Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber. Organized Play Member. 4,539 posts (4,856 including aliases). 6 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Organized Play character. 5 aliases.
I've struggled some with this review. I erred on the conservative side with a 3-star rating, but I really thought this set was more of a 3.5. A number of the 1-star reviews are, in my opinion, hyperbolic. It's like they were written by Comic Book Guy, "worst miniatures ever." I think this is a combination of a quality slip with some of the common miniatures, high (possibly unrealistic) expectations, and peoples' need to vent their frustration about their disappointment.
The rares are awesome and uncommons are very nice, for the most part. I like the sculpts and the paint jobs. Some, and only some, of the commons definitely have problems. The sculpts are fine, but the paint jobs aren't. I think the Knight of Ozem and Hellknights stuck out as particularly poor quality paint jobs.
My other major complaint about the set is that I didn't get a complete set. Instead, my case had a pair of duplicate bricks. I missed out on Queen Ileosa, the Sandpoint Devil, and Djinn (and Janni, for that matter) which was highly disappointing (I've bought a case of each set that's been released and I've always gotten full sets until now).
The good news is that I now have enough kobolds (for this week's Dragon's Demand game) and orcs. I also added enough goblins that I probably won't need any more.
TL;TD: Overall set is good, but there are a few problems with some common figures.
As a long-time subscriber, I have all the map folios. The is the first one that I've been able to use. The folios have struggled to find their place, but this one hits the spot for me. The player-friendly map of Varisia is usable for multiple campaigns (and has a "here there be dragons" feel without the spoilers). The map of Magnimar is usable across multiple campaigns and Sean#4 of PFS. The map of Kaer Maga is also useful when combined with several other products.
I still don't like the slipcovers that hold the maps. They would benefit greatly from the inclusion of pockets to help keep the maps in place.
I ran this for my group when we made the transition to PFRPG. We had previously run 3.5e Savage Tide and Star Wars SE Dawn of Defiance.
I ran this (along with the 2 follow-on adventures) as a "monster races" campaign with 6 players. It's a classic "go to the dungeon and bring back a mcguffin" style of adventure, although it does a good job of wrapping a plausible story around this idea and presenting it in a way that doesn't feel artificial. Just enough of the backstory is revealed to the PCs for them to have an idea of what's going on, without giving too much away.
The encounters made sense in the storie's framework. The challenges were a good mix of middling to challenging. There were a number of useful call-out boxes to explain rule differences for those coming to PFRPG from 3.5.
All said, it's a solid introductory adventure and introduction to PF the game and the setting.
I waffled on whther to give this 4 or 5 stars. The scans are pretty good though, so I went with 5. The pages are straight, but some of the pages have slight shadowing along with sides. Also, the art tends to "bleed through" and can faintly be seen on subsequent pages. Again the text is selectable and searchable (at least using Acrobat Reader).
Aside from that, it's very nostalgic to be able to see and download these PDF's. It's fun to go back and look over these rules again after 20 years.
Gaming content aside, my rating is for the quality of the scan. The pages are straight and the text is actually searchable (not something you get with most scans). The text isn't black, but is easily readable and maps are in good condition as well.
Since my group is currently playing the Savage Tide Adventure Path, I found it interesting that the purchase includes module x1 The Isles of Dread (I don't include the original Blue Box including that, but it was over 20 years ago).
I bought my Red Box in 1985 and it was my introduction to gaming. I had recently gotten a urge to revisit D&D Basic with the possibility of running my current group through a short campaign. Fortunately, Paizo has the PDF so I don't have to try and hunt down a copy on Ebay of something.
The scans are pretty good. The pages are straight and the text is easily readable. Not only is it readable, but the PDF is searchable as well (which is a handy feature). The only issue I've noticed with the scan is that some text/images from the other side of the page can occasionally be seen.
