Pathfinder One-Shot #3: Head Shot the Rot

Headshot is thematic scenario that highlights the gunslinger class with a good story and some enemies that make them look good (crits!).

As a one shot, I really liked the experience and I had a lot of fun. In the context of this scenario, the gunslingers were really effective, until the final battle.

I think Paizo made this product to showcase the gunslinger, but it did the exact opposite, everyone left thinking gunslingers are an awful and weak class. Congratulations Paizo! You’ve made pregens that are weaker and less effective than Harsk!

The backstory and personality of each pregen was OK, but I’ve seen better from Paizo. As is often the case, important details are left out (like Scatter) and players are left to look everything up. Also, PCs need to swap gear to be more effective. The art for the pregens was good.

I believe we were done in 2.5 hours. It could have been sooner, but the boss fight took a long time, gunslinger damage is just abysmal. We also started late and reviewed the pregens for awhile, so it could be done in 2 hours or less.

Overall: This was a really fun experience and I recommend it to everyone. (8/10)

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.

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!

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.