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Immediately, players are given a huge pile of information about the city. Fourteen locations, many of which feature an important NPC, as well as the four factions. And then even more to do for members of Liberty's Edge and the Dark Archive. The NPC who gives this information is set up as a fast-talking know-it-all, which is helpful, because the GM needs to be in rapid-fire mode as well.

In the midst of this madhouse, the PCs are looking for a specific individual who is living under three different aliases, each connected to one of the factions. Which means that when PCs visit a faction, that NPC may only know one of the aliases. The PCs will only find this person halfway through the scenario, and nothing they do can change this.

GM Notes
**Players will be stunned by so much information.
**Players will confuse the factions, the aliases, and the NPCs.
**You may want to print out the important info as a reference.
**Players will not know how to find Olandil, unless they go to a specific location first.
**The players of combat-monster PCs may fall asleep.

The first combat is optional and forgettable. To fit this scenario in a convention slot, I would choose to skip it. I didn't, and needed to squish things together later on.

The second combat has a frustrating map with elevation changes, and can be settled through Diplomacy. So explaining how the map works can take much longer than the combat itself. I built the map out of three pieces of cardboard, just so I wouldn't have to constantly explain when and how to jump and climb.

The third combat is against strix, which pits low-level characters against flying creatures. One of the factions asks you to come out and clean up the tower, but it stands as the encounter that just doesn't mix with the rest of the rebellion. As the city is about to fall apart, why am I messing around with two strix? It is a fun encounter, with strix who are happy to taunt the PCs, but the party was ready to leave town. This was clearly a distraction.

The final combat was fun, unique, clever, and mildly different based on which faction the PCs supported during the scenario. But it was steamrolled by 1st level characters, and just didn't have the heft to scare them.

GM Notes
**Skip the optional, unless you've got a party of combat monsters.
**Draw maps in advance, because you certainly won't have time in a slot.
**Be prepared for small faction differences in tactics.
**If the PCs investigate a lot, these encounters will all be rushed.

Olandil is also a fun NPC, and his rage at being rescued by fresh recruits should certainly be played up. He isn't very useful in combat, and shouldn't be used to outshine the PCs. It's a tough balance to let him and Poppo drive the second part of the scenario without him ordering the PCs around and running the show.

The various faction NPCs have very little background, so feel free to make them whatever you need at the moment. But don’t play them up too much, or PCs will spend too much time with them. Time they really don’t have in the long run. If this were a module, you could use them a lot more.

Villains? All faceless. No meaningful monologues. Imperial Cheliax is the villain here, so the Loyalist faction are the closest you’ll have. One NPC, Gellius, is only interesting as a cowardly guard, but he ultimately doesn’t know much that can influence the scenario.

Where do we go first? Who should we side with? What do we sabotage? How do we keep this Wayfinder secret? This scenario DEMANDS that you role-play. Brilliantly.

This game can be run with minimal combat if the PCs are interested in trying stealth to do some sabotage, allowing skill monkeys to have some good fun. Same with plenty of Knowledge and Diplomacy checks. Having multiple skills represented by the party is a requirement in this scenario!

While I understand that the Witchlight Inn will become home base for many groups, I highly encourage GMs to focus on Novaria and make her the super-contact for your group. Mine went back to her time and time again for more information about the town. She was basically their oracle of Bloodcove, and it lead to some amazing role-playing opportunities.

(My group actually sent Ungala tied up and unconscious in the cart back to Novaria while they went to do some sabotage. When they returned to House Cartahegn, Novaria treated them all like they'd given her the best birthday present ever.)

Have fun with this. Make sure PCs are living up to their cover story. Find ways for each of them to succeed and fail so the whole group remains tense. Oh, and make sure they see the hyenas and the Aspis guards and the Hydra(!!!) roaming the streets. That way they can be even more terrified throughout the scenario!

This scenario makes some references to "Before the Dawn Part 1" without fulling explaining them. The Pathfinder Lodge that is under constant surveillance by the Aspis is the biggest example. In "BtD," you're warned not to go there at all. In "BWoB," you're expected to know why, I guess? I found myself doing some explaining, and it helped that we had one character who had been to Bloodcove before. Basically, as a GM, read "Before the Dawn," and you'll have a much better idea of the setting.

Because this is a sandbox adventure, the intro NPCs are a little vague. My players weren't asking everything they could, so when they arrived in Bloodcove, they didn't exactly know what they needed to do. I found myself recapping a few times, making sure they knew the three major objectives and what their current leads were. I would expect most Pathfinder groups to begin all three objectives at once, and it's easy to get lost. They also consistently believed that the three objectives were all wrapped in the same place, which was funny to me, but a little frustrating for them.

Finally, I agree with the wayfinder ruling, but I wish I didn't have to. It feels a little punitive in this case, so I hope that there are responsible Pathfinders at your table. Otherwise, there's going to be a baaaad taste in people's mouths when the game ends prematurely.