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* Pathfinder Society GM. 9 posts. 18 reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 28 Organized Play characters.



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Recommend if you don't have energy to prepare a lot.

4/5

If you just want to run a simple dungeon crawl I would recommend this one. There are a few of them but this one I do like. It really doesn't have any unnecessary complication, while presenting some quirky encounters. Although that's speaking as a GM -- I do remember finding it underwhelming as player, so I would suggest let them know upfront what experiecne they'll get.


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I found it dull

3/5

I probably read some setting books on countries and regions in early 1e years, but none left me any lasting impression. This book is the first 2e regional setting book I read, and I just found it a little dull. There are probably bits of useful information but they are all buried under lengths of descriptions that I really don't find particularly interesting or inspiring. I think the intent is to provide a sense of how people live their life, which sounds useful, but most of the contents just don't feel novel. I'm sure for a technical book -- I call this "technical" for its purpose -- there is a more practical and efficient way to provide information.

Or I'm just not the intended audience. Maybe a GM working on an adventure path or even a home campaign in one of the mentioned locations would appreciate the book. But wouldn't that be a little niche-y?


Practically useful to read, but aesthetically not pleasing to

4/5

On one hand, for a source book this is mightily useful, as the information it provides would matter to all your character creation if you care even a little bit about their background. Especially with all the remaster setting changes, this is a must-read if you want to make a character in the Golarion setting.

On the other hand, I don't think I enjoyed reading it. The issue is not the writing style nor organization, though, but -- plainly speaking -- the gods and beliefs are made too blend. What they are and do are presented in such a matter-of-fact way that there is very little style, or mysticism. It's more mechanical rather than spiritual. It probably provides enough information for one to write the religious side of their character, but it doesn't inspire them to do so. For religions and mystic entities from vastly different roots in a fantasy setting encompassing multiple realities, I would prefer something -- maybe not everything -- but at least a few things that's vague, unusual, unconventional and actually esoteric.


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Helpful to new players

5/5

I would recommend this scenario to new players, not because it's particularly good in any way, but because it helps them to know all the factions. When I ran it, I took extra time to explain the pros and cons of each factions.

Though it's probably a bad idea to read all the dialogues at once. What I did was to fast forward to actions immediately after each leader's request, then flash back to the conversation with the next one. People say it is smoother.

I think the quests are designed ok. Some of them are quite fun.


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Average

3/5

This one isn't particularly interesting in any way. If you want to introduce factions to your new players, which is probably helpful, run Absalom Initiation.

And running each section under 1 hour is going to be rushed.

Though it's really not that challenging.


Title la title

4/5

The party can be fun with some preparation, but the story is ultimately only engaging to people who knows and cares about the whole society plot. This should be 5~8 instead of 1~4. Why sending a bunch of clueless newbies to represent the society?

And why is it the season intro? 6-02 is the actual season intro.


Having Played & Run, I'd say...

5/5

It's alright when I played this.

However I had a lot of fun when preparing to run as a GM. It basically gives you tools to customize your own minidungeon, tailor contents to a tone and style you prefer, without needing too much extra prep. I think my players enjoyed my work in the end.

Worth to mention that the optional encounter, though narrativelly fitting, is impossible to fit in a 4 hour slot.


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Very average

3/5

The end encounter is sort of interesting. That's probably the only thing worth mentioning.


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Mediocre

3/5

Dunno what to say about this one; nothing really stands out. I guess they can probably play more into the comedy of villains try to impersonate pathfinders but couldn't get it right...I let them shouting "collaborate", "coordinate" and "confederate" alternatively in the last encounter for lulz.


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Having Played & Run, I'd say...

5/5

One of my favorite and definitely top 3 in society games. The players are actually exploring, pathfinding, instead of running errands for some dubiously important people. Which is really nice. There should be more adventures like this, instead of the metaplots that I don't think most people care about.


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Having Played & Run, I'd say...

5/5

I think this is top 3 society scenario. It really leads to some creative thinking and hilarious interactions among the players. If you could do, say, two 3-hour sessions, you can probably do some great RP.


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Having Played & Run, I'd say...

3/5

I was really looking forward to this one as part I is one of my favorite society scenarios. However, nothing stands out in this one, just a very standard dungeon crawl. There’s really nothing to be said.


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Having Played & Run, I'd say...

4/5

I find it bizarre that this scenario didn’t get a higher rating, as it is one of the better among season 5, as well as everything within the 3-6 tier. The setting is interesting, and so are the encounters. That said, they really should let the players investigate within the town and maybe on the magic of the tome, instead of running around the island and facing random ambushes, which have nothing to do with the setting and really made this a missed opportunity.


Having Played & Run, I'd say...

4/5

I like the general idea of this scenario, though it could definitely be creepier (looking back at S1 mosquito witch). Also the investigation / talking to the crew sub-system is quite mechanical and not really fun. I wonder if I can find a way to run it smoothier.

Edit: I ran this again and the subsystem portion went much better after some preparation. If you leave room for people to roleplay instead of just roll skill 1/2/3, it can be pretty fun.


Having Played & Run, I'd say...

4/5

A classis tropical island temple run that doesn't stand out in any particular way. Overall it's quite smooth. The only unsatisfying part is that, they really should gave even a little explaination on what is an "Anito", it's just weird that we couldn't learn anything about them throughout the whole thing, then why brought them up in the first place?


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One of the better Season 1 classics.

5/5

I like this scenario, perhaps more so after looking back from season 5. It created a mysterious atmosphere without going crazy as an introductory adventure. Players need to actually investigate in different locations and talk to NPCs (with some very detailed dialogues), instead of the recent formular of skill challenge minigames. I can see how the former could take more time to write, but it really has greater potential to be impressive. I wouldn’t mind see one at least occasionally for a change.


Favourite repeatable.

5/5

Repeatables often have to do with the most simple plots to accommodate for modular variations. This one has gone into an extreme simplicity, but it feels like a real festival activity and gives a relaxed tone quite different from usual adventures, which I found rather enjoyable. I think this is my favourite repeatable scenario so far, and a good direction for repeatables in general, to have a strong, focused, yet simple theme. It feels much natural than a list of barely relevant events from running odd errands for NPC A to encountering obligatory monsters in area B.

The chronicle rewards are very nice.

Personally I’d give more time to interact with spirits and listen to their stories.


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Still OK.

4/5

Edit: why did I think this is a repeatable? It is not. Sorry.

Interesting premise, exploring the dungeon as invited guests, even with a chance to defend it against self-entitled adventurers. Though I imagine it be more fun if the scenario really focuses on this idea.

Also some of the monsters are kind of creative.