Pathfinder Adventure Path #200: Seven Dooms for Sandpoint Reviewed

Title: Pathfinder Adventure Path #200 – Seven Dooms for Sandpoint

Publisher: Paizo Inc

Author: James Jacobs

Artists: Mirco Paganessi, Robert Lazzaretti, Vira Linevych, Mayra Luna, Alexander Nanitchkov, Kevin Sardinha, and Firat Solhan

Year: 2024

Genre: Giant-sized, standalone Pathfinder fantasy roleplaying adventure

Pages: 200 pages

MSRP: Hardcover $69.99; Softcover $54.99; PDF $29.99

On the surface, Seven Dooms for Sandpoint backstory sounds like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Scott Pilgrim: after years of lucky saves by passing heroes, the town of Sandpoint –perpetually perched on the edge of cataclysm—now faces seven dooms spewing forth from The Pit. If the players seek to become true heroes of the realm, they’ll have to best each doom to save the day.

Seven Dooms for Sandpoint is the landmark 200^th adventure path and Paizo has gone all out to celebrate, releasing this expanded adventure path in a single-book format. Sandpoint, as longtime fans will know, was the setting of the first ever adventure path, so it’s a fitting nod to return after all this time. GMs who own the original Sandpoint, Light of the Last Coast supplement will find additional hooks and information, but even those coming in fresh will find plenty of support in the text alone.

While Seven Dooms is, in some respects, a large-scale dungeon crawl with detours, it wisely gives players broad latitude to pursue other goals as well. The town of Sandpoint is very much a living place and players can build relationships, gain influence, and set out on a variety of side quests. In addition to providing extra experience as needed, interactions in and around the town offer the potential for “shining moments of awesome” for a diverse set of skills and playstyles and ensure that, even outside of dungeoneering, there is always something to do. It’s a decision that also places players in the proverbial driver’s seat, reflecting a design ethos that has grown increasingly sophisticated across the Pathfinder line.

Despite the agency afforded to players in town, the campaign itself is fairly linear and straightforward to run. The balance between essential structured narrative and player-driven sandbox exploration also may help to curb some bad behavior, ensuring there is space for bloodshed and chaos as well as more roleplay-focused periods. It also offers an out for players who truly prefer combat and exploration to socially-oriented play. Not everyone wants to involve themselves in the comings and goings of a town – and the Seven Dooms for Sandpoint says “that’s okay!”

The adventure also benefits from strong pacing and an appropriate scale of both mechanical difficulty and narrative weight. By the time players are facing down the seventh doom, the stakes feel truly dire – a real credit to James Jacobs.

True to form for Paizo, art remains a prominent feature in establishing tone and place. While splash art and characters portraits retain the more painterly style typical of the game, the page art takes on a more graphic, comic style feel. The typically clean layout ensures that even GMs working from a digital copy are able to scan for information without difficulty.

Seven Dooms for Sandpoint marries linear play with sandbox exploration in an adventure path sure to delight both old fans and new. While it may not be the most ambitious work Paizo has produced, its vibrant world, fun and interesting combat challenges, as well as strong sense of pacing make this a strong addition to any Pathfinder library.