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The latest
installment of EN Publishing's Zeitgeist-AP clocks in at 95 pages, 1 page front
cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us
with 90 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?
It's been
too long since I took a look at one of the Zeitgeist-modules, but before I do,
here the obligatory warning - this review contains SPOILERS. Potential players
should jump to the conclusion.
...
No, really.
Jump to the conclusion.
...
Only DMs
left? Good.
This
adventure is the conclusion of the first act of the epic ZEITGEIST-saga, and as
such, provides guidance of running it stand-alone (or the first campaign-act
alone - just eliminate the conspiracy elements and there you go!) - which
renders it longer than one would have expected. The constables of the RHC will
have A LOT on their hands, so better hope they have honed their investigative
skills.
A
peace-summit is looming between the nation of Risur and Danor, finally bringing
peace to the strained relations between the nations - including, btw., a list
of the points of contention. In one sentence - there are a lot of elements
invested in seeing the summit fail. Beyond a turf-war, a mad fey and radical
eschatologists all have their own plots, which means that the constables will
have to wrap up no less than THREE threads: In order to cope with this, magical
long-range communication and the B-team are provided - the latter being only
4th level characters the players may play...and, of course, as always,
characters may very well die.
And yes, on
their way to meet the king, the PCs immediately are subject to a well-planned,
rather deadly assassination attempt, including carriages, which should make
clear the stakes are high - crimelord Lorcan Kell (backed by the
two-letter-abbreviated conspirators) wishes to take them out. The king himself
briefs them with the severity of the situation (as well as dropping some hints
of ravenloftesque ties of rulers to their realm and citizens...) and tells them
about the conspirators having some means of access to the Bleak Gate -
something the PCs should better unearth as soon as possible.
Now the
B-team will be busy with escorting the minotaur-ambassador Brakken - hopefulyl
without attacking his dire-bear companion. Meanwhile, the PCs may see an old
acquiantance from module #1 show up at the royal palace- the high elf Asrabey
Varal asks, veiled, for assistance in hunting down aforementioned rogue fey.
The B-team, escorting both the minotaur and the dwarven eye of Drakr at the
summit will right NOW have their hands full -a deadly ballet of death is
unleashed upon the city by a cadre of deadly dwarven eschatologists - perfectly
timed bombs, sniper nests - the B-team will have its hands more than full
trying to save what's there to save! Alexander Grappa, the golem-maker, has his
mind currently inside the head of a demolished bronze golem and may just be the
additional piece of information the constables need regarding the Bleak gate -
though a clever geas prevents him from divulging crucial information. Now as an
additional mini-game, the PCs will have to generate and train a task force of
people to take down Kell et al, which also provides various means for
complications - essentially, they have to order a shadow war against Kell and
his associates - in a damn fun, cool mini-game. Better - if the PCs have good
relationships with the Cipiano, they may utilize Morgan Cipiano's resources
against Kell...for a price that will influence further adventures. Speaking of
which - if the B-team can ensure that their outgunned fight in a night-club is
successful, they can influence this mini-game as well - and actually get Kell's
lawyer!
Espionage
and counter-espionage very much determine how well the final crackdown on Kell
goes -if moles are not exposed, the PCs may find themselves at a significant
disadvantage. Now the investigation into the renegade fey with Asrabey turns
out to be rather interesting - the haughty elf still vastly outclasses the
constables and thus, combats tend to have certain things for him to do - and
yes, the fey-opposition of the Unseen Court is rather deadly. While the main
group dukes it out with powerful spellcasters, the B-team will have
"fun" calming superstitious folk and hopefully prevent multiple
lynchings due to the fear of a curse. Capturing and interrogating a gremlin may
see the PCs finally in a position where they can confront the fey-lord
Ekossigan - in the process of a ritual sacrifice, clearly mad and mumbling
about dread things hidden...but more on that later.
If the PCs
have made friends with Kvarti in a previous encounter, the dwarf's divergent
take on eschatologist philosophy may provide a simple means for them to gain
information - Kvarti is unhappy about the radical plan of mass-bombing the
sub-railway system and wants to help prevent the unleashing of dangerous beasts
bound for the harbor and a hostage situation planned by a particularly cold
eschatologist - hopefully also diffusing the deadly bomb in a nail-biting
finale.
The massive
banquet scene that is to follow the happenings will be just as nail-biting and
tense - there is a lot at stake and after the rather exquisitely detailed scene
- which unmasks a particular NPC as a telepath and also provides the PCs with a
means of maintaining an element of surprise over the obscurati in Cauldron Hill
- depending on the means the PCs chose during the module, the finale's assault
on the Obscurati base will happen under vastly different constellations. Beyond
infiltration, the utterly EPIC boss-fights that reward making allies and smart
choices here deserve special mention.
But this is
not the end - the titan of adamantine is unleashed upon the city, and while,
for now, without direction, it needs to be dealt with - the king assembles a
makeshift fleet (plus allies PCs may have made!) and tries to lure the titan to
sea, while the king executes a powerful ritual aboard the vessel to banish the
titan. The PCs will have to hold off the deadly, nigh-indestructible creature
while dealing with the deadly witchoil horrors generating from the titan, for
one of the most epic climaxes I've seen in any module.
Pages upon
pages of handouts and GM-guidance to running this beast are provided as well.
Conclusion:
Editing and
formatting are top-notch, I noticed no significant glitches. Layout adheres to
EN Publishing's 2-column full-color standard with plenty of glorious, original
pieces of art. The pdf comes layered to the extent where you can make it easily
player-friendly. Cartography is glorious as well.
Thurston
Hillman has done it. The fifth zeitgeist-module manages to live up to the
utterly INSANE standard the first 4 modules set, all of which manages to score
5 stars + seal of approval, rendering this AP the only one among those I've
reviewed that managed to maintain this level of quality. The ONLY reason I'm
not playing this AP right now is that I'm waiting for it to finish - I never
start APs that are not yet done. That being said, this module is glorious and
the first ACT of this AP has more going on, more memorable moments, than many
full APs I've read. Superb in writing and ambition, this killer module is
simply brilliant and utterly captivating - my final verdict will clock in at 5
stars + seal of approval.
You can get this installment of the AP here on OBS for PFRPG.
Prefer 4th edition? (To each his own, I do not judge...) Here's the link!
Endzeitgeist
out.
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