Places of Power: The Mudded Manse

This installment of the Places of Power-series clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

Deep in the midst of the dreaded Salt Mire, near Thornhill, there is a manse at the top of a foreboding cliff, in the midst of the murky swamp. It is rumored to be haunted…WAIT. Wait, I tell you. Seriously, this is going somewhere you did not expect. Serious research via the high lore DCs can provide the information that one Vississ Leeai cleared out the place a couple of years ago and that it stands where once a powerful earth elemental existed. Sounds ominous, right?

Well, guess what: When your players actually get there, past the no-nonsense half-orc ranger 8CR 9, full stats provided) that guards the place they’ll be greeted by a cheerful, immaculately clean staff. While local druids do exist and some strange, creepy even, circumstances can happen around here, the mudded manse, ultimately, remains one of the best-guarded secrets of the elite: You see, the sylph Vississi (fully statted at CR 10) has determined that the local mud can help against nigh incurable conditions and diseases. Yep, you heard right – this is basically a high-class, magical spa disguised as a haunted manor! And yes, this is not an operation of purely benevolent beings, but it certainly is a unique place to get massages and wind down from the horrible rigors of adventuring while also making some nice connections with notable folks who’d otherwise have no reason talking to the PCs. Obviously, as always, we actually get local dressing and mannerisms as well as rumors and sample events to add spice to the trip. As a nice aside, this place makes for a great way to plug in one of the various “going on vacation”-CoC-modules into your campaign without breaking a sweat. Just sayin’.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch. Layout adheres to RSP’s elegant 2-column b/w-standard and the pdf features some nice b/w-artworks. The pdf comes in two iterations, one optimized for screen-use and one made for the printer – kudos there! The cartography by Simon Butler and Dyson Logos is excellent. I think by joining Raging Swan Press’ patreon, you can actually get the high-res map for the evocative place, but I am not 100% sure. The map provided is cool, but sports keyed rooms.

Mike Welham rarely fails to deliver. When I read the title “Mudded Manse”, I was yawning internally. When I started reading this, I realized the downright genius idea and its seamless integration into a fantastic context and knew I was hooked. Evocative, useful, unique – this has it all, and for a ridiculously fair price to boot. 5 stars + seal of approval, given sans hesitation. Get this and provide a bit of relaxation for your PCs. As a nice note: I actually had a local the PCs to deal with the “haunting” – imagine their surprise when they arrived, armed to the teeth…Yeah, that was something I don’t get to see too often anymore…

You can get this amazing place here on OBS!

You can also directly support Raging Swan Press via their patreon here!

Finally, Mike is actually creating cool FREE critters for Pathfinder – you can support his own patreon here on!

Endzeitgeist out.

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