Pathfinder Adventure Path: Shattered Star Part 1 - Shards of Sin

Shattered Star #1

by Greg A. Vaughan, Paizo Staff (Editor)

In Varisia's bustling frontier town of Magnimar, the Pathfinder Society's newest lodge recruits a team of rookie Pathfinder agents to track down rogue agent Natayla Vancaskerkin - who also happens to be a member of the Varisian criminals known as the Sczarni. Yet, when Magnimar's newest heroes track down the missing woman, they find far more than a Pathfinder on the run, becoming embroiled in a quickly expanding hunt for a fragmented artifact from the height of the ancient empire of Thassilon that will take them to some of the most dangerous corners of Varisia! Shards of Sin is a Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 1st-level characters. This volume begins the Shattered Star Adventure Path, outlining the fabulous powers of the Sihedron artifact and its seven fragments that form the basis of an epic new campaign. New monsters from the wilds of Varisia fill the Pathfinder Bestiary, while Bill Ward (Return of the Sword) begins a new novella in the Pathfinder's Journal.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Reference

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2012

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Ancient Thassilon affects Golarion yet again in the form of a broken Thassilonian artifact that PCs must hunt down the pieces to in order to save the world!

Seems a bit lofty for a bunch of level one characters, but it is the setup for an entire campaign, not just a single adventure, so it works in the end. The adventure reads logically, with pretty much every question I thought of answered as I kept reading. That certainly makes a GM's job easier. The monsters that aren't in standard Paizo books are all given clear stat blocks so the third-party books need not be purchased (yay saving money!). The appendices in the back for NPCs and equipment are also excellent, giving pictures and thorough descriptions in a way that is both easy to find and doesn't interrupt the general flow of the story layout.

Overall, looks fantastic and I'm looking forward to running it. If things go well, I'll probably be upgrading the rating to a full five stars.

[Les Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have run this adventure with a group. The concept may seem a bit unrealistic to the reader but my group, like most I suspect, didn't even blink an eye when beginning adventurers are asked to start recovering artifacts.

Be careful with Natalya's hideout. It went okay with my group but it could easily have gone really badly.

There are lots of roleplay opportunities in this adventure, and the AP overall, so if your group tends towards the bloodthirsty you might want to suggest that they don't have to kill everything.

Both I and my group liked this adventure and would recommend it to others. It loses a star mostly due to some unclear details in the map.