RPG Superstar 8 Season Dedicated Voter. Pathfinder Society GM. 1,255 posts (1,289 including aliases). 3 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 29 Organized Play characters. 2 aliases.
This book is absolutely amazing. Dreamscarred Press show us once again that they're the undisputed masters of flavorful, balanced psionics. This beautiful book has a place of honor on my shelf right next to my Core Rulebook, and if I could only pick one rules supplement to use in a campaign, it would be this one by far.
I want to start this out by saying that we only had one person at my table run a pregen, and it was the Warpriest. We also had a non-standard party, with a Lore Warden fighter, a Warpriest, a melee-focused Cleric of Iomedae, an Inquisitor of Gorum, and an Inquisitor of Neshyn. I don't think it's fair that so many people have given the module a low rating based solely on the pregens. I'm not going to review the pregens, my rating is strictly for the adventure.
It started a little slow as we all got our footing, fighting over who would go first and lamenting the fact no one was good at finding traps. The first encounter was... odd. The idea that it was simply unavoidable made us stop and take it seriously, and I'm sure things would have gone poorly had not two (4th level) characters had the correct type of weapon. The second encounter fell quickly to sheer damage. Most fights were over in two to three rounds, but they all seemed like appropriate challenges, maybe even a bit on the easy side (to be expected with an experienced party of APL ~3.6). The end boss, who we reached about halfway through the module, was rough, with three characters nearly buying the farm (having four divine casters in one party is the only reason the GM's multiple critical hits didn't finish us off). But, to be frank, I would have been disappointed if it had been any other sort of creature.
I look forward to a chance to play this again, maybe even with one of the much maligned pregens. I also look forward to running it for my home group when it becomes generally available. They tend to run characters who are prepared for the variety of challenges that PFS throws at you, so they should do just fine.
Let me start by saying that it was fun. I had a great time running a tier 3-4 table, and my players seemed to have a great time playing it. I second a lot of what the other reviewers have said about the creative and challenging encounters, and the opera scene went much better than I could have ever hoped. Two of my players got really into the Clown roles and the rest enjoyed beating the tar out of some Aspis goons.
That said, when it came time to hand out chronicles, there was a resounding feeling of "That's it?" There are no "Found Items" on the chronicle. All you get is the standard tier appropriate amount of gold, and a one time (more at higher tiers) use boon with a very narrow focus.
I haven't played or ran a more recent Special to know how it compares, but the reward for this one was underwhelming and a sour note to an otherwise good scenario.
I've used HeroLab for over two years, and have no complaints. The interface is very intuitive, and everything is organized in a very logical manner.
There is a learning curve for adding custom content, but it is still easier than other programs I've tried and Lone Wolf has tutorials and guides available to walk you through it.
I love being able to track status effects and conditions during play, and I've never seen a better tool for auditing character sheets.
