I just had the privilege of playing through the retirement arc with group of folks this weekend - and I must say, WHAT A BLAST! From a player's perspective, I could not imagine a more definitive opening than this scenario.

It starts out great, giving your characters time to celebrate their previous accomplishments. It does a good job of making you feel like you've finally made it as a Pathfinder, entrusting such a valuable relic for your party to carry. The role playing opportunities are awesome and the combats are everything you could want and more from a level 12 arc.

I must say that the initial main story combat is one of the most challenging things someone will ever go through in PFS. The number of characters, stat blocks, and events that go on are not for the faint of heart. It will drain parties who do not prepare in advance and has a very strong chance of TPK if your party is ill-prepared to deal with the situation.

In fact, all the combat encounters are really challenging and have the potential to really just take PCs out left and right. In fact, in our party of 7, a PC was killed in each combat. I can't imagine what would happen to a non-balanced party or a party who has never played together. In fact, my one warning for this entire series (not just this scenario), as either a GM or player, know the group your playing with and what your strengths and weaknesses are. There is too much prep work that needs to go into this that you can just blindly sit down with a group and play this series. I cannot imagine how you can play this at a Con with strangers and would highly advise against doing so.

The rest of the encounter is great. It pulls from so much lore you hear about the Decemvirate, and takes you to a place that I don't think any other scenario does - and it does an amazing job of immersing you in that region. It also adds so much mystery and intrigue that you are left wanting more. It is a phenomenal starting point for the level 12 arc and will leaving you wanting to go on. The twists and turns will leave you stupefied. I think it was a great idea to make this a 8-10 hour block.

This is a MUST play for any PFS character who gets to 12. Your retirement is anything but.

P.S. Make sure you have a Cheliax PC with you. That is probably one of the best Faction missions I have ever heard of. It is the hands down coolest.

I got to play this module in a local convention over the summer and had a good time, it has a rich story and lots of complicated action.

I plan to offer/run it for our local group in the New York area soon.

One thing I would really like to stress is that to get the most out of this module for Pathfinder Society play the GM should really be as prepared as possible due to the complicated nature of some of the encounters and all of the possible plot points.

Overall, I think it is a good module to start level 12 Pathfinder Society Play off with. Thanks Erik!

Nate Meyers
NYC