Product Name: Retribution
Publisher: Raging Swan Press
Author: Creighton Broadhurst
System: Pathfinder
Setting:
Theme: Epic Fantasy
Type: Adventure
Link: http://www.ragingswan.com/retribution.html
Retribution is a location-based adventure module for Pathfinder designed for four 1st-level characters. While the location, the Priory of Cymer, resides within The Lonely Coast setting by Raging Swan Press and includes references to a nearby village, the environment surrounding the priory is loosely described enough so that it can easily be placed within virtually any on-going campaign. Some of the surrounding details may need to be tweaked, but they can easily be done with little-to-no impact to the overall location or the adventure.
The adventure is a good combination of combat and non-combat encounters with plenty of options and flexibility to make it lean more toward one or the other. The storyline is fairly straight forward but contains an aura of suspense akin to some types of horror fiction (especially H.P. Lovecraft). It’s bound to keep your players guessing and on their toes as they decipher the clues leading up to what could be a devastating or heroic finish.
INTRODUCTION
Retribution starts with a well put-together introduction not only to the adventure, but to the history of the Priory of Cymer, a look at The Lonely Coast, and a prelude to the oncoming events. This is a great way to start an adventure as it establishes the storyline and creates a framework of purpose for why the PCs are coming to this location. Along with the introductions is an overview of the adventure given as a narrative and a very high-level look at what is to come. This synopsis helps to foreshadow the events that may (or will) occur during the course of the adventure. As a bonus to all this is a beautiful topographic map of the area of The Lonely Coast where the Priory resides. While this may not be necessary, it gives the GM more ideas on where to start the adventure or where to continue things once this adventure is complete.
PART ONE
Part one quickly throws the players into the mix of the environment and the oncoming location with some hints of whats to come thrown into the background. One thing I really like that is prevalent near the beginning of each part of the adventure is a section titled “Troubleshooting”. I have yet to come across this and find it to be a great addition to any adventure module. Basically, troubleshooting identifies some possible diversions from the main direction of the adventure creating flexibility and allowing the PCs to perform actions that may seem unexpected or even undesirable. To add to this already noted flexibility, the adventure also introduces different possible hooks as to why the adventurers are making this journey. Only three hooks are given briefly but many more can be devised from the introduction section including the history of the location and the overview of the adventure.
Proceeding these introductory ideas, the adventure quickly moves into the encounters for the first part which are all properly described and detailed. To avoid spoilers, I won’t go into any further details than that.
PART TWO
Part two is definitely my favorite part of the adventure module. There are twists and turns within the storyline, great social interactions, variable encounters, planned encounters, and a whole lot of what-ifs. This is where the location of the adventure truly comes into play and the PCs are able to explore and interact as they please. To make this portion even better, the encounters can be handled in any way the players desire. There could be more combat, more diplomacy, or more investigation. Whatever the players decide, the outcome may be vastly different. In itself, this part of the adventure means you could run it with multiple gaming groups and get a different outcome each time. This portion could also serve as great source material if the published adventure is not what the GM desires.
On top of the great encounters, NPCs are properly introduced and the location’s details are fully fleshed out.
PART THREE
Part three is quite the climax. Not that everything has to end here, but the storyline leads up to this point (and leaves an open end for further possibilities). As much as I like the direction these encounters take, they are a little more typical of other adventuring encounters and are meant to drive the storyline forward to the end. Again there is an aura of flexibility here depending on how the PCs handled the previous encounters. Even though the encounters here seem a little more typical, they all follow the previous encounters in their details and descriptions and contain an associated map. I won’t go into this much further as it would give away too many details.
APPENDIX
There are three appendices within Retribution. The first appendix details the Priory along with the associated map. Each room is properly detailed and marked with a location letter that is referenced throughout the content. The second appendix is a look at the NPCs found throughout. Each one is fully detailed and includes all appropriate stats along with descriptions and illustrations to give them more dimension. The third appendix details the new race of the Half-Goblin along with the two new Deities and the new items introduced. The information on the Half-Goblin alone makes this a valuable tool for new adventures and/or campaigns. While I like the presentation of the appendices, some of the information would be valuable if placed where they appear within the text of the adventure. However, it does allow the GM to easily reference the information as it is all presented in one easy-to-use location.
OVERALL
Adventure modules can often seem limited in their use from gaming group to gaming group. Often times players don’t like certain aspects as it doesn’t fit in well with their play-style or they simply find the adventure to be boring. Retribution takes things like this into consideration by offering many options for play-style, encounter resolution, and by allowing the PC’s actions to have a greater affect on the storyline depending on how they proceed.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 6 out of 10
The overall layout of Retribution is very smooth and pleasing to the eyes (considering reading). But the one thing that makes it tough to read, at times, is how the content jumps around from page to page. The storyline is given as an overview, and then the content jumps backward to a lead-in, and then jumps again to options, and then jumps again to the first encounter. The content could greatly benefit from a vertical flow placing the lead-in, options, and encounters within the midst of the storyline where they occur. When I was reading through, I found myself going back-and-forth between pages to bring the overall content together as it would appear when running the adventure.
Storyline: 9 out of 10
While the layout may benefit from changes, the storyline itself is extremely well developed and interesting. This includes a history (why is this happening), a full introduction (what just happened), continuing progress (what’s happening now), diversions (what could happen), and an overall look at how the PC’s actions affected the resulting storyline. This is more than just a quest, this adventure has a definitive purpose and it’s outcome could easily come into effect within future endeavors for these particular PCs.
Desire to Play: 9 out of 10
The designed flexibility of the adventure makes it very desirable to play and could potentially fit-in with any gaming group. The adventure could be a simple hack-and-slash, an investigation to thwart the events, a chance to diplomacize your way through, or a combination of all three. By doing this, the adventure module, location, and storyline could all (or even just partly) be enveloped into a campaign or used as a launching point for a new one. The players and/or GM could create any experience desired and all come away having a great time doing it.
Overall: 8 out of 10
This adventure is a great way to get your players started within Pathfinder or it’s potential campaign setting. There is a great blend of combat, role-play, and social interaction to keep all players and the GM actively involved while introducing some great new material into Pathfinder. With the inclusion of the Half-Goblin race, the two new Deities, and a new magic item, you are bound to find all sorts of great new ideas along with a strong starting point. I recommend Retribution and encourage GMs to keep looking toward Raging Swan Press to find great new material for Pathfinder that follows suit with this high-quality product.
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