A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 3–7.
The Decemvirate sends members of the Pathfinder Society to the former crown jewel of Ustalav's royal courts, the decaying city of Ardis. Tasked by the Society to look into the fate of Absalom's former Master of Blades, Vonran Vilk, what they find will lead to exploration, diplomacy, murder, haunted pasts, and tragic love. Can the PCs stop the rampage of the Midnight Mauler before he kills again?
"The Midnight Mauler" was originally an exclusive adventure, run only by 4-star Pathfinder Society GMs, Venture-Captain and Venture-Lieutenant campaign volunteers, and Paizo staff for its first year, but has been revised and updated for public release
Written by Crystal Frasier.
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 Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Note: This scenario has been updated from its exclusive version for public release. Purchasers have access to both the exclusive version released as Pathfinder Society Scenario #2–EX and Pathfinder Society Scenario #3–16, but as of February 29, 2012, only the latter is legal for Pathfinder Society organized play. Except for minor changes involving faction missions and general copyediting, both versions of the scenario are the same; only the legal version of the scenario contains a Chronicle sheet.
Product Availability
Fulfilled immediately.
Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at
store@paizo.com.
I played the high tier version of this scenario as the Kyra pregen. It was one of the first PFS games I ever played. I had a lot of fun, particularly with investigating grisly murders in the dark heart of gothic Ustalav. There was a time limit, significant player challenges both with combat and roleplay, and an interesting chase scene toward the end. Mauler leaves room for player creativity and there is more than one solution to the main problem. I highly recommend this scenario!
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.
I almost gave this scenario 1 star but I felt it wouldn't be fair to penalize the whole module for the "chase map". However, after experiencing one "chase map", I would have appreciated it someone told me upfront before I played a scenario if there was a "chase map" so that I could avoid it. As such, consider yourself warned about the "chase map" - if you dislike it strongly as I do, this is probably a module to avoid.
In any case, I did not read this scenario and only played it so can only comment based upon it accordingly. Needless to say, since there is a "chase map" in it, I don't intend to ever read or DM it. However, I felt the story was very well designed and the NPCs possessed detailed backgrounds and were sympathetic. I really enjoyed the werewolf story and character motivations. Also, some of the faction missions did have interesting twists.
Spoiler:
Admittedly, if I was going to read a chase map scenario - this would probably be the one. There is a romantic relationship in it and I love it when they include elements like that in the story. It also does have some more mature situations which I think is quite admirable of Paizo to address.
I've run this scenario 22 times now and I am still not tired of it. It has a simple plot and moves very fast without seeming like a railroad. The combat elements are a let-down but the strength of the scenario's role-play elements make up for the short fights. I enjoy running this scenario because the objectives allow for the players to be creative with their problem-solving. The scenario allows the GM a lot of flexibility to improvise and have a lot of fun. The faction missions are good for the most part, a step up from what has become the status quo. The campaign setting flavor takes some work on the GM's part in order to bring to the surface. I highly recommend that any GM prepping to run this get a copy of Rule of Fear and especially make an effort to read the section on Ardis. Overall it's a very entertaining scenario and worth the effort to prep and run as much as possible.
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Azmyth wrote:
A re-issue?
Really?!
:(
Actually very disappointed about this.
I was under the impression this was a Bonus Scenario.
Upset this counts as one of the 2 scenarios released this month.
Will post later in the Forums to suggest they rethink the purpose of the Bonus 4 star Scenario if this is what is going to happen with future ones.
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
I'm probably one of about three people who cares about this for OCD/completionist reasons, but will http://paizo.com/products/btpy8iqn nonetheless be available for purchase in addition to the re-release of the scenario?
The plan is to treat the version released as 2–EX as a legacy version, like we did with the 3.5 version of Mists of Mwangi. In this case, we'll remove the Chronicle sheet from the version that's no longer legal for play, and bundle that PDF for free with this one. That way folks can only really run the revised version (with additional faction missions for the new factions and other small editorial changes) while having the exclusive version for their collections.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Mark Moreland wrote:
Nope. It will be available before the end of the day for us here in Seattle, though.
So only people in Seattle will be able to Purchase this today?... ;)
Umm... The chronicle sheet says Midnight Mirror... Just thought you'd like to know. :)
This has been corrected. If you downloaded the original version, you should repersonalize and download the file again to get the corrected Chronicle sheet. No other content in the scenario has changed.
That's odd. There's a chronicle sheet in the version I just downloaded. Did you open the right version? When you download the scenario, you actually get two versions - the S2 EX version and the S3 #16 version.
The Chronicle sheet was removed from the version with the blue cover (2–EX), as that version is no longer legal for play. The current release with the green cover (3–16) is legal and has a Chronicle sheet.
There seems to be some discrepancies of Markov's gender. In the faction missions and certain parts of the summary it lists and refers to Markov as "Her" and "She" but in the game he's male. I ran it as a guy because further in the scenario it actually talks about him more, is this right?
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