A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.
Despite several promising developments on the front lines, it’s increasingly clear to the Pathfinder Society that fighting its way across the entire Worldwound would prove far more costly than approaching the Sky Citadel Jormurdun from the west. What it might gain in ease of use, the society lacks in an established basecamp, so the PCs must travel to the Realm of the Mammoth Lords to win over the locals and secure a beachhead—all without falling prey to the area’s powerful megafauna, savage demons, and relentless barbarian tribes.
Written by Jerall Toi.
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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A mis-matched collection of illogical encounters designed to completely ignore their own set up in favor of lashing out at the surprised PCs. No meaningful choices at all as you walk along a railroad of pop-up monsters. Idiotic NPC's who apparently struggle to remember their own names, let alone anything relevant to their environment. I'd have to say the most stupid example would be being jumped on by a raging dinosaur and a screeching demon when you stumble upon their battle, even without the fact that they ignore a bunch of locals who have previously attacked the dinosaur, that it could smell cowering a few feet away. I suppose it must be because Pathfinders are all deaf as a post and walk along reading a book tha they can't notice anything further away than the other end of a small indoor lap pool.
As if that is not bad enough, it's fabulous example of the ridiculous parade of problems with taking different monsters, templates and tactical situations and calculating the CR.
Just as a hint to Paizo staff who appear to be too generally lazy to do any real editing - if you take a 14HD creature and then apply a template without reducing its primary attacks, it does not become a 6HD creature.
Yes, if you are lucky enough to play with a flight capable group (and spot the monsters before they get a chance to jump on you) you will probably do alright. But if you have the usual random rabble of society tables, then several of you will likey die from GM handwavium.
I'm not the sort of player who likes things handed to them on a silver platter, which makes this an excellent scenario in my book. The combats are not pushovers and can be really dangerous if you aren't paying attention. The choices that you have to make in dealing with the various NPC groups are part of the charm. You have to use your head a bit.
Mix in a bit of spookiness and a substantial helping of Worldwound nastiness and you have a memorable scenario. I've had 3 players at separate tables say that this is the best scenario they've played in PFS. I'll agree - this is worthy of high level play!
Season 5 has really raised the standard for PFS scenarios. With fantastic scenarios like Wardstone Patrol, Port Godless, and the Confirmation, PFS is better than ever. So it makes me sad to see the writers take, what I feel is, a step backwards in terms of quality.
1. The first encounter. I liked it, I thought it was a good introduction to the world, and to the savage nature of the land. However, I think it was a little annoying for both enemies to drop what they were doing and attack the party. I mean I understand the logic, but it felt a little... off.
2. Why aren't we told which gifts go to what NPC? I know other reviews have mentioned this, but I feel like it's important enough to repeat. The scenario makes a big deal about the specific items we get, and the the different chieftains, but nothing comes of it. The ENTIRE point of the module is to establish diplomatic relations, but we're not given any way of figuring out how to do that.
3. The "mystery." When you're told to pick a staging area, there's really only one logical choice. I mean, the module flat-out tells you not to pick the other two sites, but then they try to shoehorn in a "mystery" surrounding the other site, with only the vague promise that it'll get resolved.
4. How do the Barbarians keep sneaking up on the party in the middle of the Tundra? A DC 29 perception check is insane for a flat, barren area.
However, even after all these problems why did I rate this module 3 stars? Well, because it's fun. Despite being a little odd, the combats (particularly the first and optional encounters) are unique and memorable, and the enemies are rare enough that most players are gonna be completely caught-off guard by what they're facing. It's mildly entertaining while it lasts, but you'll never think about it again afterwards. Just like a Season 0.
I recently played this scenario at the high tier. Overall, we had a great time. No doubt, variable elements like the GM and the players contributed to my enjoyment, but several of the “set pieces” in this scenario felt very cinematic. After the first fight, we talked about the title of the Pathfinder Chronicle report that we’d write (cover creature + charm monster was involved) – as we progressed, each new fight brought a new “headline.” Any scenario that contains the words “ocular precipitation” gets a bonus star to the review.
I also appreciated the choice elements, both in how to approach/deal with some obstacles as well as contributing to the larger season arc. As a local venture officer said, you can imagine the follow-up scenario based on the central choice that you make. I hope we don’t have to wait until season 6 to see the repercussions.
I picked this module up recently and I should stress that I haven't had a chance to run it yet so this review is based purely on a read through. Unfortunately it seems to have some fairly glaring weaknesses and omissions.
1. My first and main issue is with the nature of the module. It is a pretty basic "go and establish a base here" adventure which is fine as far as it goes but seems to be well outside of the level range I would expect for such a module. We are talking about characters who may well have defeated a Rune Lord being sent to do basic first contact. Yes it is near to the Worldwound but it struck me as being far more appropriate for 3-7 or 5-9.
2. The Encounters are uninspiring. With a 7-11 adventure you have to expect that many of the players are likely to have some form of flight, quite possibly long duration flight for the entire thing. Most of the encounters feature purely land based opponents with little or no ranged attacks. Dinosaurs, Barbarians with a handful of javelins and undead mammoths. What flyers there are have generally poor ranged options (the Vrock has none, the Gibrileths offensive SLA's are weak as are the Kithangians). This feels like a probable cake walk to most groups at 9+.
3. Some of the encounter set ups are egregiously poor with little more than GM handwavium behind them. The Red Winter Scouts encounter is probably the worst offender with the scouts magically able to locate the group regardless of any precautions and despite their relatively low Survival skills. It also fails to account for groups who complete their exploration by means of flight such as Wind Walk. The actual encounter set up is similarly poor. The Barbarians seem to be presumed to be able to sneak up on the PC's with a fairly arbitrary DC29 perception check required with no consideration of their ability to actually see the group. Given their generally weak perception skills this seems like an awful lot of fiat.
4. Elements of the module are incomplete. At the start of the module you are given various trade goods as gifts for NPC's you might meet. The GM is told that some NPC's will react more favourably to some of the gifts than others but no clear information is provided on which elders prefer which gifts.
Overall this was a disappointing read through. It is likely to be an easy ride for any reasonably competent group.
