Nearly every nation has contributed to the Mendevian Crusade, but few are willing to send additional aid to assist the Pathfinder Society directly. Owed a favor the elves cannot refuse, Pathfinders travel to Kyonin to secure a force of some of the finest demon-hunters in Avistan only to find that the hunters are missing in action. Can the Pathfinders extract the lost elves from the depths of Tanglebriar, or will they become the latest casualties of Treerazer’s domain?
Written by Ryan Costello, Jr.
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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Played this scenario and had a great time! The author does an excellent job of conveying just how deadly and horrifying this area can be. The scenario includes interesting combats, some roleplaying, and non-combat challenges that, with a little creativity, can let seldom-used capabilities shine.
Word of Warning: Bring your A-game. If you want a relaxed night of roleplaying and bulldozing combats, this is not the scenario you're looking for.
The adventure was well put together, it was fun, it had a good range of encounters and gave the feeling of continuously being stuck in a horrible place with us being eroded away slowly.
From a story perspective, and encounter perspective, it was fresh and interesting and I thought the whole thing fit together very well.
The initial encounter could very easily turn into a TPK, if not making an early night for at least one or two players, this might cause a degree of upset, and I thought (personally) it was a bit harsh.
We were playing up (with a 4 pers adjust) and as a Pre-gen Valeros (L7) there was really no way to contribute to this adventure other than to simply absorb damage while the rest of the party did the heavy lifting, and our Cleric (also L7 pregen) didn't last the first attack. So my message there would be to simply abstain from a pre-gen if playing the 10-11 tier as it wont be productive in any of the encounters - you just wont have the chops.
Overall though, I did like this scenario, I had a great time with a fun crew and would rate the experience well - I just had to take a star back because of the opener and the arbitrary curb-stomp it opens with.
This was quite an fun scenario that was really brought to life by our VC, had quite a few of us concerned at the early stages that we might all be dead in the first encounter, but after a couple of rounds and some good tactical positioning things stabilised and we managed to get through it.
The rest of the scenario is a flavorful romp through the tanglebriar, the encounters are what you should expect for a 10-11 tough encounters that test the limits of your adaptability.
All in all well worth playing and definately worth running for your friends
I played this at Canberra Spring Con and ran it at Demonomania. Both sessions were an absolute blast. The encounters were appropriate terrifying, given the nightmarish location, and as a player, I felt genuinely scared for my character's life knowing that he was in an area where horrific things could and likely would happen.
As a GM, I'm proud that I seemed to give my players that same sense of terror that the excellent Mr Buters had provided me, and I could feel their sense of achievement at the end when they finally realised, to be swiftly followed by much cheering, that they had succeeded.
In short, if you think you can just go wandering into the tanglebriar without proper advance preparation, you're going to get a rude awakening for which you should be grateful. It'll improve your game.
Wow, this one comes out of the box screaming - easily one of my favourite sessions of the con. Great cinematic opening.
Ok so without giving anything away it's a bit tough but this one has everything; an involving story, an Elven Queen and the Tanglebriar...
I am looking forward to running it for my tables - When running I'll make sure that everyone is paying attention in the briefing and make I on top of the running tactics combat, as it's challenging that's for sure (a real brown shorts moment).
At the end of the session we had a real sense of accomplishment as it brought everyone together.
I've never played Pathfinder Society, probably won't get the chance to for the foreseeable future, but I think I'm going to buy this anyway. After listening to all of "Know Direction" over the summer, I'm really curious to read some of Ryan's writing.
While no motivation to buy this is unwarrented, Nate, I recommend you give PFS a try. Heck, if you're buying this scenario anyway, offer to run The Elven Entanglement at your FLGS. Most regions have a core group of veterans begging for higher tier scenarios.
Give it the Wild Speech feat. People so rarely expect an otyugh to talk; it would blow their minds to hear a bear talk and then find out that the bear is an otyugh...that can also talk.
I think I'm gonna buy this and work it into my home campaign -- the PCs just happen to be in the Tanglebriar right now, and in need of building some trust with the elves of Kyonin.
EDIT: And I am a Know Direction/Private Sanctuary fan, and want to throw some business Ryan's way!
Does this scenario have any recommended factions? I haven't seen any mentioned anywhere...yet.
If not, does this mean that Season 5 Tier 7-11 scenarios will follow a slightly different paradigm than the lower tiers have so far, or does this fall under the category of "one does not constitute a pattern"? :P
Does this scenario have any recommended factions? I haven't seen any mentioned anywhere...yet.
If not, does this mean that Season 5 Tier 7-11 scenarios will follow a slightly different paradigm than the lower tiers have so far, or does this fall under the category of "one does not constitute a pattern"? :P
TIA!
Not every scenario will have a faction-related opportunity. It so happens that #5–05 does not have such a faction goal, and I'm sure that there will be others—not all of them Tier 7-11—that will similarly have no faction association.
Does this scenario have any recommended factions? I haven't seen any mentioned anywhere...yet.
If not, does this mean that Season 5 Tier 7-11 scenarios will follow a slightly different paradigm than the lower tiers have so far, or does this fall under the category of "one does not constitute a pattern"? :P
TIA!
Not every scenario will have a faction-related opportunity. It so happens that #5–05 does not have such a faction goal, and I'm sure that there will be others—not all of them Tier 7-11—that will similarly have no faction association.
Except, of course, for those of us with Lantern Bearer characters who see this entire scenario as one big glorious opportunity to do some work for their true faction. ^w^
Thanks lastblacknight. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed the scenario so far. Sorry for those who fell victim to an early encounter, although from one of the write-ups, I can see an error or two the GM made that increased the lethality of the encounter exponentially. I’ve posted some advice for GMs thinking of running this scenario in the thread in the Pathfinder Society GM Discussion forum.
I'm running this tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it. I think I might bring a copy of Queen of Thorns to lend to anyone who seemed incredibly into the setting.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Typo
Spoiler:
The Briarborn Juggernaut (a not quite advanced version of the Titan Centipede) Didn't have the fact that it can not be tripped in the CMB/CMD section. I assume that the same would apply as it did in the lower tier monster.
Animate Dead on Briarborn Juggernaut. It's a horsey!
You may need to consider how to handle that. Our GM had to take a break to figure out what would happen. And we still ended up effectively ignoring a large part of the module. Official ruling may be necessary.
You may need to consider how to handle that. Our GM had to take a break to figure out what would happen. And we still ended up effectively ignoring a large part of the module. Official ruling may be necessary.
Not official, but...
Spoiler:
Given how many reviews mention that the first encounter led to a TPK, I think this is a just reward for a well fought encounter.
I have personally witnessed that tactic once and read about it happening on two other occasions. It's not a tactic available to every party, and just happens to make a few parts of the scenario easier.
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