I continue to preface this review by stating that I have only read the Jade Regent adventure path as research for my China RPG endeavor. I have NOT played through the adventure path as a DM or as a player. If you’re interested in playing Jade Regent yourself, I will probably be giving some spoilers for the modules but nothing extreme. I’d say its fine to read this and still play through the adventures.
Part 4: Forest of Spirits
Forest of Spirits starts out with an amazing little scenario. After crossing the arctic circle the caravan arrives in fantasy Mongolia. They’re greeted by one of the khans who insists they stay with him. He hosts exotic banquets and at each of the banquets he arranges a performance of dancing, theater, music, etc. After each performance the khan turns to the PCs and asks them to demonstrate how they do that same type of performing art in their home country. The week of feasting ends with the PCs demonstrating their cooking by preparing the night’s feast themselves. All the while the khan slowly falls in love with one of the PCs and begins to make creepy advances towards them. It becomes clear that the PCs may be in a golden cage they have to escape from.
Unfortunately, after they escape the khan Forest of Spirits becomes a much weaker adventure. The party enters the eponymous Forest of Spirits and are led by a spirit woman to the ancient prison of the oni. One of the oni lords is still within the prison while the other four have escaped. The party must enter the prison and slay the oni lord that lives within.
The prison is split into two parts, above ground and below ground. Opium-addicted spider people live in the above ground section. Hobgoblins and their oni master live in the below ground part. The spider people and the hobgoblins are at war with each other and have been for sixty years despite there being less than 100 of them all put together.
There are many problems with the setup of the adventure. How are the spider people getting all this opium in the middle of a haunted forest? How are the hobgoblins getting ANY food when the spider people control the entrance to the prison? Why do the PCs have to kill the oni lord if she is literally imprisoned and cannot escape? And most importantly, is this prison with sixty combat encounters actually fun or just a slog?
The first section of Forest of Spirits is amazing. I loved reading that part. The second section doesn’t have a logical setup and almost has the opposite of urgency? It seems like a viable strategy for the PCs would be to besiege the prison and wait 30 days. By then the inhabitants have run out of food and begin eating each other or something. Or the PCs could just ignore the prison and suffer zero consequences. The oni lord is imprisoned after all so she isn’t going anywhere. They can come back and kill her after Ameiko is Empress of Minkai, right?
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