A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for level 7–11.
Years after the Pathfinder Society delved deep into the Jistkan ruins of Rachikan in western Cheliax, archaeological investigations continue to uncover ancient wonder. Reports recently ceased after scholars reported finding a sealed chamber believed to contain cadres of battle golems untouched since the Jistka Imperium’s collapse. The Pathfinder Society hopes to recover the golems for study and possible use in the Worldwound, but can its agents reach the sealed storeroom before the constructs fall into enemy hands? “Fate of the Fiend” is the spiritual sequel to “Fingerprints of the Fiend” and “Fury of the Fiend,” though the scenarios can be played in any order.
Content in “Fate of the Fiend” also contributes to the ongoing storyline of the Cheliax faction.
Written by Larry Wilhelm.
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 quite enjoyed this scenario. It had a sense of epicness to it. Large scale combats in an ancient underground metropolis and a moral dilemma in the end which sparked quite the debate.
The DR from the monsters was easily negated by the Magus' swift actions. The Zen Archer basically turned everything into pincushions by using holy bane arrows, at 150gp a shot the price was minor by the rewards at the end of the adventure. Combat rarely lasted for more than two rounds.
The DC's are simply not high enough by the monsters in the scenario even at the advanced level to pose any challenge to a party at the high tier. The AC of the monsters in the high tier is a joke. The majority of the party only missed on a roll of a 1 or 2. There really isn't any chance of the PC's missing.
This scenario seems to be typical of Paizo: Good story, really bad mechanics, and absolutely no threat of danger to the PC's.
Large is good word for describing this scenario. Everything seems to written with epic in mind. I'd recommend other GMs to try and give the players that sense of scale. Otherwise it might fall a bit flat.
I ran this scenario for the lower tier, full six players. They were somewhat challenged, not overly so, even though they did end up fighting in the end. In lower tier this does not hurt them as much as it might in the higher. Just they looks on the players faces when they realized what they're facing was priceless. The one time when metagaming actually works for the GM.
Minuses come from certain annoyances. The ally side bars are good to have, but by the time they're to be used most, they're all over the PDF, and thus require lot's of scrolling. And the Cheliax mission is a bit too complicated, and the actions of the other characters can make it impossible. It is also a bit unclear whether Zarta is trying to make all the characters participate in the more overt part of the mission and then give the Cheliaxians more to do, or are the other PCs just supposed to ignore her first message?
I would have liked to give 3,5 stars but that's not possible so 3 it is.
This review is from the perspective of a player, high tier with 4 player adjustments. I have not read the scenario, so I will edit this review if it turns out I was mistaken about anything. I had played part 2 but not part 1 of the series. We normally run tight 4 hour slots but did this in 6. Beware it might run long!
I would qualify this as an above average scenario. There were multiple chances for roleplay with at least mildly interesting characters. Combats were on the easy side, but we play in a rather high powered area.
Spoiler:
I really liked that a few combats challenged the typical "back row" pcs. I do not know if that was Gm choice or included tactics but the bullette things and the teleporting incubi made for very nice combats
My biggest complaint is that, again not knowing the exact mechanics, this scenario seems to encourage the murderhobo style so frowney face to that.
Spoiler:
Your gold gained gets reduced if you dont pathfinder some NPC hellknights (and their dead) that you find. You also have to pay an NPC for a mcguffin. Presumably you can also just choose to do things by force an save some money.
This seems to be one of the scenarios that hinges on a morale debate question, which I am not a fan of. As it happened all of our characters were the type that couldn't care less, so the climax fell short
Spoiler:
BBEG is a lich, fight her and you pretty much throw away your prestige. Otherwise you loose a lich on the world. None of our characters were the types to loose sleep over such a decision. I did get her to make me a duke before she left so maybe shes actually a nice lady deep down inside. Anyway, I hope she features again sooner rather than later, I guess depending on how other tables report they handled the situation
All in all I would say this is the best of the 7-11s of season 5, if you are deciding on one of the three to play.
One thought about how this scenario connects to its spiritual predecessors:
spoiler regarding chronicle:
I love the idea of revisiting scenarios that are spread over multiple seasons! I only wish there was a boon on this chronicle that rewarded players (and GMs) who played the previous two scenarios. I played both older scenarios and loved them. Having a boon that rewards dedication to the story would have been a very nice addition. Nothing big...but something!
