As Valstaff mentioned: this is an investigation mission with a nasty-hard fight hidden inside (I suspect more than one is possible but skill monkeys will help prevent that), so if you only bring skill monkeys, it will get ugly.
The investigation is interesting and engaging, as is the underlying story. If you're not the skill folk (I wasn't), it's still interesting to hear the developing story; you can still engage in what is going on. I'm looking forward to GM-ing this for others!
Played low-tier (12-13) with all-level-13 characters. It took us 5 hours (the time spent in last fight was... significant) even with the GM allowing us to pre-roll attacks and damage to help with turn speed (level 13 characters = lots of dice and lots of math).
This is not a scenario with significant role-play; there is a little, but that's not the point of this scenario. If you want significant role-play, you'll be sad. Go in prepared to fight-- because you will, and it's not going to be painless.
Society-provided items are incredibly useful (yay!); be sure you understand them.
Spoiler:
Other things you will obtain are also useful; be sure you understand them as well.
Significant damage and nasty effects fly both ways (again, high-level) so pay some attention to your group composition
Spoiler:
; if you think you're going to out-DPS a party-wide lack of useful in-combat healing... good luck! I don't want to think about how much our paladin took and our magus avoided
Story-line/lore-wise: if you survive and succeed, you will feel like you've had a significant impact on the universe's potential future -- we'll see what comes of the year's session results!
First, props to the GM; well run, sir. You kept it interesting.
Onward. Overall, I enjoyed the ride until the very end
Spoiler:
when it went cut-scene
.
The investigation phase was interesting and did have a lot of lore you could expose
Spoiler:
and having a pregen Kyra run by an experienced player turned into an AMAZING thing
; I enjoyed it even though I wasn't overly helpful (my sorceress is most definitely limited in her skills *cough diplomacy cough*).
As we progressed further, the experience was immersive
Spoiler:
if a bit disturbing at time
. We found a way to avoid one fight, and the next one did feel like you were moving the story-line forward. Our third fight was brutal -- for the baddies. One party member did keep us from murder-hoboing everyone, however.
It was the next
Spoiler:
and ultimately final
encounter that was.... odd. . It's that ending that cost this ride a star. Your options are truly limited (binary do/do not), with a significant failure to resolve the story
Spoiler:
and likely penalties to the party within the society
if you don't if you don't choose "correctly" per the scenario, even if it makes absolutely ZERO sense for your character.
Spoiler:
I'm looking at you, every divine class in the GAME.
Other than, though, the story engaged me, kept me interested, and thus it gets 4 despite a weak ending.
This is an interesting scenario. It has some "sandbox" elements in that player actions drive results; the amount of combat may vary significantly based on player character actions and players may find themselves with a large number of options from which to choose with no discernable "you must do X" readily apparent.
This scenario will most commonly be RP-heavy and combat light. Knowing that, a GM who spends time prepping it can make it shine for their players. However, a GM who tries to run it cold or who isn't comfortable with role playing is going to struggle (and thus cause the table to struggle).
Because of the heavy role-play leanings, it's not ideal for brand new players (who typically aren't overly comfortable with that kind of thing).
I GM'd it.
GM's:
Spoiler:
don't try to do this cold, or it's going to be miserable. There are some holes/typos in the scenario which GMs must be able to overcome (i.e., who died? what about the notes that aren't in the PDF?). No need to re-invent the wheel; read the GM forum thread http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2r8d9?522-Scars-of-the-Third-Crusade
This definitely requires some prep time for GMs, but the results are worth it.
I GM'd it @ the 6-7 tier. RP is available for those who wish it (including some places where you wouldn't expect it), each combat feels different due to terrain, and although the fights can be challenging, judicious fireball usage can yield incredible results.
Spend the time to understand the feats available to the BBEG, especially in relation to some of the final fight's mechanics.
Disclaimer: 1st time to ever play in a special. Played the 7-8 tier: YMMV.
The 1st half, with its interactive map & challenges which varied by area, was well done and very enjoyable.
Then we moved on to the 2nd half, and although I get the feeling there were high-tier tables with epic battles going on, my party found itself playing fetch.
Spoiler:
grab a soldier, spawn a demon. repeat until big scary demons appear and we run. come back. rinse. repeat.
10 soldiers collected and 3 "run away" moments executed before time ran out.
The 1st time was interesting. When we went back out and the only change was perception checks, my table found itself asking "we're just going to do it over and over again? really?"
I get the "part of a larger whole" concept, but if my character wanted to be a stretcher-bearer, he wouldn't have left the army in the 1st place (halfling, profession (soldier)).
As previously stated, the 1st part was VERY enjoyable -- easily 4 stars and edging towards 5. However, the fact that the less-enjoyable portion (almost tedious, though we found ways to entertain ourselves and our GM) was at the end definitely dragged my overall rating down.
