A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.
After countless divinations and the efforts of undercover agents throughout Varisia, the Pathfinder Society has discovered the location of the last component needed to awaken a sleeping runelord. In a mad dash to beat the cult of Lissala to this ancient Thassilonian ruin, the Pathfinders must do whatever it takes to ensure they and not the evil cultists acquire the power within. But the arcane components are not unguarded, and even after 10,000 years, the cost of ensuring the safety of the region could be higher than the veteran adventurers are prepared or willing to pay.
Written by John Compton.
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.
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I have mixed feelings about this scenario. On one hand, it certainly felt epic at times. On the other hand, I felt way out of my league, the combat encounters were too challenging, even for a well built party of 6 including an extremely twinked out PC. We also went overtime and had no chance of finishing the scenario, it was just too long.
The introduction took too long and was confusing, it really needed a hand out. The first encounter could have been interesting but any nuances were lost because of the background noise of the venue. I thought the puzzle was good and themed well (and we solved it quickly). Some of the combats took more time than normal (cat and mouse). Everything else was OK until the optional encounter, which proceeded to kick our butts. We didn't get to the final encounter, but it was obvious (to me) we were going to get smushed if we didn't run out of time.
”Detailed Rating”:
Length: Extremely long (5+ hours). For our group, this scenario should have taken 7 hours (if we finished it at all, lol). Our GM made the mistake of using the optional encounter in a 5 hour slot because we had 2 hours left. Big mistake, we didn't finish that encounter or the last encounter. The players were fast, it just took that long.
Experience: Player at subtier 10-11 with 6 well built PCs, one of them twinked.
Sweet Spot: TBD.
Entertainment: The combat felt overwhelming to me (we ran after the surprise round in one encounter). Either our twink archer destroyed everything or we were in trouble. Feeling like an ineffective glorified punching bag is not what I'm looking for in an RPG. One PC should have died if he didn't have an obscure magic item. (5/10)
Story: Most of the story elements were themed well, but weren't done justice in a noisy venue. (8/10)
Roleplay: Some interesting choices, but again the noisy venue didn't help. (8/10)
Combat/Challenges: Fun puzzle, but the combats felt too challenging to me. I know a lot of creatures were summoned, but it felt like a monster menagerie at times. Too many encounters. (5/10)
Maps: OK but nothing to get excited about. (7/10)
Boons: A powerful boon setting us up for failure at a later date. All hail Krune! (10/10)
Uniqueness: The best part of this scenario are the encounters at the start and end. (8/10)
Faction Missions: Don't remember and I'm not 100% sure we even had time for them. (7/10)
Overall: The puzzles and roleplaying were good but made the session last more than 5 hours. The combats made my PC yearn for retirement, but not in a good/fun way. (7/10)
I really enjoyed this scenario. It had some of my favorite things to encounter:
1. A high-stakes role-playing encounter with a memorable NPC.
2. A unique puzzle with a solution that fits together very well.
3. Lots of lore that only gets cooler the more you think about. My GM did a great job passing out the Thasslonian lore...and what it might mean for Golarion today.
An excellent piece to what has been a fantastic high-tier arc.
Challenging and Dangerous (and will likely Run Long!)
To be fair, this was my first 7-11 in PFS. So take what I say with that in mind. I am going to attempt to get through this without any major spoilers (or even minors if I can veil them enough).
I did prepare this scenario pretty well, and planned how each of the 2 "guaranteed" fights I thought were going to be played out—either if the players played up or played down in this scenario. So I knew the special powers of both types pretty well and knew how to play them "smart".
In doing so, I think the first fight inside took over 1.25 hours...and still 1/2 of the baddies "fled" to be able to be used at the end of the scenario—which never materialized.
The 2nd fight TBH I think the party (who played up) just didn't have enough "power" to take the baddies without being completely decimated. Thankfully two of the players were able to flee into another area and were able to at least complete the mission.
I had to call the game because of time (missing out on the optional and last end problem), depriving the players of almost ½ the gold.
Ranking
Story 4/5
I thought it was well written, and explained enough to be interesting. Didn’t get a 5 star because I think the beginning briefing could/should have gone deeper into Thassalonia lore. Some people haven’t played/read things like Rise of the Runelords.
Setting 4/5
A good setting, and I thought decently well described, but loses a star for the same as above.
Role-play-ability 4.5/5
Two encounters have LOTS of RP, which if prepped are a LOT of fun…though I wish there was some way to talk out of one of the two fights I mentioned above. I am all about good RP trumping a forced encounter.
Combat 5/5 +
If you GM this you HAVE to read and plan tactics. That makes this game…if you don’t realize the baddies powers and what you can do with it, the players could walk right through them instead of being forced to fight within an inch of their lives.
After playing this I would like to give a review this as a player.
Also I had a very prepped GM. This made a fun game.
Story 5/5
The story was well done,
Setting 4/5
So simple put, I think their was allot of Thassalonian lore that will be missed by new players. I would recommend to GM's to have a NPC give some historical details about the site.
Role-play-ability 5/5 Most of the creatures have great ability to interact with the NPC's. This is why season 4 is better than the past.
Combat 5/5 I would say perfect difficulty, my party played up. We are experienced players. Though we didn't complete the last encounter, we ran with zero deaths.
Suitability 4/5 I am not sure how much of this could be used for a none PFS game, a GM could easily change the general location. Though the location is such a great part of this scenario.
Had the pleasure to run this and I really enjoyed it I would say it is more like 4-1/2 stars but rounded it up to 5 in the final rating. I for one thought that the challenge and setting fit very well with the build up to season 4's ending. It has some great artwork included that gm's should print to help set the stage for players & would love to see more things like that in future scenarios.
I would loved to have had more time when I ran it but with the time we had I was able to keep things going and finish in about 5:45 with no break and the optional encounter skiped. I'm thinking that this goes right to the top of the list of games I will be running at home with less restrictive finish time. I don't think that the game would be run properly in less then 5 hours so to do it justice I don't recommend scheduling it in tight time restrictions
It takes a fair amount of prep to get this game ready with many different skills and abilities that a GM needs to understand. I saw that the other review was a 1 star and honestly I don't think that that is fair if the GM was under prepared.
Reasons this was not a full 5 star rating
-Its long...with the optional and the amount of roleplay involved it would run 7+ hours unrestricted. Because of that it felt a bit forced to get as much done as possible within the time allowed.
As I read the description, my impression is that the Pathfinder Society is keen on making sure the cultists of Lissala DON'T acquire the power do so so more than it is a wish by the Pathfinder Society to awaken a Runelord.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Forgive me for this possibly dumb question, but as I don't play PFS and don't know much about its inner workings, I may have missed something.
This scenario bears on its cover a plaque "Year of the Risen Rune". So do some of the other scenarios of season 4, but not all by far. I know that this is the "motto" of the season, bu I am curious: why is this plaque only applied to some of the season's scenarios?
Each Pathfinder Society scenario is designed to be run as a separate event. Each season share a metaplot and some themes, but not all scenarioes will follow that theme.
Each scenario starts with a briefing from a Venture Captain. Some times he might reference an earlier scenario: "A. Team of agents figured out that (something). Now we need you to follow up and do (this)."
A player who played the referenced scenario might recognize it, but not playing the scenarios in succession would not change the enjoyment.
In season 4 there are two story arcs - one for low level players and one for high level, so you could run one of the arcs as some sort of campaign.
