Pathfinder Society Scenario #49: Among the Dead (PFRPG) PDF

I had fun. but the traps were relentless and painful. I went unconscious twice.

I disliked this scenario quite a bit. It starts off well enough, but the dungeon delve part is unimaginative and repetitive.

The endless amount of traps setup old-school 1E and 2E style was a major turn off. It felt like a trap showed up every few hundred feet. It seems odd that cultists would have the time to setup traps in their very own lair without an easy way to get out. Using the same trap about 10 times certainly contributed to problems. The end monster that could not leave his lair was also ill-conceived. If it cannot get out, why do we need to defeat it? The lead cultist turned comic relief was completely out of place. If this scenario was supposed to be a suspenseful dungeon delve, a comic relief provided by the scenario did not help. He made sneaking around impossible, and we could not get rid of him without killing him.

This is a very oddly written scenario that my group did not enjoy.

This is a very interesting scenario to run. There are plenty of opportunities for the GM to roleplay and entertain his/her players. There are also a lot of opportunities to utterly annihilate a party of adventurers.

There are traps all over, some active and some tripped, that will make your players paranoid or angry. The traps also work to slow down play some. The story is entertaining but gets lost in all of the perception checks and questions about traps.

All-in-all, I enjoyed running the scenario but I think my players felt differently.

First, this is a complex scenario to GM. I really don't believe it is a bad scenario, but it is an unforgiving scenario. I would not recommend this scenario as an introduction to PFS (but I would recommend Among the Living). I feel that if you understand Pathfinder Society and can remember playing Among the Living, you will really enjoy playing Among the Dead. On the other hand, if you DON'T know jack about Zyphus and his cult you may get the feeling that this scenario is out to kill your PC. I call it 'death by die roll and resource drain'. However, there is some great campaign world flavor throughout this scenario. One of the monsters featured is a blast from the past and will be tough for players to metagame. The faction missions were typical, nothing to get excited over. I will close with "When's the sequel Josh!?"

This was the very first Pathfinder society scenario I've played in. I say that up front as a disclosure before I review it.

I was not enamoured by my time spent in Zyphus's hideout. I realize what the purpose of the hideout was but it just didn't click with me. It felt like I was wandering through a dungeon with randomly generated encounters and traps. Yes, there is a loose thread tying it all together, but I thought that the story lacked due to being quickly shuffled from one thing to another.

All that being said, there was a bright point. The NPC that tags along with you was brilliant. I'm not sure how much of this quirky character was good writing versus our GM's roleplaying but I thought this guy was hilarious.

I guess whether you like this scenario or not depends upon what type of game you prefer. If you're a fan of old school roleplaying you'll probably like it. It just wasn't for me.