I ran this tonight as part of an ongoing arc of The Devil We Know run for my local PFS game night. We've played them all in a row and will finish off with Pt IV next week.
Unlike some other posters here, I know how to use Some PDF Image Extractor and so I showed up with a large blown up map of Cassomir with its map key stripped off the map (along with blown up maps of all the other levels too), trimmed and taped together at 1"=1" scale.
Yes, the module should have provided this to you without having to jump through those hoops -- but it wasn't a big deal to extract the map file without the key and get it printed off for the players. An oversize map makes the puzzle aspect of the module play more smoothly, too. (Recommended: Extract the map using Some PDF Image Extractor, resample the dpi of the image to 300 in GIMP, resize and print off using legal size paper using the 2x2 poster print option. Carefully trim and tape together the 4 quadrants of the map for the best results.)
Together with the handouts, the whole puzzle experience in the module was great. Awesome, even. I would go so far as to say that this is the best puzzle based PFS scenario published as of this review. (Some may prefer the more tournament style mod in Rebel's Ransom - but I think Crypt of Fools is a better overall experience.)
I can well see how for some groups, the puzzle aspect of the module could go wrong and could prove to be ugly. It really does depend on the group you are running it for. But my PFS players were into it and they absolutely loved it.
Other Points
The Crazed Painter is an awesome NPC and was a lot of fun to roleplay.
The combats were actually nicely balanced for my party of 3 x 1st level and 2 x 2nd level PCs. Even still, the final boss was dangerous and downed one fighter and almost downed the Barbarian, too. It was touch and go in just the right amounts to be a perfect boss fight at low tier.
The maps were interesting and the combat they produced was varied. It might not have been perfect, but for a PFS module? Damned fine.
There were some connectivity issues which I filed down a bit and added some putty to do some bodywork and smooth over the connections between the modules. I think I did this reasonably well and my players seem pleased with the results.
There is no question in my mind that this module was the strongest in the four part Devil We Know arc and I will be VERY happy to run this module again. To date, easily the best PFS Scenario I've run or played in.
I did not parse the Chronicle sheet carefully for rewards and if Doug Doug has some problems with that, I won't disagree with him.
Still, the overall balance between RP, Puzzles and Combat was perfectly struck. We played the module to its conclusion in 3.5 hours and all the players were VERY pleased with the module and enjoyed it immensely.
I do object to the second Andor Faction mission which will tend to spoil the overall campaign arc feel to the module series if you allow it to have in-game effect. I permitted the faction mission to succeed and then advised the players of what was going on anyway as I think the overall player experience is more important. (They can divorce that information from their PC's minds if required). I was really not a fan of this faction mission. One of the worst I've seen outside a Season 0 mod in terms of its potential effect on the enjoyment of the overall story of the module.
End Result: Crypt of Fools is just a DAMNED fine module. I would award it only 4.5 stars if the ratings allowed me to do so, but voting low and going with 4 stars seemed to be a bit parsimonious, especially in light of some of the other reviews' too low scores for this great PFS scenario.
