A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 5–9.
Guaril Karela, a close ally of the Pathfinder Society and the leader of the Sczarni faction, made dangerous enemies during his bid for territory and influence, and several of the rivals that he once thought defeated have returned with every intention of ending Guaril’s little empire and his life. The PCs must travel to the dangerous city of Kaer Maga, track down these assassins, and sabotage their efforts in order to save one of the Society’s most reliable spymasters.
Content in "The Stranger Within" also contributes directly to the ongoing storylines of the Andoran, Qadira, and Sczarni factions.
Written by Sam Polak.
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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Fulfilled immediately.
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This scenario has the typical Kaer Maga feel. Investigation and roleplay in the beginning and combats in the end.
RP:
This scenario adds a couple new NPCS to the Kaer Maga lineup. I really appreciate the details that the author put into these NPCs. However, he fails to get across the reason the Gael family even wants Karela dead. Also, the story aspect falls a little flat. The PCs talk to a contact, they are then sent to another person, and then they are sent on a task.
When I ran it at a game day, my husband told me by the end of the day he didn't even remember what it was about.
Combat:
(Rogue 1/Fighter 5, Barbarian 5, goblin gunslinger 6, sorcerer 9=6.5 chose to round down to 6)
My players thoroughly enjoyed the apartment. Especially, when the rogue said he wasn't going to check for traps, then went flying through the glass window and almost off the balcony. The handled to swarms and zombies easily. The started having problems when the goblin gunslinger got flanked between the two rogues, a bookshelf, and a wall with no where to go. Needless to say he did not survive. (BOOYAH!!!) After the combat ended they choose to go to a temple to get the gunslinger raised before heading down stairs. So everyone was fully buffed and waiting for when they returned.
The final combat was incredibly over powered for this party formation. They had the hardest time with the vampire. In between the good AC, DR, regeneration, and neg channeling cleric he was the last thing to go down. The fighter was pissed when he disarmed the cleric's holy symbol and I revealed the tattoo. By the end of the combat, all of the martial PCs were down (the barb was dead) and the sorcerer had 4 HP.
Overall Evaluation
I like this scenario. The roleplay did seemed to fall a little flat. I do think the more I run it, the more enjoyable it will become. Also, the last combat should be a higher CR then what it totals up to. There is a lot of synergy in the fight, making it that much more difficult.
This scenario was a great jaunt through the City of Strangers. The combats were varied and interesting. I really enjoyed the beginning investigation, even though I was playing a Barbarian, and the interactions with the people of Kaer Maga.
This review is from the perspective of a player, low tier 6 players, who has not seen the scenario.
This scenario features an investigation which is rather lockstep and railroad-y, even more so than other investigations. God's Market Gamble is one of my favourite scenarios whereas this investigation fell flat. Perhaps investigations are better as low-level fodder.
Encounter wise this scenario feels like they went out of their way to include overused enemies which contributed to the overall bland feeling.
Spoiler:
Oh hey the bad guy is in league with a necromancer, so have 2 fights with zombies. And some swarms for good measure! And some rogue NPCs, I think all shopkeeper NPCs are rogues at this point
The highlights of the scenario are that, being set in Kaer Maga, it features a requisite appearance from Miss Feathers and that the final encounter was refreshingly difficult (our party composition was also sub par).
The scenario began with a briefing that gave me high hopes but quickly turned into standard pathfinder fare.
Spoiler:
The briefing led me to believe we would be involved in some high politicking faction warfare, perhaps having to navigate some moral dilemmas when really it was, as usual, simply find the suspiciously incriminating evidence the bad guy left lying around
All in all this was not a bad scenario per-se but if you are attending a convention or game day and have a choice between this and some other scenario the safe bet is to play the other scenario. We did have a Sczarni and an Andoran but neither was too informed on their faction storyline. Perhaps this scenario would have resonated more if our specific characters were more involved in the backstory but with the new faction mission system it seems rare (in our area, at least) for characters to have played the right scenarios to be properly invested.
Was rather disappointed in this scenario to be honest, as it felt a lot like a redone City of strangers part 1... though not as well done. Which is sad because Kaer maga has so much fun to offer players. Then again I only played in it and haven't read the full thing, but that was our general impression at my table.
(based on 13 ratings)
