When someone tells me (a musician) that they love a song, unfortunately, I get a bit skeptical. Probably sets my expectations too high.
I fear doing the same thing for this scenario.
I've been playing in PFS since season 3. This is my favorite scenario that I've ever had the pleasure of running or playing. And I've played or read all of them (only 4 star GM, but just about all of those have been different scenarios, and I'm like 5 away from my 5th star).
There are sooooo many BEAUTIFUL loose ends.
Disclaimer. I HATE Hollywood endings, and I'm a HUGE Lovecraft and all things bizarre fan.
If you don't like things left in ambiguity, then this will drive you crazy. Last combat is not really a big deal.
Oh, and GMs, it's REALLY your responsibility to point out what happens at the end. I had Smine ask the PCs about it when I ran it. PCs always thought..."uh, what?"
I actually think this is CRITICAL (heh, pun intended) to making the scenario work.
Anyway, I really, really hope to have more like this. I am also a fan of a sequel. I'm also a fan of a sequel that doesn't answer any of the leftover questions.
Having read some of the negative reviews, I really would like to put in my 2cp.
This is not an easy adventure. Nor should it be, as the capstone of a Faction. I played it at low tier, and I ran it at high tier.
When I played it we had:
8 Bard (archaeologist) Scarab Sage
8 Bloodrager (arcane)
7 Paladin
7 Pregen pyrokineticist who had never played a tabletop RPG in his life.
Run by a good GM who communicated very well and was prepared--and even he missed a rule (I think--but it was irrelevant)
At low tier with 4 player adjustment, we destroyed the first encounter in three rounds. Our GM jokingly considered removing the 4 player adjustment.
The end fight was difficult--as it should have been. Oddly enough, we actually LISTENED to the text our GM read, and THOUGHT about it. No one died. No one got close. We were still scared to death!
We achieved both prestige points, full treasure, and all boons but one. Needless to say, my Scarab Sage PC is delighted.
I SUSPECT the reason other recent reviewers are so angry is that they either:
1) Are SUCH EXPERTS AT RPG that this adventure didn't fit their preconceived ideas of what an adventure should be, and they didn't know how to handle it or,
2) The GM messed up in communication or rules handling.
GMing isn't easy. It's all about communication. Did the players hear you? How do you know they did? Ask them to restate what you just said to them.
Over communicate.
Great adventure! I recommend it to all our coordinators, Venture Captains, etc, and look forward to running this adventure several more times.
Let me first say that I enjoyed this scenario, and very much enjoyed the fey aspect of it. I'm actually typically not interested in First World/Fey, but this scenario has made me MUCH more interested. I actually hope to find more fey scenarios.
We had a wonderful GM at GenCon. And I very much like how the hints for the puzzle worked, and the narrative explaining the hints. Really, that was quite brilliant, and avoided the Deus ex Machina.
I *do* think the puzzle's solution was too particular. We had actually figured it out, but the, eh, order of solution seemed to precise.
I'm not good at creating puzzles, so I don't know that I have any input into how to improve it.
I encourage folks to get this scenario and run it--and find a way to make a workaround or some such for the ONE problem with it. It's actually quite good, and I believe certainly deserves more than a 2 star average.
Great product. Totally STOKED about doing this. And I agree. I want to see a dude on the cover in a banana-hammock. Just because you used that term. (Actually, I think that might point out better to us guys how ridiculous it looks to some of the ladies.) Well, how about a dude in a banana-hammock, and a chic in a chainmail bikini? Or wait! a DUDE in a chain mail bikini, and a chic in a banana-hammock! YES!
