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96 pages, 2008, $19.99
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Story
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5
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Enjoyability
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4
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Adaptability
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4
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Intelligibility
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4.5
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Overall
4.5
Excellent
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Review Scoring
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In the previous chapter of Curse of the Crimson Throne, the
players were charged with rescuing some important non-player characters from Old Korvosa, and then
escaping themselves. Chapter four, A History of Ashes, takes the game out of
the city and into the wilds of the Shoanti tribal lands in an attempt to find the
secret knowledge they need to save Korvosa from pending doom.
The adventure is written for a party of tenth level characters, and throws challenges
of every sort imaginable at the players. Surprisingly, this mish-mash of challenges
works well together and creates a game that is well balanced, challenging, and most
importantly, fun to play. A History of Ashes is perhaps the best balanced of
the Pathfinder Chronicles adventure path chapters to date, providing the thrills to
make players sweat, but not the point of frustrating them.
The Cinderlands and People of the Storval Plateau, accompanying articles
that describes the plateau and the Shoanti tribes that live there, are a boon for Game
Masters looking for a slightly different twist on the normal barbarian lands. This
can be easily dropped in any existing game world to spice up an existing campaign with
some new, exciting dangers and potential allies.
Eando Kline, Pathfinder, delves deeper into the orc lands, discovering more about them
than even he ever wanted to know. Game Masters and players alike can glean tidbits
about the orcs of Varisia, information that can be used to add more realism to campaigns
or player characters. Rounding out this chapter is the bestiary featuring four new
monsters and a random encounter chart for the Cinderlands. The monsters are an
interesting mix, including the unnerving (and undead) Bonestorm, the blackened Cinder
Wolf, the tentacled, bizaare and best left alone creature known simply as the Havero,
and finished off by the Red Reaver, a powerful cousin of the Gray Render.
A History of Ashes provides plenty of challenges for players and new information
for Game Masters looking for a different twist on Barbarian lands, making it a useful
addition to groups playing the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path and those not
playing it as well.
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