Leahcim's page

"Grains..."
- Moaned like zombies from Return of the Living Dead

This scenario is best played by embracing Comedy Horror and allowing that to shine through. All the right ingredients are mixed here with equal parts of terror and levity. The Pathfinders are called to a remote country, suspiciously close to the Gravelands, and are charged to investigate potential problems at an even more remote location where leshy go to pass on when their time comes. Spooky! The trio sending you on the mission are two arguing, bumbling leshy and their ghoran partner. They're pure comedy!

The scenario definitely had its rails, but the players are afforded agency to decide how they want to approach the task: "Quick but Loud" or "Quiet but Slow." This does require the GM to do some extra prep, as they have no idea how the players will decide to play the scenario until it is already in progress. Additional encounters occur if the PCs don't handle their tasks well and the composition of upcoming encounters is altered dramatically. Each scene was distinct and had a purpose and each step in this story had significant and interesting impacts on the story that followed. It was a well-constructed scenario all around.

I am concerned the chase scene was easier than it should have been. Each obstacle had a large selection of skills to choose from (which is a good thing), but the DCs were lower than what they should have been on many of those skills. We were playing at the 5-6 tier. Some of those skills had DCs appropriate for characters of level 3. I did not tell my players the DCs but by choosing skills appropriate to their characters, they rolled a lot of critical successes (with average base rolls before their modifiers). They are allowed 2 rounds of actions before the "bad thing" enters the first obstacle. The bad thing can only move one obstacle per round. But the PCs were already at obstacle 6 of 8 when it arrived. They easily cleared the chase which was a little disappointing to everyone.

I think the monsters needed to be tuned up to be more difficult. Again, we were playing tier 5-6, and some of the enemies they were facing had ACs as low as 14. Not all were that low but many were. Again, my players rolled A LOT of crits with pretty low rolls. With ACs that low, a couple of the characters could hit on a 2 or higher and crit on a 10 or higher. Maybe there were typos in the stat blocks?

Did we have fun? Heck yes! The scenario was a lot of fun and had many great elements. Please don't let my two concerns above dissuade you from thinking we did not enjoy ourselves. Everyone liked the narrative and the players got to feel like superheroes for a bit. Nothing wrong with that. Embrace the quirkiness of this adventure and I think you will have a lot of fun with it.

As a player, I enjoyed this quest and I would recommend it to anyone. The Saturday Morning Kungfu Theater vibe was established quickly and embellished throughout the quest. The challenges were worthy and I hope I was worthy of my master's teachings.

This is a fun, straightforward scenario. It is also an introduction to several story elements that will play out through the rest of the season (and beyond). This makes it an important one to play. Lots of plot threads are opened and left to be developed in future scenarios. My players enjoyed it and I enjoyed running it.

I played #6-00 Salt of the Ocean in the Level 3-4 Tier at Gen Con 2024. No spoilers, I promise.

Overall, my friends and I had a good time, but the scenario had some flaws that took away from the experience. The pirate theme was a good choice and used well during the scenario. The various tasks we worked towards felt appropriate and the selection of critters and opponents we ran into was excellent. Calisro Benarry and Eando Kline were the perfect NPCs to lead the expedition. They played off each other quite nicely.

Combat options were used simultaneously with exploration, social, and puzzle options to complete tasks. On paper that sounds good, but it did not work in practice. Tables can tear through exploration, social, and puzzle options much faster than a combat encounter can be resolved.

Twice my table chose combat first and never got past the first round before the task was complete and the scenario moved on. I think this was a major flaw in the scenario. We quit choosing combat because we knew we wouldn't get to finish or enjoy it. Alternatively, when the entire collective of tables engaged in full combat encounters, they were too easy. We never really felt challenged by the scenario, just rushed to finish.

My suggestion to players attending this event. Avoid bringing heavy combat characters. Focus on the social, exploration, and puzzle options and bring a character who will do well in those. Even when combat does occur, the encounters are not difficult.

My suggestion to Paizo. Time to crank up the difficulty in these specials. We need to feel like there is a chance for failure. Failure can be interesting too! Also, do not pair combat encounters alongside other options. Let social/exploration/puzzles shine on their own and then let combat shine when it happens.

I felt the first half of the scenario was really well written. These social encounters are often not very strong, but the five NPCs the PCs are trying to influence are really interesting and well-developed. The Influence system really shined in this scenario. My group and I had a wonderful time with it and the RP with the NPCs. This was a PFS social encounter at its very best.

As that portion of the scenario came to an end, the rest kinda fell apart for us. It was drab, boring, and poorly constructed. There is a thing that happens that drives the PCs to go after someone. There is a real sense of urgency coming out of the social encounter. But the scenario was written like they were in a slow, plodding dungeon crawl where a lot of things need to be slowly investigated. We were in a chase scene kind of moment, not a dungeon crawl. Poorly executed and each combat encounter was overly easy. After the enjoyment of the first half of the scenario, everyone was bored by the second half or frustrated by the poor quality.

The scenario also had a lot of editing issues. Some sentences didn't make sense, making prep difficult but this was mostly in the second half. Some descriptions of certain features in certain rooms matched features on the map in different rooms. Kinda looked like cut-and-paste mistakes accidentally put descriptions in the wrong place.

Was it worth playing? Yes, maybe... The first half of the scenario was brilliant! The second half is rough. Those 2 Stars fall solely on the quality of the first half of the scenario.

So much potential in the setup. I got really excited during the mission brief. It's just too bad the scenario, as a whole, did not live up to that potential.

Too many NPCs to interact with especially considering how little time you get to interact with them. I wasn't sure why the GM was rushing us through those parts until we hit the skill challenge.

The skill challenge was awful. Too long, too convoluted, and no fun at all. So much confusion trying to figure it out. One of our players busted out Microsoft Excel to try to sort everything out. We finally just broke down and had the spreadsheet player tell us what to do and when to roll. A couple of players announced they didn't care anymore at one point. It was bad, really bad.

I'm sure everything after the skill challenge was fine but we were so burnt by that point and going over our time limit, no one's heart was in it.

I did not even know these existed until I saw one at a Pathfinder game in the Sagamore ballroom. I picked one up at the Paizo booth the next morning and I love it. The product is very sturdy and its ability to fold down for storage is awesome. I will be picking up several of these for my home game.

This is a well-written scenario and an excellent follow up to 0-6 Black Waters. I GMed this scenario and I rather enjoyed the scenario was written so that it can be played favoring combat or favoring social interactions. My group chose a nice mixture of both and we had a great deal of fun.

5 stars for the free PDF.

1 star for the print version because it is obsolete.

3 stars overall.

I ran this scenario tonight for my players to open up our Gen Con 2015 experience. Honestly, I could not have been happier with how well written this adventure is, how easy it was to prep, the mechanics of the PCs cover stories, and the "sandbox" of Bloodcove the PCs got to play in. Well done!

The Pathfinder Role Playing Game is one of the best games in existence.

Subscription discounts + Free PDFs = The best way to buy Paizo products.

I saw these in play at Who's Yer Con 2015 this weekend, and I realized immediately I wanted to add this game aid to my arsenal. One quick trip to the vendor hall, and I was sporting my own buff deck.

This is a great product, making the Pathfinder RPG even easier to play or GM. While not essential to game play, I really consider it a "Mandatory Luxury Item" at the game table.

I love the options this book brings to the game table. I am both a GM and a Player, and this book provides me with an enormous amount of new material to mix into my adventures!

Challenge-wise this scenario does not stand up to the kind of firepower PCs can dish out these days, but it is still an interesting adventure all the same.

This is a well written adventure with a nice mix of story and combat. The PCs are sent to represent the Pathfinder Society at a unique and somber social event. While negotiating some interesting cultural traditions the PCs must also build influence with several key NPCs. With such a gathering of powerful individuals, it is hard for someone not to try to take advantage of the situation, and things quickly get chaotic. While the PCs are trying to sort out the maladies of the night and maintain their newly earned influence, they must fight their way through some interesting and challenging combat encounters. This is a good scenario for groups that enjoy both interesting social interactions and challenging combat, although if your group is heavy in one or the other they may suffer for it.

My compliments to the author. Although it was lacking a little in the "mythic" department, I felt it was well written, and a good deal of fun to GM/play. This one has my recommendation.

While prepping this scenario I realized its success was going to ride heavily on my ability to play up Lander. The plot was too linear, and the combat encounters were repetitious and on the light side. I ran the scenario twice this weekend (once at 1-2 with 4 PCs, and once at 4-5 with 6 PCs). It was difficult in both iterations to challenge the players with few encounters lasting more than a single round (both groups were mixes of experienced and newer Pathfinder players). One poor player rolled poorly on initiative (no one's fault, just a bad dice night) and never acted in any of the written encounters. He finally received a chance to participate in combat when the group engaged a NPC who they really should not have been fighting (the scenario referenced the NPC Codex in case anyone tried). So I played to the strengths of the scenario, and everyone had a decent time with Lander, although there was some grumbling when we were done. There was even more grumbling when the players saw the chronicle sheet, which I agree, was also a disappointment.

Whether I am playing Pathfinder, D&D 4E, or any number of other games the Combat Pad is the perfect tool to have at the table.

Pathfinder Pawns is one of the best product lines rolling out of Paizo in recent years. Everyone loves fielding miniatures at their game table, but the logistics of a collection that fills all your needs is a nightmare. Pawns are the perfect product for a GM looking to use great looking pieces on the table without having to worry so much about storing, organizing, and transporting bulkier collections of minis.

Pathfinder Pawns: Bestiary 2, much like its predecessor, is an awesome product because it provides GMs with every type of critter that appears in the bestiary. With these there is no need to find something that "looks like" the critter in your next encounter, you have the right piece already. The quality of the art work is top notch. The pawns are durable, easy to store and transport, and they look great alongside traditional miniatures.

I recommend this product to all GMs and gaming groups as a "must buy" item.

Being the first release for the Pathfinder Society Quest series this scenario is responsible for setting a standard and I think it does that very well. Pathfinder Derris Jerval has disappeared while on a mission and Venture Captain Ambrus Valsin is sending the PCs to find him and to make sure he completes his mission (or complete it for him if need be). Unfortunately Derris was last seen heading into the sewers of Absalom so up front you know this mission is going to get messy.

The premise of this quest is a simple one and its execution is very straight forward. Utilizing the Ambush Sites Map Pack, the Bestiary (or the D20 PFSRD website) and some miniatures or tokens a GM can prep this quest in less than fifteen minutes. The entire quest can be played in less than an hour or with a little work there is enough story here to expand it into a traditional four hour game session.

No experience. No gold. No prestige. That is alright with me because these quests are not intended to replace PFS scenarios. They are designed to fit a different niche. Successfully the quest does give PCs access to one of two single-use boons which are good.

All in all I think this quest would make for a fun game session and it does a great job for setting the standard for writers looking to submit their own 2,000-word mini-adventures. Download it for free and roll some dice.