Nearly severing limbs! When you succeed on an attack on a target with the off-guard condition, you can reduce the sneak attack damage by 1d6, 2d6, or 3d6 and the target gains Painful 1, Painful 2, or Painful 3 (DC 15 flat check reduce by 1). If you choose Painful 3 the target must attempt Fortitude save against your class DC. On a success, the target only gains Painful 2. If a target has the Painful condition, it can increase up to Painful 3, but to go from Painful 2 to Painful 3, the target must attempt a Fortitude save as above..
Shoot from the shadows. For two actions you load less powder into a firearm and make a ranged attack with that firearm. Reduce all damage die from that firearm by 1 size on a hit, but firing the weapon does not reveal your location or presence to anyone.
Right into the joint! When you succeed on an attack on a target with the off-guard condition, you can reduce the sneak attack damage by 1d6 or 2d6 and the target gains Painful 1 or Painful 2 (DC 15 flat check reduce by 1). If a target has the Painful condition, it can increase up to Painful 2.
TL; DR– Another good step in the Blood Lord’s Path! 97%
Basics– YOU’RE A BLOOD LORD HARRY! You finally become blood lords, and now the plot is really heating up. Someone is attempting to poison the food supply and you… you get to play honor guard to the ghouls from the underdark. All in a day’s work for the lowest ranked, most powerful people in the kingdom.
Mechanics or Crunch– The mechanics of this adventure are solid, but there is one thing that bothers me. The crunch works here. There is investigation, combat, exploration, and event influence all baked in. Multiple different skills are used, so no one feels left out. The last dungeon is a bit of a big jump in terms of difficulty, but overall the mechanics are solid. My one major issue is the groups. You earn points with each group that runs the country, but I still don’t have a solid grasp of why. You earn points, but there is not a direct explanation of what to do with those groups. And this adventure has you get more downtime abilities to use those factions and build up more intrigue. Why should I do that? I need a bit more, and then I would feel like that’s a good use of my gaming time. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– This story is fun here. Usually just having necromancers is enough to make a problem. But in this one, the story is that someone is messing with the money. It’s destabilizing the country and making the nearby ghoul kingdom angry. Your job is to fix relations and stop that little problem. It’s a solid story that draws the players into the world. It’s not only “kill the bad people”, but stop the geopolitical problems before they begin! Also this book introduces a whole new religion, so if you want a ghoul character who’s extra special, this is the book for them as well. 5/5
Execution– Paizo makes good books. I love what’s here. I love layout, the sections, and the worldbuilding. It’s another solid book from Paizo. 5/5
Summary– I liked this adventure. It’s got a fun story, and the difficulty builds up to challenge the players. The story builds. The small start and low levels are paying off as big powers are coming to play and the players are becoming big power houses too! The book is solidly constructed, and full of the Paizo polish I come to expect. The one issue I have is the factions. I still don’t honestly know why my players and I should care. Beyond that, this is a fun next step in the Blood Lords adventure. 97%
You’ve learned how to really cut into tendons and joints. When you succeed on an attack on a target with the off-guard condition, you can reduce the sneak attack damage by 1d6 and the target gains Painful 1 (DC 15 flat check to end). If a target has the Painful condition, it does not increase.
Archetype Prerequisites Ritualist Dedication, master in Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion
You’ve focused on just being better. Increase your circumstance bonus to all checks to perform a ritual by 2, and learn two additional rituals of any level you can cast.
You’ve continued to learn to apply pain to an enemy. Your deep Cut ability now causes Painful 2. If a target has the Painful condition, it does not increase past Painful 2.
You drive the weapon deeper and cut right into sinew and join. Make a melee Strike against an enemy in range. If you hit the target in addition to normal damage inflect Painful 1 on the target, painful 2 on a critical or increase the target’s painful condition by 1, 2 on a critical hit.
Basics– You hear that? A mysterious sound is emerging from the Wreck of the Returned, and you’re going to go keep the friends of the Starfinder society safe! Can you stop whoever might want to cause the robots to go crazy?
Mechanics or Crunch– Holy cow this is short. There is a chase scene and a fight. That’s it. The mechanics are ok, but they are just too short. A team that doesn’t roleplay will complete this in an hour. If the team is min/maxed, I’d say 45 minutes. There just isn’t much meat on the bones here. 3/5
Theme or Fluff– The story works. You meet fun new characters, you find new lore, and you see parts of the world that normally characters wouldn’t enter. The story expands on the wreck of the returned, and that’s always welcome. 5/5
Execution– This is too short. I don’t hate the layout choices, but I miss having pictures of creatures to show, even if they are one shot bad guys. If you have them, put them in a box without words around them. Make it easier for me to show them off. But the major issue is the same here. It’s an 8 buck adventure for 1 hour of play. That’s too short. 3/5
Summary– Paizo is changing the organized play adventures, and short is the goal. This adventure hits the short goal maybe a bit too well. Honestly, I want more to this. The goal is 3 hours. Most groups will complete it in an hour and a half, and that’s if you mess around. A dedicated professional group who doesn’t want that will be done in under an hour. That’s not bad, but this is a quest. Those are being phased out, but this needs more. Add a combat before the players enter the area with some random monsters in the desert. Add another social after the big fight to learn more about the robots. Add those and you get a solid experience. As it stands this isn’t bad, but it’s too little for the price. 73%
Throat Punch Games 