paizo.com Recent Reviews by Serisanpaizo.com Recent Reviews by Serisan2023-11-07T14:06:48Z2023-11-07T14:06:48ZPathfinder Society Scenario #9-20: Fury of the Final Blade PDF: Let's talk about editing. (2 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9zk4?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-920-Fury-of-the-Final-Blade2019-05-27T02:08:36Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-20: Fury of the Final Blade PDF</b></p><p>Now, I want to be fair to the author in that, like many scenarios of the past few seasons, there has been a perceived need to shoehorn Bestiary 5 and Bestiary 6 critters into scenarios because the Bestiaries need to sell. It's all well and good that authors find opportunities to do this or that creatures are recommended, but there's a big elephant-in-the-room problem that Organized Play leadership needs to recognize when budgeting encounters:</p>
<p><b>BESTIARY 5 AND 6 DO NOT PRESENT CREATURES ON THE SAME CR SCALE AS ANY PRIOR BESTIARY.</b></p>
<p>So, the major encounter, budgeted as CR 14, runs into a major issue where it's comprised of a reasonable CR 13 creature from B2 and 2 unreasonable CR 9 creatures from B5. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, mind you - compare the Pakalchi to a Bone Devil and you will immediately see at every possible turn that the Bone Devil is inferior, even down to base ability scores. Numerically, it's much closer to a Barbed Devil, a CR 11 creature. This is a pattern in both B5 and B6 - all creatures should have +2 adjustments on their CR across the board to be balanced to the prior Bestiaries.</p>
<p>Why am I saying this here, then? Because when Paizo fails to design, develop, and edit a Bestiary properly, it falls to adventure authors, Organized Play leadership, and editors to fix the problem in the scenarios themselves. The reality is that it probably doesn't matter anymore for PF1 - there's 2 months of scenarios and then it's dead. That said, for future scenarios in PF2, this sort of thing needs to be considered because the editing on some of the later entries has been atrocious. The problem I continue to see on adventure after adventure is that this sort of issue is <i>not</i> addressed in any fashion, resulting in encounters that far exceed what players can reasonably handle, particularly when the 4 player adjustment doesn't actually impact the threatening creatures at all.</p>
<p>Lyz, I liked your story and I relished the opportunity to personally execute Colson Maldris. I appreciated that we had the easy out on the final encounter because nobody could see invisibility or stop the dim door to bypass it. There was a bit much hardcoded on the investigation part, but it was rather enjoyable nonetheless.</p>
<p>I'm just tired of these encounters where the CR is not accurate because of garbage editing in the Bestiaries.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-20: Fury of the Final Blade PDF</b></p><p>Now, I want to be fair to the author in that, like many scenarios of the past few seasons, there has been a perceived need to shoehorn Bestiary 5 and Bestiary 6 critters into scenarios because the Bestiaries need to sell. It's all well and good that authors find opportunities to do this or that creatures are recommended, but there's a big elephant-in-the-room problem that Organized Play leadership needs to recognize when budgeting encounters:</p>
<p><b>BESTIARY 5 AND 6 DO NOT PRESENT CREATURES ON THE SAME CR SCALE AS ANY PRIOR BESTIARY.</b></p>
<p>So, the major encounter, budgeted as CR 14, runs into a major issue where it's comprised of a reasonable CR 13 creature from B2 and 2 unreasonable CR 9 creatures from B5. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, mind you - compare the Pakalchi to a Bone Devil and you will immediately see at every possible turn that the Bone Devil is inferior, even down to base ability scores. Numerically, it's much closer to a Barbed Devil, a CR 11 creature. This is a pattern in both B5 and B6 - all creatures should have +2 adjustments on their CR across the board to be balanced to the prior Bestiaries.</p>
<p>Why am I saying this here, then? Because when Paizo fails to design, develop, and edit a Bestiary properly, it falls to adventure authors, Organized Play leadership, and editors to fix the problem in the scenarios themselves. The reality is that it probably doesn't matter anymore for PF1 - there's 2 months of scenarios and then it's dead. That said, for future scenarios in PF2, this sort of thing needs to be considered because the editing on some of the later entries has been atrocious. The problem I continue to see on adventure after adventure is that this sort of issue is <i>not</i> addressed in any fashion, resulting in encounters that far exceed what players can reasonably handle, particularly when the 4 player adjustment doesn't actually impact the threatening creatures at all.</p>
<p>Lyz, I liked your story and I relished the opportunity to personally execute Colson Maldris. I appreciated that we had the easy out on the final encounter because nobody could see invisibility or stop the dim door to bypass it. There was a bit much hardcoded on the investigation part, but it was rather enjoyable nonetheless.</p>
<p>I'm just tired of these encounters where the CR is not accurate because of garbage editing in the Bestiaries.</p>Serisan2019-05-27T02:08:36ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-08: What Prestige is Worth: Excellent content, but a bit too much (4 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btq01zsy?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1008-What-Prestige-is-Worth2019-03-06T07:01:09Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-08: What Prestige is Worth</b></p><p>As others have noted, this scenario will run long. We had a fair amount of RP and highly capable characters, but still ran 6 hours. Fitting it into 4 hours seems like a task only made possible if you skip the RP entirely. We even did the arena stuff in 2 relatively simple rounds, but the combats simply weren't the time-consuming thing here.</p>
<p>That said, the content was excellent. Dis was well portrayed, with an emphasis on the planar points of intrigue. The devils each had notable personalities. </p>
<p>We had 3 Chelish Asmodeans at the table, though only my character supports Her Infernal Magistrix. It was fairly great, save for all the times that the other characters prevented me from killing Zarta.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-08: What Prestige is Worth</b></p><p>As others have noted, this scenario will run long. We had a fair amount of RP and highly capable characters, but still ran 6 hours. Fitting it into 4 hours seems like a task only made possible if you skip the RP entirely. We even did the arena stuff in 2 relatively simple rounds, but the combats simply weren't the time-consuming thing here.</p>
<p>That said, the content was excellent. Dis was well portrayed, with an emphasis on the planar points of intrigue. The devils each had notable personalities. </p>
<p>We had 3 Chelish Asmodeans at the table, though only my character supports Her Infernal Magistrix. It was fairly great, save for all the times that the other characters prevented me from killing Zarta.</p>Serisan2019-03-06T07:01:09ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: Fun RP stuff, but wtf combat? (4 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-02-18T04:11:49Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I ran two slots of this at Con of the North, one in each subtier. I played it in 8-9 subtier prior to running.</p>
<p>The enjoyable:
<br />
<li>The players enjoyed the lore elements of the scenario that were relatable to their prior play experience and the cargo cult feeling of the situation.<li>When transparently run, the investigation piece was really enjoyed by the players.<li>A lot of elements felt novel and interesting to me as a GM.</p>
<p>The painful:
<br />
<li>The 8-9 subtier final encounter is not well balanced, but this is largely the fault of Bestiary 5 throwing balance out the window. Psychementals are improperly CR'd at best. Putting 3 of them in as "mooks" is somewhat inappropriate for this subtier.<li>The scenario required a lot of prep due to the amount of if->then logic and organization of the material.<li>The investigation can be difficult to convey transparently without simply describing the mechanics.<li>There was not enough care put into including guidance for a very likely scenario regarding Lin Fen Hai - namely, any abilities that might result in the combat ending somewhat peacefully without her being able to return to town.<li>One item has not been addressed in the GM thread still regarding the investigation piece, where one of the locations has twice the text of some other locations and significantly more information that's relevant to the investigation, but provides no mechanical benefit. I maintain that this is an error by omission.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I had two good tables for the scenario as the players took the mission to heart. Sincere and successful efforts were made to subdue and talk to Lin Fen Hai after she attacked - one party had 2 Slumber-capable characters and the other had Ritual of Reparation. Zero guard deaths later, both parties found themselves in the position of having adequate reason to be able to attempt Diplomacy checks and adjust her attitude as a result. Both tables struggled with the final encounter, but the 8-9 table definitely was the worse-off for it. </p>
<p>I think the author had a good scenario here and the challenges with it likely come in at the development level.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I ran two slots of this at Con of the North, one in each subtier. I played it in 8-9 subtier prior to running.</p>
<p>The enjoyable:
<br />
<li>The players enjoyed the lore elements of the scenario that were relatable to their prior play experience and the cargo cult feeling of the situation.<li>When transparently run, the investigation piece was really enjoyed by the players.<li>A lot of elements felt novel and interesting to me as a GM.</p>
<p>The painful:
<br />
<li>The 8-9 subtier final encounter is not well balanced, but this is largely the fault of Bestiary 5 throwing balance out the window. Psychementals are improperly CR'd at best. Putting 3 of them in as "mooks" is somewhat inappropriate for this subtier.<li>The scenario required a lot of prep due to the amount of if->then logic and organization of the material.<li>The investigation can be difficult to convey transparently without simply describing the mechanics.<li>There was not enough care put into including guidance for a very likely scenario regarding Lin Fen Hai - namely, any abilities that might result in the combat ending somewhat peacefully without her being able to return to town.<li>One item has not been addressed in the GM thread still regarding the investigation piece, where one of the locations has twice the text of some other locations and significantly more information that's relevant to the investigation, but provides no mechanical benefit. I maintain that this is an error by omission.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I had two good tables for the scenario as the players took the mission to heart. Sincere and successful efforts were made to subdue and talk to Lin Fen Hai after she attacked - one party had 2 Slumber-capable characters and the other had Ritual of Reparation. Zero guard deaths later, both parties found themselves in the position of having adequate reason to be able to attempt Diplomacy checks and adjust her attitude as a result. Both tables struggled with the final encounter, but the 8-9 table definitely was the worse-off for it. </p>
<p>I think the author had a good scenario here and the challenges with it likely come in at the development level.</p>Serisan2019-02-18T04:11:49ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-02: Bones of Biting Ants: A scenario to feel Good about (5 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btq01zsm?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1002-Bones-of-Biting-Ants2018-09-15T05:23:07Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-02: Bones of Biting Ants</b></p><p>I wrote a giant review and the website ate it. Bottom line: the story is compelling, filled with the original goals of the Shadow Lodge and empathy, along with the understanding that not all wounds are physical. The mid-scenario encounter is just as deadly as everyone else says, as it's a unique critter (at least, in high subtier) that is effectively a Dire Tiger with upgrades, but no CR adjustment.</p>
<p>Good use of Occult mechanics, good RP opportunities interspersed, and, most importantly, a compelling objective for the Good-aligned PCs.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-02: Bones of Biting Ants</b></p><p>I wrote a giant review and the website ate it. Bottom line: the story is compelling, filled with the original goals of the Shadow Lodge and empathy, along with the understanding that not all wounds are physical. The mid-scenario encounter is just as deadly as everyone else says, as it's a unique critter (at least, in high subtier) that is effectively a Dire Tiger with upgrades, but no CR adjustment.</p>
<p>Good use of Occult mechanics, good RP opportunities interspersed, and, most importantly, a compelling objective for the Good-aligned PCs.</p>Serisan2018-09-15T05:23:07ZPathfinder Society Scenario #9-07: Salvation of the Sages PDF: Satisfying, difficult, and deep (5 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9wer?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-907-Salvation-of-the-Sages2017-12-24T02:14:57Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-07: Salvation of the Sages PDF</b></p><p>I ran this for a very experienced, RP-focused party with 3 Scarab Sages members. The party felt genuinely threatened by the encounters and engaged well with the story elements.</p>
<p>From the GM perspective, there's a lot to think about with this scenario. I'm a 4 star PFS GM who specializes in mid-high tier play and I spent 2 weeks preparing the scenario, but still faltered on some details during the encounters. This scenario has a lot of depth with a lot of elements to portray, but some of that portrayal is condensed into mid-encounter chatter and visions. Portraying how fight mechanics work while the combat is ongoing is essential to making the players understand what's going on. </p>
<p>The players all loved the scenario, saying that it felt like it was a multi-table special in content and tone. Avoiding as many spoilers as possible, one of the single best elements of the scenario is how it dives into history-as-experienced, particularly for otherwise hard to nail down NPCs.</p>
<p>Appropriate tables for this adventure will come prepared for a variety of situations, be combat-capable for complex encounters, and have a strong desire to fulfill the goals of the story over quick one-shot combat capacity. It's worth noting as well that the combats are exceptionally dangerous for some compositions, particularly if the level spread is large and the scenario is pulled into high tier.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-07: Salvation of the Sages PDF</b></p><p>I ran this for a very experienced, RP-focused party with 3 Scarab Sages members. The party felt genuinely threatened by the encounters and engaged well with the story elements.</p>
<p>From the GM perspective, there's a lot to think about with this scenario. I'm a 4 star PFS GM who specializes in mid-high tier play and I spent 2 weeks preparing the scenario, but still faltered on some details during the encounters. This scenario has a lot of depth with a lot of elements to portray, but some of that portrayal is condensed into mid-encounter chatter and visions. Portraying how fight mechanics work while the combat is ongoing is essential to making the players understand what's going on. </p>
<p>The players all loved the scenario, saying that it felt like it was a multi-table special in content and tone. Avoiding as many spoilers as possible, one of the single best elements of the scenario is how it dives into history-as-experienced, particularly for otherwise hard to nail down NPCs.</p>
<p>Appropriate tables for this adventure will come prepared for a variety of situations, be combat-capable for complex encounters, and have a strong desire to fulfill the goals of the story over quick one-shot combat capacity. It's worth noting as well that the combats are exceptionally dangerous for some compositions, particularly if the level spread is large and the scenario is pulled into high tier.</p>Serisan2017-12-24T02:14:57ZPathfinder Society Scenario #9-01: The Cost of Enlightenment (PFRPG) PDF: Amateur philosophy hour(s) (2 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9tla?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-901-The-Cost-of-Enlightenment2017-10-08T22:23:25Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-01: The Cost of Enlightenment (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Generally, I agree with a lot of prior sentiment that I'm seeing in the reviews. There was little canon regarding Roidira, so I can't fully blame any single party for trying to define and explicate her philosophical underpinnings. </p>
<p>Pros:
<br />
•Social scenario with definite non-Diplomacy answers.
<br />
•Combats were relevant to the plot and conveyed information about the story being presented.
<br />
•The story was mostly coherent.
<br />
•Lorah is an entertaining NPC.
<br />
•The Sunwrought Festival was pretty fun.</p>
<p>Cons:
<br />
•Philosophically equivalent to a 15 year old's interpretation of Nietzsche.
<br />
•Seriously, the lizard. There are very reasonable complaints about the lizard, particularly since the Young template is one of the least balanced CR adjustments.
<br />
•Quiz Show felt pretty bad for PCs who were not in any way, shape, or form interested in Roidira beyond the mission and the scripted assumption that the PCs did have interest was made ridiculous.</p>
<p>The scenario felt less like an investigation and more like story time in many regards - I spoke probably twice as much as the sum of my players. So much of the scenario attempted to script the PCs and, quite frankly, that is not a reliable way to write a scenario, nor an engaging one. I had walked in with some amount of excitement for what the scenario could offer, but the reality was that none of my players were particularly on-board with the premise of the railroad and there was little I could do to change that. Uncovering information on a cult can be pretty interesting stuff, but a petty, pretentious, and juvenile goddess is not an engaging subject, even to the party nihilist who might otherwise share some viewpoints with her.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-01: The Cost of Enlightenment (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Generally, I agree with a lot of prior sentiment that I'm seeing in the reviews. There was little canon regarding Roidira, so I can't fully blame any single party for trying to define and explicate her philosophical underpinnings. </p>
<p>Pros:
<br />
•Social scenario with definite non-Diplomacy answers.
<br />
•Combats were relevant to the plot and conveyed information about the story being presented.
<br />
•The story was mostly coherent.
<br />
•Lorah is an entertaining NPC.
<br />
•The Sunwrought Festival was pretty fun.</p>
<p>Cons:
<br />
•Philosophically equivalent to a 15 year old's interpretation of Nietzsche.
<br />
•Seriously, the lizard. There are very reasonable complaints about the lizard, particularly since the Young template is one of the least balanced CR adjustments.
<br />
•Quiz Show felt pretty bad for PCs who were not in any way, shape, or form interested in Roidira beyond the mission and the scripted assumption that the PCs did have interest was made ridiculous.</p>
<p>The scenario felt less like an investigation and more like story time in many regards - I spoke probably twice as much as the sum of my players. So much of the scenario attempted to script the PCs and, quite frankly, that is not a reliable way to write a scenario, nor an engaging one. I had walked in with some amount of excitement for what the scenario could offer, but the reality was that none of my players were particularly on-board with the premise of the railroad and there was little I could do to change that. Uncovering information on a cult can be pretty interesting stuff, but a petty, pretentious, and juvenile goddess is not an engaging subject, even to the party nihilist who might otherwise share some viewpoints with her.</p>Serisan2017-10-08T22:23:25ZPathfinder Module: Ire of the Storm (PFRPG): Great flavor, some questionable filler (5 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9jbf?Pathfinder-Module-Ire-of-the-Storm2017-08-06T19:16:34Z<p><b>Pathfinder Module: Ire of the Storm (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Update: I was able to play the module recently, albeit modified to fit into a more reasonable day. I think we completed it in about 11 hours, but we also had cut a number of the encounters. Exploration remains very long. I was glad that we cut out several sections for time.</p>
<p>Original review:
<br />
I had a much more in-depth post, but the website ate it. I ran this module as part of a 24 hour fundraiser event.</p>
<p>Fort Breakthrough: Solid first level adventure, very engaging to the party. Est run time: 4.5 hours. </p>
<p>Storm: Perfection. Very quick, but the players really engaged with the town in a way no other adventure ever has. The players absolutely loved Oyin and I loved how much a mundane cat added to the personality of the adventure. The subsystem was basically run over by the party of 6, who would have had enough successes for the best result even if they skipped everything after the skill check section. Est run time: 1.5 hours.</p>
<p>Out of town: LONG! Probably two sessions of content. Some excessive filler, IMO, that didn't particularly advance the story (esp. the coral capuchin thing). Travel to set pieces means you have to spend a lot of time re-establishing what the players are doing. Weather was interesting for a while, but really frustrated the archer in the group. Est run time: 9 hours.</p>
<p>Sky Tempest Temple: We were exhausted by this point, so I'm unable to be completely fair to the content here. The only thing that truly mattered to me was the MIREBORN LIZARDFOLK CHAMPIONSHIP! It was a hit with the PCs and it woke me up quite a bit after being about 18 hours into the module at this point, including our breaks.</p>
<p>Daruthek's lair: I really can't be fair to this - we rolled up on this at about 19 hours in and the players could have bodied every encounter in here without much issue. Daruthek is really cool as a villain, but I felt like the encounter lacked a bit of oomph. That may have just been the tired talking at that point, though.</p>
<p>Great module. Don't do it in one sitting like me.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Module: Ire of the Storm (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Update: I was able to play the module recently, albeit modified to fit into a more reasonable day. I think we completed it in about 11 hours, but we also had cut a number of the encounters. Exploration remains very long. I was glad that we cut out several sections for time.</p>
<p>Original review:
<br />
I had a much more in-depth post, but the website ate it. I ran this module as part of a 24 hour fundraiser event.</p>
<p>Fort Breakthrough: Solid first level adventure, very engaging to the party. Est run time: 4.5 hours. </p>
<p>Storm: Perfection. Very quick, but the players really engaged with the town in a way no other adventure ever has. The players absolutely loved Oyin and I loved how much a mundane cat added to the personality of the adventure. The subsystem was basically run over by the party of 6, who would have had enough successes for the best result even if they skipped everything after the skill check section. Est run time: 1.5 hours.</p>
<p>Out of town: LONG! Probably two sessions of content. Some excessive filler, IMO, that didn't particularly advance the story (esp. the coral capuchin thing). Travel to set pieces means you have to spend a lot of time re-establishing what the players are doing. Weather was interesting for a while, but really frustrated the archer in the group. Est run time: 9 hours.</p>
<p>Sky Tempest Temple: We were exhausted by this point, so I'm unable to be completely fair to the content here. The only thing that truly mattered to me was the MIREBORN LIZARDFOLK CHAMPIONSHIP! It was a hit with the PCs and it woke me up quite a bit after being about 18 hours into the module at this point, including our breaks.</p>
<p>Daruthek's lair: I really can't be fair to this - we rolled up on this at about 19 hours in and the players could have bodied every encounter in here without much issue. Daruthek is really cool as a villain, but I felt like the encounter lacked a bit of oomph. That may have just been the tired talking at that point, though.</p>
<p>Great module. Don't do it in one sitting like me.</p>Serisan2017-08-06T19:16:34ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Adventurer's Guide (PFRPG): Solid overall (4 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9sjo?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Adventurers-Guide2017-06-02T22:07:31Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Adventurer's Guide (PFRPG)</b></p><p>tl;dr: I think it's a good book with lots of options, but there are reasonable gripes about it. Some people think it's full of spoilers, but I tend to disagree.</p>
<p>Pros:
<br />
-Compelling write-ups for a significant number of Golarion organizations
<br />
-Huge number of character and NPC options to play with.
<br />
-Character options allow for diversified characters for each organization, such that you could build a primarily Bellflower character or similar.</p>
<p>Cons:
<br />
-Some of the reprints that could have used polish ended up being straight copy/paste.
<br />
-Not enough page space to devote to a number of other important factions, particularly factions that tend towards villainy.
<br />
-Very short for a hardcover - clocks in at 192 pages.</p>
<p>Mixed:
<br />
-There are a significant number of reprints. When I asked about this at PaizoCon, the response was that this inserts a huge number of options that previously were in campaign setting and softcover books into the "rules" line, where they will be added to the PRD (assisting scenario/module development by preventing reprints within the scenario/module) and have a more agile FAQ/errata process to fix any issues. I understand how this operates within Paizo's business structure, but still #FeelsBadMan.</p>
<p>-A lot of people are complaining that the organization write-ups effectively spoil certain APs, particularly Hell's Rebels, Council of Thieves, and Curse of the Crimson Throne. I tend to view the relevant entries as being canonized results within the rest of the world and, while it has some material that impacts the way players might engage with those APs, it presents relevant options for 2 of the 3 APs from what I can tell.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Adventurer's Guide (PFRPG)</b></p><p>tl;dr: I think it's a good book with lots of options, but there are reasonable gripes about it. Some people think it's full of spoilers, but I tend to disagree.</p>
<p>Pros:
<br />
-Compelling write-ups for a significant number of Golarion organizations
<br />
-Huge number of character and NPC options to play with.
<br />
-Character options allow for diversified characters for each organization, such that you could build a primarily Bellflower character or similar.</p>
<p>Cons:
<br />
-Some of the reprints that could have used polish ended up being straight copy/paste.
<br />
-Not enough page space to devote to a number of other important factions, particularly factions that tend towards villainy.
<br />
-Very short for a hardcover - clocks in at 192 pages.</p>
<p>Mixed:
<br />
-There are a significant number of reprints. When I asked about this at PaizoCon, the response was that this inserts a huge number of options that previously were in campaign setting and softcover books into the "rules" line, where they will be added to the PRD (assisting scenario/module development by preventing reprints within the scenario/module) and have a more agile FAQ/errata process to fix any issues. I understand how this operates within Paizo's business structure, but still #FeelsBadMan.</p>
<p>-A lot of people are complaining that the organization write-ups effectively spoil certain APs, particularly Hell's Rebels, Council of Thieves, and Curse of the Crimson Throne. I tend to view the relevant entries as being canonized results within the rest of the world and, while it has some material that impacts the way players might engage with those APs, it presents relevant options for 2 of the 3 APs from what I can tell.</p>Serisan2017-06-02T22:07:31ZPathfinder Society Scenario #8-15: Hrethnar's Throne (PFRPG) PDF: Painful (1 star)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9qca?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-815-Hrethnars-Throne2017-05-29T20:29:03Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-15: Hrethnar's Throne (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>0 xp, 0 prestige chronicles are never fun. This scenario was painful in ways I wasn't anticipating. </p>
<p>Party: Amiri, Lem, 7 bard with the bottle + smoke song combo, and my ectoplasmist 5. Low tier, 4 player adjust. </p>
<p>GM admitted that he forgot the Haste bombs on encounter 1, which would have murdered the not-Lem bard. We managed alright because of that. Go to encounter 2, surrounded quickly, both Amiri and I were wrecked by the under-CRd mummies and we fled.</p>
<p>This screams overtuned to me.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-15: Hrethnar's Throne (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>0 xp, 0 prestige chronicles are never fun. This scenario was painful in ways I wasn't anticipating. </p>
<p>Party: Amiri, Lem, 7 bard with the bottle + smoke song combo, and my ectoplasmist 5. Low tier, 4 player adjust. </p>
<p>GM admitted that he forgot the Haste bombs on encounter 1, which would have murdered the not-Lem bard. We managed alright because of that. Go to encounter 2, surrounded quickly, both Amiri and I were wrecked by the under-CRd mummies and we fled.</p>
<p>This screams overtuned to me.</p>Serisan2017-05-29T20:29:03ZPathfinder Module: Wardens of the Reborn Forge (PFRPG): Repetitive, generic, and occasionally setting appropriate (3 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy92lr?Pathfinder-Module-Wardens-of-the-Reborn-Forge2016-12-30T19:06:22Z<p><b>Pathfinder Module: Wardens of the Reborn Forge (PFRPG)</b></p><p>If you want an indication of how the module was written, look no further than the included pull-out map on the print edition. Rather than include any area with machinery, it's a generic flip of a fortress wall, an interior stream, and what amounts to a run-off structure.</p>
<p>The module takes place in 3 areas over 4 acts - two of these are generic mines, with 1 sq = 10 ft scaling and constant squiggles. When the mines aren't completely generic, they're kind of fun. There's some nice RP with a few mutants, a couple likable NPCs, an absolutely hilarious encounter that is shoehorned in, and little else. Could have happened anywhere.</p>
<p>Act 3 has a primal magic event system with a few claw-out-my-eyes moments, including the need to create elementals that have 4+ templates to reach the likely CRs necessarily for the mana storm. I didn't realize that elementals pretty much stop progressing at CR 11. There are use-activated items of CL 17 and characters who could reasonably be casting at CL 19, meaning custom generation of elementals, up to and including adding templates to Gozreh's herald just to fit a poorly thought out table. It is my hope that the Bard Creature + Fighter Creature + Giant + Advanced Elder Earth Elemental I had to generate (CR 17) comes out and starts attacking with dance moves. Note that Act 3 is not part of the sanctioned content for PFS, unless running the Seeker Arc rules.</p>
<p>Act 4 happens in a place that is befitting of the Mana Wastes - a huge factory...just large enough to fall off the edges of a single map. Assuming the final BBEG can act, it can be wonderfully evocative and interesting. This is unlikely, however, based on a number of factors, not least of which is his abysmal initiative modifier. This is the most setting-appropriate section of the adventure, but also the most likely to be derailed, assuming that players did Act 3. </p>
<p>It's a grand romp, otherwise, but it really didn't feel very specific to the Mana Wastes.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Module: Wardens of the Reborn Forge (PFRPG)</b></p><p>If you want an indication of how the module was written, look no further than the included pull-out map on the print edition. Rather than include any area with machinery, it's a generic flip of a fortress wall, an interior stream, and what amounts to a run-off structure.</p>
<p>The module takes place in 3 areas over 4 acts - two of these are generic mines, with 1 sq = 10 ft scaling and constant squiggles. When the mines aren't completely generic, they're kind of fun. There's some nice RP with a few mutants, a couple likable NPCs, an absolutely hilarious encounter that is shoehorned in, and little else. Could have happened anywhere.</p>
<p>Act 3 has a primal magic event system with a few claw-out-my-eyes moments, including the need to create elementals that have 4+ templates to reach the likely CRs necessarily for the mana storm. I didn't realize that elementals pretty much stop progressing at CR 11. There are use-activated items of CL 17 and characters who could reasonably be casting at CL 19, meaning custom generation of elementals, up to and including adding templates to Gozreh's herald just to fit a poorly thought out table. It is my hope that the Bard Creature + Fighter Creature + Giant + Advanced Elder Earth Elemental I had to generate (CR 17) comes out and starts attacking with dance moves. Note that Act 3 is not part of the sanctioned content for PFS, unless running the Seeker Arc rules.</p>
<p>Act 4 happens in a place that is befitting of the Mana Wastes - a huge factory...just large enough to fall off the edges of a single map. Assuming the final BBEG can act, it can be wonderfully evocative and interesting. This is unlikely, however, based on a number of factors, not least of which is his abysmal initiative modifier. This is the most setting-appropriate section of the adventure, but also the most likely to be derailed, assuming that players did Act 3. </p>
<p>It's a grand romp, otherwise, but it really didn't feel very specific to the Mana Wastes.</p>Serisan2016-12-30T19:06:22ZPathfinder Society Scenario #7–12: The Twisted Circle (PFRPG) PDF: Some flaws, but largely enjoyable (5 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9hgz?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-7-12-The-Twisted-Circle2016-09-20T19:42:17Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–12: The Twisted Circle (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>The single biggest challenge with this scenario is that it requires the GM to prep and extrapolate a lot. If you're GMing, make sure you take additional time to understand what's going on and read the PFS GM thread. I've run this 3 times now and have found the scenario very enjoyable, despite what others have said here.</p>
<p>NPCs are fun to work with here and the scenario offers a lot of room for players to RP with them and each other. With the number of oddities in Mercy, you can find parties that are highly suspicious of the activities in town or that do things that offend the townsfolk, which can be fun to play around with. From the GM seat, I found those aspects to be really compelling and greatly enjoyed the way the party got creeped out throughout the scenario.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the published version had to significantly trim down the submitted word count, which explains some oddities of the scenario. Ultimately, this ends up being a non-issue for most tables as you can prep around any areas of concern. A lot of the issues have been hashed out in the GM thread. While the scenario is difficult to run properly without significant preparation, I feel that its other merits compel me to avoid weighing down my rating based on prep time.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–12: The Twisted Circle (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>The single biggest challenge with this scenario is that it requires the GM to prep and extrapolate a lot. If you're GMing, make sure you take additional time to understand what's going on and read the PFS GM thread. I've run this 3 times now and have found the scenario very enjoyable, despite what others have said here.</p>
<p>NPCs are fun to work with here and the scenario offers a lot of room for players to RP with them and each other. With the number of oddities in Mercy, you can find parties that are highly suspicious of the activities in town or that do things that offend the townsfolk, which can be fun to play around with. From the GM seat, I found those aspects to be really compelling and greatly enjoyed the way the party got creeped out throughout the scenario.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the published version had to significantly trim down the submitted word count, which explains some oddities of the scenario. Ultimately, this ends up being a non-issue for most tables as you can prep around any areas of concern. A lot of the issues have been hashed out in the GM thread. While the scenario is difficult to run properly without significant preparation, I feel that its other merits compel me to avoid weighing down my rating based on prep time.</p>Serisan2016-09-20T19:42:17ZPathfinder Society Scenario #7–03: The Bronze House Reprisal (PFRPG) PDF: Frustrating but potentially fun (3 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9cu5?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-7-03-The-Bronze-House-Reprisal2016-05-01T06:48:04Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–03: The Bronze House Reprisal (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>I've both played and run this scenario.</p>
<p>Pros: some limited interesting RP, somewhat free-form sections, the possibility of a social TPK</p>
<p>Cons: Several sections appear to be "read the author's mind" in nature and are not intuitive to either the players or the GM. Skill check DCs are absurdly high. The secondary success condition is nearly impossible with many party configurations as it depends on having a series of specific skills in a series where you can't really get help from others. The level of preparation required for the GM is incredibly high for a 5-9 scenario - it feels in prep more like a particularly complex 7-11, but it doesn't feel commensurately satisfying in play.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I felt fatigued simply preparing it. I would have rather done pretty much anything else with my time because it took an investment of entirely too many hours just to wrangle the last two sections. The players burned through the first section very quickly, but the scenario slows to a crawl very quickly once you're actually in the Bronze House. As we got to the confrontation, it was clear that the players were exhausted and I had to tell them that there was basically an entire act remaining as they started to pack up. They seriously thought they were done at that point.</p>
<p>Despite getting the social TPK cost of 5 PP applied to all of them, the players all enjoyed the scenario and I had a good enough time, but I would not have interest in running this scenario again for the amount of effort involved.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–03: The Bronze House Reprisal (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>I've both played and run this scenario.</p>
<p>Pros: some limited interesting RP, somewhat free-form sections, the possibility of a social TPK</p>
<p>Cons: Several sections appear to be "read the author's mind" in nature and are not intuitive to either the players or the GM. Skill check DCs are absurdly high. The secondary success condition is nearly impossible with many party configurations as it depends on having a series of specific skills in a series where you can't really get help from others. The level of preparation required for the GM is incredibly high for a 5-9 scenario - it feels in prep more like a particularly complex 7-11, but it doesn't feel commensurately satisfying in play.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I felt fatigued simply preparing it. I would have rather done pretty much anything else with my time because it took an investment of entirely too many hours just to wrangle the last two sections. The players burned through the first section very quickly, but the scenario slows to a crawl very quickly once you're actually in the Bronze House. As we got to the confrontation, it was clear that the players were exhausted and I had to tell them that there was basically an entire act remaining as they started to pack up. They seriously thought they were done at that point.</p>
<p>Despite getting the social TPK cost of 5 PP applied to all of them, the players all enjoyed the scenario and I had a good enough time, but I would not have interest in running this scenario again for the amount of effort involved.</p>Serisan2016-05-01T06:48:04ZPathfinder Society Scenario #7–13: Captive in Crystal (PFRPG) PDF: Amazing (5 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9hh0?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-7-13-Captive-in-Crystal2016-01-03T05:25:55Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–13: Captive in Crystal (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Played in the 5-6 subtier. Solid adventure, nice mid-scenario subsystem, kind of a DPR check for a final encounter...but the descriptive text is what sells me.</p>
<p>10/10, would innuendo again.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–13: Captive in Crystal (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Played in the 5-6 subtier. Solid adventure, nice mid-scenario subsystem, kind of a DPR check for a final encounter...but the descriptive text is what sells me.</p>
<p>10/10, would innuendo again.</p>Serisan2016-01-03T05:25:55ZPathfinder Society Scenario #16: To Scale the Dragon (OGL) PDF: Dated and easily derailed (1 star)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy87ja?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-16-To-Scale-the-Dragon2015-11-15T08:52:07Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #16: To Scale the Dragon (OGL) PDF</b></p><p>I am so late to this party. Finally ran this scenario tonight. It does not hold up well. Most of this is simply the change in expected power levels combined with the unpredictable nature of regional meta. When written, this was probably a much more interesting and challenging scenario. The party was very well-balanced and, as typical for the MN lodge, we had a table of 6 (not the greatest situation here) - Occultist 9, Bard 8, UC Rogue 8, APG Summoner 9, Fighter 8, and Alchemist 6. I'll be describing these in spoilers just for space's sake.</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
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<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
<p>The players, in the end, thanked me for doing the best I could with a dated scenario. It had so much promise, but just a few issues caused the whole plot train to derail. Thinking through it, though, I want to stress that literally everything that happened could have been duplicated with a 3.5 core party. Whether that's a failing of the play environment of the time or a lack of imagination on the part of the author, I'm not sure, but this felt like a 3-7 scenario with 5-9 written on it by accident given that it certainly did not predict the types of resources available to 8th and 9th level characters. Additionally, because of the unique subsystem presented for dogsledding and use of relatively obscure pieces of the ruleset (altitude, avalanches, and cave-ins, for example), the preparation was significantly more difficult than other 8-9 scenarios I've run.</p>
<p>In short, don't run this for players who know how to play the game. If you do run it, it's ideal to do so in Core and with 4 players. Frankly, the design felt as though it failed to plan for the existence of casters. This severely undermined the fun of everyone involved.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #16: To Scale the Dragon (OGL) PDF</b></p><p>I am so late to this party. Finally ran this scenario tonight. It does not hold up well. Most of this is simply the change in expected power levels combined with the unpredictable nature of regional meta. When written, this was probably a much more interesting and challenging scenario. The party was very well-balanced and, as typical for the MN lodge, we had a table of 6 (not the greatest situation here) - Occultist 9, Bard 8, UC Rogue 8, APG Summoner 9, Fighter 8, and Alchemist 6. I'll be describing these in spoilers just for space's sake.</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>
<p>The players, in the end, thanked me for doing the best I could with a dated scenario. It had so much promise, but just a few issues caused the whole plot train to derail. Thinking through it, though, I want to stress that literally everything that happened could have been duplicated with a 3.5 core party. Whether that's a failing of the play environment of the time or a lack of imagination on the part of the author, I'm not sure, but this felt like a 3-7 scenario with 5-9 written on it by accident given that it certainly did not predict the types of resources available to 8th and 9th level characters. Additionally, because of the unique subsystem presented for dogsledding and use of relatively obscure pieces of the ruleset (altitude, avalanches, and cave-ins, for example), the preparation was significantly more difficult than other 8-9 scenarios I've run.</p>
<p>In short, don't run this for players who know how to play the game. If you do run it, it's ideal to do so in Core and with 4 players. Frankly, the design felt as though it failed to plan for the existence of casters. This severely undermined the fun of everyone involved.</p>Serisan2015-11-15T08:52:07ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player's Guide (OGL): Good product, some issues (4 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy8fo1?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Advanced-Players-Guide2010-08-11T13:17:38Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player's Guide (OGL)</b></p><p>Great variety, good content for the price. It feels like the book was rushed through production at the expense of editing, however, and will require a fair amount of errata. Almost fully functional, but a few of the things that need errata are rather essential things, such as one of the Inquisitor's abilities that simply has no function without the errata.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player's Guide (OGL)</b></p><p>Great variety, good content for the price. It feels like the book was rushed through production at the expense of editing, however, and will require a fair amount of errata. Almost fully functional, but a few of the things that need errata are rather essential things, such as one of the Inquisitor's abilities that simply has no function without the errata.</p>Serisan2010-08-11T13:17:38Z