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Pathfinder Adventure Path #133: Secrets of Roderic's Cove (Return of the Runelords 1 of 6)

***( )( ) (based on 6 ratings)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #133: Secrets of Roderic's Cove (Return of the Runelords 1 of 6)

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Wrath Shall Reign!

When one runelord rose from his slumber, the frontier nation of Varisia shook with his power, and it took a band of heroes to save the world. Yet there remained six other runelords, and now the most wrathful of them all has woken! As the runelords waken one after another, the dangers and perils faced by past heroes pale in comparison. When a mysterious and fearful ghost manifests on the streets of Roderic's Cove at the same time the town's gangs use the runes and legacies of ancient Thassilonian tyrants for their own ends, a new band of heroes must rise to save Varisia, and perhaps the world, from the return of the runelords!

This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path begins the Return of the Runelords Adventure Path and includes:

  • "Secrets of Roderic's Cove," a Pathfinder adventure for 1st-level characters, by Adam Daigle.
  • An exploration and gazetteer of the town of Roderic's Cove and its inhabitants, by Adam Daigle.
  • An extensive timeline of the history of Thassilon, revelations about the methods used by each runelord to avoid destruction during the apocalypse of Earthfall, and notes for Game Masters on the roles each runelord plays in this Adventure Path, by James Jacobs.
  • A bestiary of monsters lurking around Varisia, including the child-stealing nochlean and the innocuous-looking warpglass ooze, by Mikko Kallio, Luis Loza, Jacob W. Michaels, and Conor J. Owens.

ISBN-13: 978-1-64078-062-0

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

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Fun Adventure Path for Your Varisian Legacy Characters!

***** —

A Strong Start to an Epic Campaign

****( ) —

Secrets of Roderic's Cove serves well as the start of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path and is strong enough in its own right to serve as a stand-alone adventure if desired. Since it covers a level 1-5 range, it could even serve as an entire campaign for somebody using the Beginner's Box if desired.

The town of Roderic's Cove has many problems, from a mini-gang war to the appearance of the ghost of the town founder. The order in which the PCs solve these problems depends on their choices. All told, the adventure features several dungeons, a monster-filled wilderness, a haunted house, and a mansion whose infiltration calls for stealth and guile. This is in addition to several encounters in the town itself, from monsters that attack in the night to the chaos caused by a renegade grimple.

Secrets of Roderic's Cove is much more of a sandbox than most other 1st-level adventures, and it serves well to establish the PCs as individuals with their own agency. The adventure path calls for a group that is willing to be proactive and solve problems in their own way, and this adventure sets that tone nicely.

It would have been nice to see more guidance in certain areas - the aforementioned mansion could be difficult to run for a GM who doesn't handle infiltration missions well, for example. I also miss certain adventure path features such as the foreword and the fiction, but I understand that certain sacrifices have to be made for the line's first 1-20 non-mythic adventure path. Overall, this book is a strong start to a campaign and a good adventure to have even if you don't plan to run the full path.

Third Time's the Charm

****( ) —

First, let me qualify this review. This is not a read-through review; our group has played this adventure and it’s not all that different from any of the other introductory modules of which we've played in nearly half of the APs Paizo has published over the past decade. It is quite serviceable and, as advertised, disposable pulp fantasy, complete with the requisite tropes. If you're looking for award-winning prose or groundbreaking character development, it is in short supply, but this seems to be standard and the norm for monthly canned modules like these. Even so, there's a lot for GMs to work with: a fleshed-out location with ample NPCs, a clear tie in to the next module, and enemies who, if played with nuance, skirt the line between ally and enemy. The encounters are appropriately difficult for a system that's now so bloated with exploits. Groups looking for cheap thrills and plenty of them will be satisfied as the module trends towards quick advancement and steady, generous treasure acquisition. Does it need some extra love from the GM, well yes – show me a module that does not. Does it live up to the previous installments in the Runelord franchise, I'd say, yes, close. We lack singing goblins in this one, but, memory has a funny way of making those past installments better than they actually were and it's challenging to go up against that type of nostalgia in a world increasingly suffused with critics.

Of six ap’s this is the worst

*( )( )( )( ) —

Into book three of this ap; have played six other ap’s and this is hands down the worst ap. The story is extremely underwhelming and feels like it was written as a “where are they now” tour of previous ap’s. If you want to take a tour of previous ap's NPCs and locations then this is the ap for you. If you want a good story I’d try any number of other ap’s.

Underwhelming.

*( )( )( )( ) —

The underlying structure of this story is not great, and the writing doesn't help. For the first book in an Adventure Path, this one leaves me underwhelmed and slightly nervous to see what follows. It seems like a rough first draft, and it gives me the same impression of Ultimate Wilderness, where not enough time was taken to craft a publication that is worth distributing. I hope it was just a one-time thing, and that the next books will be back up to the usual standard of quality for APs.

I find that the AP books are increasingly filled with great ideas, and the quality has been top-notch for quite a while. When I read this book, I was constantly thinking about how I'd have to re-work things to make the story coherent, or thinking of details I'd have to add where none are provided in the book.

The text (room descriptions, faction descriptions, NPC description) gives very little fuel for the imagination. They largely focus on back-story that is irrelevant to what the PCs might encounter.

SPOILERS:

For example, one room takes an entire paragraph to describe where the long-dead family sat in this room when they ate their meals. That does nothing for me as a DM. Instead, why not say that the following can be found in the room: "A child's toy; a carved drawing on the table. An old bracket on the window where a telescope used to be. A hand-crafted high chair for the youngest child that's now rotting." Something that the characters could actually discover. I find myself continually frustrated by the unusable text in the book that makes it a chore to read.

Some room descriptions simply repeat what's obvious on the map (and also given in the read aloud text): "This hallway stretches from the front door and curves at a right angle before ending. A set of rickety stairs ascends to the house's second story." This is obvious from the map, and to make it worse, the read-aloud also says: "A set of stairs rises to the next floor, and the hallway turns sharply to the north past the staircase." None of this adds anything I couldn't just tell the players from looking at the map.

There are four different groups involved in this book, and the relationships between them are over-complicated and unnecessary. Several of the groups are hard to realistically imagine living in the town. The groups (and all areas) also feel static, like they're waiting for the PCs to arrive to interact with them. The descriptions of the groups are insufficient to determine more dynamic interactions and motivations, and these brief descriptions sometime contradict the way they're encountered.

For example, there is a group of "frustrated workers and struggling individuals from the lower classes who hope to make a better place for themselves in Roderic's Cove - a sort of informal and rough-around-the edges labourer's guild." This sounds very realistic and compelling to me. However, the group is named the "Horned Fangs", and their members seem to be hanging out in a dungeon, waiting to attack. All the verisimilitude is lost, as is the potential complexity of dealing with co-opted members of the town.

Another group is led by an old witch-like oracle who seems completely out of place with the rest of her members, and there is literally zero description about her motivations, or why she leads the group.

The macguffin in the book could provide a great lead-in to the dangers of the following books, but everything is strangely capped off at the end of the book. The only motivation the PCs have at the end is to follow an NPC's advice to research the macguffin they found. I can think of a number of ways this could have been done better. (The macguffin also uses a power at the start of the story that is not usable by PCs. There is some description of why this happens, but it will never be obvious to the PCs, and is potentially confusing).

TL:DR - This book doesn't match up to the usual quality of PF AP's. I'm writing this to express my concern, and my hope that the next books in this AP match what we expect in terms of cohesive and compelling writing, and as a tool for GM's to create great stories from.

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James Jacobs wrote:
Even then, it's a tight squeeze, and it's looking like unless I artificially inflate XP awards in the last adventure that PCs won't hit 20th level until the very end, just in time for the final encounter.

That's very unfortunate. I'd really like to, for once, actually play a while at level 20, not just for the final boss fight. Though I suppose it would be easy enough to keep the PCs one level above the recommended and just toss an advanced template or two on everything.

Marco Massoudi wrote:


Subscribers will begin to get access to their pdfs starting tomorrow, friday 17th of august and all of them should have received them by friday 24th.
Street date is august 29th.
The players guide will be available sometimes in between tomorrow and 29th.

Personally i expect it either by the middle of next week or by monday the 27th.

Oh, ok.

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

:) Glad Paizo is back up. Back to waiting for my pdf :) Hopefully Monday I will get my shipping confirmation ^_^. I have been looking forward to this for the past 5 years. DM'd every runelords adventure path and looking forward to the finale.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
1 person marked this as a favorite.
sunderedhero wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Even then, it's a tight squeeze, and it's looking like unless I artificially inflate XP awards in the last adventure that PCs won't hit 20th level until the very end, just in time for the final encounter.
That's very unfortunate. I'd really like to, for once, actually play a while at level 20, not just for the final boss fight. Though I suppose it would be easy enough to keep the PCs one level above the recommended and just toss an advanced template or two on everything.

I'm further into the last adventure and there's a LOT of XP to be earned. Most parties will be able to earn enough XP to do the final set of encounters and not just the last one at 20th level, but that depends as much on your GM giving out XP at the right time... if you only give out XP at the end of a session and your sessions run long, it might be tricky.

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
sunderedhero wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Even then, it's a tight squeeze, and it's looking like unless I artificially inflate XP awards in the last adventure that PCs won't hit 20th level until the very end, just in time for the final encounter.
That's very unfortunate. I'd really like to, for once, actually play a while at level 20, not just for the final boss fight. Though I suppose it would be easy enough to keep the PCs one level above the recommended and just toss an advanced template or two on everything.
I'm further into the last adventure and there's a LOT of XP to be earned. Most parties will be able to earn enough XP to do the final set of encounters and not just the last one at 20th level, but that depends as much on your GM giving out XP at the right time... if you only give out XP at the end of a session and your sessions run long, it might be tricky.

And that is why I've long done away with giving out XP and just tell the players to level up at the appropiate moments.

Dark Archive

So shipping will now begin on monday 27th.
I bet the players guide will drop on the (intended) street date of wednesday 29th.
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, Roleplaying Game Subscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

And I'm betting I'll be getting my shipping notification (and therefore pdf) 1-3 days after the releases date and the books 7-10 days after the street date.

::Sadface::
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32

Yeah its a bummer this is shipping so late. It really should have been celebrated as a Gencon release, since Runelords are such an iconic part of pathfinder.
Now subscribers wont even have it in their hands by street date.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Grumpus wrote:

Yeah its a bummer this is shipping so late. It really should have been celebrated as a Gencon release, since Runelords are such an iconic part of pathfinder.

Now subscribers wont even have it in their hands by street date.

Some of us don't get their hands on it until well after the release dates anyhow. Subscribers will still get their PDFs on or shortly after release. It happens.

Liberty's Edge
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, Roleplaying Game Subscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
FallenDabus wrote:
Grumpus wrote:

Yeah its a bummer this is shipping so late. It really should have been celebrated as a Gencon release, since Runelords are such an iconic part of pathfinder.

Now subscribers wont even have it in their hands by street date.
Some of us don't get their hands on it until well after the release dates anyhow. Subscribers will still get their PDFs on or shortly after release. It happens.

Doesn't mean we shouldn't or can't be disappointed by it. Part of the reason for subscribing is to make sure we get the materials. Part of the benefit for placing trust in Paizo by subscribing is that we get free pdfs when the item ships. Part of a subscriber's reasonable expectation is that this occurs ahead of the item's release date.

Sure, it happens. Doesn't mean we have to be happy about it.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Modules, Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Please please PLEASE confirm subscriptions before the site goes down again! : S
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Darth Krzysztof wrote:
Please please PLEASE confirm subscriptions before the site goes down again! : S

If the site goes down again, we can't DL our pdfs - so...

Dark Archive

I doubt anybody already has this.
Prove me wrong, Skeld! ;-)
Grand Lodge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Modules Subscriber; Pathfinder Comics Subscriber

*coughs*
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
TriOmegaZero wrote:
*coughs*

You have it? well dont leave us all in suspence How is it?

Grand Lodge
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Modules Subscriber; Pathfinder Comics Subscriber

I'm not allowed to talk until subscribers get it. :P
Dark Archive
TriOmegaZero wrote:
*coughs*

Can you list the creatures by name, type & CR?

Some details about Roderics Cove would also be much appreciated. ;-)
Dark Archive

Also: Which Runelords survived & how?
Dark Archive

Has subscriber shipping started today or not (due to website problems)?
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Subscriber shipping has started.
4 people marked this as a favorite.

I have my PDF. I'll be happy to answer some questions.

-Skeld
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Basic outline of the plot maybe?

Kevin,

I assumed there was Time travel involved...

Also I too would it if Skeld answered our questions about the bestiary, CR and type.
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Kevin Mack wrote:
Basic outline of the plot maybe?

Spoiler:

The adventure starts out with the PCs intervenin in an excalating altercation between rival gangs and quickly turns into a "something bigger is going on" investigation that ends with the revelation that Runelords are waking (or already are).

The AP plot summary sounds crazy good if you're a fan of the Runelord-related APs and lore.

-Skeld
4 people marked this as a favorite.
Thomas Seitz wrote:

Kevin,

I assumed there was Time travel involved...

Also I too would it if Skeld answered our questions about the bestiary, CR and type.

Spoiler:

Cypher Gull, CR 2, N Tiny Magical Beast (looks like a gull with runes on its wings)
Nochlean, CR 3, CE Medium Fey (reminds me of a grey/tan goblin)
Runewarped Creature, CR +1, template
Warpglass Ooze, CR 2, N Medium Ooze (evil reflection thing)

-Skeld
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Thomas Seitz wrote:

Kevin,

I assumed there was Time travel involved...

Also I too would it if Skeld answered our questions about the bestiary, CR and type.

On tine travel:

Spoiler:
reading the AP summary, it doesn't look like time travel becomes a plot point for the PCs until the 5th or 6th chapter.

-Skeld
Dark Archive

Skeld, which Runelords survived how?

Which RLs are fought in which books?

Thank you a lot! :-)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Roleplaying Game Subscriber

where's the Player's Guide? It was supposedly on schedule before the site went down.
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, Roleplaying Game Subscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
zergtitan wrote:
where's the Player's Guide? It was supposedly on schedule before the site went down.

On schedule meant "on or around" the same time as the first chapter, so today, tomorrow, the next day, next week if the site goes down again, you know..... sometime.

James Jacobs wrote:
Player's guide is in process, and will be out closer to the release of the first volume. As always for Player's Guides, please be patient.

Dark Archive

The players guide should normally be out on the street date of the first volume of an AP at the latest.
Due to the site having problems and Paizo being notoriously understaffed since Starfinders development, i can see it coming out much later though.
I'm sure James & the Paizo crew are doing their best. :-)
Paizo Employee Creative Director
8 people marked this as a favorite.
Marco Massoudi wrote:
... Paizo being notoriously understaffed since Starfinders development...

Wrong.

We've got more employees working on Pathfinder than EVER before—Starfinder isn't understaffing us on the Pathfinder side of things.

The Player's Guide has been ready to go live for weeks, and it's the unfortunate website trouble that's delayed it (along with all other website related things)—NOT a shortage of editors or developers or anyone else on the editorial side of things.

Please don't assume that since we were late on the last one that we've always been late and always will be for Player's Guides.
Paizo Employee Managing Developer
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Marco Massoudi wrote:

The players guide should normally be out on the street date of the first volume of an AP at the latest.

Due to the site having problems and Paizo being notoriously understaffed since Starfinders development, i can see it coming out much later though.
I'm sure James & the Paizo crew are doing their best. :-)

This is not the place, but the bolded part of your statement is not the case. We've hired a number of people in the last 9 months or more, as noted in our New Faces blogs (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).

In any case, the problems with the site have prevented us from getting the Player's Guide up sooner. As always, it will be available when we can get it out to y'all.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
9 people marked this as a favorite.

And: What Adam said.

Further (and @ Marco specifically)—if you don't work at Paizo, please avoid making comments like you do. It confuses folks and it annoys us.
Paizo Employee Managing Developer
3 people marked this as a favorite.

James beat me by 22 seconds!
Paizo Employee Creative Director
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Adam Daigle wrote:
James beat me by 22 seconds!

Perhaps, but I think having both of us jump in at about the same time is good for getting the message out. Thanks for the assist! :-)

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

I just am glad that Paizo is one of the most engaged staffed companies I have ever had the chance to purchase from. I work in the IT field and understand things occur. I just keep looking forward to this as I love the first book of any adventure path. Especially the trilogy. Uniquely I saw that there is a template which makes me excited.
Paizo Employee Managing Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm excited because while I've been reading APs for a dozen years and have been working on them for the last 6, this is the first one I've written! :D

This is why people in WW kind of didn't like me for saying stuff about Scarred Lands...

But in the interim, I want to say I already like the bestiary stuff AND I look forward to seeing how this all plays out.

Finally if Adam likes it, you know it must be good. :)
8 people marked this as a favorite.

Now that that's all settled, let's get back to some mild spoilers.

Marco Massoudi wrote:
Skeld, which Runelords survived how?

Spoiler:
This comes from the section about the Runelords.

Alaznist - Used a runewell to create a sheltered demiplane (similar to Karzoug).
Belimarius - Trapped in a time loop by accident.
Karzoug - Currently living in his mother's basement loudly complaining that she bought the wrong hot pockets.
Krune - Trapped himself in a soul gem on purpose.
Sorshen - Used a runewell to create a sheltered demiplane.
Xanderghul - Created his own demiplane without a runewell, thank you very much.
Zutha - Lich phylactery.

Marco Massoudi wrote:
Which RLs are fought in which books?

Spoiler:
This comes from the AP summary.

Chapter 4 - Xanderghul.
Chapter 5 - Belimarius (maybe).
Chapter 6 - Alaznist.

-Skeld
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Skeld, PDF Prophet wrote:

Now that that's all settled, let's get back to some mild spoilers.

Marco Massoudi wrote:
Skeld, which Runelords survived how?

** spoiler omitted **

-Skeld

Ok, I almost choked on my drink regarding Karzoug. :)

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Ugh, reading the Runelord Legacy section and campaign outline section left me more anxious to get the remaining six parts than before. I had hoped that I could calm down a bit about that after reading the campaign outline, but nope.

That's going to be a long six months.
4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Skeld wrote:
Karzoug - Currently living in his mother's basement loudly complaining that she bought the wrong hot pockets.

Infinite, cosmic power! Itty-bitty living space. LOL

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Has everyone got their pdfs or is it still delayed from the website being down. The suspense is killing me!
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Maps, Modules, Roleplaying Game Subscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Those of us with subscriptions (in my case, to product lines other than this one) could very well be waiting for spoilers from non-subscribers -- note that PDFs are available for direct sale now.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Skeld, PDF Prophet wrote:

Now that that's all settled, let's get back to some mild spoilers.

Marco Massoudi wrote:
Skeld, which Runelords survived how?

** spoiler omitted **

Marco Massoudi wrote:
Which RLs are fought in which books?

** spoiler omitted **

-Skeld

Spoiler:
Kind of hoping Zutha and Sorshen have some kind of bearing on the story, since for the most part Sorshen's hidey-hole is known to the players (It's under Korvosa.)
Paizo Employee Creative Director
4 people marked this as a favorite.

As for the runelords having story impacts...

Spoiler:
ALL SEVEN of the ones folks are familiar with have impacts on the story in one way or another, but beyond that, many more beyond those—prior runelords who ruled further back—also have impacts on the story. Not all of that information is listed in part 1.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
David knott 242 wrote:

Those of us with subscriptions (in my case, to product lines other than this one) could very well be waiting for spoilers from non-subscribers -- note that PDFs are available for direct sale now.

Sorry, should have been more clear. I have the subscription, but haven't gotten any message for about 2 weeks about it. Wasn't sure if the website crash pushed me having access to the pdf back this far.

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Modules, Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Salbade wrote:
David knott 242 wrote:

Those of us with subscriptions (in my case, to product lines other than this one) could very well be waiting for spoilers from non-subscribers -- note that PDFs are available for direct sale now.

Sorry, should have been more clear. I have the subscription, but haven't gotten any message for about 2 weeks about it. Wasn't sure if the website crash pushed me having access to the pdf back this far.

It seems that way; my subscription copy hasn't shipped yet, either.

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Darth Krzysztof wrote:
Salbade wrote:
David knott 242 wrote:

Those of us with subscriptions (in my case, to product lines other than this one) could very well be waiting for spoilers from non-subscribers -- note that PDFs are available for direct sale now.

Sorry, should have been more clear. I have the subscription, but haven't gotten any message for about 2 weeks about it. Wasn't sure if the website crash pushed me having access to the pdf back this far.
It seems that way; my subscription copy hasn't shipped yet, either.

Same here.

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Ah well. It's not like I'm short of stuff to play at least :)
maybe I'll get lucky and will get the pdf just in time to read over the long weekend
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