A Review: Wrath of the Righteous #2: Sword of Valor

DISCLAIMER I've written this review as a player participating in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path. I have not read the adventure or its backmatter, and so I cannot comment on the quality of the writing or specific mechanical elements of the adventure. Furthermore, it is quite possible that my GM has tweaked parts of the adventure to fit our group of players. I can, however, provide an account of my impressions of the adventure after a successful playthrough.

Also, this review contains spoilers for Wrath of the Righteous #2: Sword of Valor.

With that out of the way, let's see how this adventure performed at the gaming table.

As the second installment in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path, Wrath of the Righteous #2: Sword of Valor continues the epic story of a righteous crusade launched against the hordes of demons that threaten to undo the world. The demons have been driven from the ruined fortress city of Kenabres, and the momentous events that wrapped up the first book have all but destroyed the wardstones. All is not lost, however, because the heroes are here to save the day, fueled as they are by mythic powers. The question is, did the heroes have fun?

FLUFF
The premise of the adventure is simple: With a mandate granted by Crusader Queen Galfrey, the heroes lead an army of paladins into the Worldwound. Their mission is to deliver the occupied city of Drezen and find the powerful Sword of Valor. As a result, the adventure is divided into three parts: the march through the Worldwound, the assault on the city, and the search for the Sword of Valor.

The first part, the march through the Worldwound was my favorite part of the adventure. It featured everything I hoped it might - mass combat, despair, evil machinations, betrayal, all of it set against the backdrop of the Worldwound. This part of the adventure offered plenty of opportunities for some fun roleplaying, and it gave another glimpse into the wickedness of the demons and their allies. More importantly for me, though, it showcased one of the strengths of the demons in the Pathfinder RPG - their different approaches to the concept of destruction.

It is easy to think of demons as one-trick ponies whose only modus operandi is SMASH KILL MAIM! That would be a mistake, though. During the heroes' march through the Worldwound, their resolve was tested as the forces of evil constantly sought to destroy the army through subtle means. Whispered suggestions and damning words of despair, infiltrations of the army camp, soldiers accusing fellow soldiers of crimes committed by agents of the Abyss.

The mass combat was a mixed affair. I had fun as I took an active part in the planning and execution of the battles. Our GM did a good job describing the battles. However, if you were to ask some of my fellow players, I fear their enthusiasm might not be as profound as mine. It seems to me that the mass combat system created by Paizo lacks something in the sense that, as written, it fails to provide an immersive experience for everyone at the table.

The second part of the adventure, the assault on Drezen, featured more mass combat as our army fought the city's defenders. We spent quite a bit of time debating how best to approach the liberation of Drezen, debates based on intel provided by scouts. Each section of town would grant us certain boons, so it was a matter of us to weigh those boons against the level of resistance present in each section.

For me, this part of the adventure featured one of the higlights of the campaign so far. The annihilation of our army of paladins. The paladins had crushed all resistance with a single army remaining - a band of disorganized cultists. Based on our GM's description, there was no indication that this army would present a significant obstacle, and so our army took to the field. A couple of abysmal dice rolls later, both armies were destroyed. The battle showcased another issue with the mass combat rules. It's entirely too easy for a poor die roll or two to destroy an army.

We turned what I felt was a low point in the campaign into the highlight it became through a great bit roleplaying. 100 men had sacrificed their lives to clear a path to the citadel for us. They had endured through several battles against a determined foe before the onslaught had become too much for even our valiant holy warriors. The impromptu memorial was one of the best roleplaying sequences I can remember enjoying in my many years playing roleplaying games.

Finally our heroes were ready to assault the Citadel of Drezen itself and avenge our fallen brothers-in-arms. This third part of the adventure contained a traditional dungeon crawl, and it started with a bang.

As our heroes approached the citadel, we were attacked by what I can only assume was a mythic chimera. What a fun encounter that was. Very cinematic and against an extremely tough opponent. The citadel had its share of demonic minions as well, and the first real Boss of the campaign - Staunton Vaine - was slain. All in all, the citadel was a relatively traditional dungeon, but enough demon taint was there to give it that extra flavor. I suspect that some of the encounters in the citadel were placed there by our GM, so I won't comment on those, just in case my suspicion is correct.

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. With a couple of exceptions, the encounters in this adventure felt a bit light. I didn't feel that we were really challenged. The exceptions, however, were brutal. The above-mentioned chimera brought my character to negative hit points and for a while we feared it might be a TPK. Another encounter, this one in the citadel itself, resulted in the deaths of two characters.

CONCLUSION
For the most part, Wrath of the Righteous #2: Sword of Valor was absolutely stellar and dripping with flavor. Lots of roleplaying opportunities (including meeting Crusader Queen Galfrey herself), interesting locations, NPCs with incredible depth, and some fun encounters. While this adventure did have a weakness - the mass combat - my overall impression is that this is a very well written adventure. Thank you, Neil Spicer, for another fine installment in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path.