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Tell Me a Secret: Pathfinder – Secrets of the Temple-City Reviewed

Oct 25, 2021

Game Title: Pathfinder – Secrets of the Temple-City (Strength of Thousands 4 of 6)

Authors: Luis Loza, Eleanor Ferron, John Godek III, and Shanyce Henley

Artists: Setiawan Lee, Vlada Hladkova, Robert Lazzaretti, Artur Nakhodkin, Ian Perks, Christoph Peters, and Luis Salas Lastra

Year: 2021

Genre: Pathfinder roleplaying adventure

Pages: 100 pages

MSRP: 24.99 in softcover or 17.99 in PDF

The Strength of Thousands adventure path is at its best when it’s able to tap into broader, more universal experiences. While school may not have been a magical or even pleasant place for many, everyone has experienced the sense of raw wonder. Though not everyone is entrusted to carry the banner as agents of a prestigious institution, we all know the delight of being perceived as more capable, more “adult” and in turn, experiencing the rush of new freedoms and privileges. Even as the threat of the Vessicant Egg looms large, Strength of Thousands truly shines when it taps into the coming of age beats so commonly seen as part and parcel of the magic school setting, a trick Secrets of the Temple-City manages to pull off nicely.

At the heart of the adventure is a problem the heroes and their allies cannot solve: Walkena, the god-king of Mzala, is evil. He is evil in ways that feel uncomfortably analogous to our own reality; it’s not that he wants to unleash a plague of horrors upon the world and its denizens, but that he wants control –total control—over the city he perceives to be his and those whom he believes to be its true residents. It’s an evil borne of greed, bureaucracy, and xenophobia and it is not one the heroes can conquer. Their best hope is simply to control the damage, provide what little relief they can for those most seriously impacted, and curtail the spread.

While Hurricane’s Howl attempted to impart a sense of maturity in mechanics (e.g., research needed to advance in one’s professional career, the need to plan and carry out lessons) Secrets of the Temple-City instead opts for a more thematic approach, centering its plot around a thornier, more mature problem than previously encountered. Up until this point, the heroes have largely been able to “fix” problems, to even swoop in and save the day if the dice have smiled.

That is categorically not the case here as though they can prevent major harm, at the end of adventure, the status quo remains largely unchanged in Mzala — and that’s the point. For all of their learning and power, for all of the Magaambya’s prestige, the heroes are unable to solve every problem and must learn to contend with that. It’s a frustration that many will understand well, even as it’s handled with enough grace to avoid poking at any obvious traumas.

Progress, particularly in the first third, is intentionally incremental. It requires repeated encounters, thoughtful conversations, and steady diplomacy. It’s a reminder that change is sometimes slow, but that its impact is no less for its lack of speed.

None of this is to say, however, that the adventure is frustrating or lacks the potential for meaningful satisfaction for players. On a large scale, the narrative culminates in a siege on another city by the god-king Walkena, which the players must successfully repel. It’s a massive battle involving armies of thousands that feels both suitably grand and appropriately desperate. Success here means a significant containment of the evil king and the protection of a place and a people that are truly good. On a smaller scale, there are opportunities for players to begin to convince characters of the error of their ways, even as a true redemption falls outside the scope of the narrative at this time.

Secrets of the Temple-City seems to have more room for its story to breathe and for events to bear appropriate weight. That being said, the storyworld as written is ripe with additional plot hooks and storytelling opportunities that it feels as if the adventure could have a much broader scope. GMs looking for further material will again delight at what’s on offer and will find no shortage of inspiration for follow-up tales.

Secrets of the Temple-City ties a more mature storyline together with bigger, higher-stakes combat to deliver an adventure that allows players to truly feel their characters’ growth, both as representative of the Magaambya and as people in a complicated world. With two chapters left in the adventure path, Strength of Thousands and its component adventures remain well worth the time and investment for GMs and players alike.

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Sami Yuhas

Writer, gamer, and necromancer bard (at least in D&D). Sami focuses primarily on board and tabletop gaming, with a focus on sci-fi and fantasy, as well as worker-placements and co-op titles. She prides herself on the ability to overthink world building in games, and cites a three post manifesto on the costuming of XCOM 2 as among her greatest nerd achievements.