Pathfinder Society Special: Race for the Runecarved Key (PFRPG) PDF (based on
10
ratings)
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A Pathfinder Society Special designed for levels 1–12+
An ancient Thassilonian artifact has been unearthed in Magnimar and is to be auctioned off by the city government. In order to maintain good relations with those in power in the City of Monuments, the Pathfinder Society must obtain the relic without simply stealing it, although employing any other means necessary. It falls to the PCs to infiltrate the auction, sabotage the other bidders’ efforts, and call in favors from those in the Society’s debt to ensure the Runecarved Key (and the secrets it unlocks) belongs to the Pathfinders when the adventure draws to a close.
Written by Kyle Baird and Tim Hitchcock.
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 Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
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I really had great time with this scenario and lucky for us, the space was available as long as we needed it. It was ran with minimum number of tables but this was also the first run in my region.
It took us approx 8hrs with one 5min and one half hour break
The not as good:
- the Auction is still a bit of a mystery (High bids and low bids explanation) but thankfully it was short and was done cinematically in the end.
- we could have used extra info on what to do if teams fail to outbid others and fail get the 'you know who'. There was one more small thing but we fixed it all so it worked out.
The really good:
- it really felt like a Special event with the scope and all the moving parts
- even though it was combat heavy in the second half, there was more than enough time for roleplay. The players really enjoyed different small missions and it gave the spotlight to smart, skilled characters
- overall, even after exhausting 8hrs of play everyone was having fun and the whole event finished on a high note
- fact that most table had rough time with the encounters but still in the end it didn't stop them from finishing with a feeling of team effort victory.
Last note - it really makes a difference if there is a nice, lifesized prop on display troughout the game. Very much worth the effort.
Its even better with a bit of LARP (having people act out the NPCs).
It was a great learning experience too and I'd love to do it on a larger scale next time
Do not play this module unless your character is CN. The things you are asked to do will not go over well with the majority of good aligned characters. The point system used to figure out the winner of the auction is broken, you have to do unmoral acts. There also was lazy writing with the players being defeated by box text. Easily one of my biggest pet peeves. There were ways to do it without this.
I played this at level 10-11 and we did not have to heal once. The combats were just that easy. The final combat was horrible. It wasn't designed to be an epic challenge rather endless waves like you are playing a video game.
Overall it was one of the worst Pathfinder experiences. Specials like this are supposed to leave you with a feeling you accomplished something EPIC. The only thing this module left you feeling is dirty.
Key was the best special event I've played so far (and I've played all of them).
I liked the variety and choice in quests. I liked the creativity in the encounters. I liked the story. I loved the roleplay (which was the main feature). But I would have liked to know the significance of the key (which was probably part 2)!
Many of the quests in this scenario involve convincing, persuading, bribing, influencing, and intimidating others, which some players might have a problem with (if they have a super hero complex). This scenario heavily favors rogue, bard, and other "Pathfinder" skills, which I thought was great. Paladins will have a tough time with this scenario, similar to "Severing Ties".
The only thing I didn't like about this scenario was the encounter before the chase.
Before the chase:
I disliked how the chase encounter started. 4 wizards/sorcerers broke through plated glass (doing 14 AE damage to us! Which is unrealistic.) and landed on the floor. They weren't even invisible. Before we could make Perception or initiative rolls, they were able to use their scrolls.
Seriously, that bothers me, why do scenario writers feel the need to break basic Pathfinder game rules and use GM fiat to make their plotlines and schemes happen? Write storylines so that you don't have to break the rules, and if the PCs somehow break your story, either plan for contingencies or allow them an easy victory in one encounter. This is a pet peeve of mine and it happens far too often for my liking.
Btw, that guy who stole the key would have never made it out of that room either. He would have split alright... :)
Detailed Rating:
Length: Full 5 hours.
Experience: Player with 5 (extremely well built) players at subtier 8-9. The two martial PC were level 10. 4 tables were playing this at once.
Sweet Spot: TBD.
Entertainment: I thought it was the best special so far. (8/10)
Story: I liked that the story was straight forward and not convoluted. (8/10)
Roleplay: Several great opportunities to roleplay but no NPCs stood out. (8/10)
Combat/Challenges: Most were easy and one encounter we almost had a TPK. (8/10)
Maps: Good use of flip maps, they always add to the scenario. (8/10)
Boons: Best boon so far and was probably appreciated considering part 2. (10/10)
Uniqueness: The bidding was cool, shows you how bad people are at bidding. Lol. The bidding was probably better with only 4 tables.(8/10)
Faction Missions: None. (n/a)
Overall: Best special event so far, was entertaining, fun, and different. (8/10)
I played this at our FLGS last night. We had 7 tables, and as far as I can tell everyone had a great time.
The good:
Spoiler:
Coop-petitive mechanics. Engaging in friendly rivalry with the other tables was a lot of fun. Everyone seemed quite engaged when we regrouped at the auction.
Variety of missions. Being able to choose from the missions allowed tables to prioritize based on their skill sets. I found the descriptions of the missions were clear enough for us to get an idea of what we'd be doing so we could plan accordingly.
Variety of options. Even within the missions, we had options in terms of how we could complete them. I felt we had an appropriate amount of freedom to make our own decisions.
The bad:
Spoiler:
Chase scene. This one wasn't so bad, as chase scenes go, but we were playing at 10-11 so we had a lot of options for circumventing obstacles. I heard that lower level tables had a lot more difficulty with it.
Never-ending battle. Once the third wave hit in the final battle, I knew that this was going to keep going until time ran out (maybe there is an end, but it sure seemed a ways off). At that point, I started playing more defensively because it became apparent that all we'd need to do is survive. It also seemed a little video game-y with all the baddies teleporting in waves.
The variables
Spoiler:
We had very good organization and very good GMs. I can see how this could go south in the wrong hands.
The time limit for us was 4 hours, which left our poor GM scrambling to get the information out and made RP a little more difficult. We managed, and we had fun, but the time crunch definitely favors quick and decisive action over careful planning.
As I said, we played 10-11 and we had one very optimized skill monkey and one very optimized archer. This allowed us to trivialize a lot of the challenges. Less optimized characters and parties will likely struggle.
I ran this at GenCon, and then again at my FLGS. The GenCon version was a bit of a cluster, but that's what happens when you get a room full of 150+ tables.
The one at the FLGS went very smoothly (surprisingly). Due to the 4 hour time constraint of playing at the store, I worked with my team of 7 GMs (I was overseer) to trim the scenario down to ~4 hours.
Spoiler:
Here were our changes:
* Act 1: Let the players take 20 on their perception check and just get the list of other bidders. Saved a few minutes
* Act 2: Completely removed going into the forest for Aspis Gold. Still kept the Heidmarch de-briefing.
* Act 3: Reduced the time from 2 hours to 1.5 hours for 3A-3H. One group still completed all of the encounters, and most got 2/3s done. I think this actually helped, as if the players would have had 2 hours, no NPC would be around for voting.
* Act 4: Went back and forth with cutting either 4A (battle in the cathedral) or 4B (chase). I wanted to cut 4B, but my GMs were excited to run the chase, so we cut 4A. One table took an hour to get through the chase, which made them not get to fight any waves.
Total running time was 4.5 hours. All of the players and GMs were really happy with the scenario, and how efficient it went. As the overseer, I wish I had more to do as the scenario went on. Also, we need to make the players sing something. That would have been great.
