Woran's page

I have only played this, but I loved how we could approach the different mini missions in our own way.
The last fight was quite a challenge, as we did not prepare.
Overall, had fun.

This really gave me the feeling I get when we play c'thullu games. It made the victory all the sweeter.

Its a good allround scenario with roleplay, roleplay encounters and some good hard fights.

While this scenario is pretty mediocre on its own, a creative GM can make it shine.
Its a fairly straightforward story, making it good for new players. Having different locations to visit, with each a different approach, gives a good showcase of what is expected of Pathfinder Agents.
For experienced player it could feel like 'been there, done that'.

The scenario gives only one option for most encounters. I think this is where a lot of the one star reviews come from. But its writen in a, IF a THEN b, way. So if the players dont do a, you are completely free to handle the encounter you see fit. This freedom makes me give it 4 stars. (its also nice and flavorfull)

Looking for a scenario to scare your players? This is it! Be it halloween or a creepy evening session, this scenario has tons of atmosphere. Its easy to turn the creepiness up to 11 and have everyone's skin crawl.

Only downside is that some of the encounters are quite hard, and player deaths are most likely to happen. Not that that is a bad thing per se, but the wrong kind of party could easily end up with a TPK.

Due to some people talking excitedly about this scenario on the PFS boards, I looked it up.
I decided to run it, as practically no one had played this in my region.

I have to say, I really liked it. While the first encounter can be a bit underwhelming, using intelligent tactics in confided spaces can make up for a lot of it.

Siccing two [redacted] or a single [redacted] on the players in act two was a real treat. They literally did not see it coming.

Overall, its a nice balance of a combat and investigative scenarios. There is a lot of opportunity for roleplay, and I played up the eeriness by making little handouts for players, with a couple of them specially tailored for their specific characters.

Most of the scenario is a standard dungeon crawl, with the required straps.
The opportunities for roleplaying are low, although you can improvise a lot with the human mooks.

Where I think this scenario will really shine, is as a learning scenario for new players. There are several devils in this scenario, giving them an insight into monster types and their resistances.
It also has a couple of interesting bottlenecks, which need teamwork and good tactical decisions to overcome.

Summery: classic dungeon crawl. Boring for veterans. Really good for new players.

I love this scenario. I really really do.

I can understand that it got some bad reviews. This is no scenario to run cold, as there are a lot of subtle things that when skipped make everything confusing.
This also requires a certain type of player to enjoy.

This scenario is the ultimate roleplay scenario. Its Mission Impossible in the Chelish embassy. Creativity rules here, but that also makes it taxing in the GM. There are a dozen possibilities how the players can go trough this, making every time you play it unique. But you also have to be ready to wing this.

The scenario is very combat light. There are only two encounters:

I would certainly recommend this scenario to any GM looking for a good challenge.
I would advice to play this with players that love roleplay and puzzels. The characters they play don't need to be geared towards this (a couple of barbarians may well fare better then a couple of ninjas depending on how they play their cards).

One trick pony characters and players that only know how to murder hobo should not play this. They wont have fun.

This is a hard scenario to rate.

It has a lot of potential for a real scenic roleplay adventure.
But too much depends on the preparation of the GM and the party you get. Even if the GM reads this 20 times, there is just so much more to Kaer Maga then described here. A more experienced GM that has the City of Strangers book, and/or ran something like the Godsmouth Heresy, will get more out of this. But that is not something you can or should expect of someone.

Also, if the party fails to have certain skills, it can easily end up with a boring dice rolling excercise to get what you need.

Hence my bad rating. Too much is left up to circumstance. With the right party and right GM, this could be a four or five. But that combination is not something that should be counted on in PFS.

I GMd this for Ascaphalus and Damanta, see their reviews below, they already said a lot of things.

What I found really interesthing, is that this scenario actually punishes the all out murderhobos:

Just beware: This scenario runs long due to the bog mechanics, and the ample roleplay oppurtunities. You will be hard pressed to fit this into a 4 hour slot. It will more likely run 6 hours.

This is a pretty straightforward dungeon run. It does have some nice extras in a couple of really interesting fight set ups.

Its a good scenario if you have little prep time. The maps are easy to draw, and the creatures are either straight out of the beastiary, or detailed completely in the scenario.

Some of the fights can be deadly on the lower teir, but creative thinking will help a lot!

I remcomend this scenario for: People who like dungeon crawls in interesting settings. Will have a couple of nice challenges for those who love tactics.
Not recommended for people who like roleplay. There is very little in this scenario (only one encounter).

If you love tactical fights, this is the scenario for you!

Defending and old manor house that is under waves of attack, using the terrain in your favor (while the enemy tries the same!), the real tactical fight of pathfinder gets to shine.

If you love roleplay, or are more of the 'blunt force approach' type, this scenario will disappoint you

I did have a lot of fun with this. We did not have the 'optimum' party, but we had a lot of diverse characters and used the terrain of the manor to our advantage.

I GMd Damanta (review below mine), so please read his review for a player perspective.

I love this scenario. It has a good back story (bad druids get godly artifact), and there is a ton of roleplay opportunity. The combat can be quite deadly on the lower teir, but offers a good challenge for the players to sink their teeth in (pun intended).

It really is a scenario that will come into its right with the right players/GM. The roleplay opportunities make this a unique scenario.
If those are ignored, it can be quite a dreary 'go from a to b and beat up some mooks' experience.
But if the players go for it and the GM did the prep (handouts can make a huge difference in my opinion!), this scenario will shine.

Summary: Lots and lots of potential. Best suited for players that like some funny roleplaying and a good fight.
I would say this scenario is suited for players of all ages.

I played this together with Damanta (review below mine).

This scenario is for the players who love diplomacy, intrigue and investigation.

You definitely can and must bring your roleplaying a-game for this! You start off with two leads to this investigation. Cunning and diplomacy must be used to get the ball rolling. Once you are off to a start, weaseling, palm greasing and more diplomacy are what’s in store.
If the cards are played right, a nice little conspiracy will unfold, and it all ends with a solid endbash against the BBEG.

Face characters will really shine here. Jack of all trades characters will also have a solid good time here, being able to help out in every part of the investigation.
Characters with very little skills or with very low charisma will lag behind in this scenario, although the end battle does give them their own moment to shine.

Even with characters without the right skills, good roleplay will get you through (nearly) everything.

My only gripe with this scenario is that the overall enjoyment will not only hinge upon the GMs portrayal of the NPCs, but also on where you play this. With all the information you need to remember, and the fragile egos of Nobles you have to tiptoe around, missed or misheard information might bite you. Definitely something you want to run in a more quiet environment.

Summary: Real Solid scenario. This if for you if you love: roleplay, investigations, diplomacy.
This scenario is not really suited for the younger (maturity or age) players as it requires a lot of patience and a solid attention span.

I played together with Damanta. (review below mine) I only played this, have not GMd it yet.

This scenario has a lot of potential.
Everyone knows there is something fishy about the goods transported, so that sets a nice tone.

During the travels things of course went all wrong and we went to investigate.

The graveyard encounter really ads a ton of flavor and roleplaying opportunity. I can imagine if it gets skipped due to murder hobo-ing, the rating would have least dropped a star for me.

As it was we had good fun. Its a well rounded scenario with each combat getting a bit trickier, ending in a nice BBEG fight.
There is good roleplay to be had if you take the time for it, and the scenario has a good background and flavor to it.

GMd this twice in the same weekend.

As a GM I really liked this scenario. It starts with the pathfinders getting kicked out of the grand lodge with a note to go make themselves usefull. While they go trough the obstacle course, they discover things are amiss.

The first part of the scenario, the maps arent really extensive, but for the rooms that do not have a map provided, the discription is clear enough that you can easily draw them yourself.
Drawing every room helped.

The second part has some nice techno rooms with consoles and buttons. Some of the more curious characters had a blast pushing the buttons (nothing happens but I made a lot of beeping noises).
The sliding doors were also fun, giving everyone a star trek vibe.

Solving all the puzzles was nice. You dont need your knowledge checks. Not even for the techno part. As long a character is able to use some basic laws of science (if I do y, then x happens then...), they can figure out a lot of things.

The combats were challenging, but not impossible. Not being able to actually know what a robot was was slightly annoying for the players, but most believed them to be silly constructs anyway (and most of the things for constructs apply to robots too).
My second party did have some trouble in the last fight, but that was mostly due to some really bad luck on the dicerolls (the gunslinger would not snap out of his fascination and the bard failed to save against the fear for SEVEN rounds...).

I think its a good scenario to ease players into season six. They have their first encounters with robots, an android and technology, without being too steep a learning curve. They can play trough this scenario without needing every weapon adamantine or a fine tuned spell list.
But they will learn that it helps, hopefully preparing them for the tougher scenarios.

I ran this for Pathfinder Society. Its quite a long dungeon, so excellent for a full day of adventure.

The adventure has a lot. Lots of flavor and backstory about varisia, Kaer Maga and the Runelords.
Lots of different kinds of fights to keep the players on their toes.
Opportunities to talk their way trough encounters and learn even more about the world.

It makes them work for their rewards, while giving a lot back in terms of fun.

Not a straight 5 star for me, mainly because the dungeon map is too big... It simply does not fit on a flip mat! You can put three of them together, but then you still have to draw things smaller otherwise its just too wide.
With a little bit more thought it would have made it easier to prep and run this for me as GM, as now the map was really cluttered.

A speacial extra large flip mat pack would solve this, but would probably also be really expensive.

So GMs, be carefull when drawing out this dungeon! You will need three flip mats to make this barely fit!