Amanda Plageman's page

GM'd, not played.

I GM'd this at a con, having only skimmed the summary sections from parts 1-3, so my own ignorance may be a factor.

Played, Not GM'd.

This was fun, and offered the chance for PCs who had played Mists of Mwangi to have further NPC interactions. The bulk of the adventure was an enjoyable dungeon crawl, but the BBEG was really interesting.

I've GM-ed this, but never played it.

Delirium's Tangle has a lot of potential. Some of the execution was a little... lacking.

I've both played and GM'ed this.

As a first exposure to Jalmeray, this is a little lacking in 'Jalmeray' flavor, as most of it could have happened almost anywhere. But that's ok, it's still fun.

GM'ed, never played.

I incorporated some description from Phantom of the Opera to add a little atmosphere to the opera house. The players seemed to appreciate it.

This 1-7 scenario didn't suffer much from level spread, so if you really need to field a table of lvl 1s and lvl 5-7s, this would be a decent choice.

Summary:
I'm glad I ran it, but am not especially interested in the sequels.

Played, not GM'd.

The opening hook is a little weak, but ok for Season 0.

This scenario has a lot of potential for creepiness and pathos, especially if the GM is a skilled RP-er. Black Waters also showcases just how important tactics can be, and makes the consequences of PC actions very obvious.

Tactically-minded PCs can make the fights less of a challenge, but even that works out.

Played, not GM'ed.

Who doesn't have a love/hate relationship with the Blakros Museum?
This is a fun little scenario, and an example of sandboxing done well. (Though that can make for an anticlimactic finish if you get to the BBEG early while you still have most of your resources.)

Disclaimer: I've GM'd this multiple times, but never played it.

It starts off a little slow, but after the into encounter things pick up nicely. A little railroady, but not too bad, and the PCs can jump rails without completely destroying the plot. No matter how often I run this, the players find something to do that I've never seen before.

The loving attention to detail and well-researched occult elements makes this book a dream come true.

This book will blend seamlessly into the already-vibrant world of Pathfinder and Golarion, but it has an added attraction: You could make an entire campaign, or even an entire campaign world, using just this book. Something that versatile comes along rarely.

Overall, if I could give this 4.5 stars I would, but these issues don't drop it down to a 4 star for me.

Disclaimer: I've only GM'd this, not played it.

The Good:
A nice blend of sandbox and linear elements.
Tough fights, but other options for dealing with them, beyond simply fighting.

The Bad:

Overall, this is a fabulous adventure and an enjoyable contribution to the ongoing story arc! If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would!

It's a dungeon crawl, with everything that comes with that designation. But it's so much more. It explores a new part of Golarion. It promises a potential for later return to the area.

The encounters were interesting, and could be deadly if the PCs aren't careful.

The encounters are oddly laid out- depending on how the PCs proceed, they may be able to either avoid the bossfight entirely, or substantially weaken him by destroying a lot of his minions.

This might be my favorite scenario of Season 6.

The was fun to play, and will probably be fun to run. Like The Confirmation, it offers multiple replay options, keeping the scenario fresh for players and GMs alike.

This would probably have been a 4-star rating, if The Confirmation wasn't an obvious point of comparison. Wisp was good, but doesn't have quite the charm of Confirmation.

I've only run this scenario.

This is a great start to a new series. With all the enjoyment of Goblins, Kobolds don't get nearly enough love. This scenario was fun to run, and uses lots of creatures that players don't see often.

My only complaint is that the players had difficulty following the exchange between the 2 NPCs in the early 'second mission briefing' section.

Let me just come out and say it: I don't play Bards in RPGs. I have no interest in playing Bards in RPGs. Never have, probably never will. So I wasn't expecting to enjoy playing the Bard in the ACG. When I got the S&S Base set, I 'took one for the team' and played Lem for utility & party balance. I didn't expect much. Boy was I wrong! Lem was oodles of fun, so much so that he became my go-to character whenever possible.

Then the Class Decks came out. I decided I would focus on just one, rather than my usual 'all over the place' style. So, torn between my love of playing Lem and my distaste for RPG Bards, I ordered the Bard Class Deck. How bad could it be? It would improve Lem, and came with some other characters as well. So I waited.

I was not disappointed. Not only did Lem improve, but the game as a whole did as well! The ACG is fun, but the Class Deck really improves things.

Pros:
Lem.
New items
New spells
New Allies

Cons: (and the reason this wasn't a 5 star review)
The other 3 Bards. Don't get me wrong- there's nothing wrong with them. But they just don't have Lem's versatility and charm. They're.... RPG Bards. And I don't play RPG Bards. But I'm sure a general Bard enthusiast would really enjoy them.

So, maybe it says something even stronger about the Bard Class Deck that I think so highly of it even without the other 3 characters. (In other words, I basically bought a Class Deck with 1 PC in it, since the other 3 I will likely never use- and I still feel like I got my money's worth.)

'Risen' is a wonderful module, once the GM makes a few basic adjustments, most of which the writer has already noted as being needed. I'm not sure I would make this someone's first exposure to Pathfinder, but for an experienced group, this adventure is a blast!