Pathfinder Society Scenario #5–04: The Stolen Heir (PFRPG) PDF

I played this a year back and now I'm reading it through with an eye to GMing it. It was in fact the first PFS scenario I played, and also with a paladin. After seeing quite a few "paladin panic" threads, I was a bit nervous about what it'd be like to play a paladin in PFS.

This was a really fun scenario to play. We had a nice GM who brought the tale in a pretty upbeat manner, and we had generally nice-people PCs all, so that pushed us to approach this scenario in one way. Now that I'm reading it, I see it would also work well for a much more cynical party, leading to a different ending but also achieving mostly complete success.

I'm particularly impressed by the mood and humanity of the scenario. It's got a very post-Revolution US vibe to it; the whole thing is still new, working out the kinks, and not everyone is playing nice. There's idealism and conspiracies both. People make mistakes because they're human. These aren't black and white villains and heroes.

"Under the hood", it's a somewhat railroady investigation, but not annoyingly so, because the direction of the trail makes sense. I think it's a good investigatory adventure for players who aren't hard-nosed veterans of the genre. The combats aren't really difficult or grim. Again, that's very beginner-friendly.

I certainly plan to run this.

I may be biased towards this one because I have run it three times. It's an investigative scenario. It's possible for it to feel railroady, as there is a clear direction to go, and most groups will do things in mostly the same order, but there is some freedom to investigate and look around to try to uncover what's going on. There are some surprises, although many people who either see them coming or think they saw them coming (because we have all heard many kidnapping stories over the years, and there are only so many plot twists you can do with them after a while), although I have seen some groups speculating that what's really going on isn't what's really going on. There are a few NPCs in this one that are fun to play as well.

The combats are fairly lightweight in this one. Indeed, depending on your group's approach, it's almost possible to get through it with but one (not very hard) combat, roleplaying your way through the other encounters. To my mind, this is a plus, but if you're the sort who likes a meat grinder with hardcore combat from beginning to end, you're probably not going to find this scenario to your tastes.

Played this scenario last night at low tier.

I do enjoy investigative scenarios but PFS never seems to get them right. They are either too difficult (throaty mermaid) or, as in this case, just far too easy. You're pretty much told where to look in the opening monologue.

The only thing that saved this scenario for me was the interaction and roleplay. Rarely do I find I get to put across my character's own POV and really come out as anything other than a set of numbers but this scenario allowed me to let lose with that.

I think that Stolen Heir is a great scenario for starting players as they get both roleplay and combat in fair measure.

I love a good social scenario, as my reviews indicate. Why did this one get a low rating, then? Sadly, it's because the railroad is so obvious in this one. You go to A, then go to B, then go to C, then go to D. You can't mix it up. The party really doesn't have many choices at all. The combat is fairly weak too, despite the use of some overpowered classes. If your GM is really good, this can stand out, but I personally prefer Scars of the Third Crusade.

I have both played and run this, and I would rate this at 4.5 stars if possible.

The storyline here is one of the best of season 5, though it might take a little extra work from the GM to fully communicate it to the PCs. The potential to solve multiple encounters without combat is always welcome, and the NPCs have interesting motivations that can lead to great encounters in the hands of a GM with good roleplaying skills.

The highlight of this scenario is how well it does at presenting morally ambiguous situation that does not feel contrived. The characters are presented with strong arguments from both sides. The somewhat competing Taldan and Andoran faction objectives add more complexity to the situation as well, and I would always endeavor to have one of each at a table when this is run. The final encounter is memorable and difficult, especially at 4-5 tier, and takes place in an interesting location that has effects on the combat.

The scenario loses half a star for one encounter. Not only does it have only a tenuous connection to the plot and setting, but it does not provide a mechanical challenge either. Normally, this would only be a minor issue, but depending on how the players resolve the scenario, this could be the final encounter as well. Such a situation cuts combat-oriented players out of the most interesting combat in the scenario, and leaves story-oriented players without a strong climax to the story.