. It genuinely lead to several moments at the table where all of the players were creeped out - and that's not an easy thing to do with this group. I highly recommend this module.


Great Started Adventure and perfect for PFS

5/5

This is a great set of three adventures. My only gripe would be the wilderness adventure is a little bit linear, but even then has a couple of nice RP pieces in it.

This seems to fill the same niche as the Tower Level of Emerald Spire a nice way to introduce people to the game, and gives some nice early benefits.


4/5

There look like great little low-level adventures, and I like that you can used them separately or as a linked mini adventure path.

My only gripe is the lack of a town map in the module itself. The pull-out map has a great town map... but it ONLY appears on the pull-out map and not anywhere else in the pages of the module. The full-page copy of the cover illustration inside the back cover is nice, but I would rather have had a small town map would have been better.


Buy One, Get Three Great Adventures!

5/5

Not one, not two, but THREE great first level adventures. All linked by certain disturbing events and can be run in any order or used separately. Reading through this module, I felt a certain old school style, but there is plenty of description and assistance for inexperienced GMs and detailed instructions for ramping up each adventure to second level as PCs are expected to level after finishing two of the three.

Also included are five fun monsters of often underrepresented types including a plant, two fey, a vermin and a magical beast/potential familiar. Additionally, there is a pull-out town map/ reversible battle mat and three NPCs including the main vermin... I mean villain. um... you'll see.

My only gripe is that I would have preferred a more in depth gazetteer of the town and region. There are some locations described in the first adventure and some local history which is nicely tied to the third adventure, but not much more to inspire further adventure. I'll take off half a star and round up.

Nonetheless, I will again say that these are three great adventures which would each serve as fantastic low level adventures whether your party is in the mood for urban investigation (#1), battle in the wilderness (#2), or exploring a spooky old mansion (#3).


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Mike Kimmel wrote:
Mikko Kallio wrote:
The cover looks great! So many spiders!
And a distinct lack of hope.

Well certainly a distinct lack of good arachnid repellent.


Amanda Hamon Kunz wrote:
Ratbane wrote:
Will there an option that PCs are from Saringallow ? It would be a great way to background for the PCs.

While the module doesn't provide any pregenerated characters, there is advice sprinkled throughout the adventures for GMs whose groups have one or more PCs from Saringallow. It's especially relevant in the first adventure, which takes place wholly in the settlement.

Playing a PC from Saringallow would be a great way to build a really immersive story, especially if you're playing all three adventures in the module.

Nice and I will want to run this module with that in mind. I was looking at trait and think the militia will be nice plus it sets up why my group is together.


Love the anthology format and super excited to venture into Isger!


Where is Saringallow in Isgeri and what is population made (all humans, some halfling, some gnomes, and others) ?


Not much information on the settlement yet. I imagine specific information about the makeup of the town will be in the module.

According to the map in the Inner Sea World Guide, Saringallow is pretty much right in the middle of Isger, on the Conerica River just below where the two forks flow together.

Dark Archive

So anyone have this yet and if so details please?


Berselius wrote:
Another Module for 1st level PC's?

I love the modules for 1st level for two things:

1st: you always could use them as starting point for any adventure homebrew or even an introductory adventure for an existing AP
2nd: as a 1st level adventure, is pretty easy to convert it into any level you want to run making some fixes to it.

Said that, it is more complicated downgrading a higher lvl module than escalating a lower level one.


Any news/updates to this as it will be released soon?


If anyone has this, can they give me a rundown of the bestiary? Overall impressions of the module? Thanks!


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

I will take a look at it this evening and let you all know.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Maps, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber

I just got mine in the mail.

Spoiler:

It is very appropriately full of madness. The pages are out of order, I have two copies of several pages and am missing some pages all together.
.
.
.
I got a chuckle out of it. I have no doubt Paizo will make it right when they get my email.


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Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

The PDF seems to have all of the pages in order. Per the synopsis, it contains 3 independent low level adventures set in Isger.

NPCs in the first appendix are:

Nixa Volsetti (female human fighter 2)
Nolaria Wintren (female human adept 3)
Wormgnash (vermlek)

Monsters in the second appendix are:

Breathless Orchid (medium plant)
Drochtac (medium fey that looks like a demonic lizard with too many legs)
Giant Hook Fly (small vermin)
Hook Fly Swarm (diminutive vermin swarm)
Katroome (small magical beast that resembles a brightly colored caterpillar)
Nukkefeen (medium fey that resembles an animated doll)


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

I just got done reading the 3 adventures (skimming the NPC descriptions and bestiary as well). No missing or duplicate pages, however. :)

IMO, this really looks like a fun adventure. It is extremely descriptive compared to the other modules (and APs) I have, definitely geared toward GMs that are newer to the experience - which I don't mind given my noobishness (just over a year). However, I think it is complex enough to be very interesting for the GM as well, particularly given the amount of content there is to relate to the PCs.

I read through the whole adventure as if it were a single story (it really is) and liked how it tied together. The encounters all made sense to me, too, and I didn't find them overly difficult (though I did not run any battles, just a read). The XP totals would probably put you at 2nd level sometime during the 2nd part, and perhaps hitting 3rd level right before (or at the end of) the finale in the 3rd part if you adjust the end of part 2 and all of part 3. I didn't add up the XP totals, however, but I'd guess if you ran this with more than 4 PCs they will not get to 3rd.

It's a little light on treasure when considered as a single adventure, though individually, as stand-alone 1st level adventures, it's probably balanced correctly. There's no reason you couldn't adjust that up as well if you intended to take the party past this module.

Also, skills weigh heavily in these modules, particularly the first one. They also tend toward the high side - DC 25 perception in one case, and will definitely push the boundaries of various PCs. As such, role-playing matters, too, and is well accounted for throughout the 3 sections.


Thanks everyone for the info. It looks very promising.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Another interesting point is that the material is almost completely CRB (and it seems 1 other book which I can't recall now). In spite of the implication of the horror releases right now, and this being "Gallows of Madness," there is no connection. They do point out a lot of maps that would be useful in certain places, however, which I also like.


Is there a map of the town ?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Yes, not unlike many folio town maps.


This is sounding really spectacular. How far does this module skew toward the horror genre versus traditional fantasy?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

I'm not really a horror genre buff, so I'm not sure I can compare effectively. It is different than classic fantasy/old school D&D tropes, however. It is eerie.

Liberty's Edge

So is the Saringallow detailed in the module? Also it there info to continue adventures using this a base?


There is no separate section just on Saringallow. It does get a settlement stat block, and there are four and a half pages in the first adventure which include Saringallow's History, Life in Saringallow, and Exploring Saringallow, which details 16 locations on the included poster map of the town. (The second and third adventures are set in the countryside surrounding the town.)

There is no Continuing the Adventure section.


Howdy!

New to DMing and I'm glad this is catered to new DMs and players.

I have a questions about how to handle certain aspects of the first adventure.

Spoiler:
Would a Cleric's Channel ability remove an area of Demon's Bile equal to the area of the burst? I get the impression that it is intended to be cleared in 5-foot sections, but a burst would clear it wholesale, perhaps diminishing the sense of urgency.

I'm also curious how an experienced DM would handle the hypothetical situation of the party imploring the priest to accompany them to the warehouse. They could reasonably assume there will be plenty of bile that needs to be cleared up, and the possibility that his daughter will be there. A 5th level NPC cleric could basically do all the hard work for them, but I also think it would be clever and resourceful if the PCs thought of this.

I appreciate any insight or assistance.

Paizo Employee RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

Joshua9093 wrote:

Howdy!

New to DMing and I'm glad this is catered to new DMs and players.

I have a questions about how to handle certain aspects of the first adventure.

** spoiler omitted **

I am happy to send my thoughts your way later on. I am moving today and only have access to my phone, but the computer should be hooked up by this evening!


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

1st part:

Well, RAW doesn't say anything about channel energy applying to anything other than creatures (either living or undead), but I'm not sure what RAI would be on this. Either way, I'd be sure to limit it so they wouldn't be able to clear out an entire room with one instance of channel energy. That seems like it misses the point, particularly for a group of newbs.

2nd part:

I'd play up either the "I'm busy with other things" or "This is beneath me" angle. In general, the town is sort of on edge for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is their own history. There are 2 relevant quotes as well. First:
GoM wrote:

So far, the people of Saringallow don’t recognize that there’s a major problem, for no one is aware of the situation at Gellion’s house or the warehouse, and the vermin, while strange-looking indeed, seem few and far between.

which implies the problem hasn't risen to the level of important NPC involvement (yet). Second:

GoM wrote:

As the town’s primary administrator, Trinelli hasn’t the time to delve into the problems, and even if she did, the townspeople would notice her doing so, which could cause a panic

she hopes to avoid.

which is two-fold in that a) it is beneath the concern of important NPCs, and b) raising this to the level of concern for important NPCs may frighten the townsfolk.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Oh, also, if you do allow them to go the "clever" route of the 2nd part of your question, absolutely make them work for it through either role-playing or serious skills checks (diplomacy comes to mind). Putting an option within reach but far enough away that failure is possible will make it more rewarding if they succeed. Doing so also sets the stage for later when they begin to second guess what you're up to - they'll start to think "hmmm, this seems too easy, it must be a trick!" :)


Just read through my copy. The adventures look solid and easy to run, which I might do as a short mini-campaign in the future. I must also say that I really dig the bestiary for this one. The kartroom is absolutely whimsical and the two fey creatures are very American McGee's Alice in tone.

When I actually run this I'll post a review but so far I'd actively recommend this adventure, especially to newer players and GMs.


Just finished reading my copy. Looks like it will be a lot of fun to run as a mini campaign. I really like how it's possible to run the three parts in any order.

My one gripe is the poster map: what good is it, if a particular secret location is printed on the map? I can't show it to the players, and a smaller map in the book would work better for a GM's reference.


Joana wrote:

Not much information on the settlement yet. I imagine specific information about the makeup of the town will be in the module.

According to the map in the Inner Sea World Guide, Saringallow is pretty much right in the middle of Isger, on the Conerica River just below where the two forks flow together.

The map in the module significantly moves Saringallow's location, putting it right on the border of Cheliax and directly across the river from Logas (the old capital city). I'm not sure if this is intentional.

Scarab Sages Developer

tbug wrote:
Joana wrote:

Not much information on the settlement yet. I imagine specific information about the makeup of the town will be in the module.

According to the map in the Inner Sea World Guide, Saringallow is pretty much right in the middle of Isger, on the Conerica River just below where the two forks flow together.

The map in the module significantly moves Saringallow's location, putting it right on the border of Cheliax and directly across the river from Logas (the old capital city). I'm not sure if this is intentional.

Hey there, tbug. The location of Saringallow hasn't changed -- it's still right in the middle of Isger, with Wolfpoint as the closest settlement. The regional map on page 24 shows that in better detail, and it also shows more geographic detail than the map in the Inner Sea World Guide (namely the forested areas and small streams leading to the foothills at the base of the Menador Mountains). It looks like the smaller map at the front of the module shows the river incorrectly, so just wanted to clear that up!


The Inner Sea Poster Map Folio and the smaller map at the front of the module both show the entirety of the Chitterwood and the distinctive shape of the Aspodell Mountains. The smaller map (Gallows of Madness p. 3) shows Saringallow positioned to the west of the northern part of the Chitterwood (and removes some detail, including the part of the Conerica River that flows past Wolfpoint, as well as Wolfpoint itself). The Poster Map Folio shows Saringallow north of the eastern part of the Chitterwood, almost as far east as the northern part of the Aspodell Mountains. The map on p. 24 agrees with the Poster Map Folio, which I had missed before your post. I'll go with that.

Thank-you for the clarification, Amanda!

Scarab Sages Developer

tbug wrote:

The Inner Sea Poster Map Folio and the smaller map at the front of the module both show the entirety of the Chitterwood and the distinctive shape of the Aspodell Mountains. The smaller map (Gallows of Madness p. 3) shows Saringallow positioned to the west of the northern part of the Chitterwood (and removes some detail, including the part of the Conerica River that flows past Wolfpoint, as well as Wolfpoint itself). The Poster Map Folio shows Saringallow north of the eastern part of the Chitterwood, almost as far east as the northern part of the Aspodell Mountains. The map on p. 24 agrees with the Poster Map Folio, which I had missed before your post. I'll go with that.

Thank-you for the clarification, Amanda!

You are most welcome! :D


Mikko wrote:
It's actually three thematically linked horror adventures that you can play as one-shots, as a linear mini-campaign, or as a sandbox because they're all set in and around the same town. The first part is urban investigation, the second one is a wilderness adventure, and in the third one you explore an abandoned estate with a haunted reputation.

...from this thread

Sovereign Court

Any idea when this will be PFS sanctioned?

Grand Lodge Contributor

GeraintElberion wrote:
Any idea when this will be PFS sanctioned?

John Compton posted on the Paizo blog about it, it's now sanctioned for PFS!

Grand Lodge

Just read over the sanctioning document. I love that there are scaling instructions.

When reading the scaling instructions and it talks about APL, do we consider the size of the group? (A table of 6 L1 characters is, by the CRB, APL 2.) Or do we use the usual PFS rules, which state that we should just take the mean of the PC levels?

I can't wait to run these in the lodge!


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I'm working on an adaptation of parts of this module and have a question.

Demon's Bile as an Ingested Disease:

Demon's bile is detailed on pages 17-18 of the module.

Does the +1 Wis damage and +1 Str gain per failed saving throw cease once the infected person's alignment has completed the switch to chaotic evil? And wouldn't this damage heal up after each night of bed rest (as per the Core Rulebook/191) and not accumulate as it seems to have for Gellion? (Answered this part for myself--CRB/556.)

Silver Crusade

I was just wondering about how long does each portion of this module take to run?


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Every time I see someone post a one star review, I have to ask what criteria are they using? Do they even know what a one star product looks like? There is a level of quality and professionalism that should preclude almost every Paizo product from garnering such a rating. One star is your ratings opinion because there was something you didn't like, not because it was a truly awful product.

Learn the difference.


SirJustinSane wrote:
I was just wondering about how long does each portion of this module take to run?

They run pretty well in a standard 4-5 hour timeslot, trending closer to 5 hours. That being said, there is the potential for a lot of freeform RP, and sandbox adventures can easily run long if the GM allows it. These are very similar to individual levels of Emerald Spire in terms of play length.


Mikko Kallio wrote:
GeraintElberion wrote:
Any idea when this will be PFS sanctioned?
John Compton posted on the Paizo blog about it, it's now sanctioned for PFS!

And being run this weekend at Dreamation in New Jersey.

This will going to be run as a six slot PFS event, broken into three parts at Dreamation this weekend. 2 slots each Fri-Sun.

Players who complete all three parts with the same character will get a bonus Chronicle.

Otherwise each of these chapters is an evergreen which means it can be replayed with as many first level characters, or played once with a 2nd or third.


I have a map question for Part 3 (Parts 1 & 2 were pretty clear).
Namely...

Spoiler:
There are no suggested maps to use at all in part 3, even though Parts 1 & 2 both had the needed unique maps and suggestions about map packs and/or flipmats. The town stuff from part 1 can be re-used if needed, but part 3 references map locations (specifically k18, k19, & k20), but there's no map of the Sarini Estate???

The fact that no one else has brought this up in all these months makes me think I might be missing something really obvious....


Budd the C.H.U.D. wrote:
This is sounding really spectacular. How far does this module skew toward the horror genre versus traditional fantasy?

I wouldn't say that it's horror vs fantasy, as opposed to being horrific fantasy. Comparisons might legitimately be made to Reign of Winter. Nothing from the horror books is required to run it though.

Don't want to spoil anything for folks going to Dreamation though.

Grand Lodge Contributor

Amanda Plageman wrote:

I have a map question for Part 3 (Parts 1 & 2 were pretty clear).

Namely...
** spoiler omitted **

The fact that no one else has brought this up in all these months makes me think I might be missing something really obvious....

It's on the inside front cover. :-)


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Mikko Kallio wrote:
Amanda Plageman wrote:

I have a map question for Part 3 (Parts 1 & 2 were pretty clear).

Namely...
** spoiler omitted **

The fact that no one else has brought this up in all these months makes me think I might be missing something really obvious....

It's on the inside front cover. :-)

Now see? That's what I meant! lol

That's what I get for downloading the module in chapter form, rather than as 1 file.

Thanks! :-D

Dark Archive

Am I understand this correctly? The first play through of this, unless they use the option on the last sheet a new character character gets 4 levels? 1 per boon sheet?

Shadow Lodge

I bought my copy as the PDF. Is there any way to get hold of the poster from the module as a PDF as I would quite like to know what the town layout is?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
bluedragon wrote:
I bought my copy as the PDF. Is there any way to get hold of the poster from the module as a PDF as I would quite like to know what the town layout is?

It should be a separate .pdf file within the .zip file that you downloaded. It should be named something like PZO9552 Poster Map.

Shadow Lodge

1970Zombie wrote:
bluedragon wrote:
I bought my copy as the PDF. Is there any way to get hold of the poster from the module as a PDF as I would quite like to know what the town layout is?
It should be a separate .pdf file within the .zip file that you downloaded. It should be named something like PZO9552 Poster Map.

Thank you I have now found it.

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