Triumph of the Tusk–Book 1

Triumph of the Tusk has a strong idea for a campaign. It is centered on the changes and conflicts emerging from the Godsrain event for the Orcs in Belkzen. Ardax the Whitehair trying to change Orc society, facing off with other Orc factions, dealing with the repercussions of the changes of the Orcish pantheon, and having to deal with the looming outside threat of the Whispering Tyrant. This strikes me as a great setup. But it falters in implementation. Here are some specific issues I see in the first book that are representative of Paizo APs more generally:

1. Party motivation. The AP asks players to pick a patron for their PC and players can choose to be Orcs from the Holds of Belkzen or outsiders. Curiously, the Player’s Guide mostly focuses on options for being foreign dignitaries. This strikes me as odd for two reasons. One, if the PCs all have different patrons, it is unclear why they would collaborate on any of the events in Chapter 1. As written, the only thing bringing the group together is setting up their tents next to each other. Two, it seems to me the AP would work much better if the PCs all belong to a Hold of Belkzen and are attending the moot to curry favor with Ardax. That means they are personally vested in Ardax’s overall mission and they have more connective tissue with the other factions. It also explains why they would be eager to be helpful during the Torrentmoot.

2. The first chapter is described as a sandbox. I fail to see how this is a meaningful sandbox. It is a series of curated encounters that let PCs gain Reputation with Ardax, but there is little room for meaningful player agency (ie., choices with trade-offs). Whatever choices the PCs make, it has little impact on the central conflicts, factions, or narrative of the adventure. It all ends up with the Deluge event anyway and the only effect of the PC’s behavior is whether Ardax rewards them with 20 go and a magic item. This is also a lost opportunity to centrally feature core conflicts between the different Holds of Belkzen, the new Orcish pantheon, etc. They could have foreshadowed key conflicts and introduced the villain of the book (K’zaard) as a dignitary who leaves before the Deluge. At least as presented, I fail to see how any Influence gained with NPCs during the Torrentmoot meaningfully impacts the rest of the campaign. A real sandbox would have outlined 3-5 central factions, their goals, weaknesses, resources, etc., and let players shape a meaningful decision at the Moot. E.g., there could have been a conflict over opening a new trade agreement or establishing new temples for the Orc gods and PCs could have picked sides in a way that illustrates key fault lines in Orc society and shaped alliances for the rest of the adventure. I fear in the existing version PC actions will be completely meaningless and forgotten after the adventure moves past the Deluge event.

3. A general overuse of subsystems. Influence rounds, gaining reputation points, escapes, infiltrations. Again, like in many recent Paizo APs, subsystems are used frequently. Maybe I am in the minority, but I find all of these subsystems only compelling if they are used very sparingly. They often turn into boring sequences of skill rolls and, worse, if the system wasn’t properly playtested don’t work at all.

4. Linearity to a fault. The Escape of the caravan after the Deluge event is incredibly linear. It is a set sequence of events in which PCs have no agency, apart from having to make decisions in a fight or picking which skill to roll. Moreover, how well they are doing in the Escape does not matter that much in the end. The Caravan/PCs arrives no matter what. If they did poorly some encounters are upgraded from Low to Moderate and from Moderate to Severe but that’s it. This could have been a nice mini hexcrawl or pointcrawl where PCs get to make meaningful decisions about the route and possible risks they are taking, with implications for their reputations with various factions.

5. Chapter 3 is the best imo. It presents a problem, details the location, and leaves it to the PCs to figure out a solution. Nice! My only criticism: why not introduce K’zaard during the Torrentmoot to make his betrayal and decision to block access to the keep more impactful?

Overall, I am still compelled by this AP/Book. The overall setting, theme, and central idea are fantastic but it is, in my opinion, really held back by some unfortunate trends in AP writing.