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Carrion Crown #1
Pathfinder Adventure Path #43: The Haunting of Harrowstone
Dead Man Walking
When Harrowstone Prison burned to the ground, prisoners, guards, and a host of vicious madmen met a terrifying end. In the years since, the nearby town of Ravengro has shunned the fire-scarred ruins, telling tales of unquiet spirits that wander abandoned cellblocks. But when a mysterious evil disturbs Harrowstone’s tenuous spiritual balance, a ghostly prison riot commences that threatens to consume the nearby village in madness and flames. Can the adventurers discover the secrets of Harrowstone and quell a rebellion of the dead? Or will they be the spirit-prison’s next inmates?
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path launches the Carrion Crown Adventure Path and includes:
- “The Haunting of Harrowstone,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 1st-level characters, by Michael Kortes.
- A tour of Ravengro, village of mystery and suspicion, by Michael Kortes.
- Expanded rules for creating and running horrific haunts, by Brandon Hodge.
- An ancient revenge is reborn in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by F. Wesley Schneider.
- Six new monsters, by Adam Daigle and Patrick Renie.
Cover art by Dave Rapoza
When Harrowstone Prison burned to the ground, prisoners, guards, and a host of vicious madmen met a terrifying end. In the years since, the nearby town of Ravengro has shunned the fire-scarred ruins, telling tales of unquiet spirits that wander abandoned cellblocks. But when a mysterious evil disturbs Harrowstone’s tenuous spiritual balance, a ghostly prison riot commences that threatens to consume the nearby village in madness and flames. Can the adventurers discover the secrets of Harrowstone and quell a rebellion of the dead? Or will they be the spirit-prison’s next inmates?
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path launches the Carrion Crown Adventure Path and includes:
- “The Haunting of Harrowstone,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 1st-level characters, by Michael Kortes.
- A tour of Ravengro, village of mystery and suspicion, by Michael Kortes.
- Expanded rules for creating and running horrific haunts, by Brandon Hodge.
- An ancient revenge is reborn in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by F. Wesley Schneider.
- Six new monsters, by Adam Daigle and Patrick Renie.
Cover art by Dave Rapoza
92 pages, Paperback
First published March 23, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 22, 2015
Overall a good start to the adventure, however it looked a bit short especially comparing it to the other adventure paths I have read (Burnt Offerings and the first part of the Kingmaker). That is not a big problem as I like to add and expand the ready-made adventures I run. Some of the encounters can be really lethal if the party isn't prepared for dealing with them, but there are plenty of foreshadowing and clues.
April 9, 2025
Like every volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path for first edition, The Haunting of Harrowstone is comprised of multiple articles.
The first and largest component is the titular adventure. The adventure is a good mix of investigation and site-based exploration of a haunted prison. Groups that really delve into the starting settlement of Ravengro will have plenty of social time with NPCs as well. Typical of published adventures for first edition Pathfinder, there are too many combat encounters, many of which aren't integral. The adventure is laid out and formatted to be read, not used as a table reference which works against its intended purpose in my opinion. A game master will have to reference several other books and flip through this one as well while running the adventure.Despite its flaws, it is a flavourful and thematically appealing adventure that I will likely take the time to prepare for the table.
The gazetteer on Ravengro is short, but sufficient to present the town and its inhabitants.
The section on haunts is indispensable for this adventure and good to have for homebrew game masters as well.
The fiction is interesting, but the prose style is unappealing to me, and I don't have a good feel for the characters or overall plot yet.
I like all the creatures in the bestiary section; the spring-heeled jack is the highlight, but they're all pretty good. The art in this section is all done by the same artist and is a completely different style than the rest of the book. The cartooniness of it seems at odds with the Gothic horror style everywhere else, so I got a bit of tonal dissonance from it.
TL;DR: This is a good adventure hampered by its format.
The first and largest component is the titular adventure. The adventure is a good mix of investigation and site-based exploration of a haunted prison. Groups that really delve into the starting settlement of Ravengro will have plenty of social time with NPCs as well. Typical of published adventures for first edition Pathfinder, there are too many combat encounters, many of which aren't integral. The adventure is laid out and formatted to be read, not used as a table reference which works against its intended purpose in my opinion. A game master will have to reference several other books and flip through this one as well while running the adventure.Despite its flaws, it is a flavourful and thematically appealing adventure that I will likely take the time to prepare for the table.
The gazetteer on Ravengro is short, but sufficient to present the town and its inhabitants.
The section on haunts is indispensable for this adventure and good to have for homebrew game masters as well.
The fiction is interesting, but the prose style is unappealing to me, and I don't have a good feel for the characters or overall plot yet.
I like all the creatures in the bestiary section; the spring-heeled jack is the highlight, but they're all pretty good. The art in this section is all done by the same artist and is a completely different style than the rest of the book. The cartooniness of it seems at odds with the Gothic horror style everywhere else, so I got a bit of tonal dissonance from it.
TL;DR: This is a good adventure hampered by its format.
April 25, 2025
Looking to find some tips & tricks to run a haunted house scenario, but I can't help but feel this scenario very run-of-the-mill.
August 20, 2013
Great first adventure. Lots of opportunities for roleplaying and general exploring/adventuring. The layout and illustrations are beautiful. The storyline is well thought-out and complete, allowing the PCs to learn little bits of information here and there as they piece together the puzzle.
I do wish the information was more organized; I find it difficult to search through a number of paragraph blocks to look for the Perception DC for the secret door, or the contents of the room in needless backstory. If the sections were organized better, that would save some time in preparation and in actual gameplay. A few tweaks were needed here and there as recommended on the message boards at paizo, but the basic foundation was still solid. Of course I add a few things of my own, but that's what great premade adventures do; they inspire you to go above and beyond, making it specific for you group of PCs so it meshes just right with their sensibilities and tastes.
I do wish the information was more organized; I find it difficult to search through a number of paragraph blocks to look for the Perception DC for the secret door, or the contents of the room in needless backstory. If the sections were organized better, that would save some time in preparation and in actual gameplay. A few tweaks were needed here and there as recommended on the message boards at paizo, but the basic foundation was still solid. Of course I add a few things of my own, but that's what great premade adventures do; they inspire you to go above and beyond, making it specific for you group of PCs so it meshes just right with their sensibilities and tastes.
August 5, 2013
Though the kick-off to the Carrion Crown Adventure Path is a great one in concept, ties superbly to following chapters, and features all sorts of early opportunity for players to invest in a community, I feel that it gets bogged down in the execution of the prison of Harrowstone itself.
While the plot elements and five powerful spirits are all well-crafted, the place is so saturated by haunts that they became extremely predictable and, sadly, even wearying. Though it is traditionally a bit harder to find interesting enemies for starting parties to combat, this module does well in that regard. I feel this could have been far more effective with a few better-chosen haunts (like the furnace on the first floor) that have more dire consequences.
While the plot elements and five powerful spirits are all well-crafted, the place is so saturated by haunts that they became extremely predictable and, sadly, even wearying. Though it is traditionally a bit harder to find interesting enemies for starting parties to combat, this module does well in that regard. I feel this could have been far more effective with a few better-chosen haunts (like the furnace on the first floor) that have more dire consequences.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2020
A perfect mixture of exploration, social encounters, mystery and good old fashioned dungeon crawl. Great introduction to the Pathfinder game with strong themes of horror and mystery but without going overboard.
July 31, 2016
My first time ever reading a paizo adventure path and I have to admit this is excellently written and particularly well-crafted.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews