paizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolencepaizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence2024-03-08T18:10:48Z2024-03-08T18:10:48ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence (4 stars)ThomLowhttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2024-03-08T18:05:43Z...ThomLow2024-03-08T18:05:43ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence (5 stars)UlfenTraderhttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2023-12-28T12:31:27Z...UlfenTrader2023-12-28T12:31:27ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: I think this might be the Harrowing of 2nd edition (5 stars)Chris Sharpehttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2023-03-09T11:01:02Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Every edition of an RPG has the solid adventures, the awful adventures, the forgettable adventures, and the adventures which get talked about even decades later.</p>
<p>Malevolence is dense, it's complex, it's incredibly challenging, but the story is so beautifully done that I'll be coming back to this one for years to come.</p>
<p>If you like mysteries, then this one of the best. The mystery is actually solvable. There are ways to give your players clues, and reveal more things to investigate without feeling contrived.</p>
<p>I wish I could give this a 6th star</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Every edition of an RPG has the solid adventures, the awful adventures, the forgettable adventures, and the adventures which get talked about even decades later.</p>
<p>Malevolence is dense, it's complex, it's incredibly challenging, but the story is so beautifully done that I'll be coming back to this one for years to come.</p>
<p>If you like mysteries, then this one of the best. The mystery is actually solvable. There are ways to give your players clues, and reveal more things to investigate without feeling contrived.</p>
<p>I wish I could give this a 6th star</p>Chris Sharpe2023-03-09T11:01:02ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Poorly Designed (2 stars)YogoZunohttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2022-12-29T00:06:41Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Almost nothing but over-levelled encounters, in a scenario set up to ensure the characters can't hit the expected level for those encounters, making every fight stupidly difficult. As a player, this adventure was nothing but frustration. We quit less than halfway through.</p>
<p>A shame that the potential story is hidden behind ridiuclously-tough fights. Might be ok to play if you use a group a level or two over the recomended.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Almost nothing but over-levelled encounters, in a scenario set up to ensure the characters can't hit the expected level for those encounters, making every fight stupidly difficult. As a player, this adventure was nothing but frustration. We quit less than halfway through.</p>
<p>A shame that the potential story is hidden behind ridiuclously-tough fights. Might be ok to play if you use a group a level or two over the recomended.</p>YogoZuno2022-12-29T00:06:41ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Lots of potential, depending on your group (5 stars)KefkaZhttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2022-07-08T03:47:42Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I'm currently running this for the second time. The first time we got about 1/4 of the way through the adventure before life got in the way. This time we are about 1/2 way through. The adventure is very well written and flows together very well. The attention to detail is amazing and frankly, we are having a lot of fun. I'm amazed by how much value my players are getting from one adventure. The one caveat I have for this module is that this isn't a great module for beginners. It really rewards people who dig deep and those who embrace the research aspect of the adventure. Additionally, this is a horror atmosphere. In horror movies, people run. If your party does not understand "strategic withdrawal" as a tactic, this may not be the adventure for them. I have had 4 encounters where the party decided to withdraw and come back later. If your players can think like that, this will be a great time. If your players aren't of that ilk... well... they get to make lots of new characters to try out.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I'm currently running this for the second time. The first time we got about 1/4 of the way through the adventure before life got in the way. This time we are about 1/2 way through. The adventure is very well written and flows together very well. The attention to detail is amazing and frankly, we are having a lot of fun. I'm amazed by how much value my players are getting from one adventure. The one caveat I have for this module is that this isn't a great module for beginners. It really rewards people who dig deep and those who embrace the research aspect of the adventure. Additionally, this is a horror atmosphere. In horror movies, people run. If your party does not understand "strategic withdrawal" as a tactic, this may not be the adventure for them. I have had 4 encounters where the party decided to withdraw and come back later. If your players can think like that, this will be a great time. If your players aren't of that ilk... well... they get to make lots of new characters to try out.</p>KefkaZ2022-07-08T03:47:42ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: A largely unfun slog (2 stars)VampByDayhttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2022-05-20T21:29:03Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I wrote a large, detailed review, but PAIZO ate it, so here is the condensed version.</p>
<p>Almost every room has a single high level monster, which just wrecks you, and you can’t just go sleep it off because the game punishes you for that too.</p>
<p>There is one monster that isn’t the final boss that would have TPKed our party of veteran players who knew what we were doing because it was grossly under leveled (was more powerful than its level indicated).</p>
<p>Almost ever room has a haunt, which stops being scary and just becomes tedious after a while.</p>
<p>Story and plot line are fantastic and the only thing that save it. If only the encounters had been redesigned and the game had give you sufficient loot, I would have rated it 5 stars. As it is, the author seems to have confused ‘hard slog’ for ‘scary.’</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I wrote a large, detailed review, but PAIZO ate it, so here is the condensed version.</p>
<p>Almost every room has a single high level monster, which just wrecks you, and you can’t just go sleep it off because the game punishes you for that too.</p>
<p>There is one monster that isn’t the final boss that would have TPKed our party of veteran players who knew what we were doing because it was grossly under leveled (was more powerful than its level indicated).</p>
<p>Almost ever room has a haunt, which stops being scary and just becomes tedious after a while.</p>
<p>Story and plot line are fantastic and the only thing that save it. If only the encounters had been redesigned and the game had give you sufficient loot, I would have rated it 5 stars. As it is, the author seems to have confused ‘hard slog’ for ‘scary.’</p>VampByDay2022-05-20T21:29:03ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Best Adventure Ever (5 stars)jadedtempesthttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2022-05-15T19:52:34Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I did write an in-depth review, but when I hit save changes I got a "You've backtracked too far error" and lost it all.</p>
<p>So I'll just sum up: great atmosphere and great research mechanics. The fights are pretty tough, but it's usually fine to retreat if you need to. Best adventure I've ever played.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I did write an in-depth review, but when I hit save changes I got a "You've backtracked too far error" and lost it all.</p>
<p>So I'll just sum up: great atmosphere and great research mechanics. The fights are pretty tough, but it's usually fine to retreat if you need to. Best adventure I've ever played.</p>jadedtempest2022-05-15T19:52:34ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: The research system could be done better (4 stars)P.B.https://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2022-04-16T00:01:45Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>So, straight to the topic:</p>
<p>The party will either love or hate the research system.
<br />
If the party misses the 2 needed skills (and chances they miss at least one), the research will take forever and they will miss a lion's share of the story.
<br />
If they do come with the right skills, a successful research may easily ruin whatever the suspense and mystery the GM is trying to build.
<br />
I ended up just going with whatever topics the room called for and revealing the next bit of info on one successful check, but only if it didn't spoil the parts they didn't explore yet.
<br />
After all, a classic horror pattern is "face unknown->learn about it". Doing it the opposite way turns gameplay into a cleanup duty rather than an investigation.</p>
<p>The "secret" condition is a bit tricky. On one hand, revealing it to players outright removes a lot of danger and turns it into just another number. On the other hand, keeping it secret forever makes final encounter and most hazards way worse than they should be.</p>
<p>Balancing these two things is up to GM, but I think this could be handled better.</p>
<p>Overall, good adventure with a good mystery setup and reasonably balanced encounters. I would suggest using optional Automatic bonus progression rule to avoid the party running back and forth to buy/sell stuff and killing any sense of urgency.</p>
<p>Of course, be sure your players are comfortable with certain topics or at least know how to use X cards.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>So, straight to the topic:</p>
<p>The party will either love or hate the research system.
<br />
If the party misses the 2 needed skills (and chances they miss at least one), the research will take forever and they will miss a lion's share of the story.
<br />
If they do come with the right skills, a successful research may easily ruin whatever the suspense and mystery the GM is trying to build.
<br />
I ended up just going with whatever topics the room called for and revealing the next bit of info on one successful check, but only if it didn't spoil the parts they didn't explore yet.
<br />
After all, a classic horror pattern is "face unknown->learn about it". Doing it the opposite way turns gameplay into a cleanup duty rather than an investigation.</p>
<p>The "secret" condition is a bit tricky. On one hand, revealing it to players outright removes a lot of danger and turns it into just another number. On the other hand, keeping it secret forever makes final encounter and most hazards way worse than they should be.</p>
<p>Balancing these two things is up to GM, but I think this could be handled better.</p>
<p>Overall, good adventure with a good mystery setup and reasonably balanced encounters. I would suggest using optional Automatic bonus progression rule to avoid the party running back and forth to buy/sell stuff and killing any sense of urgency.</p>
<p>Of course, be sure your players are comfortable with certain topics or at least know how to use X cards.</p>P.B.2022-04-16T00:01:45ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Excellent Horror Adventure (5 stars)Mimskihttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2022-03-16T00:22:56Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Malevolence is an excellent hounted house horror adventure. Like all horror adventures it becomes truly great if the GM knows what the players are (un)comfortable with and puts in that extra bit of effort personalising some things here and there. The adventure, as written, even has some suggestions and opportunities for that mentioned, as well as a horror content list. This helps the whole group be on the same page about what to expect and tune the tone of the adventure. From slow-burn horror to a more manic Scooby-Doo-like romp, I think the adventure is flexible enough to support either narrative style.
<br />
The mysteries and secrets of the adventure are well-written, the themes are solid and foreshadowing and narrative cohesion allow for great "aha!" moments for the players.</p>
<p>Mechanically some encounters can be difficult, depending on party composition and luck. It is overall a challenging adventure with some resource-scarcity. If the party needs some more help to through, I'd suggest leaving some healing items and striking runes in the house. Including the research subsystem and challenging fights players should expect the exploration to take some in-game time and be ready to retreat and take breaks.</p>
<p>I can only reccommend it to anyone interested in a horror adventure!</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Malevolence is an excellent hounted house horror adventure. Like all horror adventures it becomes truly great if the GM knows what the players are (un)comfortable with and puts in that extra bit of effort personalising some things here and there. The adventure, as written, even has some suggestions and opportunities for that mentioned, as well as a horror content list. This helps the whole group be on the same page about what to expect and tune the tone of the adventure. From slow-burn horror to a more manic Scooby-Doo-like romp, I think the adventure is flexible enough to support either narrative style.
<br />
The mysteries and secrets of the adventure are well-written, the themes are solid and foreshadowing and narrative cohesion allow for great "aha!" moments for the players.</p>
<p>Mechanically some encounters can be difficult, depending on party composition and luck. It is overall a challenging adventure with some resource-scarcity. If the party needs some more help to through, I'd suggest leaving some healing items and striking runes in the house. Including the research subsystem and challenging fights players should expect the exploration to take some in-game time and be ready to retreat and take breaks.</p>
<p>I can only reccommend it to anyone interested in a horror adventure!</p>Mimski2022-03-16T00:22:56ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Excellence incarnate. (5 stars)Sliska Zafirhttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2021-11-29T03:52:11Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>This is everything I want in a haunted mansion fantasy adventure. A wide spectrum of foes, superb storyline, a well-done Research subsystem that rewards players for unraveling mysteries, and frightfully good horror moments.</p>
<p>If you like horror adventures, don't miss this one. I'm having an awesome time running it, and imagine as a player I'd rank it one of the highest ever. Ever. It's that good, and I've been playing FRPGs since 1978.</p>
<p>As a GM, prepare to answer some things like...is there a nearby town where we can buy supplies/do library research? I said yes, and used Carnav (Ravounel). They also had a campsite in Crook Cove.</p>
<p>This party works well for our group - bard, champion, rogue, investigator with heal focus. Investigator is almost a must. Cleric/Oracle of Pharasma also good. Also, as another reviewer said, playing in long sessions or playing weekly will enhance the player experience, as the story will seem more contiguous and players will be able to connect discoveries better than long downtimes.</p>
<p>Get this!</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>This is everything I want in a haunted mansion fantasy adventure. A wide spectrum of foes, superb storyline, a well-done Research subsystem that rewards players for unraveling mysteries, and frightfully good horror moments.</p>
<p>If you like horror adventures, don't miss this one. I'm having an awesome time running it, and imagine as a player I'd rank it one of the highest ever. Ever. It's that good, and I've been playing FRPGs since 1978.</p>
<p>As a GM, prepare to answer some things like...is there a nearby town where we can buy supplies/do library research? I said yes, and used Carnav (Ravounel). They also had a campsite in Crook Cove.</p>
<p>This party works well for our group - bard, champion, rogue, investigator with heal focus. Investigator is almost a must. Cleric/Oracle of Pharasma also good. Also, as another reviewer said, playing in long sessions or playing weekly will enhance the player experience, as the story will seem more contiguous and players will be able to connect discoveries better than long downtimes.</p>
<p>Get this!</p>Sliska Zafir2021-11-29T03:52:11ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Absolutely brilliant (5 stars)Nostrixhttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2021-11-11T09:53:43Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I ran the adventure simultaneously for two different groups, and it is has become my favourite Paizo adventure ever.</p>
<p>The story is excellent, and the way it is delivered to the players in an organic way that encourages them to participate in the research mechanic is extremely elegant and works very, very well. Every group will learn different things at different stages of the adventure, and this will affect the way they proceed through the manor.</p>
<p>Encounters are difficult but not insanely so, each creature has an actual reason for being there which was nice to see. Some effects have super high DCs which experienced GMs should be wary of and use sparingly, but that's my only criticism.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>I ran the adventure simultaneously for two different groups, and it is has become my favourite Paizo adventure ever.</p>
<p>The story is excellent, and the way it is delivered to the players in an organic way that encourages them to participate in the research mechanic is extremely elegant and works very, very well. Every group will learn different things at different stages of the adventure, and this will affect the way they proceed through the manor.</p>
<p>Encounters are difficult but not insanely so, each creature has an actual reason for being there which was nice to see. Some effects have super high DCs which experienced GMs should be wary of and use sparingly, but that's my only criticism.</p>Nostrix2021-11-11T09:53:43ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Hardcore haunted mansion mystery (5 stars)CorvusMaskhttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2021-10-31T09:17:26Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Well for once I'm reviewing adventure I have played but not run :'D I have read the adventure though so I do think that counts as having good enough overall picture of module as written and how it works in practice!</p>
<p>Anyway, it is great module, I love its atmosphere, potential consequences and mystery. And it has my new favorite eldritch horror picture :D</p>
<p>But yeah, to anyone who runs or play this, do understand this is genuinely hardcore adventure. Most of encounters in book feature higher level enemies than players, so while "Moderate" solo encounter isn't anywhere near dangerous as severe solo boss, they are still mini bosses capable of making party sweat hard. Heck one of the haunts is extremely deadly. Players should also be aware that yes, retreating town to buy striking weapons is option :'D</p>
<p>That said, I don't think I would personally tone down encounters myself, but we did have hard time with five characters without gm having make adjustments to encounters (champion, cleric, bard, alchemist and rogue) :'D Still though nobody died in the end with us even with close calls and I do think it does benefit horror to be genuinely difficult when combat starts. Characters did go through some really harsh stuff. Still its good to be aware that you might want to restat monsters bit if you know your party doesn't like to go through wringer multiple times in same adventuring day. Also helps if gm doesn't use milestones because this is definitely ap where you want to level up faster by doing research topics :p</p>
<p>I originally though that I would lower some of the research dcs, but checking them from book, I think more likely I would just tell players difficulty order of them :P Thing is that for most parts dcs are fine for optimal characters, in case of lacking int character with good society or such they will be harder to succeed yeah, but not that bad really. I see that in multiple cases we kept rolling most difficult of three options given since we didn't realize it was most difficult option
<br />
so we took days with some topics :'D</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Well for once I'm reviewing adventure I have played but not run :'D I have read the adventure though so I do think that counts as having good enough overall picture of module as written and how it works in practice!</p>
<p>Anyway, it is great module, I love its atmosphere, potential consequences and mystery. And it has my new favorite eldritch horror picture :D</p>
<p>But yeah, to anyone who runs or play this, do understand this is genuinely hardcore adventure. Most of encounters in book feature higher level enemies than players, so while "Moderate" solo encounter isn't anywhere near dangerous as severe solo boss, they are still mini bosses capable of making party sweat hard. Heck one of the haunts is extremely deadly. Players should also be aware that yes, retreating town to buy striking weapons is option :'D</p>
<p>That said, I don't think I would personally tone down encounters myself, but we did have hard time with five characters without gm having make adjustments to encounters (champion, cleric, bard, alchemist and rogue) :'D Still though nobody died in the end with us even with close calls and I do think it does benefit horror to be genuinely difficult when combat starts. Characters did go through some really harsh stuff. Still its good to be aware that you might want to restat monsters bit if you know your party doesn't like to go through wringer multiple times in same adventuring day. Also helps if gm doesn't use milestones because this is definitely ap where you want to level up faster by doing research topics :p</p>
<p>I originally though that I would lower some of the research dcs, but checking them from book, I think more likely I would just tell players difficulty order of them :P Thing is that for most parts dcs are fine for optimal characters, in case of lacking int character with good society or such they will be harder to succeed yeah, but not that bad really. I see that in multiple cases we kept rolling most difficult of three options given since we didn't realize it was most difficult option
<br />
so we took days with some topics :'D</p>CorvusMask2021-10-31T09:17:26ZPathfinder Adventure: Malevolence: Very fun and engaging haunted house scenario. (4 stars)Falgaiahttps://paizo.com/products/btq027qf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Malevolence2021-10-12T23:13:03Z<p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Keeping it short for now, I'll edit once I'm done with both my player and GM run in about a week from now.</p>
<p>Pros:
<br />
- Lot of challenging fights throughout the module.
<br />
- The Research Subsystem works incredibly well to help pace the module.
<br />
- Very fun seeing a party slowly piece together the story of what occurred in Xarwin Manor.</p>
<p>Cons:
<br />
- Encounter difficulty descriptors will give you WILDLY wrong impressions of how difficult the fights will actually be as a GM. I can't count how many Moderate Encounters in this scenario nearly led to player deaths in this module, and there's at least one instance of a Severe encounter that has been a complete joke in both of our runs.
<br />
- Fairly limited roleplay in the scenario itself, although there is room to add in roleplay if you're willing to put in the legwork. Research subsystem does a good job pacing the combats in the absence of Roleplay, however, so it doesn't feel like the scenario is lacking overall as a result.</p>
<p>Overall rating would be a 4.5/5; choosing to round down my rating due to the encounter difficulty descriptors being misleading, but otherwise I'd recommend the module. Compared to Slithering and Plaguestone, I think Malevolence has the strongest overall setting and story and is a great scenario for those that are looking to run straight from the module. Or, if you'd prefer, it can be a great foundation to build a Haunted House experience from for GM's looking for one. Just make sure you adjust the difficulty of the encounters for your players or warn them that the module is incredibly dangerous ahead of time.</p>
<p>One last note: As the module is structured like a mystery, I recommend running the scenario in long sessions, that way it is less likely for players to forget important details of the mystery over gaps between sessions. Playing the Adventure out over the course of a few months means that players will likely not be able to engage with it as effectively, but it can still be engaging if you inform your players to take notes during the game play.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence</b></p><p>Keeping it short for now, I'll edit once I'm done with both my player and GM run in about a week from now.</p>
<p>Pros:
<br />
- Lot of challenging fights throughout the module.
<br />
- The Research Subsystem works incredibly well to help pace the module.
<br />
- Very fun seeing a party slowly piece together the story of what occurred in Xarwin Manor.</p>
<p>Cons:
<br />
- Encounter difficulty descriptors will give you WILDLY wrong impressions of how difficult the fights will actually be as a GM. I can't count how many Moderate Encounters in this scenario nearly led to player deaths in this module, and there's at least one instance of a Severe encounter that has been a complete joke in both of our runs.
<br />
- Fairly limited roleplay in the scenario itself, although there is room to add in roleplay if you're willing to put in the legwork. Research subsystem does a good job pacing the combats in the absence of Roleplay, however, so it doesn't feel like the scenario is lacking overall as a result.</p>
<p>Overall rating would be a 4.5/5; choosing to round down my rating due to the encounter difficulty descriptors being misleading, but otherwise I'd recommend the module. Compared to Slithering and Plaguestone, I think Malevolence has the strongest overall setting and story and is a great scenario for those that are looking to run straight from the module. Or, if you'd prefer, it can be a great foundation to build a Haunted House experience from for GM's looking for one. Just make sure you adjust the difficulty of the encounters for your players or warn them that the module is incredibly dangerous ahead of time.</p>
<p>One last note: As the module is structured like a mystery, I recommend running the scenario in long sessions, that way it is less likely for players to forget important details of the mystery over gaps between sessions. Playing the Adventure out over the course of a few months means that players will likely not be able to engage with it as effectively, but it can still be engaging if you inform your players to take notes during the game play.</p>Falgaia2021-10-12T23:13:03Z