Product– Pathfinder Adventure Path #181: Zombie Feast (Blood Lords 1 of 6)
System– Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $26.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02dvp?Pathfinder-Adventure-Path-181-Zombie-Feast
TL; DR– Unleash the undead! 97%
Basics– The hunger never ends! This book starts the Blood Lords adventure path and provides information on new spells, an archetype, factions of the adventure, and the city of Graydirge.
Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure plays well. The monsters are right about where they need to be for combat, and the mix is fun. The new archetype is interesting, and the spells are something my players (who accidentally stumbled upon them on Archive of Nethys) already wanted. My one major issue is factions. Factions are done as well as they can be, but I feel it’s not well supported by the whole system. You can move up or down in the factions’ esteem, but I just can’t shake the feeling of, “Who cares?” I don’t have the mechanical background of why I want to make people like me in each faction. It’s a minor thing that I feel will build up more in the upcoming adventures. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– This is a a solid story. The story is fun, and my players had a blast playing in it. I felt equipped enough to make the characters and locations interesting. The world is fleshed out enough to make it a fun place to play, and all the new things are introduced well enough to make me either intrigued enough or disgusted enough in them to have a blast. 5/5
Execution– Welp, it’s Paizo and they made a book. Paizo is one of the industry’s best layout people, and this is no exception. It reads well, easily, and quickly. Hyperlinks make it a quick thing to read through and scan through. Solid work here. 5/5
Summary– My brother is the one who got me interested in this adventure path, and I am glad he did. It’s a fun story with new toys for both the GM and players that is just put together well. My one issue is a more system-wide issue of factions and influence, but that’s the one thing I can point to as something that just makes me unhappy with this product. My players and I can’t wait to hop into the next one ASAP! 97%
Throat Punch Games 