Apathy Blogs

Lost City by Logan Bonner

As a patron for Open Design‘s Lost City I am slightly biased. I wasn’t really involved in pitching ideas however; my patronage was really more of a pre-order. A sign of my faith that Open Design would deliver an excellent adventure for 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Logan Bonner does not disappoint.

In a way Lost City brings a taste of classic Dungeons and Dragons to the latest edition. Inspired by such classics as B4: The Lost City and S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Out in the desert, there is a ruined city. Not just any old city, but the wreckage of a once flying city. What treasures await inside? Will the characters befriend the inhabitants still living within, or destroy them? Much of the destiny of the city is left in the character’s hands.

The main inhabitants of city are the Oklu, a race of reptilian humanoids. Servitors to the original builders of the lost city, the Oklu will likely become both allies and obstacles to the characters as they explore. The factions of Oklu are split on how to protect their sacred home. The characters are likely to upset the balance of power. They could unite the Oklu and restore the city to its former glory or just as easily spark a civil war as they plunder it.

My favorite section of the adventure are the hanging gardens. A portion of the city fell upside down. Now plants hang from the floors of the city. Exploring from upside down building to building will be require great athleticism or the aid of magic. Just be careful not to fall when fighting off the insectoid hive that made the area their home.

If you are looking looking for an excellent paragon tier adventure for Dungeons and Dragons, Lost City is a must buy. It could easily be adaptable to Dark Sun or any other setting with a large unexplored desert. Lost City is what adventures are all about.

Apathy Rating: 5/5.

I know previously I promised a review of the Pathfinder RPG Beta. I still plan on reviewing it but it is a fairly large book (400 pages plus a 60 page web enhancement) and I want to do it justice. So instead I will start with another Paizo product: Pathfinder 13: Shadow in the Sky. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Paizo, they used to be the publishers of Dungeon and Dragon Magazines. When Wizards of the Coast decided to publish the magazines themselves in an online format, Paizo had to find a new direction for their business. They decided to continue doing what they do best: publish monthly material for Dungeons and Dragons. Every month they produce a 90+ page booklet that contains several adventures in a campaign series. Each campaign comes in 6 installments, and takes a party from level 1 to about 15. Shadows in the Sky marks the beginning of their third adventure path, Second Darkness. When 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons was announced Paizo decided to continue publishing adventures for 3.5 instead, and began developing Pathfinder RPG so that some form of 3rd edition would remain to allow anyone to play their adventures.

So first I must touch on the production value of the book. Each page is glossy and full color. It is much nicer quality than most adventure books I’ve seen. The price is a little high for such a slim book, but if you get a subscription you get 30% off and a free pdf of each book. I definitely appreciate the pdf, as I always like to print out copies of maps for reference during games. An active subscription also gets you 15% off all other Paizo products, which is a nice bonus if you plan on buying any quantity of Paizo products. They certainly put their experience in the magazine industry to produce a very nice product (actually now they have other complementary product lines as well) every month.

The first half of the book is the adventures for the story arc. Being the first adventure of the path, it takes characters from first level and leaves them just getting to 4th level at the end. The book takes place in Riddleport, an old pirate town turned trade hub that contains a mysterious runed archway across the harbor mouth. These beginning adventures begin by pitting the players against the criminal underworld of Riddleport, and end with them facing what will become the villains of the overall campaign, drow. The outline of adventures to come sounds very promising, as any epic quest against the drow is always a favorite of players.

I have only the first part to judge though, but it is a well thought out beginning adventure. It is almost entirely urban in nature, which I’ve always found to be both challenging and rewarding to run and play. They do a good job of making suggestions for alternatives for when the players inevitably deviate from the primary path. By the end they will have a number of enemies and allies in the city. I also appreciated that the adventure is well suited for both good and evil parties, even though they of course are slanted toward at least a modestly good group. The climactic end battle looks very fun to run, and should feel rather cinematic for the players.

The second half of the book includes supplemental material that would be useful for any game. There is a description of Riddleport and key important figures. A number of key locations are well detailed and can be added to any city. Four gambling games are described which can add flavor to any tavern encounters of any game. Included is a stand alone adventure, to be used if the group needs a little extra experience in the campaign, or just something to add to any existing game. There are four new monsters to add to your DM’s toolkit as well.

Overall I was impressed with the product. Even though I don’t know when I might be able to run the adventure, I am certainly glad I decided to purchase it. My only regret is that it took me a year before I got a subscription. Even if you don’t like running a scripted campaign, I recommend checking out their other product lines. If you plan on continuing to use 3rd edition, Paizo is the company to watch.

Apathy Rating: 3/5