Slothsy's page

The Bronze House Reprisal is an extremely ambitious scenario. I have GMed it at least four times at this point in a variety of settings (conventions, local store gamedays, home game).

Player Accountability - This scenario offers a number of ways of handling the situations involved. However, it also offers realistic accountability if players decide to commit acts of wanton violence while still providing several high-quality combat encounters for those combat-inclined. I've heard the scenario referred to as the anti-murderhobo scenario and I cannot agree more. I wish that this form of player accountability came more standard in PFS scenarios.

Traps - I wish that every scenario treated used traps in the way that The Bronze House Reprisal uses traps. It goes beyond boring tapped doors that deal hit point damage, uses player assumptions to its advantage and provides properly powerful traps in comparison to the information protected.

Stakes - This scenario is playing for appropriate stakes for a higher level season opener. There is a compelling reason for the PCs to engage with their mission and to want to do an appropriate job.

Combat Encounters - The way that the NPC/monster tactics are written is perfect. It provides the GM with a good sense of what's important to the NPCs and their general "tricks" while giving latitude to determine the best course of action. In addition, the mix of NPCs and monsters is enjoyable, as well as the inclusion of more neutral-aligned antagonists.

Investigation - The investigation itself is well-thought out and capable and straddles the thin line between providing too much information and making the investigation moot and providing too much information and making the investigation frustrating. In particular, keeping it so that PCs must discover much of the information first-hand instead of being able to Diplomacy or Knowledge (Local) their way out of things is both more fun to me as a GM and better storytelling (in my opinion).

However, the final encounter presents problems. It is a risky inclusion in this scenario, and I don't think that the risk pays off. The strict scripting is hard to adequately run or communicate to the players what they can or should be doing. It is, by its very nature, a GM-led encounter, which is awkward for any social encounter. In addition, it simply presents too much information and uses checks for PCs to "know" information that they hadn't been previously exposed to. It's a very very weird encounter.

In short, the first fourth-fifths of this adventure is one of the best PFS scenarios I've seen. However, the final encounter falls flat. If it wasn't for this encounter, I would list is as solid 5-star material. However, the ending's flaws push it down to 4-stars for me.