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Pathfinder Society Scenario #5–08: The Confirmation (PFRPG) PDF

4.40/5 (based on 39 ratings)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #5–08: The Confirmation (PFRPG) PDF

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for level 1-2.

Almost all Pathfinders undergo extensive training for three or more years to learn the tricks of the trade, and their last test before graduating from the ranks of the initiates to the status of a full Pathfinder agent is the Confirmation, a special research project that involves considerable fieldwork and is designed to simulate the initiates' future work as a Pathfinder. Even the noteworthy field commissioned agents sometimes participate in such trials as a way to familiarize themselves with the Pathfinder Society’s rules and expectations. Although Confirmation is typically an individual affair, the society recently discovered a site on the Isle of Kortos that would be perfect for initiates but perhaps too dangerous to handle alone. Successfully uncovering this site’s secrets will not only contribute to the society’s body of knowledge but shape the exciting careers ahead for each of the prospective agents.

Written by Kyle Baird.

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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Mixed bag for new players

3/5 —

I've now directly participated in four tables of The Confirmation.

My first time through, I was GMing and I thought "wow this is great, easily a 4-5 star introduction scenario". It does a good job of creating an air of "this is where the Society began" from the briefing and including one of the most entertaining Society NPCs that a GM can portray.

GMs then have shiny tools in terms of rolling random encounters. One run through will have one encounter, while other runs will have a different encounter. As a GM on my first time through, I thought "wow, this is amazing! It likely won't be the same on a repeat run!".

It's only after having ran and played it a few times that I have now unfortunately had several times where the particulars of this scenario essentially eliminated several people from being active participants. In the last 2 times I've seen The Confirmation run, I've witnessed 2 of the 6 players not even get a chance to roll a single attack roll (on melee combat PCs) and potentially be somewhat disappointed in Pathfinder as a result.

The first combat can go quickly with a barbarian and a magus quickly striking down the limited enemies (I've seen this twice) while four players barely or don't act.

A later combat in tight quarters can leave several PCs just waiting while the two all-stars clog the corridor (and leaving them little chance to contribute with arrows).

The final combat requires quite some distance to be covered (which certain PCs seem to do well), and I've seen multiple times now that it's been effectively solo'ed or duo'ed before any of the other PCs feel like they even did anything (sadly including even casting Bless). When that fight concludes (which can be epic with the right party and hot GM dice), several players ask "wait, it's over already? I didn't really do anything..."

So, it can be mixed. I've seen certain more "Core" parties have a good time because they all get to actively participate. I've seen other parties with some of the PFS "scene stealers" fully have their scene stealing powers not just highlighted, but strengthened by the enemy selection and the way the environment is laid out for them, which means there's often players who wonder why they were even brought along.

For this, because I've seen enough disappointed players now, this is simply an average scenario in my book, and I think that could've been addressed by simply having more enemies in the fights or by selecting a different map. Several of the fights also lack much opportunity for a GM to roleplay (i.e. a villainous monologue), so for some particularly dry GMs, this can be a very dry run where you feel like you are just killing every animal/monster you come across.

I feel like at this stage in PFS scenario authoring, writers should plan for the party to potentially roll a critical hit and end the fight literally before anyone can do anything and always ensure the climatic finale has a way for the party to take a little damage (to make a pre-gen cleric feel good) or the second/third/fourth "melee types" to have targets of their own to square off with. Twice I've seen this end by a barbarian or eidolon critically hitting the end boss for 40 damage.

excellent intro!

4/5 —

Great stuff. Infinitely replayable. Wonderful introduction. Loses one star for using an out-of-print map. Not exactly a convenient choice.

Ring Side Report- RPG Review Pathfinder Society Adventure #5-8 The Confirmation

5/5 —

Originally posted on www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product- Pathfinder Society Adventure #5-8 The Confirmation
Producer-Paizo
System- Pathfinder
Price- $4
TL;DR- An excellent introductory adventure for any PFS player 97%

Basics- Time to earn your stripes Pathfinders! This adventure is the capstone of any Pathfinders training. Players get to go on an expedition with an experienced bard as they try to understand why Gillmen are journeying to an old cave each month. Along the way the PCs and their guide are separated and the PCs must continue the mission alone. After discovering the mystery, the PCs face off against a climactic battle at the end of the mission.

Story- This is a fun one. As a GM, I get to learn lots about the Pathfinder Society history and organization. The players get to learn about the ancient history of the world as well as bits of Chronicle lore. The basics of the adventure is a dungeon crawl, but the extra bits make it that much more fun. 5/5

Mechanics- This is a fast paced one. It's aimed at newer players so the game doesn't have lots of show stopper enemies. The last enemy is pretty tough, but over the course of the adventure the party gets some help from their guide. What the adventure does have is random encounter tables. That's new to me, and it makes the adventure more fun. For the PCs the best part of the adventure will be the rewards. I promise if you are a Pathfinder and low level, DO THIS ONE JUST FOR WHAT YOU GET AT THE END! 5/5

Execution- I liked this one, but it's got a few minor problems. The adventure is aimed at newer players. But, most newer players will need some help with their characters and turns will take a bit longer. That's not bad, but the adventure has a lot packed into it. That's good for experienced people, but for new players it's a bit much. Otherwise the layout is great. Every major person and the last bad guy get a nice picture. A good adventure. 4.5/5

Summary- This is a fun one. It's worth your time as a GM and as a player. Go out and play this one! 97%

Great Intro

4/5 —

My rating of 4/5 is based on this being an Intro adventure into PFS. If this were a normal 1-5 scenario, I would almost certainly give it a 3/5. That said, it does a very good job introducing basic PFS concepts and encouraging characters to go above and beyond what their "mission" dictates.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of fluff in this adventure and my players passed right by it. What should have been an engaging and thoughtful encounter with the oracle felt convoluted and not really well explained.

I would also say that this is not a great Intro for GMs. There is a lot of info that it takes for granted the GM will know, but if you are new to PFS, some parts will not make sense.

An excellent introduction

5/5 —

My perspective on this scenario is as a GM. Be warned, spoilers may follow!

Story
This scenario intends on replacing the first steps series, and I think it does the job way better than FS used to. The story plays a major part in this, as The Confirmation tells the tale of what one would expect Pathfinders to do: explore remains of a lost age, cooperate among themselves, and report their findings. It's not about the factions (which hardly matter anymore now), it's about wat being a Pathfinder means. From the first well-written introductory scene where Pathfinders are encouraged to talk about their character's motivation to become part of the Pathfinder Society, to the "final exam", I think there's a lot of potential for this story.
Story score: 5/5

Roleplay
I particularly enjoyed the opportunities provided to roleplay in this scenario, which are threefold. Firstly, Janira is the perfect mentor character, not too close or too distant from the PCs, and is a great catalyst to push people to roleplay their characters and ask themselves the reasons why their character should be within the ranks of the Society. Secondly, there is Uori. I loved that encounter and what it brings to the PCs. The character itself is perfect in his tone and role, and his handicap can make things very interesting during the interaction with the PCs. Lastly, the PCs are also encouraged to roleplay among themselves, to really grab that limelight and be the heroes.
Roleplay score: 5/5

Encounters
Varied (and subject to change at every playthrough), I liked most of the options without being completely overwhelmed by what was proposed.
Encounters score: 3/5

Mechanics
This scenario is supposed to be replayable indefinitely, is set to be one that you'd want to play for every new PFS character you'll make. While the value of random encounter to alleviate the burden of replaying one scenario over and over is certain, one could wonder if it is enough. I for one think that the enjoyment found in replayability depends on player investment and motivation in creating a unique experience, this scenario being a guideline to help the player get a feel of his own character. In that perspective, I think The Confirmation does an excellent job with that, providing GM and players everything they need.

The second set of mechanics I'd like to talk about is the ritual scene. I find the idea very attractive, and lore-wise it's an excellent scene, but the bonuses are so marginal and specific to some conditions that they aren't that interesting. I'm afraid that a player replaying this scenario won't be too keen on performing the rituals since he knows the bonuses aren't that great.
Mechanics score: 4/5

The Confirmation is an excellent scenario, which has everything to please the many expectations of PFS players. Above all, I value the mood the players can be put in to explore their new PFS character. Mr. Baird's done a great job!
Total: 5/5

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GM's can apply credit to a 2nd level character once and an unlimited number of times to first level characters.
Shadow Lodge

Very cool. Thank You.
DM Beckett wrote:
I might have missed it, but in the PFS guide it states that all Tier 1 Scenarios and Tier 1-2 Moduels are replayable. I know this one is for players, but do DMs also get full credit each time they run this as well, or just once?

Urgh - nice catch.

Just noticed this is neither a Tier 1 Scenario or a Tier 1-2 Module, so yeah credit once only under current rules.

Not as good as First Steps after all.
Grand Lodge
Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Shifty, the scenario mentions replayability itself.

If you're looking for some hand outs/online icons/references for the carvings in the you know where Linky

TriOmegaZero wrote:
Shifty, the scenario mentions replayability itself.

Ahhh righto, ok then, thanks matey :)

Shadow Lodge
1 person marked this as a favorite.

No problem. :)
Shadow Lodge
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Dshagins wrote:
Just bought this and I have yet to run it. I am once again disappointed by the volume of books required to run the scenario (Core Rulebook, APG, ARG, Bestiary 1-4). Seems to be that if I want to run two season 4/5 games at a con or my local gaming store I have to bring half my gaming shelf.

Dshagins, if you weren't aware of it already, there's a great resource for PFS Gms HERE Most scenarios have had stat block cheat sheets made for them. Since GMs are allowed to use the PRD, as long as you have the time to prep beforehand, you can print off the sheets and not have to rely on books/internet for stats. That's what I do every week for the games I run, or at least have the cheat sheets on my tablet so I can read them off of it. I wasn't a huge fan of them making all the hardcovers into core assumption for the GMs, but letting us use the PRD goes a long way to helping prep.

Sovereign Court
Kyle Baird wrote:
GM's can apply credit to a 2nd level character once and an unlimited number of times to first level characters.

Just to double-check, is this also true for First Steps I? There's been some confusion about that in my area recently.

Shadow Lodge

For first steps you can apply credit to a first level character infinitely (player or GM), but only once per character.

Page 20 Under "Replaying Scenarios"

"There are two exceptions to these rules. All Tier 1 scenarios and Tier 1–2 sanctioned modules are available for unlimited replay with a 1st-level character for credit. The sanctioned modules may also be played with a 2nd-level character once for credit. GMs may receive another Chronicle sheet each time they run one of the Tier 1 scenarios or Tier 1–2 sanctioned modules, but may only apply a Chronicle sheet to one 2nd-level character per adventure."
Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
Kyrand wrote:
Kyle Baird wrote:
GM's can apply credit to a 2nd level character once and an unlimited number of times to first level characters.
Just to double-check, is this also true for First Steps I? There's been some confusion about that in my area recently.

No. First Steps is, explicitly, for level 1 characters only. The chronicle shows this, too - it list the subtier as "1", not "1-2".

Sovereign Court
JohnF wrote:
Kyrand wrote:
Kyle Baird wrote:
GM's can apply credit to a 2nd level character once and an unlimited number of times to first level characters.
Just to double-check, is this also true for First Steps I? There's been some confusion about that in my area recently.

No. First Steps is, explicitly, for level 1 characters only. The chronicle shows this, too - it list the subtier as "1", not "1-2".

Ah, I could have worded my question better -- I was referring to the GM being able to get multiple credits (on different PCs) from running it.

DM Beckett wrote:

For first steps you can apply credit to a first level character infinitely (player or GM), but only once per character.

Page 20 Under "Replaying Scenarios"

"There are two exceptions to these rules. All Tier 1 scenarios and Tier 1–2 sanctioned modules are available for unlimited replay with a 1st-level character for credit. The sanctioned modules may also be played with a 2nd-level character once for credit. GMs may receive another Chronicle sheet each time they run one of the Tier 1 scenarios or Tier 1–2 sanctioned modules, but may only apply a Chronicle sheet to one 2nd-level character per adventure."

This is what I was looking for, specifically the last sentence. Thank you for the page reference!

Liberty's Edge

I would make one suggestion, the encounter at the cave entrance should have 3 <censored>. There is a statistical probability that 1 in 3 runs of the encounter will end with <censored> drowning in the river. It also removes the option, after Janira does her monologue, of the players saying "Or we could just kill it...". The final encounter is fine as it is, but not much of a challenge for Advanced/Ultimate characters.

When Janira was showing off her new wayfinder, one of the players commented "Are you sure it didn't belong to someone else?". Upon close inspection she said "You're right! I wonder who J.L. was?". There are a few other spelling errors, but this is the most humourous.

I wouldn't mind secret door(s) being marked on the map(s). I would also like to see stat blocks at the end of the scenario organized by tier for all future releases, it makes them much easier to run.
Liberty's Edge

I would make one more suggestion: Change the Secondary Success Conditions to- "make an effort to chronicle the mission and 2 of the 4 remaining situtations". A couple of guys made no effort at all at journalling, but still got 2 PP for 3 of 5.
Grand Lodge
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Kyle,

Thank you for coming up with this. This is perfect for the new folks in the region I just started, both players new to Society and the ones who want to GM for me.

While I may not be a huge fan of all of your work, this is definitely a scenario worth saying "Thank you" for.

So, Grazi ;)
Shadow Lodge

If this has already been discussed I apologize.

Let me preface this by saying that I only run/play PFS online. So I get irritated with season 0's because the maps at times take a bunch of time and effort to get them aligned to a VTT.

The crop work on the maps is awful for "Tight Spaces" and "Undead End". They were cropped with squares of unequal size. This makes it impossible to have a clean alignment. I know there was talk before about making maps easier for online gamers. This one was worse than most Season 0's. Sure this only effects a smaller portion of folks than those who have to draw them out (and yes we are lucky we don't have to draw them out) but I would ask that these kind of things be considered before publishing PDFs.

All that said the Scenario is excellently well written and I can't wait to run it during the OnlineGameDay #2.

Rant over, thanks everyone at Paizo for doing what they do. If this sounded too whiney or too direct it was not my intention, I just couldn't find the words to point out this issue without sounding jerky.

It was as struggle to use the cavern map packs. I tried to avoid custom 'random cave area #7' maps and I also avoided only using a single section of the map which force the whole 'PCs start here right on top of the monsters' situation.
Shadow Lodge

No worries. for some reason I thought that graphic designer's at paizo handled that part not the writer. In all honesty it's better than the scenarios where they just don't provide a map.

I did purchase the cavern's map pack and was able to make it work. Thanks again for your time in creating the scenario.
Sovereign Court

In the stats and gear for the encounter in area C,

Spoiler:
the stats say broken battleaxe, the gear says broken greataxe. Which is it supposed to be?
Grand Lodge
Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Spoiler:
Battle axe, as listed under the melee attack.
Sovereign Court
TriOmegaZero wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:
A battleaxe requires martial weapon proficiency though, correct? Minotaurs do not have that feat and their entry in the bestiary lists greataxe. Though still martial, it is, I guess, a racial weapon for them and they don't need the feat for it.
Grand Lodge
Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Spoiler:
However, this minotaur has the battleaxe listed in his stat block and is therefore proficient. :)

The combat gear entry is an editing mistake.
Sovereign Court

Area B4 list several possible treasures that the PCs only get 2 of, but the entire list isn't on the chronicle sheet. Do I write in the missing items or are then not supposed to be there?
Sovereign Court
DonKeebals wrote:
Area B4 list several possible treasures that the PCs only get 2 of, but the entire list isn't on the chronicle sheet. Do I write in the missing items or are then not supposed to be there?

Since I can't edit the post, I'll reply. The reason for the "missing" items, is because they are considered always available.

I'm trying to understand the way this scenario works. I can only play it once at second level with one character. Also, the way I'm reading it I can play it multiple times at first level, even say 3 times with the same character? Is this correct?
Silver Crusade RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
deadlyrose1983 wrote:
I'm trying to understand the way this scenario works. I can only play it once at second level with one character. Also, the way I'm reading it I can play it multiple times at first level, even say 3 times with the same character? Is this correct?

Only once PER character, but you can play it with any number of first-level characters associated with your PFS ID number.

Shadow Lodge

I love this game and am gearing up to run it a couple of times at a new convention. I am very excited and am busily pulling things together, which led me to wonder - is there a map pack or flip mat that corresponds to the final exam?

There is not, but it could easily be represented by any forest setting that provides adequate distance and terrain between the PCs and the minotaur. The specifics of the map aren't really that important, it's the "how do we work together to save Janira and defeat the minotaur while navigating some terrain obstacles" that's important.
Lantern Lodge

I missed it, but what maps are best used with this scenario?
Trying to find one for this weekend that doesn't require me to buy more map-packs then I already have.
Lantern Lodge
Charlie Rock wrote:

I missed it, but what maps are best used with this scenario?

Trying to find one for this weekend that doesn't require me to buy more map-packs then I already have.

It helps if you actually click on the other pages besides 1, Charlie.

oops, I see it now, thanks.
Lantern Lodge

I noticed there are some items the adventurers find in the 'dungeon' that are not on the session page:
+1 longsword, +1 Small wooden shield, etc.
Are we supposed to write those in or what?
Sovereign Court
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

+1 weapons and armor are on the always available list, and therefore don't need to be on chronicle sheets.

When I print page 24 the player handouts they are blank and blank on my screen. Is there somewhere to download the handouts with content?
Sovereign Court
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

They're supposed to be blank. They're handouts that you give to the players if you want stylized paper for them to take notes on.
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