Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–03: The Technic Siege (PFRPG) PDF

If it matters I GMed this and had time to prep.

I like the sandbox effect of adventures and this one did not disappoint. I have a greater feel of Nantambu than before (though I still had to check the spelling three times in writing this :). One of my players was familiar with the mages and was eager to explore their school which the sandbox nature allowed. Take the time to explore the city and you will be rewarded (if you like Golarion lore).

Sandbox helpful stuff included:
A handful of local NPCs to provide GMs some interaction.*,
Decently hidden foreshadowing (easter eggs?)
Multiple reasons to explore the city while investigating (including even simple shopping)
Chances to explore outside the city (one actual, two NPC backstories)

Necessary sandbox stuff not included:
Timeline or a sense of urgency, while there is deadline (with the rules to start event X by 90 minutes if a timed venue) the PCs have no idea about this and could just keep exploring.
No sense the Technic League is closing in (my players felt they defeated them all). Building suspense suffered for it (GM fault?)
Random locations/attractions (a list of local shops, random (Mwangi?) creatures working, fountains/statues/historical markers/etc. Even some evidence of Technic League brutality could be a bulleted list.***

*I wish these were placed earlier in the scenario, printed in the 'option B' means I missed them while players were doing option A (good thing it wasn't run cold right?). Worse B directly affected option A, but the PCs were already done.
**without the proper skills and lucky rolls my PCs missed these, more options for the same info would be useful.
***While I believe the GM should provide this, a sandbox venue can really stretch out. I ran out of descriptions (and I am pretty sure my players knew they all came from my limited Black Panther/Wakanda knowledge). I know this is a wordcount issue, & in this case I would have subbed the lengthy word-count allowed the arrive-by-miserable-boat-conversation the PCs 'remember' having with the VC. Perhaps this was an allusion to something lost in editing, but even so it was pre-scenario and my players waved it away and just wanted to start their mission. In short a sidebar with twelve local flavors would be helpful (in all sandbox adventures).

Overall a fun-time, especially if your grant players a chance to go through it all. Let them explore Nantambu and witness the ruthless Technic League.

We played low tier but we were at the higher end of the APL curve and had good characters for the scenario. As such the scenario was much less challenging than we were expecting but it was still enjoyable. I havent read the scenario but found it interesting enough that I will probably get it just to read all the background.

Likes
Flavorful location
Sandbox nature

Dislikes
Length- I take it the scenario has instructions for how to fit into a 4 hour slot but the completionist in me doesnt like the feeling that I didnt get "the full experience"
Faction Missions- We had both faction missions at the table and both just seemed like "succeed at what you were going to do anyway" kinds.
Difficulty- I actually wish this had been more... kyle baird. We had a strong party for this scenario so that probably wont be the experience for most people. When you have a reputation as a writer, though, its a blessing and a curse!

I ended up playing this at a friend's house rather than at one of the local game stores that runs PFS games. It was a very rich setting with lots of background info able to be found out by the group. It is really good to see so much detail on Natambu. Good preparation I am sure makes the sandbox portion of this scenario run much more smoothly. While there is technology involved, this scenario doesn't feel like it is a sci-fi game. There are some interesting opponents and challenges in this scenario. In a normal time slot players are going to have to make decisions on what actions they want to take, there will not probably be enough time to do everything. Playing this in a private home let us play without worry about making a time slot or closing hours. We got a fairly late start probably close to 8pm, next thing we knew it was nearly 11pm, then 1am, and we finally finished at 2am, but we did do (I think, I haven't read the scenario yet, just played in it) every task. There apparently is a mechanism to wrap up the scenario in a timely manner if the players are trying to do everything; I think this is very valuable for running at game stores or conventions.

I highly recommend if people are able to take the time to play this thoroughly if they have the chance.

I played this as a LvL5 Ranger along with a few sixes and a seven (so low tier), amongst which Ascalaphus and Damanta, at Maglok's table, and I had a blast.

Adventure (5): The party is sent from Absalom to Nantambu (without stopping in Bloodcove) to recover an important book containing information about the secrets of the Technic League. Nantambu is a beautiful location, and Maglok described the "defiant city in the heart of Africa"-feel incredibly well.

Combat (5): The encounters are very tough and the challenge is great, but every party member had multiple moments to shine. The end encounter has some really nasty spells (as Damanta mentionned in his final "Eep"-spoiler). Barely achieving the primary objective with a succesful untrained Sunder maneuver (thanks Favored Enemy!), was a moment I won't forget very soon.

Background/RP (5): The strategic choice the players must make are great RP moments. Each of us weighed the pros and cons, and in the end we let our alignments do the rest, while still having the feeling having made a significant choice. The NPC's, both ally and enemy, all had personality; A feature that is difficult to achieve succesfully.

Skills (5): YES! I could finally use (non-CS) knowledges I invested in heavily, which had very unexpected, but awesome (!) consequences during the final encounter. Actually succeeding in reading the book, was a nice bonus feel-good moment. Proud of the quote on my chronicle sheet!

Overall, this was a great scenario. Some of the battles can be challenging, and some of them are not, nor are they intended to be. I love the "Sandbox" feel to it. It gave the party several options of what to do, which was really nice. Additionally, this scenario made great use of available maps, which is a HUGE plus in my book.

The lack of 5 stars comes down to two things for me. 1. The only map that needs to be drawn was huge, and depending on the locations available, it is just too large for some tables. 2. I feel like a lot of the faction missions were too vague to be able to accomplish without being overt to the players as GM on how to achieve them.