 
Sign in to create or edit a product review. This one was fun to play. I enjoyed the references and the natural chaos generated by the NPC's: A GM that hams them up really boosts the whole experience of the scenario.
I'm not entirely sure what the point of the scenario was: There's something with introducing new major NPC's for the season, which is ok; Introducing Blood of Elements and the changes therein, as well as planar politics that we know nothing about, sure. But do the encounters have to be so meaningless? I get that the intro scenarios get easier combats, esecially in the low tier, but the phrase "No will to live" really applies here. Also whats the point of that map? You can do everything without the tile(s) where the final combat takes place. I'm not sure how much of a spoiler this is anymore, but lore wise it still doesn't sit well with me that Spoiler: I get that there is a metaplotline going on with it and the whole elemental shabang, but still... It feels like diluting something awesome into something completely ordinary.
the Maze of the Open Road, a major dangerous story element from PF1 has become a playground for children and tourists (intentional exageration, though not by much). Perspective: I ran this today for a 4-player high tier party (20 CP). From the way everything is setup, to the way the PDF is written, everything about the scenario brings back early-ish PF1 scenario memories, in a good way. But when prepping, a GM should be careful that the editing to delimit encounter sequences is somewhat unclear. This is likely the reason for some of the negative reviews below. A GM should be very careful when Spoiler:
parsing the sequence on pages 8 and 9: The To the Lair passage should not be run as part of encounter B. Run the To the Lair part in Exploration mode, and switch to Encounter mode when reaching encounter B. That encounter is terrifying enough without adding any other damaging potential. The story felt old school PF1, though a little bit more information about the NPC the party is trying to convince, would have been nice: My players were asking for more information, and I just couldn't give any. I was also missing some background information about the BBEG, because this felt like a bit of a random guy having a beef with the Society for some unknown reason. I don't mean a whole story arc like we got for GMT or Thurl in PF1, but at least something to be able to improvise some roleplaying. On the mechanics side, I like how simple everything was to run. It's almost fresh to see regular mechanics instead of the complexer mini-games we often get in so many of the scenario's. I enjoyed the first and last combat very much: It's nice that you actually get supplies to deal with the specific type of enemy, and that it's absolutely worth it to use them. If the party fails to ask how to use them, remind them about the existence of Recall Knowledge. As to the BBEG fight specifically, I loved Spoiler:
seeing a BBEG caster that can actually suffer punishment from the party long enough to show what he can do and dish out powerful magic for multiple rounds. The second encounter encounter on the other hand was brutal and had my players fearing for their lives. These monsters seem Apex-level creatures for their tier, which makes the encounter quite overpowering. There is also some unclarity about how different rules interact with one another, which resulted in a few GM calls. I'm not entirely sure how people get to 6 combat encounters as mentioned in an earlier review though. All in all I enjoyed running this one very much! Perspective: Ran this in low tier. Lore wise, this scenario is an excellent follow-up on part 1. From the get-go, it's clear that Arcadia is supposed to be near-alien for us Avistani people in a way that is highly evocative. Other reviewers mention the scenario is very short: This will definitely be the case if you solve every social encounter with only a dice roll, which completely ignores the point of each encounter. The GM [b]should[b] play this out and encourage players to think about what their character is thinking/ feeling, and only then require the checks. The combats feel a bit like a joke, with numbers that are far too low for most Challenge Point levels. It's not necessarily a bad thing for an introduction, but there's not really any threat if the players are somewhat more experienced. The main peeves is the poor editing. Information is missing in some cases and not in the right place in others. And in the Reporting Conditions, there is also something funky going on. We played high tier (levels 10, 9, 8, 8, 8 and 8). All challenges felt well-designed; The encounters packed quite a punch, but felt fair. From the previous adventure(s) you have an idea of what you're going to be facing, and can prepare accordingly. The combats can run long if you don't prepare well though, so prior knowledge of the Season 2 metaplot helps a lot.
Perspective: Ran this for a party of 5 players with 18 CP Story & setting: Arcadia getting some love, more information about star guns, I'm syked and excited for part 2! Exposition: In a reasonably short amount of time you can convey how the location is different from other places we've had scenario's, yet it all feels reasonably familiar. The inconvenient being that there is not that much information about the setting that we're getting into here. The scenario offers some handholds to givdish out a little bit of information, but there's just not that much to go on. Finally and unfortunately, neither for players nor for the GM does the plot of the enemy actually get really clear though. As the GM you get a minor hint, but it feels like a missed opportunity. Mechanics: The mechanical part of the scenario is a pretty straightforward implementation, which I found nicely done. I had the impression that the setup here works better than in a few of the other scneario's out there though. This has generally to do with the fact that Mechanics spoiler:
this time you don't have that many red herrings which means players are focusing their attention on the unfolding story rather than on irrelevant NPC's. Combats: The descriptions of what happens in the scenes are iconic and definitely remind you of scenes in movies, but the combats were a bit of a weak point of the scenario, although they almost felt comical. Combat spoiler:
Stat wise everything generally makes sense and the numbers hold up, but the enemies don't really have a punch to pack or a will to live. Editing: [Con] I think some details and explanatory stuff were cut in editing, which is a shame.
Editing spoiler:
all the NPC information related to the mechanics in the appendix. For the purpose of overview it might even be possible to add the general rules reminder there instead of in the scenario. All in all I definitely did enjoy running this one: I guess this could easily be used as a second scenario to introduce players to Pathfinder since it gets players used to some often occurring mechanics (i.e. skill checks), and the not too punishing combats have some mechanics that occur often as well. Perspective: I ran this one a few weeks ago for a 4-player party in the 5-6 range. I always try to highlight the positive, even when I'm disappointed in a scenario, but for this one sadly that's just not possible. Story wise, there are a few things going on that the players won't figure out until the next scenario in the arc (like 10 scenarios later or something). So my experience was that without any real story that the GM can convey, this is basically just a series of almost random encounters that offer a glimpse of the story's progression at the absolute least moment.
It's nice to encounter some major PFS NPC's, since that usually brings a smile to the veteran players, but it doesn't make up for a somewhat boring scenario. Unfortunately it's a necessary one for the continuation of the metaplot. Perspective: GM for CP14 The support you get for setting the sheer alienness of the atmosphere of Shadow Absalom is really nice, and it received praise as well as a lot of interaction from the players without creating too much of a distraction. The interaction with each of the NPC's the players get to meet is also cool and alien in its own way. The combats unfolded as a lot tougher than I had imagined while prepping them. They all managed to give the party a good scare. Plot wise, don't play this one if you have no idea what happened in the previous parts of this arc (season 3 intro, Struck by Shadows and Dreams of a Dustbound Isle). Experience with the rest of season 3 adds to the fun and understanding. As conclusion scenarios go, it feels like a pretty cool conclusion to a subpar season metaplot. I enjoyed running this one very much! Persective: GM'ed for 11 CP The atmosphere that oozes from the pages is amazing and gives you most of the tools you need to share the eerieness of the weird location the party is sent to. The lore integrated in the story is well paced and well placed. The challenges speak to the imagination, and the combat encounters are cool. The numbers related to skills seem fair even though they are a bit repetitive, but they do favour a larger party size. My only gripe with the scenario is a hazard where the requirements seem extreme. Strictly by the numbers, a level 5 party is very unlikely to meet the requirements to solve this encounter. I think GM's should be very careful running that bit. All in all I loved prepping and running this one, and I definitely would run it again! Even when I'm disappointed, I generally try to stay positive in my reviews, but for this one the DC is quite high. The story and the lore are great, which is why I still give it 2 stars. BUt the numbers just don't add up in the worst possible way. For a lvl 1 character in the low tier, the DC's are absolutely ridiculous (consistently 5 higher than a level based DC, which begs the question whether the author bothered to look at CRB table 10-5) even though a single success is required to succeed at the task. This unfairly penalises the players for having a small party, even though the Aid Another DC is lowered, which is utterly unreasonable.
I did enjoy the flavor and lore of the scenario. The locations came across scary and unique.
I mentioned my improvement points in the GM thread, since they are heavy on the spoilers. All in all, it's a pretty decent scenario with a story that I like, though I have some doubts about some of the mechanics. Loved this one: From a GM perspective, easy to prep and all the necessary information is readily available. From a lore perspective, this one is fun. It continues on the previous Dacilane Academy adventure, and if you played the PF1 series 'In the Eyes of the Ten' you will recognise some subtle references as well.
I definitely recommend this scenario! The story is pretty straightforward: It reminds greatly of the PFS1 Frostfur Captives adventure. Needless to say that the scenario works best with a GM that hams up the distinct linnorms in order to make them come across as different.
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has victory conditions that reflect the possibility that not all checks will be made without completely punishing the players Setting wise, I liked the Ulfen descriptions. My only disappointment is that the combats felt a bit easy. I don't think our party was extremely overpowering, yet combats were over really quickly (under 3 rounds). Perspective: Ran this this afternoon for a 12 CP party, and we definitely had a lot of fun. The story is a cool continuation of the previous part, and the playing & toying aspects are definitely there. Environment wise, everything breathes Qadira, in a way that I consider very well done.
My main points regarding improvement lie on the mechanical part:
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a) Proving that the lava is fake would automatically disbelieve the illusion, b) My players just brought in tables and chairs from other rooms, building a bridge over which the NPC's can just escape without any check being rolled Apart from that, I want to see more stories like this! The story is cool, and we all loved the sense of (at times almost cartoonish) humour that went into this. The story is fun, the investigation part is nicely set up, and the encounters are interesting even though the final encounter can be rough (but fair!). Mind you that some parts can run long, so try to pace it accordingly when running it. GM perspective:
Experienced as a level 5 with 19 CP. We had a party of 5 seasoned but reasonably casual players. + It started with a flavor that reminded me of a blend of movies between Cabin in the Woods and the Hateful Eight + The investigation and the story are pretty straightforward, and nicely presented, in accordance with the flavor of the adventure: Not for the fainthearted. + The enemies make sense in the story, but see the point below - There are 3 combat encounters. The first one is ok, I guess: It serves as a reminder that you're traveling in what used to be the Worldwound with all its abyssal warping. The second and final ones just throw one BS ability after the other, resulting in excessive damage both to and from the party. Some issues could have been avoided (we had some bad luck due to character designs), but the rest felt like it was meant to avoid satisfaction on the PC side - This one is WAY too long. I admit we did not necessarily play the investigation part efficiently, but it took us about 8 hours (with 3-4 five minute breaks). I cannot over stress that the combats were a dis-satisfactory grind: Especially the second one felt like a meat grinder. One of my major peeves with some scenario's, including this one, is that the stakes of a scene (often the boss encounter) are unclear:
Spoiler:
My experience from players in the region where I play, is that we are usually reasonably careful with attacking random people, and we try to understand what the goal of a scene is before rushing in.
When a combat is meant to be a gauntlet encounter against a creature that is way above the CR of the party (or alternatively against an excessive number of enemies), really make clear to the players that they do not necessarily need to kill the enemy. Make it clear that the primary task is to keep the boss busy, and to prevent it from doing anything else. Don't get me wrong: I like the concept of the encounter! But from a player perspective, this encounter felt unnecessarily harsh, because our expectation was that we had to actually kill it.
Our GM did a good job pointing out the instability moments, but I guess we interpreted those as increasing weaknesses for the boss which was not the case, and which would have been more satisfactory. There was at least one NPC that had proven knowledgeable that could have pointed out that the instability was doing more than weakening the enemy, and that we just needed to keep it busy (i.e. taunting or attacking her) until it would implode. All in all, this thriller scenario has a great potential, but the combat encounters either need either some balancing or some rescripting. I was a bit disappointed about this one, although i liked the setup of most of the encounters, as well as the background. The adventure presents some things you should prepare for, as they will likely appear more often and hit you harder at higher levels (as was the case in PF1 anyway). Also the artwork (especially a specific plate armor) is beautiful! What I'm disappointed about, is that the railroad is very much present, and it's hard to present it as not being one: One road, one cart, no way to avoid it, and you know there will be trouble.
Finally: It's hard for players to understand what is actually happening if they fail to succeed at the knowledge checks, especially when they forget to ask the VC in the briefing about the digsite where they artifacts are from (which will likely happen). I suggest the GM to just give them that information, as that gives the players at least some clue as to what might be going on. Not knowing what is going wrong is in my opinion probably the worst thing that can happen to players in a scenario: Avoid that at all cost (except if the adventure calls for it, of course). A mountain trail to be discovered, weaklings to be rescued and nasty baddies to be defeated? What are we waiting for! Nice balance between skill challenges and combat encounters. The combats being spread out over multiple days, don't be afraid to go all out every encounter to give you that great "I'm awesome" feeling. Wilderness and outdoorsy characters will be at an advantage here obviously, but everyone has a chance to shine. Also, BYOH (being your own halfling). Let me stat by saying this is a very skill heavy scenario, which i like: skills are fun, and with a consolidated skill list, and generally more skills per character, PF2 makes it possible for everyone to participate. Not having at least a few skills really has become a player choice. The encounters are fun and immediately let you discover the new design of monsters, where in many cases monsters just have more hit points, no more DR, but more likely a weakness which lets you deal significantly more damage. Apart from that, fun highly investigative adventure. As a GM, you should really inform the players what they can research at the various locations: it's otherwise hard to guess what the author had in mind. Also: Being fatigued is nasty. Avoid it. Enjoyed the atmosphere of this one very much as a player. Note that this requires the GM to highly play up the creepiness of EVERYTHING. Players should doubt everything, and be put off constantly. So this should result in a great Halloween adventure. I like this scenario despite some flaws: You get to see some fun and nicely set up encounters and quite a few skill challenges. My two peeves are: 1- The introduction feels overly complicated, especially the easy it's written, and only a vague description of what the people are talking about. 2- the way the scholar encounter is written is way too complex, in my opinion achieving both a high table variation and a high chance to fail the scene. Very much enjoyed playing this one as Merisiel, who has become quite the killing machine. But all pregens are quite powerful, though some situations require you to think outside the PF1 comfort zone. Mechanically it feels quite different from first edition, but the quality of the story is simply great, and I'm curious to see where this storyline is going. Keep on the good work. Played this with an average lvl 9 party of 4. The whole story and the locations give the module the feeling of a dark fairy tale world where everything has gone wrong. The whole story manages to give more depth to Varisian culture, making each of the Harrow cards become a story in itself, and in return, each encounter has a story.
Highly recommending this one: Definitely one of the best Pathfinder stories I've played. This one was pretty spectacular and a fitting end to the Gloomspires series. It's pretty much a "what else did you expect from Sevenfingers?" kind of adventure. The previous adventures hint pretty strongly at how much around the bend he went.
As a recommendation, don't miss out on the optional encounter. I was pretty much disappointed by this title that references some of the more spectacular season 3 scenarios. First of all, forget Round Mountain: The scenario had barely anything to do with it, which partly makes sense, but on the other hand, it would have been nice to have had at least some connection (an NPC that got out of the tapestry, or something?), or a case of the 'Reality' of the tapestry bleeding into the Reality if the real world, which would have added some mystic dimension to the story. Secondly, the combats barely made sense. Somehow, this is a valley heavily guarded by the ratfolk, but somehow constructs have managed to break through without anyone noticing. From almost anything other than constructs, it would have been more believable. No-one had warned you about them before a number of days, after which you are informed about a war that is supposed to explain the final encounter to come. Having them sneak up on you in the final encounter is just another nail in the coffin. I enjoyed the strange template used by the creatures, though!
Thirdly, as Quentin mentioned below, the DC are absurdly low. I understand some skills have a cap because of how the rules are setup (such Diplomacy, Climb), but still: the DC in the scenario are calibrated for a 3-4 (low tier) or for a 5-6 (high tier) subtiers. As one player remarked: Save DC from the monsters in the scenario should not be higher than 95% of the skill check DC. Either this was originally setup as a 3-7 and badly edited, or something went spectacularly wrong while copying the DC's from the Easy/ Medium/ Hard DC tables. Finally, it felt like this scenario could have played anywhere on Golarion if you replaced the phasing of Round Mountain by a volcano, earthquake, or anyother natural disaster: This was not a Darklands adventure. I'm not a fan of creatures spamming darkness effects, but having an 8 mile diameter hole in the Darklands almost being described like it's a tiny New York at night, breaks immersion.
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