Paizo Publishing have found a veritable nugget with the new Pathfinder series.

The first chapter of the campaign's first adventure path Rise Of The Runelords is the start of a rollercoaster ride through the land of Varisia as the characters battle monsters and solve mysteries to find fame and fortune.

Burnt Offerings is set in the small coastal town on Sandpoint, which is beautifully presented in the publication's maps and illustrations.

The citizens are looking forward to a festival which will mark the consecration of their new temple after their previous one was burnt to the ground during a dark time in the town's past known as the Late Unpleasantness.

But disaster strikes when a band of goblins descend on Sandpoint at the height of the ceremony and the player-characters are called in to action to help save the day.

If they successfully repel the attackers the characters are then faced with a new challenge as, over the next few days, a strange disease hits the town that leaves victims horribly deformed and dangerously insane.

Not only must the player-characters discover the cause of the illness, they have to work out the connection between that, the goblins' attack and the emergence of a strange rune from an empire thought long dead.

That empire, Thassilon, is described in more detail elsewhere in the publication which, like the others in the series, is divided into neat sections.

As well as extensive details on the town of Sandpoint itself, you can read the continuing journal of Pathfinder Eando Kline's journey and discoveries and other sections feature various monsters and characters as well as other interesting background information.

The Pathfinder series, which uses the Open Game License, makes for intriguing reading and I look forward with anticipation to discovering more about the exotic locations and the challenges the adventurers will face as the monthly instalments are released.

Top marks Paizo for a superb concept and publication.