Taking a much-needed relaxing break in between escapades, four gun-toting adventurers post up in a dingy bar in one of Alkenstar's entertainment districts. Right across the street at a theater, people flood inside to catch the premiere of a highly-advertised play, but what comes out of the theater is far more dangerous. As people scatter to safety in the dusty streets, its up to the group of gunslingers in the bar to set things right.
This short Pathfinder 2nd edition adventure written by Michael Sayre is intended to be completed in a single session and includes four 3rd-level pregenerated gunslinger characters, who make use of the exciting new equpment and rules found in Pathfinder Guns & Gears, whose backstories and motivations tie closely to one another. This adventure can be easily incorporated into various virtual tabletops, run off of digital devices, or printed out and played at a table.
This one-shot delivers on its promise: "go shoot zombies!"
Full disclosure: I ran this as a home-game with custom PCs, so I'm not sure how the experience of the all-gunslinger pregen party would differ.
My minor quibbles are that the final encounter (especially if enemies' tactics are followed exactly as written) is underwhelming difficulty-wise and there isn't really an option for the players to discover more about the villain's motivation unless the villain monologues. Added clues that the players could find and then perhaps even use in the final encounter would've been neat.
Additionally, the tension would have been improved by having an additional complication when exploring the various buildings: e.g., NPC in danger.
This adventure delivers what it promises: a fight against hordes of zombies. It is a very much fun time, and the optional rule given (instant zombie kills on critical hits) developed some hilarious fun on my table. The setting of Alkenstar is very much beloved by the fandom, and the flip mat is quite stellar.
It is, however, not perfect. The AP could do with more varied enemies and rewarding loot. It also didn't give NPCs a lot to play with. I personally added an infected survivor, and two people fighting for canned food - ya know, the usual zombie movie tropes. I think you could have a lot of fun with this one, if you're willing to work with what's given NPC-wise.
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder One-Shot #3: Head Shot the Rot
Product- Pathfinder One-Shot #3: Head Shot the Rot
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $ 9.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02aoq?Pathfinder-OneShot-3-Head-Shot-the-Rot
TL; DR-This is what I want more of. 100%
Basics- AIM FOR THE HEAD! Head Shot the Rot is a one-shot drop-in game for four PCs set in Alkenstar. It’s a glorious “Kill the bad guys, save everyone!” kind of adventure.
Mechanics or Crunch- This is Night of the Living Dead in Pathfinder. You have some zombies and you have some people. You get some skill checks, some combat, and some social. That’s all the pieces of the game I want. And I’m happy! It’s solid mechanics with 3rd level PCs and some monsters that can tear them up if they screw up, but enough firepower to make sure that doesn't happen. Finely balanced as all things should be. 5/5
Theme or Fluff- You start in a bar with your buds, bad happens, and you kill it. Save the people, get the money. That’s the story and there is enough in the adventure and maps to build that into a fun place to play and explore even if you don’t go far. The PCs and I had a blast with this one. 5/5
Execution- It’s Paizo. They know how to lay out a book, make nice art, make it easy to read, and get me the information I need in a hurry. It’s 10 bucks, which is a bit pricey, but it filled four hours. This beats the movie test of if I went to the movies with the same friends, would we spend more. So, I don't feel ripped off here. It comes with art, maps, and PCs - all the toys I need to literally just drop in Roll20 and play. 5/5
Summary- Some days you crave Game of Thrones level intrigue, and others you just want a bunch of zombies, a gun, and a goal. This is the latter. I loved everything here. It’s a fun one shot where all the players get what they want out of this, while I had fun and did not need hours of prep before. Hey Paizo! Make more of these, and then connect them to each of the adventure paths. I’d buy them! 100%
As mentioned by another reviewer- without giving your players some upfront knowledge of whats about to happen or some sort of lore inserted into the game for them to come across , it's just going to be "suddenly waves of zombies attack!" which does the entire thing a bit of disservice.
the headshot mechanic is fun, and my gunslingers enjoyed feeling like aces instead of worrying if it was going to be misfire night.
A good time that could have very easily been GREAT.
Pros:
+ The setup is fun and immediately engaging.
+ The pregen party is memorable and shows off the diversity of guns/gunslingers.
+ It's written to be streamlined and fast-paced.
Cons:
- Some character abilities are of limited/no use in the adventure as-written.
- NPC dialogue is a little stiff and doesn't leave much room for rewarding RP.
- Only three enemy types; a zombie brute would have been a good addition.
- Loot isn't great; the +1 piercing wind gets a lot of space dedicated to it in the text, but an upgraded bayonet/stock or special ammo like glue bullets would have been easier to implement.
- The villains have a neat little backstory, but it's never even hinted at to the players so they come off as nonentities.
Verdict:
With a little TLC from a solid GM, this one-shot can be a great time. But I wish it had gotten a little more work/polish to knock it out of the park.
Are there any plans to release the digital assets like you did with the first 2 one-shots? I still don't have them available in my downloads.
They need to be. That is the point of the product. I'll advocate internally.
Aaron, the digital assets are still not added to the download. Could you please follow up on this product?
I have asked the webstore to correct the error again.
The download package for this product has been updated to include the Art Assets folder. Folks who already have the PDF should be able to download the updated version from their Digital Content page.
Are there any plans to release the digital assets like you did with the first 2 one-shots? I still don't have them available in my downloads.
They need to be. That is the point of the product. I'll advocate internally.
Aaron, the digital assets are still not added to the download. Could you please follow up on this product?
I have asked the webstore to correct the error again.
The download package for this product has been updated to include the Art Assets folder. Folks who already have the PDF should be able to download the updated version from their Digital Content page.
(For anyone who was wondering, this update also has the correct sheet for Zakzak with his spoon gun.)
Are there any plans to release the digital assets like you did with the first 2 one-shots? I still don't have them available in my downloads.
They need to be. That is the point of the product. I'll advocate internally.
Aaron, the digital assets are still not added to the download. Could you please follow up on this product?
I have asked the webstore to correct the error again.
The download package for this product has been updated to include the Art Assets folder. Folks who already have the PDF should be able to download the updated version from their Digital Content page.
(For anyone who was wondering, this update also has the correct sheet for Zakzak with his spoon gun.)
Hello, I'm sorry, but can you clarify one thing? AoN says that reinforced stock has finesse trait, and these pregens say that it hasn't. Where is truth?
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
I really wish this or Guns & Gears had been paired with one of the premium Pathfinder Battles sets. It's impossible to find decent miniatures for gunslingers, especially once you go beyond human ancestry. Give me a ZakZak miniature!
(Or a partnership with Hero Forge, with some race options that match Pathfinder 2 ancestry art, and some of the more unique guns.)
I haven't played this yet, but judging by the tone of the blurb I'm willing to bet that Michael watched From Dusk Til Dawn immediately before writing it.
I haven't played this yet, but judging by the tone of the blurb I'm willing to bet that Michael watched From Dusk Til Dawn immediately before writing it.
I really hope I'm right xD
I don't know about immediately before, but I've certainly watched it more than once.
In addition Doc's Reinforced Stock should also be +9 , they are trained in martial weapons giving us +5, and +4 from Dex as Reinforced stock has the Finesse trait
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