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Pathfinder Society Scenario #4–04: King of the Storval Stairs (PFRPG) PDF

3.40/5 (based on 10 ratings)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4–04: King of the Storval Stairs (PFRPG) PDF

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.

The PCs are sent to map the Storval Stairs and ensure the stairs provide a safe route to the Storval Rise from Magnimar, but upon their arrival, they find the ancient site claimed and “ruled” by the self-proclaimed King of the Storval Stairs. Only through guile, diplomacy, or cold steel will the Pathfinders ensure access to iconic Thassilonian location.

Written by Dennis Baker.

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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3.40/5 (based on 10 ratings)

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Brutal fights

3/5 —

Almost no roleplay, just kick the door!

Played once in Tier 7-8 by a paladin, and four pregens(wizard, cleric, hunter, bloodrager)

Maybe too difficult for pregens, especially the third battle with a high potential of TPK, strongly recommended for level 8 only...

Combine with the BBEG, terrain, and story, makes good epic atmosphere too.

note: After reading the module, downgrade to 3 stars, because the harpies are too overwhelming... TPK killer if GM hits hard.

I live! I die! I live again!

5/5 —

Going in to this one I was rather nervous, because of its reputation. A well-deserved reputation. At first it looked like we could handle this, but then I flew into an ambush and got killed quite suddenly. Another PC died the next round. Fortunately we both got back to life before the final fight.

This is one of the best brutal adventures I've seen. There were no rule shenanigans; no monsters with obviously illegal builds or tactics; no manipulation of the CR system to shoe in an encounter that's much harder than its CR makes it look. All the challenge is fair and above-board. The author is quite honest about how hard stuff is.

That's not to say enemies fight fair of course. Like I said, I flew into an ambush and paid the price. I should've seen it coming.

The location is beautiful. The monsters are both epic and funny.

When in doubt, play down, and still be on your toes. But I had great fun.

Giant and Brutal

3/5 —

Perspective: GM
Subtier: 10-11
Party: typical party of 5 PCs, only 1 was out of subtier.
Time: 7 to 8 hours (the lower subtier should go faster).

The setting for this scenario is outstanding! I loved the Storval Stairs. It is an evocative location.

This is an extremely challenging scenario! GMs should read the following spoilers to have an idea of what the players are in for.

Spoiler:
There are four encounters, but the second and third are pushed almost back to back which makes the third encounter a bit tougher.

The first two encounters are appropriately balanced.

The third encounter involves a save-or-suck effect followed by a very dirty trick. From the GM side of things this trick is delightful. But the players will not like it.

The fourth encounter, however, is over the top. My group ran away with one PC dead, another captured and ransomed back to the society, and all with 1 XP, 0 prestige, and only about half the gold. Meanwhile, the BBEG suffered ZERO damage, and his girlfriend was only down by 4 hp (from a single magic missile).

If you play this, bring your "A" game (and a bunch of prestige).

Great Scenario

5/5 —

Definitely in my top 3 PFS scenarios. Highly recommend!

This scenario is very light in the RP side but if you're looking for a challenge this is it! The Storval stairs themselves are a wikid location for an epic battle! Bring your -A- game. My group took 9 hours to complete this (definitely can be completed in a normal time frame but we were having a blast)

Barely a 2 star for one neat idea

2/5 —

The Final boss fight had a very cool twist. Unfortunately, it was incredibly tedious and boring to get to. I lost count, but one fight not only had an annoying as hell creature, but it had 12-15 of them. We were never in real danger, just had to GRIND them down slowly. A chimp could play this, except eating a banana is more fun.

A perfect example of the 2 boring fights then big boss at end design school of no skill roles, flavor text, or point other than walk in straight line and kill annoying stuff until Gm says your suffering has ended

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Announced! Cover image is a mockup.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm loving this tight cohesive starting theme for Season 4, dovetailing with the AP and Module release.
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Author announced!
The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

Woo Hoo!
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
Dennis Baker wrote:
Woo Hoo!

Ditto!

Whoohoo!
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Dennis Baker wrote:
Woo Hoo!

Who? ;)

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

I'm writing two chase scenes into this one for you Dragnmoon!
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Dennis Baker wrote:
I'm writing two chase scenes into this one for you Dragnmoon!

Make the whole scenario Haunts and Chase scenes!!!

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dennis Baker wrote:
I'm writing two chase scenes into this one for you Dragnmoon!

And you're done with those Dragnmoon, I'm going to feature you in some haunts in my upcoming scenario 'Dragon Moon Devastation. PC's will experience you being killed by Kyle in the aforementioned chase scenes.

THINGS ARE GONNA BE JUST GREAT AGAIN!
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Oh, and some Fire scenes as well!
The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

You might be onto something there, I hadn't thought about adding haunts to the mix.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Clearly there should be a chase scene through a haunted house that's on fire.

No good can come from this. None what-so-ever. Good thing I'm evil too! Congrats Ogre!

Grats Ogre. I am pumped to be running this at GC, I was thrilled last year running Dragons there. I would love to see some high level chase scenes.....
The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

Glad to hear you enjoyed Sewer Dragons, it was a blast to write.

This is going to be quite different from either Sewer Dragons or God's Market Gamble. Hopefully equally fun, but completely different.

As an aside... Mark gave us the tools to make Season 4 scenarios more challenging for bigger groups. I know it's a few months out, but Gencon GMs are going to want to warn their tables.

Nah, warnings spoil surprise parties.

I'm scheduled to run this. There will be no quarter given.
Sovereign Court
Kyle Baird wrote:
I'm scheduled to run this. There will be no quarter given.

so you're going to nickel and dime people to death then? ;)

Added final cover image!
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber

Bug reports:

Tier 10-11 Queen stat block
Rapid Reload. Should probably be rapid shot from context.

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

Ooo, I like it!

I wonder why there is a giant on the cover...
Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

So does this increase the likelihood of a "People Under The Stairs" campaign setting book?
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4

Nice cover! Congrats again, Ogre.

gbonehead wrote:
So does this increase the likelihood of a "People Under The Stairs" campaign setting book?

::thinking of the 80's horror movie of the same name::

Nidal doesn't scratch the itch?
Owner - House of Books and Games LLC
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Jim Groves wrote:
gbonehead wrote:
So does this increase the likelihood of a "People Under The Stairs" campaign setting book?

::thinking of the 80's horror movie of the same name::

Nidal doesn't scratch the itch?

Wouldn't they be "The People Who Abduct You And Keep You Under The Stairs" ?

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

I hate to disappoint but there is no-one *under* the stairs in this one.

I am very happy with the cover and the map. Very happy with the development from Mark and Sean.
The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
Jim Groves wrote:
Nice cover! Congrats again, Ogre.

I'm going to have to request Gary change your name to "Jim Grooves" because you rock. This might cause some difficulty because of Paizo's strict policy about Paizo contributors posting with real names, I'm sure your wife and family will adjust to your new name after a while though.

Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber

So, this one time, I promised to build the Storval Stairs in 3D.

Finally finished up the engineering for this in time to build it for a near-TPK on Sunday.

Pictures!.

I didn't have time to really shoot pictures in the combats.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Alas I must say this didn't run well for our group and I hope figures are kept for average success etc as it didn't go "perfectly"... I don't think this is an issue of how it was run; much of it was certainly challenging - not something wrong in Itself as it can often as in this case promote some nice roleplay - BUT it runs too long and the faction missions and event as a whole are - I suspect - prone to fail on a regular basis especially in a convention environment.
TetsujinOni wrote:

So, this one time, I promised to build the Storval Stairs in 3D.

Finally finished up the engineering for this in time to build it for a near-TPK on Sunday.

Pictures!.

I didn't have time to really shoot pictures in the combats.

Great work! I'm impressed. Just finished drawing my own maps for the Storval Stairs, but I must admit this is the best GM effort I've seen for this!

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