When a soul fouled by anger and fear leaves its broken corpse, if it is strong enough, that soul may return as a ghost, a wraith or some worse form of undead. If it is strong enough…Souls lacking the metaphysical vigor to retain their own identity after death may also return… as something else, something lesser, a ghostly presence that blurs the line between a magical trap and a true undead. This supplement details 24 new haunts, building on the new type of hazard introduced in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game GameMastery Guide which include:
Arcane Rift (CR 8)
Baron Culver’s Balcony (CR 2)
Bigot’s Spire (CR 10)
Black Taskmaster (CR 2)
Boartooth’s Righteous Rampage (CR 8)
Butcher’s Hill (CR 5)
Camel’s Graveyard (CR 8)
Cast Upon the Rocks (CR 13)
Devil’s Anvil (CR 7)
Donovan’s Kiln (CR 6)
Fatfinger’s Last Dance (CR 4)
Gremlin’s Hovel (CR 4)
Grigori Chair (CR 6)
Guts’ Revenge (CR 1)
Judge Wargrave’s Bench (CR 3)
Laughter Freezes (CR 5)
Mugglesant’s Endless Anger (CR 8)
Old Jonas’ Critique (CR 2)
Purple Pig Tavern (CR 8)
Rapist’s Mile (CR 5)
Scribe Du Rayneil’s Odd Bequest (CR 4)
Stores of Goodwatch Keep (CR 3)
Surbicah the Apostate’s Stone Pyre (CR 6)
Thirsting Gorge (CR 7)
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This pdf is 12 pages long, 1 page is taken up by the SRD, which means we get 11 pages for the haunts the best bang-to-buck-ratio of the 2-Dozen-series so far.
The threat-range covered ranges from moderately dangerous (CR 1) to potentially lethal (CR 13). There are no high-level haunts in these pages.
I really like the writing in this one: The haunts are mostly imaginative and offer some great adventure hooks on how to get rid of them – my favorite one being a haunt of a judge that forces people to tell the truth: Do the PCs free the spirit or acknowledge that a court with a zone of truth can be immensely helpful? There are also some rather lame ones, but only 2 haunts felt really like filler.
Unfortunately, the editing problems of the series also plague this installment. I found the following on my first read-through:
The first haunt is missing its caster level, “the devil’s anvil” uses the 3.5-destruction mechanics (save-or-die/10d6) and there is a typo in “Old Jonas’s Critique” – both errors could have easily been fixed/noticed.
There might be more.
Conclusion:
I like the concept of haunts, it’s one of my favorite innovations implemented by Paizo. However, the haunts, while nice, lack the “OMG-this-is-so-awesome”-component of e.g. the linked haunts from the Rite Publishing #30-Haunt-series that would make a truly outstanding product. That would mean that the file clocks in at 4 stars – good, but not great. However, due to the glaring editing mistakes, I’ll detract another star. My final verdict will be 3 stars. If you are annoyed by system-incompatibilities/typos, detract another one.
Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on some RiP-stuff (I'm doing the big 909 spells or at least started doing them...), Obsidian Eclipse book I, A Place beyond Hell, Here there be Monsters and the fairy book by ZSP, Alluria's Fey Folio, the Two Dozen Danger Series, NeoExodus-stuff and some Raging Swan supplements.
But don't you dare hang up your keyboard! I can't handle this stuff alone and we need your opinion around! Don't even contemplate it or I'll (e-)whip you back to the monitor. ;)
