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I played this game at high-tier, with a three-person party and a pre-gen. It was extremely challenging, in ways I wouldn’t expect from a 3-7. We are all very experienced PFS players, with well-built characters. We needed every edge to survive this scenario! Our GM and group also had to stop play a few times to look up obscure but life-threatening rules.

There is a little bit of role-play and investigation here, but the scenario is built around a few set pieces and brutal combats.

The scenario provides some assistance that can make the status effects and high-difficulty manageable, if your party is knowledgeable, clever, convincing, and organized enough to take advantage of them. I suspect the fact we were a four-person party made the final fight especially punishing; there are multiple ways that one or more characters might be taken out of commission during the fights. It made for an epic finale! The psychic’s panic when a Nat 20 just wasn’t good enough is something I’ll never forget, and our final victory felt like we deserved a medal for saving the world.

Over all, I enjoyed this tremendously, but I can see why there are so many low review scores. This could be a miserable experience for a less prepared or unlucky party.

I played at Majuba's table. This scenario was an absolute delight. It was incredibly atmospheric, with interesting locations and NPCs to explore and interact with. We barely completed it in 5 hours, skipping the optional encounters and probably skimming some of the investigation. I should probably deduct a star since it can't meet its potential in a four-hour slot, but it was such an exceptional experience that I'd say it still deserves 5 stars.

I made the objectively terrible decision to play this scenario on my hellspawn tiefling, who is a CN inquisitor of Calistria. After all, how often do you get written, official permission to go to Hell, mess with both House Thrune and a bunch of devils, and walk back out? It put us at a bit of a disadvantage and could have even cost a prestige point, but a skilful party of any alignment can be successful in this scenario.

What a time we had, soul-trading, interrogating, and barracks-lawyering our way across Dis. Our Hellknight naturally had some peak moments. The role-play and moral choices were involved and went beyond the surface in ways that made us really consider what our characters valued most, in ways that made odd bed-fellows of the LG Hallknight of Abadar and my CN inquisitor of Calistria.

I came within a percentile roll of perma-death in this scenario - and if I had died, it would have been WORTH IT. That's how much fun I had in Hell!

I really enjoy this scenario! I've played and GM'd it. I think this one plays much better if you hand out the faction missions - the flavor of running secret missions in a foreign embassy is great, and the Chelish faction mission, in particular, makes for some delightful role-play.

When GMing this scenario, I let people know ahead of time that they were going to be invited to a fancy party, and suggested they choose to play a character who either would do well in that situation or would be a hilariously bad choice for it. ;-) Then I asked them to take a few minutes to look back through their chronicle sheets and consider their character's background, experiences, and priorities. I think that improved everyone's enjoyment.

Despite being written years ago, before all of the 'social encounter' rules came out, the way this scenario is written allows the GM to engage all of the characters and their players, even the quiet ones. Much fun was had!

The second half of this scenario is a bit underwhelming. I like the mix of 'traps, puzzles, and guardians', but they were a bit too easy. I suggest that GM's consider how to offer players some reasonable 'hints' when describing the trap and its surroundings, since as written characters are likely to give up and brute force it either with lockpicks or by walking into it, which is less satisfying than figuring out how to avoid it.

All in all, I would recommend this scenario to groups (and GMs) that enjoy role-play.

I enjoyed this scenario tremendously. There are some very entertaining NPCs (thanks in part to the thespian capabilities of our 5-star GM), and the pre-gens were written in such a way as to encourage player to role-play as kobolds.

There was a uniquely kobold-ish mechanic for the 2nd encounter that, while time-consuming, fit the scenario perfectly and was a lot of fun for everyone at the table.

I suspect that many tables only get to enjoy the first half of the scenario, and never even set foot on the other side of the portal, which is unfortunate. It took my group EIGHT HOURS over two sessions to complete this scenario. We loved every minute of it, but if you don't have that much time, I'd recommend another adventure.

I played this at low-tier with a group of very experienced players. The characters included a merman, an aquatic elf, and a warpriest of a god of storms. When we heard the mission briefing, we were eager to explore!

It's a fun set-up, and I had a great time in our confrontation with the BBEG, but we ROFLstomped this adventure, completing it in record time. It didn't provide enough challenge, and for our group, I would rate it a 3-star adventure.

That said, I think this would be a FANTASTIC adventure for a group of newbies. It provides a good introduction to society play and the lore of this season and part of the world, and plenty of support to help them succeed. New pathfinders will get to experience some of the environmental and combat dangers they should prepare for, and still come out alive. It rewards players who have invested in skills (with fairly low DCs), but has paths to success for groups missing those skills, which is important for level 1 parties. For newbies, I think this would be a five-star scenario.

So, on average, I'll call it a four-star scenario and recommend it to GM's introducing people to Pathfinder Society.

In an uncharacteristic burst of sense, the Pathfinder Society assigned this mission to exactly the type of adventurers who would WANT to visit a Dark Tapestry-adjacent demi-plane - full-casters with egos that could block out the sun. Along with one rogue. I'm not entirely sure what she was doing there, but she seemed to enjoy herself.

With a library-full of skills and some very diplomatic characters, we made it through without too much trouble; I imagine that a less well-read group of mercenaries would regret having every stepped through the gate!

I did enjoy this, and our GM threw his all into role-playing the various NPCs. Even so, it was a very quick game, and a less-prepared or unlucky group could easily have TPK'd on the final encounter.

My party really enjoyed this! We were a table of three level 5's, a level 3, and a (sickened) level 7. We had to play up, and that made this quite a dangerous scenario.

Two of us had recently played Signs in Senghor, and it was a LOT of fun using that advantage and RPing as minions of the Aspis Consortium in Bloodcove. We managed to talk our way through the first part of the scenario.

I don't know if it was the particular makeup of our party or the fact that we were rather underprepared and low on spells by the end, and but the final encounter we fought was was exceptionally dangerous. An epic battle! It took a chronicle boon, a lucky UMD check, a clever combat maneuver, a frantic mid-battle purchase for the retail boon, and we still came within 1 hit point of a TPK. Still, that's the stuff that makes for a good story!

This scenario showcases the troubled nation of Galt. It involves some easter egg shout-outs to the retirement arch, lots of creative problem-solving, and hard-core investigation. Be prepared to take a couple pages of notes as the local Venture Captain lays out her leads and you follow them one by one, finding answers, more questions, and the occasional plot twist. A very flavorful boon at the end, and one I hope I never have to use.

Our GM looked to be having lots of fun, and did a great job of allowing us to try out different ideas. He enticed the quieter players, even the ones without social or knowledge skills, into engaging.

There's 1-2 combats, depending on your skill rolls and ability to think on your feet. The one most parties will engage in was extremely dangerous at low tier.

A very fun scenario. I, for one, will never forget the 'demonic heart attack'!

This was a truly unique scenario that left my character feeling that he'd not just been in an adventure, but part of a story. The author did a spectacular job of capturing that 'kitty-corner to sanity' that is fey logic and bringing us into their world. My GM had a blast role-playing the different characters and a fabulous time was had by all!

Luckily we had not one but TWO party members who could speak Sylvan - I can imagine that the scenario would be much less fun without.

I don't know how much it was the well-written and magnificently illustrated scenario, and how much was a pleasant coincidence of party members, but this was the most fun I've had playing PFS in a long, long time.

Singing goblins are ALWAYS a good start. Between the delightful songs and fun pictures of the named goblins, my party decided to talk to everyone and everything they could. (Is diplomacy even meant to be an option here? I don't know, but we rolled high and our GM had a great time with the RP aspect!)

We were playing in the low tier, and honestly the combats were quite easy. But that didn't matter - what mattered was the fun interplay between my party members in reaction to the scenario's challenges. In the end, the level 1 paladin left determined to somehow make a familiar out of the pet he'd acquired, the barbarian has possibly the most terrifying 'dog' in existence, we all have some fond memories, a permanent souvenir reminding us of the pleasures and perils of hands-on investigation, and an intriguing boon.

Bravo to the author, and thanks for the laughs!

I'm glad we, as good pathfinders, made some sensible purchases based on what we were walking into. Without them, we wouldn't have made it.

I have to say this was a very unique scenario, and I enjoyed it very much. On the other hand, half the table spent about an hour unable to act. Yes, it's a well-designed scenario, and an epic encounter, but any scenario that has players pulling out their phones and checking their social media can't get more than 3 stars. This also led to a very, very long game, over 5 hours.

On the other hand, our final vengeance felt oh so sweet!

I enjoyed being given time to prepare for the challenges of underwater exploration and combat, using all of the resources a party of smart, wealthy, and powerful Pathfinder's can muster. There were some definite scares in here, and I really felt like we were on the Plane of Water. Very fun, and with a flavorful boon!

This scenario prompted some of the most intriguing, in-depth, in-character discussions I've ever experienced in PFS. The moral quandaries didn't just rely on a good vs evil framework, but called upon each character's experiences and priorities. Bravo!

This is a fantastic scenario! It should come with warning labels, though. The scenario runs long - it took us 6.5 hours, without the optional encounter. Also, the combats were quite deadly. We had one level 8 playing at the table with us who died, another who came within one hit point of death, and a third who nearly had an unrecoverable death.

There are options for diplomacy and a very intense in-character decision to be made. My Dark Archive character found the 'plot' and ending incredibly satisfying, and can't wait to see what happens next with the Sages. There are some unique goodies and boons on the Chronicle sheets.

Bring your true Pathfinders, who both dedicated scholars and deadly in battle, and you will have a marvelous time.

The next time my Venture Captain tries to send me to somewhere with a name that includes 'Terror', 'Death', or both, I'm going back to bed.

I would say this is definitely the weakest of the trilogy of modules.

Keep in mind that I played this as part of a four-person party, all level 5. Perhaps it would have felt more balanced with more people. But even though we were quite combat-optimized, we found this to be a very, very difficult module, with a lot of potential for TPK.

There was no roleplay to speak of, which is always a bit of a disappointment to me. The random encounters ranged from trivial, to challenging, to brutal. (The only reason we made it to the city itself was due to the kindness of our GM, I think.)

Inside the city there are many dangers, as one would expect. The creature pictured on the cover appears to be built to kill one PC per round, every round after the first round of combat. Ouch!

After that, the rest of the combats were fairly straightforward, and a bit of a let-down, especially after the fantastic build-up from 'Crypt of the Everflame' and 'Masks of the Living God'.

I LOVE the idea of this scenario. I think it has a lot of atmosphere, some truly disturbing moments, and nicely advances the Blakros family story-line.

I had a wonderful time GM'ing for a bunch of mostly newbie pathfinders tonight, including four pregens. I added in some additional descriptions and role-play with various NPCs that I think made the experience more memorable for the group. Look for those opportunities!

One key mechanic is somewhat vague in the scenario. I found that ruling in the strictest fashion made the fights more challenging and increased the atmosphere.

With those modifications, it was a great experience for everyone.

My group really enjoyed this scenario! You'll definitely want to bring characters who have decent social and skill abilities. There are some interesting NPCs and a new and improved chase mechanic that was a huge relief for our party.

In addition to the editing issues (that swim check to batter down a door had our group in stitches), I really wish a particular NPC came with a stat block.

I would recommend this one to GMs who enjoy RP, and are willing to put in the time to really get a firm grasp on each of the NPCs. And as mentioned in the title, I love the cultural detail in the scenario. Often I have no idea where a particular battle took place, but I will always remember that this wake took place in the heart of Katheer.

This is a unique scenario with some fun role-play, a tight time-limit, and a special item on the chronicle sheet that, although useless for most characters, I want to see at all my tables from now on!

Other reviewers have mentioned parallels to the 'The Disappeared', and that's the only PFS scenario with a flavor similar to this one. Bring your skill monkeys! The barbarian (and her player) were bored to tears, but that's what happens when you bring a barbarian to a library.

I found the information the GM needs was a bit scattered, so do take the time to prep this one carefully. The in-game time limit will help players to keep moving, so this should fit neatly into a convention time slot, with the following caveat.

The Grand Lodge mission was challenging. My group found the clues needed to decipher the text, but made an incorrect assumption about how to use them. The GM wasn't able to allow us an Int or Linguistics check for a hint, as he might have otherwise done, because the scenario didn't include the answer, so he didn't know how to solve it himself. (Check the GM discussion for the solution.) We made the in-game time limit (whew!) but were not able to decipher the message within our RL time slot.

All in all, a fun afternoon!

What a fantastic experience!

My group had a wonderful time with the sand-box investigation part of the scenario. The story line was atmospheric, with classic horror themes. There were interesting opportunities for role-play with moral quandaries. I liked that the scenario provided in-character information about what we would be facing, and left it up to us to properly prepare.

The combats, as I would expect from the Lissala arc, were tense and deadly. I felt that I needed every single swift, move, and standard action to keep myself and my party alive. There's a flavorful and powerful boon (that my character has absolutely no regrets about refusing).

The scenario ran long, over 5.5 hours, since we spent a lot of time on the role-play, and the combat could not be rushed.

To address FlorianF's concerns, I played this on my paladin, and was very worried that I might end up ruining a mission to infiltrate an evil cult. However,

I understand why this one is a local favorite - it has everything I want from a night of gaming!

'Weapon in the Rift' is a memorable scenario, with a good mix of puzzles, traps, diplomacy, and combat. Far from a generic dungeon-crawl, this pulled us into the lore of Golarion and the desperate narrative of season 5. It gave me a sense of urgency, of a mission that really mattered and could have consequences to the world. A must play for members of the Silver Crusade!

Two issues could lead to some frustration and upset among groups playing the scenario; they keep me from giving this a five star rating. I would recommend that GMs read through the GM discussion thread on how to handle these potential problems.

The boons are very flavorful, if not terribly crunchy. As a final note, this scenario has the potential to run long. We filled out our Chronicle Sheets outside on the sidewalk after the store closed, shivering in the winter night, but it was well worth it!

This was indeed a very cleverly designed dungeon. If you have a well-prepared group that loves puzzles, they will probably enjoy it.

However, my own group found the scenario extremely frustrating, and half the table ended up web surfing for most of the evening.

All in all, I have to give the scenario a low rating, despite some positive aspects. The point of Pathfinder is to play, and the majority of our group spent the evening feeling like they'd been benched.