Publisher: Paizo Inc
Authors: Mike Kimmel with Logan Bonner, Jessica Catalan, John Compton, and Sen H.H.S
Artists: Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo, Chris L. Kimball, Robert Lazzaretti, Paulo Magalhães, Gunship Revolution (Mico Dimagiba), Riccardo Rullo, Daniele Sorrentino, and Riley Spalding
Year: 2024
Genre: Final chapter of the new Pathfinder wilderness themed fantasy roleplaying campaign
Pages: 94 pages
MSRP: Softcover $26.99 or $19.99 in PDF
The party finally confronts Ruzadoya for good in Shepherd of Decay, the final chapter in the Wardens of Wildwood Adventure Path.
Shepherd of Decay opens with a bang. In order to put an end to the threat posted by the rogue Wildwood Lodge, the party will need to storm the Isle of Arrenway, capture a fortress, and establish in-roads. It’s a surprisingly tactical start and feels like a distinct stylistic shift. While the assault provides opportunities for characters with a variety of skillsets to shine, thoughtfully-considered combat is unavoidable here – nor is it framed as a sub-optimal solution. The second act sees more of a return to form as the party must manage their time and forge connections with the locals, navigating around a language barrier to do so. Once gain, characters from every background all have the opportunity for a moment of awesome and we return to the idea of pro-social versus anti-social and the consequences thereof. The final act is a delightful combination of exploration, combat, and social maneuvering that sees the full weight of the party’s choices come to bear.
What it doesn’t do, however, is address the underlying cause of the violence: the “relentless settlers” and “oft-ignored” treaties described back in Wardens of Wildwood’s opening act.
Obviously, there isn’t a single tidy answer to the questions that were first raised in Pactbreaker. One of the things that made their inclusion in that opening act so compelling was their relevance to real world issues that remain present concerns. Inserting a clean ending that neatly reckoned with these themes would have felt disingenuous; the muddier ending their inclusion would have necessitated wouldn’t have felt like a triumphant, feel-good conclusion. While the implications for the nations surrounding the forest are touched on in the Further Adventures section, they are largely limited to potential consequence for player failure. Including these so-called settlers in the affairs of the lodge would have required groundwork to be laid out front and, in truth, would have likely added unnecessary bulk. Narrative development for games is an entirely different beast from novels or screenplays and, at the end of the day, the fun factor must trump thematic cohesion – and there is no shortage of fun across the Wardens of Wildwood Adventure Path.
Shepherd of Decay sends the Wardens of Wildwood out on a perfectly balanced note, bringing a little of everything to the table while still keeping the door open for players who wish to expand their campaign beyond the scope of the published material.
