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There's a lot to like in this special. I was a bit worried when I saw there were four acts, but the acts weren't necessarily too long. The plot was relatively coherent, even if it had some strange bits and pieces (supposed to be fighting one thing but end up fighting something else, kinda, for example). The scenario is crammed to the brim, but not overflowing too badly.

There were nice innovations, like explicitly "no roll" sections that reward roleplay and asking good questions, but also give options for people who just want to roll.

I said there's a "but" coming, so here it is: the thing I'd really like to see, and this is feedback for seasons 5 and 6 in general, is "simpler storylines." The "best" specials, in my opinion anyway, have relatively simple storylines and not a lot of noise. This one had a coherent storyline, but it still nearly got lost in the noise.

I'm pretty torn on this one: I prefer it over Salt of the Ocean (way too much going on there) but it's not as good as Blessings of the Forest or King in Thorns (simpler storyline). If I could give it half stars I'd probably give it 3.5 stars for the novel approaches to some parts of the scenario.

There are a lot of cool things about this scenario. Love to see the return of some great characters, but they're basically an afterthought.

As has been said, there's way too much in here. One really has to do everything possible to encourage players to solve encounters creatively and briefly (for example, I gave my players several strong hints about a way to end an encounter quickly, because there is no way for them to otherwise know about it). But even with that encouragement, the game is likely to still go way over time, unfortunately.

Between a Series 2 Quest with a whopping 5 encounters (I don't see how a normal person can complete that in 2-3 hours), and this scenario with 7 encounters (how that gets done in 4-5 hours, I don't know), I really have to wonder.

I played this and have not run it yet (if I do have occasion to run it I will update my review). A few interesting tidbits from a lore perspective, though I had to have the GM and one of the other players explain things to me.

One thing I am very glad to see people moving away from is the "successes equal to number of PCs" metric for one of the main skill challenge sections in this Quest. Requiring fewer successes keeps the action quick, and allows for people to act strategically, rather than just "roll and pray for it to be over." What would normally be one of my least favorite sections became a more-interesting-than-usual structured skill challenge. I appreciated that.

One thing I found somewhat unclear is that I did not understand the motivation of the attacking NPCs. On some level I'm fine with not understanding it and just thinking, "Okay well, someone's upset or their god doesn't like books or whatever," but... It was a bit of a question mark.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the experience. This is probably not a Quest I would put in my regular rotation like Winter Queen's Dollhouse or The Elsewhere Feast, but neither will I intentionally avoid it.

This scenario is quick (my run was about 3 hours and 15 minutes, which suits me just fine), and very heavily narrative-focused. I ran it at PaizoCon 2025, and my players were all very into the lore, the metaplot, and the narrative, so we all had a fun time with this scenario. I enjoyed taking them through the story.

I suspect for an engaged player group who is mostly interested in narrative, this scenario will be a good time. If people are mostly playing for mechanical challenge, or are unfamiliar with the metaplot, it might be less enjoyable for them.

This has the makings of a good scenario, even if the premise is a bit strange. The setting and first encounter are interesting. There's a social bit, and a choice of ways to finish (I like the choice, though I'm glad my players have chosen one particular path every time I've run it because I think it is the most fun, and different from other PFS scenarios).

I think it falls victim to a similar trap (other than "strange premise") as most of the year 5 scenarios, though, in that it's just too much stuff. There is a filler combat, followed by another optional filler combat (spoiler alert, I've never run the second one); if it were me, I'd probably just cut both of those and turn it into a skill check. Without them, this would be (in my view) a tight, focused, and fun scenario. It might or might not run a bit short without them, but a) I doubt it, and b) running short is much more forgivable than running hugely over.

Also, unlike when I first ran this, there now exists art for Nairaba and Kitsch, both of whom are fun characters (with great art!) So if you happen to have the product in which those two get art, it's fun to spice up the briefing for this scenario with that. Players definitely seem to appreciate it.

I loved running this scenario. The whole premise is good fun, and the writing is hilarious ("Is it cold in here?" "...I wouldn't know!")

I did have to pull the plug before we finished, though, because of a combination of lack of familiarity with characters (it's the playtest, after all), and lack of familiarity with some mechanics (zero-gravity and untethered, which can be mostly ignored in other playtest scenarios). We had been going for more than three hours on just the first couple of fights.

Still, great stuff. Would run or play again.

Might just be a quirk of the scaling, but we ended up in high tier with a level 7 character (level 7.5 with a bump) and a level 8 character fighting a... Much higher-level opponent who probably could have soloed our party. And they had a wingman. The final fight is labeled Severe but the general agreement at our table was that it should be labeled Extreme; we only narrowly avoided a TPK. Personally, I think I will only run this scenario for a table of masochists.

I didn't dislike this scenario as much as everyone else apparently dislikes it, there were some interesting, cool, and innovative elements... I legitimately enjoyed it up until the last bit. But overall, like the Benefactor metaplot more generally in some ways, it feels like a missed opportunity.

I love Irrisen as a setting, and the plot of this Quest is reasonably straightforward. I enjoyed playing it, but I doubt I will run it, because I know that with my pacing I will struggle to finish within three hours.

I would dread running this one in a three-hour convention slot, if the table's rolls don't go well (or if the party is so inclined) one is basically looking at a full scenario's worth of content crammed into a series two Quest.

I both played and ran this one via play-by-post, so I cannot speak to timing issues experienced when playing it live. However, I did not find it to be overly long (with a skippable combat at the beginning, there is only one required combat, and it is very easy).

The main part of the Quest is a combination of talking to people and sneaking around and such followed by a subsystem skill challenge. A key point that might have influenced at least one other review is, it is not expected that the players complete everything. So check your completionist impulses at the door, is my recommendation.

Overall, I thought this Quest has an interesting setting, some neat characters to meet, and mechanics that are appropriate for what they are trying to accomplish in the story. I'll probably run this one again in the future, the story and setting are worthy of revisiting from time to time.

As far as I can tell, This is by far the least difficult Series 2 Quest so far. Some people might like that, some people might be put off by it.

I thought the pacing of the obstacles (number of points required for each) was appropriate, it kept things snappy and the infiltration never got bogged down. I wasn't really sure the obstacles were correctly labelled as "group" or "individual," but I essentially ran them all as group obstacles (the last is written as individual but makes no sense as an individual obstacle). My group had a zillion Edge Points from the preparatory stage, and I think they only failed one or two checks anyway.

I learned afterward that it is recommended to increase Awareness Points after every obstacle, so maybe a complicating encounter would have been triggered by my players at some point. But it probably would not have fit with what was happening at the time and it would not have been particularly challenging or interesting, either, so it felt appropriate to inadvertently skip.

The final encounter was over in one round, with some good dice rolls. I do think I had several of them flee because it would make no sense for them to stick around and get slaughtered.

I enjoy the infiltration subsystem and would love to see more of it. I respect what this Quest is getting at. And to be fair, sometimes just steamrolling things is fun...So, in the end, three stars for fun, but this Quest probably won't be in regular rotation for me.

I have only played this one so far. I'll update my review after I GM it.

For me the highlight of this scenario was one of the battles. It is not that often one gets to fight against opponents with interesting personalities. Also helpful was the fact that my GM really roleplayed the opponents well.

I found that encounter to be interesting and innovative, and I appreciate the work that went into developing it. The skill check portion was also interesting, though I can see how it might be a bit long. I suspect the final fight might be very challenging for some parties but it wasn't too bad for ours...So I really won't comment much on that.

Also on the positive side, this one seemed to run a bit short. Compared to some of the recent marathons (which are great scenarios, mind you, just long) this one felt refreshingly snappy.

I enjoyed running this adventure. Some old friends, some new faces, and a good story. The story doesn't have as much for adults as Winter Queen's Dollhouse, which is some pretty heavy material under the surface. This one is lighter, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are a couple of "teaching moments" (about concepts like consent) for kids and adults alike, if that's of interest.

Mechanically, the only section I didn't really love was a "three successes before three failures" skill challenge, which took a bit of time to resolve and I was already running pretty late. Run time was just about exactly three hours with six players at high tier.

There are so many interesting characters and stories in this scenario, I really loved those aspects of it. I ran it via play-by-post (high tier), at a rather slow pace, and I felt that it was extremely rewarding. This really allowed time and space to roleplay, and to actually take the time for the characters to understand the narrative.

Mechanically there's really nothing special or peculiar about this scenario (and nothing really wrong with it, but the gamemaster will have to decide how to deal with one encounter). There are some interesting creatures to fight.

Where the scenario really shines is in the story and the characters. But it's not easy on the gamemaster to keep the presentation coherent, so I definitely would not recommend going into this one without a decent grasp of how the different plot elements fit together.

This scenario is a bit long...But it's worth it. It has one of the most fun and innovative encounters I've had so far in PFS, both as a player and GM. I waited for a month or two, looking forward to running it for my local group, and it was completely worth the wait.

It does have a trigger warning which should be heeded, and some pretty dark material. But I liked the encounters, liked the opponents, and enjoyed the characters involved. The setting was also interesting.

Just one thing I recommend: for opponents that are "people," I recommend having an explicit fleeing or surrender threshold. One of my beefs with PFS is that Pathfinders murder people with startling frequency and everyone's just okay with it. Makes more sense if people run away or surrender. As for BBEG, undead, slimes, constructs and such, that doesn't matter to me as much...But the underlings working for BBEG? Yeah they don't get paid enough to die.

I will likely happily replay this one, because I enjoyed the scenario and the story.

The strongest points of this one were the theme, the characters, and the narrative. I especially loved that some player characters got a chance to shine in ways they usually might not (and can't wait to play it with my deckhand!)

I strongly encouraged my players to choose what I felt were the missions that focused on the narrative or introduced new characters. One recommendation I have would be to mark those on the player handouts so players can prioritize them.

Two other innovations I liked were: one of the maps (a player remarked, "this is the first time I've ever seen an encounter like this," and I agree!) Super cool; and, combats counted as 2 successes in reporting, which respects the fact that they take longer. (My table still struggled to finish even one though...) Players remarked that they appreciated the emphasis on diverse non-combat encounters, and I agree with that too.

One recommendation for future specials: maybe "less is more?" Three acts seems like it might be the sweet spot...? Still want enough content for repeated play throughs though, to be fair. (Loved the continuation of the various innovations from PFS2 4-99).

I've run all of the PFS2 specials and this is definitely in the top half, for me, but it's just too much.

One slight modification of my prior review: there is a required combat where the opponents fight until destroyed, with no option as-written to spare them or even really talk with them. Given who they are (I won't spoil it), I would have preferred an option to not kill them. Or at least, if they had a surrender/"wake up and smell the coffee" threshold, that would have been highly preferable. Also, I don't necessarily agree with "crank up the difficulty"; Having nearly TPKed in a special, let's just say that TPKing would not be special.

Further modifications to prior review: I agree with other reviews that state generally, "too many hard cuts." At one point, in order to catch up with the house, I had to quickly resolve an entire mandatory combat encounter with a skill check because there just wasn't enough time to start the fight (let alone to complete it).

When I played this, my GM combined some of the encounters, and it was...Quite challenging. So when I ran it for a party that was fragile, I was a bit careful and let them take time to heal (and Barnaby was just bored). The final encounter can get pretty dangerous if the dice go poorly. The scenario can run long, too, with a lot of combat: it took me five hours for a party of five at the lower end of high tier.

...But the setting and the characters are very worth it! The town of Deadhaven is very creatively put together, with fascinating culture, and some outstanding characters. I hope we get more than the brief glimpse into this place that we had in this scenario.

I've now run this two or three times and played it as well. I was very much looking forward to running it for my regulars, and the game did not disappoint. They had played the season 3 mini-arc that is a prelude to this scenario, so I was happy to finally run it for them. It did take a full five hours, so the game ran a bit longer than I had hoped, but it was worth it.

There are a few harrowing parts of the scenario, but the heroes can have some help from a friend, which might ease the more difficult bits. I encouraged my players to avoid asking for help unless they felt like they really needed it. I agree with other reviewers that some of the DCs are higher than expected, but not unreasonable.

Also of note, the final encounter can be a pretty difficult fight, but it's not super impossible, just satisfying.

This scenario has an interesting structure, giving players the opportunity to pick their preferred tasks. Each group feels interesting to run it for and play it with. My one major issue is the required chase. It's also interesting, since there are some forks in the path. But when each obstacle requires chase points equal to the number of players, it pretty much inevitably bogs down into a death march of just begging the dice for decent rolls. (A player pointed out that with a party of 6, the chase requires a whopping 48 successes. There's really no way for that to not become a quagmire.) I would prefer more dynamic chases with fewer chase points per obstacle. It's also worth noting that this scenario "feels" better doing only three of the tasks rather than four. Four tasks plus all the required bits and pieces seems to drag a little bit.

This scenario is grim and cinematic (it really takes off with a literal bang at a certain point), and I love those parts of it! It's on my list of scenarios for a new player, to set the scene for the year 3 metaplot arcs, but it's not the first one I'd run for them. I also don't agree that repeatables need variable content—I'm happy with a good story, and this scenario has that!

At first I did not love this scenario. But now I've run it a number of times and played it at least once, and I have to say—it's earned its spot on my "must play" list for new players. It's a simple but solid introductory scenario with some skill checks, some fights, and fun characters. Anyone who does any of the year 4 metaplot mini-arcs will appreciate playing this one first (and maybe replaying it later to catch little details you missed). Also, this scenario can run fast, and that's a good thing.

Loved the premise of this one. Loved the story. Love it for the potential it has!

Combat, combat, combat, combat, combat. A few skill checks sprinkled here and there, a diplomatic encounter or two (if you're lucky!) Mostly just combat though. And some interesting ones, but the repetitiveness wears one down a bit.

Still, five stars for the idea and the creativity behind the story, just would love to see a greater diversity of tasks and roleplay.

This was the first special I ever ran, and it's okay. I'd like to go back and give it another try, to see if it picks up a bit. It's solid, not really remarkable but not bad either. My players enjoyed it. I do wish there was more diversity of tasks and roleplay—areas where the newer special shines.

I've run this one about five times so far, and played it once, and I have to say—I don't really get tired of it. It has the epic feel of King in Thorns but with some great innovations and polish. To me, this is a great special; peak multi-table special, even. There are a few well known issues with it (missing bits and pieces) that might never get officially updated, or they might. But overall this special combines great characters with an evolved structure and mechanics, and I hope it will be a template for specials moving forward.

In hindsight, it has not been a template for future specials, but this special has what newer specials somewhat lack: a relatively simple, compelling-ish story. It's not "saving the world," but my understanding is that PFS specials are moving away from that (it's hard to save the world every year). But at least one gets to save part of the world in this scenario.

The story of this one is genuinely moving and sweet. That's what sticks in my mind, both as a player and as a GM: this one made me feel the feelings. I also think it's an interesting and novel structure for a PFS2 scenario.

This scenario is on my "must play" list for players new to Pathfinder Society Organized Play. As another reviewer wrote, whatever it once was, is not what this scenario is today.

The scenario encourages creativity and critical thinking, has some good roleplaying elements, and has some decent and interesting fights, too. It's a good introduction to the Master of Scrolls, Spells, and Sandwiches...Err, Swords, as well.

I agree that it can tend to run long, especially with the encore. I used to encourage the encore, now I am more ambivalent about it because it can turn into too much of a good thing.