Every year, one of the talks at PaizoCon involves upcoming adventures. When they said they had an upcoming AP that involved megafauna, I squealed so loud I woke our dogs. Megafauna are awesome, especially if you can ride them, but in many campaigns, they’re simply not practical to keep around. If you’re wandering around the frozen tundra, though, they could actually be useful in most situations! I immediately started collecting players. As soon as I was able to read the first book, we got cracking, playing monthly sessions of 2-3 hours each.

Just over three years later, we finished book three, with the PCs having gone from minor players in a dying tribe to movers, shakers, and saviors of the great northern tundra.

Warning: I'll be gleefully spoiling the books past this point, so if you plan on playing in a Frozen Flame campaign, close this tab!

Summary of Book Three

From Paizo:

The Broken Tusks find sanctuary at last in the settlement of Hillcross, but invading frost giants quickly force the clan’s scouts to lead their mighty following’s defense against the siege and take on new titles. To put a stop to the slaughter, the newly named Mammoth Lords take the fight to their foes by riding their bestial mounts through the sucking muck of the Tamarnian Tar Forest. At the heart of these black woods, amid the ruins of a half-sunken crusaders’ castle, the heroes wield the sacred light of the Primordial Flame to defeat their ancient enemies once and for all.

The overall plot of book three revolves around not only keeping the Primordial Flame, but also removing its curse. The only lead they have in that department is to follow the path of the former Tusk who took it (Metuak), which is leading them towards Hillcross, a large, magically enchanted encampment used by the various tribes to rest and connect with each other.

The first chapter involves the Broken Tusks getting pulled into the politics and interpersonal dynamics of Hillcross. Besides having PC Glow, they also have a magical artifact that gains them a certain amount of attention. The quiet can’t last long, though, as Ivarsa and the Burning Mammoths finally track the crew down and begin an assault on Hillcross.

The PCs help repel the first assault, but realize they really need to continue on their quest. Leaving their tribe behind to help defend Hillcross, they make their way west into the Tamarnian Tar Forest, a land blighted by multiple evils. After some fighting (so much fighting) and meeting some allies, they finally make their way to the Metuak’s prison, Castle Grimgorge. There, they face down not only their tribe’s troubled past, but what remains of the Burning Mammoths.

How’d it go?

The players

My players continued to really enjoy this AP, getting into their roles as Big Damn Heroes every chance they could. They never missed a chance to recruit people to their following, and probably kept track of who they had better than I did. They also loved the final showdown with Pakano. I’ve run quite a few Adventure Paths, and never have my players hate anyone as much as they did Pakano. Some players might have cried foul for having to defeat an NPC twice, but mine relished the chance to put him down again.

No lie, their primary goal for going to Grimgorge was punching him in his stupid face again. Removing the curse was secondary.

Speed run

For this AP, I wanted to try a new way of speeding the AP up. While I have no issues with running APs as is, I also love playing around with them to see how tweaks can change how the content feels. In this case, I wanted to try doing a ‘speed run.’ Every time we started a new book, the players would be at the max level for that book. They wouldn’t level up again until the next book, when they would level up to the max for that book. So, for book one, they started at level three, for book two, they were level 8, and for book three, they were level 11.

I was delighted to see that my theory held. Combats early in the books sailed by, and became appropriate challenges by the end. They weren’t so powerful that everything was a cakewalk, but they did feel pretty darn powerful. One side-effect for this AP was that they didn’t hesitate to explore everything, since they had more time on their hands. A lower-level group would have had to rest more, meaning the time limit would have started bearing down on them, so they might have opted to skip swaths of the hexploration or some of the side-quests.

And yes, three years for three books seems like a long time, but we only played one two-hour session a month. According to my back-of-the-envelope math, that puts us at about the same rate as most APs. Had we been playing in non-speed mode, I have a feeling they would have skipped quite a bit to stay on track.

My thoughts

The biggest shock for me with this book was how hard the fight with Pakano and Ivarsa was. My players are ruthlessly competent, so they often curb-stomp boss fights. It proved to be a challenge, with PCs going down a few times. This was a good thing, though. The party hated Pakano with every fiber of their beings, so they relished a longer fight.

I really enjoyed running Hillcross and the politics there. It was a nice break from hexploration, and was a chance for the PCs to roleplay in a more open space.

Speaking of hexploration, while still good, it wasn’t as good as what was in Book 2. That’s not saying it was bad! Book 2 was Doublestuff Oreos, and Book 3 was original Oreos.

Finally, Book 3 is a great payoff for PCs who have invested in collecting a following. How many people they’ve gathered changes the outcome of the battle of Hillcross and how their tribe is viewed going forward.

Recommendations

ABP is still vital for this AP. Hillcross is he first major city the PCs run into, and they’re almost done with the AP at that point. If you don’t want to use ABP, make sure you have multiple crafters in the party and adequate downtime for them to get everyone geared up.

Also, by the time this book rolls around, you might have a group where every PC is mounted. Make sure everyone has read the rules on mounted combat, and that you’ve thought about how to potentially deal with mounts that can fly. This is important not only for battlemaps and how you represent them, but how they might skip encounters by going high. I’m a huge fan of players figuring out creative ways around problems, but I also like to be prepared.

The hexploration is set up differently in this book, with each hex requiring a different flat check and then a roll on another table. Set up a quick reference! I printed out all of the tables and taped them into my notebook so I wasn’t constantly paging back and forth in my PDF.

You also need to keep very careful track of lieutenants and following numbers. This changes the end of the book!

Finally, make the group consider who carries the Primordial Flame very carefully. It can’t be swapped around on a whim, and losing it sucks. While keeping hold of it isn’t that hard, generally, there are a few places in the AP where someone will attempt to take it. If the attempt succeeds, a PC could be in for a world of hurt for a while.

Who is this AP for?

As much as we all loved this AP, it won’t be for everyone. It’s one of those gems where some groups will dive into it, and others will fight it every step of the way. I would recommend it for groups where:

• The players are into wilderness survival. Though the AP doesn’t force the issue often, a GM could easily build it into their hexploration.
• Someone is really into crafting. Because there are almost no cities, the party will be reliant on crafting to gear up. This could be a player’s moment to shine!
• The players enjoy finding non-violent solutions to encounters. This AP is rich with situations where a bit of roleplay can earn long-lasting rewards.
• The players love exploration. Every book features a section with a hex map that could easily be expanded to add PC specific encounters along the way, if a GM wants.

So who isn’t it for?

• Lone wolf groups. This AP assumes that the players will build a following over the three books. Failing to recruit (or even striking off on their own) can make some encounters more difficult and lead to a less satisfying ending overall.
• Groups who prefer city adventures. There’s only two of them, and one of them, you’re sneaking around and not doing a lot of shopping or galivanting.
• A group that is motivated by loot and gold, and not by causes. Seriously, there’s not a lot of loot in this adventure, and the reason for doing things boils down to “It’s the right thing to do” or “This will help the tribe.”

That said, I think it’s a fun AP for a group who is willing to go all-in on the premise, and has a gratifying dénouement for those who make it all of the way through.