Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–02: Six Seconds to Midnight (PFRPG) PDF

2.50/5 (based on 41 ratings)

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 3–7.

A strange confluence of circumstances leaves the researchers of Uringen understaffed and in need of able-bodied assistants. Conveniently, recent Pathfinder Society experiments call for a rare reagent found only in that area, and the two organizations have negotiated a mutually beneficial deal. Can the PCs reach the secluded settlement in time to witness this extraordinary event—and handle the phenomenon’s aftermath?

Written by Liz Courts.

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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PZOPSS0702E


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2.50/5 (based on 41 ratings)

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Confused storyline, poorly designed combat, uninteresting puzzles

1/5

First of all, all the plots in the story are falling apart. The strange alchemy town, the unexplained reagents, the peculiar invasion of the elves, and the non-existent NPCs are all not organized in a good storyline.

Second, the encounter design of 3-4 sublevels is not reasonable, and two encounters are enough to wipe out the PC easily.

Spoiler:

Greater invisibility flying faerie dragon (which means nearly impossible to be hit) can shoot 8d6 damage for at least 10 rounds.
12HD lvl 6 inquisitor can easily deal 60+ damage in a round.
Both of them also can use teleportation, so PCs cannot catch them easily.

Finally, the puzzle seems uninteresting, especially since PCs need to attempt different teleportation. Luckily our group solved the puzzle very quickly, otherwise, it will spend another half hour. We have to spend 5 and half hours to end this torture though.


Unhidden Malice

1/5

Unhidden Malice

One of the very great misfortunes of Paizo and role-playing games is that such scenarios can exist, be sold, and still be played.

I am Japanese. I'm sorry if I'm not getting my point across.
I played this scenario on Pathfinder Society play.

Bad points

Movie plot spoiler:
The fay immediately understands the portal and uses it to torment the PCs.
The creatures that appear are optimized.
Vicious, malicious, and tricky riddles. Serious thinking is a waste of brain cells.
PCs being beaten up and creatures that specialize in beating them up; the PCs are not the target of the shooting.
The malicious intent of the scenario writer coming through the scenario. If there is no malice, then the lack of malice itself is a bigger problem.

Good points

Movie plot spoiler:
The setting of the Eldest named Shyka.
No need to play this scenario again.

What to expect from paizo.
Ms. Liz Courts writes great settings, so focus on that and don't write another scenario until the moment Golarion is doomed.


0 star

1/5

If you want to run this scenario, please make sure to know that players got stressful experience because of this scenario, not your personality.

I spend good time with this scenario, because of I got good GM and PLs, and nothing good coming from this scenario.

I have to say this scenario is overrating. (2.5 star as of this writing)


Nothing makes sense

1/5

Literally nothing in this story makes any sense whatsoever, starting with the production description which feels like it's missing a half.
The description mentions "A strange confluence of circumstances" that has caused the disappearance of researches. This has nothing to do with the scenario, and the missing researches aren't mentioned after this, and the party isn't there to look for them.
"Pathfinder Society experiments call for a rare reagent found only in that area" Except that what is about to happen has NEVER happened before. EVER. Yet somehow we know that there will be just the thing that we need. For no reason whatsoever.
"Can the PCs reach the secluded settlement in time to witness this extraordinary event" What event? The description doesn't mention any event. This is a bit confusing. It'll come clear during the scenario, but as you are reading the description, it makes no sense.

From there on onwards, it's just downhill, and there is no internal logic in anything. There's a famous village that makes the world's best alchemical items, yet for some reason you need guides to get there. Except that the guides are useless and can't survive the trip without PC's aid. The guides also give you their valuable THINGS for... Saving those things? The guides are fine with the antagonists of the story actively trying to murder them. The players are punished for trying to take care of traps, instead of just walking straight into them (since there's a week of travel time, PC's will heal whatever damage they've taken, except that if they spend an hour dealing with the traps, they'll be an hour late when they arrive. Because of course you can't make up for the lost hour WITHIN A WEEK OF TRAVEL. To a Town where half of the population is JUST FINE with the fact that some times, they wake up and a couple of days/weeks/years/decades has passed on the other side of the town.

And that's just the start. The rest of the scenario, including the horribly designed puzzle that makes no In Game Logical Sense (even though you can figure out the answer, the why and How of the puzzle is just... pointless).

Don't play this. Just don't. It has so many pointless plotholes and inconsistencies that it's better to avoid it, not to mention that the combats are frustratingly easy and pointless (Whee, I'm dealing 1d4 damage with +3 to hit (penalty for not having precise shot has been factored in) AT TIER 6-7!!!) apart from the one that is one bad roll away from a TPK.

It feels like this scenario was written so that some special character somewhere could have a cool hound and time-control powers, and then they were just jammed in there, no matter how poorly they fit or made sense.

I was trying to find out if the author had made other scenarios in addition to this one, to see if the others suffer from the same problems. There aren't any. I'm not exactly surprised.


Different Style of Adventure

4/5

Primarily a puzzle adventure in the exotic location of the fey lands in the River Kingdom. The role play opportunities are solid but the combat is fun. I felt like I should have skipped the first floor combat to allow for more time. The characters were right out of the source book but seemed like something that could have been played down by me.
The only criticism I have is I wish they scenario would have had a better explanation about the unstuck side of the town readily available for the GM and the key seemed to be missing a vital part. Otherwise the whole table including myself enjoyed the scenario.


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Community Manager

11 people marked this as a favorite.

Announced (and heading your way Gen Con 2015)!
...That author seems a little shifty, though.

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Cool looking forward to it Liz!

Sovereign Court

Had never heard of Uringen so had to look it up on the wiki. What a strange and facinating place!

So uh... how it is pronounced?

Verdant Wheel

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Cool ! I guess i will spend the entire scenario looking for hidden ninjas.

Community Manager

Draco Bahamut wrote:
Cool ! I guess i will spend the entire scenario looking for hidden ninjas.

Ninja are not going to be your problem in this one. >.>

Sovereign Court

1 person marked this as a favorite.

This is going in my queue asap. Can't wait to unleash it on my players.

Shadow Lodge

I'm running this 5+ times at Gen Con, Liz. If you want to swing by and see how it's going, just look for the jolly roger flag I always fly at my table when I'm GMing.

I've already got accents picked out for several of the NPCs, and something fun for "ze sack" too!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Sounds like Iron Maiden on time lapse.

Grand Lodge

What height is the clockwork tower? Height of the individual floors? I'm hoping to build a to scale model for when I GM this scenario later this month.

Community Manager

2 people marked this as a favorite.

My thoughts when I was designing the scenario was a standard 10 feet per floor, with the belfry twice that.


Zaister wrote:
Sounds like Iron Maiden on time lapse.

Spinal Tap does Iron Maiden.

Grand Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I solved the puzzle!

Grand Lodge Assistant Developer

2 people marked this as a favorite.

The 4 player scaling for one of the encounters is missing. The following is an official addition to the scenario, which will be included in any future modifications to the PDF.

Scaling:
Make the following adjustments to the Nithra's Fury encounter to accommodate a party of 4 PCs.
Subtier 3–4: Remove one of the quicklings from the encounter, and reduce each quickling's number of doses of poison to 1.
Subiter 6–7: Remove one of the quickling cutthroats from the encounter, and reduce each quickling's number of doses of poison to 1.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Yay for updates!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

So, judging from the reveiws, people seem to like this scenario except for the puzzle.

I'm thinking of using this for a non-PFS game. If I do, are there any changes that could be made to the puzzle to make it work better for my group? Is there an obvious flaw that just needs to be corrected, or is the entire premise of the puzzle off-base?

Thanks!

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

From the GM discussion, I think an indication of progress would be a good thing to add. Everytime they take a correct step in the solution, have the clocktower chime. (Especially if you've primed them by mentioning there is no bell or chime mechanism visible.) Then when they make a wrong turn, reset it back to the start. A puzzle with no feedback about right or wrong is highly frustrating.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

@Tamago: well, people are also pointing out that the combats in the scenario are poorly written, and that the plot sets up an interesting location (the disappearing village) and then does absolutely nothing with that. So no, it's not just the puzzle.

The puzzle itself has two major problems. The first is that the PCs don't actually get enough information to solve it, and have to rely on assumptions, trial and error (this is why people suggest a progress indicator, but the underlying issue is simply that the required information isn't there).

The second is that it's a huge immersion breaker. In character, the puzzle has no reason to be there, and the PCs have no reason to believe that hopping through portals will somehow get the plot going. There's no roleplaying involved; it's a strictly mechanical experience (i.e. a "soup can puzzle").

There are several cool fey-based scenarios in PFS, e.g. the Sanos Abduction, or the Pallid Plague. I recommend using one of those instead.

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