A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1–5.
Few societies have so vaunted a tradition of leading crusades as Taldor, yet the constant revisions to its history by scheming factions leaves the truth obscured by countless acts of political modifications. Even the lauded Kitharodian Academy’s texts are riddled with these changes, so when a secretive ally approaches the Pathfinder Society with information about a hidden archive that contains the unaltered histories, the Pathfinders plan a daring infiltration to recover the secrets of Taldor’s past victories so that Mendev might benefit from the discovery.
Content in "Library of the Lion" also contributes directly to the ongoing storylines of the Cheliax, Grand Lodge, and Taldor factions.
Written by Kyle Elliot.
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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Having played or run practically every scenario and sanctioned module available for PFS, I am always keen to discover a new approach to challenging Pathfinders. This scenario delivers on that front. It won't be everyone's cup of tea--it requires patience, thought, and a sort of collaboration with the GM towards an acceptance of how the research subsystem it contains works, but if you can do those things, and enjoy them, this may well become one of your favourite scenarios.
The writing and flavour are solid, and the options you must puzzle through seem to carry real consequences. It's inventive, atmospheric, and another reinvigoration of a format that is always in danger of falling into the formulaic.
My only criticism is that, from the perspective of a player, I thought the research subsystem and timing could have done with some more flexibility for what would be common approaches. If it didn't require the acceptance of the limited rules, just as say the regularly maligned Chase mechanics do, and could accommodate a broader directive from the players, this would have been a straight five stars.
[Edit: It's now a month later and I have now read and run the scenario as well as played it, and have discovered that my former criticism arose mainly through the GM's choice of how to present the options available to characters, rather than an inherent limitation in the scenario itself. I'm therefore increasing my rating of the scenario to five stars. I had a great time running it and my players all enjoyed it.]
Very much in the vein of "The Disappeared", this is a great adventure that sends Pathfinders on a job that requires them to rely more on their wits than their muscles. Very skill focused; the low-int fighter may not have as much to do as the investigator or the rogue, but all players will have something to do during this scenario.
Every combat in this scenario can be bypassed by appropriate creativity or by making the right skill check, which provides the skill-focused characters a chance to shine that is often missed in the more combat-heavy scenarios.
I had a great time running this, and my players enjoyed the chance to focus piece together a story with the information they gathered as they worked their way through the library.
Product: Pathfinder Society Adventure #5-11: Library of the Lion
System: Pathfinder
Publisher: Paizo Publishing
Price: ~$4
TL;DR- A thinking, (general) non-combat PFS adventure 93%
Basics: The Pathfinder Society has been invited to a prominent Taldan College by a high ranking member of the nobility to help them sneak into a secret library. The Pathfinders have less than two hours to explore the library, find what the noble wants, not be noticed, and get out all while constantly listening to the Mission: Impossible music performed by the GM.
Story: This module isn’t very story heavy, but it does bring something new to the party. The story quickly brings the society into the heart of Taldor, and lets some of the more over shown PCs shine. PCs have to find information in a low combat module by exploring the library and looking for clues. I wouldn’t call this a story for the ages, but it does give the players something new at the table that they may have not had a chance to do before. 4.5/5
Mechanics: This module continues the current PFS year 5 scenario strategy of random events during the scenario. It works to great effect during this adventure as the players and the GM both get to find random books in each room that might help the players. Also, this one is really set up for the skill monkeys out there. Most of the puzzles require thought and lots of skill ranks. I don’t see that often, and that makes this module stand out. The final puzzle requires the players to have solved every room to find what they need. That’s not bad, but it might not be great for all groups. Also, as a GM, if the group you are running doesn’t have the proper skills, you may have to loosen up the skills that can be used in the adventure. Also, for as much of an exploration adventure this one is, it’s also a nice social adventure too. It’s pretty well rounded for the non-combat characters. None of that is bad, but just keep that as a heads up for when you play. 4.5/5
Execution: This adventure is well laid out and comes with some assembly required. As the players can randomly find books in the rooms, the GM gets to cut out the different books and give these out as hand outs. Anytime you can physically hand the players something, it makes the game that much more awesome. The art is nice also. All told, I’m really happy with this. 5/5
Summary: I liked this one. It’s not perfect, but this one is an awesome adventure to play with a bunch of character types that might not get as much play as other ones. If you are a kill-them-all barbarian with only one skill point you put in jump so you can jump charge, you will be bored to tears. If you have a group of five people who want to explore and deceive their way through a secret library, this is the game for you. 93%
Strengths of this Scenario:
* Incorporates multiple numerous opportunities to use skills.
Bonus points: The ability to creatively use skills.
* A very interesting story line that continues over multiple seasons and one particular module.
* Lore heavy
* Does not reward wanton murder, but investigation.
Weaknesses of the Scenario:
* If your party lacks skills, expect difficulty or failure.
* This scenario not only can easily result in failure.
* Player death can occur, particularly in low tier, for a party if one person goes off track.
The Grand Lodge faction challenge is particularly challenging but rewarding. The results connect the players to a larger overall story.
Overall I have really enjoyed this scenario. The story, the different dynamics, and the different sort of play style provides a good break from the monotony of the hack and slash scenarios. I highly recommend this scenario. My personal advice is try to have a balance party. Have people with various skill sets. This scenario is particularly enjoyable and fun if you have players who are part of the Grand Lodge for a mini-game that is in the scenario. The Grand Lodge faction challenge is particularly challenging but rewarding. The results connect the players to a larger overall story.
Capriciously written to screw over players unless you think like the module designer or luck into something. I highly recommend you skip this module.
If you do one thing you will love this module, if you don't do that one think you will miss major portions and loose all prestige and most gold. Waste of a night and was playing with wonderful players and GM. Fault was entirely in way this module was written.
I give it one star for writing a module that can be run without a single fight if you do it in certain ways. That was only thing I liked about this module - that it is not hack and slash.
Please tell me there will be a push to get this scenario released before everyone at Paizo leaves for the Christmas break. Otherwise, you should edit the release date to something more realistic like Friday, January 3rd.
Thank you! I know the Powers What Be have previously pushed scenarios out early to appease the howling horde prior to the holidays. I just wanted this to be confirmed sooner rather than the week-of. It ruins the impact of the dispensation announcement, so apologies for that...
Due to a combination of holiday travel and the editorial staff's tireless dedication and work in getting Inner Sea Gods out the door, this scenario's release is delayed. I anticipate it being available close to January 1st.
My apologies for the delay. Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-10: Where Mammoth's Dare Not Tread should be available for download later today.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Well I need to quickly change my schedule, thanks for the update John.
Hey folks, we're just about done with this scenario, and have some final checks left to perform tomorrow morning. We'll have it available for download as quickly as possible so that you can begin preparing it.
Had to throw this one together tonight after the home campaign fell through due to player absence. Possibly one of the best scenarios in awhile. Just like The Disappeared, you're either going to love it or hate it.
After reading the discussion above, I now understand why this is the case, but I was pretty disappointed when reading the scenario. Several typos slipped by the editors that are fairly obvious. What with illnesses being the cause, I'm not angry or upset. I'm excited to run this tomorrow night and hope that it will be as much fun as I think it will.
It would, except that the cipher text contains an error.
If you plan on GMing this you might want to make the single character adjustment when you give it to your players so that they can actually solve the coded message without confusion.
The required minor cipher fix:
Change the 6th last letter from "F" to "G", i.e. the cipher should end with "G-G-C-Q-F-C". As it stands, the best solution for the cipher gives you a final word of "o-b-e-C-i-e-n-c-e".
FWIW, I've only encountered 2 scenarios with ciphers — the other being The Disappeared — and BOTH have errors in their cipher text. The error in The Disappeared was much worse, but *any* error is problematic in a cipher.
Perhaps a dedicated puzzler should be recruited as a volunteer for editing these things? Yes, I am in fact channeling Eddie Murphy's Shrek character, Donkey... Pick me! Pick me! :P
I typically run Jade Regent for a group of players every other friday, but we'd just finished book 4 and while I'm prepping the next installment one of my players ran this scenario for us last week with our PFS characters.
I really liked the adventure. it has a good roleplay, and a different kind of investigation for an investigative mod, but I don't think it should be a tier 1-5 game; the mechanics of the skill challenges involved and the particular skills involved aren't common and most people won't choose them at early levels, or will be very poor with only one rank or so. We were lucky to have 3 PCs and one pre-gen (Ezren) with the skills needed in our group of 5. With a tier 3-7 group I think you might see more players with the skills needed, and all that remains is to adjust the encounters for the tier.
Our GM said the mod needed some editing, I'd have to read it to see what he's referring to exactly but he grew frustrated with a couple of rooms not being very clear or having conflicting information. I think I'd enjoy running this game with some editing - hopefully Paizo can clear up some of these issues. Some slack in the time requirements might be needed (adventure is on a clock) for table size.
I'd give it a 3.5/5 stars; with editing probably 4.5/5.
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