Pathfinder Society Scenario #1: Silent Tide (OGL) PDF (based on
32
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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 5th level characters (Tiers: 1–2, 4–5).
When strange reports of misty undead spread through Absalom, you and your fellow Pathfinders are dispatched to the half-drowned district of Puddles. Notoriously rough, the drooling addicts, flesh panderers, and quick-handed knifers of Puddles are the least of your worries. The night's tide brings with it an ancient armada of some long-forgotten war and you are the only thing between their mist-shrouded ghost fleet and Absalom's utter oblivion.
Written by Michael Kortes
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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I'm going to be rating a bunch of PFS scenarios using five main criteria that I think are all important for a scenario to be the best it can be.
I'll start off my string of PFS reviews with the very first PFS scenario. Even though it was written for 3.5, this one still has some strong qualities that make it worth playing, so long as you understand its limitations.
Challenge (1.5/5)::
Other than the final boss, Nessian, this scenario's opposition are pathetic jokes. The Black Echelon operatives have attack bonus and damage that are far too low, especially in Subtier 4-5, and the thugs aren't much better. Nessian can give PCs a run for their money unless he has his poor Will save exploited, so that earns this scenario a 1.5.
Interesting Encounters (3.5/5)::
Fortunately, given what I said about the challenge level, every single one of these encounters gives you something extra to think about. In the first fight, there's captives falling off a cliff. Then there's the hatches and the grain. After that, the pipe organ can really be great if you play up the urgency to get the pipe organ going as soon as possible (forget the amount of time the mod says they have--make the players think the armada might attack any second if they don't start the music!). Despite having the biggest challenge, the final encounter area was the least interesting, though the sagging former siege tower cluster is still a cool encounter site compared to a generic dungeon room. Unfortunately, the Challenge bleeds over into this category to mark it down from 4 to 3.5--the encounters are in fact so easy that they hinder your ability to benefit from the coolness in them (for instance, if the Black Echelon were actually scary opponents, the hatches in the granary might be more relevant in that fight).
Roleplaying Opportunities (3.5/5)::
The main roleplaying opportunity is in the Siphons with Grandmaster Torch and the chests. I will admit to being biased in favor of RPing with GMT because of the excellent interactions I had with my group, offering to pay him large sums of money to obtain or hide information. I've heard other groups hate GMT, so I suppose it's all in what you take from the character. The whole chest portion is a nice change of pace and placed at a good point in the scenario. Additional RP opportunities can be found with Basil the hapless historian, and Andoran/Silver Crusade PCs are more likely to talk to him a lot to get their mission completed. Other than that, you can make your own RP moments by playing out the PCs' search for the diner and conversation therein instead of starting them at the cliff and by adding a scene with the terrified survivor of the Abadar temple.
Golarion Flavor / Continuity (3.5/5)::
There is no stretch for the Pathfinder Society to be involved in this scenario, and the plot is coherent and sensical. As the first scenario, Absalom is a natural choice, and it gives the perfect opportunity to introduce or emphasize the following elements to your group: Grandmaster Torch, Absalom, the many failed attacks on Absalom (particularly Taldor's), The Puddles (and the earthquakes that made them what they are), and Abadar. You can also extrapolate additiona lore on the contents of the various chests. So basically, no continuity problems, and good basic stuff for a starting group. Nothing groundbreaking though. I'll give it a bump in this regard though since it was the very first scenario.
Awesome Factor (2.5/5)::
This category exists for things that just make the characters call out "That's awesome!" On the other side, it includes things that make them groan, but I've named the category after the positive side of the aspect. For me and my players in my two runnings of this scenario, the awesome touches were Grandmaster Torch himself, the chests, the organ encounter setup. The magical moving tattoos would have also been included if they were available for a character to purchase, the lack of which (considering how easy it would be to include) is actually a pretty big mistake. Due to that mishandling, I'm actually putting the magical tattoos in the not-so-awesome category, along with the severe mood-killing easiness. As an additional potential non-awesome factor, if your friendly Rogue doesn't have Shadow Strike (Calistria forbid you're playing Merisiel, for instance), she will find herself frustrated after the first encounter at the high subtier, as the Black Echelon use Obscuring Mist and Nessian uses Blur, so everything has concealment and negates sneak attacks. Another GM at my venue had this issue.
Overall Analysis (3/5): I don't judge often in extremes. A scenario will truly have to be something to get a 1/5 or a 5/5 from me in any category. I know some reviewers tend to rate high, where a 3/5 would be a product they didn't like. For me, Silent Tide's 3/5 means that the scenario is good, but could have been better. A 3 star is an average RPG scenario, but Paizo in general is capable of better because they tend to put out high quality product. Honestly if it was updated to Pathfinder in such a way that it was not just updated in format (adding CMB and such--I don't care about that and I didn't knock the scenario any points for that) but also had the difficulty significantly increased, the scenario might hit 4 stars just from that.
The Silent Tide plays really well and even though I had already skimmed through this scenario, I really enjoyed playing it.
Its only flaw is that it’s extremely easy since it was made for 3.5, not PF. My group had six level 1-2 characters (APL 3) played up to subtier 4-5 and we killed everything with extreme prejudice. We finished Silent Tide in 3 hours, and that was with the optional encounter and with the GM taking the time to draw every map and to read the scenario (he had never run or played the scenario before). I believe even optimized level 1 PCs (if it was legal to do and if they had a wand of CLW) could play up to subtier 4-5.
Having said that, it’s highly recommended for new players to PFS.
This was my second time ever running a game. I found this scenario was well laid out and very easy to navigate through. My players really enjoyed it as well.
I will have to add that my players had no problems or issues with the combat, it was actually almost too easy.
A great first adventure for the Pathfinder Society
Just ran this adventure the other day and everyone had a blast. The storyline is pretty strong and the faction quests were nice and simple. Most people playing it were newbies to Pathfinder and they all loved it. None of the encounters were overly tough, though the last one did cause them some headaches until they were able to strategize a plan together. The only gripes I had was the "save the world in an evening" feel the scenario had. While I thought it was written well it just seems odd that some lower level pathfinders would be the ones to save the day.
This scenario is a great introduction for players. It contains a good story, nice riddles, and introductions to memorable characters.
The map for the final encounter leaves much to be desired. I ended up creating my own maps for the final encounter on my third time running this scenario.
That being said, my players enjoyed themselves which is the most important indicator of a quality scenario.
While probably the scope of the adventure is a bit wasted on an introductory scenario (save the world in an evening?) and would have made a better mission arc, the scenario itself "delivers" - you are introduced to a specific area of the setting, meet a key NPC you'll deal with later, and encounter some interesting combats and challenges which involve every character archetype - we just started with PFS, and it was good fun; more to the point, we're ready for more :)
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