Paranormal adventure abounds when an ancient curse at long last lifts from the River Kingdom of Sevenarches. The heroes trek into the ancient forest realm in search of answers, but first they find violent druids, wicked fey hunters, and paranoid townsfolk. Behind it all is an enigmatic bogeyman who pulls the strings from a coterminous plane of spindly shadows. Can the characters unravel the schemes of Kaneepo the Slim? How does the fatal obnubilate curse relate to their missing memories? And what awaits them on the other side of the Seventh Arch? There's just one way to find out!
The Seventh Arch is a Pathfinder adventure for four 1st-level characters. This adventure begins the Gatewalkers Adventure Path, a three-part monthly campaign in which a team of paranormal investigators unravel the mystery behind a mass amnesic episode which left them with lost memories and strange powers. This adventure also includes a gazetteer of adventure sites on the alien world of Castrovel, the Green Planet; new rules options perfect for paranormalist adventurers; and strange new creatures to befriend or bedevil your players.
Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.
I'll preface this by saying I have just read the book, not run the adventure but from what I've read it seems like a slam dunk.
I'm loving all the little QoL things they've added with this AP such as the Primary Objective and Plot Beats side bars. Makes it much easier to keep track of what's going on.
Spoiler:
I love the "Investigating Kaneepo" mechanics in chapter 2. I thought this was a really cool and clear way to guide the players to the information they need to make it feel like a real investigation and not something that they can learn from one skill check. I liked the inclusion of the "Pursue a lead" options if you are playing with an investigator. It's nice to see support like this for post-CRB classes. I really enjoyed the diversity of encounters and locations. Going to another plane and planet in a level 1 adventure was pretty neat. I would say if I had to pick a weak point, the first section where the players deal with the Oakstewards felt a little rushed compared to the later parts of the adventure.
Overall I think this book has a great, well-paced story and lots of cool lore that made me super excited for the rest of the AP.
I wrote a much longer review but it got gobbled up sadly so I'll rephrase the high notes quickly
Put simply, if this AP keeps up with this level of quality it has the potential to sit at the top of my favorite APs list with Strength of Thousands. When I first saw this adventure path I wasn't sure If It was going to be my thing but after reading this first book I have to say it made a hell of good first impression. I love the inclusion of the "Primary Objective" and "Plot Beats" sidebars for DMs like myself who have ADHD as well as the usual great work on the art and layout, I love the banner with all the esoterica and star motifs. On top of that, I love that this AP gets right into it, wasting no time with waiting until later books to do exciting things, with chapter 3 being one of my favorites that I've read in a long while. Usually that kind of excitement is reserved for later books of an AP like Strength of Thousands Book 5 but I'm absolutely overjoyed to see it here. Additionally, the Castrovel Gazetteer is really lovely, I especially like all the little adventure seeds and plot beats, it would be cool to see those in Lost Omens books to help get the imagination going. Also the new archetype, the Oatia Skysage is super fun, I love archetypes for casters/spellcasting like this and I would love to see more in the future, focusing wholly on a particular school of magic or thematic element that carries the archetype.
All in all, great work :3
When I read this book I had to double check that this was only the first book in the AP. It starts out at ideas that other APs have spent several books building up to and goes further. The set pieces are amazing and strung together in an interesting story. The combat balance is well done, and no fights jump out as needing tweaked. It's an incredibly strong start to an AP and I can't wait to start running this.
I love the flavour of this, it's giving Strange Aeons vibes, and depending on how "ancient forest with paranoid townsfolk" turns out, could even end up sorta like True Detective.
Plus, 3-book APs are just infinitely more approachable for me than 6-book ones.
Definitely the most excited I've been for an AP in a while.
Appreciate that Paizo seems to be willing to make 3-parters more often.
They seem to have settled into a schedule of two in the front half of the year, followed by a 6-volume one in the back half. I’m very content with it.
Yeah I think it's the best policy for trying to entice the most kinds of GM's possible. I'm partial to three partners myself bc they're that much more likely to actually reach the finish line. Real life is an ever constant threat that can prematurely end a campaign.
A “three-parter” is just an old-fashioned TSR trilogy. Paizo took 15 years to reinvent the trilogy. So that’s a fine development because though six-parters are way epicer, not everything in D&D should be about epicness. Now how about a 12-parter again, like in the days of the magazines? A 12-parter to wrap up Second Edition would be especially appreciated in half a decade’s time or so, Mr. Creative Dinorector.
A “three-parter” is just an old-fashioned TSR trilogy. Paizo took 15 years to reinvent the trilogy. So that’s a fine development because though six-parters are way epicer, not everything in D&D should be about epicness. Now how about a 12-parter again, like in the days of the magazines? A 12-parter to wrap up Second Edition would be especially appreciated in half a decade’s time or so, Mr. Creative Dinorector.
Pretty sure Paizo isn't interested in committing a whole year of their most important revenue stream to a product that will ultimately entertain just some part of their customer base.
A “three-parter” is just an old-fashioned TSR trilogy. Paizo took 15 years to reinvent the trilogy. So that’s a fine development because though six-parters are way epicer, not everything in D&D should be about epicness. Now how about a 12-parter again, like in the days of the magazines? A 12-parter to wrap up Second Edition would be especially appreciated in half a decade’s time or so, Mr. Creative Dinorector.
Pretty sure Paizo isn't interested in committing a whole year of their most important revenue stream to a product that will ultimately entertain just some part of their customer base.
Sounds like it would make for horrible pacing. Yeah just drag out every level to take twice as long to go through, that doesn't sound like obviously terrible idea.
Maybe a 12-parter could work in the sense of two 6-parters that tell an interwoven story? I guess that sort of happened with Hell's Rebels and then Hell's Vengeance.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
I think a twelve part AP could work after the introduction of Mythic Rules in 2e. But I will say, maybe make it a loose continuation at best. Like two (or three, with two three-part APs) distinct APs (one being Mythic) that happen to have a lot of overlap, but don't need to be played together to work on their own.
More on topic, pretty interested in this. A return to the River Kingdoms, especially on the heels of Kingmaker 2e, seems like a no brainer. I'd be interested to see if we stay in that nation, or the wider Broken Lands region, over the next year.
A 6-parter isn’t a real campaign anyway. It’s just one story. A 12-parter would be closer to the real D&D conception of a “campaign” that basically includes a character’s entire life. It’s silly to think a writer couldn’t think of cool things to do for 12 adventures. Whether that would be financially smart is another question. If done WELL ENOUGH I think it COULD be, but of course doing a good 12-parter is harder than a 6-parter which is harder than a standalone adventure which is harder than a one-shot which is harder than a single encounter. But if anyone could do it, it’d be Paizo.
Yeah but it’s a longer one, thus closer to encompassing a character’s life. I already said that. It won’t match D&D’s concept of a campaign, but it will get closer than the current ditching of a character after 6 adventures.
A 6-parter isn’t a real campaign anyway. It’s just one story. A 12-parter would be closer to the real D&D conception of a “campaign” that basically includes a character’s entire life. It’s silly to think a writer couldn’t think of cool things to do for 12 adventures. Whether that would be financially smart is another question. If done WELL ENOUGH I think it COULD be, but of course doing a good 12-parter is harder than a 6-parter which is harder than a standalone adventure which is harder than a one-shot which is harder than a single encounter. But if anyone could do it, it’d be Paizo.
Well, yes. They’ve done it 3 times before: Shackled city, age of worms, and savage tide.
I don’t think the total word count for 12 adventures was any higher than the current 6 parters.
One of the perks of the current system is that if you hate the current AP, there’s never more than six months between you and one with a different premise. I completely checked out on the product line for the Extinction Curse/Agents of Edgewatch year, and it was miserable waiting a whole year for s campaign product I actually cared about to come along; any 12-volume behemoth would almost certainly cause this to happen to more people.
This topic probably merits a separate thread from this product page.
Yeah but it’s a longer one, thus closer to encompassing a character’s life. I already said that. It won’t match D&D’s concept of a campaign, but it will get closer than the current ditching of a character after 6 adventures.
What's that "D&D concept of a campaign" that you're referring to? Against the Giants ---> Queen of Demonweb Pits is seven adventures and goes from level 9 to 14. It's the most iconic D&D campaign, and it doesn't either start at level 1, go on for 12 episodes or end at level 20. It assumes that both before it and after it, you're doing other things.
Temple of Elemental Evil - Scourge of the Slave Lords - Queen of the Spiders goes from level 1 to level 14.
What you're describing is "Paizo's concept of a 3.5 D&D campaign published in monthly magazines" but these contained the amount of content that Paizo now puts in 6-part APs, going from level 1 to 20.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
While I can complete a six part AP in about seven-eight months, by the end of it my group is definitely saying "Can we please play something NOT d20 OGL based?" so tag me in the "Thanks but no thanks" crowd re: a 12-parter.
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories, Pawns, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
All 2E six book paths go 1-20, so uh, what more do you want out of a character? Do you want to play six full books at level 20? I think that'd get pretty boring myself. Mythic rules aren't here yet so that's all you can do beyond a normal six book AP without severely homebrewing rules.
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories, Pawns, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Not to derail the 6 vs 12 part AP campaign argument, but on the original topic, this sounds like a pretty promising AP. I'm definitely interested in checking out (and the tie in also makes me much more likely to pick up Dark Archive too).
Yeah, I have an Elf Psychic in mind (technically from Kyonin, almost certainly actually from Sovyrian) who is /perfect/ for at least this first adventure. Deeply curious to see where the other books lead - more Castrovelian adventure, through the elf-gates to another world, maybe onto the planes?
I’ll consider this book a real victory if we get a cute piece of Lashunta art. I want them as an Ancestry terribly.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
keftiu wrote:
Yeah, I have an Elf Psychic in mind (technically from Kyonin, almost certainly actually from Sovyrian) who is /perfect/ for at least this first adventure. Deeply curious to see where the other books lead - more Castrovelian adventure, through the elf-gates to another world, maybe onto the planes?
I’ll consider this book a real victory if we get a cute piece of Lashunta art. I want them as an Ancestry terribly.
I'd not be surprised if we were to get some Lashunta rules. Monster stats would be almost a given. They have introduced Ancestries in APs before, so who knows what else we might get.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Evan Tarlton wrote:
keftiu wrote:
Yeah, I have an Elf Psychic in mind (technically from Kyonin, almost certainly actually from Sovyrian) who is /perfect/ for at least this first adventure. Deeply curious to see where the other books lead - more Castrovelian adventure, through the elf-gates to another world, maybe onto the planes?
I’ll consider this book a real victory if we get a cute piece of Lashunta art. I want them as an Ancestry terribly.
I'd not be surprised if we were to get some Lashunta rules. Monster stats would be almost a given. They have introduced Ancestries in APs before, so who knows what else we might get.
Pretty sure they've stated that they specifically won't be including whole Ancestries after what happened with the Shoony. As a result of them being put in an AP, they've received no further support since, basically because expanding their options wasn't accounted for within the schedule. They want to avoid that in the future. The most we are likely to get are thematically appropriate Ancestry Feats or Heritages.
So Lashunta, imo, are most likely to appear in a book covering the other planets in Golarion's star system. Likely alongside other alien options, such as the Kasatha.