A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1–5.
The Pathfinder Society has discovered the location of a powerful Osirian artifact secreted beneath the sands, but they are not the only ones who seek its power. The Pathfinders must endure the scalding Osirian desert, brave its inhabitants, and watch for hidden dangers if they are to survive. Can the PCs reach the ruins before their rivals claim the prize?
Content in “Race to Seeker’s Folly” also contributes directly to the ongoing storyline of the Osirion faction.
Written by Matt Duval, RPG Superstar 2013 finalist.
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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I ran this tonight with a group of 4 people all with level 1 characters.
The party was a ranger, oracle, sorcerer and a rogue. This wasn't close.
They wiped on the plague zombies (they couldn't hit and the zombies had a high initiative, pinning the group in). TPK.
Personally, I think that this should be a 3-7 scenario or make the 1-2 tier easier. The last fight is an absolute killer.
If any group that runs doesn't have a cleric or a person that can channel positive energy, it's a wipe.
This is one of the best scenarios in PFS, and serves to satisfactorily deal with not just one, but two of the major overarching plots, revealing numerous secrets along the way.
Enter a well-written dungeon with solid traps and combat encounters, in search of the mythical Sage Jewels. The fights are challenging without being overpowered, and there are interesting traps and curses that tie in well with the backstory of the place. As you explore the vacated halls, you'll find that another team of Pathfinders was sent here years earlier, and come to chilling realizations of what happened to them and how they were treated by the Decemvirate. Over several hours, it all falls into place and ties together very well.
You likely won't think of certain prominent characters the same ever after playing this, and for that alone it is highly recommended. In addition, it has solid gameplay throughout. My only regret is that I cannot give it six stars.
Played in tier 1-2. Combat-central adventure with some roleplays, what I don't like it too much is "you get some cool spells, but useless!" as well as high potential of loosing gp dealing with the Vikings.
Combine with everything, average fights, some puzzles, and some not well-impressed socials. Recommanded for playing.
I played this scenario last night on the high tier with a party of four characters. We had a level 5 bloodrager, a level 2 ninja monk, a level 3 cleric and me as a level 4 mesmerist. Given how things went, I'm honestly surprised we are all still alive. I myself got hit for 31 damage by two attacks in the same round and was lucky that a potential crit wasn't confirmed or I'd have been dead, while our cleric nearly ended up being devoured. It was utter carnage and we barely lived through it. This scenario could have easily been a TPK.
I suppose there could have been a nice amount of roleplaying, but somehow our party messed up those opportunities. I guess a cleric with three zombie bodyguards and a bloodrager casting spells on himself in the middle of a conversation tend to have that effect on people. As such I can't honestly say what the role-playing could have been like. I'm also still a bit overwhelmed by the massive amount of information we were given through numerous knowledge checks. While I like detail, there was just too much to keep track off and too much to appreciate. Flavor is nice, but this amount of detail just did more harm than good in my honest opinion.
As a final remark, I'll just put emphasis on the fact that even though it was scaled down to four players, the encounters are pretty intense and can easily be lethal. As such, it definitely was a challenge - which really is not a bad thing - but I do deem it to be a little over the top. I think that's a nice way of summarizing this scenario: a tough dungeon crawler that tries too much, which in the end sadly made it less enjoyable for me.
Holy frak.... Ties into my favourite scenario set.
Ok, I'm going to definately have to make a 'greatest hits' list when Pt 3 comes out justso if/when we get another batch of newbies, I can make them hate appropriately.
Edit: And more pathfinder lore... If Pt 3 lives up to Pts 1 and 2, this is going to be an awesome trillogy.
Yes, I admit this one has some higher printing costs.
As a time-saving tip, remember that you can just line through many of the right-hand boxes, including the GM initials portion, to save time on filling out gold earned, XP, et cetera, for which the values should all be 0. Since these Chronicle sheets travel in packs, I would say the only essential parts that need filling out on pages 2 and 3 are Date, GM Signature, and GM Number; the rest should show up on the first page.
This was an amazing privilege to get to work on. Mind blown when I got to see the scope of it. Love the map and art. I hope everyone has fun running through it!
This was an amazing privilege to get to work on. Mind blown when I got to see the scope of it. Love the map and art. I hope everyone has fun running through it!
Best of luck, Pathfinders! :-)
Hi Matt:
A question:
In area A, why did you add the Dust Digger to the upper tier (as opposed to giving the gnolls fighter levels or similar)? I don't dislike the choice, but it really alters the nature of the account in a fundamental way. Just curious as to your thought process...
I very much wanted to do an encounter with gnolls, as they aren't seen often and there's a gnoll cult to Lamashtu right in the vicinity. It seemed like a good fit.
I was browsing through the Bestiaries looking at Desert terrain monsters, and remembered the Dust Digger. I wanted the encounter in area A to be an ambush, and the Dust Digger matches that well. However gnolls plus dust digger was too much for the lower subtier, and the gnolls were the primary encounter enemies in my mind, so the dust digger was cut from the lower tier.
I think the variety leads to a more surprising encounter at the higher tier and having spent all their time futilely working on the dust digger explains why the gnolls don't have more traps and other preparations setup at the oasis on the lower subtier.
What map products go with this scenario? If answering means spoiling, please ignore this question. I wanted to buy the map and let the GM use it, to save him some dough.
What map products go with this scenario? If answering means spoiling, please ignore this question. I wanted to buy the map and let the GM use it, to save him some dough.
No surprise, really. It's Flip-Mat:Desert and a custom map.
The evil GM in me sat down and told the party "Now, running away is always an option, in fact I have sheets already filled out with zero XP, zero prestige and zero gold."
Spoiler:
Of course I meant those sheets, but it still made everyone worry.
So a question regarding the sheets and the next adventure. Is the reason for the jump in tiers because of said sheets? Or do PCs still need to be 3rd level PCs to finish the arc? I'm hoping for the former, but I kinda get the latter.
My Thought Process:
Because of the up in power level, a 1st-level PC should be doing okay against stuff challenging to a 3rd-level PC. However, a PC who didn't do part 2 is going to be missing that power bump, and will need to be at least 3rd to have a shot at defeating the baddies.
So a question regarding the sheets and the next adventure. Is the reason for the jump in tiers because of said sheets? Or do PCs still need to be 3rd level PCs to finish the arc? I'm hoping for the former, but I kinda get the latter.
** spoiler omitted **
What say you, Supreme High Command?
In Response:
It's actually Tier 3-7, not including any effective level change from the sheets. The challenges in Part 3 are designed to challenge, for example, a 3rd-level PC with those sheets.
Those who do not have the Chronicle sheets from Part 2 will receive a fairly simple template (likely as a handout) that they can apply quickly at the start of the game to gain roughly equivalent power, but I imagine the options will be more strightforward than those on the Chroncicle sheets for the sake of simplicity.
Good to know. I had a lot of new players come in for part 1, so I don't think I have anyone actually 3rd in time for part 3. I'll probably push it back in the local game's queue.
Was the water elemental supposed to be able to speak something other then Aquan? By default elementals don't get common as a language, so I was at a loss for that encounter.