A Pathfinder Society Special designed for levels 1-11.
The Ruby Phoenix Tournament is nigh, and organizations and individuals throughout the Inner Sea are scrambling to secure a spot in the legendary Tian fighting competition, among them the Pathfinder Society. In an underground qualifier event overseen by an enigmatic old monk and his oni spokesman, the Pathfinders must overcome the opposition to ensure the Society can send representatives to distant Goka to compete in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament itself. Battles will rage and blood will flow under the streets of Absalom, and only the greatest combatants will emerge victorious.
Note: Blood Under Absalom is designed for play in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. It may be run anywhere by anyone, as long as there are 5 tables playing the scenario simultaneously and are in contact with each other. To inquire about access to this scenario, refer to the Organized Play Convention Support Policy.
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I played this special today, together with around 26 to 28 others today in the Netherlands. As is the case with all the specials, you're bound to have a lot of fun simply because you can interact with other tables, as well as creating mayhem and mischief for everyone else. It's silly, it's hilarious and based on that alone I have to recommend this special in general.
That aside, I do have some issues with this special, three issues to be precise. The first is the fact that the amount of time per section is simply too short. We barely had time to actually roleplay things, something we would have liked to do. Now things just ended too quickly and honestly ruined some of the fun. This is more problematic if you take issue number two in account: other tables crushed their opponents so quickly, that we only had one round against our opponent before we already got to move on. So there we were, ready to swing at the big guy since we had just buffed ourselves, we move in for the kill and.. the guy surrenders and we get to move on already. Yea, that's no fun.
My third issue is that the plot seemed utterly random and didn't make a lot of sense. Maybe this was because of stressed for time we were, but to me it seemed as if they had a lot of fun ideas for encounters and just decided to put them all together, only to create some story to make sense of it later. That said, certain parts were unique and a lot of fun. It's a shame it needed a fair bit of explanation and if you combine that with a small time window, you might not get to get the full experience (and entertainment) out of it, which really is a shame.
So, it's essentially a meatgrinder that can be really fun, but really suffers on the time-aspect. For a scenario, that's a mere 3 stars. However if you want to have a good time, participating in a Special is always a recommendation. This might not be the best Special out there, but you are still guaranteed to have fun.
Let me start by saying that it was fun. I had a great time running a tier 3-4 table, and my players seemed to have a great time playing it. I second a lot of what the other reviewers have said about the creative and challenging encounters, and the opera scene went much better than I could have ever hoped. Two of my players got really into the Clown roles and the rest enjoyed beating the tar out of some Aspis goons.
That said, when it came time to hand out chronicles, there was a resounding feeling of "That's it?" There are no "Found Items" on the chronicle. All you get is the standard tier appropriate amount of gold, and a one time (more at higher tiers) use boon with a very narrow focus.
I haven't played or ran a more recent Special to know how it compares, but the reward for this one was underwhelming and a sour note to an otherwise good scenario.
I played this at subtier 8-9 with a rogue (me), sorcerer, summoner, and zen archer monk. Our group was one of 5 or 6 tables at a convention simultaneously running the event. Our venture captain was the timekeeper and would stand up and read text to split up waves and parts of the scenario. The effect was pretty awesome.
PROs:
I thought the opera part was cool---not completely original and unheard of but different enough to be memorable.
There were some interesting combats. I liked the combination of teamwork and situations in which individuals were largely on their own.
CONs:
I felt like the ending was rushed due to the amount of encounters we had to squeeze into a relatively short amount of time. Our group blew through a couple of encounters and found a few others a little more challenging to get done in time.
This special was interesting to run. It had alot of good elements, the players that were familiar with Tian Xia loved the lore and the creatures from Tian Xia. I felt that the different elements of battle were cool and unique but the last part, I felt, had to be really portrayed a certain way or the players just ignore the creatures and try to touch the creature at end. As well, if you don't have a balanced group, the end fight could and probably would be mean.
Product page now live! Feel free to discuss the special and review it here. It will remain exclusive to conventions and special game days until August of next year, when it will be available for general purchase. To schedule this scenario at your local Pathfinder Society event, please contact campaign management at pathfindersociety@paizo.com.
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Have there been any changes made to it since Gen Con?
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