Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path
delericho
Legend
3 out of 5 rating for Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path
First up, I need to give Paizo due credit for at least trying something new. After twenty Adventure Paths (including the Dungeon ones), it's very easy for them to slip into becoming a bit same-y. And so, by at least trying new things they can inject some new life into the line. And the concept of an evil campaign, while clearly not for everyone, is an interesting one.
Unfortunately, though, I found that Hell's Vengeance was less 'new' than I had originally hoped. Yes, the PCs are evil, and that's new. And, yes, there's some fun to be had from playing with classes and character concepts that would normally be off-limits.
However, a huge amount of the campaign follows a very familiar pattern - the PCs have a patron who gives them various quests to complete. They complete the quests and are rewarded with various signs of favour and then the next set of tougher quests.
It's a shame, and a missed opportunity, IMO. On the other hand, it does give me some hope for future evil campaigns - having dipped their toe, perhaps Paizo may now feel they can take more risks next time out?
In closing, I should briefly note that everything surrounding the path itself was fine - the quality of the books, the artwork, the cartography, and the fiction, articles, and monsters that usually appear in the Adventure Path books were all present and correct, and maintained Paizo's usual high standard. So while these adventures weren't to my taste, I certainly can't fault them on presentation.
First up, I need to give Paizo due credit for at least trying something new. After twenty Adventure Paths (including the Dungeon ones), it's very easy for them to slip into becoming a bit same-y. And so, by at least trying new things they can inject some new life into the line. And the concept of an evil campaign, while clearly not for everyone, is an interesting one.
Unfortunately, though, I found that Hell's Vengeance was less 'new' than I had originally hoped. Yes, the PCs are evil, and that's new. And, yes, there's some fun to be had from playing with classes and character concepts that would normally be off-limits.
However, a huge amount of the campaign follows a very familiar pattern - the PCs have a patron who gives them various quests to complete. They complete the quests and are rewarded with various signs of favour and then the next set of tougher quests.
It's a shame, and a missed opportunity, IMO. On the other hand, it does give me some hope for future evil campaigns - having dipped their toe, perhaps Paizo may now feel they can take more risks next time out?
In closing, I should briefly note that everything surrounding the path itself was fine - the quality of the books, the artwork, the cartography, and the fiction, articles, and monsters that usually appear in the Adventure Path books were all present and correct, and maintained Paizo's usual high standard. So while these adventures weren't to my taste, I certainly can't fault them on presentation.
PurpleDragonKnight
First Post
5 out of 5 rating for Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path
Playing evil guys has really worked well with our group. I recommend you play this one with mature players and discourage powergamers at your table... i.e. people who think that evil people can kill everyone. This will result in failure.
Playing evil guys has really worked well with our group. I recommend you play this one with mature players and discourage powergamers at your table... i.e. people who think that evil people can kill everyone. This will result in failure.
PurpleDragonKnight
First Post
4 out of 5 rating for Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path
This AP is different than the previous ones. This time the characters are evil and attempt to suppress a rebellion against their evil empire. In general, this is the typical good Paizo stuff. The novelty of playing evil characters add to the fun and excitement, but the GM must be able to rein in and control some of the players who may use this to derail the game. The plot in the first chapters is lukewarm, and there's no real unifying cause to bring all these evil guys together other than a statement that they are evil agents of the empire who should listen to their superiors in order to climb the evil ladder of power. A good GM will make a world of a difference. A GM that doesn't pad this AP with Golarion fluff may render this adventure lukewarm at best. The sandboxy parts of the AP are as usual a bit of a waste of time and the subsystems like Rebellion Points and Despair Meter have no real impact on the final outcome in each adventure, which begs the question why add the extra complexity and not just run this as a linear set of encounters, or at least string the encounters by some detective work by the PCs (infiltration of rebellious secret meetings, etc.)
This AP is different than the previous ones. This time the characters are evil and attempt to suppress a rebellion against their evil empire. In general, this is the typical good Paizo stuff. The novelty of playing evil characters add to the fun and excitement, but the GM must be able to rein in and control some of the players who may use this to derail the game. The plot in the first chapters is lukewarm, and there's no real unifying cause to bring all these evil guys together other than a statement that they are evil agents of the empire who should listen to their superiors in order to climb the evil ladder of power. A good GM will make a world of a difference. A GM that doesn't pad this AP with Golarion fluff may render this adventure lukewarm at best. The sandboxy parts of the AP are as usual a bit of a waste of time and the subsystems like Rebellion Points and Despair Meter have no real impact on the final outcome in each adventure, which begs the question why add the extra complexity and not just run this as a linear set of encounters, or at least string the encounters by some detective work by the PCs (infiltration of rebellious secret meetings, etc.)
