Retribution [Paperback]

I was seriously blown away by the richness and depth of this module. Seriously, Creighton is missing his mark by writing RPG modules and should be doing Fantasy Fiction. (as some of you might know I am more of a book reviewer than a game reviewer.)
This Adventure is designed for four First level PCs.

Oh well, on to the module itself. We have 60+ pages of material here. The PC's basically travel to a monastery, and are trapped there during a snowstorm. Not surprisingly, "all is not as it seems". I am not going to give away spoilers, however.

What I liked here, besides the rich language and well thought-out background for this module, is the lay out. As we all know, some DM's like to read the whole module, while others want to "wing it". The writer here wisely adds a "Adventure Synopsis" so that the "wingers" can read just a couple of pages and jump right in. Also each section has synopsis and summary with how many eps and the loot. Nice. There's also a couple of unique monsters and even a one-of-a-kind magic item which won't break any DM's campaign- although it certainly useful. I always like those.
A few small caveats: there is one encounter (you'll know when you get there) which if the Players are "open the door and kill it" types, will likely result in a TPK. DM's- know your players. While there are several not-too-difficult ways of defeating this monster besides bashing it, if your players are of the "hack & slash" school, you might want to change the encounter a bit or warn them.

The one way I'd play this different is due purely due to a "DM philosophy". I think PC's need to be leveled up to level 2 asap. I like a fast advancement up to level 5, then I slow things down so that they can savor the "sweet spot' for a while. Thus, if I was running this, I'd level the PC's up to level 2 right after Part 1, then to level 3 at the end of the module (especially if the players showed good roleplaying). Yes, maybe I might add a few HP to a few monsters due to this, sure. But that's not a criticism of this module at all, Creighton wisely follows the rules with the eps.

Overall, this is very well done module, with several nights of good gaming fun, a decent amount of combat, investigations and RPing possibilities.

I give it ***** out of *****.

I rcvd a electronic download of this game for review.

A gripping gothic yarn. Retribution is one part classic pulp, one part Name of the Rose, and all around a compelling narrative with exciting encounters and absorbing NPCs. It will no doubt leave a lasting impression on every adventurer who dares winter on the Lonely Coast.

I've been playing RPG's for many years now and I have always been dubious of written adventures/modules as they for most part are terribly written and incredibly cliched.

So, when I decided to start playing Pathfinder I thought it might be a good idea to purchase an adventure to see if they have improved. I picked this particular one for two reasons. Firstly, it wasn't a mainstream publisher and secondly the rave reviews.

Upon receiving this in the post I opened with great trepidation but was incredibly impressed. The quality of the writing as well as the technical detail which the author has paid is superb. Much of the tedious tasks such as travelling times etc are worked out and this leaves oddles of time to deliver the module with the energy and feeling it deserves.

I am on the cusp of the running this for my gaming group and I am excited about how it will pan out.

This for me has restored faith in publishers and 3rd party material. I also have Tribes 1 and 2 as well as Scions of Evil by this publisher. They are all incredibly well written works which I would recommend to any GM.