A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 7th level characters (Tiers: 1–2, 3–4, and 6–7).
When Pathfinder alchemist Andrax d'Aponte contracted a mysterious wasting sickness, he set his mind to feverishly researching the disease and its cures. With the rare skeleton moon hanging in the sky above Absalom, the Decemvirate sends you to an ancient siege castle outside the city to recover d'Aponte's research notes and inquire about his involvement in recent Pathfinder deaths in Osirion. What you find, however, is a man changed by madness and paralyzed by paranoia and fear. Will you survive the night of the skeleton moon?
Written by Benjamin Wenham
This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the 3.5 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game.
This scenario was retired from Pathfinder Society Organized Play on November 15, 2010. After November 15, 2010, it will no longer be legal for Pathfinder Society Organized Play and will no longer be available in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play reporting system.
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This product has been retired.
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This adventure is not 100% linear. That's a plus.
It's got a great feel of venturing in the lion's den and a climatic, darn cool showdown. Fast-paced and fun, for both players and DMs.
However: It's difficult. My players are no wusses and 2 of them nearly got killed while fleeing in the end.
A great scenario for those who think that most of the others are too easy, bland or lacking a cinematic climax.
My only (and minor) gripe with it is its title. "Skeleton Moon" evokes associations of Groetus and there is a distinct lack of the god of end-times in this module.
Challenging to run and play -- but can work out OK with investment
This module is one of the classic ones where play balance and some map issues really skew what is otherwise a fairly creative and possibly fun adventure.
I've played this mod and seen it run (ran it myself once, seen it 2 other times) and I believe in every case we've had a player death or come darn close. This module has some very swingy encounters, that can go either way; it really depends on party composition.
Re-runs of this mod with conversions to the new rules and Bestiary can really fix it -- there are strong balance issues at Tiers 3-4 and 6-7, that a rework of a single monster (as pictured on the cover) can help with. I'd also suggest prospective GMs read the product discussion thread and clarifications on intent of the author. I'd also suggest re-drawing the contained maps and expanding the general area of the tower rooms -- the courtyard map in particular needs to be a bit larger if players are expected to have more than one course of action in a key encounter.
The fun portion of this mod comes from playing up a few encounters that could otherwise just be boring combats -- how they are presented can make a big difference, and you have to play up the descriptions and NPC interactions to maximum effect.
A meat & potatoes scenario, lacking flavor & spice.
I was a little disappointed in this scenario. The story was a little lacking and largely the PCs had no impact on the outcome which gave it more of a railroad-ish feeling. Although there are a few moments of role-playing, it would not occur to most players what specific actions are needed to affect outcomes later down the line. And when those moments do occur they are rather brief. Atmosphere and tone of the scenario was tepid and didn't really highlight any particular aspects of Golarion's cultures, gods, history, political standings, nations, interesting characters, etc. Further, I was disappointed in the faction quests as some of them were nearly identical and didn't help develop sub-plots to enrich NPCs or flesh out the larger plot. Outside of expected party roles and normal role-playing skills, there really wasn't much effort made to generate moments for individual classes to flex their non-combat abilities. I think I counted a single skill check for the entire scenario.
Overall, I felt like the scenario was a good start but needed to have more flavor by adding in more investigative elements to hint at what is to come, and to reveal what motivates the NPCs. On a positive note the monsters were great fun and should give the players a run for their money.
Don't worry, if your players show up an hour late, don't worry. If it takes forever to draw the map, don't worry. Some ones girlfriend/wife/best friend/mom calls, don't worry. Unless someone has to be rushed to the hospital you'll have plenty of time. It took me longer to prep this adventure and drive to the store than it to run it. Also at low levels a lot has to be forgiven or else it makes no sense. The box text is wonderful (kept it from getting 1 star) as is the creepy setting but even with struggling with the organization it was over in less than two hours. The combats are challenging for four low level players but don't play up.
The title Skeleton Moon would indicate this has something to do with Groetus. But surprise surprise, it has *nothing* to do with Groetus!
Where as the scenario is alright, the map is yet again over-complicated and stupid. I can't fathom what's so nice about round rooms in a D&D/PFRPG environment, which mainly uses a grid? I would also argue the encounters are way too deadly for the appropriate tier.
This scenario would also benefit a lot from diplomatic encounters.
I've been promising to pick this one up since I heard ol' Ben Wenham was writing a Society adventure. He was the first person to pay me for art, EVER, and an awesome guy to boot (and ladies, he's single! :D ). Even those reasons aside, it sounds like an AWESOME adventure.
Now it's my time to put money towards YOU, sir! :D
Ben,
great job writing the adventure! Hope you like what I did with the final cartography. :)
I recently started producing the maps for Paizo's Pathfinder Society Scenerios so let me know if you have any crits or suggestions about the finished work.
great job writing the adventure! Hope you like what I did with the final cartography. :)
I recently started producing the maps for Paizo's Pathfinder Society Scenerios so let me know if you have any crits or suggestions about the finished work.
Thank you Mike.
I have now seen the final thing. You managed to capture the character of the site perfectly, i hope my sketch wasn't to hard to work from.
It was a very pleasant suprise to see your very recognisable and awesome cartography style putting flesh onto Flint Tower.
My favourite of the five played this weekend, partly due to the creepy atmosphere of the goings-on, partly due to the DM (Rob Silk) hamming it up for all he was worth, and partly for some amusing co-players.
Apparently, clerics of Desna do not consider 'being a mime' to be a capital offence, or feel that 'skewering him, for creeping me out' to be a justifiable response.
My players felt this was good fun. Merely the threat of the advanced assassin vine was enough to send them scurrying into the ambush outside of the fort.
The looks on their faces when the vine followed them outside was precious, even if it was just going for a walk.
I told you Ben and just for the record, for me this was a great little scenario. It was tight, easy to run and some lovely moments. The players made me act out the mannikin dance twice! because they enjoyed the last bit so much.
I can see why this won the competition, keep at it, I'd willingly run your stuff again.
I can see how TPK's occur but my guys acted sensible and that made all the difference. Some fights should be avoided.
And now, six years after publishing, I finally read through this one and have a question: Why is it called "Skeleton Moon"?
Yes, there's a mystery play that says the timing of the transformation ritual is important--but what, exactly, makes the current date a "rare event"? What is a Skeleton Moon?
