Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–02: The Silver Mount Collection (PFRPG) PDF

Ran this for the low tier tonight. For the most part this isn't a bad scenario with some suitable challenges. The map is a little too big though and even glossing over of the pointless rooms we overran our time slot.
The only complaint we had was the big bad at the end. Theres nothing to give any hints about how to defeat it and as GM I had to improvise to avoid a TPK.

Ran this for a high tier table at GenCon. Thankfully, I was able to draw out my maps ahead of time. This would take far too long to draw at the table. A few things off about the map - stairs on the second floor, but none matching on the first? Stairs to the basement, but unless the players know to avoid it, it becomes 'outside the scope of this adventure'. The final encounter would be near-impossible for a party without a fairly narrow set of abilities to deal with it.

As other have said this scenario thinks a lot of low level parties and their ability to handle certain threats. I have run this 4 times now for both low and high level and both groups had issues with a number of enemies in this scenario.

There were some issues with the final fight that stems from the common conceptions that 'Hitting = Winning' in PFS but a creative group could resolve the issue.

There's also a ton of wasted space in this scenario. Groups can spend a good chunk of time looking at supply closets.

The fact that the map is changed up from the old terrible Blakros layout keeps this from being a 1 star review.

I've run and loved all of the previous Blakros Museum scenarios, and that was my primary reason for going for this one. As I ran it, I tried to subtly add in bits of flavor for those who had played the others, something I felt was a bit lacking. It's there, but more for DM's only, I guess.

All but my wife had experience with at least 2 of the previous Blakros Museum scenarios, and amongst every (not including me), they had played them all. Throughout the game, it seemed that they all enjoyed it, but after the game, as I tend to do, I listen to the players views, answer questions, and see what they thought, both of my DMing and of the scenario itself.

It was pretty universal that they did not like all the robots or lasers, and commented that if this is what Season 6 is going to be, they will sit it out. From outside, DMing, I can easily see some classes (Clerics, Rangers, etc. . .) being peeved with the sorts of encounters in this. It could really use a lot more variety in creature types.

I didn't have this issue, but having read through the PFS GMing thread, the writer and the PFS staff should really take another look at the monsters they used. It's pretty ridiculous. Particularly the one that happens as you first enter the museum. Low Tier, this is just stupidly brutal, and my guess is that every group that survived and made it past this point probably only did so because the DM didn't know or hand-waved them through.

As a DM, I was a bit peeved that it relied so much on the Numeria book and the Tech Guide without really giving us much in the way of fluff and quick notes on some of the things that sort of matter in the scenario. We do get the stats for gear, but it would have been nice to know what the deal with a few individuals and groups was.

The last thing I really wanted to comment in is just how unlike the other Blakros Museum scenarios. It's got Nigel. It takes place in the (a) museum. It's got a big dinosaur on the map. (Now THAT would have been a badass final, a non-swarm nano dino skeleton. . ., but sadly, no). It just didn't feel like a Blakros Museum scenario. It felt like it was really just pushing the sci-fi side of Season 6, but it really wasn't a Blakros scenario. It just doesn't have the same feel. It's got a new map, (DM sadface), which is nice, but an absolute pain in the ass to draw out (and twice at that).

It was funnish, but not one I'll probably rerun. I highly suggest that players avoid playing the lower tier unless they are well prepped, something the scenario really doesn't give any hints at until after you've already enter. (Tip Adamantine and Electricity Resistance is good). I loved, and probably the best part of the scenario in my eyes was the intro. I have no idea why DD has been gone, (and that might have been nice to include as it seems like it was going to be pertinent before <crash>.

With that all out of the way, I do think the writing was good. It looks nice, and I do like that there was a lot of extra little tidbits in there. I loved the way the encounter with GG turned out, as in terror, she latterly leapt off the spaceship without Acrobatics and nearly knocked herself out, as the Monk straight up spotted her and climbed up in one turn, then disarmed every weapon she had (intending to show her the party didn't want to fight and the +12 Diplomacy Cleric got herself Blinded and stunned by the grenade). I think it might have worked a lot better if this had not been a Blakros Museum scenario, or focused much more on horror/oddities than sci-fi, and had some more traditional monster types in the encounters, (undead, monstrous humanoids, etc. . .) Too much sci-fi, not enough fantasy/Blakros Museum.

If you do survive it, you are rewarded with a nice RP boon (though this one seems the least likely to actually grant it, feels a bit off), though the actual mechanics side is a bit "meh" and the true reward of the ability to now be immune to magical Darkness, including the Deeper variety for about 650 gp. And you can do it twice. . .

A few other things I noticed I wasn't thrilled with. I was not happy with the way that the Darkive was presented in this one, and I kind of questioned why this was a Darkive scenario at all. Also didn't like the way that it paint Nigel. I can see the expectation of the Darkive, (which itself seems completely contrary to the write up in the guide or the blogs), running into some issues with other Faction members, particularly Liberty's Edge and easily leading to the bad kind of party conflict. I also found it kind of annoying that it sort of allows one faction to corrupt/intimidate/enslave Nigel, when in every other gam I've run, he has been a well liked reoccurring NPC, and such faction missions would not have gone over well with other players or characters.

I really hope that that is re-examined by the PFS staff. With this as one of the only few Season 6 example so far, we, the party that played or I the DM, are NOT liking what we see of Season 6, and I strongly suspect that those groups that did survive without much trouble either had their DM get by things the shouldn't have or didn't know themselves.

Later Edit
So, during one of the Online PFS Game Days, I was asked to step in and take over a table for someone that just quit. Knowing the scenario and already being mainly prepped, I stepped in. The game had been stalled already, so I had to track down the players again and try to salvage the situation. Turns out, about 3 rounds into that very first combat, yep, we all know the one, there was 2 party members DEAD, 1 bleeding out, and the other 2 or 3 running for their lives back to town. I managed to rewind a little bit, using my DM Star Reroll to keep one of the characters alive, which in turn allowed them to grab the others and retreat, regroup, spend just about all of their characters wealth to heal up and equip, and go back in. One of the players had outright quit the game over this scenario. So that group was already angry, their resources destroyed, now down one player. I offered them the chance to continue or to hang it up there, and they decided to give it another go. If not, many of them where seriously considering just reporting their characters as dead from what I understand.

After running it a second time, much of the things earlier I had to say that where just are not there. The RP and storyline are actually pretty flat. I'd say predictable, but rereading just how misleading, and I'm 99% sure that was NOT INTENTIONALLY done so, but something the author just didn't consider. As others have mentioned, the Wand, the Box, and various different portions of the background and story very much imply very different things than what the scenario tells the DM it turns out to be. To the point I'm beginning to really wonder if this was originally two different scenarios that someone last minute decided to just smush together and then throw in the Blakros Museum to boot, just because.

The second group managed to get through it, but a large part of this is because I took it pretty easy on them to do so. I do not recommend this scenario EXCEPT that it be retired. I'm a big fan of the Blakros Museum series, but this sort of steps all over the things that made those great. I'm also a bit irked that one Faction was allowed the opportunity to basically hijack a popular reoccurring NPC. Not cool.

I had a lot of fun playing this one. It was very challenging at Tier 6-7 but it had a lot of variety in the encounters and a genuinely creepy final fight. We screwed it up in the end but I thought it was an excellent scenario.