I recently got to run this at a Con. My table consisted of 5 players. Most were seasoned players. I was interested to see what would occur considering that this scenario can be run without having even one combat. So let me get to the meat of this:
Pros-
Great concept. I love the idea of something not involving a fight.
Solid puzzles. The clues were great. One of my players understood the clues linked to the Foo Lions right away.
Great hook.
A couple fun role-playing opportunities.
I like the chronicle sheet.
Cons-
Little complicated system for time tracking. Good but could use some fine tuning.
Very skill heavy. If you have a team that doesn't have a skill spread this could be a definite failure.
A couple more opportunities to role-play would have been nice.
A little short. I ran this in about 2:45 in a 4 hour time slot.
My group got out with only a couple minutes to spare. They fortunately avoided searching the main library room. They got everything else they needed and avoided combat.
Now the cipher is incorrect but fortunately several reviews and preps online have the right one. This scenario almost requires a GM to be rather pedantic. You have to assume that if they don't say they cover their tracks, then they don't. This is key. Smart players realize this and cover themselves. All in all a good scenario. Had a lot of fun.
