Pathfinder Society Scenario #5–07: Port Godless (PFRPG) PDF

This story had plenty of good opportunities for roleplay, investigation, and intrigue... which unfortunately had to be cut short to allow time to penetrate the vast enemy fortress and rescue the scattered prisoners by way of exploring/searching the whole structure.

This latter part of the story was well thought out too, if a bit complex for a GM trying to juggle everything (including the timing, if an alarm is raised)... but there was just so MUCH content that we had to really rush to get through everything in a standard four-hour session. And it's annoying when you have to cut back on the RP to get all the combat in (I'd much prefer the reverse as an option if time is pressing).

Really, there's enough here to be a full-length module. Trying to cram it all into a scenario-length session was difficult, even though the story itself was excellent.

Perspective: GM, five times

Keywords: Deep, Long, Intelligent.

The author has obviously put a lot of effort into the detail of this scenario, such that you feel it should be a much longer module. There are details to cover almost every eventuality including: what happens when PCs break the laws of man, how their actions can influence various outcomes, how to handle several different ways the PCs might go about things, how the encounters change once the alarm is raised, factors affecting how long before the watch arrives, and several other things.

There are 4 to 5 separate role-playing and background establishing scenes if you play out all the investigation scenes in full. This is on top of the combat encounters and other hazards, and at these levels combat encounters can take a long time. In a home game this is likely two full sessions of fun play. The investigation and associated role-play can easily take half of the available time in a fixed time slot. At a game day or convention you will need to streamline the investigation and maintain a sense of urgency and focus for the entire scenario or this will run very long indeed (or more likely get called). It is likely very intense and tiring for the GM.

There are a nice mix of intelligent and dynamic encounters and intelligent defenses with some that could be challenging for an unprepared party.

For GMs there is a _lot_ of detail that you need to be read and understand how the scenario plays out and all the interrelationships. This takes well above average prep time, and several reads to get your head around all of it. The higher subtier with 5+ players can be particularly challenging to run quickly due to the nature of the final encounter.

In summary: Cool setting with a lot of interesting background detail and intelligent encounters, though I suspect most folks won’t get to experience the full scenario due to time pressure causing it to be cut short.

At low subtier you likely need well in excess of 5 hours and at high subtier with 5+ players well in excess of 6 hours to run this in its entirety.

This scenario is superb as a drop in adventure to a home campaign. As a time limited scenario it's too big and complicated.

Run as a leisurely and long home game I give it 5 stars, as long as the GM is prepared to invest the above average prep-time. In a time limited slot you will really struggle to fit this in, even with streamlining, and so I rate it 4 stars for typical PFS play.

I ran this with a party that included an aasimar paladin, a tiefling paladin, an aasimar sorceress, a human fighter and a gnome bard. The scenario set-up was the longest ever, because of some great in-character discussions on exactly what is illegal in Rahadoum and how it would affect their characters. This is a great scenario for roleplaying, and also for divine characters to really have some moments to shine outside of their usual role of "heal-smite-repeat".

GMs need to prep this one thoroughly, though - there are a lot of reactive elements where things change based on what the players do when, to the point that the encounter areas on the map change completely. You need to know who does what when, so you know what the party sees when they enter a room. You also want to research Rahadoum and its "Laws of Man", and consider how this affects divine characters - don't derive it at the table, plan out how this will work in advance because there is a lot of grey area in how you handle it.

Plus, iconic characters from fiction! We had one paladin ask for an autograph at one point.

Okay, before I go any further I must say Rahadoum is probably my fave nation in Golarion. Its combination of Mal-theism and Moroccan feel just does it for me.

Port Godless is at it's heart a 'rescue' mission but it is so much more than that. Trailing Eando Kline (again!) the party must not only avoid espousing their religious beliefs but also attempt a peaceful resolution (if possible) with the locals. The fact that Season 5 is allowing people to avoid combat is a breath of fresh air, and at the same time, its actually giving the people who just build for combat and nothing else a bit of a burden that Im glad they are carrying.

Planning the assault is certainly within the grasp of most players, but it really lets people come up with some Ingenious ways of getting the job done.

Finally the Daemons get a reveal. Ive never really looked at them or seen them in PFS before. They certainly gave my players a run for their money.

All in all an engaging, atmospheric look at a nation/city that is different from most.

There is a lot of opportunity for role playing. The combats are well balanced and though out allowing for the DM to move things around. There not just stuck in there rooms if something happens.
My players hade fun, and so did I. Over all I can say this is one of the best written scenarios I have run.