I subscribed to the Pathfinder Adventure Paths for several years, and although I've managed to play two full 'Paths' I ended up running out of time once I moved to California. Still, I have an entire shelf of Adventure Paths in my study, and I do get a good deal of enjoyment out of seeing them, especially when I take them down to look at the art.
The Bastards of Erebus was written by Sean K Reynolds, and that means it has to be good, and was art directed by Sarah Robinson. It comes in just a bit under 100 pages and is of course filled with a bevy of maps and a good deal of 'Paizo Art'.
Now many of you know my view on 'Paizo Art', which is to say it is homogenous, repetitious, and digitally precise. It serves their brand perfectly, and they've protected it well over the years, but in the end it just has very little 'spirit' to me. I find this especially true with this particular adventure as it seems to fall into the minutia of being the 25th such Path and therefore in a kind of creative rut.
That isn't a knock on a great character driven cover by Steve Prescott, of whom I'm a huge fan, nor is it taking a shot at the half-dozen artists who contributed to the full color interior illustrations including talents like Tyler Walpole and Jim Nelson. They all do fine work, and as I look over the adventure I'm completely transported to Paizo's world, one that is so popular it finally surpassed D&D in sales.
In closing, I'd very much enjoy playing this one some time, but time is always the issue, no?
Artistic Rating: 3 [out of 5]
