Continuing on with the cross examination of the pathfinder product
line, rather than look at the newest modules and just take the example from
there, I decided to take a look at several different modules and see what, if anything
has changed.
For those who don’t know, Pathfinder modules are organised into
Seasons, with special events in between.
I know nothing of which are popular or indicated as being particularly
good, so I took one module from each of the seasons and one of the special
events and here’s what I found.
I’ll only be putting in the briefest description of the scenario as I
don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t played them before, and I’m working
from the PDF’s of each of these, so the amount of images from the modules will
be limited to the cover.
Season 0 – Mists of Mwangi
Not a million miles off a haunted house scenario, the scenario involves
the players contacting an ex pathfinder who owns the Blakros museum and there
ending the threats therein. It’s not a
complex scenario, being a map and a number of encounters within the map,
culminating in a final battle and a resolution which rewards the players
depending on what they did and didn’t do.
There isn’t much art in the PDF, a number of maps and handouts, and the
image of the ape on the front cover is reused in the book. Far less images than the larger releases, but
quality of writing is good and it’s an easy scenario to run.
Season 1 – Voices in the Void
Interestingly enough, although chosen completely at random, this scenario is
also centred around the Blakros museum with the same characters from
before. However in this scenario, the
players are going down into the basement and below. The premise is that someone has gone missing
and the players need to find them and bring them back, hopefully solving the
puzzle of the museum again. Very little
artwork in the module, and the artwork that there is has already been used on the
front cover. There are a number of clear
maps and handouts, but nothing else to look upon, the scenario is easy to run
and it’s well described, but the lack of any substantial artwork might
disappoint those drawn in by the beginner box.
Season 2 – The Midnight Mauler
In a marked change from the previous two scenarios, Midnight Mauler is
a classic hunting scenario spread across several different encounters, all of
them with full maps and details and a lot of background notes for what is going
on in the scenario. The interesting
thing about this is that there’s a lot of material in the module regarding how
to run things through, all the way down to one part of the scenario having a
flowchart diagram at the end that shows how the rolls that players would need
to make to get through that part in its entirety, thereby saving the GM the
need to come up with that particular part of it. It’s very well written, but again, beyond
maps and handouts, lacking in original artwork, with the cover art being used
inside once again. A trend may be
emerging here...
Season 3 – Sewer Dragons of Absalom
This scenario can be played several different ways, with the players
being sent to investigate a number of incidents involving creatures in the
sewers beneath Absalom (one of the larger cities in Pathfinder), rather than
the earlier offerings, which were very much wander around the map till the bad
guys are cleared out, there’s a sense of being able to do things different ways
in this scenario, it’s not just clear the way to the boss fight and then
collect the treasure, and it’s clear that things have certainly progressed from
where they were in the earlier seasons.
There’s new artwork throughout, maps and handouts as usual, briefings
from the different factions that make up the Pathfinder world, and at the end,
there’s the sense that what the players have accomplished has had a real effect
in what goes on in the world, not just another cleaned out dungeon.
Season 4 – The Cyphermage Dilemma
The scenario is a hunt and kill/bring to justice mission against an
enemy of significant resources. Artwork
is once again somewhat absent, there’s plenty of maps and handouts, but barring
a few creatures, and a repeat of the cover image, nothing in the way of
spectacular panorama’s though. The
writing is crisp and clear, the encounters are sensible and scaled to the level
of the players going up against them, and all the reference materials needed
are to hand from the start. The faction
missions are clear and the conditions for success in them are included at the
back, so a good module, but not Shiny. Two PDF’s enclosed with this scenario,
one colour, one plain, clearly listening to some people not bothered with shiny
and more interested in using less printer ink.
Season 5 – The Glass River Rescue
In marked contrast to the previous scenarios, this is a rescue mission
that has the players using intelligence to approach the target, judging the
various risks, and then getting the captives to freedom while keeping
themselves alive. Artwork beyond that found on the front cover
is mostly absent, some images of the NPC’s, a number of maps and handouts, but
nothing in the way of full colour shiny.
The adventure is well written and nicely thought out from a tactical
point of view, just charging in will not be a good match at any point and it’s
good to see that the challenges being written in can’t all be solved by a blade
or spell.
Special Event – Race for the Runecarved Key
This scenario is a special event, by which several groups of pathfinder
players play the game at the same time, and as well as the GM for their
individual tables, there is also an overseer GM for the entire room keeping the
games on track and indicating when to move to the next part of the
adventures. It starts with one of the
Pathfinder (in game) venture captains giving a briefing for an important auction
for the Runecarved Key and then the adventure kicks into high gear, with a raid
on the opposition, scouting out the others who are trying to bid on the key and
getting whatever advantage they can over them, and then finally to the endgame. There’s very little artwork in the product,
most of it is instructions, timescales, details of who needs to be doing what
and when, and the inevitable maps and handouts.
From a purely shiny point of view, it doesn’t do it at all.
That said, this particular scenario would take a lot of planning and a
lot of skilled GM’s to pull it off properly, but properly done, I think it would
be a lot of fun.
So in summation, the point made was that a lot of the pathfinder books
don’t have the same level of shiny in them that the beginner box does and that in
some way, that might be deluding those who buy the beginner box into thinking
that everything they get will be to the same level of artwork and presentation
as the beginner box.
Every one of the modules, from the season 0 beginners things
all the way to the last season and the soon to be released season 6 are very
well written, the details for the monsters and NPC’s in the encounters are
always present, and in most cases, also include modified details to account for
different player levels. The direction
given for the GM to follow is clear and is always expanded upon where
necessary, and I’m reminded by a number of comments that the D&D set is
functional and gives you a lot to play with, even if the amount of art and
shiny is lessened as a result.
In this particular matter, the two systems are not so very different,
these modules all have the functional level of artwork in them in the form of
maps and handouts, but all of them are well written, not expensive (averaging a
few bucks apiece) and can be picked up and run by anyone, which should be more
than enough for most.
But in the question of are they as shiny as the Beginner Box, the
answer has to be no.
