It’s hardly a spoiler to reveal that The Haunting of Hinojai is a scenario full of haunts. If the title weren’t a dead enough giveaway, the preamble delivered by Amara Li is pulled from the minutes of the Midnight Society. The venture captain requests that the players explore a purportedly haunted mansion in a far corner of her native Tien Xia. The house, known as Hinojai, was...
Greed can ruin a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. Wizened adventurers of the pen-and-paper era all have stories to tell about how they lost a favourite character by delving too deep into a dungeon, springing a trapped treasure chest, or grabbing a golden idol on a conspicuous pedestal. Greed can also ruin a video game. Knights of Pen and Paper is a title with a marvellous premise and great...
Storming the Diamond Gate has the reputation of being one of the deadliest Pathfinder scenarios ever published. The adventure focuses on the Hao Jin tapestry, the museum demiplane that the Pathfinder Society is infatuated with throughout season three. After arduous months of detective work, the society has finally deduced how their chief rivals, the Aspis Consortium, have been entering the...
Tide of Twilight is a mixed bag from a game master’s perspective. On one hand, I am in love with the premise. Deep within the Verduran Forest, a rogue cabal of druids have acquired the Atavistic Splinter, an artifact capable of transforming normal people into bestial half-animal hybrids. The malevolent druids aim to “naturalize” the loggers and townsfolk who make their home within the...
I was initially supposed to run Fortress of the Nail at Gryphcon this year, but my table was dissolved due to a lack of players. I ended up playing Secret of Mana on my brother’s laptop for four hours instead, and the scenario was filed away in my big box of Pathfinder stuff and quickly forgotten about. Earlier this month, I was waffling over what scenario I should run next at Dueling...
The first movie in a trilogy has its work cut out for it. It has to lay the foundation for the next two installments without seeming incomplete and disjointed. The best science fiction and fantasy films manage to hedge the line between satisfying viewers and leaving them wanting more: A New Hope, The Hobbit, and Batman Begins. Pathfinder Society scenarios have to follow the same rule. If players...
The premise of Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy is simultaneously high concept and simple. An evil warlock has discovered a spell that can destroy the entire world. This incantation takes exactly thirty seconds to cast, and you must slay the villain before he finishes it. Superficially the game’s core mechanics ape those of a classic JRPG. Of course, defeating the dark...
I’m an admitted thief. I break into houses at night, burgle the valuables inside, and pawn these items for cold hard cash. It doesn’t matter if I’m wandering the Mojave Wasteland or strolling the streets of Beregost, I’ll never pass up an easy mark. Some may call my actions reprehensible, but I prefer the term chaotic neutral. Theft is a hallmark aspect of morality in western roleplaying games...