shadowcat's page

I loved it! Ran it three times and I can't wait to run it again.
Its been very popular with new players, especially female players liked the premise and I've had a blast realizing how cool the scenario actually is!
First of all, just helping players get into "being a walking member of flora" was fun. I've printed out pictures so each player could always see how others look like and being different from humanoids was also a great change for roleplay. Even tho its a bit railroady, each segment is a mini sandbox.

Stuff I learned: (not spoilers)
Popcorn is actually a snapdragon flower and the little creepy flail she has is actually dried up snapdragon flowers, not actual skulls.

I've also translated all the names to my native language (Croatian)and that made the adventure even more fun. never knew that much about flowers before.

(kinda spoilers)
One thing that bugged be about the last encounter was the fact the enemies are leshy until one player pointed out all of them are actually invasive species so that helped in setting up the scene. As with people, there are all kinds of leshy and not all of them are well meaning.

Tips for GMs:
you'll have to prepare character sheets better. casters will need spell lists with informations (easy tool PF2 was immense help, got that sorted in just a few minutes).
Also descriptions of individual feats and things are needed.
Popcorn lacks dragon instinct powers (or i'm that blind and didn't find them)
Its a bit of work but its well worth it for overall experience.. and repeated play

I'd LOVE to buy the minis

So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, my favorite scenario at the moment

GMed the scenario.

here be SPOILERS so be warned.

At first I was really anxious because of the negative comments. Then I started prepping and realized this is way more up my alley than most scenarios, with few combats (some can be avoided), mostly social interaction and a sandbox with much more than just the locations needed. It has a rich history (reading 'Towns of Inner Sea is a *must* for this one) and its possible to connect the plot no matter where they go.

Weak points:
- Olandil using Pathfinder signs and telling how to navigate the... oh for the love of Calistria. Just cut that out and proceed. This made no sense - did he know there would be pathfinders? how the hell is that even supposed to look? The optional part is really unnecessary and frankly made no sense to me.
- didn't catch what is the significance of giving the PCs Poppos message in the intro part
- the mechanics for influence - saw them, glazed over. Fortunately in the end, there is a simple suggestion to use the most appropriate enemy and it should've been said so in the first place - it would cut the wordcount right there.

Strong points:
- NPCs - Poppo and Olandil in particular but loved Madge and a few out of scenario people.
- atmosphere of claustrofobia and danger
- allowing PCs to investigate on more locations than just the ones in the scenario - even tho the story *is* railroady it's possible to cover most of the tracks (except the part where basically Poppo's plan is sorts of deus ex machina). The city was tangible and much more than just a random background.
- having a scenario that didn't need a single combat for two thirds of it - I was really enjoying myself and so did the players (I asked them, to be sure).

In the end, I would've been happier if the scenario was trimmed a bit and simplified but it still allowed us a memorable adventure.

More sandbox please!

Point of view: played on high tier

I loved it! Fellow pathfinders were like minded and we enjoyed the meticulous investigation this scenario offered. There was not a moment of boredom and the best win was managing an almost perfect run.

GM had a really good poker face and it made making it on our own feeling like a real achievemnt.

This one is for a smart and functional group of well rounded characters.

Cant wait to run it

This is what I want in the adventures - lots of crisp, roleplay situations, a bit of mystery, and the opportunity to be able and avoid most combat if the group likes to play that way.

We played this scenario on three tables at the same time in completely three different ways (one went with option A, other B and the third punched trough everything)

Fun was had by all

Great job David N. Ross!

POW: Overseer GM

I really had great time with this scenario and lucky for us, the space was available as long as we needed it. It was ran with minimum number of tables but this was also the first run in my region.
It took us approx 8hrs with one 5min and one half hour break

The not as good:
- the Auction is still a bit of a mystery (High bids and low bids explanation) but thankfully it was short and was done cinematically in the end.
- we could have used extra info on what to do if teams fail to outbid others and fail get the 'you know who'. There was one more small thing but we fixed it all so it worked out.

The really good:
- it really felt like a Special event with the scope and all the moving parts
- even though it was combat heavy in the second half, there was more than enough time for roleplay. The players really enjoyed different small missions and it gave the spotlight to smart, skilled characters
- overall, even after exhausting 8hrs of play everyone was having fun and the whole event finished on a high note
- fact that most table had rough time with the encounters but still in the end it didn't stop them from finishing with a feeling of team effort victory.

Last note - it really makes a difference if there is a nice, lifesized prop on display troughout the game. Very much worth the effort.
Its even better with a bit of LARP (having people act out the NPCs).

It was a great learning experience too and I'd love to do it on a larger scale next time

Played at High Tier (pregen Ezren)
With a group made of Paladin, Druid, Sorcerer, pregen Kyra & pregen Ezren the session was quite challenging.

The GM was very good with the mechanical part of the game and gave us a good run for the money (just the paladin clocked over 200hp damage recieved).

Not to be mistaken, it is a bit of a grind but whats wrong with a pure action packed scenario once in a while

GMed Low Tier

The adventure is scenic and quite atmospheric so the GM has an opportunity to freak out the PCs with a really well thought out dungeon.
The boss fight, if GMed properly and if PCs do not take care to prep well, can be really dangerous.

A few glitches:
GM has to fill in at the beginning of the story. My players went to ask around the nearby village that's not fleshed out.
Also, backstory is not very apparent so it will also need to be brought out by the GM.

perspective: GMed Low Tier, characters in play Ranger/Druid 3, Paladin (Sheylin)4, Paladin (Iomede)5, Witch 3

I can't wait to GM this one more! Its an investigative romp trough Ustalavs ex-capital and more than that, a race to get the killer.
What I loved the most was that investigative/diplomatic PCs really shone troughout this one.
I love the drama and interactions it provides and its basically just up to the PCs to make the most of it.

The chase was very cinematic and even slapstick fun with two paladins barely managing to get trough (we had some really bad rolls on the table) .
So when the ranger caught up with the Mauler, he was alone and the Mauler critted *twice* so there was a touch and go moment for the party till the rest caught up.

Other encounters also could have been more challenging but I can see them easily making problem for different groups.

All in all, the players gave very positive feedback and with a roleplay oriented table, I had great fun as well.

GMed the scenario in lower tier (1-2), sofar only one run.

The scenario offers more than whats on the pages. If the GM gets familiar with Riddleport, the players will get a really nice setting flavor.
The plot works ok but the players may have questions not covered in the scenario so good prep is really important.
Encounters are not necesarily fights so more diplomatically/bluff inclined players can really do well if they try alternate tactics.
End encounter is really challenging because of the context and rewards smart players.

The first run ended with one death and the n00b at the table saving the rest from TPK. Players had fun and I'll be happy to run it again and see how other groups do.

This scenario offers excellent RP opportunities, rewards well-rounded characters played by smart and resourceful players and offers a really serious challenge.
Also, GM must be well prepared and predrawn maps significantly speed things up.

Basically, if the GM prepares the Cassomir map without the annotations and plays it smart, the players will undoubtedly have fun :) One of the comments was "We finally had to think about what to do next."

Also NPC tactics were fun - they wouldn't be much of a challenge if it weren't for interesting positioning and enviroments they were in.

All in all an awesome, exiting scenario.

More please!

Its easy to see that this scenario has the potential to either suck or have a great cinematic feel to it.
If the GM takes care to beef up the intensity (and keeps pressure on) while maintaining the flow of action it can reach all the way to 4 stars.
My players had a really good time and it certainly didn't feel like an easy battle for them.

(GMed)
After the city and the dungeon, it was a natural sequel. I like the fact that not every encounter is clear cut and that gave enough room for PCs to roleplay and get the feel for the people and areas of the setting.
The enviromental hazards had to be tweaked a bit(PCs don't really have a thermometer so just saying 'freezing cold' was enough for them. Also the swamp hazards were optional anyway)
There was an almost death in the woods before the mountain and the end encounter was very dramatic and cinematic with the main NPC almost making it (tactics were fun to execute).

(GMed)
I ran it with a group of 4 PCs and one of them had the neccesary language available and it made all the difference. The traps were fun, alchemists failed bombs even more fun and the end had a bit of good roleplay opportunity.
All in all a fun sequel for the Intro series

(GMed)
It was the first official PFS session I ran, had a group of 7 players and we managed to squeeze the whole thing into the alotted slot and it was fun. It will be even more fun with a smaller table next time :) Great intro

(GMed)
I like the quest itself and the missions were fun. My group did a fatal mistake by managing to sneak in where they were supposed to and then fumbled and suddenly the group of tottaly fresh Pathfinders had way too many enemies at once. That one encounter took over an hour and almost TPK'd the party.
I hope that the second run will be more fun and less deadly (it runs much easier with more experienced players)

(GMed)
This was a fun one. I had some technical difficulties so had to cut out one short encounter and we rushed the end but all in all, it was a really good and dynamic session.
The mission briefing and the city gave it all a great athmosphere, and even tho the mission was very straightforward, it gave the playres a nice mix of RP opportunities and good tactical challenges. I'm really looking forward to GMing this one again (without rushing)

(GMed)
A lot depends on the way a GM connects individual parts of the adventure. The atmosphere of each encounter can be really interresting for PCs and the middle encounter was a lot of fun because players got to plan their actions and then execute (more or less) succesfully.
The end itself was a bit weird (I didn't quite get the end NPC) but it worked out OK.