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Skull & Shackles #5
Pathfinder Adventure Path #59: The Price of Infamy
Assemble the Fleet
The adventurers now have their own island and port, but they’ll need more than one ship to defend it. When a past rival sends a fleet to attack them, they’re forced to pull out all the stops to defend their island home, scouring the harbors and docks of the Shackles in order to recruit more ships and crews to their flag. Yet when they sail to the attacker’s own island to get their revenge, the adventurers discover a traitor—one whose betrayal threatens not only their own fleet, but the very islands of the Shackles themselves.
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:
- “The Price of Infamy,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 11th-level characters, by Tim Hitchcock.
- Fleet battle rules that allow players to stand as admirals and commodores directing their own armadas against enemy fleets in large-scale naval warfare, by James Jacobs.
- A glimpse behind the gray veil of Norgorber, Golarion’s most secretive deity, by Sean K Reynolds.
- Lock-breakers and sea-devils in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
- Four new monsters, by Savannah Broadway, Ryan Costello, Mark Moreland, and Sean K Reynolds.
Cover art by Daryl Mandryk
The adventurers now have their own island and port, but they’ll need more than one ship to defend it. When a past rival sends a fleet to attack them, they’re forced to pull out all the stops to defend their island home, scouring the harbors and docks of the Shackles in order to recruit more ships and crews to their flag. Yet when they sail to the attacker’s own island to get their revenge, the adventurers discover a traitor—one whose betrayal threatens not only their own fleet, but the very islands of the Shackles themselves.
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:
- “The Price of Infamy,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 11th-level characters, by Tim Hitchcock.
- Fleet battle rules that allow players to stand as admirals and commodores directing their own armadas against enemy fleets in large-scale naval warfare, by James Jacobs.
- A glimpse behind the gray veil of Norgorber, Golarion’s most secretive deity, by Sean K Reynolds.
- Lock-breakers and sea-devils in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
- Four new monsters, by Savannah Broadway, Ryan Costello, Mark Moreland, and Sean K Reynolds.
Cover art by Daryl Mandryk
92 pages, Paperback
First published July 18, 2012
35 people want to read
About the author
Tim Hitchcock
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 21, 2019
Una de las entregas con más oportunidades desaprovechadas de esta Senda, con decisiones de diseño demasiado formulaicas y poco atrevidas, y un uso pobre de mecánicas y personajes detallados en entregas anteriores. Aun así, tiene algún que otro momento brillante que puede salvarse de la quema.
**spoiler alert** El libro comienza con una de las partes más breves y a la vez más inspiradoras de todo el tomo: por fin los PJs asisten a una de las reuniones del Concejo Pirata y ejercen su rango votando en los puntos del orden del día. Y en apenas un par de páginas se nos da un mecanismo para influir en los votos, los 5 asuntos sobre los que votar, los promotores y detractores de cada asunto y las consecuencias tanto si salen como si no. Todo ello consigue retratar muy bien la sociedad pirata, sus preocupaciones y los bandos internos.
Al acabar la reunión los PJs reciben el chivatazo de que su viejo rival (Harrigan, el mismo que les capturó en el número 1) está reuniendo una flota para atacar la isla que conquistaron en el número anterior. En una página y pico se perfila cómo reclutar flotas mercenarias y de algunos aliados que han debido hacer en los anteriores números de la Senda de Aventuras, y a continuación una mini-misión para conseguir otro escuadrón de barcos y más pistas sobre quién está detrás de todo esto.
Pero hay dos misiones más: una para encontrar información secreta sobre la fortaleza de Harrigan y otra para obtener un objeto legendario que les permita acumular más Infamia, e incluso reclutar otra flota si se lo montan bien. Sin embargo, los mecanismos de Infamia/Deshonra siguen siendo los mismos que se describieron en el número 1 de la Senda, y ni allí ni aquí se describen opciones para obtener más barcos y tripulaciones o para aumentar su moral, con lo que esto de obtener más puntos de Infamia no parece más útil ahora que entonces. Una oportunidad desaprovechada.
Sigue la descripción de la batalla a la Isla de los Ojos Vacíos, que asume que los PJs van a querer que suceda en alta mar para poder ventilarse la batalla con las Reglas que se describen más adelante. Con todas las opciones que tienen los PJs a su alcance para convocar bichos marinos, utilizar las defensas de su nuevo fuerte, la fauna de la Isla, etc, otra gran oportunidad desaprovechada. Éste debería haber sido éste el gran clímax de la aventura en lugar de dejarlo para...
... el último capítulo, que es la invasión de la base de Harrigan. Por supuesto, un castillo imposible de arrasar con flotas y que hay que asaltar al viejo estilo mazmorrero. En fin.
Completan el libro las descripciones detalladas de tres capitanes piratas, incluido Harrigan, dos páginas de tesoros mágicos, las famosas Reglas para Batallas Navales, una sección dedicada a Norgorber, el dios de los secretos, la continuación del relato de Robin D. Laws y un bestiario donde por fin aparecen las ballenas y los delfines, una ballena no-muerta y una especie de humanoides compuestos por anguilas vivas que me ha parecido un PQC de aúpa.
**spoiler alert** El libro comienza con una de las partes más breves y a la vez más inspiradoras de todo el tomo: por fin los PJs asisten a una de las reuniones del Concejo Pirata y ejercen su rango votando en los puntos del orden del día. Y en apenas un par de páginas se nos da un mecanismo para influir en los votos, los 5 asuntos sobre los que votar, los promotores y detractores de cada asunto y las consecuencias tanto si salen como si no. Todo ello consigue retratar muy bien la sociedad pirata, sus preocupaciones y los bandos internos.
Al acabar la reunión los PJs reciben el chivatazo de que su viejo rival (Harrigan, el mismo que les capturó en el número 1) está reuniendo una flota para atacar la isla que conquistaron en el número anterior. En una página y pico se perfila cómo reclutar flotas mercenarias y de algunos aliados que han debido hacer en los anteriores números de la Senda de Aventuras, y a continuación una mini-misión para conseguir otro escuadrón de barcos y más pistas sobre quién está detrás de todo esto.
Pero hay dos misiones más: una para encontrar información secreta sobre la fortaleza de Harrigan y otra para obtener un objeto legendario que les permita acumular más Infamia, e incluso reclutar otra flota si se lo montan bien. Sin embargo, los mecanismos de Infamia/Deshonra siguen siendo los mismos que se describieron en el número 1 de la Senda, y ni allí ni aquí se describen opciones para obtener más barcos y tripulaciones o para aumentar su moral, con lo que esto de obtener más puntos de Infamia no parece más útil ahora que entonces. Una oportunidad desaprovechada.
Sigue la descripción de la batalla a la Isla de los Ojos Vacíos, que asume que los PJs van a querer que suceda en alta mar para poder ventilarse la batalla con las Reglas que se describen más adelante. Con todas las opciones que tienen los PJs a su alcance para convocar bichos marinos, utilizar las defensas de su nuevo fuerte, la fauna de la Isla, etc, otra gran oportunidad desaprovechada. Éste debería haber sido éste el gran clímax de la aventura en lugar de dejarlo para...
... el último capítulo, que es la invasión de la base de Harrigan. Por supuesto, un castillo imposible de arrasar con flotas y que hay que asaltar al viejo estilo mazmorrero. En fin.
Completan el libro las descripciones detalladas de tres capitanes piratas, incluido Harrigan, dos páginas de tesoros mágicos, las famosas Reglas para Batallas Navales, una sección dedicada a Norgorber, el dios de los secretos, la continuación del relato de Robin D. Laws y un bestiario donde por fin aparecen las ballenas y los delfines, una ballena no-muerta y una especie de humanoides compuestos por anguilas vivas que me ha parecido un PQC de aúpa.
July 12, 2014
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Skull and Shackles-The Price of Infamy
Originally posted on www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!
Product- Pathfinder Adventure Path-Skull and Shackles- The Price of Infamy
System-Pathfinder
Producer-Paizo
Price- $20 here http://smile.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Ad...
TL;DR-Not pirates, but fun! 88%
Basics-The plot thickens! In the previous adventures, the players have gone from scrappy slaves to pirate lords of the Shackles. At the start after a council meeting, the players receive a secret note telling them that they will soon be attacked by on old rival who has amassed a fleet to destroy them. Can the players get enough help and ships to save themselves? Will they put an end to an old rivalry that's been plaguing them since the beginning? This book also contains fleet battle rules, more monsters and NPCs, another piece of the fiction for this adventure path, and background on Norgorber.
Fluff or Story-This one has a fun story. It goes back to the sandbox approach that has dominated all the really fun parts of the AP. The players don't get to be excessively pirate-y, but they do get to be adventurers as this part is several small requests for help tied together. This adventure is fun if a little scattered, but your players will mostly feel catharsis as they get some revenge. Also, the fiction story and Norgorber give great background on the world. 4.5/5
Crunch or Mechanics-There is good and bad here. But, the good is great, and the bad can't be helped. The bad is Pathfinder has the 3.X problem of players becoming a little too godlike at around ~11 compared to the monsters they are facing. Having only one monster in a fight will result in the players somehow locking that monster down too quickly for it to damage them. To have more than one monster in a fight, the CR of each monster has to be two less, and the problem intensifies as you add more monsters. Thus, the players are not threatened by piles of CR 3 monsters, since the players can't be hit on anything less than a natural 20. So, if you want to challenge your players, you as a GM will need to change things on the fly quite often! However, what is awesome in this book is the fleet rules! The fleet rules give a great way for Pathfinder players to have a massive ship battle without having to have massive amounts of ships. Again, any smart pathfinder group will break them quite easy as the main skill that the fleet rules use is profession(sailor) (which most players will have maxed out by now!). So battles tend to be a bit one-sided, but they are still somewhat tense. Overall, I liked what I saw in this one except for the problems that can't really be helped or fixed. 4/5
Execution-This is well done. Paizo again delivers an excellent product that was fun to read. I would have liked a few more ways to break up text as there are a few pages that are two columns of text next to one another, but nothing is perfect. But, it's not bad, generally laid out well, and an easy read. 4.75/5
Summary- This was a fun one. Still not my favorite as the second part of this adventure path is my favorite since that one is the most pirate-y by far, but this is a good one. It features MASSIVE navel battles, raids into long forgotten tombs, see-through wizards, and an event your players have been looking forward to since the very first day the Skull and Shackles Campaign started! It's a blast from start to finish. 88%
Originally posted on www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!
Product- Pathfinder Adventure Path-Skull and Shackles- The Price of Infamy
System-Pathfinder
Producer-Paizo
Price- $20 here http://smile.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Ad...
TL;DR-Not pirates, but fun! 88%
Basics-The plot thickens! In the previous adventures, the players have gone from scrappy slaves to pirate lords of the Shackles. At the start after a council meeting, the players receive a secret note telling them that they will soon be attacked by on old rival who has amassed a fleet to destroy them. Can the players get enough help and ships to save themselves? Will they put an end to an old rivalry that's been plaguing them since the beginning? This book also contains fleet battle rules, more monsters and NPCs, another piece of the fiction for this adventure path, and background on Norgorber.
Fluff or Story-This one has a fun story. It goes back to the sandbox approach that has dominated all the really fun parts of the AP. The players don't get to be excessively pirate-y, but they do get to be adventurers as this part is several small requests for help tied together. This adventure is fun if a little scattered, but your players will mostly feel catharsis as they get some revenge. Also, the fiction story and Norgorber give great background on the world. 4.5/5
Crunch or Mechanics-There is good and bad here. But, the good is great, and the bad can't be helped. The bad is Pathfinder has the 3.X problem of players becoming a little too godlike at around ~11 compared to the monsters they are facing. Having only one monster in a fight will result in the players somehow locking that monster down too quickly for it to damage them. To have more than one monster in a fight, the CR of each monster has to be two less, and the problem intensifies as you add more monsters. Thus, the players are not threatened by piles of CR 3 monsters, since the players can't be hit on anything less than a natural 20. So, if you want to challenge your players, you as a GM will need to change things on the fly quite often! However, what is awesome in this book is the fleet rules! The fleet rules give a great way for Pathfinder players to have a massive ship battle without having to have massive amounts of ships. Again, any smart pathfinder group will break them quite easy as the main skill that the fleet rules use is profession(sailor) (which most players will have maxed out by now!). So battles tend to be a bit one-sided, but they are still somewhat tense. Overall, I liked what I saw in this one except for the problems that can't really be helped or fixed. 4/5
Execution-This is well done. Paizo again delivers an excellent product that was fun to read. I would have liked a few more ways to break up text as there are a few pages that are two columns of text next to one another, but nothing is perfect. But, it's not bad, generally laid out well, and an easy read. 4.75/5
Summary- This was a fun one. Still not my favorite as the second part of this adventure path is my favorite since that one is the most pirate-y by far, but this is a good one. It features MASSIVE navel battles, raids into long forgotten tombs, see-through wizards, and an event your players have been looking forward to since the very first day the Skull and Shackles Campaign started! It's a blast from start to finish. 88%
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