I was looking forward to this adventure based off the product description. I was a little disappointed over all as the delve went a little too long with excess rooms and repeative clearing of monsters. The saving grace was the storyline and twists I experienced as a player at the end of the adventure.

I do not recommend this adventure beginning players or folks with characters who RP respecting the dead.

My home group enjoyed the atmosphere and flavor text, with several commenting "this would make an excellent set up for a movie!" We spent some time elaborating on the back story descriptions given. It really creeped out the players with the lunatic at the beginning somehow manipulating the spirits of the fallen bound to this accursed place before getting eaten alive by a trio of baddies as the party effectively dangled him out ahead like a tethered goat in a Tyrannosaur pen.

At tier 1-2 it proved to be a bit rough for 2 3rd and 2 1st level characters - one permanent death (1st level 1 XP shy of 2nd level) and one temporary death (3rd level 1 XP shy of 4th) salvaged only due to the surviving characters chipping in cash and throwing a caster level check. The final baddy was a rude surprise for the party...

Awesome! ^_^

If this were only an adventure I would definitely give this four stars, but given that this is designed for PFS play, there are a few tricky things in the adventure.

One, having a RP encounter at the beginning is great. The set up is a wonderful chance for characters to develop their personalities and play up who they are without game stats. But given that it happens up front, it can be a potential time sink if the GM isn't paying attention to how long things are running, and it can be a bit of a bummer to tell the PCs to quit RP for time.

Its a fun scenario, a GM just really need to worry about time (if he only has a typical 4 hour slot to run this in).

I didn't like this one the first few times I have run it, but after my sixth time it has developed some charm. This is an interesting scenario for role-players, but it soon degenerates into a delve. It works best if the GM does genuine prep work. Practice a French or Italian accent for the Venture Captain’s briefing. Maps of the Tri-Towers Yard encounters are absent and must be improvised. Ponder the role of two main NPCs, Lady Dacilane and Deris Marlinchen, and how they might regard your players. Understand that players will say and do unexpected things around these NPCs. Be ready. Try to spin up the creep show aspect and don’t forget to track party light sources and range of vision to unnerve the players when they can’t see what’s moving around ahead in the shadows. You get the idea. The fights may suddenly turn deadly if the players roll poorly. Even what I call the “warm-up fight” in the beginning can cause a few player deaths. I did like the necropolis map and the environmental challenge in the final act.

I ran this two times, and both times it was a really nice experience. It's a dungeon delve, don't get me wrong. Unlike most dungeon delves, it provides a good reason and doesn't go too far with the monsters.

Adding elements to give the necropolis more of a claustrophobic feeling further strengthens the atmosphere. With an already strong feeling tied to the scenario it sums up to a neat pack of encounters with enough opportunities to roleplay and make yourself useful.

An aristocratic lady of dubious virtue, a lost child, dark hallways and the spirits of the dead.
However, the best thing about "Black Waters" are the emotions it may evoke when run properly.
My only quarrel with this scenario is, that it is a Pathfinder Society Scenario - One could have crafted a regular module from the ideas. I would have loved to see more details on the somewhat touching story.