Review of Book One: Knot of Thorns

Overview:
Checking in at 100 full color pages, it sets the norm for the books to come.

It's full of color maps, stat blocks, opening with a plot synopsis, followed by 4 Acts, ending with a gazetteer detailing locations the PCs will visit.

Overall Review:
A solid book.  Not the best of the bunch.  But well done.

The book itself is well written, designed & edited.  There are occasional issues with stat blocks, and a couple confusing plot points and combat mats that are base scale 10 ft (instead of 5 ft).  But for the most part it's quite well polished.  And it's adorned, cover-to-cover in absolutely gorgeous art work.  One thing my players will never fully appreciate.  The truly beautiful full color maps.  Just wonderful to look through.

It also includes suggestions on how to navigate the pit-falls of an evil campaign & includes mandatory optional talents related to the PCs crimes.

And oh the story.  Just glorious.  The book ends with a true Tour De Force.  A epic infiltration & espionage action, ending in a massive fight.

It's only limitation is it straddles the line between stand-alone adventure and first episode of a 6 part campaign.  Which makes for some odd moments.

First, the plot.  It covers some high level plot, but if it was the opening act of a campaign, I'd have insisted it have a timeline of events.  Later, you get that in Book 6, but only for the PCs.  You still never get it for the other NPCs.  Which caused me to alter stuff mid-game when I realized I missed a point.

Second, it (like the next book) don't include the optional rules that start showing up in later books.  Both for character archetypes as well as feat chains allowing for vampirizm, among other things.  Which is a real let-down.  Especially in a highly structured Pathfinder style game, where you do need to plan some of that stuff out ahead of time.

Still, don't take my nit-picking to think it wasn't a phenomenal book.  And if all the campaign stuff was included right off the bat, it would have chewed up a lot of the 100 pages, forcing for either a larger book or a reduction in content.  So it's a bit of a rock & hard place situation.  Still, it hurt me, as when I started, not all the books were out yet and what was I hadn't bought yet, so I missed some useful set up.

Rating 8.5 out of 10 (or a B)


Detailed breakout:

Act 1: Prison Break:
What a way to start your game.  With the PCs stuck in prison.  This is probably the second best Act in the book.  It starts the PCs off with a bang.  Forcing them to work together & introducing Tiadora, an NPC that will be in the game for a long time to come and also Grumblejack the Ogre, who may or may not survive...  All in all a pretty good ride.  Though, it does have some balance issues.  As 1st level PCs, watch out for TPKs and the like.  Especially smaller 3-4 person groups.  Not only that, it could function on it's own as a stand alone 1-3 shot.  Making it alone worth buying the book.  Never-mind the rest of the great stuff in the book, or the awesome campaign it spawns.

Act 2: Into the Knot
Let the training Montague start!  The PCs meet their patron, Cardinal Thorn.  Along with other NPCs.  And they're put to the test.  It makes for a solid if uninspiring Act.  With lots of NPCs and opportunities for character interaction at the beginning and end of the Act, nestled nicely between a straight up dungeon crawl.  It makes for a good balance, between role-playing and "roll-playing".  And it also establishes rules to ensure your Evil party doesn't break apart in the form of a Pact with Hell.  The encounters in the dungeon are a mix and show off one of the best parts of the book series.  The variety of encounters the PCs will face as they progress.  Also, it ends with a bonus trait for each PC.  Showing off another great part of the book series, all the new rules the book adds in for less than good characters.

Act 3: Fire-Axe
Well, in every list, there have to be a last place.  This Act is it for Book One.  It's not bad per se.  Just by comparison, not great.  Everyone has a caravan guard duty, that's this Act.  Still, it's got some good moments.  It drops some foreshadowing.  Has the first of many NPCs that open up optional adventures of the DMs choosing, lets the PCs met a colorful bugbear NPC and ends with the PCs killing off their associates.  What more could you want?  The only odd bit, there is an ending narration for the Act, that is to be read to the players.  And it seems out of place.  As the books never really did or do in the future, 3rd person narratives like it.

Act Four: Burning Balentyne
Ah, the Tour De Force.  If the whole book was filled with this, it would easy be a 10/10.  It's far and away the best Act in the book.  Possibly the best Act in any of the books.  And that's saying something.  It combines infiltration, with a host of memorable NPCs, espionage, action and conquest.  There are only two things I disliked about it.  One, there are a LOT of NPCs to track.  And two, there is no timeline.  In my "Making it your own" page, I have samples of NPC index cards and a sample timeline.  I recommend you use something similar.  It helped me and my players.  And missing a timeline and having a bunch of awesome NPCs to juggle in no way brings down what an epic adventure it is.  If you didn't buy the book for Act 1, which you should.  Or for the whole campaign, which again, you should.  You have to get it for this.  Running my players through this Act is a gaming experience I'll never forget.  Ever.