So, my friends and I went to Dragon*Con to play a little PFS. We really wanted a chance to experience playing together, so we were pretty pumped. We realized that there was a level 5+ game, and a level 7+ game. In preparation, we played through a slew of scenarios both before and during our downtime at the Con(since there were only a total of 6 scenarios and 14 slots, we had plenty of spare time).
We knew we couldn't possibly get up high enough for the level 7 game (though one of us would, because he had played PFS previously). But we did get into the evil module that is 2-03, and came close to a party wipe. One person survived, but failed to succeed in a grapple/pin that would have allowed characters to return after a raise dead(this isn't a spoiler, it was simply our situation). As it was, the rest of the party could only be brought back with a resurrection. Lacking THAT much Faction, characters were lost for good, time to reroll.
PFS succeeded in making us attatched to our characters which is a good thing. Unfortunately, the proof of that is that some of our group have sworn off PFS for good. The thought that a random DM, or a module with a high mortality rate can scratch characters they spent hundreds of dollars for the privelege of playing and put 60+ hours of play into isn't a risk they want to take again.
We all had fun, and I will at some point play PFS again. I hate that some of my friends won't. I know serious consequences are needed, because without something on the line, it isn't nearly as exciting when you DO succeed. But, not everyone plays Diablo hardcore, and it's a shame there isn't some mechanism for a session to be scratched.
Here is the kicker... looking at the rules afterward, the NPC being pinned only had 1 chance / round to escape, not the 2 the DM mistakenly gave(basing it off attacks, not off it being a standard action). All was lost for rules error (can't blame the DM, not one of us realized this at the time).
