Rating:
Warning: This review contains spoilers Written from a GMs perspective I ran this for 7 PCs I ran the Pathfinder re-released version Escape From Old Korvosa is another strong chapter in the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path. For my table, everything ran very smoothly and I was very close to giving this five stars. However, I held back from giving it a perfect score due to a few obvious flaws that I was able to avoid, but that could cause a lot of trouble for other game masters if they ran the book exactly as written.
First, let's talk about the positives. I've said it before in past reviews, but I really love the world building and character development in the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. The third book is no exception. By the time you reach "Escape From Old Korvosa" there are a ton of characters and plot threads. However, everything feels like it builds naturally and it seems like my players were able to follow along with no trouble. This book also felt like an important turning point in the plot, where things that were hinted at for two books, like Vencarlo's identity and Illeosa's true motives started to really pay off. The opening cut scene with the attempted assassination of the Queen was utterly fantastic. Despite there being heavy hints that the Queen was corrupt, the reveal of her truth strength felt appropriately shocking, especially for players who still weren't sure if she was anything more than a pawn.
Not only did this chapter do a great job building upon previous chapters, but the new characters that were introduced were also quite memorable. Pilts was the right balance being a ridiculous figure, while still proving to be truly dangerous. Laori and Salvatore, as morally gray allies, made for interesting additions to the story. Neolandus, while not remarkably interesting in his own right, did provide some good RP for characters who now found themselves tasked to rescuing and protecting a high ranking political figure. Finally, Glorio Arkona and his whole manor stuck the right chord. The PC's struggled to read his intentions and figure out how to deal with him. I have heard some other reviewers complain that they felt a little disappointed by the Arkona's arc ending here, since there was a lot of build up to them in the earlier books. I can see where those reviewers are coming from, as the GM is told about their involvements several times in the previous books. However, most of these are behind the scenes mentions that the PCs do not learn about. For my players the introduction and conclusion of the Arkonas didn't seem to leave anything lacking. The book also leaves open the possibility for the GM to have the Arkona's hound the PCs again should this feel like a loose end. Another thing I liked a lot in Escape From Old Korvosa was the setting of the quarantined district. Exploring Old Korvosa temporarily separated them from the heavily marshaled mainland and put them an entirely lawless region. From an RP perspective in was interesting to see how this both freed them in some regards and constrained them in others. Finally, I felt that this chapter had a good balance of both combat and RP. This was largely due to the fact that many of the book's event could be handled by either method. They could try to take down Pilts or just negotiate with him. They could storm the Arkona manor or accept Glorio's meeting. As far as negatives go, there was only one component that I outright did not like. Blood Pig. On paper, it seemed like a funny mini game that did a great job highlighting how crude and inhumane Pilts and his crew had become in the absence of the law. However, in practice, the game did not work so well. My players (fortunately) only played for a few rounds, before one of them launched a surprise attack on Pilts. However, it was already becoming quite clear that all the turns and rolls were going to become tiresome. I think it would have been quite time consuming and dull to get through a whole game, let alone do a best of three like the campaign suggests. It's also worth mentioning that, if the PCs don't cooperate with the game and instead choose to fight, this becomes a very dangerous encounter. Pilt's mind affecting spells can all but remove PCs from the fight and greater invisibility makes him hard to bring down quickly, Jabbyr hits hard and there are a lot of mooks who crowd out the battlefield and make it hard for the PCs to go after the main two guys. This fight came very close to a TPK for my party and ended with Pilts getting away. Of course mileage may vary at different tables with Blood Pig. Some tables might really enjoy it. The last thing that needs to be talked about is the Vivified Labyrinth. This is the Arkona's underground labyrinth, where pulling switches causes sections of the dungeon to rotate. From what I have read, this dungeon was a negative experience for a lot of people. However, for my group, it ran fairly smoothly and was a memorable and enjoyable experience. I credit our positive experience to two things. First, while researching this dungeon, I found a website with incredibly helpful information. The author points out something very important, that the rotating sections all rotate simultaneously, resulting in only four possible layouts. This is mentioned in the adventure itself, but is not made is obvious as it could be. The website also provides maps for all four of those layouts and some additional advice, such as having Sivit stay in one place, instead of move around the dungeon. I would thoroughly recommend that anyone running "Escape From Old Korvosa" read the article and grab the maps. The second thing that helped running the Vivified Labyrinth was that I look the time to draw out all four map on graph paper (the maps provided showed secret doors and pathways). Then covered the different rooms with post it notes, revealing rooms as the party explored. Each time someone in the dungeon pulled a switch, I flipped to the next page and uncovered the room they were in. This allowed for the chaotic confused feel of the dungeon, while still giving the players something visual to latch on to. As a result, it seemed like my players were able to understand what was going on and avoid the confusion (and subsequent frustration) that this dungeon is certainly capable of causing. Still, while this dungeon was fun for my group, it required a lot of work for me as the GM and it could have been easier to run if the alternate maps were provided and things were explained a little more clearly. This seems like an especially bad oversight, considering that we ran through a re-released version of the campaign. Complaints aside, this is still a strong chapter in a great adventure path. As long as the GM is willing to put some time and effort into planning the Vivified Labyrinth and is careful to not drag out Blood Pig if the players aren't enjoying it, you will most likely have a great time with this adventure.
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