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

I played this at high tier with the 4 player adjustment

Full marks for the setting, the story, the chrome and the combats.

I nearly died once but it was totally reasonable (ie, we got careless).

Its a very entertaining mostly sandbox adventure with the potential for lots of role playing, combat. and just visiting a really interesting location.

The downside is that it is significantly too long. I know Paizo likes to entertain the fiction that we all have 5 or 6 hours per session but the reality. at least up here, is that we are lucky to get a full 4 hours in.

Although I was a player it was very obvious how much preparation the GM had to do. He'd drawn several maps.

Several of the battles were fairly interesting with opponents with a different feel to them.

The final battle potentially involved well over 20 combatants. We had little time remaining so the GM, perforce hand waved a lot of it. As a result it felt more anticlimactic than epic. NOT blaming the GM, we were all having LOTS of fun in the earlier bits and I'm glad he shortened the battle as opposed to some other stuff.

So, 5 stars for the scenario as a whole. But I'm taking off a star for the length of it (missed stuff as a player). I suspect that I'd take another star off as the GM for the sheer amount of work involved in running it.

So, 4 stars.

I think that we need more 2 part scenarios (like the Kaer Maga ones). This adventure could easily have been expanded to fit 2 scenarios and, if they both had this quality, I'd have very likely rated them both as 5 star.

Edit: it has been pointed out to me that the scenario specifically stated that 90 minutes should be left for the final battle. I believe that the GM acted correctly with this particular group in not doing that as were all greatly enjoying the other stuff. But it does mean that my comment about the final battle should be taken very much in context.

I've changed the stars. Its now 4.5 and I chose to round up :-)

Played this at low tier with Damanta at Maglok's table.

So far this is my favorite S6 scenario, and one of my favorite PFS scenarios period. It's got a strong story, strong challenges, and a lot of different possibilities for player strategy. It's also a big scenario; you do a LOT of things. You want to make sure you have no time constraints when running this, you don't want to rush it. But it's well worth that. Man, I'm getting adrenaline pumping again thinking back to it.

First, the setting: Nantambu. Woran had done his homework, and took a moment to lay out the flavor of the city to us. We briefly saw a really pretty map although it played no role in the rest of the scenario. Nevertheless, it's one of those maps that really set down the idea of the place in your mind. Nanatambu is an interesting place for this scenario because it's quite far away for both the Society and its opponents, and the playground of the Magaambya, a badass (but Good!) magic college that we did not want to end up on the wrong side of. So while we had a party of heavy hitters, we yet had to be a bit subtle about things.

Second, story: it makes sense. A book with a lot of precious information, and the TL will stop at nothing to destroy it. They WILL destroy the lodge and kill civilians to get to it. That MUST be prevented somehow. Just getting the book out is not enough, that'll still destroy the lodge and people. It's up to you to be heroes and prevent that from happening.

Which is where it gets really awesome: you actually get to choose your own strategy on how to do that. There are many things to work with; you can try intrigue, you can try preemptive attacks, or you can dig in. Or you can do combinations of the above. At one point we contemplated inviting a bunch of Magaambya wizards for a social function around the estimated time of TL attack :P In the end our strategy was actually determined by morality;

After that we pursued another lead and continued our attacks against the TL, attacking fast and furious. However, we weren't fast enough to stop the TL from finding our lodge, so when we got back they were already inside. However, our preemptive strikes had weakened their forces, making it a fair but hard-fought fight. They had some seriously scary stuff with them. This is one of those scenarios where the final fight does not disappoint.

Then, RP. This scenario has quite a bit of it. From just talking with our first informant, to various NPCs we rescued, to some other people whose help we wanted, there was good RP to be had, all of it relevant and a lot of it very funny.

Combat: 5 Challenging but fair, original enemies and interesting tactics. On a bigger scale, in this scenario you not only have to think about your tactics in combat, but you have to find a strategy for the whole scenario, and your choices matter a great deal. That's really well done.

Story/scenery: 5 The story makes sense, is interesting, and the stakes are high. And Nantambu is a very cool place for it: both we and the TL were nicely out of our element there.

RP: 4 Good RP was had. I understand that it's possible to solve a bigger part of the scenario socially than we did, but given our militaristic methods, there was still a lot of nice RP. This is not a murderhobo scenario, this is a scenario for heroes that can handle fighting.

Miscellaneous: 5 The whole Technologist thing really isn't an issue in this one; it's annoying in 6-01 and 6-02 but it doesn't cause any problems here. Here, the TL are worthy opponents using their own exotic powers against our exotic powers. Also, this scenario allows for a LOT of player creativity while still maintaining a focused story, and that's rare.

I think this scenario does really well on what I want from PFS: a good challenge, a story that works, in a cool setting.

A final warning: as a player you won't be able to do everything in this scenario. You're on a clock and need to pick your strategies, which means you get to see those parts you choose. I don't consider that a flaw; there's no false decisions where the same thing happens regardless of your choices.

I have really enjoyed running this scenario. Without going into detail too much the players get all kinds of options to deal with situations, which really works towards the feeling that the player's choices matter.

The fights are special. They have special rules that are simply original and fun. The fights are no pushover, but they are fair.

The scifi in the scenario was done very well as well. It is there, but it is mysterious.

The setting is done really well. My players loved the Mwangi Expanse mood.

Is there some bad things to mention? Hard to say, but I think perhaps the scenario promotes splitting the party a bit much. I do not like it when I spend time with some players and the rest are in waiting mode.

Overall, I want more of this! Some spoilers under the tag.

We played this in about 5,5 hours I think.

Party of 6, low tier: Summoner (7) with 4 armed eidolon, Ranger with greatsword (5), Cleric of Sarenrae with scimitar and healing and fire domain (6), Paladin of Sarenrae (6), Titan Mauler with two greatswords (6), Bloodrager with fauchard and abyssal bloodline (6).

Fairly balanced party (most of us played a scenario together just before this one as well, so we knew a bit how everyone played and what their strength/weaknesses were) we had a great time.

Lots of options to choose from, and we went with an aggressive/diplomatic strategy, which paid off. Nasty surprises were had at the final battle when some very unexpected spells were tossed at us.

For more great moments check out the Gamemaster thread on the PFS board, but beware of (more) spoilers.

This scenario suggests what actions the PCs take, and they are given some sense of urgency on some elements, but in the end the PCs skill checks and course of action determines exactly how the scenario goes. As a player driven scenario I love the design choice here. I'm less crazy about the faction missions which are no longer called out in scenario blurbs, although apparently knowing continents rather than nations would help here.

I'd also agree that the scenario is lengthy.