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Board Games and TCGs

Pathfinder: The Broken Palace – A Vampiric Adventure Review

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Disclaimer

Paizo sent me a free copy of the Shades of Blood: The Broken Palace adventure book to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. You can pick up The Broken Palace directly from Paizo, or you can use my Amazon affiliate link if you want to help me out.

What is The Broken Palace?

The Broken Palace is book two of the Shades of Path adventure designed to take players from level 4 to 6.

The players venture deeper into the broken palace on their search for Lady Nalushae, but find themselves trapped in an ancient cellblock. Now, they must venture into its dark, dank, vampire infested prison for a way out. With their supplies dwindling and threats around every corner, players must learn to be resourceful. Can they make their supplies last long enough to save the world? Can they navigate the complex tensions between the three vampire factions that rule the Underheaven? What secrets will they uncover? What treasures will they find?

Impressions

The cover art is an immediately draws the eyes. I love the use of red. I love Naulusha’s design and how her pose strikes commands attention. I love the image of what I can assume are player characters struggling against a vampire. This series is supposed to be a darker, more horror oriented type of adventure, and the cover does a good job at setting the appropriate mood. The art throughout the book is equal as striking, and I enjoy flipping through it, just to look at the art. If you like vampires, undead, and horror, the book has some very good looking flavor and some fantastic flavor to go with it.

Now the overarching meta story is solid. I enjoyed reading the different bits of lore, and the warring factions are interesting. Most importantly, the book gives players many ways to solve the story. It doesn’t have to all be fighting, but it can be if that’s the kind of table you have. The dungeon design is fine. It has some neat encounters I will definitely borrow, and it builds a good amount of tension and urgency.

One thing to note about this adventure is that there is a survival mechanic that you will need to manage. Players will need to keep track of their food and water supplies to survive. The game does streamline the mechanic so it doesn’t feel like work without taking away any of the tension, but GMs are free to get as hardcore with their mechanics as they want. You can play without this mechanic, but I felt like it took away a lot of the urgency and tension. I like how there is this pressure to save the world from eternal darkness, the desire to explore this tomb of an advanced civilization, and the ever present threat of dying from starvation along with all the other threats that lurk in the shadows.

Overall, the adventure is fine. I enjoyed the flavor and lore, and there are some very cool encounters and monsters to play with. It was a fun path to explore, but I think my table is a bit too casual to take advantage of the survival mechanics. The survival mechanics are easy to manage, but we would often forget to keep track and that definitely took away from the tension. We still had fun, which I’d argue makes the adventure worth trying, but there are definitely some decisions my players wouldn’t have made if we were keeping better track. There is also the danger of being too hardcore about the survival mechanics. If the survival mechanics is that if it takes away from the story or fun, you’re doing too much.

Honestly, if you like vampires and don’t mind the survival mechanics, this is a solid horror campaign. It has a cool creepy setting filled with neat monsters and encounters and I am very interested to see what comes next.

I do want to take the moment to commend Paizo for the quality of their books. Everything I’ve gotten so far has been printed to a very high standard. Everything is clear, vibrant, and the books feel durable. I spilled all of my coffee on this book, and while I don’t recommend anyone try it themselves, I was surprised by how good it cleaned up. There is some warping and some staining, but the book looks good, and is still very usable.

If you want to pick up your own copy of The Broken Palace, check out the official Paizo website, or you can pick it up on Amazon through my affiliate link.

Board Games and TCGs

Review of Thirst for Blood: A Pathfinder Adventure

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Disclaimer

Paizo sent me the first book of the Shades of Blood adventure path, Thirst for Blood to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, this will be my honest opinion of the resource book. I will also be using Amazon affiliate links where possible, but you can always buy Thirst for Blood directly from the Paizo store.

Shades of Blood: The Hook

Where the once great Alzanti empire stood, now sits fragmented remains scattered across islands and at the bottom of the ocean. The Alzanti once held dominion with its advanced technology, now its scraps are sold as oddities. Its been years since its collapse, and more of the lost empires secrets have began to surface. Unfortunately, not all of them are good.

At the bottom of the ocean, hidden behind a labyrinth of traps and stone, sits a prison for the empires most dangerous foes. Among these is an ancient vampire by the name of Nizca Irocol. Nizca was so powerful that the only way to stop her was to keep her in a state of perpetual stasis. Unfortunately, the Earthfall has shaken the force that kept Nizca locked away.

Newly freed, Nizca seeks to reunite with her long lost lover. To do this, she plans to use ancient Alzanti technology to put the world into perpetual darkness, and releasing a prison full of blood thirsty creatures into the world to sow chaos.

As fate would have it, a group of eager adventures have been hired in a nearby town to investigate the sudden anomaly. What will they uncover? What treasures will they find? Do they have what it takes to save the world, or will it fall to vampires?

What is Shades of Blood?

Thirst for Blood is the first leg of the Shades of Blood saga. It takes players from levels 1-3, and acts as an introduction to the world, game, and characters. The players will arrive to the town of Talmandor’s Bounty, where they have been hired to aid a local astronomer. Everything erupts into chaos as the sky turns to black and an army of blood thirsty creatures starts attacking the city. The adventures now find themselves investigating this sudden chaotic outburst. Players will need to travel to a nearby island, and begin their delve through this fascinating mystery.

Impressions

If you are planning on running this adventure, you are going to need the GM Core. The adventure path doesn’t include any of the rules, or all of the stat blocks. There is also a free player’s guide to help players prep for the campaign. I’ll drop the file below for your convenience, but you can pick it up on the official Paizo site.

ShadesOfBlood_PlayersGuideDownload

Thirst for Blood is a solid start to the adventure. It has a few alternate modes of play (not everything is solved by combat), and it does a good job at getting players involved with the world. The early missions of the game has players interacting with NPCs as they complete chores around the starting city, and slowly introduces the games many mechanics. This is a very beginner friendly resource, and a good way to get into Pathfinder.

My only concern with the first chapter is that players need to be willing to roleplay to make some of the chores fun. I do appreciate that the game sets up ample opportunities for players to grow comfortable with their characters through the many social interactions. While chapter one does a great job at helping break the ice, some of the quests can be boring depending on the roleplay.

The rest of the adventure is a solid dungeon delve with fantastic flavor baked throughout. The book introduces fun enemies for players to fight, and provides a neat mystery for them to solve. I’m sure your players will find clever ways to skip around, but there are some cool ideas that I will be using in other campaigns. Overall, if you’re into a strait forward delve, this is a great place to start.

The book itself is very cool. I love the art, and the book is printed with the high quality standard I’ve come to expect from Paizo. I am a little bummed that it doesn’t include all of the stat blocks, but I guess it is fair that they assume players will at least a GM Core handy.

Aside from my issues with the first chapter, this is a solid resource. If you like vampires and dungeon crawlers, this a cool book to own. I personally enjoy reading about all the adventure’s lore, but there are also a few stat blocks I will be borrowing for future campaigns.

You can pick up the Thirst for Blood adventure path for $29.99 from Paizo and Amazon.

Board Games and TCGs

The Pathfinder Monster Core Book is Invaluable for any GM

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I was sent a free copy of the Pathfinder Monster Core Book to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions of the game. This will be my honest review.

What is the Monster Core Book?

The Monster Core Book is a valuable resource for GMs searching for ways to spice up their next campaign. It features over 300 pages of monsters, creatures, and rules for those tired of the monsters that come with the Game Master’s Core. There is also a handy glossary of skills and abilities for those who want to homebrew their monsters. It’s going to be impossible to own this book and not use it.

Review

Like most TTRPG resource books of this nature, the Monster Core Book is optional. While it is hard to dispute its usefulness, all you need to run a successful Pathfinder campaign is dice, the rules, and an imagination. Some will argue that a real Game Master can create the perfect encounter from thin air at will, but I argue that it is always nice to have access to a concrete set of rules. I like that I can flip through the book, pick a few interesting monsters, and be ready for a session at a moment’s notice.

While having access to a ton of useful stat blocks, the book is full of lore and tips to use in your campaign. Struggling to fill your world? Look through the different races and build off the blurbs so generously provided. I loved flipping through the book and reading about all the creatures that could potentially fill my world, and I even got a few ideas on how to use them. You can always flavor the monsters to fit your campaign, but their lore is always there for when you need it.

What I love most about Pathfinder is how thorough it gets. You can always pick and choose how technical a campaign you want to run is, but the books are pretty thorough in explaining its many mechanics. I don’t use everything that is in these books, but I will be using the rules for making elite monsters.

My absolute favorite part of this book is the art. This is such a pretty book with a fantastic art style. If you like fantasy, Pathfinder is an interesting TTRPG with a lot of fantastic flavor. If you’re already playing Pathfinder, the Monster Core is a great addition to your collection.

For newer GMs, I would start with just the GM Core until you get your grove. While the Monster Manuel is useful, it isn’t necessary for those first couple of sessions. Eventually, you’re going to want to get yourself a copy of the Monster Core because of its undeniable utility. However you want to spend your money, you can’t go wrong with getting yourself a copy of the Monster core.

You can pick up the hardcover version of the Monster Core on Amazon for $59.99 (Currently $46.67) with my affiliate link, or the PDF on the official Paizo website if you don’t care about physical media.

Board Games and TCGs

Pathfinder 2E: Wardens of Wildwood – Pactbreaker 1st Impression

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I was sent a free copy of the Pathfinder Adventure Path: Wardens of Wildwood 1: Pactbreaker by Andrew White to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. I haven’t had a chance to run the game, but these are my honest first impressions.

What is Wardens of Wildwood?

Wardens of Wildwood is a three-book adventure module for your next Pathfinder campaign. Pactbreaker is the first of the books.

The Greenwood Gala is held in honor of the yearly signing of the treaty between the empire of Taldor and the citizens of the Verduran Forest. The treaty allows for peaceful and regulated trade between the two groups. This Gala is a large festival held leading up to the signing of this treaty, and it attracts people from all over to join in this magical week of revelry.

This year’s Gala is going to be big, and the organizers need additional volunteers. You and your party have been recruited to help keep the peace, but not without enjoying the festivities. The festivities end abruptly when several of the Verduran Forest’s leaders are murdered. It is now up to your party to find out the culprits and return peace to the forest without spilling too muchblood shed. Do you have what it takes?

The Book

The adventure comes in a nicely printed softcover book. The illustrations are beautiful, and the quality is sturdy. You will get a crease in the cover from use, but it isn’t a deal breaker. While hardcovers are always nice, I do appreciate the small form factor. The whole adventure is the size of a magazine, which makes transportation and storage incredibly easy. The included maps feel a little small, but you can cut them out or make copies if you would like to use them. Overall, Pactbreaker is a fine and quality product from our friends over at Piazo.

Impressions

Pactbreaker is the first part of the Wardens of Wildwood adventure path. All three parts are now available for purchase, but I only have access to Pactbreaker at the moment. I’ll be working on getting the other two installments. Stay tuned for that.

Pactbreaker is designed to take adventurers from levels 5 – 8. The idea is to give players access to a character that can make an impact in the world but still has room to grow. I enjoy running level 5 campaigns because players have enough tools to make things fun without being overpowered.

One important thing to note is that you will need access to the 2nd Edition rulebook. While most of the adventure is self contained within the book’s pages, it does not contain the rules. There is a list of supplemental reading materials for additional background and context for the campaign setting, but it isn’t needed. You can run this campaign with just the adventure book and a copy of the rulebook.

I like the flavor of the campaign. If you like woodland fantasy with cool druids, living plants, and ancient turtles, Pactbreaker is a great place to start. The adventure has cool lore, an interesting cast of NPCs, and some neat monsters that can carry into your other campaigns.

The adventure starts with a couple of encounters, but the focus of the first chapter is the downtime activities. I did find the initial encounters flavorful and open to creative solutions. I am sure your players will find a way to break them.

A big part of the first chapter will be spent on gaining influence with the various important NPCs and playing festival games. If you have ever wanted to run a festival in your campaign, the book has a good amount of rules for how to run all sorts of games. While the adventure will eventually have dungeon crawls and combat, your table should be comfortable enough with each other to participate in the festival. I can see this section being the most fun if your players are into the roleplay.

Pactbreaker is a great way to start your adventure in Verduran Forest if you don’t mind running a festival. I don’t think the festival is bad, I’ll be using some of the games in future adventures, but it isn’t going to be a fit for everyone. Once you get past the Gala, the adventure has a solid pace and a decent mystery. It definitely made me excited for part two.

You can pick up Wards of Wildwood: Pactbreaker on Amazon (using my affiliate link) or the official Paizo website for $29.99 ($19.99 for the pdf). If you run games online, you can pick up the official Foundry Module on the official Paizo website for $14.99. If you don’t know what Foundry is, check out my full review.

Board Games and TCGs

I Found the Pathfinder 2E GM Core Book Impressive

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I am excited to announce that I recently started a partnership with Paizo, the creators of Pathfinder and Starfinder. I’ll be covering both games moving forward and will start with the GM Core book.

Please note that I was sent free copies of a few of the rulebooks. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity, but I won’t let it sway any of my opinions. I am still running The One Ring, so I haven’t gotten to running a session of Pathfinder. I have read the book, and these are my honest impressions. 

If you enjoy these updates, please leave a like, comment, and share this with your friends. Don’t forget to follow the socials!

What is Pathfinder?

To put it simply, Pathfinder is the version of Dungeons and Dragons you play when you need something more technical. The amount of rules and details loaded in this book can seem overwhelming to the casual TTRPG enthusiast, but it does fit in its niche nicely. If you’re looking for an alternative to D&D, Pathfinder is a solid option. The game is familiar enough for an easy transition but with its unique vibe. This is a fantasy TTRPG that gives GMs everything they need to run their own campaigns, but there is quite a bit of prewritten content for those who need the help. 

Impressions

I’ve read through a few different rulebooks, and the Pathfinder GM Core for 2nd Edition is by far the most detailed. This book goes into great detail on how to properly run every single mechanic of this game with tables, charts, and beautiful illustrations. This almost 400 book may seem daunting, especially to new GMs, but you aren’t reading this book cover to cover, and you aren’t going to use all the rules. This is a terrific reference, and you always have the freedom to run Pathfinder in the way that best fits your table. The book gives alternative rules so that you can run your game as casual or hardcore as you want. 

What I loved most about the book is how it dedicates its first few chapters to onboarding new GMs to roleplaying games. I know most experienced GMs will skip through this section because it feels like common knowledge, but there is some good advice that translates beautifully into other RPGs. 

Pathfinder seems like a solid fantasy RPG with an incredible amount of content. If you’re thinking of running this system, the GM Core has absolutely everything you need to run a successful campaign. It’s going to seem like a lot, especially for the more casual players, but it’s not that bad. Most of the book is spent on item and monster starts, charts, and ideas for settings, encounters, and plot hooks. Pathfinder is the game you get when you want everything spelled out, just in case you need it. 

You can pick up your copy of the Pathfinder GM Core 2E hardcover off Amazon for $59.99 (Currently $44.70) using my affiliate link. If you don’t care about physical media, or want the ability to search, you can pick up the PDF on the official Paizo website.

video game reviews

Lord of Nothing continues to be authentic Pathfinder experience

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I was sent the Lord of Nothing DLC for Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. You can also always buy me coffee. 

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is the perfect translation of the popular Tabletop RPG into a video game. If you enjoy TTRPGs, you need to win either of the Pathfinder games. You can pick up both Wrath of the Righteous and Kingmaker in a bundle on Steam for $53.98. I would wait for the winter sale coming December 21 to January 4, 2024, for the nice discount. 

The Pathfinder games offer a unique and authentic RPG experience. They feature interesting stories, great character design, and fun mechanics. You’ll have enough content to work with to get more than your money back. 

What I enjoyed most about the game is that the choices matter. Dialogue, skill checks, and combat affect how the story unfolds. You can fail checks, and death is permanent, so think carefully. Playing at lower difficulties does mitigate some of the more difficult decisions if you only care about the story. The story is fine, but the level of customization available in this game makes it stand out against the genre. 

Players have the ability to play the characters they want at the level of difficulty that works best for them. There is RNG to consider. You can always fail a check or miss an attack, but that’s half the fun of the tabletop. 

The combat system is unique. Starting an encounter pauses the game, and players queue up their attacks and spells. You can pause at any point in combat. I am terrible at strategy games, and this feature made the game manageable. While I still had trouble being tactical, I appreciated that I could get a time out and think things through. This game isn’t your traditional turn-based RPG. Characters will perform their actions automatically, and your resources are limited. If you are someone who enjoys the more logistical and tactical side of the RPG, these games should already be in your library. 

As far as the DLC goes, I enjoyed Lord of Nothing. The hook was interesting, the quests were fun, and I liked all the new characters. Lord of Nothing picks up where the last DLC ends, but it exists as its own standalone narrative. You’re going to want to enjoy the DLC in order, but you won’t need to have played them all to understand what is going on. The adventures travel to the Icy Tundra in search of Demonic shards to stop the summoning of the Big Bad. It is a fun adventure that will have you wanting more. 

This game isn’t going to be for everyone. If you don’t like strategy games like Total War, combat might be a bit overwhelming. If you don’t like the randomness of skill checks, the game can be frustrating when you fail a roll. Get these games because you love tabletops and want an authentic experience outside of your sessions. You can pick up the Lord of Nothing DLC on Steam. While I doubt it will go on sale, I would still wait for the Winter Sale to pick up everything you need.