My players figured out the puzzled with only 1 clue, even though my wife and I thought it would take more than that, so I guess my players were just smarter than me.
The forest encounters were difficult to pull off, and as a result, no one got the boon. It might have just been a 4 player adjustment thing, but there didn't seem to be enough time.
Overall, really well written and interesting NPCs. They had to flee the BBEG #1, playing down. She was pretty brutal. But having a +0 to a will save doesn't help, either, as one of my players discovered.
At any rate, they all had fun. I would not recommend that an inexperienced GM run this without THOROUGH prep. It can be complicated.
Needs a gm that is comfortable adapting NPCs and situations to get the point across and account for player actions. I've run it twice, and I'm confident the second time was better than the first, and the third will be better still. Takes a lot of prep, and very sandboxy. I had fun with it.
I enjoyed running this one. The only (minor) request I would have is a bit more background on the NPCs. I always find myself role playing them somewhat shallowly. Admittedly, that problem could probably be solved by more research on my part on the different represented cultures. I do love the voyage up the river. It feels epic.
I enjoyed running this scenario, but it can be brutal to an unprepared party. And the gm should. Thoroughly understand hardness rules. I wouldn't try to run it cold. Overall, interesting NPCs, and I enjoyed the "Training Day" feel to the scenario.
As I said, audiobooks are not really my thing. However, I did thoroughly enjoy this one. I greatly enjoyed the interaction between the various characters. And if nothing else, there are enough sections of this book that I can play for my players to add depth when I run Rise of the Runelords to make it worth it.
I played this scenario at tier 6-7, and we convinced our party to let myself and my wife play our level 7s and thus force the party to play up. I pledged to protect the lower level characters with my life. Without spoilers, I'll just say it was all I could do to keep my promise. This one is an excellent scenario with an interesting mechanic that rewards having well-rounded characters over super-combat-optimized characters. (Although a little combat optimization never hurt anyone.)
I enjoyed it, and I look forward to GMing it for my local group.
I played this at a convention with a group of new players, and had a blast. Despite some of the players being... To put it delicately, not my favorite people to game with (of course, after the third day of non-stop anything, people get less pleasant), this scenario made up for all other considerations. The GM was great and a good time was had by all.
My players really enjoyed this scenario. I had to help them a bit ( I.e. Are you sure you don't want to ask a few questions before you set sail?) because they hadn't played anything with this much investigating instead of just smashy-smash. Difficult to gm, but the way my players agonized over the final choice made it all worth it. Overall, if the gm is competent and the players aren't just murder-hoboes, this one will be worth your time. I want to run it again for a different group just to see what they do.
I'll keep it short as this is my first review. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to running this one for a group of newer players. I enjoyed playing in it, but I will admit, I really sweat for a bit, especially after my eidolon was one-shotted by the big-bad. If you're not sure if your PC concept is viable for PFS play, this is an excellent test. Turns out a melee wizard doesn't work great in some fights. A lucky crit put him beyond the need of healing. Luckily, it was an experienced player and he didn't take it too seriously.
All in all, a great scenario, and it really drives home the lessons that all new players should learn about having a way to deal with various situations. I would recommend it for anyone.
