10 for Body Recovery outside of a city, 16 for the Raise Dead.
I’ve GMed the scenario 4 times and I think I can give it a fair review now. The chief issue here is a difficult optional encounter. If it’s included in the scenario and the party isn’t well prepared then the result is likely a TPK nine times out of ten. If the optional encounter isn’t included the scenario is only mildly challenging. Player reviews are going to vary wildly as a result, so read them with that in mind.
To begin with, this is a good “Scooby-Doo” adventure. If I could read my players’ minds I’d probably hear exclamations of “Jinkies!” and “Zoinks!”. If you are looking for a creepy Halloween holiday location, an abandoned manor house with a history of diabolism fits the bill nicely.
The scenario is very flavorful and ties in tightly with the Pathfinder Society campaign. The location is visually interesting but sadly lacking in room-by-room details (damn you, word count limit!). The maps are great although I disagree with the scale. There is a single role-play opportunity but it is the central feature of the scenario and a lot of fun on both sides of the table. The faction missions are unremarkable. There are no railroad tracks; the encounters flow naturally until the big ‘reveal’ at the end. “I’d have gotten away with it all, if it wasn’t for you pesky kids!”
Lastly, “Day of the Demon” is a satisfying successor to the previous Exclusive “The Cyphermage Dilemma” which was a letdown. Thank you for farming it out to veteran contributor Larry Wilhelm. You did good, Larry.
Most of the complaints I have about Pathfinder modules and PFS scenarios is how generic they are. The Pathfinder campaign setting is expansive and ever-improving. It is a shame not to put this tool to use. Many times the players have no idea what nation or region they are in because that’s how the author intended it. In The Midnight Mirror the location matters for a change. Placing the adventure in Nidal was a bold move. I just wish there were greater details about Nidal in the module, such as the reaction of commoners and authority-types to faiths opposed to Zon-Kuthon. Having the threat of arrest and torture hanging over the PCs is something the GM has to add to the experience, but it heightens the tension.
The module is split into two sections. The first allows for mood development, investigation and role-play. It’s very ‘sandbox’. The timetable is fuzzy and the GM must improvise more than they should need to. However the players shouldn’t know the difference. There are enough clues to keep them moving. There’s a great deal of exposition to cover, but I enjoy the differing POVs the players get. Part 2 is a combination of combat and role-play, giving the PCs more insight into the backstory and a feeling they've been had.
The best part of the adventure is the aftermath. PCs are forced to choose a side or witness acts of vengeance on the innocent. It doesn't matter what they pick, they are going to have blood on their hands. I like it.
I have run this module twice. I've enjoyed it, but I have some concerns about felt the climactic encounter was going to be overwhelming for 4th level PCs. Thus far I have been wrong. It’s extremely challenging but so far only 1 PC has died.
I can't point to any single thing that prevented me from giving this 5-Stars. It just seemed lacking in small ways. Like
Spoiler:
casters using blindness in two encounters, which hoses PCs with a permanent condition. And giving a sorceress with darkvision darkvision as a 2nd level spell slot.
I enjoyed running this module because it wasn’t your typical dungeon-crawl adventure. The party consisted of
PCs:
a 1st level human barbarian, a 1st level gnome barbarian, a 2nd level druid, a 1st level inquisitor of Asmodeus, and a 1st level halfling sorcerer.
It felt a bit scripted, but the players surrendered to the ‘plot current’ without a struggle. I would have been happier if it had been more like a sandbox. As written it took 7.5 hours to run. If you had more time to work with you could expand quite a bit
ideas to expand on:
like fleshing out the skulk tribe living outside town and tracking down the drug dealing network selling shiver.
The campaign flavor of the scenario was disappointing. It could have been inserted into any world with tensions between two different ethnic groups. The combats were mildly challenging for the most part. I do like that most of the encounters were set up in a thoughtful way. The party split up during the hideout raid and things got interesting, but it would have been over quick if they had stuck together. I regret the lack of monsters to fight. I think it’s more heroic to fight monsters rather than constantly facing amoral humans. What makes this module worth it is the role-playing. There are a lot of different NPCs to bring to life. The author made the pace of the murders quick enough that there’s little chance for things to derail much. I look forward to running this module again. I just wish there were some real monsters to fight!
I moved this product to my Shopping Cart and everything was going fine. I was looking forward to a fun experience. I had just bought a shiny new upgrade for my anti-virus software and I had been bragging my firewall was so high even Anonymous couldn't touch me. When the download began, suddenly everything froze. My motherboard began to smoke. I tried to disconnect but it was too late. Not only did this scenario take down my desktop, but all the wireless devices in my household are dead as well. Even the Roomba got fried, and it's not even connected to anything! I made a homeowner's insurance claim, but my carrier said the hardware was not covered since the mishap fell under the Acts of Kyle Baird clause. It was an unrecoverable total device kill :(
I've run this scenario 22 times now and I am still not tired of it. It has a simple plot and moves very fast without seeming like a railroad. The combat elements are a let-down but the strength of the scenario's role-play elements make up for the short fights. I enjoy running this scenario because the objectives allow for the players to be creative with their problem-solving. The scenario allows the GM a lot of flexibility to improvise and have a lot of fun. The faction missions are good for the most part, a step up from what has become the status quo. The campaign setting flavor takes some work on the GM's part in order to bring to the surface. I highly recommend that any GM prepping to run this get a copy of Rule of Fear and especially make an effort to read the section on Ardis. Overall it's a very entertaining scenario and worth the effort to prep and run as much as possible.
