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Pathfinder Society Scenario #8: Slave Pits of Absalom (OGL) PDF

3.80/5 (based on 20 ratings)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #8: Slave Pits of Absalom (OGL) PDF

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 5th level characters (Tiers: 1–2, 4–5).

Someone kidnapped Lady Anilah Salhar—the Chelish wife of Dremdhet Salhar, one of Osirion's many Grand Ambassadors to Absalom—and sold her into slavery. With Salhar holding delve permits over the heads of the Decemvirute, the Pathfinders are sent to assist the Osirian Ambassador. Venturing into Absalom's darkest corners to save Lady Anilah, the Pathfinders must face the secrets of the Slave Pits to avoid becoming slaves themselves.

Written by Lou Agresta

This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the 3.5 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game.

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Fast and Straightforward

3/5 —

NO SPOILERS

I played Slave Pits of Absalom at PaizoCon AP 2019 using the Iconic Gunslinger. It's a scenario that very much fits the norm for Season Zero scenarios: it's on tight rails, the combat encounters are solid (and occasionally deadly), and the morality of the story (especially with the faction missions) is sometimes more grey than black and white. It's also a very fast scenario to run (I'd guess around 2-3 hours) and not one that will tax the GM at all. It's not a particularly amazing or memorable scenario, but it's perfectly fine for a few hours' gameplay with little prep. Hence, I'm giving it the score of average.

SPOILERS!:

The briefing is *very* quick and to the point: Osirion's ambassador to Absalom is an important contact for the Pathfinder Society, and his wife, Lady Anilah, has just been kidnapped! In order to improve their standing with the ambassador, the Society is going to try to find her, and quickly. The PCs are told that a possible lead is a "grit den" (grit is an illegal drug that sounds a bit like PCP) in the Puddles district of Absalom where a junky who earns cash by assisting in the slave trade can be found. Unlike most later seasons, there's no time for questions--indeed, if the PCs try to ask any, they get yelled at! I found it awesome (and funny), and I really like the Venture-Captain: a fiery and definitely no-nonsense Galtan named Alissa Moldreserva. I'd like to see more of her.

The name of the grit den is the Second Chance, and when the PCs arrive, there is a full-blown brawl going on. Yes, it's a cliché, but I think every fantasy RPG player should get to experience a bar brawl now and then. As is traditional in such things, if the PCs stick to fists then no one bats an eye--but if they draw weapons, then the bartender draws a scimitar and sics an angry dog on them! Either way, once the PCs win, they'll find a grit addict named Fredrik who admits he was hired to kidnap Lady Anilah and sell her into slavery through a local slave merchant. In true Season Zero fashion, the PCs miss out on a hefty chunk of change at the end of the scenario if they don't steal the grit den's strongbox from behind the counter. I sometimes think the Society and the Aspis Consortium weren't too far apart in those early days!

The name of the scenario is the same as the in-game nickname for a large slave market in Absalom. At this time in the setting's history, the slave-trade is fully legal in Absalom--though, of course, the nobility are exempt from being bought and sold. The PCs need to (quietly) break into Pildapush's Chattel, an import/export house for slaves, and persuade or browbeat (or otherwise beat) the merchant into confessing that a Taldan spy hired Fredrik to kidnap Lady Anilah (hoping to embarrass the ambassador, since Taldor and Osirion are major rivals). The merchant says Lady Anilah has already been sold to a Katapeshi slave ship currently moored at the docks. The scenario actually does a good job of providing an array of information depending on how well the PCs do at changing the merchant's attitude.

If the PCs weren't discreet about breaking into the merchant's shop (which, knowing PCs, is fairly likely!) the official security guards of the slave district arrive and order the PCs to leave. And if the PCs don't comply, then the city guard arrive; and if the PCs still resist, the GM is instructed that this simply results in the PCs' death or imprisonment (with the latter likely resulting in their being sold into slavery for being a petty thief!). It's hardcore!

What the PCs won't know is that, prior to interrogating the slave merchant, he already took out a contract on Fredrik to silence him and anyone he talked to (including the PCs). This means the PCs will get ambushed by a quintet of halflings along the docks. It's not a particularly dangerous encounter, and mainly serves to soften the group up for what's next.

What's next is raiding the slave galley, which is crewed by gnolls! The foreman of the ship fights on the main deck and uses a whip to try to knock PCs overboard, while the captain of the ship fights below deck and uses (at high tier) a magical greataxe. A crit with this thing is going to do 9d6+24 points of damage, so even at Tier 4-5 some bad luck could easily end someone's day! Chances are, however, that a modern party of six Pathfinder PCs is going to be okay. After these two quick battles aboard the ship, the PCs find Lady Anilah and can call it a day.

It's obviously a very quick and compact scenario that has four combat encounters and just a little role-playing in the form of interrogating the slavers for more information. I would definitely encourage GMs to use the faction missions, as they at least give the PCs a little extra to think about and could add a fun element (a couple of the missions tend to be in opposition to one another). I think of a scenario like this as the "beer-and-pretzels" computer game equivalent for Pathfinder. It won't take much time or deep thought, and it's easy to run with little prep right out of the gate.

Release the slaves!

4/5 —

I frequently hear people saying that season 0 and 1 scenarios are too easy. All too often they say that player characters have gotten much stronger. While that’s true, they also fail to realise that these scenarios were also meant for groups consisting of four players. This scenario is a great example of a scenario that might be too easy for a group of 6, but rather challenging for a group of 4. The big bad evil can pack quite a punch and I can see him being a terrifying foe in tier 1-2, especially for a bunch of level 1’s.

The storyline, admittedly, is pretty straightforward. Go to A, go to B, go to C. However, while it is linear, you still have a variety of options on how to act at a certain location. You can attempt to brute force your way to victory, or you can be more diplomatic. Either way works and there isn’t a best solution either. There’s plenty of opportunity to be creative. Combined with some fun faction missions and NPCs, and you’re bound to have some interesting role-play as well.

I do think that this scenario could have been better on certain aspects. Even though the PCs visit interesting locations, I don’t feel like the writer really fleshed them out. The window dressing is a bit lackluster and shallow in that regard and the whole thing could have been a bit more cinematic. It lacks that extra touch to be really immersive. Furthermore a bit more diversity in the encounters would have been fun as well.

That said, I enjoyed this scenario. It’s simple, straightforward and excellent for Liberty’s Edge characters. I plan on running this myself, though restricting the party size to 4 or 5 just so it remains challenging and doesn't become too easy.

An RPG Resource Review

4/5 —

Golarion is not free of the evils of human trafficing, it appears, as the wife of Dremdhet Salhar, one of Osirion's many Grand Ambassadors to Absalom, has been kidnapped and sold into slavery. Desperate to get her back, Grand Ambassador Salhar has turned to the Pathfinder Society, and the party has been tasked with her rescue. They're given a contact, a fellow addicted to the notorious drug grit who is known to be involved in the illegal trafficking of noble females as household slaves - perhaps he knows something about the matter. Whilst slavery isn't illegal in Absalom, kidnapping and selling people off the street certainly is!

If you are worried that this might be an investigation-heavy adventure, relax. It is full of combat from start to finish, with a couple of mass brawls and an assault on a slave ship to keep the party on their toes. The adventure is rather linear, and depends on the party finding and questioning several people in a linked chain of evidence that will eventually lead them to their quarry, and a lot of the time they'll have to work at their Diplomacy checks to get anything out of anybody. There doesn't seem to be any fallback position if the party fails to get the next piece of information - realistic, perhaps, but liable to derail a game if characters cannot reach the stated goal via the single available way of getting the information required.

That said, it's a taut action-packed adventure, an exciting trip through the seedy underbelly of Absalom's slave trade. The Faction missions are neatly entwined into the plot, and may set individual party-members at odds with each other, although all still wish to rescue the Lady Anilah Salhar, who will be suitably grateful and owe the party a favour that can never be repaid.

A bit disappointed

2/5 —

GM'ed this scenario last week at low tier for a party of 4. Although the party enjoyed the adventure, I cannot help but feel disappointed. With the 4-star rating, I was expecting something of a "Classic", like Mists of Mwangi or Silent Tide. Instead the adventure seems to have been written from the point of an old school "we must kill the baddies" perspective, leaving little room for diplomacy and even respect of the Law, if you want the full reward.
As to the final combats, they are really nasty for a 4-man LvL1 party.

Premise, 3: The party is being sent to rescue a noblewoman from slavers.

Combat, 2: Either extremely weak (opponents with 0 build points). The final combats scale badly to a small/low level party.

Background/RP, 3: The opportunities are there for the players, but the adventure as written, leaves little room for diplomacy.

Skills, 3: I did not notice anything in particular.

General, 2: It may be the high standard of the season 5-6 season scenario's, but generally, to me, this scenario feels outdated.

Freedom!

3/5 —

This is a mostly uninspired adventure. While it will be enjoyable for anti-slavery type characters, it's story is mediocre and combats are especially run of the mill. There can be some interesting morale conundrum role-playing, but other than that, everything about this adventure screams average.

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Liberty's Edge

Just a quick note to potential DMs about a minor error in the mod:

Spoiler:

In order to take Improved Trip, both of the Gnolls at the end of the mod need an Intelligence of 13 and Combat Expertise.

I recommend increasing the Gnolls' Intelligence score to 13, add 2 skill points into Profession Sailor, decrease the attack bonus for the Whip to +7, and replace Weapon Focus Whip with Combat Expertise.

The Exchange

Two questions about this scenario:

Spoiler:

1) I can't find locations for Needle and Fredrik on the tavern map on page 5. Am I just being dim? I assume from the text that Fredrik is on the table with three thugs around it and Needle is lying in the corner but as they are listed in the key for the map then I'd expect to see them on the map.
2) If the Taldor faction conceal the name of Renmil then does that mean that the Osirions don't gain their prestige award as they don't have all four names?

Spoiler:
The Taldans don't need to conceal his name, just his connection to Taldor. As for the map, Fredrik is supposed to be labeled on the table surrounded by the three "T" thugs and Needle is in the top right corner behind that table.
The Exchange
Joshua J. Frost wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

Thanks.

Sovereign Court Contributor
Hank McCoy wrote:

Just a quick note to potential DMs about a minor error in the mod:

** spoiler omitted **

Hey Hank,

There seems to have been be a versioning error. Not sure how that crept in. Your solution is certainly workable.

- Lou
Sovereign Court Contributor
Wintergreen wrote:

Two questions about this scenario:

** spoiler omitted **

I'm also very interested to hear how that particular Taldan mission plays out for you. It's designed to keep players focused on each other and 'in' the scenario. It's also designed to be fun (even comical), of course, and it was in my home play-test. Would love to hear how it works for you, Wintergreen!

The Exchange
Louis Agresta wrote:
Wintergreen wrote:

Two questions about this scenario:

** spoiler omitted **
I'm also very interested to hear how that particular Taldan mission plays out for you. It's designed to keep players focused on each other and 'in' the scenario. It's also designed to be fun (even comical), of course, and it was in my home play-test. Would love to hear how it works for you, Wintergreen!

It does sound fun and I wanted to be sure about how it works hence the question. I'll be running this on 16th November and have a mixed faction group. I'll be sure to post on the messageboards afterwards to let you know how it goes.

Liberty's Edge
Louis Agresta wrote:


Hey Hank,

There seems to have been be a versioning error. Not sure how that crept in. Your solution is certainly workable.

- Lou

I swear I'm not a pedantic rules lawyer. Most days I'm lucky to spell my own name correctly. I was reviewing Improved Trip to refresh my memory on how it works when I caught the oversight.

BTW I loved your mod! I'm a total sucker for most of the elements you put in your scenario. I'm hoping you plan to write more.
Louis Agresta wrote:


There seems to have been be a versioning error. Not sure how that crept in. Your solution is certainly workable.

Would it be possible to acquire the newest version? I just repersonalized my copy, and the error is still there. Not only that, but the majority of the stat blocks are incorrect.

I've rewritten Snarl's stat block (as it happens to be the most relevant to combat) below to help GMs who might not have as much free time on their hands as I do. ^_^

Details:

Spoiler:

Init: +4 (Dex +1, no II) --> Init: +1

AC : 17 base (Dex is +1 not +3) --> 15 (+1 Dex, +1 Nat, +3 Arm)
14 touch (Dex is +1, Nat should NOT count) --> 11 (+1 Dex)
14 ff --> 14 Correct.

HP : 37 (2d8+3 + 2d10+3) --> +3 over 2 levels is impossible.
I don`t know how the HP was calculated, since typical NPC hit points would put him at 26 with the +3s, but the +3s should be +6s. My suspicion is that this gnoll was built with character hit points (max at 1st and half+1 after) and the +6s were added but written incorrectly, because then it adds up. So... leave this alone.

Fort: +8 --> +9 (+3 Con, +3 Fighter, +3 Gnoll)
Ref: +1 --> +0 (+0 Dex, +0 Fighter, +0 Gnoll)
Will: +0 --> +0 Correct.

Melee: Whip +8 --> +9 (Str +4, BAB +3, Mwk +1, WF +1) d3+4* nl
Greataxe +7 --> +8 (Str +4, BAB +3, Mwk +1) d12+6*

Note here that Snarl's Strength is 19 (+4) and that Greataxes are 2HW and thus add 1.5x Str bonus to damage. Also, it looks like the Mwk bonuses were not applied.

The tactics are cool, but Trip can't move people from the square they're in, and thus can't actually dump people in the water. I'm planning to get around this by saying the many plank bridges between the ship and the dock are very shaky and unreliable looking, so if a character falls they might take out that section.

Grapple check: +8 --> +7 (Str +4, BAB +3)

Feats: EWP(Whip), Improved Trip, Combat Expertise*, WF(Whip)

Hank wrote that the feats should be rearranged, but actually, Snarl should have an additional feat.
1st (Combat Expertise) --> Note! Req Int 13+
1st Fighter (EWP[Whip])
3rd (Improved Trip)
2nd Fighter (WF[Whip])

The above, with the suggested raise of Snarl's Int to 13, fixes his complaint.

Skills: Listen +5, Profession(Sailor) +4, Spot +5

With Snarl's new Int bonus, he should have 4 more skill points. I recommend Climb, Balance, or Use Rope, since those seem to me to be appropriate sailing skills. I'll use Balance +3 (4x0.5 skill, +1 Dex) He should also have an additional language. The sailors speak Katapeshi, so that makes sense to me.

Snarl's new stat block (according to me) looks like:

Foreman Snarl Sorehackle
Male gnoll figher 2
LE Medium humanoid
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +5, Spot +5
--
Defense
--
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14
(+1 natural, +3 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 37 (2d8+6 plus 2d10+3)
Fort +9, Ref +0, Wil +0
--
Offense
--
Spd 20 ft. (Medium armour)
Melee
Mwk Whip +9 (1d3+4/x2 nonlethal; 0 vs armour bonus >= +1)
Mwk Greataxe +8 (1d12+6/x3)
--
Tactics
--
*Unchanged
--
Statistics
--
Str 19, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 6
Base Atk +3; Grp +7
Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (whip), Weapon Focus (whip), Combat Expertise, Improved Trip
Skills: Listen +5, Profession (sailor) +4, Spot +5, Balance +3
Languages: Common, Gnoll, Katapeshi
Gear: hide armour, masterwork greataxe, masterwork whip, 25 gp
Combat Gear: potion of cure light wounds

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
uldeim wrote:
Would it be possible to acquire the newest version? I just repersonalized my copy, and the error is still there.

This PDF has not been revised.

Sovereign Court Contributor
Hank McCoy wrote:
Louis Agresta wrote:


Hey Hank,

There seems to have been be a versioning error. Not sure how that crept in. Your solution is certainly workable.

- Lou

I swear I'm not a pedantic rules lawyer. Most days I'm lucky to spell my own name correctly. I was reviewing Improved Trip to refresh my memory on how it works when I caught the oversight.

BTW I loved your mod! I'm a total sucker for most of the elements you put in your scenario. I'm hoping you plan to write more.

Thanks, Hank. I'm glad you did! Josh Fost deserves a ton of credit as he did some pretty exacting development work on this one. Nick Logue too as he set out general guidelines for the piece.

Sovereign Court Contributor
uldeim wrote:
Louis Agresta wrote:


There seems to have been be a versioning error. Not sure how that crept in. Your solution is certainly workable.

Would it be possible to acquire the newest version? I just repersonalized my copy, and the error is still there. Not only that, but the majority of the stat blocks are incorrect.

I've rewritten Snarl's stat block (as it happens to be the most relevant to combat) below to help GMs who might not have as much free time on their hands as I do. ^_^

Yah. This is definitely the wrong version. Speaking to how I make them, I use NPCDesigner from RPG Attitude, manually review, then send them off. If I want the extra hard version of a monster, I like to go with 2/3 total possible hp. It's within the realm of possible rolls, just at the high side. Otherwise, average hp.

I plan to update this scenario in the next week or so to fix these errors. Thanks to everyone that caught them.
Sovereign Court Contributor
Wintergreen wrote:
Louis Agresta wrote:
Wintergreen wrote:

Two questions about this scenario:

** spoiler omitted **
I'm also very interested to hear how that particular Taldan mission plays out for you. It's designed to keep players focused on each other and 'in' the scenario. It's also designed to be fun (even comical), of course, and it was in my home play-test. Would love to hear how it works for you, Wintergreen!
It does sound fun and I wanted to be sure about how it works hence the question. I'll be running this on 16th November and have a mixed faction group. I'll be sure to post on the messageboards afterwards to let you know how it goes.

Awesome! Can't wait to hear how it went. Is Taldan player RP oriented, combat oriented or enjoys a mix of both?

Sovereign Court Contributor
Hank McCoy wrote:


BTW I loved your mod! I'm a total sucker for most of the elements you put in your scenario. I'm hoping you plan to write more.

I meant to ask, which parts did you like? Which elements stood out for you? Obviously, if you share, you should probably spoiler the discussion, but I'd love to know what jazzed you, because that helps me become a better writer.

As for writing more for Paizo, I'd love to. I've work out with other publishers of which I'm very proud, and they're great publishers...but Paizo is the dream-come-true publisher for me. The editorial staff and production values here at Paizo are just teh bomb. Not to mention the Paizoans!

teh bomb? I think I just mixed web metaphors.
The Exchange
Louis Agresta wrote:


Awesome! Can't wait to hear how it went. Is Taldan player RP oriented, combat oriented or enjoys a mix of both?

He's a great roleplayer playing a fighter. And it looks like there will be three Osirions in the party too who are all quite inquisitive!

Liberty's Edge
Louis Agresta wrote:


I meant to ask, which parts did you like? Which elements stood out for you? Obviously, if you share, you should probably spoiler the discussion, but I'd love to know what jazzed you, because that helps me become a better writer.
[/smaller]

Spoiler:

I personally love the pirate/swashbuckling genre, so anything that resembles that gets my attention -- bar fights, duels, voodoo, competing bands of treasure hunters, shipboard fights, old curses, lost treasure, swinging from ropes, boarding of a hostile ship, etc.

I also like how involving rescuing slaves tends to motivate my players. Even if a character is neutral, the players seem to take a bit of joy in releasing the slaves.

And lastly I enjoyed the halfling street gang, especially the snipers -- which make the combat more tactical and gives a monk an excuse to use his ranks in jump and provides a ranged support character satisfaction when a well aimed shot knocks the little buggers from the roof, screaming as they fall to their death or when they die instantly and tumble forward down the roof into the street like an old western movie.

The whip specialist gnolls definitely were an interesting and exciting combat choice!

Sovereign Court Contributor

Awesome! Glad you had fun with it.

Spoiler:
The whip specialists just made sense given their professional choices. I mean, slaver, after all. :)

I tried to mix it up by giving one focus on tripping and the other on disarming. I think those are under-utilized fight techniques, especially disarm. Sunder is another, though I got to highlight that in a different piece.

I'm gald you enjoyed the Puddlejumpers. I'm a big fan of stationing different categories of threats in difficult to reach locations, forcing the party to choose between suffering the -- in this case -- ranged assaults or moving apart a little. It mixes up the terrain, creates interesting tactical challenges, prevents gang-up syndrome (where the party all pounds one enemy before moving on to the next)and generally just adds some fun.

At one point in development, the Puddlejumpers attacked in an alley. That let them get all acrobatic but it wasn't as much fun for the PCs, since they couldn't use special skills like jump, etc. to counteract them.

Liberty's Edge

right now Louis i am working to get a swashbuckler campaign where one of the characters is going to work directly against slaving in Absalom...

i felt this story was eprfect for the mood of my game, i downleaded it and i am still reading it...

i do love what i have read... and i must say... grit is horrible... i hate grit... i have to use it on my players :D
Sovereign Court Contributor
Montalve wrote:

right now Louis i am working to get a swashbuckler campaign where one of the characters is going to work directly against slaving in Absalom...

i felt this story was eprfect for the mood of my game, i downleaded it and i am still reading it...

i do love what i have read... and i must say... grit is horrible... i hate grit... i have to use it on my players :D

Awesome -- really glad you're enjoying it! Grit is Josh Frost's invention, so tip your hat that way.

Some of us were talking about the piece over here, and Chris Mortika asked me for some thoughts on integrating this into his home campaign, and I posted them on my blog, here. You might find it useful -- or at least, interesting.

I might post some additional support for home campaigns if people want it, so keep an eye out. :^)
Liberty's Edge
Louis Agresta wrote:

Awesome -- really glad you're enjoying it! Grit is Josh Frost's invention, so tip your hat that way.

Some of us were talking about the piece over here, and Chris Mortika asked me for some thoughts on integrating this into his home campaign, and I posted them on my blog, here. You might find it useful -- or at least, interesting.

I might post some additional support for home campaigns if people want it, so keep an eye out. :^)

thanks

i will
this campaign will take a bit to begin... well fully begin, i have been exploring a few issues with a lone character which sent us toward the slave combat area... the swashbukcling is the premise

still i need to finish another campaign first (WoD D20) and get Guide to Absalom :D

but i will be pestering about a few questions :D
Sovereign Court Contributor
Montalve wrote:
Louis Agresta wrote:

Awesome -- really glad you're enjoying it! Grit is Josh Frost's invention, so tip your hat that way.

Some of us were talking about the piece over here, and Chris Mortika asked me for some thoughts on integrating this into his home campaign, and I posted them on my blog, here. You might find it useful -- or at least, interesting.

I might post some additional support for home campaigns if people want it, so keep an eye out. :^)

thanks

i will
this campaign will take a bit to begin... well fully begin, i have been exploring a few issues with a lone character which sent us toward the slave combat area... the swashbukcling is the premise

still i need to finish another campaign first (WoD D20) and get Guide to Absalom :D

but i will be pestering about a few questions :D

Cool - I'll be here.

Liberty's Edge

one question comes to mind Lou

Spoiler:
the slave merchant has a gang of troublemakers... but he has no bodyguard, i know the place is relatively safe... and maybe the idea was not to increase the players problems in that Act, but aside of that why does a tradesman in such compromising bussiness would be doing without a bodyguard?

thanks
Sovereign Court Contributor
Montalve wrote:

one question comes to mind Lou

** spoiler omitted **

thanks

Well, actually...

Spoiler:
Funny you should ask. He did have bodyguards in the original version, but they were taken out in editing for various reasons.

The original bodyguards were two sisters, vudrani monks, actually. Think veils and flying hands and deadly kicks.

I'll try to get around to posting some thoughts and stuff on them at my blog, and will let you know here when I do. Don't want to post any details in this thread, because I don't want it mistaken for real Pathfinder Society material.

Glad you're liking the piece!
Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2013

Lou also wrote Blood on the Waterfront, available for download here somewhere. I am also planning on starting a new Rokugan campaign upcoming Spring and using BotW as my first encounter.

Check it out, and visit Sinisteradventures.com, where we anxiously await the release of Cold Black!
Sovereign Court Contributor
ancientsensei wrote:

Lou also wrote Blood on the Waterfront, available for download here somewhere. I am also planning on starting a new Rokugan campaign upcoming Spring and using BotW as my first encounter.

Check it out, and visit Sinisteradventures.com, where we anxiously await the release of Cold Black!

Hey ancientsensei! Thanks for mentioning it.

The SAW stuff, like Blood on the Waterfront, is a very particular beastie. The publisher wanted a "Transporter" like experience -- one fast paced, no break, no real story, encounter after another that can be used alone or as part of a series. Publisher ask, publisher get, and I added a little tongue-in-cheek; so its not for everyone. To tell the truth, I'm much more pleased with my work on the last episode of that series, #12 An Uncertain Jungle Extraction; although I did need to issue a rules correction for my

Spoiler:
fun-and-manageable-way-to-flee-an-avalanche

mechanic. Stil it's awesome to see the PDFs and their encounters get mined for home campaigns. Make sure you let me know how that goes!

In some ways, the Pathfinder Society adventures were more challenging than the SAW work. In SAW, werecabbages collaboratively produced our own, quirky world with dinosaurs and transplanar gates. For Pathfinder Society we write to the setting and I, at least, am very nervious about not messing up canon. Having editorial catch your canon mistakes? Gah. Sooo embarrassing!

Also, the PFS requires the same encapsulated, break-neck, kind of 4 hour play pace BUT this is Paizo, for crying out loud -- it still has to have (at least a little) story, pathos, and meaning for the setting. Otherwise, it won't be worthy of the brand.

Hey - you've got your own PFS coming out soon, right?
Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2013

Looks like they roll it out Tuesday. And dig the new art!
Liberty's Edge
Louis Agresta wrote:
Montalve wrote:

one question comes to mind Lou

** spoiler omitted **

thanks

Well, actually...

** spoiler omitted **

Glad you're liking the piece!

i liekd it very much

i will have to add your bodyguard option... it will increase the trouble for my players :)

unfortunately i had to pass my game for the next week, i will keep you posted
Liberty's Edge
ancientsensei wrote:
Looks like they roll it out Tuesday. And dig the new art!

congrats will have to see it soon

Sovereign Court Contributor
Montalve wrote:

one question comes to mind Lou

** spoiler omitted **

thanks

Hey Montalve,

I posted the bodyguards for you with some encounter context on RPGAggression. If you've any problem downloading it, let me know. Hope it proves useful or at least interesting. Enjoy!
Liberty's Edge
Louis Agresta wrote:
Montalve wrote:

one question comes to mind Lou

** spoiler omitted **

thanks

Hey Montalve,

I posted the bodyguards for you with some encounter context on RPGAggression. If you've any problem downloading it, let me know. Hope it proves useful or at least interesting. Enjoy!

no problems at all, i cheked it quickly yesterday

i will have to see how thatissue is going to escalate :P

I'm running this tomorrow and looking forward to the mayhem, but there seems to be a discrepancy with the max gold amounts: if I add up the amount listed for the individual encounters in tier 4-5, it comes out to over 1,500 instead of 1,217. Tier 1-2 is off by 2 gp as well. Perhaps the oddest thing is that tier 4-5 is supposed to get less for Act 5 than tier 1-2.

Also, there is a provision to be sure the PCs get the Act 2 award in Act 5 if they missed it, but I'm not sure how likely it is that the group will get the Act 1 award at all.

Spoiler:

Isn't it like robbery to take the money, even though it is a drug den?

Forgive the cross-post, but I'll put this in the PFS forum as well.

I responded here.

We should have a new PDF uploaded today with corrections. Thanks everyone for the feedback. Watch your email for an update.
Joshua J. Frost wrote:
I responded here.

Joshua, before you post the update, you might want to take a look at my reply. I think there is a significant change in tier 4-5 Act 5 encounter that is left out of the loot.

Sovereign Court Contributor

Thanks for the review, Hank!
Grand Lodge

This scenario lists the Gamemastery Flip-Map: Tavern as a playing aid, but I have searched both the FLip-Maps and the Map PAcks and cannot locate this item. Is it out of print or a typo?
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
TwilightKnight wrote:
This scenario lists the Gamemastery Flip-Map: Tavern as a playing aid, but I have searched both the FLip-Maps and the Map PAcks and cannot locate this item. Is it out of print or a typo?

It's out of print. You can see it if you click "show unavailable products" in the product area (or just click here).

We'll have to make sure that it's at least findable with search in the future...
Sovereign Court

Hi Lou,

Great mod. This was my first PFS session and I am in turn running it for our regular game group tonight. You asked about the Taldan faction mission. This remains to this day my favorite faction mission ever. I love the fact that two PC's are working at opposite ends of the problem. While i can see that i would lead to party infighting among some groups, i would like to see more modules where not everyone could necessarily accomplish their faction mission.

Here is how it went down for my 1st level halfling rogue. After picking the lock and getting inside, the rogue draws his rapier, jumps up on the desk and brandishes it at Pardu, demanding he spill everything he knows about Lady Anilah. He rolls well on his intimidate (the half orc barbarian standing behind him didn't hurt) and Pardu begins to babble. "I didn't know, i swear, i bought her from Fredrick, when i found out who she was and that Ren..." The second syllable never left his lips. The rogue plunged the rapier into his gut, crit, confirm + sneak - Pardu was done. "He was lying, i could see it in his eyes" the halfling says to the barbarian nonchalantly wiping his blade clean.

Every so often in this game the roleplay and the dice work together to let you have a perfect cinematic moment. Thank you for that one!

Arnold

PS - The barbarian later fell to one of the gnolls, the last fight was indeed deadly, the halfling barely squeaked away with his life.
Sovereign Court Contributor

Nice!!! That's exactly the kind of CYA/intrigue role play moment I hoped would pop up. Thank you so much for sharing and truly glad you liked it!
Shadow Lodge

OK, if I don't ask it will definitely happen.

So,:
how many Token Guards do I bring when I feel free to bring the entirety of the Token Guard down on PC's who want a fight?
Sovereign Court Contributor

This isn't for society play any more, is it? If not, then I'd say it just depends on how much of a challenge you care to give them, right?
Shadow Lodge

It is for PFS. Although I know the players are capable of getting in Pildapush's place unnoticed, they are also capable of causing a big disturbance. And the player's have gotten in the habit of throwing their weight around and I can't imagine them backing down from a fight if they end up getting the guards there. So when it says to bring the entirety of the Token Guard down on them I'm just trying to get a grasp on what an appropriate number would be.
Sovereign Court Contributor

Sorry Conman. Even though I wrote that piece back under Mr. Frost's tenancy, there are many things I'd do differently given the chance.

That said I've been out of the loop on society play; so I'm just not qualified to suggest an appropriate EL for that.

Maybe ping Mark Mooreland?
Paizo Employee Developer

Hey Conman,

The scenario (admittedly developed before my time) frames calling the Token Guard as a hand-wave, "the PCs lose" level of competition. I've had this happen once when running the adventure, and I brought in roughly a half-dozen guards (NPC Codex 267) as the first wave while informing the PCs that massive reinforcements were rapidly closing in—implying that even "winning" this fight would just result in the PCs' losing very soon after. What this does is provide the PCs a way of performing a fighting retreat as they flee the scene, so they can back out of their failed break-in without permanent ramifications.

Otherwise, the scenario is pretty clear on what happens if they stick around. The next wave could be as large as you have minis. If the PCs want to fight Absalom, they're going to lose.
Shadow Lodge

Thanks Louis and John. That's pretty much what I was preparing to do, fortunately it didn't come down to that. I never know with this group. One week they'll take on some guards just doing their jobs and the next week they'll ignore a dozen feeding ghouls and search for secret doors because they haven't acted yet.

Spoiler:
It turned out to be a pretty entertaining encounter. The Swashbuckler handed out shots of the good stuff that they obtained in the previous encounter to the guard to get on the platform and directions to Pildapush's place. Then failed a bluff check with someone who noticed them. One of the barbarians quickly gathered up that problem and tried to give them some of the cheap stuff the Swashbuckler obtained for him but had his offering poured out at his feet.

After making their way to the docks they ended up drawing both encounters due to the Swashbuckler running right up onto the ship. She then ended up doing shots with a couple of the gnolls on the other side of the ship while everyone else fought. And then offered the rest of the bottle to whichever one could beat the other one so one ended up in the drink. They tried taunting the captain up into the fray, but he waited patiently for them to drop below, where he put some fear into them.

Good times.
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