CONAN OGL Module, Lurking Terror of Nahab

[Mrannah]

Just got this module, and it looks great. may make it part of my campaign, depends on the tweaks it needs to fit. However, the module has a different description on its back and interior than the sales blurb here on the paizo page. The module on the paizo page sounds good, too, clearly Hyborean in nature. Does anyone know anything about the module that they describe, what name it has, if it was released, etc?

[Valegrim]

sorry, not me.

[Verthal]

So whats the real blurp on Lurking Terror then? I've been starting to buy up Conan OGL stuff and was wondering.
Being a nearly-lifelong fan of R.E. Howard, it's nice to see this game stuff coming out in such quantities.

Maybe we will see some Solomon Kane based stuff as well.

[Heathansson]

Balron wrote:

So whats the real blurp on Lurking Terror then? I've been starting to buy up Conan OGL stuff and was wondering.

Being a nearly-lifelong fan of R.E. Howard, it's nice to see this game stuff coming out in such quantities.

Maybe we will see some Solomon Kane based stuff as well.

I think Solomon Kane is either being developed or out, but it's not d20 system.

[Mrannah]

the real blurb, quoted from the back of the module:

The Corinthian city of Nahab has suffered greatly under the continued feuding of its noble families in the last decade. Waging small estate wars between themselves to establish control over trade routes and resource-laden foothills of the Karpash Mountains, the peasant-titled "Noble's War" has left many homes, fields, and villages in ruin, and the city's ruling classes on the dangerous path of self-destruction. Nahab has swelled into the home of pampered nobles, growing fat off the trade and mining that takes place along the Karpash Mountain Way. Despite this, the city never grew in the way like Shadizar and Tarantia, remaining relatively small and manageable by the families that now controlled it.

But Nahab has just suffered a major loss and someone plans to use the sorrow and grief to punish the nobles for the years of unnecessary torment. The unexpeted and gruesome death of Father Tericos Heretio has plunged the entire city's peasant population into a state of grieving and distrust, with even some of the noble homes lowering their penants in his honor. This show of respect is not enough for some, who wish to punish the noble families for all of their combined crimes.

A dark and sinister terror has been unleashed upon the folk of Nahab, striking innocent and guilty alike. It hunts, stalks, and kills, creating a bloodbath in which fear and loathing will grip the hearts of Nahab's citizens. The city cires out for salvation. '

[Zapp]

My thoughts after reading through the module (and yes, it is now the year 2011):

It is very railroaded.

It reads more like a short story than a proper adventure of the kind where the adventurers have an impact on events. To be kind, the module consists of a string of events escalating the tensions of the module, with the PC involvement being limited to inconsequential scuffles and collecting (but not acting upon!) clues.

However, the author makes no provisio for what happens if the players don't just sit meekly by, listening to the unfolding story as told by the Games Master. To go into detail would mean spoiling the storyline, but in short: if the PCs intervene, the best result they can hope for is cutting the adventure short, ending it before the climax described in the module. And then? Nothing - The End.

You will see this clearly when you realize the module contains no alternative actions for the villain(s). There is nothing the players can do that alters the villainous plans, there is no back-up plans if the players intervene (in a meaningful way).

Sure they can outsmart the plot and defeat the threat early (and my guess is that players with even a smidgen of proactivity will easily do so), but that only puts an end to the adventure as well. Otherwise they need to let the events unfold as scripted, which clearly is the outcome intended and desired by the author, since it is the NPCs (and not the PCs) that are the true stars of this show.

All this could have been excused in a roleplaying-heavy module, but honestly the modules fails even here. There are no NPCs with secrets good RPing can pry out of them. Everybody is either a black-hearted insane villain, a clueless (or dead!) victim, or an irritating thorn in the characters' side. In short: there are no layers of intrigue here.

Sadly, this is another module where the author is too much in love with his or her story to bother giving the heroes something active to do.

A weak 2 out of 5.