[Free RPG Day 2025] The Scourge of Sheerleaf

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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One of the perennial contributors to Free RPG Day is Paizo, Inc., a publisher whose titles for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game have proved popular and often in demand long after the event. The emphasis in these releases have invariably been upon small species. Thus, in past years, the titles released for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game have typically involved adventures with diminutive Player Characters, first Kobolds, then Goblins, and then with the release of A Fistful of Flowers for Free RPG Day 2022 and A Few Flowers More for Free RPG Day 2023, it was Leshies, where as for Free RPG Day 2024, it was the turn of toys with The Great Toy Heist! However, for Free RPG Day 2025 literally makes a big change by making the scale of its contribution for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game big and make the villain of the piece even bigger!

The Scourge of Sheerleaf is designed for four Tenth Level Player Characters and makes use of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Player Core, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game GM Core, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Monster Core, Pathfinder Rage of Elements, Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, and Pathfinder Last Omens Grand Bazaar. It is a lot of sourcebooks and rulebooks, and what it means is that it supports the Game Master and the gaming group who has already invested time in the roleplaying game. This is not to say that the Game Master who has access to all of those books could not run the adventure for players who do not, running it as one-shot or demonstration adventure. That said, being designed for use with Tenth Level Player Characters means that The Scourge of Sheerleaf is more complex to run and play than the useful offering for low Level Player Characters that Paizo, Inc., normally releases for Free RPG Day.

The Scourge of Sheerleaf is set in the town of Sheerleaf which stands below Mount Zoldos,  between the Arthfell Mountains and the Arthfell Forest. It comes to the attention of the Player Characters when come across a pamphlet being circulated in nearby taverns. It tells of how the village has been attacked by a dragon, demanding fealty from the villagers, and wrought its revenge when the demand was rebuffed. When they arrive in Sheerleaf to help, they will find several collapsed buildings, many people now living in tents, and the town’s the mayor, Eliana, waiting for them. She will be able to tell the Player Characters that Zikritrax, the dragon, is an Adamantine Dragon, and with its ‘Avalanche Breath’ attack, was able to pummel the buildings into collapsing; that he has a lair in a cave up on Mount Zoldos; and worse, that Zikritrax not only refuses to negotiate, but because the town has still not acquised to his demands, has kidnapped Eliana’s wife and children. So, not only do the Player Characters have to defeat an Adamantine Dragon, they have to recuse a women and her children!

The action part of the scenario sees the Player Characters ascend the mountain, avoiding an avalanche on the way, and entering the cave. Here, they will face Zikritrax and his Armoured Cave Bear minions. Zikritrax is a tough opponent, being thirteenth Level, possessing 220 Hit Points, fearsome claw and tail strike as well as the ‘Avalanche Breath’ attack, let alone the fact that it has a ‘Fearsome Presence’ and a ‘Resilient Form’. The former inflicts fear, of course, whilst the latter potentially downgrades critical attacks against the creature.

And that is it. As an adventure, The Scourge of Sheerleaf is short. It is also very combat focused and arguably really only consists of combat since there is no other way to resolve the situation.

The rest of The Scourge of Sheerleaf is dedicated to the four pre-generated Player Characters. They are all Tenth Level and they all share a similar feature—their Heritage is ‘Dragonblood’. They consist of Brave Wanderer, a Leshy Sorcerer; Kiana, a Human Figher who has the wings, horns, and scales of a dragon; Ruvior, an Elf Cleric who uses a wheelchair; and Sizkmi, a Kobold Rogue with dragon wings. All four are given a two-page spread each and each includes his background, a guide to playing the character, with notes on whet he will do in combat, exploration, and when healing is required, as well as what he thinks about the other characters. The four Player Characters are very well done and easy to read, and also include references for the various abilities.

Physically, The Scourge of Sheerleaf is professionally presented. The artwork is excellent and the writing is clear. The one map included, which is of Zikritrax’s lair, is serviceable.

Despite how professionally The Scourge of Sheerleaf is done, it is difficult not to be disappointed at the end result. The adventure consists of three scenes, an underwritten roleplaying scene, an exploration scene, and a combat scene, the combat scene being the one that dominates the whole scenario. And that is it. There is very little on the town of Sheerleaf, and certainly no map of it, and the players and their characters have no real agency as to how they tackle the scenario and there is almost no scope for roleplaying. Further, whilst the adventure is simple—arguably simplistic—its Player Characters are complex with a lot of mechanical detail as befitting a Tenth Level Player Character. The end result is that The Scourge of Sheerleaf is likely to be too complex for players new to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and little more than a single encounter for players who have been playing it for a while. It is thus difficult to work who exactly, The Scourge of Sheerleaf is aimed at.