A Review: Wrath of the Righteous #1: The Worldwound Incursion

I've long been a fan of the concept of demonic invasions into the mortal realm, and the many opportunities such a concept adds to the gaming table. War, horror, desperation, heroism, and more. As such, it was with great glee that I saw the announcement of the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path (or The Demonblight Crusade as it was called before creative director James Jacobs asked the community to help figure out a more fitting name). I was excited. Demons. The Worldwound. The Mendevian Crusades. All three aspects of the Pathfinder campaign setting that I enjoy immensely.

Since the release of Wrath of the Righteous, I've been fortunate to join an amazing group of players in their adventures in Mendev and the Worldwound, and our band of heroes are currently near the end of the adventure path's second book - Sword of Valor. How, then, did the first book - The Worldwound Incursion - fare at our virtual gaming table? Well, let's find out.

Before I dive into the actual review, a wee spoiler might be in order. This review mentions specific names of characters and locations featured in the adventure. If you want to avoid possible spoilers, head on down to the CONCLUSION section for my final words on the book.

Also, this review is written from the perspective of a player. I haven't read the adventure or the book's backmatter, so I can't comment on specific stat blocks or other mechanical aspects of the adventure.

FLUFF
The adventure starts off with a description an assault on the fortress city of Kenabres by a horde of demons, in the aftermath of which our heroes found themselves under the city, saved by a dying dragon. Normally I'd consider such a start a letdown, because it didn't give us an option to interact with the invasion, but it was well written and gave me a sense of dread and wonder. The scope of the demonic invasion was well conveyed. There are plenty of ways for GMs to alter the opening parts of the adventure, but that wasn't really necessary, I felt.

The adventure itself started beneath the city, and it was in many ways a traditional dungeoncrawl in the sense that we moved through the underground tunnels as we tried to find a way back to the surface. The trek through the underground was sprinkled with interesting encounters, and the NPCs that had been placed in the opening scene by author Amber E. Scott added color to the experience. They were interesting and had differing motivations and demeanors. I particularly enjoyed our encounters with the mongrelmen that lived beneath Kenabres, and the lore surrounding them was rich.

After their first real interaction with the demonic forces via a battle against a servant of Baphomet, our heroes reached the surface, and this part of the adventure was my favorite part. Our GM did a great job desribing the destruction and horror that was Kenabres, and as our heroes tried to find any surviving Mendevian crusaders, they encountered demonic vandals, madness-stricken crusaders, desperate survivors, and more. Having linked up with survivors in the inn named Defender's Heart, our heroes struck back against the Baphomite infiltrators in an assault on their safe houses, aided by clues found in the underground. As mentioned, this part was really well done. The horrror and devastation was vividly painted by our GM and the encounters fit with the general mood of the story. They made sense.

The final part of the adventure was basically an assault on the demonic stronghold in the fortress city, a place called the Gray Garrison. It too was well done, I think, and the demons' desecration of the place was detailed in a manner that made me want to bash in the head of every single demon and mortal demon-worshiper we found. The encounters were somewhat challenging, but not excessively so. A couple of encounters brought one or two characters down to negative hit points. The most rewarding segment of this final part of the adventure, however, was the destruction of the city's wardstone. It was the event that added the mythic subsystem to the game, granting our characters their first mythic tier. The adventure's ending was as epic as its beginning, as the heroes received visions of times past as well as potential future enemies.

CRUNCH
As I mentioned earlier, I played through this adventure as a player, and as such I don't have any insight into the mechanical aspects of the adventure. However, I *can* comment on the general level of the challenges that were thrown at our characters. The encounters were varied in their deadliness, and, with the exception of one encounter in the underground, I felt that the real challenge started when our heroes reached the Gray Garrison. It was here that some of the encounters sent a few characters into negative hit points. It wasn't really my impression that the encounters in the adventure were designed to be challenging for our heroes as much as they were there to add depth to the story, and I liked that. They all made sense in the context of the story and the atmosphere, and they *were* taxing for our heroes.

CONCLUSION
I am very pleased with Wrath of the Righteous #1: The Worldwound Incursion. It is an extremely atmospheric and story-heavy adventure that manages to convey the horror of a demonic invasion without becoming excessive in its graphic depictions of its main themes. The encounters were all there to immerse us in the story, the NPCs were interesting, and the encounters adequately challenging. I played an Ustalavic tiefling inquisitor of Iomedae, and I got my money's worth, so to speak, with a character that was a part of both worlds - the demonic and the holy. I highly recommend Wrath of the Righteous #1: The Worldwound Incursion, and I count it among my best memories as a gamer.

Stars: 5 of 5